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~~  14 Basic LDS Questions  ~~

Verses Chronologically Quoted in "14 Basic LDS Questions"


  Abbreviations:

BOM = Book of Mormon
D&C = Doctrines and Covenants
POGP = Pearl of Great Price
HOTC = History of the Church (LDS)
JOD = Journal of Discourses

(The JOD is a record of sermons by the LDS Prophets/Presidents. It is printed by the LDS church and has historically been universally endorsed by the LDS Church. Brigham Young even said [right in the JOD], "I have never yet preached a sermon and sent it out to the children of men, that they may not call Scripture." JOD, Vol. 13, Pg. 95)


1) Did Joseph Smith ever give a false prophecy?

Answer: Yes!

D&C 84:3-5 (Pg.153), "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. 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, 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," { To this very day, there in no temple on Temple Lot in Independence, MO, and the LDS church doesn’t even own the land anymore!}

HOTC, Vol. 2, (Pg. 182), "President Smith then stated that the meeting had been called, because God had Commanded it; and it was made known to him by vision and by the Holy Spirit. He then gave a revelation of some of the circumstances attending us while journeying to Zion – our trails, sufferings; and said the 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, or the coming of the Lord, which was nigh, even fifty-six years should wind up the scene. (February, 1835)

D&C 130:15 (Pg. 265), "Joseph my son, if thou livest until thou art 85 years old, thou shalt see the face of the Son of Man." Smith’s god didn’t know if Smith would live to be 85 years old or not!

(BIBLE) Deuteronomy 13: 1-5, "If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth tee a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them; Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the Lord you God proveth you, to know whether ye love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul…and that prophet…shall be put to death."

(BIBLE) Deuteronomy 18:20-22, "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. And if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the Lord hath not spoken? When a prophet speaketh in the name of the Lord, if the thing followeth not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord hath not spoken, but the prophet spoken it presumptuously; thou shalt not be afraid of him."

2) Are there any contradictions in the Standard Works? (Book of Mormon; Doctrines & Covenants; Pearl of Great Price)

Answer: Yes!

BOM, Jacob 2:24-28 (Pg.121), "Behold, David and Solomon truly had many wives and concubines, which thing was abominable before me, saith the Lord…(27) for there shall not any man among you have save it be one wife; and concubines he shall have none; (28) For I, the Lord God, delight in the chastity of women. And whoredoms are an abomination before me; thus saith the Lord of hosts."

D&C 132:38 (Pg. 270), "David also received many wives and concubines, and also Solomon and Moses my servants, as also many others of my servants, from the beginning of creation until this time; and in nothing did they sin save in those things which they received not of me."

BOM, Alma 11:26-29 (Pg. 235), "And Zeezron said unto him: Thou sayest there is a true and living God? And Amulek said: Yen, there is a true and living God. Now Zeezron said: Is there more than one God? And he answered, No."

HOTC, Vol. 6, (Pg. 474), "I will preach on the plurality of Gods. I have selected this text for the express purpose. I wish to deliver I have always and in all congregations when I have preached on the subject of Deity, it has been the plurality of Gods. It has been preached by the Elders for fifteen years." ( Joseph Smith ; June, 1844)

POGP, Book of Moses, 2: 1-31 ( Pg. 5-7), " And I, God…And I, God…And I, God…And I, God…And I, God…And I, God…And I, God…And I, God…And I, God…

POGP, Book of Abraham, 4:1-31 (Pg. 38-42), "And the Gods…And the Gods…And the Gods…And the Gods…And the Gods…And the Gods…

3) Do the LDS teach that the Bible is corrupt and untrustworthy?

  Answer: Yes!

