Mormonism 101 - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

Mormonism 101

Part 2 – March 1, 2015Slide2

The God of Mormonism

He was not always God (once a man)

He was not the first God

Organized already-created matter in the creation of the world

He cannot be in more than one place at onceSlide3

Jesus of Mormonism

Born of a physical relationship between God the Father and Mary

Elder brother of the human race

Lucifer is his brother

Reached perfection at some point in timeSlide4

Humankind in Mormonism

All people lived with God before the world

A person’s actions in the preexistence effects a person’s life on earth

We knew God and He knew us before our birth

Literal children of GodSlide5

Salvation Ordinances

We must be baptized and confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ.

We must receive the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Spirit.

We must receive the temple endowment.

We must be married for time and eternity. Love and worship God

Love our neighbor

Repent of wrongdoings

Live the law of chastity

Pay honest tithes and offerings. Slide6

Salvation Ordinances

Be honest in our dealings with others and with the Lord.

Speak the truth always.

Obey the Word of Wisdom

Search out our kindred dead and perform the saving ordinances of the gospel for them

Keep the Sabbath day holy

Attend our Church meetings as regularly as possible to renew our baptismal covenants by partaking of the

sacramentSlide7

Salvation Ordinances

Love our family members and strengthen them in the ways of the Lord.

Have family and individual prayers every day

Honor our parents

Teach the gospel to others by word and exampleStudy the scriptures

Listen to and obey the inspired words of the prophets of the Lord

Receive the Holy Ghost and learn to follow his direction in our individual livesSlide8

Salvation Ordinances NOT in the Book of Mormon

The Mormon Church organization, on which its leaders place so much emphasis

The Mormon so-called “Melchizedek Priesthood order”

The Mormon so-called “Aaronic Priesthood order”

The Mormon doctrine of the plurality of gods

The Mormon doctrine that people may become gods

The Mormon doctrine of the “three degrees of glory

”Slide9

Salvation Ordinances NOT in the Book of Mormon

The Mormon doctrine of “preexistence”

The Mormon doctrine of “eternal progression”

The Mormon doctrine of a “Heavenly Mother”

The Mormon doctrine of a “temporary hell”Slide10
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D&C Teachings

The establishment of Smith as the church’s “seer, translator, prophet, apostle, and elder” (given on the first day of the church’s existence, 6 April 1830, Section 21)

The need to be

rebaptized

no matter what church and reason you did it before. Only Smith and not Hiram Page could receive revelations because Hiram was receiving Revelations from Satan.

Independence, Missouri, was to be the place for the city of Zion and the first temple. Slide12

D&C Teachings

The Word of Wisdom, a health code that, when obeyed brings “temporal and spiritual blessings.”

Baptisms

for the dead should be performed in LDS temples.

God has a body of flesh and bone and, along with Jesus, may make appearances to menCelestial marriage is required to achieve godhood and continue

one’s

family into eternity

Plural marriage is allowed (Section 132); 1890 “Manifesto” officially overturning the practice of polygamy (Official Declaration 1) Slide13

Moses 6:51-53

“And

he called upon our father Adam by his own voice, saying: I am God; I made the world, and men before they were in the flesh. And he also said unto him: If thou wilt turn unto me, and hearken unto my voice, and believe, and repent of all thy transgressions, and be baptized, even in water, in the name of mine Only Begotten Son, who is full of grace and truth, which is Jesus Christ, the only name which shall be given under heaven, whereby salvation shall come unto the children of men, ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, asking all things in his name, and whatsoever ye shall ask, it shall be given you. And our father Adam

spake

unto the Lord, and said: Why is it that men must repent and be baptized in water? And the Lord said unto Adam: Behold I have forgiven thee thy transgression in the Garden of Eden

.”Slide14

Moses 8:23-24

“And

it came to pass that Noah continued his preaching unto the people, saying: Hearken, and give heed unto my words; Believe and repent of your sins and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, even as our fathers, and ye shall receive the Holy Ghost, that ye may have all things made manifest; and if ye do not this, the floods will come in upon you; nevertheless they hearkened not.” Slide15

Abraham 3:9

“And thus there shall be the reckoning of the time of one planet above another, until thou come nigh unto

Kolob

, which

Kolob is after the reckoning of the Lord’s time; which Kolob is set nigh unto the throne of God, to govern all those planets which belong to the same order as that upon which thou standest

.”Slide16

Apostle

Neal Maxwell

“

We do not know how many inhabited world there are, or where they are. But certainly we are not alone. This is a universe of spiritual order, in which “

Kolob is set neigh unto the throne of God, to goven all those planets which belong to the same order as that upon which thou standest

.”

