What's wrong with Mormonism? (in your opinion)?

Question

I have heard it called a cult by many christians. Since I don't know much about it....I was wondering if you could tell me some of their beliefs and what is wrong/bad about it in your opinion. Ex-Mormons encouraged to answer.

Answer 1

Some of the highlights of Mormonism

-Joseph Smith, founder, was convicted of fraud. He claimed that he could find hidden treasure on the property of local farmers.

-Mormonism practised polygamy until just over 100 years ago. It was banned because of government pressure.

-Black people were not allowed to enter the priesthood of the Mormon church until the early 1970's. That was changed because of social and political pressures in spite of the fact that prior Mormon Prophets said the practise would continue until the end of time.

-Mormons are expected to tithe 10% of their wealth, and failure to do so removes their right to a temple recommend, making it impossible for them to enter any of their temples.

-Mormons believe that God was once a man who was raised to Godhood by another God. They likewise believe that all righteous men and their wives can become Gods and Goddesses.

-Mormons believe that God Himself had actual physical intercourse with Mary, the Mother of Christ.

-Mormons believe that Christ and Satan are brothers, and that Jesus isn't God but rather our older spiritual brother...which also makes Satan our brother.

-Mormons believe that the Garden of Eden is in Missouri.

-Mormons believe that the Biblical admonition to "put on the full armor of the Lord" means that they are to wear special santified underpants (underwear) that offers them spiritual protection. All Mormons are obligated to buy these underpants from the church and to wear them every day of their lives.

-Mormons believe that drinking coffee is a sin

-Mormons are admonished to look to Church sanctioned materials only for information on the Mormon Church.

-Mormons are taught that any citicism from outside the church is anti-Mormon and therefore anti-God.

-Mormon Missionaries are taught to keep the emphasis of their teaching (to new investigators of Mormonism) to those aspects of Mormonism that have the most in common with mainstream Christianity. The most controversial aspects of their beliefs are only slowly revealed after the investigator accepts Mormonism and joins the church.

-Mormonism makes claims about South American civilizations and technologies (that supposedly existed as a foundation for their beliefs) that are totally at odds with all archealogical and scientific evidence. This in strong contrast to Biblical claims about cities, events and personages, many of which have been verified independantly.

-Mormons hold secret rituals in their temples, the substance of which have been largely borrowed from the Masons... including secret handshakes that are required in order to get into higher levels of Heavan.

And there's a whole lot more...

I would encourage you to visit both Mormon and Non-Mormon sites (about Mormonism) on the net, in order to get a more complete understanding of Mormon history and practises.

Answer 2

First of all Yahoo Answers is a terrible forum. It's difficult to get real answers to questions. Please only want points or spout hate.

With that, here's my answer. Consider the perspective I bring here. I was a member of a Mormon church in Melbourne Florida for about 18 months when I was in my 20s. (I'm now 42 and while I go to a Baptist church because I like the teaching, I'm simply a Christian and don't like the stigma associated with different Protestant denominations).

You really have to understand the origin of the Mormon church. It's a fairly recent phenomenon. It started when a young man named Joseph Smith discovered golden tablets with undecipherable writing on them. He was able to decipher them with the help of an angel and some special clothing.

It took off like wildfire and Mormons have a lot going for them. They tend to be very family oriented. They take pride in their mission work around the world. That's the reason their foreign language school is 2nd to none in the world.

But your question was, "What's Wrong".

There are many problems. The Book of Mormon and the Pearl of Great Worth (Value? I can't remember) both contradict the Bible in many areas. Mormons believe that when there is a contradiction, then the Book of Mormon wins. From my point of view, when there is a contradiction, the BIBLE should win.

They also do not believe that Jesus is God. He is inferior to God. They take the 'family' metaphore all the way to heave. God the father has a wife and Jesus is their offspring.

They also believe that to be saved, you MUST be baptized with a total submersion in water. In addition, they believe that individuals who have already died can be baptised 'in proxy'. They will go into a Mormon temple if they have been qualified and they will be baptised over and over again for all the relatives that they were able to uncover through genealogy research. That's why the Mormon Church is 2nd to none in Genealogy studies also!

