Mormonism - Part I

A recent article stated the fastest growing religious group in America today is the Mormon church also known as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Mormon church was founded by Joseph Smith, Jr. in 1830 with only 6 members. Harry Ropp reported that "According to a conversation with the church office in Salt Lake City in late 1993, the total membership has now grown to 8.7 million."1 Ropp credits the missionary system of Mormonism for its rapid growth and thus its success. But does such growth and missionary zeal indicate God’s blessings on this group, or is it yet one more false religious system competing with God’s one true body, the church?

To determine whether the Mormon faith is from God, and therefore pleasing to God or not, one must examine their teachings. The Mormon church claims four written sources of divine revelation: The Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, Pearl of Great Price (the latter two are contained in one book today), and the Bible ("as far as it is translated correctly" quoted from the Articles of Faith). In addition to these books the words of the President of the Mormon church can also be divine revelation as the following from Doctrine and Covenants shows:

And again, the duty of the President of the office of the High Priest is to preside over the whole church, and to be like unto Moses--Behold here is wisdom; yea, to be a seer, a revelator, a translator, and a prophet, having all the gifts of God which he bestows upon the head of the church (Doctrine and Covenants 107:91,92).

If these books and words of the President are truly revelations from God, then they should agree with each other and the Bible (which Mormons accept as divine revelation). Internal consistency, that is the lack of any contradictions, has been and continues to be one of the strongest evidences for the inspiration of the Old and New Testaments of the Bible. One can expect the same from the Mormon writings, if they are the product of God’s inspiration. If these writings are shown to contain internal contradictions and or contradictions with the Bible, then they are obvious frauds and are not the product of divine revelation. The next article will begin to examine the Mormon sacred writings for both internal consistency and their harmony with the Bible.

(1) Harry L. Ropp, Is Mormonism Christian?, (College Press Publishing Company: Joplin, Missouri), c. 1995, page 16.