Neal

Maxwell, A Wonderful Flood of Light (Salt Lake City:

Bookcraft

, 1990), According to the Pearl of Great Price (Abraham 3:2ff)Slide17

Joseph Fielding Smith

“We are not the only people that the Lord has created. We have brothers and sisters on other earths. They look like us because they too, are the children of God and were created in his image, and they are also his offspring

.” Slide18

LDS Concept of SalvationSlide19

Gospel Standards

Baptism – “Salvation will come only to those who repent and have their sins washed away by baptism, and who thereafter show by a godly life that their repentance is genuine.”

Heber

J. Grant,

Gospel Standards, comp. G. Homer Durham (Salt Lake City: Improvement Era, 1943), 8. Slide20

Apostle James E.

Talmage

Heaven and

Hell: Articles

of Faith, 405, “From a revelation given in 1832 we learn that three great kingdoms or degrees of glory are established, know as the Celestial, the Terrestrial, and the Telestial. Far below the last and least of these, is the state of eternal punishment prepared for the sons of Perdition.”Slide21

Final States in Mormonism

Outer darkness: located outside the three “kingdoms,” this place of torment is reserved for those who were not given mortal bodies (Satan and his demons) and the extremely wicked, including apostate Mormons.

Telestial

kingdom: The lowest level of the three heavens where the wicked of the world will spend eternity.

Terrestrial kingdom: The second level, this is where honorable people will be, including “lukewarm” Mormons. Celestial kingdom: This kingdom actually consists of three separate levels, with the top level being the place where the Mormon hopes to be exalted. Slide22

President Spencer W. Kimball

“

No progression between kingdoms. After a person has been assigned to his place in the kingdom, either in the

telestial

, terrestrial, or the celestial, or to his exaltation, he will never advance from his assigned glory to another glory. That is eternal! That is why we must make our decisions early in life and why it is imperative that such decisions be right.” Slide23

1 Corinthians 15:40

(KJV) “There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another.”

(ESV) “There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is of one kind, and the glory of the earthly is of another.”

(JST) “There are celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial, and

bodies telestial; but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another;

and the

telestial

,

is another

.” Slide24

1 Corinthians 15:40

(KJV) “There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another.”

“Celestial/”Heavenly bodies” – “moon, sun, and stars” (v. 41)

“Terrestrial/”Earthly bodies” – “flesh of men, beasts, fishes, and birds

” (v. 39)Slide25

2 Corinthians 12:2-4

“

I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God

knoweth

;) such an one caught up to the third heaven. And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.”Slide26

First Presidency Member George Q. Cannon

“Those who are unfaithful, those who will listen to Satan, who will lend a willing ear to his blandishments and to his allurements, when they go from this state of existence, they go into a condition where they are subject to his power. They will dwell in darkness, and according to their sins their punishment will be. Some will be consigned to “outer darkness,” where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth; and they will remain in that condition until they will be visited by some servant of God to unlock the prison doors to them and to preach to them again the Gospel of salvation, through repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus

Christ…Slide27

First Presidency Member George Q. Cannon

They will remain in that condition, according to the enormity of their offenses, until punishment will be meted out to them sufficiently to bring them to a condition that they will receive the Gospel of salvation. That Gospel which is taught to us will be taught to them, and they will have an opportunity of obeying it in their damned condition and through repentance will receive salvation.” Slide28
Slide29

Brigham Young

“Angels are those beings who have been on an earth like this, and have passed through the same ordeals that we are now passing though…They are persons who lived upon an earth, but did not magnify they Priesthood in that high degree that many others have done who have become Gods, even the songs of God. Human beings that pertain to this world, who do not magnify or are not capable or magnifying their high calling in the Priesthood and receive crowns of glory, immortality, and eternal lives, will also, when they again receive their bodies, become angels and will receive a glory.