Anyway, this really doesn't make sense because it takes the salvation decision away from the individual who was already given a chance to decide.

The Mormons believe that there are three heavens. To go to the highest level of heaven, you must be married in a Mormon temple (even though in the Bible, Jesus tells us that the concept of marriage doesn't exist in heaven).

Over and over again, there are contradictions.

I believe if Mormons would abandon the teachings of Joesph Smith and the Mormon prophets and simple grasp the Bible and keep working forward in the same manner they do today, they would make OUTSTANDING Christians.

I hope this helps a bit.

Answer 3

Good question
mormonism has a cult inside it. but so does catholicism and judaism and islam
No church or religions are free from corruption.

for example the first christians were declared to be fornicators sodomites and antichrists.

WELL? at least some of them.

Mormonism was started by a 14 year old boy who grew up knowing the evils or all the other religions. he was tarred and feathered for testifying that he had seen God the fAther and Jesus christ. They told him to join NO church BEcAUSE theyare all an abomination.

i am an inactive mormon. i was a mormon for about 15 years. I still believe Joseph Smith SAW GOD. i believe his testimony as recorded by church history.
but i also KNOW that there are great evils practiced in the church, very much like the daughters of Lot who drugged and raped their own father and called it "raising righteous seed".

technically the mormon church is NOT a cult. They do not worship joseph smith. they give him praise and exalt him as a prophet. because of his tetimony and because he died at the hands of mobs who were very much of the christian faiths of their day.

but i also know there are some imperfections in the doctrines of the canonized versions of their scriptures. But this is easily defined as people who are imperfect and who have foilbles.

i would say most of their canon is pure and dogmatically correct.

but there are a few things in their own book of mormon that cannot be scientifically true and correct. even though the book of mormon is said to be translated by the power of God.
I know of 3 things.
But then again when it comes to christianity, there are just as many false doctrines found in EACH religious sect and division of apostates and disagreements that it can be proved that all religions are apostate.

Answer 4

Personally I have a problem with the polygamy. I know not all Mormons do that but the small number that do ruin Mormonism. I'm an ex Baptist who's not fond of the Baptist religion and I don't see Mormonism much different.

Answer 5

False prophecies plague the Mormon religion. In the Bible, Deut 18:20-22 describes a test to apply to all prophets to see if they were false prophets or not. It basically says that if a prophet delivers an incorrect prophecy, he is to be considered a false prophet.

An example of a false prophecy in the Book of Mormon is as follows:
In the Doctrine and Covenants 57:1-5 (July 1831) is purported to be God speaking to the elders of His church by the Prophet Joseph Smith. They are told the land of Missouri is the "land of promise, and the place for the city of Zion." They were instructed to purchase as much of the land as they could, near the place called Independence, because it was going to be an "everlasting inheritance" for them.

Doctrine and Covenants 84:1-5 (Sept. 1832) tells us that this was a revelation of Jesus Christ to Joseph Smith. In brief it states that the city of the "New Jerusalem" would be built in the state of Missouri ('verily, this is the word of the Lord'), beginning at the temple, "which temple shall be reared in this generation. For verily, this generation shall not pass away until an house be built unto the Lord, etc."

In October of 1838, an extermination order was issued by the governor of Missouri that compelled the Mormons to leave that state. This is clearly stated in the heading of D&C 124. The temple was not built in "that generation" and the Mormons were expelled from their "everlasting inheritance." Joseph Smith obviously failed the test of God Almighty for a true prophet!

Answer 6

The only thing that is wrong is all the slander and falsehood spread about the church - which is pretty much all of the answers on this forum.
Satan knows it is the true and correct church and leads others to be confused and hate the church.

Everything we believe is in the Bible, Book of Mormon, Doctrine & Covenants and Pearl of Great Price. They all go hand in hand, one who claims anything contradicts another is simply ignorant and just listens to slander. It saddens me that other churches actually pass out anti-mormon material! Does that not tell you those other churches are on Satan's side -whether they know it or not! They are doing his work for him!

