“15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. 16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? 17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. 19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. 20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.“ – Matthew 7:15–20
Joseph Smith and the Occult
“From Joseph Smith onward, numerous Mormon leaders & ‘prophets’ had strong occult interests. Joseph Smith was very interested in astrology. He also practiced ritual magic, was involved in drawing magic circles, and used divining rods. Smith also would use seer stones in a hat, bury his face in the hat, and then ‘see’ visions of buried treasure. This was how the Book of Mormon was allegedly translated. Doctrine & Covenants and The Pearl of Great Price – books used by Mormons – were received from spiritistic revelations. In Mormonism, people can contact spirits and feel safe about it. However, Deuteronomy 18:9-13 condemns all forms of occultism, including necromancy (contacting the dead). The father of all lies, satan, was behind the revelations Joseph Smith received, as his means for receiving information were via occult methods.”
(Source)
Other Mormon Prophets/Seers practiced divination:
False prophet/seer Brigham Young was also involved in divination:
Joseph Smith the Freemason
Joseph Smith joined the Nauvoo Lodge in Illinois and advanced rapidly through the degrees.
Credible and Mormon/authoritative sources confirm this:
- The official Church History Topics essay “Masonry” on the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints website states: “Some early Latter-day Saints were Masons. Heber C. Kimball, Hyrum Smith, and others belonged to Masonic lodges in the 1820s, and Joseph Smith joined the fraternity in March 1842 in Nauvoo, Illinois. Soon after he became a Mason, Joseph introduced the temple endowment.” It details that on March 15, 1842, Illinois Grand Master Abraham Jonas initiated Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon as Entered Apprentices; the next day they were passed as Fellow Craft and raised as Master Masons. (Source)
- Joseph Smith’s own journal (Joseph Smith Papers) records the events: he officiated as grand chaplain at the lodge installation on March 15 and rose to the “sublime degree” (Master Mason) on March 16. (Source)
- Other sources include contemporary Masonic records, accounts from participants (e.g., Heber C. Kimball), and historical summaries such as those on freemasonry.bcy.ca noting he was made a Mason “at sight” by Grand Master Jonas. Wikipedia’s “Mormonism and Freemasonry” page and books like Michael W. Homer’s Joseph’s Temples compile the documentary evidence. The first five LDS Church presidents (Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, John Taylor, Wilford Woodruff, and Lorenzo Snow) were all Freemasons initiated in Nauvoo. (Source 1, 2, 3)
His brother Hyrum was a Mason earlier (Mount Moriah Lodge, Palmyra, NY), and their father Joseph Smith Sr. is often reported as a Master Mason (Ontario Lodge No. 23, Canandaigua, NY, 1818), though some details of the father’s membership have been debated. (Source)
In summary, Joseph Smith and Brigham Young (along with the next three presidents) were Freemasons in Nauvoo; the connection to temple rites is historically real in terms of timing and form but is interpreted differently by the Church (revelation catalyzed by cultural forms) versus critics (direct borrowing). Modern Church policy allows members to join Freemasonry.
Joseph Smith appropriated certain elements for his new religion/cult. Even though the content, purpose, theology, and overall structure of the endowment are different, there are clear, well-documented similarities in form, timing, and some specific elements, and most historians (LDS and non-LDS) agree that Masonry influenced the presentation of the Nauvoo endowment.
- Ritual clothing (including aprons), signs/tokens/grips (handclasps), and certain phrases.
- Use of a staged dramatic presentation with progressive degrees or stages.
- Pre-1990 “penalties” (symbolic oaths involving throat, breast/heart, and bowels) that closely paralleled the three Craft degrees of Masonry, plus the “five points of fellowship” at the veil (later removed).
- Some symbolic elements (e.g., square and compass).