”Slide30

Revelation 21:4

“

He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”Slide31

Matthew 25:33-34

“And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”Slide32

Matthew 25:41, 46

“

Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” “And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”Slide33

Mark 9:43-45

“

And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than with two hands to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame than with two feet to be thrown into hell.” Slide34

John 5:24

“

Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.”Slide35

Matthew 7:13-14

“

Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy[a] that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. 14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” Slide36

LDS Concept of Ordinances Slide37

The Lord’s Supper Slide38

Encyclopedia of Mormonism

“

Partaking of the Sacrament is the central act of worship and covenant renewal and resemble the simple commemorative meal described in the New Testament…All members of the Church, including unbaptized children, are encouraged to take the bread and water as emblems in remembrance of the body and blood of Jesus Christ

.”Slide39

Lord’s Supper

D&C 20:75 “It is expedient that the church meet together often to partake of bread and wine in the remembrance of the Lord Jesus.”

Three months later D

&C 27:3 “Wherefore, a commandment I give unto you, that you shall not purchase wine neither strong drink of your enemies”

Water became the substance used in the LDS sacrament service. Apostle James Talmage “Upon this authority [D&C 27:3], the Latter-day Saints administer water in their sacramental service, in preference to wine.”Slide40
Slide41

President Joseph Fielding Smith

“SALVATION AND A CUP OF TEA. You cannot neglect little things. “Ah a cup of tea is such a little thing. It is so little; surely it doesn’t amount to much; surely the Lord will forgive me if I drink a cup of tea.” If you drink coffee or tea, or take tobacco, are you letting a cup of tea, or a little tobacco stand in the road and bar you from the celestial kingdom of God, where you might otherwise have received the fullness of glory?” Slide42

D&C 89 Introduction

“

Revelation given through Joseph Smith the Prophet, at Kirtland, Ohio, February 27, 1833. HC 1:137-329. As a consequence of the early brethren using tobacco in their meetings, the Prophet was led to ponder upon the matter; consequently he inquired of the Lord concerning it. This revelation, know as the Word or Wisdom, was the result.”Slide43

D&C 89:7-9

“

And, again, strong drinks are not for the belly, but for the washing of your bodies. And again, tobacco is not for the body, neither for the belly, and is not good for man, but is an herb for bruises and all sick cattle, to be used with judgment and skill. And again, hot drinks are not for the body or belly.”Slide44

George Q. Cannon

“

We are told, and very plainly too, that hot drinks – tea, coffee, chocolate, cocoa and all drinks of this kind are not good for man…We must not permit [our children] to drink liquor, or hot drinks, or hot soups or to use tobacco or other articles that are injurious.

”Slide45
Slide46

George Q. Cannon

“Every foundation stone that is laid for a temple, and every temple completed according to the order of the Lord has revealed for His holy priesthood, lessens the power of Satan on the earth, and increases the power of God and godliness, moves the heavens in mighty power in our behalf, invokes and calls down upon us the blessings of eternal gods, and those who reside in their presence.” Slide47

Washing and anointing

Temple garments and new names

Pre-endowment instructions Slide48
Slide49

Seventy Carlos E.

Asay

“

There is, however, another piece of armor worthy of our consideration. It is the special underclothing known as the temple garment, or garment of the holy priesthood…This garment, worn day and night, serves three important purposes: it is a reminder of the sacred covenants made with the Lord in His holy house, a protective covering for the body, and symbol of modesty of dress and living that should characterize the lives of all the humble followers of Christ…The piece of armor called the temple garment not only provides the comfort and warmth of a cloth covering, it also strengthens the wearer to resist temptation, fend off evil influences, and stand firmly for the right.”Slide50

Washing and anointing

Temple garments and new names

Pre-endowment instructions

Baptism for the deadSlide51

President Joseph Fielding Smith

“But greater than all this, so far as our individual responsibilities are concerned, the greatest is to become saviors, in our lesser degree which is assigned to us, for the dead who have died without a knowledge of the Gospel. Joseph Smith said: “The greatest responsibility of seeing that our dead receive the blessings of the Gospel. Said Joseph Smith: “Those saints who neglect it, in behalf of their deceased relatives, do it at the peril of their own salvation

.”Slide52

Ensign

“Just as Jesus performed a labor for us that we could not perform for ourselves, so can we perform the ordinance of baptism for those who have died, allowing them the opportunity to become heirs of salvation.” Slide53

