Cults - The Sohmer Family, Missionaries With GNM

CultsWeek 7July 31, 2005Mark Edward Sohmermark@sohmer.netFellowship Bible ChurchSummer 2005notes and other materials available at:http://cults.sohmer.net1

The Church of Jesus Christof Latter Day Saintsa.k.a.The Mormons2

OverviewFounder:Joseph SmithFoundingDate:April 6, 1830Scriptures:OfficialPublication:Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants,Pearl of Great PriceChurch News is a weekly 16 pagenews paper and the Ensign is amonthly magazine.The Watchman Expositor; Profile: The Church of Jesus Christ ofLatter-day Saints; Watchman htm3

OverviewOrganizationStructure:One prophet leads the Church. Beneaththe prophet in authority is the Council ofthe Twelve Apostles. A third group of menare called the First and Second Councils ofthe Seventy. All of these men together arecalled the General Authorities.Unique Terms: Local churches called Wards or StakeCenters. The Temples are not for worship,but are used for ceremonies for the livingand the dead. Less than ten percentof all LDS are allowed to enter thesestructures.The Watchman Expositor; Profile: Watchtower Bible and TractSociety; Watchman tm4

HistoryJoseph Smith Jr. born Dec 23, 1805 in Vermont.1820: at age 14, praying and asking God whichdenomination to join. (James 1:5) Visited by Godthe Father and Jesus. He was told by Jesus that heshould join none of them for they were "all wrong"and all the Christian church's doctrines "were anabomination" (Joseph Smith - History 19, Pearl ofGreat Price).5

HistorySeptember 21, 1823: age 17, visited by the angelMoroni (pronounced Ma-roe-nie.)Moroni was the son of Mormon, the leader of theNephite people in the 4th Century AD. Back in the4th Century, Mormon wrote The Book of Mormonin Reformed Egyptian Hieroglyphics on goldenplates and hid them near where Joseph would oneday live in Palmyra, New York.September 22, 1827: Joseph received theplates and began translating.6

HistoryHow did he really translate this reformedEgyptian into the English language? DavidWittmer one of the three witnesses of thebook of Mormon writes in his bookaddressed to all believers in Christ telling ushow Joseph Smith placed the 'seer stone'into a hat to translate the Book of Mormon: "Iwill now give you a description of the mannerin which the book of Mormon wastranslated. Joseph Smith would putthe seer stone into a hat, and put hisface in the hat.http://www.letusreason.org/LDS17.htm7

HistoryDrawing it closely around his face to excludethe light and in the darkness the spirituallight would shine a piece of somethingresembling parchment would appear and onthat appeared the writing one character atime would and under was an interpretationin English." Thus the Book of Mormon wastranslated by the gift and power of God,and not by any power of man." (AnAddress To All Believers In Christ,by David Whitmer, Richmond, Missouri,1887, p. 12)http://www.letusreason.org/LDS17.htm8

HistoryThe writing would appear one character at a timeJoseph would read it off to Oliver Cowdery hisprinciple scribe (Emma his wife and Martin Harriswere also scribes.) When Oliver wrote it down, hewould then repeat it back to Joseph to see if it wascorrect. If correct it would then disappear thenanother character with the interpretation wouldappear in the seer stone. Interestingly the platesthat he was supposedly were translating from werenot nearby. They were well off to the sidecovered up.http://www.letusreason.org/LDS17.htm9

HistoryAfter the publication of the Book of Mormon,Mormonism began to grow. Because their religionwas so deviant from Christianity, i.e., plurality ofgods, polygamy (Joseph is said to have had 27wives), etc., persecution soon forced them to movefrom New York to Ohio, then to Missouri, andfinally to Nauvoo, Illinois. After being accused ofbreaking some laws in Nauvoo (for destroying aprinting press that was publishing harmfulinformation on Mormonism), Joseph and hisbrother Hyrum ended up in jail. A mob laterbroke into the jail and killed Joseph and hisbrother.http://www.carm.org/lds/beginning.htm10