Early Latter-day Saint leaders who experienced both acknowledged parallels. Heber C. Kimball wrote that “there is a similarity of priesthood in masonry” and that Joseph said Masonry “was taken from priesthood but has become degenerated.” Willard Richards and others expressed similar views that Masonry preserved fragments of ancient truth. (Source)
The official LDS Church essay acknowledges “some similarities between Masonic ceremonies and the endowment, but there are also stark differences in their content and intent.” It notes that Masonic rites promote self-improvement, brotherhood, and charity, while the endowment involves covenants with God focused on exaltation through Jesus Christ, draws primarily on Joseph’s revelations and translations, includes women, and can be performed by proxy. The Church states that Joseph’s encounter with Masonry “evidently served as a catalyst for revelation” rather than simple imitation, and that the endowment is a divine restoration (with possible ancient parallels). Critics emphasize the close timing, near-identical elements in the 19th-century versions (especially pre-1990 endowment), and structural parallels; faithful scholars often highlight differences in purpose, substance, and broader ancient contexts. (Source)
What’s wrong with Freemasonry?
Joseph Smith Echoing the Pride of Lucifer
Totally unbiblical!
“God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted Man, and sits enthroned in yonder heavens . . . I say, if you were to see him to-day, you would see him like a man in form–like yourselves, in all the person, image, and very form as a man . . . it is necessary that we should understand the character and being of God, and how he came to be so; for I am going to tell you how God came to be God. We have imagined and supposed that God was God from all eternity, I will refute that idea, and will take away and do away the veil, so that you may see . . . and that he was once a man like us; yea, that God himself the Father of us all, dwelt on an earth the same as Jesus Christ himself did.” (Journal of Discourses, vol. 6, p. 3).
Compare to the following scriptures:
Isaiah 14:13 – “13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:”
Isaiah 43:10 – “Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me.”
Deuteronomy 32:39 – “See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand.”
Psalm 86:8-10 – “Among the gods there is none like unto thee, O Lord; neither are there any works like unto thy works. All nations whom thou hast made shall come and worship before thee, O Lord; and shall glorify thy name. For thou art great, and doest wondrous things:thou art God alone.”
Entering into Heaven Only by the Consent of Joseph Smith?
“No man or woman in this dispensation will ever enter into the celestial kingdom of God without the consent of Joseph Smith…every man and woman must have the certificate of Joseph Smith, Junior, as a passport to their entrance into the mansion where God and Christ are… [Joseph Smith] reigns there as supreme a being in his sphere, capacity, and calling, as God does in heaven. Many will exclaim”Oh,that is very disagreeable!…But it is true.”LDS PROPHET Brigham Young,JoD, vol.7,p.289-91.
Compared with:
“I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.” – John 10:9
Joseph Smith’s Practice of Polygamy
“Mormon leaders have acknowledged for the first time that the church’s founder and prophet, Joseph Smith, portrayed in church materials as a loyal partner to his loving spouse Emma, took as many as 40 wives, some already married and one only 14 years old.”
“A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach;”- 1 Timothy 3:2
“6 If any be blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly.” – Titus 1:6
“12 Let the deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well.” – 1 Timothy 3:12
Polygamy for Exaltation?
Mormons on celestial marriage.
The False Prophet Brigham Young:
“The only men who become Gods, even Sons of God, are those who enter into polygamy.”
– Journal of Discourses, Vol. 11, p. 269
Church Publication, Millennial Star:
“We cannot be married…for eternity without subscribing to the law which admits a plurality of wives.”
– Vol. 15, p. 226
The False Prophet Joseph F. Smith:
” Some people have supposed that the doctrine of plural marriage was a sort of superfluity, or non-essential to the salvation or exaltation of mankind. In other words, some of the Saints have said, and believe, that a man with one wife, sealed to him by the authority of the Priesthood for time and eternity, will receive an exaltation as great and glorious, if he is faithful, as he possibly could with more than one. I want here to enter my solemn protest against this idea, for I know it is false…The marriage of one woman to a man for time and eternity by the sealing power, according to the law of God, is a fulfillment of the celestial law of marriage in part… But this is only the beginning of the law, not the whole of it. Therefore, whoever has imagined that he could obtain the fulness of the blessings pertaining to this celestial law, by complying with only a portion of its conditions, has deceived himself. He cannot do it.
