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Introduction
An understanding of worldview helps our faith in two very important ways. First, it provides us with a means of evaluatingfaith in such a way as to give us confidence that our own Christian faith is true Secondly, it gives us a means of evaluatingother belief systems to see why they are not true. Today’s article focuses on this latter element. In this article we will spe-cifically look at the Mormon faith in order to understand it a little more fully and to see, at a very fundamental level, why itis not true.Our purpose, here, is not to give a comprehensive evaluation of Mormonism. One of the tremendous values of under-standing worldview principles is that it is not necessary to know everything about a belief system in order to evaluate it asnot true. It is only necessary to ascertain its foundational authority and to show that the foundation is not valid. It is our hope that reading this article will help you understand more fully how you can evaluate virtually any belief system in exis-tence.As you think about the value of worldview, please allow me to put a bug in your ear. If you are interested in bringing world
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When it comes to analyzing a belief system to determinewhether or not it is true, it is often best to first evaluate for what does
not 
ring true. Since every belief system is ulti-mately based on a foundation of faith, there are somethings which simply can’t be objectively dealt with on theaffirmative side. Ultimately we do have to affirm somethingas positively true, but starting our search from the negativeside can often save a lot of time and effort. If we can findthings that are definitely
not 
true, then the entire system isnot true, no matter what kind of positive assertions aremade. We must be careful using this approach, though, be-cause many people will assert an untruth without objectiveevidence simply because they are looking for reasons todiscredit another point of view. Antagonists to our ownChristian faith frequently try to use this tactic employingfaulty evaluation techniques. We must be sure that whenwe discount something, it is based on solid evidence.Mormonism is a belief system which fits into the Theisticworldview. More specifically, it is a cult which is a spin-off from Christianity. In this article we will begin with a verybrief look at the history and beliefs of Mormonism, then diginto the issues which show why it does not represent objec-tive Truth.
Background
History 
The Mormon church, also referred to as The Church of Je-sus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS), was founded by Jo-seph Smith, Jr. Smith grew up in western New York wheremost of his family joined the Presbyterian church. But thestrife and tension he witnessed between the various Chris-tian denominations of his day greatly disturbed him.Through a dramatic personal experience, during a Christian
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MarketFaith Ministries is an equipping ministry which is focused on helping Christians become more effectivein living out their faith in the midst of the increasingly diverse worldview environment of modern society.
Contact MarketFaith Ministries
312 Anton Dr.Tallahassee, FL 32312info@marketfaith.orghttp://www.marketfaith.orgToll Free: 888-883-0656Phone: 850-383-9756Fax: 850-514-4571
Volume 2 Number 13 July 11, 2007
Why Mormonism Is Not True
 
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revival, he sought guidance from God as to which church was the true one.In 1820, at age 15, Joseph claimed to have received a vision where he was visited by God the Father and God the Sonand told not to join any church because they were all corrupt. He claimed that, in the vision, God revealed he would useJoseph to bring forth the true church. This vision became the basis for the founding of the Mormon Church.Joseph had a second vision in 1823. In this one, the angel Moroni told him that God had a work for him to do. The angelthen revealed a book to Joseph which was written on gold plates. It was said to be written in “Reformed Egyptian” and hadto be translated from that language into English. He was told that the book contained a sacred history written by ancientHebrews in America and engraved on gold tablets. Joseph was given the location of the tablets and told to translate thetext using the “Urim and Thummin,” a set of seer stones. Joseph would put these into a hat, then put his face into the hat.As he looked, the interpretation of the tablets would appear to him.”Joseph claimed to have been visited several other times by heavenly messengers who ordained him to the true priesthoodand reveled further knowledge of the gospel. Many of these revelations are published in one of their other books of scrip-ture,
Doctrine and Covenants..
The number of Smith’s followers gradually grew and the group decided to move to Kirtland, Ohio. In Ohio they receivedstrong opposition and persecution because of their unorthodox beliefs. There were frequent fights with the non-Mormonsand Smith soon found himself imprisoned, along with several other of his leaders. Eventually they were driven to Missouriand finally to Illinois, where they organized a small army and began building a temple.Once again the persecution began and a local newspaper began printing anti-Mormon stories. Smith didn’t like that andordered the press to be destroyed and the paper burned. For this, he was arrested and put in jail. Then, on June 27, 1844,a mob stormed the jail and shot him to death.After Smith’s death, Brigham Young took over the leadership of the church and led the members to the Salt Lake Valley inUtah. This became the worldwide headquarters of the Mormon church.Today they are led by the president of the church who is the anointed successor to Joseph Smith. He is considered to be a"prophet, seer and revelator" and is the one who gives guidance and revelations from God.By the time of Young’s death in 1877, there were approximately 150,000 members. Today they claim about 10,000,000members worldwide.In the last several years, Mormon leaders have tried to make the church seem more mainstream. Until recently they didn’twant to be called "Christians" because of their belief that all of the Christian denominations are wrong. But in the recenttimes, the LDS church has spent millions of dollars in an intense public relations campaign trying to move the Mormonchurch into the mainstream of Christianity. They believe that this will provide significant political and economic benefits,and will help their efforts in proselytizing the members of Christian denominations into the LDS church.
