Investigate 6 LDS doctrines. Click each case file, search the Scriptures, and see the evidence for yourself.
"Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me."
— John 5:39Select a doctrine to investigate it against the King James Bible.
Founded nearly 1,800 years after the completed gospel.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was founded by Joseph Smith in 1830 in upstate New York, nearly 1,800 years after the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Smith claimed that God the Father and Jesus Christ appeared to him in a vision in 1820 and told him that all existing churches were wrong and that their creeds were an abomination.
He later claimed to have received golden plates from an angel named Moroni, which he translated into the Book of Mormon. The LDS Church treats the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price as scripture equal to or above the Bible.
The Bible warns against adding to the word of God and against following those who come with a different gospel.
"But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed."— Galatians 1:8
"Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar."— Proverbs 30:5–6
"For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book."— Revelation 22:18
Joseph Smith claimed to receive his revelation from an angel named Moroni. The Bible warns that even if an angel from heaven were to bring a different gospel, that angel and that gospel should be rejected entirely. The gospel was delivered once for all to the saints, and it needs no supplement, correction, or replacement.
What happens when you test a religion against its own book?
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormon Church) is the fastest growing religion on the face of the earth. Their missionaries are clean-cut, well-dressed, zealous, and sincere. Every member gives two years of their life to missionary work. Their advertisements speak of strong families and wholesome values. However, sincerity is not truth and the most devastating critique of the Mormon Church does not come from the Bible alone — it comes from the Book of Mormon itself.
Joseph Smith took a King James Bible, plagiarized it extensively, mixed in elements of Freemasonry (Smith was a 33rd degree Freemason) and Roman Catholicism, invented names and places, and published the result as a "new testament of Jesus Christ." Not one place, river, mountain, hill, city, stream, or graveyard listed in the Book of Mormon has ever been found by any archaeologist anywhere. Not one of the Indian tribes described in its pages has ever been identified by any anthropologist. What Smith created was a fairy tale, three-quarters of which is stolen from a King James Bible, and he sold it under the guise of a new religion.
But here is the irony: because Smith copied so heavily from the KJV, the Book of Mormon contains more biblical truth than the Mormon Church teaches. Every principal doctrine of the Mormon Church is not only untrue according to the Bible but it is also untrue according to the Book of Mormon. If the Mormon missionaries actually read their own book, it would tear their church to pieces.
Mormon doctrine teaches that God was once a man like you, who worked his way up through degrees until he became God of this world. So, we know what the Mormon Church teaches, now let's see what their Book of Mormon says:
"Believest thou that there is a great Spirit?" And he said, "Yea." And Ammon said, "This is God."
— Alma 18:24–28"We believe that thou art God… and that thou wast a spirit, and that thou art a spirit, and that thou wilt be a spirit forever."
— Alma 31:15Past, present, and future... it is obvious that God the Creator is a spirit. Not an exalted man. Not a glorified human. He is a spirit. In Moroni 7:22, God is described as "from everlasting to everlasting." What this means is that what He is today, He has been for all eternity. The Mormon missionaries teach the opposite of what their own book says.
Mormonism teaches that salvation comes through a series of good works, temple rites, celestial marriage, baptisms, and membership. But the Book of Mormon says:
"Since man had fallen, he could not merit anything of himself; but the sufferings and death of Christ atone for their sins, through faith and repentance."
— Alma 22:14"Reconcile yourselves to the will of God… and remember, after ye are reconciled unto God, that it is only in and through the grace of God that ye are saved."
— 2 Nephi 10:24Please note that the Book of Mormon states that, "It is only in and through the grace of God that ye are saved." The Book of Mormon even teaches the new birth: "This day he hath spiritually begotten you. For ye say that your hearts are changed through faith on his name. Therefore, ye are born of him" (Mosiah 5:7). Faith, repentance, grace, and new birth. That is what the Book of Mormon actually says.