– Journal of Discourses, Vol. 20, p. 28
The False Prophet Brigham Young:
“Now, where a man in this Church says, “I don’t want but one wife, I will have my religion with one,” he will perhaps be saved in the Celestial Kingdom; but when he gets there, he will not find himself in possession of any wife at all. He has had a talent that he has hid up. He will come forward and say, “Here is that which thou gavest me. I have not wasted it, and here is the one talent,” and he will not enjoy it, but it will be taken and given to those who improved the talents they received, and he will find himself without any wife, and he will remain single forever and ever.”
– Journal of Discourses, Vol. 16, p. 166
Bishop Samuel Wooley:
The spirit told me…that that revelation was of God and that no man could or would receive a fulness of Celestial Glory except he obeyed that law and had more than one living wife at the same time.
– Historical Record, Vol. 6, p. 166
The False Prophet Brigham Young:
“It is the word of the Lord, and I wish to say to you, and all the world, if you desire with all your hearts to obtain the blessings which Abraham obtained, you will be polygamists — at least in your faith, or you will come short of enjoying the salvation and the glory which Abraham has obtained. This is as true as that God lives.”
– Journal of Discourses, Vol. 11, p. 268
Elder George Teasdale:
“Where you have the eternity of marriage, you are bound to have plural marriage, bound to; and it is one of the marks of the Church of Jesus Christ in its sealing ordinances.
– Journal of Discourses, Vol 25, p. 21
Note that for Joseph Smith: Evidence confirms sexual relations occurred with several of his older teenage wives (ages 16–19) and adult wives. However, for his two 14-year-old wives (most notably Helen Mar Kimball), the consensus among historians—both LDS and non-LDS—is that these sealings were likely spiritual/dynastic in nature and not consummated, but it is not known with absolute certainty that he never consummated with them. (Source)
Jesus and Lucifer are brothers?
This is blasphemous demonic nonsense! Jesus Christ is God Almighty, the eternal Creator of all things (John 1:1–3; Colossians 1:16–17; cf. Revelation 1:8).
From Mormon publications…In Ensign:
“On first hearing, the doctrine that Lucifer and our Lord, Jesus Christ, are brothers may seem surprising to some—especially to those unacquainted with latter-day revelations. But both the scriptures and the prophets affirm that Jesus Christ and Lucifer are indeed offspring of our Heavenly Father and, therefore, spirit brothers….But as the Firstborn of the Father, Jesus was Lucifer’s older brother.” (See Col. 1:15; D&C 93:21.)
Further, according to the official LDS teacher’s manual, Gospel Principles:
“We needed a Savior to pay for our sins and teach us how to return to our Heavenly Father. Our Father said, “Whom shall I send?” (Abraham 3:27). Two of our brothers offered to help. Our oldest brother, Jesus Christ, who was then called Jehovah, said, “Here am I, send me” (Abraham 3:27)….Satan, who was called Lucifer, also came, saying, “Behold, here am I, send me, I will be thy son, and I will redeem all mankind, that one soul shall not be lost, and surely I will do it; wherefore give me thine honor”” (Moses 4:1). (Source)
Note that although Latter-day Saints affirm Jesus Christ’s premortal existence, divinity, and role as Creator, their understanding of His divine identity differs fundamentally from historic Nicene Christianity.
LDS theology identifies Jesus Christ as Jehovah (Yahweh), the God of the Old Testament and the Firstborn spirit Son of Heavenly Father, whom Latter-day Saints commonly call Elohim. In this framework, Jesus existed before His mortal birth as a distinct spirit person. LDS teachings also identify Lucifer as another spirit son of the Father, making Jesus and Lucifer brothers within the LDS understanding of premortal spirit sonship. This does not mean that LDS theology considers them morally equivalent: Jesus is the divine Savior, whereas Lucifer is the adversary who rebelled against God.
This introduces a critical distinction between the two traditions:
Historic Nicene Christianity confesses one God who eternally exists as three distinct persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Hebrew terms Elohim and YHWH are distinct designations used in Scripture for the God whom Christians understand as the one Triune God.
LDS theology distinguishes the Father and the Son as separate divine beings. In conventional LDS usage, Elohim commonly designates God the Father, while Jehovah designates Jesus Christ in His premortal divine identity. The Father presides over the Godhead, and the Son acts in perfect unity and obedience with the Father’s will.
