Mormons: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

True Christianity
Mormon Mythology
"God Was Once a Man"
Lucifer and Jesus
Race Segregation
On the Virgin Birth
Temples: Only for the Worthy
Temple Rituals

It's been a long time since the ordinary Dane has been taken by surprise by the Mormon missionaries, these likable, impeccably well-dressed young persons. The Mormon community, in fact, has succeeded in creating a public image of a Christian Free Church which they themselves name The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Their devotees seemingly differ from other Christians only in that they do not smoke or drink coffee. And, of course, in that they read The Book of Mormon, a somewhat peculiar "additional Bible." It is only the very few outside their community who are aware that the most significant aspects of Mormon life are not taken from the Bible, neither are they described in the Book of Mormon. The most significant parts of Mormon doctrines are taken from two other holy scriptures known as Doctrine and Covenants and The Pearl of Great Price, respectively. These books, however, are not presented at your front door as is the Book of Mormon.
True Christianity?

This site is prepared with the intention of providing a first impression of the Mormon religion to non-Mormons, which would otherwise be difficult to obtain, even if they were to ask the Mormons themselves. The intention is not to prevent Mormons from believing, speaking, or missionizing as they please, but only to show the more important parts of Mormon doctrine – which the devotees advocate as "true Christianity." Anyone seriously interested in Mormonism is entitled to require full knowledge of this religion so that he is rendered able to consider what his evaluation is to be.
The Mormon Mythology

The Mormons believe that numerous gods rule over their own individual planet, and that once each of these gods was a man like you and me. In a remote past, a child was born of such a god and his goddess. Through years of development, this child attained status as a god – known as Elohim – just like his parents.
"God Was Once a Man"

In his book, The Gospel Through the Ages, published in 1958 in Salt Lake City, the leading Mormon, Milton R. Hunter, made this statement:
"The Mormon prophets have continuously been taught the glorified truth that God the Eternal Father was once a mortal man who lived his life on Earth similar to what we now experience. He became God – a grand being – because of obedience to the same eternal Gospel truths which we today are given the opportunity to obey." (pg. 104)

In the same book, the author parallels this doctrine to the pagan mystery religions of ancient times:
"The mystery religions, the pagan rivals of Christianity, very firmly advocated the teaching that 'human beings can become Gods'. . . Hermes declared: 'We must never hesitate to say that no man on Earth is a mortal god and that God in heaven is an immortal man' This view is very similar to the teachings of Joseph Smith and President Lorenzo Snow." (pg. 110)
The Mormons consider Elohim as their Heavenly Father, who rules over a planet located near a mythological star, called Kolob. On this planet, he begets billions of human spirits with his goddesses.
Lucifer and Jesus

Bruce R. McConkie is the author of a book on the doctrines of Mormonism entitled Mormon Doctrine, which is held in high esteem by the believers. In it, he says:
"Implicit in the Christian verity that all men are the spirit children of the Eternal Father is the usually unspoken truth that they are also the offspring of an Eternal Mother. An exalted and glorified Man of Holiness could not be a Father unless a Woman of like glory, perfection, and holiness was associated with him as a Mother. It is the begetting of children that makes a man a father and a woman a mother whether we are dealing with man in his mortal or immortal state. This doctrine that there is a Mother in Heaven was affirmed in plainness by the First Presidency. . . they said that 'man, as a spirit was begotten and born of heavenly parents. . ." (pg. 516)
Each of these spirits requires a body in order to develop into a god. This problem was put before the gods' assembly in which Elohim's two eldest sons were present also. It was suggested that the planet Earth should be created in order to provide a place where the many spirits were to be given a trial period to experience life on Earth in human bodies.

Lucifer, since he wanted to deprive man of his freedom of action, suggested himself as the saviour of this new planet and its inhabitants. Jesus, on the other hand, claimed that man should be given the right to choose between salvation and damnation. At the following voting, the gods acceded to Jesus' suggestion.

Furiously, Lucifer instigated a riot and persuaded one third of the spirits to join him. In doing so, he became Satan and his followers became demons who were denied the possibility of acquiring physical bodies. During the ensuing riot, the less courageous spirits were cursed with black skin on Earth – and in this way the Negro race came about.
Race Segregation