1 Corinthians 15:

29

“

Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? why are they then baptized for the dead?” Slide54

2

Corinthians 6:2

“

For he says, “In a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you.” Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.”Slide55

Acts 2:40

“

And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.”Slide56

Hebrews 9:27

“

And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment”Slide57

Luke 16:26

“

And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.”Slide58

Ezekiel 18:20

“The

soul that

sinneth

, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.”Slide59

2 Corinthians 5:10

“

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.”Slide60
Slide61

Baptism for the dead

The “gnostic” groups Cerinthians

and

Marcionites

practiced thisPaul could be making an argument from the opponents point of view. “what shall they do which are baptized for the dead”Some

interpret the phrase “for the dead” as reflecting an expression which emphasizes the 

motive

 for the baptism, i.e., being baptized, in some sense, 

on account of

 the dead

.Slide62

Baptism for the dead

Some interpret Paul to be saying

:

If

there is to be no resurrection, as some of you allege (v. 12), why do you continue to practice baptism, thus following the example of those saints (now dead), who were baptized in order to become Christians? Baptized for the “old man of sin” (Rom. 6:6)Must remain consistent with other clear passages. Slide63

Washing and anointing

Temple garments and new names

Pre-endowment instructions

Baptism for the dead

Marriage for Time and EternitySlide64

Joseph Smith

“Except a man and his wife enter into an everlasting covenant and be married for eternity, while in this probation, by the power and authority of the Holy Priesthood, they will cease to increase when they die; that is, they will not have any children after the resurrection. But those who are married by the power and authority of the priesthood in this life, and continue without committing the sin against the Holy Ghost, will continue to increase and have children in the celestial glory.”Slide65

Brigham Young

“And I would say, as no man can be perfect without the woman, so no woman can be perfect without a man to lead her, I tell you the truth as it is in the bosom of eternity; and I say so to every man upon the face of the earth; if he wishes to be saved he cannot be saved without a woman by his side.” Times and Seasons 6 (1 July 1845): 955Slide66

Mark 12:23-25

“In the resurrection, when they rise again, whose wife will she be? For the seven had her as wife.” Jesus said to them, “Is this not the reason you are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God?

For

when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. Slide67

LDS Concept of RevelationSlide68

President Joseph Fielding Smith

“I would not ant you to believe that we bear any animosity toward the Negro. “Darkies” are wonderful people, and they have their place in our church.” Slide69

2 Nephi 5:21-23,

“

And he [God] had caused the cursing to come upon them, yea, even a sore cursing, because of their iniquity. For behold, they had hardened their hearts against him, that they had become like unto a flint; wherefore, as they were white, and exceedingly fair and delightsome, that they might not be enticing unto my people the Lord god did cause a skin of blackness to come upon the,. And thus

saith

the Lord God: I will cause that they shall be loathsome unto thy people, save they shall repent of their iniquities. And cursed shall be the seed of him that mixeth with their seed; for they shall be cursed even with the same cursing. And the Lord

spake

it, and it was done.” Slide70

Prior to 1981 2 Nephi 30:6, “…their scales of darkness shall begin to fall from their eyes; and many generations shall not pass away among them, save they shall be a white and a delightsome people.”

1981

revision of 2 Nephi 30:6 changes “white” to “pure.”

(spiritual issue??)

3 Nephi 2:15 “And their [the Lamanites] curse was taken from them, and their skin became white like unto the Nephites.”Slide71

Brigham Young

“You may inquire of the intelligent of the world whether they can tell why the aborigines of this country are dark, loathsome, ignorant, and sunken into the depths of degradation…When the Lord has a people, he makes covenants with them and gives unto them promises: then, if they transgress his law, change his ordinances, and break the covenants he has made with them, he will put a mark upon them, as in the case of the

Lamanites

and other portions of the house of Israel; but by-and-by they will become a white and delightsome

people.” Slide72

President Joseph Fielding Smith

“There

is a reason why one man is born black and with other disadvantages, while another is born white with great advantages The reason that we once had an estate before we came here, and were obedient, more or less, to the laws that were given us there. Those who were faithful in all things there received greater blessings here, and those who were not faithful received

less.”Slide73

Elder George F.