Therefore, although Latter-day Saints affirm that Jesus is Jehovah, divine, and Creator, this does not mean they accept the Nicene doctrine of the Trinity. They do not understand the Father and the Son as distinct persons sharing one numerically identical divine essence.
The critical issue, then, is not simply whether Jesus existed before the creation of the physical world, but whether He is the eternally uncreated Son of God. Historic Nicene Christianity teaches that the Son has always existed, without beginning, and is eternally begotten of the Father—not created or made. He is consubstantial with the Father, sharing the one divine essence with the Father and the Holy Spirit.
LDS theology rejects this Nicene understanding of the Godhead. Instead, Latter-day Saints teach that the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are three distinct divine beings or personages, united in purpose, will, and glory, rather than three persons sharing one numerically identical divine essence. Latter-day Saints nevertheless affirm Jesus Christ’s divinity, worship Him as Savior, and recognize His role as Creator. The disagreement is therefore not adequately described as a dispute over whether Jesus is divine; it concerns the nature of His divinity and His relationship to the Father.
A frequent point of ambiguity arises when Latter-day Saints claim that Jesus is “uncreated.” Whether this claim is true or false depends on a subtle distinction in LDS metaphysics:
- In terms of His individual personality as the Spirit Son of God: False.
Latter-day Saints teach that Jesus was literally begotten as a spirit child by God the Father (Elohim) and a Heavenly Mother in a premortal existence. His individual spiritual identity as Jesus Christ, the Son of God, therefore had a beginning when He was begotten as a spirit. Official sources state this clearly:- Gospel Topics essay “Spirit Children of Heavenly Parents” (ChurchofJesusChrist.org): “God is not only our Ruler and Creator; He is also our Heavenly Father. All men and women are literally the sons and daughters of God. ‘Man, as a spirit, was begotten and born of heavenly parents, and reared to maturity in the eternal mansions of the Father, prior to coming upon the earth in a temporal [physical] body’ (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph F. Smith [1998], 335).”
- 1909 First Presidency statement “The Origin of Man”: “All men and women are in the similitude of the universal Father and Mother, and are literally the sons and daughters of Deity. … Man, as a spirit, was begotten and born of heavenly parents…”
- “The Family: A Proclamation to the World” (1995): “All human beings—male and female—are created in the image of God. Each is a beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents…”
Jesus is specifically identified as the Firstborn among these spirit children:
- Doctrine and Covenants 93:21: “And now, verily I say unto you, I was in the beginning with the Father, and am the Firstborn.”
- 1916 First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve doctrinal exposition “The Father and the Son”: “Among the spirit children of Elohim, the first-born was and is Jehovah, or Jesus Christ, to whom all others are juniors.” “Elohim is literally the Father of the spirit of Jesus Christ…” (Source 1, 2)
- Joseph F. Smith, Gospel Doctrine: “Among the spirit children of Elohim, the first-born was and is Jehovah, or Jesus Christ, to whom all others are juniors.”
- Doctrines of the Gospel Student Manual: “Jesus Christ is the firstborn spirit son of God (see D&C 93:21; Colossians 1:13–15; Hebrews 1:5–6).” “We believe absolutely that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, begotten of God, the first-born in the spirit and the only begotten in the flesh; that He is the Son of God just as much as you and I are the sons of our fathers” (quoting Heber J. Grant).
-
Bruce R. McConkie and others stated that Jesus, as a spirit child, “had a beginning; there was a day when he came into being as a conscious identity, as a spirit entity, as an organized intelligence.”
BYU Religious Studies Center publications have written:“Because Jesus Christ was indeed the firstborn of heavenly parents… that means He also possessed a spirit body that had a definite birth or time of organization just like every other spirit child of God.”
“Our Lord’s spirit birth to an immortal mother was as literal as was his physical birth to the mortal Mary.” (Source 1, 2)
LDS sources distinguish this premortal spirit begetting (shared with all of God’s spirit children) from Jesus’s unique mortal birth as the Only Begotten Son in the flesh. The precise method of spirit birth has not been revealed, but the doctrine of literal spirit parentage by Heavenly Parents is affirmed in official statements, scripture, and curriculum. This teaching is a distinctive element of LDS theology and is not part of historic Nicene Christian doctrine.
