An Overview of Mormonism

Mormonism began in 1820 when "divine messengers" supposedly visited Joseph Smith, Jr., telling him many things which directly contradict the Word of God.

The Law of Eternal Progression is a cornerstone doctrine of the Mormon church:

As man is, God once was, and as God is, man may become.Law of Eternal Progression

This is the same lie Satan told Adam and Eve thousands of years ago (Genesis 3:4-5Genesis 3:4-5
4 The serpent said to the woman, "Surely you will not die, 5 for God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will open and you will be like divine beings who know good and evil.), and it's the same lie he himself believed (Isaiah 14:14Isaiah 14:14
"I will climb up to the tops of the clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High!")--that we could become like God. Mormons accept this lie as truth, believing in a large number of man-gods who, now ruling over other planets, were once simply men, now ascended to godhood.

Story of Mormonism

God

According to Mormonism, there is a vast number of planets throughout the universe ruled by countless gods who were once humans. A long time ago, on one of these planets, Elohim was born as a spirit child to an unidentified god and one of his goddess wives. Elohim was later born to human parents who gave him a physical body. Through obedience to Mormon teachings, death, and resurrection, Elohim proved himself worthy and was elevated to godhood. Elohim is the Mormon's heavenly father and he lives with his many wives on a planet near the (mysterious) star Kolob. There, the Mormon god had endless celestial sex with his many wives, producing billions of spirit children.

Jesus and Satan

To decide the destiny of the spirit children, the head of the Mormon gods called a council. Elohim's two oldest sons were in attendance--Lucifer and Jesus (that's right, Mormons believe they're brothers). The decision was made to create Earth and send all the spirit children there to learn good from evil. Lucifer wanted to force everyone to become gods, but the Mormon Jesus wanted to give people freedom of choice, just as on other planets. A vote approved the Mormon Jesus' idea. Jesus would be the savior of Earth. Lucifer got angry and convinced a third of the spirits destined for Earth to fight alongside him in a revolt. Lucifer and his followers were sent to Earth, forever denied physical bodies, existing as Satan and his demons.

Humanity

Those who remained neutral in the fight between God and Satan were cursed to be born with black skin. Those who fought most valiantly against Lucifer would be born into white Mormon families. Elohim came to Earth with one of his wives as Adam and Eve in order to start the human race. Thousands of years later, Elohim left Kolob to come to Earth in human form again, having sex with Mary to provide Jesus with a human body. This Jesus had at least three wives (according to Mormon Apostle Orson Hyde)--Mary, Martha, and Mary Magdalene--through which he fathered a number of children. Joseph Smith is one of his descendants.

America

After his resurrection, Jesus came to America to preache to the Indians, who are really Israelites. By AD 421, the dark-skinned Israelites--the "Lamanites"--killed off all of the white-skinned Israelites--the "Nephites"--in various battles. The records of the Nephites were recorded on golden plates which were buried by Moroni--the last living Nephite--in the Hill Cumorah.

Joseph Smith

1400 years later, Joseph Smith uncovered the golden plates near his home in upstate New York. He was a prophet, given visions in which he was told to organize the Mormon church because all Christian creeds were an abomination. By maintaining a rigid code of financial and moral requirements and through secret temple rituals, Mormons prove their worthiness to become gods. Everyone will stand in judgment before Joseph Smith, Jesus, and Elohim. Those who are sealed in the eternal marriage ceremony in the LDS temple will become gods with many goddess wives, ruling over many planets and spawning new families throughout eternity. According to Mormonism, Joseph Smith has done more for us than any other man, including Jesus Christ. Joseph Smith died as a martyr so that we may become gods.

History of Mormonism

Joseph Smith: Treasure Seeker

Joseph Smith was born in Sharon, Vermont, on December 23, 1805. His father, Joseph Smith, Sr., spent much of his time digging for imaginary buried treasure. The son followed in his father's footsteps, using occult seeking stones to help him find treasure.

Joseph Smith, the founding prophet and president of the new church organized on 6 April 1830, had unquestionably participated in treasure-seeking and seer-stone divination and had apparently also used divining rods, talismans, and implements of ritual magic. His father, one of the Eight Witnesses to the divinity of the Book of Mormon and later the church patriarch, had also participated in divining and the quest for treasure.Early Mormonism and the Magic World View, D.M. Quinn

Joseph Smith's interest in treasure-seeking continued even after he became president of the LDS church. In fact, other prominent figures in the church were involved in treasure-seeking, as Quinn also writes, "occult dimensions of treasure digging was prominent among the first members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, organized in 1835" (p207). Michael Quinn used to be a professor of History at BYU. He was excommunicated from the LDS church in 1993 because he published his research, refusing to keep it hidden.

Smith, of course, denied that he was ever a treasure seeker:

In the month of October, 1825, I hired with an old gentleman by the name of Josiah Stoal, who lived in Chenango County, State of New York. He had heard something of a silver mine having been opened by the Spaniards in Harmony, Susquehanna County, State of Pennsylvania; and had, previous to my hiring him, been digging in order, if possible, to discover the mine. After I went to live with him, he took me, with the rest of his hands, to dig for the silver mine, at which I continued to work for nearly a month, without success in our undertaking, and finally I prevailed with the old gentleman to cease digging after it. Hence arose the very prevalent story of my having been a money-digger.Joseph Smith, Pearl of Great Price

In reality, Stoal "came for Joseph on account of having heard that he possessed certain means by which he could discern things invisible to the natural eye" (History of Joseph Smith, by Lucy Smith, 91-92). In an interview published in Historical Magazine, May 1870, Joseph Smith, Sr. said his son had been a treasure digger and had used peep-stones. He also claimed to read fortunes.

Long before the idea of a Golden Bible entered their minds, in their excursions for money digging...Joe used to be usually their guide, putting into a hat a peculiar stone he had through which he looked to decide where they should begin to dig.Gleanings by the Way, John A. Clark

Peep-stone gazing was illegal in the 1820s, and in the New York v Joseph Smith case of March 20, 1826, Smith was found guilty of money-digging:

...had a certain stone which he had occasionally looked at to determine where hidden treasures in bowels of the earth were...and had looked for Mr. Stoal several times.Frazers Magazine, 1873

Joseph Smith: Church Founder

Joseph Smith claimed to have had a vision in 1820 in which it was revealed that he was the Lord's prophet for this dispensation. The angel Moroni appeared at the side of Smith's bed in 1823, beginning the story of the Golden Plates. Smith's personal account of the event is record in History 1:29-54. Smith didn't write the information down until 3 years after the event supposedly took place. However, even this long period of time does not explain Smith's big mistake.

In the 1851 version of Pearl of Great Price, Smith identifies the angel as Nephi--an entirely different character in the Book of Mormon. In newer editions, Smith's mistake has been corrected and the messenger identified as Moroni. Many Mormons deny this mistake, but it is in the handwritten manuscripts of the Mormon church history which was supervised by Smith himself. Smith oversaw the publishing of the history in 1842, with the angel still identified as Nephi.

Smith claimed to have received the golden tablets in 1827, translating them from 1827 to 1829, when Oliver Cowdery visited Smith's father-in-law's house and was "converted" to Mormonism. He was one of the scribes who wrote down what Smith dictated on the other side of a curtain. The translation was finished in New York, published as the Book of Mormon in 1830. Joseph Smith, along with his brothers Hyrum and Samuel, Cowdery, and David and Peter Whitmer (whose house he stayed at in New York) founded the Church of Christ on April 6, 1830. The church was renamed the Church of Latter-day Saints in 1834, and then the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1838.