Mormania

I purchased a copy of the second printing of Dr. Walter Martin's book The Maze of Mormonism some time around 1984.  By then the Mormon church was doing their best to discredit Egyptologist Dee Jay Nelson who claimed the facsimiles in the Book of Abraham were total fiction.  Though Mr. Nelson a member of the Latter-Day Saints was chosen by the church to translate some newly found papyri, it did not turn out in their favor. When other scholars outside the church such as both Dr. John A. Wilson, and Dr. Klaus Baer (University of Chicago), as well as Professor Richard Parker (Brown University) came to about the same conclusion as Nelson, the church began screaming anti-Mormon conspiracy.  The reality became known that what Joseph Smith had claimed in his dubious translation was pure poppycock.  This was not something written by Abraham but in fact was an ordinary Egyptian funeral document dating to no earlier than 660 B.C. over a thousand years after the time of Abraham....

There seems to be a new trend among Mormon temples since 2020.  The "Church" no longer wants to be called Mormons and most of the more recent temples no longer have a statue of Moroni on it's highest spire. What is next, no magic underwear?  The Muslims won't be able to call them idolaters.   Moses Lake, Washington

 After Joseph Smith organized his church in 1830 conflict was soon to follow.  In New York he had a reputation that got him driven out.  They built a temple in Kirtland, Ohio in 1836 but soon they moved on. With "divine" prophetic revelation to take possession of other people's land they eventually moved to Nauvoo, Illinois and Missouri. "And thus, even as I have said, if ye are faithful ye shall assemble yourselves together to rejoice upon the land of Missouri, which is the the land of your inheritance, which is now the land of your enemies." (D&C 52:42).  This brought about a series of Mormon Wars.  As they were building a temple in Nauvoo some disenchanted members started a newspaper which published some information critical of Joseph Smith's religious practices, in part was the issue of polygamy.  A few of the Mormons decided they did not like this freedom of the press idea and therefore destroyed the print shop and the press.  This further inf...

  Another Book of Mormon problem The Mormon claim from 2 Nephi 5:16  is that Nephi built a temple like Solomon's, "And I, Nephi, did build a temple; and I did construct it after the manner of the temple of Solomon".   So where is it?  We know where Solomon's temple was.  The foundation still exists in Jerusalem where Herod rebuilt the temple that stood during the days of Jesus.  The temple of Nephi, is nowhere to be found.  Nothing resembling the temple of Solomon is found any where on the planet.

One of the books in the Mormon collection of so-called scripture is Ether.  It claims to cover a time period from about 2600 BC to 600 BC.  It alludes to the great tower (tower of Babel) when people rebelled against God.  So, low and behold, Jesus Christ reveals himself to Jared and his brother and tells them to get to work and build some barges for a great voyage to a new world (Ether 2:12, 2:16, 3:1).  Rather strange that Jesus had yet to be born in Jerusalem and be given the name Jesus, but this is Mormonism.  These eight barges have a hole in the bottom and in the top, but no windows for air.  There is no mention of these vessels having sails yet they managed to go either around the Horn of Africa, or through the Mediterranean and across the Atlantic Ocean.  Keep in mind that the Joseph Smith found the golden plates with this record on a hill in New York, but Mormons claim the barges actually landed somewhere in southern Mexico near present day San...

 What would Jesus say? Jesus seemed to have little problem addressing the false teachers of his day.  He called some a brood of vipers (Matt. 23:33).  Of others he said their father was the Devil (Jn. 8:44).  So why is it not Christ like if we do the same?  When we are out number by cultists we tend to keep a low profile.  Jesus however did nothing in secret.  He spoke openly in the temple and in the synagogues.  Martin Luther, a Catholic, tacked a written rebuke on the door of a Catholic church in his day (1517), and of course the top dogs in Rome wanted him dead for it. The final message Jesus had for Capernaum was a rebuke in memory of Sodom which God had destroyed with fire hundreds of years earlier.  There was no question what he was saying because all the Jews knew the history of Lot leaving the wicked town of Sodom shortly before its destruction (Matt. 11:23).