BOM, I Nephi 13: 24-34 (Pg. 25-26), " And the Angel of the Lord said unto me : Thou hast beheld that the book proceeded forth from the mouth of a Jew; and when it proceeded forth from the mouth of a Jew it contained the fullness of the gospel of the Lord, of whom the twelve apostles bear record; and they bear record according to the truth which is the Lamb of God. (25) Wherefore, these things go forth from the Jews in purity unto the Gentiles, according to the truth which is in God. (26) And after they go forth by the hands of the twelve apostles of the Lamb, from the Jews unto the Gentiles, thou seest the formation of that great and abominable church, which is most abominable above all churches; for behold, they have taken away from the gospel of the Lamb many parts which are plain and most precious; and also many covenants of the Lord have they taken away. (27) And all this have they done that they might pervert the right ways of the Lord, that they might blind the eyes and harden the hearts of the children of men. (28) Wherefore, thou seest that after the book hath gone forth through the hands of the great and abominable church, that there are many plain and precious things taken away from the book, which is the book of the Lamb of God. (29) And After these plain and precious things were taken away it goes forth unto all the nations of the Gentiles; and after it goeth forth unto all the nations of the Gentiles, yea, even across the many waters which thou hast seen with the Gentiles which have gone forth out of captivity, thou seest-because of the many plain and precious things which have been taken out of the book, which were plain unto the understanding of the children of men, according to the plainness which is the Lamb of God-because of these things which are taken away out of the gospel of the Lamb, an exceedingly great many do stumble, yea, insomuch that Satan hath great power over them…(32) Neither will the Lord God suffer that the Gentiles shall forever remain in that awful state of blindness, which thou beholdest they are in, because of the plain and most precious parts of the gospel of the Lamb which have been kept back by that abominable church, whose formation thou hast seen…(34 b) and after the Gentiles do stumble exceedingly, because of the most plain and precious parts of the gospel of the Lamb which have been kept back by that abominable church, which is the mother of harlots, saith the Lamb."

HOTC, Vol. 1, (Pg. 245), "Upon my return from Amherst conference, I resumed translation of the Scriptures. From sundry revelations which had been received, it was apparent that many important points touching the salvation of man, had been taken from the Bible, or lost before it was compiled."

(BIBLE) Matthew 24:25, "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away." (Jesus speaking) (BIBLE) Matthew 24:25, "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away." (Jesus speaking) (BIBLE) Matthew 24:25, "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away." (Jesus speaking) (BIBLE) Matthew 24:25, "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away." (Jesus speaking) "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away." (Jesus speaking)  

(BIBLE) 1 Peter 1: 23-25, "Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever.(24) For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: (25) But the word of the Lord endureth forever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you."

4) Do the LDS teach that the Bible is incomplete?

  Answer: Yes!

BOM, II Nephi 29:6-10 (Pg.110), "Thou fool, that shall say: A Bible, we have got a Bible and we need no more Bible…(10) Wherefore because that ye have a Bible ye need not suppose that it contains all my words; neither need ye suppose that I have not caused more to be written."

(BIBLE) II Peter 1:3, "According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue."

5) Why does the Book of Mormon teach that these were in the Americas from 600BC to 400 AD: Horses, elephants, sheep, chariots, steel swords, wheat, barley; when archeologists agree that most came with the Spaniards in the 1500s? (They also teach that American Indians are Hebrew!)

6) Have the LDS found one single ancient city (600BC – 400 AD) mentioned in the Book of Mormon?

  Answer: No! That is why there are no maps in the Book of Mormon.

5 & 6 ) There are far too many resources that document the lack of archeological evidence for the BOM to mention them all, and the average Mormon would not accept the opinion of a "Gentile" (any non-Mormon), anyway. So our favorite resource is one of their own archeologists, Thomas Stuart Ferguson the founder of the New World Archeological Foundation at Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah. Ferguson spent untold amounts of money and twenty-five years of his life searching for legitimate evidence for the BOM. He presented a summation of his work to the LDS church that was recently published in a book by Stan Larson, called "Quest for the Gold Plates". In this book, Stan Larson reproduces the entire report by Ferguson (in Appendix A), wherein Ferguson describes the archeological evidence of the BOM as non-existent.

7) Do the LDS teach that God used to be a man?

  Answer: Yes!

LDS slogan: "As a man now is, God once was; As God now is, man may be." But since the LDS believe that God created man…how could He have been man, then became a God, then created the species that He used to be? It’s not only illogical, it is impossible!