Brigham Young, the successor of Joseph Smith as President of the Mormon community, said when addressing the Negroes this:
"Cain killed his brother... and the Lord put His mark on him, a mark which is the flat nose and the black skin..." (Journal of Discourses, Vol.7, pg. 290 ff.)
This doctrine found expression in the following observation given in Millennial Star, and official Mormon periodical:
"One characteristic of Cain's successors is that they cannot remove their black skin all at once or as a matter of course, though every single soul among them should be repenting... Cain and his posterity must bear this mark put on them by God, and his white friends can wash Cain's race everyday with Fuller's soap yet they can never wash away God's mark..." (Vol. 14, pg. 418)
Brigham Young did not raise any doubt as to his views on marriage between blacks and whites:
"Do you want me to tell you about God's view on the African race? Should the white man who belongs to the chosen family mix his blood with Cain's family then the penance of bud's law is instant death. It shall forever be so." (Journal of Discourses, Vol.10, pg. 110)
The spirits who fought bravely against Lucifer and his army were born "white and pleasing," with fair skin.
On the Virgin Birth

Later, Elohim came to earth to make the Virgin Mary pregnant so that Jesus could have a physical body.

Bruce R. McConkie, in his interpretation of the words Only Begotten Son, explains the connection between Elohim and the Virgin Mary:
"These name-titles all signify that our Lord is the only son of the Father in the flesh. Each of these words is to be understood literally. Only means only; Begotten means begotten; and Son means son. Christ was begotten by an Immortal Father in the same way that moral men are begotten by mortal fathers." (Mormon Doctrine, pg. 546) "And Christ was born into this world as the true Son of this Holy Being; he was born in the same personal, real and literal way as any mortal son is born to a mortal father. There is nothing figurative about his paternity; he was begotten, conceived, and born in the usual and natural manner. . . Christ is the Son of Man, meaning that his Father (the Eternal God!) is a Holy Man." (ibid pg.742)

After his Crucifixion and Resurrection, Jesus came to America to preach to the Indians whom the Mormons believe largely descended from the Israelites. In 412 BC, the dark skinned (Indian) Lamanites had exterminated the white Nephites in a great war. The last Nephite, Moroni, preserved the history of his people, written on gold plates, in a hill, where, at the beginning of the 19th century, Joseph Smith found it under the guidance of an angel.

The Mormons consider Joseph Smith to be a prophet who was given visions from angels who commanded him to found the Mormon community, because all Christian church communities had lapsed from the true belief.

It is the hope of Mormons to develop into gods by following the Mormon doctrines and to perform rituals for themselves and their deceased relatives. Mormons, sealed to their spouse "for time and eternity" in the temple, in time expect to become polygamous gods in the Celestial Kingdom, where, for all eternity, they shall procreate spirit children.
Temples, Only for the "Worthy"

In order to understand the Mormon religion, it is necessary to have a knowledge of the temples and their significance in Mormon teaching and ritualism.

To the believing Mormon, the path to divinity is via the temple, a big multistory building to which no non-Mormon and only a minority of the believers, i.e. the "worthy," are ever given access, after the temple has been consecrated and put into service. Danish Mormons, for instance, use a recently erected temple near Stockholm. Rituals performed here are not to be discussed outside the temple – not even among themselves are the disciples allowed to discuss them.

In order to gain admission to the temple, the Mormon must bring a written recommendation from his superiors – and this he cannot obtain until he has answered a number of questions, such as:
Are you morally pure and worthy to enter the temple?
Do you uphold the supreme authorities of the Church, and will you live in accordance with the accepted rules and doctrines of the Church?
Do you pay full tithe?
Do you have any connection, in sympathy or in any other way with any of the apostate groups or individuals who oppose the accepted rules and doctrines of the Church?
Is there in any way anything profane, un-natural or which calls for penance in your intimate relationship with your spouse?
Temple Rituals

The Mormon temple contains a variety of luxuriously decorated rooms and halls. The tone of the services in the temples is much more awe-inspiring than in the local Mormon churches. In the temple, the Mormon is dressed in special temple clothing, and the temple Mormon shall from now on always wear a part of this under his ordinary clothing – a kind of sacred underwear which is thought to protect the one wearing it.

It is commonly known that the Mormon is baptized in the temples as a proxy for the dead. However, what is unknown is that all the temple rituals are repeated again and again by the worthy Mormon – once for every dead relative on whose behalf he is baptized.

The temple Mormon enter into an eternal marriage and a sealing between the members of his family, first for himself and then for his ancestors. Also, a mystery play is witnessed, enacted by the temple staff performing the creation of world, the fall, and "the restoration of the true church" before the audience enabling it to experience the whole process each time. This play, however, is now in many temples substituted by a film. In the course, the believer receives various watchwords and gestures which are necessary to know in life after death. At one point, the participant will recite a solemn oath that he will dedicate himself, his life, his possessions, and his skills to the Mormon community and never reveal its secrets.

The rituals take many of their symbolic elements from Masonic Rituals, and the Mormon temple service, in fact, did not come about until 1842, when Joseph Smith was admitted to a Masonic lodge.