Is Mormonism a cult? The word cult refers to a cohesive social group devoted to beliefs or practices that are outside the mainstream. Therefore in America, they would be a cult, except maybe in Utah and a few select areas where they are prevalent. Like Christians would be in a Muslim nation.
Are you a Mormon? I'm not. I'm also not a bigot or a hater of those who choose to follow a different path. However, I felt the need to shed the light on the differences between Christianity and Mormonism (the one’s I am aware of) after commenting on a blog inferring the two are the same. This is in response to some questions posed to me by another blogger. I will also shed light on the reasons that I am aware of, which Christians call Mormonism blasphemous or even occult by less common definition-Secret; disclosed or communicated only to the initiated; hidden from view.
The Mormon Faith is NOT the same as the Christian faiths and does not go by all of the same rules. Mormons (at least the missionaries) are told not to share “the truth” of their Faith with anybody, who is a Christian, Muslim or Jew, until they’re convinced of conversion. They are told that when they FIRST share their faith with people who are Christians they are to only speak of Biblical things and may mention the Book of Mormon, without specificity. LDS historian D. Michael Quinn says that LDS leaders ask historians to hide "controversies and difficulties of the Mormon past". According to many Mormons, this hiding of the past and beliefs is for the sake of being looked upon as just another Christian religion and not being looked upon with a cult-like status.
Many people I have known who are Christians believe that involvement in this religion will lead to damnation. I believe that (as the Bible says) ANYBODY has the right to salvation and Mormons do read the Bible, so if they ask for forgiveness for their sins, they also can be forgiven, as long as they are clear on what is a sin. The same as any other person.
Where I’ve gotten some of my information: My step-mother is a Mormon, I grew up with a very close friend who was a Mormon, I used to work 8 hours a day in the same room with a Mormon, I have dated a Mormon, my in-laws live in UT and many of their friends are Mormons. I was also close with my friend’s brother, a Mormon missionary who told me of the things that he was specifically told not to share with others. The reason (from what they told him) was that we “unenlightened people” could not understand something of such complexity. The way I got him to share these “complexities” was by telling him that my I.Q. is over 150 and I can understand more than the average mind. So, he thought that would be enough to make me see, if he told me everything. It actually made me wonder how he could see what he did. Mormons are warned against close associations with non-Mormons, despite the many I've had. That may be why. I may not have the deep understanding of Mormonism that a Mormon has, but I have a great deal more knowledge of it than most non-Mormons.
Mormons DO believe in different things than Christians, for example: Polygamy. That is NOT just a fundamentalist belief. The difference is that (mostly) only the fundamentalist Mormons actually still practice it. After the church renounced Poligamy in 1890, church leaders (even "Prophets") continued to authorize over 200 polygamous marriages and lied about the continuing practice. Jesus himself tells us to follow the laws of the land (and of the Bible) and the Bible says that liars are found detestable by God, despite their right to forgiveness.
Polyandrous marriages (marriage to women who were already married to other men) were also practiced by the “Prophets”, including Joseph Smith, which is adultery, very clearly stated as a sin in the Bible. The Book of Mormon gave the “Prophets” permission to partake in this. The Bible holds a Prophet to a higher standard and does NOT give them rights above man. Even Jesus did not take rights to sin, because it is wrong.
Brigham Young claimed that God and Adam were one and the same. This would be Blasphemous according to the Jewish, Christian and Muslim faiths, because that states that God was both sinful and imperfect. He also said that some sins were not atonable by Christ, which disputes the actual words of Christ (blaspheme). He says that Blood Atonement (suicide) was the only way to atone these sins. Suicide is not acceptable in Christianity. These doctrines were officially repudiated by the Mormon Church later, thus proving a major Prophet of the Mormon Church a FALSE Prophet.
How Smith got the Book of Mormon started: Joseph Smith, founder of the Mormon Church purchased several Egyptian papyrus scrolls in 1835. He claimed that these scrolls were The Book of Abraham (a lost portion of the Bible). He then turned the documents, along with his own "prophecies" into an addition to the Bible. However, these documents, like the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Prayer of the Apostle Paul, the Gospel of Mary, the Gospel of Judas, etc. were all debunked later as being written FAR too long after the time they were said to be written.
Fragments of the "Book of Abraham" scrolls were tested in the late 60's, after the rediscovery of parts of them along with a letter from one of Joseph Smith Jr.'s wives in a Chicago Museum, and later retested in the 90's. They were proven to be written nowhere near the time of Abraham and have been conclusively shown to be common Egyptian funerary documents unrelated to the content of the "Book of Abraham". Therefore, those and the other texts were never included or added into The Bible. The Mormon Church hired an author with a degree in Egyptology to refute the proof of the scrolls dating and content. This author J.E. Homans, under a different pen-name was later found to actually have NO such degree.
Ironically, all of the mentioned documents were followed by some church and they attempt to change some of the laws of the Bible, some even change God’s commandments. Ironically, those Faiths all claim to be the ONLY way to Heaven, by belonging to the particular religion. The Mormon Faith, from what I was told, basically claims that IF you have been told of the Book of Mormon and are mentally capable of understanding, you may not receive salvation without it's laws. That is in DIRECT conflict with The Bible. The Bible gives only one way to Heaven and that is through Christ, NOT ANY religion. Not only that, but it gives EVERYBODY the option of salvation, without commitment to a particular religion. You just can't have more than one God or be an unbeliever. So, IF their faith is the only way to Heaven, then nobody went to Heaven between the years of 00 and 1830 A.D., despite the sacrifice of Christ????
Several critics contend that Joseph Smith could not be a genuine “Prophet” because dozens of his prophecies did not come true.
Since the compilation of the New Testament, the original documents were investigated and found to be written within less than 100 years after the birth of Christ. There was to be no further written prophecy added after the Book of Revelations; Revelations 22:18. It doesn’t say that miracles, gifts, signs, prophecies, etc. will end, just nothing added. The Book of Mormon was written in the 1800’s.
Another difference: Baptism for the Dead (Baptism by proxy) is not justified by the Bible, but it is a Mormon ritual. Jewish groups criticized the LDS church in 1995, after discovering that the church baptized more than 300,000 Jewish holocaust victims.
This is a practice that I just don’t personally agree with: Relatives cannot attend a wedding of a Mormon if they are not members of the church. Others claim that the attendance rules are wrong because members of the church cannot attend a Mormon wedding or the temple (even close relatives) if they have not paid their full tithe to the church. This rule along with others, has forced some church members into poverty.
In the Book of revelations, it says in the later days there will be many false prophets who show miraculous signs. It also says they will claim other ways to Heaven. The way to recognize who is and is not a false Prophet, is by the fact that they will either abolish some of God's laws, add new ones or claim that Christ was not the son of God. How do you interpret it?
The differences are not a reason to bash anybody. Mormons are not a violent bunch and do not deserve any violence or meanness from Christians. Christians have a far too volatile nature towards differences, when we are supposed to embrace people of differences as long as they don’t try to force us away from our practice of Faith. If somebody tries to force a Christian from their faith and: we warn them not to twice; and they again do so, we are supposed to have no more association. The Democrats are a different story, as a party. They try to annihilate our rights of free worship. Also, as a Christian, you must watch out for your Faith (above all) and be careful that no official you elect will try to take it away or make you change it.