HistoryAfter Smith's murder, several LDS leaders steppedforward to take control of the Church. Each claimedto have the authority to lead the Church, and someeven claimed Smith had appointed them to be hissuccessor. This fracturing of the Church hascaused over 100 splinter groups throughout themovement's history (Divergent Paths of theRestoration, Steven Shields). The largest of thesesplinter groups is the Reorganized Church ofJesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.The Watchman Expositor; Profile: Watchtower Bible and TractSociety; Watchman tm11

Disunity in the CultsMany cults claim that the "church" is splinteredwith so many denominations.Yet these same cults also have splintered, andthey have not existed for 2,000 years like thechurch has!12

HistoryJoseph Smith Jr.Brigham YoungJoseph Smith IIIChurch of JesusChrist of LatterDay SaintsReorganizedChurch of JesusChrist of LatterDay SaintsUtahMissouri13

RLDS Presidents/ProphetsJoseph Smith Jr. (1830 – 1844)Joseph Smith III (1844 - 1914)Frederick M. Smith (1915 – 1946)Israel A. Smith (1946 – 1958)W. Wallace Smith (1958 – 1978)Wallace B. Smith (1978 – 1996)W. Grant McMurray (1996 – 2004)Steven M. Veazey (2004 – present)14

RLDS Name ChangeApril 6, 2001Church officially changed its name from the"Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter DaySaints" to the "Community of Christ."15

LDS Presidents/ProphetsJoseph Smith Jr. (1830 – 1844)Brigham Young (1847 – 1877)John Taylor (1880 – 1887)Wilford Woodruff (1887 – 1898)Lorenzo Snow (1898 – 1901)Joseph F. Smith (1901 – 1918)Heber J. Grant (1918 – 1945)George Albert Smith (1945 – 1951)David O. McKay (1951 – 1970)Joseph Fielding Smith (1970 – 1972)Harold B. Lee (1972 – 1973)Spencer W. Kimball (1973 – 1985)Ezra Taft Benson (1985 – 1994)Howard W. Hunter (1994 – 1995)Gordon B. Hinckley(1995 – present)16

HistoryThe Book of Mormon is the account ofpeople who came from the Middle-East tothe Americas.Takes place 600 B.C. to 400 A.D.17

HistoryJaredites: people from the Tower of Babel whocame to Central America and perished due toimmorality.Nephites and Lamanites: group of Jews who fledpersecution in Jerusalem lead byNephi.Nephites defeated in 428 A.D.Lamanites became American Indians.18

Overview of LDS Doctrines: Polytheism ("Plurality of Gods")God is not eternalGod was once like usJesus and Lucifer were brothers, and Luciferdesperately wanted to be the savior of theworldThe Holy Ghost is a member of the"godhead"The Holy Spirit is an impersonal forceMen become gods based on good worksand meritGod the Father's name is Elohim and helives on a planet near the star Kolob.19

Overview of LDS Doctrines: God the Father is married tothe Mother GodAll humans are offspring of Heavenly Fatherand Heavenly MotherMen live on the Moon and the SunBlack people are colored due to misdeeds inthe pre-existencePractice "baptism for the dead"Melchizedek and AaronicpriesthoodJesus was a polygamist and had childrenThere are different levels of heaven20

Overview of LDS Doctrines: Salvation for a woman is dependant onher husband works are necessary for salvation Temple rituals include secrethandshakes, secret names, even secretundergarments more 21

Polytheism:In the beginning, the head of the Gods called acouncil of the Gods; and they came together andconcocted a plan to create the world and people it(Prophet Joseph Smith, Teachings of the ProphetJoseph Smith, p. 349).22