I encourage you to see for yourself. Look at mormon.org, LDS.org, or even talk with some missionaries. There are SOOO many misconceptions, lies, slander, and hatred spread about the church.
I know it is the complete and true gospel. I know Joseph Smith saw God the Father and Jesus Christ, they spoke with him and instructed him on restoring the gospel in this last dispensation. I know the blessings of the gospel are real, that the temple is truly the house of the Lord, that He is there. I know prayers can be answered if we have faith. I know the Book of Mormon was translated by Joseph through and only through the power of God and according to his obedience and faithfulness.
Good luck.

Answer 7

I've known several Mormons personally, and when asked about the Bible, they will all give the same answer. They say the the Bible "is ok, as far as it is correctly interpreted, but much of it was not interpreted correctly."

What's wrong with this is that the Bible was written over a 1600 year span, and by a number of Bible writers (I forgot the number, but around 60 or so). Over time, various things have shown up to authenticate the Bible (like the Dead Sea Scrolls, for one).

Yet, the Book of Mormon was interpreted by just one man, then the gold tablets "magically" disappeared. There has never been any way to verify any of what Joseph Smith said was in those tablets (the ones that the "angel" Moroni was said to have taken away as soon as he finished translating them).

So, they've based an entire religion and lifestyle on the words of one man, and he got his information from gold tablets that nobody else ever saw.

That's one thing that's wrong with Mormonism.....

Answer 8

Joseph Smith was a false prophet. Of the 65 to 70 prophecies that were recorded, only five or six actually came to pass. Deuteronomy 18:20-22 tells us not to believe this prophet.

Joseph Smith admitted that he went into the woods to pray and was seized by some powerful being of the unseen world. He said thick darkness gathered around him. He told JS that all the teachings of Christianity were an abomination. Joseph Smith said he encountered a personage of light, but who was this personage of light. Satan masquerades as an angel of light.
2 Corinthians 11:2-4, 13-15

Mormons teach that every male mormon can become a god himself. Mormons claim God is a man who has been evolving and changing. Brigham Young said, "Gods exist and we had better strive to become one with them."

There is only One True God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The Trinity is The Father, The Son and the Holy Spirit and this only is the Godhead.

Answer 9

Nothing wrong in my Opinion.

The people may not be perfect, but the doctrine is quite practical.

To ask the answer from an Ex-mormon, is like asking Binladen why he bomded the twin tower.

The bottom line is, most people judge Mormons by their different interpretations of the Bible. Now tell me, how many christian churches interpret the Bible differently from each other?

I am a LDS Mormon, and grateful to be one, all those who spread falshood and negative ideas about the LDS is definitely not very nice.

Answer 10

From a cursory look at Mormonism The main objection is that the Book of Mormon is on par with he Holy Bible. Revelation 22 18 and 19 say 18: For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:
19: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

I think this is the main objection with Mormonism.

Answer 11

Let's imagine that I tell you the following story:

"I was in my room one night.
Suddenly, my room became exceedingly bright.
Next thing I know there is an angel in my room.
He tells me an amazing story.
He says that there is a set of ancient golden plates buried in the side of a hill in New York.
On them are the books of a lost race of Jewish people who inhabited North America.
These plates bear inscriptions in the foreign language of these people.
Eventually the angel leads me to the plates and lets me take them home.
Even though the plates are in a foreign language, the angel helps me to decipher and translate them.
Then the plates are taken up into heaven, never to be seen again.
I have the book that I translated from the plates. It tells of amazing things -- an entire civilization of Jewish people living here in the United States 2,000 years ago.
And the resurrected Jesus came and visited these people!
I also showed the golden plates to a number of real people who are my eye witnesses, and I have their signed attestations that they did, in fact, see and touch the plates before the plates were taken up into heaven. "

Now, what would you say to me about this? Does this sound like someone sane?