Baptism for the dead is the principal money-making program of the Mormon Church. Families travel to Salt Lake City (the only place it can be done) in order to baptize their dead relative so they stay out of the fire. But the Book of Mormon says:
"For behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors… for after this day of life, which is given us to prepare for eternity, behold, if we do not improve our time while in this life, then cometh the night of darkness wherein there can be no labor performed. Ye cannot say, when ye are brought to that awful crisis, that I will repent, that I will return to my God. Nay, ye cannot say this; for that same spirit which doth possess your bodies at the time that ye go out of this life, that same spirit will have power to possess your body in that eternal world… the spirit of the Lord hath withdrawn from you, and hath no place in you, and the devil hath all power over you; and this is the final state of the wicked."
— Alma 34:32–35The Book of Mormon says baptism for the dead is worthless. If you die in your sins, no one can get you out. No proxy baptism, no temple rite, and no amount of money. "This is the final state of the wicked." The Mormon church teaches the opposite of what their own book says.
Mormon missionaries will tell you they don't believe in a literal hellfire. However, the Book of Mormon says:
"Loose yourselves from the pains of hell, that ye may not become angels to the devil, to be cast into that lake of fire and brimstone, which is the second death."
— Jacob 3:11"That lake of fire and brimstone, whose flames are unquenchable, and whose smoke ascendeth up forever and ever, which lake of fire and brimstone is endless torment."
— Jacob 6:10Who does the Book of Mormon say tells people there is no hell? "And behold, others he flattereth away, and telleth them there is no hell; and he saith unto them, I am no devil, for there is none." (2 Nephi 28:22). According to the Book of Mormon, the devil is the one who says there is no literal hell. So the next time a Mormon missionary tells you that there is no hell, the Book of Mormon says he's speaking the words of the devil.
Joseph Smith and Brigham Young practiced and promoted polygamy. Smith was killed by a lynch mob while in jail for stealing men's wives (not for his faith). But the Book of Mormon says:
"Behold, David and Solomon truly had many wives and concubines, which thing was abominable before me, saith the Lord."
— Jacob 2:24The Book of Mormon declares polygamy an abomination in the sight of God. The founders of the Mormon Church were living lives that their own book calls abominable.
Just as modern Bible versions have corrupted the text of the Bible, the modern Book of Mormon has been changed from its original editions:
In 1 Nephi 13:40, the original Book of Mormon read: "the Lamb of God is the Eternal Father." After 1830, it was changed to "the Son of the Eternal Father." The statement on the deity of Christ was altered.
In 2 Nephi 9:16, the original read: "their torment is a lake of fire and brimstone." The modern edition changed it to: "their torment is as a lake of fire." One word changes a literal hell into a metaphor, which is the same tactic used by modern Bible versions.
In 2 Nephi 30:6, the original read: "a pure and white people." The modern edition changed it to "a pure and delightsome people." This is because the original teaching of the Mormon church was that black skin was the mark of Cain.
The pattern is the same everywhere: when the text says something that costs money or offends culture, they change the text. Whether it's Westcott and Hort or Joseph Smith's successors... the approach to God's words is identical.
If you are a member of the LDS Church, we are not trying to hurt you by stating these facts. Truly, we are trying to get you to trust Jesus Christ as your Saviour. We are not asking you to prefer our religion over yours, for this is not a matter of religions. We are asking you: do you know of a certainty that all the things you have done in the Mormon Church have taken away your sin? It's impossible for you, in the Mormon church, to have that absolute certainty that you are right with God and on your way to heaven. However, Jesus Christ can save you and He will save you the moment you put your faith and trust in Him alone.
We don't believe the Book of Mormon is the word of God. We have shown you in this study that your own book teaches that God is a spirit, salvation is by grace through faith, baptism for the dead is worthless, hell is real and eternal, polygamy is abominable, and you must be born again. We encourage you to read the real word of God. Get a King James Bible and open it to the Gospel of John. Read it and ask God to show you the truth. He will.
"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."
— John 14:6There is no salvation in the Mormon Church, the Baptist Church, or any other church. Salvation is in Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ alone.
Salvation is not found in a church building in Salt Lake City. It is not found in a temple ceremony, a priesthood ordination, or a set of secret rituals. Salvation is found in a Person, and that Person is the Lord Jesus Christ.
"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."— John 14:6
"Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved."— Acts 4:12
He alone is the way, the truth, and the life. He alone is the mediator between God and men. Any system that places additional requirements between a sinner and the Saviour is not adding to the gospel, but actually is replacing the gospel with something else entirely.
Learn How to Be Saved →