A nd when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he [Jesus] answered them and said, "The kingdom of God cometh not with observation;  Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you."  (2 Cor. 17:20-21, KJV) When dealing with Mormons and some New Age people this creates a problem when read it in the King James translation.  We can all agree that all humans are God's creation however Jesus said unless we are born again we cannot enter the kingdom of God.  Therefore the kingdom of God is not in everyone.  Most modern English translations read "the kingdom of God is in your midst". Mormon scripture claims "the idea that the Father and the Son dwell in a man's heart is an old sectarian notion, and is false." (Doctrine and Covenants 130:3) Apostle Paul in his second letter to the Corinthians writes, "Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves!  Or ...

  Written by Peggy Brown Throughout the covid lockdowns and threats of more to come I have found myself listening to more talk radio. I try and get a full meal deal but had my spirit quirked by listening to Glenn Beck in the mornings. My radar was going off the rails. So I decided to do a little research and yep just what I thought. Glenn Beck has really been pushing the Nazarene Fund. It’s a knockoff of Samaritan’s Purse run by the Billy Graham and now Franklin Graham association. If you know anything about Mormonism, and I do, you will come to realize the Mormons or what they demand (good luck with that) to be referred to these days as ONLY Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints have a knock off for anything and everything that a Christian or Christian organization has made successful. Let’s take the Light and the Glory books by David Manuel and Peter Marshall. Yep, they have their knock off of those books. Right down to the same exact stylized front cover artwork. Sa...

  St. George 2021 The Mormons spend millions of dollars every year in upgrades of old temples such as this one in St. George, Utah as well as the construction of new temples around the world.  At present there are 168 temples and 36 more under construction.  They play a part in Mormon's salvation.  What Jesus did on the cross was apparently not enough. "[Building this House] may be called a temporal work, but it pertains to the salvation of ourselves as well as our friends who have passed behind the veil, and also to the generations that are to come after us." —Brigham Young They place more faith in their temples than they do in the shed blood of Jesus Christ.  The bible clearly says that any power we have over Satan is through the power of the blood of Christ and our testimony of what He has done (Rev. 12:10-11).  Historically there was only one temple in Jerusalem which was built according to the pattern of heavenly shadows.  God literally had to dri...

LDS TEMPLE WORK  A Ridiculous Work and A Blunder by Dale Brown The ancient Jewish Temple in Jerusalem contained an altar for animal sacrifice which atoned for the sins of the living. A practice within the Mormon Temple however has given rise to one of the worlds largest genealogical research libraries. It revolves around a most questioned religious doctrine, that is, the salvation of those already dead through proxy baptism. This practice is reserved for an elite class of church members. Perhaps the most embarrassing thing to the Mormon Church (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) concerning their doctrine of baptism for the dead is the Book of Mormon itself. The Book of Mormon is supposed to contain the "fullness of the everlasting Gospel." In the Doctrine and Covenants (42:12) we read: "And again, the elders, priests, and teachers of this church shall teach the principles of my gospel, WHICH ARE IN THE BIBLE AND THE BOOK OF MORMON, IN WHICH IS THE FULLNESS OF T...

  Why is it that the Book of Mormon which supposedly covers a time period of about 600 B.C. to about A.D. 420 uses Elizabethan English that was popular in 1611?  Well considering that most Americans considered the King James Bible to be holy writ and were used to the style because they had been reading it in school from an early age the writer, or I should say translator, of the Book of Mormon would have wanted to impress his audience with "holy language" that would be too sacrilegious to question.  Throughout the Book of Mormon we see the phrase "and it came to pass" over and over again.  If you had written something this redundant in English class your teacher would have marked it with red ink and suggest you find another way of introducing the next part of your story, but because this is "holy writ" one cannot question the style.  Few talk about a man named Solomon Spalding who had written a manuscript prior to the Book of Mormon that was still at the p...