Basic Beliefs and Practices
The Mormon church believes that they are the restoration of the true church established by Jesus Christ and that there isno salvation outside of Mormonism. They teach that, after the Apostolic age, the Christian faith was corrupted and no onepreached the true gospel from that time until Joseph Smith restored the true teaching in 1820.
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view training to your church or Christian organization, we would be delighted to work with you. Feel free to contact us byany of the means below.We sincerely hope that the worldview information you are receiving from MarketFaith Ministries is a help and a blessing.We are currently trying to raise $7,000.00 in order to upgrade the website and to strengthen the resource developmentaspect of the ministry. If you would be willing to help us in this effort, you many send your tax deductible contribution toMarketFaith Ministries, 321 Anton Dr., Tallahassee, FL 32312. Thank you so much for your consideration.God bless,Freddy
 
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)Mormonism asserts that the god of earth used to be a human being on another world and became a god by being faithfulto the god of his home planet. Upon attaining godhood, he proceeded to populate his new planet with the offspring pro-duced by him and his wife (the woman he had been married to on his home planet).In his present god-state, he rules over the earth. Even though he is God, he is said to have a body of flesh and bones,though it is an exalted body. As exalted deities, he and his wife have sexual relations and produce spirit children that growand mature in the spirit realm.The very first spirit child of earth’s god was Jesus. Later, God’s second child, Lucifer, was born followed by the rest of hisspirit children. These spirits eventually come to inhabit the physical bodies of people born on earth. Thus, every human onearth existed in spirit form before coming to earth to enter human bodies.One of God’s primary concerns for his earthly creation was the salvation of his people. To take care of this problem, hedeveloped a plan. Jesus endorsed the plan, but Lucifer became jealous and rebelled. In his rebellion he convinced alarge portion of the spirits in heaven to oppose God with him. As a result, God cursed the rebellious spirits and madethem demons.The remaining spirits sided with God and earned the right to enter human bodies on earth at the appropriate time. Theyare born in races and locations according to the choices they made in the spirit realm. When God was ready to send asavior to the world, he determined that privilege would go to his first born spirit child, Jesus.
Subscription Information
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Worldview Made Practical 
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Past Issues
of 
Worldview Made Practical
are availablefree of charge in .pdf (Acrobat) format in the archives athttp://www.marketfaith.org.PERMISSION TO REPRINT: If you wish to reprint thismonth’s article in your own print or electronic newsletter,please include the following paragraph:Reprinted from
Worldview Made Practical
; a free e-zineproduced by MarketFaith Ministries featuring practicalteaching and life tools to help Christians become more ef-fective in their faith life. Discover MarketFaith Ministries atwww.marketfaith.org.As Jesus lived life on this earth, he got married and hadchildren. At the appropriate time, he suffered in the Gardenof Gethsemane, then died on the cross to pay for the sinsof mankind.In Mormon theology, both men and women have the poten-tial to become gods. In order to accomplish this, they mustfirst become a good Mormons, pay a full ten percent titheto the church, follow the laws and ordinances of thechurch, and be found worthy. At this point, they are allowedto enter the sacred temples and go through special cere-monies that qualify them for godhood.Those who ultimately achieve the highest level of heavenare permitted to have their own planet and be the god of their own world. In this way, the Mormon system is expand-ed to other planets.
The Story in the Book of Mormon
The most well known scripture of the Mormon church isThe Book of Mormon, even though most Mormon theologydoes not derive from this book. The Book of Mormonclaims to be the history of the inhabitants of the WesternHemisphere from about 2200 BC to 421 AD. It claims thatthe American Indians are descended from three groups of immigrants who were led by God to America from their original homes in the Near East.According the text, one group came from the Tower of Ba-bel and the two others came from Jerusalem around 600BC, just before the Babylonian Captivity. They were led byprophets of God who already had the gospel of JesusChrist.Because they already had the gospel, many of the descen-dants of these immigrants, though not all, were Christians,
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Support MarketFaith Ministries
The purpose of MarketFaith Ministries is to equip the Bodyof Christ to become more effective by sharing the practicalapplications of worldview. We are involved in developingtraining and resource materials for that very purpose. If you would like to partner with us in this effort, you maysend your tax deductible contribution to MarketFaith Minis-tries, 321 Anton Dr., Tallahassee, FL 32312.
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