- In terms of His foundational “Intelligence”: Technically true within LDS theology.
Doctrine and Covenants 93:29 teaches: “Intelligence, or the light of truth, was not created or made, neither indeed can be.” LDS theology holds that all human beings (including Jesus) possess an eternal, uncreated “intelligence” or core spiritual element that has always existed. Thus Latter-day Saints can say Jesus’s core intelligence is uncreated—while affirming the exact same thing about every human being. This is not the same as the classical Christian claim that the Person of the Son is eternally uncreated, self-existent, and without beginning as the Second Person of the Trinity.
Within LDS theology, the Father presides over the Godhead, while Jesus acts in perfect obedience to the Father’s will. Nicene Christianity also teaches that the Son is sent by the Father and obeys the Father in the work of salvation, but it does not regard the Son as inferior in divine essence. The Son is fully and eternally God, equal with the Father and the Holy Spirit in the one divine nature.
The Biblical Jesus possesses specific, non-negotiable characteristics that distinguish Him from the Latter-day Saint view:
-
He is uncreated and eternally God (John 1:1, Col 1:17), whereas LDS theology teaches He was begotten as a spirit child with a beginning point. Object? Then where does the official LDS doctrine explicitly teach that Jesus Christ’s individual personal existence—not merely His intelligence—has no beginning?
-
Everything that came into existence was created through Christ — He created literally EVERYTHING outside Himself (John 1:3; Colossians 1:16–17). LDS theology, by contrast, teaches that the physical creation involved organizing pre-existing matter and that intelligence is eternal and uncreated. The disagreement concerns whether all created reality depends on Christ as Creator or whether creation involves realities that are themselves uncreated.
-
The LORD is the one ontologically unique God, with none beside Him (Isaiah 43:10; 44:6–8). Historic biblical monotheism confesses one eternal God, the Creator of all things. LDS theology distinguishes the Father and Son as separate divine beings and teaches that exalted human beings may become like God. This represents a fundamental disagreement over the identity and nature of God.
-
Salvation is God’s gift of grace, received through faith rather than earned by works (Ephesians 2:8–9; Romans 4:4–5). Christ declared, “It is finished” (John 19:30). LDS theology affirms Christ’s indispensable Atonement but teaches that exaltation also requires ordinances, covenants, and continued faithfulness. The Protestant objection is that these requirements compromise the sufficiency of Christ’s finished work if they are necessary conditions for attaining exaltation rather than the fruit of salvation.
The fundamental disagreement, therefore, concerns the identity of the God whom Christians worship: Is Jesus Christ the eternally uncreated God the Son, sharing the one divine essence with the Father and the Holy Spirit, or is His divine identity understood within the distinct LDS conception of the Godhead—in which His individual spiritual personhood as the Firstborn spirit son of Heavenly Parents had a beginning? Merely calling Jesus “God,” “Lord,” “Yahweh,” “Creator,” or even “uncreated” (in the limited LDS sense of eternal intelligence) does not resolve that deeper theological divergence.
Joseph Smith on Hell
“…our petitions were treated with contempt; and in many cases the petitioner spurned from their presence and particularly by Joseph, who would state that if he had sinned, and was guilty of the charges we would charge him with, he would not make acknowledgment, but would rather be damned; for it would detract from his dignity, and would consequently ruin and prove the overthrow of the Church. We would ask him on the other hand, if the overthrow of the Church was not inevitable, to which he often replied, that we would all go to Hell together, and convert it into a heaven, by casting the Devil out; and says he, Hell is by no means the place this world of fools suppose it to be, but on the contrary, it is quite an agreeable place…” (Nauvoo Expositor, 1-2)
“I see no faults in the Church, and therefore let me be resurrected with the Saints, whether I ascend to heaven or descend to hell, or go to any other place. And if we go to hell, we will turn the devils out of doors and make a heaven of it. Where this people are, there is good society.” (History of the Church, 5:516–17; from a discourse given by Joseph Smith on July 23, 1843, in Nauvoo, Illinois; reported by Willard Richards)
But what does scripture say? We learn about the fate of those who serve the Beast or Antichrist in Revelation 14:9-11:
“If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.”
