CULTS CRITIQUE by Betty Bruechert
MORMON ISM AND THE BIBLE For the Christian, the Bible is the only possible standard by which any system o f religion may be judged. Under its light all teachings must be examined. The Bible is used by the Mormons only as “window dressing” and is not given a central place in either their teachings or their lives. Their “missionaries” come to the door with Bibles under their arms, admittedly to “get a foot in the door.” They teach plainly that Mormon writings and revelations are as authoritative as God’s Word. In the Book of Mormon we read: “ A Bible, a Bible, we have got a Bible, and we need no more Bible . . . Wherefore murmur ye, because ye shall receive more of my word?” (2 Nephi 29:6, 18). Joseph Smith declared of those ordained to the Mormon priest hood: “And w h a tso e v e r they shall speak when moved upon by the Holy Ghost shall be scripture, shall be the will of the Lord, shall be the mind of the Lord, shall be the word of the Lord, and the power of God unto salvation” (Doctrine & Covenants, 68:4). Talmage, Mormon theologian, stated: “ The w r it ten w orks adopted by the vote o f the Church as authoritative guides in faith and doctrine are four—the Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and The Pearl of Great Price” (Lectures on the Articles of Faith, p. 5). Leading Mormon Taylor said o f another Mormon, Wilfred Woodruff: “ He is a prophet, and he has a great many prophets around him, and he can make scriptures as good as those in the Bible.” Articles 8 & 9 of the Mormon Articles of Faith state: “We believe the Bible to be the Word of God as far as it is translated correctly; we also be lieve the Book o f Mormon to be the Word o f God . . . We believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and we be lieve that He will yet reveal many
What's wrong with Mormonism? b y L o u i s T . T a l l i o !
P RESENT-DAY MORMONISM, with its magnificent temples, its great political influence, its immense wealth, its extensive in vestments in industry and busi ness, its outward piety, seems a far cry from the illiterate young money-digger, Joseph Smith, with his peepstone and his so-called go ld en p la te s and revelations from God, who was accepted as a prophet o f God. With others, he laid the foundation o f the Mor mon sect, upon which Brigham Young built the superstructure. No outward forms o f respectabil ity and culture can wipe out the stain left upon American histoiy by the scandalous lives o f the Mormon founding fathers or dis guise the wicked views still held by this cult with regard to God, the Bible, and the Lord Jesus Christ in this “ do-it-yourself,” man-made religion. Dr. R. G. McNiece, over twen ty years a pastor in Salt Lake City, who was well acquainted with Mormonism and knew Brig ham Young in person, declared long ago that Mormonism was a counterfeit in four respects: a counterfeit religion, or an imita tion o f Christianity; a counter feit Bible, the Book o f Mormon; a counterfeit priesthood, the Mel- chizedek and Aaronic o r d e r s ;
and a counterfeit group o f apos tles, the Mormon apostolate. Although there are several splin ter groups o f Mormons, the two main divisions o f the cult are the Salt Lake City, Utah Brighamites who call themselves “The Church of Jesus Christ o f Latter - day Saints,” and the Independence, Mo. Josephites who go by the name o f “The R e o rg an iz ed Church of Jesus Christ o f Latter- day Saints.” They are inconsis tent even in their separation. The Reorganized Church, which repu diated polygamy after Smith was killed in jail by irate citizens, re vere Smith as their prophet and head, a lth ou gh Joseph Smith p r a c t ic e d polygamy. The two groups have different versions of the Book o f Mormon and o f their official creeds. Brighamites reject Sm ith ’s blasphemous “ Inspired Version” of the Bible, published in 1865, but at the same time ac cept portions o f the so - called translation which are included in the book The P e a r l of Great Price. Both teach salvation by works, baptismal regeneration for living and dead, revelations to men subsequent to the closing of the Scriptural canon, denial o f a literal hell, a Moslem-type para dise and a weird spirit-world of men, devils and angels.
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NOVEMBER, 1969
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