IN THE entry “Leftist vs. Liberal Mormon,” Jeff writes:

It is disturbing in a nation of three hundred million people that Obama or Romney may be the only options available to voters. Pity we couldn’t do better. Either way I think our nation is beyond the point of no return.

Perhaps one of your Mormon readers could explain what was left undone in the Christian Gospel that is resolved by Mormonism. Christians believe Jesus is the fulfillment of scripture. There are no Christian “Prophets” after Jesus Christ because no further revelation or testament is needed. However, the Book of Mormon claims to be just that, another testament.

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Jill Farris writes:

It is important to clarify that the Jesus Mormons believe in is not the historical, resurrected Jesus. Their Jesus was not born of a Virgin but is the brother of Lucifer.

In the 13 articles that all Mormons are expected to memorize they may use the same language (ie., the Trinity) but they believe in something contrary to The Holy Bible. They believe that God and Jesus were separate physical people who lived on the earth and both men died.

They don’t believe in original sin. Mormonism teaches that people are born sinless and reach the age of accountability by the age of eight.

They do not believe in hell. They believe in three levels of heaven and the only way a person can attain the highest level is to work hard and do what is required of them; be baptized, be married in the temple, do good works etc. A woman may not be called forth to the highest heaven if she doesn’t please her husband.

This may be why, when we lived in Idaho (which has the highest per capita population of Mormons in the U.S) I knew many Mormon women struggling with intestinal disorders and stress related health issues. One doctor in that area said that when he had a patient who was underweight and stressed out and her x-rays showed her intestines functioning poorly, he always asked, “You’re LDS, aren’t you?” and the answer was always, “Yes.”

There is no grace in the Mormon church.

Jane S. writes:

Mormons believe in more than one god. It is a polytheistic religion.

The god of our world is one of many. If he makes a mistake (which is possible, because he is not perfect), the rest of the heavenly board members may decide to replace him.

A Mormon man can potentially become a god and be appointed his own world.

Zachary Cochran writes:

I think I should clarify a few points of doctrine that some writers have incorrectly attributed to my faith. I see the same sorts of errors in the understanding Mormons have of what many mainstream
Christians believe about the Trinity, or what many people think about Catholic rituals. There’s more wrong than right in Jill Farris’s note, and Jane S.’s note is incorrect too. First, let me say I don’t speak
officially for the church. However, I am the son of a professor of religion at BYU, I’ve served a full-time mission for two years for my church, and I’ve acted in many different capacities in the church as
well.

First, Mormons believe in the virgin birth. Citations from our scripture can be found here, here and here. There has been speculation about the means of that birth, but it remains speculation and is improper. The official position of the church is that of the New Testament Gospels.

As to Lucifer being Jesus’ brother: Lucifer is a spirit child of God the Father, just as we are and as Jesus is. He rebelled and was cast out.

Second, we do not believe that God the Father ever lived on Earth. We do believe He has a physical, glorified body, and that Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost are distinct individuals. We believe that Jehovah
of the Old Testament is Jesus Christ of the New Testament. We believe God the Father to be omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent (through the Holy Ghost), and we believe that He attained this status through His own virtue. There is no other higher and no equal.

Original sin: we do believe in it, and we believe that as a result of Adam’s transgression, all of us are fallen. We believe, however, that we do not bear the guilt for Adam’s sins; we are accountable for our
own sins. The grace of Christ pays for the fall of Adam in our lives.

We certainly do believe in Hell. We don’t believe in a literal lake of fire that I know of, but we certainly believe in Hell. Our understanding of the final judgement is more than is revealed in the
Bible, for which we are grateful. But it is compatible with what is taught in the Bible and affirms the truth of the Bible. The bit about a woman “pleasing her husband” is nonsense. A woman can’t be saved in the highest degree of glory without her husband, and a man can’t be saved without his wife.

Idaho, while there are many Mormons, has fewer per capita than Utah. Anecdotal third-hand stories about Mormon women being under stress because of our theology are not convincing. I have a study I can reference (seconds searching on Google) showing that Mormons live longer on average than their neighbors, which contradicts the account Jill Farris wrote.

There is no grace in the Mormon church? I lean on the Grace of Jesus every day of my life, with every breath I take. Citation:  If ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God.”

As to Jane S. claiming we are polytheistic, that is a misunderstanding of our doctrine. To be a “god” (small “g”) is to live the kind of life God lives, in His presence. We are His children; children grow to be like the parent. This increases God’s glory rather than diminishes it. As for being appointed our own world, I don’t know. I know that the Father has created worlds without number by the power of His Son.

Regarding Jeff: perhaps he could cite scripture in the New Testament saying that no more revelation is needed. That’s a rather late heresy in Christianity (I believe it dates after Luther). Whether you call
them Prophets or Apostles or Popes the New Testament is clear that God would have representatives on this earth. The work Jesus did is complete; that doesn’t mean our work is done, or that God has nothing left to say in our time. Just as prophets prepared the way for the life of Jesus, so prophets will prepare the way for His second coming.

Note the prophets John saw in his Apocalypse who will be killed in the streets of Jerusalem. If you say revelation has ceased, I don’t see why you don’t just say that God is dead. My God remains a God of revelation who speaks to His children as He always has.

I understand that it’s long, but I’m annoyed by lazy and inaccurate attacks on my faith. Whatever negatives Romney has, being a Mormon is not one of them.

Thanks as always for your blog. It’s a refreshing place on the web.

Paul writes:

I have read the Book of Mormon at hotels on business trips. But it reminds me of the Koran, an incoherent mass of utterings. Surely this incoherence has led to the evildoing of Islamic states. The Koran is a smorgasbord of ideas, both good and evil.

But I digress. Mormonism may or may not be demonically inspired, as the Koran is. Why did Joseph Smith not make a tracing of the sacred tablets he found? Why did he lose them? His weird idea that the New World was comprised of lost tribe(s) of Israel has been refuted by genetic evidence. But Mormons slough it off. This is like examining the Shroud of Turin, finding that it is dated to 33 A.D., and concluding the blood is not that of a Jew.

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