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Mormon Beliefs

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The Doctrine and Covenants

Section 93
Revelation given through Joseph Smith the Prophet, at Kirtland, Ohio, May 6, 1833.

1–5, All who are faithful will see the Lord; 6–18, John bore record that the Son of God went from grace to grace until He received a fulness of the glory of the Father; 19–20, Faithful men, going from grace to grace, will also receive of His fulness; 21–22, Those who are begotten through Christ are the Church of the Firstborn; 23–28, Christ received a fulness of all truth, and man by obedience may do likewise; 29–32, Man was in the beginning with God; 33–35, The elements are eternal, and man may receive a fulness of joy in the Resurrection; 36–37, The glory of God is intelligence; 38–40, Children are innocent before God because of the redemption of Christ; 41–53, The leading brethren are commanded to set their families in order.


1 Verily, thus saith the Lord: It shall come to pass that every soul who forsaketh his sins and cometh unto me, and calleth on my name, and obeyeth my voice, and keepeth my commandments, shall see my face and know that I am;

2 And that I am the true light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world;

3 And that I am in the Father, and the Father in me, and the Father and I are one—

4 The Father because he gave me of his fulness, and the Son because I was in the world and made flesh my tabernacle, and dwelt among the sons of men.

5 I was in the world and received of my Father, and the works of him were plainly manifest.

6 And John saw and bore record of the fulness of my glory, and the fulness of John’s record is hereafter to be revealed.

7 And he bore record, saying: I saw his glory, that he was in the beginning, before the world was;

8 Therefore, in the beginning the Word was, for he was the Word, even the messenger of salvation—

9 The light and the Redeemer of the world; the Spirit of truth, who came into the world, because the world was made by him, and in him was the life of men and the light of men.

10 The worlds were made by him; men were made by him; all things were made by him, and through him, and of him.

11 And I, John, bear record that I beheld his glory, as the glory of the Only Begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth, even the Spirit of truth, which came and dwelt in the flesh, and dwelt among us.

12 And I, John, saw that he received not of the fulness at the first, but received grace for grace;

13 And he received not of the fulness at first, but continued from grace to grace, until he received a fulness;

14 And thus he was called the Son of God, because he received not of the fulness at the first.

15 And I, John, bear record, and lo, the heavens were opened, and the Holy Ghost descended upon him in the form of a dove, and sat upon him, and there came a voice out of heaven saying: This is my beloved Son.

16 And I, John, bear record that he received a fulness of the glory of the Father;

17 And he received all power, both in heaven and on earth, and the glory of the Father was with him, for he dwelt in him.

18 And it shall come to pass, that if you are faithful you shall receive the fulness of the record of John.

19 I give unto you these sayings that you may understand and know how to worship, and know what you worship, that you may come unto the Father in my name, and in due time receive of his fulness.

20 For if you keep my commandments you shall receive of his fulness, and be glorified in me as I am in the Father; therefore, I say unto you, you shall receive grace for grace.

21 And now, verily I say unto you, I was in the beginning with the Father, and am the Firstborn;

22 And all those who are begotten through me are partakers of the glory of the same, and are the church of the Firstborn.

23 Ye were also in the beginning with the Father; that which is Spirit, even the Spirit of truth;

24 And truth is knowledge of things as they are, and as they were, and as they are to come;

25 And whatsoever is more or less than this is the spirit of that wicked one who was a liar from the beginning.

26 The Spirit of truth is of God. I am the Spirit of truth, and John bore record of me, saying: He received a fulness of truth, yea, even of all truth;

27 And no man receiveth a fulness unless he keepeth his commandments.

28 He that keepeth his commandments receiveth truth and light, until he is glorified in truth and knoweth all things.

29 Man was also in the beginning with God. Intelligence, or the light of truth, was not created or made, neither indeed can be.

30 All truth is independent in that sphere in which God has placed it, to act for itself, as all intelligence also; otherwise there is no existence.

31 Behold, here is the agency of man, and here is the condemnation of man; because that which was from the beginning is plainly manifest unto them, and they receive not the light.

32 And every man whose spirit receiveth not the light is under condemnation.

33 For man is spirit. The elements are eternal, and spirit and element, inseparably connected, receive a fulness of joy;

34 And when separated, man cannot receive a fulness of joy.

35 The elements are the tabernacle of God; yea, man is the tabernacle of God, even temples; and whatsoever temple is defiled, God shall destroy that temple.

36 The glory of God is intelligence, or, in other words, light and truth.

37 Light and truth forsake that evil one.

38 Every spirit of man was innocent in the beginning; and God having redeemed man from the fall, men became again, in their infant state, innocent before God.

