I've been told that Mormons diminish the place of God so they can be equal to him, they discount the deity of

Question

Christ so they don't have to deal with their sin and can be his equal, and say the Holy Spirit is not a person of the Godhead so they can listen to their voice and say they are gods, therefore not answerable to anyone but themselves. Even saying they are the real Christians to displace the real ones and calling the real ones satan. Is this true. A mormon please. Do you really pray to Joseph SMith not God, even when in your Bible it says, pray this way, "Our Father who is in heaven, Thy will be done--not yours. You have to hear His voice to know His will.

Answer 1

We do not believe we can become equal to Him... we believe we can become like Him.

We do not discount the Deity of Christ... We believe he is Jehovah God of this world and Only begotten Son of the Father.

We believe the Godhead is made up of three separate beings God the Father, Jesus Christ the Son and the Holy Ghost.

We believe we will be held accountable for our own sins and will be judged by Christ... not ourselves.

We do not pray to or worship any prophet... of course that includes Joseph Smith.


Many Christian Sects and denominations hate Mormons... They make up lies and teach them to their children and congregations... or they take the truth out of context and twist it so it can't be understood.

Hope that helps:)

Answer 2

Paul, first of all, let me just say that any time you let a group of people interpret a religion they are not part of, the end result will be a massive misunderstanding of what the group really believes. This is the case in what you've been told.

Mormons believe in a doctrine that historically is called Deification. It's the doctrine that God (who Mormons believe is the Father of us all) loves us so completely and so deeply that He wants to share His divine nature with us.

Some form or another of the doctrine of deification was taught by the early Christian Father's. For example, no less then Saint Athanasius once said "God became man so that man might become a god." (Feel free to Google it. It's a real quote.)

Mormons are not unique in this doctrine. They *are* unique in that they are the only fairly large religion in America that teaches it today. (The Eastern Orthodox Christians teach a variant of this doctrine as well, but few in America know much about that religion, despite it’s massive size.)

Some western (i.e. Catholic/Protestant) Christians, unaware that this used to be a very popular doctrine amongst their own early Christian Fathers, have taken exception to this doctrine when Mormons teach it. They particularly have a problem with the term "god" applying to anyone but "God." Interestingly, Jesus Himself pointed out to Pharisees that God used the title "god" for those that received the word of God (i.e. the judges in Israel) See John 10:33-36. If you have an NIV, you'll find an excellent discussion about the term "god" as an honorific title applying to the judges of Israel by looking this verse up.

In short, Mormons don't see the historic doctrine of deification as being: a) making humans equal to God, b) diminishing God. In fact, they see it as making God so much greater then anyone thought possible or dared imagine.

Please also note that while no Mormon would ever say this aloud, as it would be rude, they probably feel that Christian religions that don't believe in the doctrine of deification are diminishing God's generosity, love, and goodness. If you see where the Mormon's are coming from, you can certainly see how it might be possible to interpret other religion's beliefs in this way. However, I know of no Mormon that has ever said such a thing.

Oh, and Mormons do not pray to Joseph Smith or any other man. They do not even do it in the sense that Catholics pray to saints - i.e. intercessory prayers.

Answer 3

We do not diminish Heavenly Father. We try and be the best that we can be so that we can become as his is. The Holy Ghost is a member of the Godhead. We are not taught that other non-Mormon Christians are Satan. We pray to Heavenly Father. Why would we pray to Joseph Smith, that would be like someone praying to their own Prophet. Our Prophets have heard his voice.

This is a Sunday School song called A Child's Prayer

"Heavenly Father, are you really there? And do you hear and answer every child's prayer? Some say that Heaven, is far away, but I feel it close around me when I pray. Heavenly Father I remember now, something that Jesus told disciples long ago; "Suffer the children to come to me" Father in prayer I'm coming now to thee."

Another song called Love One Another

As I have loved you, love one another. This new commandment: love one another. By this shall men know, ye are my disciples. If ye have love, love one to another.


I hope I answered the question.

Answer 4

You have been told entirely wrong. We revere God as high as any other Christian religion, if not more (I was Protestant before).
The Holy Spirit is an intrigal member of the Godhead (that's the first time I've ever heard we believe otherwise, and I've heard tons of anti crap before)
We call no one Satan, but Satan himself.
No one of our church prays to Joseph Smith, and would cringe at that thought. He was a prophet similar to Moses. I would never pray to Moses either. We pray directly to our Heavenly Father in the name of Jesus Christ.

As for the last sentence, I don't understand you on that one.

Hope this helps.

Answer 5

If you do not accept an answer from a LDS Mormon, then you are not looking for the Mormon truth. I don't see why we LDS must be liars, while the Mormon bashers are naturally taken as telling the truth.

As other LDS have stated:

Joseph Smith is not our God, we do not pray to him.

Believing in our church as the true church is not arrogant, don't other church believe in their own church too? If not, why be a member?

God the Eternal Father, his son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost, is the "God Heads" Its the principle belief of LDS.
And Jesus Christ is still the head of our church.

Believing we can progress to be "like" God, does not diminish the status of God the Eternal Father . In reference to our mortal earth life, when we married and have children, and become a parent our selves, does the status of our own parents diminish? Of course not.

Lastly, we accept all who believe in Jesus Christ as Christians and ,

11 We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may.

(Pearl of Great Price | Articles of Faith 1:11)

Answer 6

Paul, you've been told wrong. Do you believe everything that is mentioned to you by a non-LDS person?

The Holy Ghost is the third member of the Godhead, the Holy One that attests to the divinity of the Father and the Son.

No, we do not pray to Joseph Smith. We reverence him just as any Christian would reverence Moses, Abraham, or Isaac. All were prophets of God. We pray to the Father and always in the name of Jesus Christ.

Consider this as the truth from a Latter-day Saint.

Answer 7

No we do not diminish God in any way.
No we do not pray to Joseph Smith. We never did.
The Holy Spirit is a member of the Godhead.
We believe we have to repent of our sins daily and try to become better each day.

Answer 8

Wow, who HAVE you been talking to?

No, we don't diminish the place of God, He is our God and will always be our God, no matter what.

Anyone who professes Christ as teir Saviour is a Christian. And we do.

And, NO we do NOT pray to Joseph Smith! He was a prophet, nothing more. It would be like praying to Paul or something.

Answer 9

Mormons pray to God. They believe that Joseph Smith was a modern prophet of God. Their version of God is different from most mainstream Christian religions, though, because they believe that god has a body and was once a man. They believe that men can eventually become gods (no real mention of women here, though) and populate their own worlds. They do believe in Jesus Christ and his atonement for the sins of mankind. I think that other Christian denominations are put off by their declaration about being the only true church on the face of the earth. I don't think that they understand how incredibly arrogant that sounds to others.

Answer 10

It is true. I am not a Mormon, but I have studied their teachings more than the average bear.
They would believe that God was a man elsewhere and worked His way up to be God. Jesus did the same here by being married to Mary, Martha and Mary Magdalen.