And Revelation 20:10 debunks annihilationism:
“And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.”
Magic Garments
“In those days [the 1970s] garments were one-piece, made of thick nylon, and cut like very loose teddies; they had a scoop neck and little cap sleeves and they came to the knee. The amount of coverage wasn’t accidental: One of the purposes of “garments” is to make sure that Mormons eschew daring clothing. The other is more directly theological: The underwear’s holy nature is expressed by small markings sewn into the cloth over each breast, the navel, and one knee. (The markings signify comforting homilies like “deal squarely with your fellow men,” and are intended to serve as reminders of temple covenants. The symbols themselves derive from the fact that Joseph Smith was a newly initiated and enthusiastic Freemason when he originated the Mormon temple rites in 1842, and so the Masonic compass and square appear on the left and right breasts of the Mormon garments.) The garments had one other characteristic that, if not actually biblical, did have something to do with creation: Women’s garments were slit in the crotch, very generously, so that they flapped open and left a girl’s greatest fascinations exposed.” – Deborah Laake, Secret Ceremonies: A Mormon Woman’s Intimate Diary of Marriage and Beyond (Another Source)
False Prophecies by False Prophets
Joseph Smith, who claimed to be a prophet, made false prophecies:
History of the Church
- Prophecy about Jesus’ return within 56 years–“President Smith then stated that the meeting had been called because God had commanded it; and it was made known to him by a vision and by the Holy Spirit. He then gave a relation of some of the circumstances attending us while journeying to Zion–our trials, sufferings; and said God had not designed all this for nothing, but He had it in remembrance yet; and it was the will of God that those who went to Zion, with a determination to lay down their lives, if necessary, should be ordained to the ministry, and go forth to prune the vineyard for the last time, for the coming of the Lord, which was nigh — even fifty-six years should wind up the scene.” (History of the Church, vol. 2, p. 189).
- Jesus did not return within fifty-six years when 1891 arrived.
- Doctrine and Covenants
- Prophecy that the temple would be built in Missouri within Smith’s Generation “Yea, the word of the Lord concerning his church, established in the last days for the restoration of his people, as he has spoken by the mouth of his prophets, and for the gathering of his saints to stand upon Mount Zion,i which shall be the city of New Jerusalem. 3 Which city shall be built, beginning at the temple lot, which is appointed by the finger of the Lord, in the western boundaries of the State of Missouri, and dedicated by the hand of Joseph Smith, Jun., and others with whom the Lord was well pleased. 4 Verily this is the word of the Lord, that the city New Jerusalem shall be built by the gathering of the saints, beginning at this place, even the place of the temple, which temple shall be reared in this generation. 5 For verily this generation shall not all pass away until a house shall be built unto the Lord, and a cloud shall rest upon it, which cloud shall be even the glory of the Lord, which shall fill the house . . . 31 Therefore, as I said concerning the sons of Moses for the sons of Moses and also the sons of Aaron shall offer an acceptable offering and sacrifice in the house of the Lord, which house shall be built unto the Lord in this generation, upon the consecrated spot as I have appointed.” (Doctrines and Covenants 84:2-5,31.)
- The Mormons were driven out of Jackson County in 1833. They were not gathered there in accordance with this prophecy dealing with building the temple.
- The prophecy clearly states that the generation present when the prophecy was given would not pass away until the temple was built at the western boundaries of the state of Missouri, which is in Independence. This clearly failed.
- All Nations would be involved in the American Civil War “Verily, thus saith the Lord concerning the wars that will shortly come to pass, beginning at the rebellion of South Carolina, which will eventually terminate in the death and misery of many souls; 2 And the time will come that war will be poured out upon all nations, beginning at this place. 3 For behold, the Southern States shall be divided against the Northern States, and the Southern States will call on other nations, even the nation of Great Britain, as it is called, and they shall also call upon other nations, in order to defend themselves against other nations; and then war shall be poured out upon all nations,” (Doctrine and Covenants 87:1-3).