Richards

“

The Negro is an unfortunate man. He has been given a black skin. But that is as nothing compared with that greater handicap that he is not permitted to receive the Priesthood and the ordinances of the temple, necessary to prepare men and women to enter into and enjoy a fullness of glory in the celestial

kingdom.”Slide74

Brigham Young

“

When all the other children of Adam have had the privilege of receiving the Priesthood, and of coming into the kingdom of God, and of being redeemed from the four quarters of the earth, and have received their resurrection from the dead, then it will ne time enough to remove the curse from Cain and his

posterity.”Slide75

On June 8, 1978, President Spencer Kimball

“

Aware of the promises made by the prophets and presidents of the Church who have preceded us that at some time, in God’s eternal plan, all of our brethren who are worthy may receive the priesthood…He has heard our prayers, and by revelation has confirmed that the long-promised day has come when every faithful, worthy man in the Church may receive the holy

priesthood.”Slide76

TLC

Sister Wives Slide77

Jacob 2:27

“

Wherefore, my brethren, hear me, and hearken to the word of the Lord: For there shall not any man among you have save it be one wife; and concubines he shall have none”Slide78

Jacob 2

:30

“

For if I will,

saith the Lord of Hosts, raise up seed unto me, I will command my people; otherwise they shall hearken unto these things.” Slide79

Introduction to D&C 132,

“

Revelation given through Joseph Smith the Prophet, at Nauvoo, Illinois, recorded July 12, 1843, relating to the new and everlasting covenant, including the eternity of the marriage covenant and the principle of plural marriage.”Slide80

D&C 132:52. 54,

“

And let mine handmaid, Emma Smith, receive all those that have been given unto my servant Joseph, and who are virtuous and pure before me; and those who are not pure, and have said they were pure, shall be destroyed,

saith

the Lord God.” “And I command mine handmaid, Emma Smith, to abide and cleave unto my servant Joseph, and to none else. But if she will not abide this commandment she shall be destroyed, saith the Lord; for I am the Lord thy God, and will destroy her if she abide not in my law.” Slide81

D&C 109:4 in the Liverpool, England 1966 edition

“

Inasmuch as this Church of Christ has been reproached with the crime of fornication and polygamy: we declare that we believe that one man should have one wife: and one woman but one husband, except in case of death, when either is at liberty to marry again.” Slide82

Brigham Young

“

The only men who become Gods, even the Sons of God, are those who enter into polygamy.” Brigham Young in Watt, ed., Journal of Discourses, 11:269. Slide83

US Anti-bigamy Act on July 1, 1862

“Made the “cohabiting” with more than one woman a crime, punishable by a fine not to exceed three hundred dollars, and by imprisonment not to exceed six months This law also rendered persons who were living in polygamy, or who believed it its rightfulness, incompetent to act as grand or petit jurors; and also disqualified all polygamist for voting or holding office.”Slide84

Official Declaration 1

“

The Bible and the Book of Mormon teach that monogamy is God’s standard for marriage unless He declares otherwise (see 2 Samuel 12:7–8 and Jacob 2:27, 30). Following a revelation to Joseph Smith, the practice of plural marriage was instituted among Church members in the early 1840s (see section 132). From the 1860s to the 1880s, the United States government passed laws to make this religious practice illegal. These laws were eventually upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court. After receiving revelation, President

Wilford

Woodruff issued the following Manifesto, which was accepted by the Church as authoritative and binding on October 6, 1890. This led to the end of the practice of plural marriage in the Church.”Slide85

President Gordon B.

Hinckley

“

This Church has nothing whatever to do with those practicing polygamy. They are not members of this Church.... If any of our members are found to be practicing plural marriage, they are excommunicated, the most serious penalty the Church can impose. Not only are those so involved in direct violation of the civil law, they are in violation of the law of this Church.” Slide86

Scriptures of Revelation

Jude 3 “faith once delivered to the saints”

1 Cor. 13:8-10 “tongues…prophesies…cease…perfect come”

James 1:25 “perfect law of liberty”

2 Tim. 3:16-17 “All Scripture is inspired by God”1 Cor. 4:6 “not to go beyond what is written”Mark 16:20 “confirmed message by accompanying signs”Gal. 1:6-9 “angel from heaven preach any other gospel…let him be accursed”Slide87

Mormonism 101

Part 2 – March 1, 2015