Category: God
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Responding to the Claim that God was Once a Man
Note: The following was originally printed in the December 2019 edition of the MRM Update. To request a free subscription to Mormonism Researched, please visit here. Question: “How do we explain to Latter-day Saints that God is not a man, but is far greater? Answer: First of all, Numbers 23:19 tells us very plainly that “God…
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Jesus Index
The Birth of Jesus The Nature of Jesus The Person of Jesus The Cross Viewpoint on Mormonism Podcasts on Jesus Reviews of Teachings of Presidents of the Church
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Is the Holy Spirit of Mormonism Trustworthy?
The testimony of Latter-day Saint Sunju Kim Muir was included in the June 2019 Ensign magazine, published by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. (As I am unable to discern whether Sunju is a man or woman, I’ll use the universal “he” throughout this article.) In his testimony, Sunju explains that when he first…
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Crash Course Mormonism: Holy Ghost / Holy Spirit
According to Mormonism, the Holy Ghost is a child of God from the preexistence who does not have a body of flesh and bones, as do Heavenly Father and Jesus. He is the third member of the Godhead who is sometimes described as the Holy Spirit and other times described as distinct from the Holy Spirit. The…
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Crash Course Mormonism: Atonement
Mormonism’s definition of the atonement is unique when compared to what has been historically taught in biblical Christianity. The Cross For Mormons, the symbol of the cross is a negative symbol because Mormon leaders say that the atonement took place in the Garden of Gethsemane. Tenth President Joseph Fielding Smith explained, GREATEST SUFFERING WAS IN…
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Crash Course Mormonism: Virgin Birth
Both Mormons and Evangelical Christians believe in the “Virgin Birth.” Yet what have LDS leaders taught about this special event to distinguish it from the biblical doctrine? A church manual provides a backdrop for the teaching: From their accounts we learn that Jesus was born of a virgin named Mary. She was engaged to marry…
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Crash Course Mormonism: Jesus
The name of Jesus is found in the name of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Many may be surprised to learn that the Jesus of Mormonism is different than what is taught in the Bible. The Jesus of Mormonism had his beginning when he was born to God the Father and Heavenly…
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Crash Course Mormonism: God the Father
God the Father has several different names in Mormonism, including Heavenly Father or Elohim. A good picture of this version of God can be seen in founder Joseph Smith’s statement from what is known as the King Follett Discourse: I will go back to the beginning before the world was, to show what kind of…
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Joseph Smith and Luke 10:22
The official History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (aka History of the Church or HOC) reproduces Joseph Smith’s journal where he stated: “This winter [1832-33] was spent in translating the Scriptures…I completed the translation and review of the New Testament, on the 2nd of February, 1833 and sealed it up, no more to be opened till…
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Citations on Jesus
The following are sections out of Bill McKeever’s book In their Own Words: A Collection of Mormon Quotations. Standard Works “Now Zeezrom saith again unto him: Is the Son of God the very Eternal Father? And Amulek said unto him: Yea, he is the very Eternal Father of heaven and of earth, and all things…
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Citations on God
The following are sections out of Bill McKeever’s book In their Own Words: A Collection of Mormon Quotations. Standard Works “For I know that God is not a partial God, neither a changeable being; but he is unchangeable from all eternity to all eternity” (The Book of Mormon, Moroni 8:18). “And the king said: Is…
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Mormonism’s Infinite Regression of Gods
On June 16, 1844, eleven days before Joseph Smith would be killed while incarcerated at the jail in Carthage, Illinois, Smith preached his last public sermon. In this controversial message, dubbed The Sermon in The Grove, Joseph Smith spoke to a group of followers in Nauvoo, Illinois, where he made it abundantly clear that he…
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Book Review: The Infinite Atonement
By Tad R. CallisterDeseret Book, 2000 Reviewed by Eric Johnson In his book titled The Infinite Atonement, Tad R. Callister—a lawyer for 34 years who served in the LDS Presidency of the Seventy until he was honorably released from the position in 2014 and who currently serves as the Sunday School general president—wrote a best-selling…
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Joseph Smith Is Needed if the Atonement To Be “Fully Efficacious”
Note: The following was originally printed in the May/June 2017 edition of Mormonism Researched. To request a free subscription, please visit here. In the first volume of Doctrines of Salvation, tenth Mormon President Joseph Fielding Smith made it very clear that there is “no salvation without accepting Joseph Smith” (1:188). While some might think that Mormonism has matured…
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The Supreme God of Mormonism
In its “Until We Meet Again” feature, the April 2017 issue of the LDS Church’s Ensign magazine includes an article titled, “The Power of God.” This is a 500-word excerpt from a longer (2300-word) General Conference address titled, “The Doctrine of the Priesthood.” Mormon apostle Bruce R. McConkie delivered this address in April 1982 during…
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For Mormons, It’s Not Jesus’ Birthday
December Christmas celebrations notwithstanding, according to LDS leaders past and present, Jesus was born on 6 April 1 B.C. This fact was pointed out recently at LDS Daily in an article titled, “Was Jesus Christ Really Born in December?” Here journalist Aleah Ingram noted that James Talmage, a now-deceased apostle of The Church of Jesus…
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Does the Bible Really Say That Jesus Is God?
This is one in a series of articles on the Christian doctrine of the Trinity. To see MRM’s website page on the Trinity to see other resources, please click here. The Bible teaches in many different ways that Jesus is God. It is the centerpiece of the Christian faith. Without this, Christians would be in error to…
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Mormon Apostle Urges Gaining a Sound and Sure Knowledge of the Atonement
In preparation for Easter, the LDS Church’s March Ensign magazine includes a “Gospel Classic” article titled, “The Three Gardens of God.” Originally titled, “The Purifying Power of Gethsemane,” this was a General Conference address delivered by LDS Apostle Bruce McConkie in April 1985. The March 2016 Ensign article is significantly shorter than Mr. McConkie’s original…
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LDS Leaders Speak More of Jesus
Mormon blogger Jana Riess at Flunking Sainthood interviewed Gordon and Gary Shepherd regarding their research into the themes presented at the LDS Church’s General Conferences. The Shepherd brothers have performed a detailed analysis of all past General Conference talks and published their findings in a newly updated book, A Kingdom Transformed: Early Mormonism and the…
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Mormon Apostle Discusses “The Essential Doctrine of Christ”
Last week Deseret News reported on an address Mormon apostle Dallin Oaks delivered to LDS missionaries during a worldwide missionary broadcast. Reaching an audience of 75,000, Mr. Oaks chose to define “Our message for missionaries.” Deseret News explained, “Following a period of dramatic changes in the number of missionaries serving in the world, the Church…