Polytheism:I will preach on the plurality of Gods. I have alwaysdeclared God to be a distinct personage, JesusChrist a separate and distinct personage from Godthe Father, and the Holy Ghost was a distinctpersonage and a Spirit: and these three constitutethree distinct personages and three Gods(Prophet Joseph Smith, Teachings of the ProphetJoseph Smith, p. 370).23

Polytheism:Plurality of Gods: Three separate personages:Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, comprise theGodhead. As each of these persons is a God, it isevident, from this standpoint alone, that a pluralityof Gods exists. To us, speaking in the proper finitesense, these three are the only Gods we worship.But in addition there is an infinite number of holypersonages, drawn from worlds without number,who have passed on to exaltation and are thusgods(Apostle Bruce R. McConkie, MormonDoctrine, pp. 576-577).24

Polytheism:How many Gods there are, I do not know.But there never was a time when there werenot Gods.(Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses7:333).25

Absolute MonotheismAs Bible-believing Christians, we are monotheists; that is,we believe in only one God."Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD"(Deuteronomy 6:4)"Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemerthe LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; andbeside me there is no God. Is there a God beside me?yea, there is no God; I know not any" (Isaiah 44:6,8)Jesus prayed to "the only true God" (John 17:3)"For there is one God, and one mediator betweenGod and men, the man Christ Jesus" (1 Timothy 2:5)26

Absolute Monotheism"Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servantwhom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me,and understand that I am he: before me there was no Godformed, neither shall there be after me." (Isaiah 43:10)"I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no Godbeside me" (Isaiah 45:5)"I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there isnone like me" (Isaiah 46:9)The scriptures are clear - there is only One God!27

Absolute MonotheismBible-believing Christians are monotheists. There is onlyOne true God. There may be false gods and idols in theworld, as the apostle writes: "(as there be gods many, andlords many,) But to us there is but one God, the Father, ofwhom are all things" (1 Corinthians 8:5-6), but those falsegods are merely "the work of men's hands, wood andstone, which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell"(Deuteronomy 4:28).Foundational truth: there is only One True God.28

God is Not Eternal:I am going to tell you how God came to be God. Wehave imagined and supposed that God was Godfrom all eternity. I will refute that idea, and takeaway the veil, so that you may see.(Prophet Joseph Smith, LDS History of the Church,Vol. 6, p. 305).29

God is Eternal:"In the beginning God created the heaven and theearth." (Genesis 1:1)"Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thouhadst formed the earth and the world, even fromeverlasting to everlasting, thou art God."(Psalm 90:2)"Thy throne is established of old: thou art fromeverlasting." (Psalm 93:2)"The eternal God is thy refuge"(Deuteronomy 33:22)30

CultsWeek 8August 7, 2005Mark Edward Sohmermark@sohmer.netFellowship Bible ChurchSummer 2005notes and other materials available at:http://cults.sohmer.net31

Review32

OverviewFounder:Joseph SmithFoundingDate:April 6, 1830Scriptures:OfficialPublication:Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants,Pearl of Great PriceChurch News is a weekly 16 pagenews paper and the Ensign is amonthly magazine.The Watchman Expositor; Profile: The Church of Jesus Christ ofLatter-day Saints; Watchman htm33

HistoryJoseph Smith Jr. born Dec 23, 1805 in Vermont.1820: at age 14, praying and asking God whichdenomination to join. (James 1:5) Visited by Godthe Father and Jesus. He was told by Jesus that heshould join none of them for they were "all wrong"and all the Christian church's doctrines "were anabomination" (Joseph Smith - History 19, Pearl ofGreat Price).34

HistorySeptember 21, 1823: age 17, visited by the angelMoroni (pronounced Ma-roe-nie.)Moroni was the son of Mormon, the leader of theNephite people in the 4th Century AD. Back in the4th Century, Mormon wrote The Book of Mormonin Reformed Egyptian Hieroglyphics on goldenplates and hid them near where Joseph would oneday live in Palmyra, New York.September 22, 1827: Joseph received theplates and began translating.35