Like many Mormon writers Timothy Ballard goes to great length to draw a connection between the Mormon prophet Joseph Smith and the divine destiny of America.  In this case he connects Smith and his Book of Mormon with Abraham Lincoln.  How one can find a parallel with Lincoln who lead the nation in a fight against slavery and the "white and delightsome" Mormon prophet who would not allow blacks to be a part of his priesthood is another page of fiction.  But, Mormons are all about fiction as is the core of their religion.  The author with a background in Mormonism and educated at BYU also spent a decade working for the Department of Homeland Security.  His experience with trying to help those caught in the web of child trafficking caused him to see some parallels with the early American slave trade. He wrote another book zeroing in on George Washington as well.  Books published by Mormon publisher Deseret Books are designed to glorify the LDS church at all c...

The University of Idaho in Pocatello at first glace looks a bit like BYU Next to University buildings are Mormon churches and even one large building called the Institute of Religion.  So the Mormon cult is presenting itself an expert on religion.  The building on the right is the Stevens Center for performing arts.  To the left are two LDS churches.  This is clearly Mormania.

Another Wild Tale After the death of Joseph Smith in the shoot out in the jail there was some debate as to whether the keys of the Mormon kingdom had been taken from the earth.  Brigham Young was most vocal in proclaiming the keys were still here with the church.  Elder Sidney Rigdon had been the ordained "spokesman" for the prophet therefore he at first appeared to claim that right still after his death.  But Brigham was most convincing in his arguments for taking the lead.  In the History of the Church vol.II pg.418 (by B. H. Roberts) in bold print we read THE TRANSFORMATION OF BRIGHAM YOUNG.  Brigham Young was transformed into the likeness of Joseph Smith - voice, person and manner.  The late Elder George Q. Cannon, who was present on the occasion, said: "If Joseph had arisen from the dead and again spoken in the their hearing, the effect could not have been more startling than it was to many present at that meeting; it was the voice of Joseph himself; a...

The Mormons will argue that both Jesus and Lucifer were brothers and creations of God.  They continue this idea by claiming we are all creations of God therefore we are all brothers.  There are many problems with this considering the bible tells us that Jesus was the Word (God) that became flesh in the form of Jesus (John 1:1-14). Apostle Paul made it quite clear that Jesus is not our brother in his letter to the Colossains, " He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.     For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.   And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together." (Col 1:15-17) What is wrong with this picture? This is a Mormon sacrament of water and leavened bread.  Jewish tradition based on the bible would be wine and unlea...

Though the doctrine of baptism for dead people is not found in any of the four Gospels, or even the Book of Mormon, it is a key teaching and activity of church members.  Great sums of money are spent on temples around the world for temple construction and temple ritual.  Of the old covenant of sacrificing animals in the Jewish temple Jesus said it is finish.  The Jewish temple was destroyed in 70 A.D. yet Mormons work very hard at resurrecting a new temple religion.  Below is the Salt Lake Temple one of the first temples built in Utah. "The time will come when there will be temples established over every portion of the land, and we will go into these temples and work for our kindred dead night and day."                                                                           ...

As the Royal Family in England has made a cottage industry around the Queen, the Mormons have done the same around the fictional stories of Joseph Smith complete with registered trademarks, and copyrighted symbols of Moroni the angel in kid's games. A few years ago a coffee shop having a little fun got in trouble for using a picture of Moroni the Mormon angel having coffee poured into his trumpet.  When shirts and ads began showing up with Moroni doing coffee the church came after them with the big legal guns.  Coffee is a no-no for Mormons so that was the ultimate blasphemy. It is one thing to copyright translations of bibles in effort to pay expenses of printing and paying the scholars for their well earned labor but I wonder what Jesus would think of merchandising the message of salvation and symbols such as the cross?  Why hasn't Rome made the cross a registered trade mark?  They could demand that everyone wearing a cross would have to pay or at least pas...

While visiting Utah you are likely to find a picture of the local  Mormon temple hanging on your motel wall to help you have heavenly dreams. There will be a Book of Mormon in the desk drawer and occasionally a  King James bible either from the Gideons or the Mormon church. If you are one of those who have a plastic Jesus or a statue of Mary  on the dash of your car, you can now get a statue of a Mormon missionary  for your collection.  You will likely to be much safer on the road however  if you are wearing your magic Mormon underwear. https://youtu.be/p6J-BEq_bdU