This slogan is usually attributed to their fifth President/Prophet, Lorenzo Snow, (Latter Day Christianity; Ten Basic Issues, Pg. 25)

HOTC, Vol. 6 (Pg. 305), "God was once as we are now, and is an exalted man." (J. Smith)

8) Since the LDS teach that God is just an man, do they also teach that God had sex with the Virgin Mary to "sire" Jesus Christ?

Answer: Yes!

JOD (Vol. 1,Pg. 50-51), Brigham Young, Second LDS Prophet/President, taught, "…Now remember from this time forth, and for ever, that Jesus Christ was not begotten by the Holy Ghost. I will repeat a little anecdote. I was in conversation with a certain learned professor upon this subject, when I replied, to this idea " if the Son was begotten by the Holy Ghost, it would be very dangerous and confirm females, and give the Holy Ghost to them, lest he should beget children, and be palm upon the Elders by the people, bringing the Elders into great difficulties"

JOD (Vol. 4, Pg. 218), Brigham Young taught, "When the time cam that His first-born the Savior, should come into the world and take a tabernacle, the Father came Himself and favored that spirit with a tabernacle instead of letting any other man do it. The Savior was begotten by the Father of His spirit, by the same Being who is the Father of our spirits, and that is all the organic difference between Jesus Christ and you and me."

Mormon Doctrine (Pg. 546-547), under the subject head of "Only Begotten Son", LDS Apostle, Bruce R. McConkie taught, "These name-titles all signify that our Lord is the only Son of the Father in the flesh. Each of the words is to be understood literally. Only means only; Begotten means begotten; Son means son. Christ was begotten by an Immortal Father in the same way that mortal men are begotten by mortal fathers.

Doctrinal New Testament Commentary (Vol. 3, Pg. 141), Bruce R. McConkie taught, "Begotten means begotten; it means that Christ’s mortal body was procreated by an Eternal Sire; it means that God is the Father of Christ, "after the manner of the flesh." (1 Ne 11:18)

Doctrines of Salvation (Vol. 1, Pg. 18), 10th LDS Prophet/President, Joseph Fielding Smith taught, "Christ was begotten of God. He was not born without the aid of Man and that man was God!"

9) Do the LDS teach that Jesus killed people?

Answer: Yes!

BOM III Nephi 9:1-15 (Pg.424-425), "And it came to pass that there was a great voice heard…(verse 3) Behold that great city Zarahemla have I burned with fire and the inhabitants thereof…(Verses 4 through 14 go on to tell of someone destroying 16 of the ancient Book of Mormon cities. Verse 15 then identifies who this Great Destroyer is) (verse 15) "Behold I am Jesus Christ the Son of God."

BIBLE, Luke 9: 51-56, " And it came to pass, when the time was come that he should be received up, he steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem. (52) And sent messengers before his face: and they went, and entered into a village of the Samaritians, to make ready for Jerusalem. (54) And when his disciples, James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down form heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did? (55) But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. (56)For the Son of man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them. And they went to another village."

10) Do the LDS teach that salvation is attained by obedience to the laws of their "gospel"?

Answer: Yes!

POGP, The Articles of Faith (Pg. 60), Article #3 states: "We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel."

BIBLE, Ephesians 2: 8 & 9, "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast."

BIBLE, Titus 3:5 "Not by works of righteousness that we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost."

BIBLE, Galatians 2:16 "Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified."

11) Do the LDS teach racism?

Answer: Yes!

BOM, II Nephi 5:21 (Pg. 66), "And he 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 them."

BOM, I Nephi 12:23 (Pg.23), "And it came to pass that I beheld, after they had dwindled in unbelief they became a dark and loathsome, and a filthy people, full of idleness and all manner of abominations."

BOM, Alma 3:6 (Pg. 214), "And the skin of the Lamanites were dark, according to the mark that was set upon their fathers, which was a curse upon them because of their transgression and their rebellion against their brethren…"

BOM, Jacob 3:5 & 8 (Pg. 122-123), "Behold, the Lamanites your brethren, whom ye hate because of their filthiness and the cursing which hath come upon their skin…(8) Oh my brethren, I fear that unless ye shall repent of your sins that their skins will be whiter than yours, when ye shall be brought with them before the throne of God."