- This is clearly another false prophecy since all nations did not get involved in the American Civil War.
- Prophesy that the earth will tremble and the sun be hidden in “not many days” “For not many days hence and the earth shall tremble and reel to and fro as a drunken man, and the sun shall hide his face, and shall refuse to give light, and the moon shall be bathed in blood; and the stars shall become exceedingly angry, and shall cast themselves down as a fig that falleth from off a fig-tree,” (Doctrine and Covenants 88:87)
- The sun hasn’t yet been hidden nor has the moon hidden its face.
- This prophecy was given on 12/27/1832. “Not many days hence”? Since the writing of this article on 6/22/06, it has been 63,364 days or 173 years, 5 months, 26 days. I think that 63,364 days is more than “not many days”.
- For reference to January 1, 2000, it was 61,000 days (even), or 167 years, 5 days.
- Prophecy that the temple would be built in Missouri within Smith’s Generation “Yea, the word of the Lord concerning his church, established in the last days for the restoration of his people, as he has spoken by the mouth of his prophets, and for the gathering of his saints to stand upon Mount Zion,i which shall be the city of New Jerusalem. 3 Which city shall be built, beginning at the temple lot, which is appointed by the finger of the Lord, in the western boundaries of the State of Missouri, and dedicated by the hand of Joseph Smith, Jun., and others with whom the Lord was well pleased. 4 Verily this is the word of the Lord, that the city New Jerusalem shall be built by the gathering of the saints, beginning at this place, even the place of the temple, which temple shall be reared in this generation. 5 For verily this generation shall not all pass away until a house shall be built unto the Lord, and a cloud shall rest upon it, which cloud shall be even the glory of the Lord, which shall fill the house . . . 31 Therefore, as I said concerning the sons of Moses for the sons of Moses and also the sons of Aaron shall offer an acceptable offering and sacrifice in the house of the Lord, which house shall be built unto the Lord in this generation, upon the consecrated spot as I have appointed.” (Doctrines and Covenants 84:2-5,31.)
- Pearl of Great Price
- Prophecy that Isaiah 11 was about to be fulfilled “In addition to these, he quoted the eleventh chapter of Isaiah, saying that it was about to be fulfilled. He quoted also the third chapter of Acts, twenty-second and twenty-third verses, precisely as they stand in our New Testament. He said that that prophet was Christ; but the day had not yet come when ‘they who would not hear his voice should be cut off from among the people,’ but soon would come,” (Pearl of Great Price, Joseph Smith, History, verse 40).
- Isaiah 11:6-9 says, “And the wolf will dwell with the lamb, And the leopard will lie down with the young goat, And the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; And a little boy will lead them. 7 Also the cow and the bear will graze, Their young will lie down together, And the lion will eat straw like the ox. 8 The nursing child will play by the hole of the cobra, And the weaned child will put his hand on the viper’s den. 9 They will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain, For the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord As the waters cover the sea.“
- This has not yet been fulfilled. The wolf is not dwelling with the lamb, the calf and the lion are not together, nor are the cow and bear grazing together. The lion is not eating straw like an ox. Nursing children are not playing in the dens of cobras.
- Isaiah 11:6-9 says, “And the wolf will dwell with the lamb, And the leopard will lie down with the young goat, And the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; And a little boy will lead them. 7 Also the cow and the bear will graze, Their young will lie down together, And the lion will eat straw like the ox. 8 The nursing child will play by the hole of the cobra, And the weaned child will put his hand on the viper’s den. 9 They will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain, For the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord As the waters cover the sea.“
- Prophecy that Isaiah 11 was about to be fulfilled “In addition to these, he quoted the eleventh chapter of Isaiah, saying that it was about to be fulfilled. He quoted also the third chapter of Acts, twenty-second and twenty-third verses, precisely as they stand in our New Testament. He said that that prophet was Christ; but the day had not yet come when ‘they who would not hear his voice should be cut off from among the people,’ but soon would come,” (Pearl of Great Price, Joseph Smith, History, verse 40).