BOM, III Nephi 2:15(Pg.410), "And their curse was taken from them, and their skin became white like unto the Nephites. "BOM, III Nephi 2:15(Pg.410), "And their curse was taken from them, and their skin became white like unto the Nephites."

JOD (Vol. 10, Pg. 110), Brigham Young taught the following: "Shall I tell you the law of God in regard to the African race? If the white man who belongs to the chosen seed mixes death on the spot. This will always be so."

12) Do the LDS teach that all other churches’ beliefs/creeds are an abomination to God?

Answer: Yes!

POGP, Joseph Smith—History 1:18-20(Pg. 49), "…I asked the Personages who stood above me in the light, when of all the sects was right (for at this time it had never entered into my heart that all were wrong)—and which I should join. (19) I was answered that I must join none of them, for they were all wrong; and the Personage who addressed me said that all their creeds were an abomination in his slight; that those professors were all corrupt; that:’ they draw near to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me, they teach for doctrines the commandments of men, having a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof.’ (20) He again forbade me to join with any of them…"

BOM, I Nephi 14:10 (Pg.28), "And he said unto me: Behold there are save two churches only; the one is the Church of the Lamb of God [the LDS church], and the other is the church of the devil; wherefore whoso belongeth not to the church of the Lamb of God belongeth to that great church, which is the mother of abominations; and she is the whore of all the earth." 

BOM, IV Nephi 1:27-28 (Pg.467), " And it came to pass…there were many churches which professed to know the Christ, and yet they did deny the more parts of his gospel, insomuch that they did receive all manner of wickedness, and did administer that which was sacred unto him to whom it had been forbidden because of unworthiness. (28) And this church did multiply exceedingly because of iniquity, and because of the power of Satan who did get hold upon their hearts."

D&C 10:56 (Pg.20), "But it is they who do not fear me, neither keep my commandments but build up churches unto themselves to get gain, yea, and all those that do wickedly and build up the kingdom of the devil—yea, verily, verily, I say unto you, that it is they that I will disturb, and cause to tremble and shake to the center."

13) Did Joseph Smith correctly translate the Book of Abraham?

  Answer: No!

It is a well known documented fact that Joseph Smith did not get one single word right in the translation of the Book of Abraham (BOA). He claimed that he had the ability to translate an Egyptian papyrus that he brought from a traveling mummy show in 1835. To everyone’s surprise, he also claimed that it was personally hand written by the Jewish patriarch, Abraham! In Smith’s day there was no one to challenge his "translation" because they hadn’t cracked the hieroglyphic codes yet. But there are hundred of Egyptologists now, and many have translated the same papyrus that Smith translated into the BOA, with amazingly different conclusions than Smith. There is unanimous consensus that the name Abraham is not even mentioned in the papyrus, anywhere! What Smith had was an ancient Egyptian (pagan) funeral text. Now if you talk to the leadership of the LDS church, or maybe a BYU professor, their first line of defense is to say that they don’t even have the actual papyrus that Smith translated into the BOA. This is not true, but rather than argue the point, one simply can ask if Smith correctly translated the facsimiles (pictures) that are printed in the BOA. The answer is a resounding NO! He did not get one single word right! So the question is: if we can’t trust the BOA, how can we trust the Book of Mormon?

14) Do the LDS teach that there is a plurality of Gods, and that they can become Gods, too?

Answer: Yes!

HOTC, Vol.6 (Pg.474), "I will preach on the plurality of Gods…when I have preached on the subject of the Deity, it has been the plurality of Gods."

HOTC,Vol.6 (Pg. 305-306), "…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 take away the veil, so that you may see. (Pg. 306) …and you have to learn how to be gods yourselves, and to be kings and priests to God, the same as all gods have done before you…"

BIBLE, Isaiah 43:10, "…before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me"

BIBLE, I Corinthians 8:4, "…there is none other God but one."

BIBLE, I Timothy 2:5, "For there is one God…"

BIBLE, James 2:19, "Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well…"

BIBLE, Ephesians 4:4-6, "There is…One God and Father of all, who is above all…"


Proverbs 30:6 - "Don't add unto God's words, lest He reprove you, and you be found to be a liar"