This excerpt comes from Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith (pages 17–18), compiled by Church Historian (and later Church President) Joseph Fielding Smith in 1938:
“And now I am prepared to say by the authority of Jesus Christ, that not many years shall pass away before the United States shall present such a scene of bloodshed as has not a parallel in the history of our nation; pestilence, hail, famine, and earthquake will sweep the wicked of this generation from off the face of the land, to open and prepare the way for the return of the lost tribes of Israel from the north country… therefore, ‘Fear God, and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment is come.’ Repent ye, repent ye, and embrace the everlasting covenant, and flee to Zion, before the overflowing scourge overtake you, for there are those now living upon the earth whose eyes shall not be closed in death until they see all these things, which I have spoken, fulfilled…”
Mormons legitimately believed that the end of the world was 1891. People sold their property, etc., because they believed Jesus would return in 1891:
“Where did this belief come from and why did it have such potency to Saints as the year 1891 approached? Walker’s belief, and that of other Mormons like him, stemmed from a prophecy received by Joseph Smith which circulated widely, coupled with intense faith in the literal fulfillment of his prophecies and an urgent hope to be delivered from the crisis of their time.”
(Source)
On kind of a side note, Joseph Smith said that people were living on the Moon:
W. W. Phelps, an early church member, hymn writer, and scribe, long believed that Joseph Smith had promised him he would not taste death before the Second Coming:
“During his two weeks’ stay in Missouri, it was resolved to publish the revelations in book form, and to establish at Independence a journal called The Evening and Morning Star, under the editorial direction of Elder W. W. Phelps, a brother who performed a very important part in the history of Mormonism. The career of ‘W. W.,’ as he is familiarly styled, has been somewhat chequered, but he still lives, and is ‘not to taste of death.’ He is about eighty years of age, and has the promise of living till Jesus comes again.*”
Compared with:
“20 But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die.21 And if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the Lord hath not spoken?22 When a prophet speaketh in the name of the Lord, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.” – Deut. 18
Racism in Mormonism
Black men were excluded from the priesthood from its beginning till 1978. It was largely taught in the Church that up through the 1980s, black people were denied the priesthood because they were falsely believed to be from the lineage of Cain, who was cursed with black skin after killing his brother Abel. They claimed people were born black because they were less valiant in the pre-existence. The ban on black people holding the priesthood was conveniently reversed due to the supposed revelation received by the prophet Spencer W. Kimball in 1978. Their racist comments were pretty telling.
The text that portrays darker skin as a mark of divine disfavor or a literal curse is seen as reinforcing historical justifications for racism (e.g., the “Curse of Ham” interpretation used to justify the enslavement of Africans).
For most of the 19th and 20th centuries, many Latter-day Saints interpreted this (and related passages such as 2 Nephi 30:6, Alma 3:6, 3 Nephi 2:15, Mormon 5:15) literally: dark-skinned Native Americans and people of African descent were seen as literal descendants of the cursed Lamanites.
This interpretation was used to justify the priesthood and temple ban on Black members of African descent.
Other racist sentiments found in Mormonism:
Mormon President John Taylor (that means he’s a supposed prophet) said that the black race was preserved through the flood “because it was necessary that the devil should have a representative on Earth as well as God”.
Within LDS theology, Brigham Young is venerated as the second prophet, seer, and revelator of the modern dispensation. He stated in a speech:
“And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man’s work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear:” – 1 Peter 1:17
“Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons:”– Acts 10:34
“Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:” – Romans 3:22
“Is he the God of the Jews only? is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also:” Romans 3:29
“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.” – Galatians 3:28
Joseph Smith the drunkard
Compare with:
(1 Corinthians 6:9-10) “Do you not know that the unrighteous (WILL NOT INHERIT THE KINGDOM OF GOD?) Do not be deceived. Neither Fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor (DRUNKARDS), nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God”
(Galatians 5:19-21) “Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, Fornicators, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envying’s, murders, (DRUNKENNESS), revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things (SHALL NOT INHERIT THE KINGDOM OF GOD)”
(Ephesians 5:18) “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;”
Discover more from Jesus Truth Deliverance
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Of course Joseph would echo the words of Lucifer, since that’s where he got his information, (deception).
He was a phony right from the start.