39 And that wicked one cometh and taketh away light and truth, through disobedience, from the children of men, and because of the tradition of their fathers.

40 But I have commanded you to bring up your children in light and truth.

41 But verily I say unto you, my servant Frederick G. Williams, you have continued under this condemnation;

42 You have not taught your children light and truth, according to the commandments; and that wicked one hath power, as yet, over you, and this is the cause of your affliction.

43 And now a commandment I give unto you—if you will be delivered you shall set in order your own house, for there are many things that are not right in your house.

44 Verily, I say unto my servant Sidney Rigdon, that in some things he hath not kept the commandments concerning his children; therefore, first set in order thy house.

45 Verily, I say unto my servant Joseph Smith, Jun., or in other words, I will call you friends, for you are my friends, and ye shall have an inheritance with me—

46 I called you servants for the world’s sake, and ye are their servants for my sake—

47 And now, verily I say unto Joseph Smith, Jun.—You have not kept the commandments, and must needs stand rebuked before the Lord;

48 Your family must needs repent and forsake some things, and give more earnest heed unto your sayings, or be removed out of their place.

49 What I say unto one I say unto all; pray always lest that wicked one have power in you, and remove you out of your place.

50 My servant Newel K. Whitney also, a bishop of my church, hath need to be chastened, and set in order his family, and see that they are more diligent and concerned at home, and pray always, or they shall be removed out of their place.

51 Now, I say unto you, my friends, let my servant Sidney Rigdon go on his journey, and make haste, and also proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the gospel of salvation, as I shall give him utterance; and by your prayer of faith with one consent I will uphold him.

52 And let my servants Joseph Smith, Jun., and Frederick G. Williams make haste also, and it shall be given them even according to the prayer of faith; and inasmuch as you keep my sayings you shall not be confounded in this world, nor in the world to come.

53 And, verily I say unto you, that it is my will that you should hasten to translate my scriptures, and to obtain a knowledge of history, and of countries, and of kingdoms, of laws of God and man, and all this for the salvation of Zion. Amen.
 

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Mormonism says: “We pre-existed as spirit children
In Mormon theology, God is accompanied by a Goddess wife—our so-called “Heavenly Mother.” Together, they produce countless ethereal children which Mormons call “spirit children.”

Mormonism's Official Curriculum Material etc.

• “We all once lived in the presence of God the eternal father. In the world before your were a spirit child of his. With this divine parentage, your destiny, through righteous living, is to become like your Father in Heaven and return to his presence” [The Purpose of Life(Pamphlet handed out at BYU campus temple)]
• “A veil covers our memories of our premortal life, but our Father in Heaven knows who we are and what we did before we came here. He has chosen the time and place for each of us to be born so we can learn the lessons we personally need and do the most good with our individual talents and personalities.” [Gospel Principles, Chapter 2: Our Heavenly Family (2011), 8.]

Mormon Authorities

Joseph Smith (Mormonism's founding president-prophet) “We were first begotten as spirit babies in heaven and then born naturally on earth” [Journal of Discourse, vol. 4, 218.]
Brigham Young (Mormonism's 2nd president-prophet): “In the spirit world their spirits were first begotten and brought forth, … you could trace back your history to the Father of our spirits in the eternal world. He is a being of the same species as ourselves; He lives as we do, except the difference that we are earthly, and He is heavenly. He has been earthly, and is of precisely the same species of being that we are.” [Journal of Discourses, vol. 4:42]
Orson Pratt (Original ‘Quorum of the Twelve’ member): “before men and women are born on earth as babies, their spirits are adult size in heaven. When they are born, their Spirits are compressed, which causes a loss in memory” [Journal of Discourses vol.16, 333-334.]

liefmap.org/mormonism/mormonism-teaches-spirit-children
 

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Mormonism teaches: We have a Goddess mother
Mormonism teaches: We have a Goddess mother
As summarized by Milton R. Hunter (Leading 'Council of the Seventy' member): “The stupendous truth of the existence of a Heavenly Mother, as well as a Heavenly Father, became established facts in Mormon theology” [The Gospel Through the Ages (1958), 98.]

Official Curriculum Material etc.
—“WE, THE FIRST PRESIDENCY and the Council... proclaim... Each [person] is a beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents.” [The Family: A Proclamation to the World (1995)]
—“For as we have a Father in heaven, so also we have a Mother there, a glorified, exalted, ennobled Mother.” [Achieving A Celestial Marriage, LDS Student Manual, 129.]
—“You are made in the image of our heavenly mother.” [The Latter-day Saint Woman: Basic Manual for Women, Part A: Lesson 9: Chastity and Modesty (2000), 65.]
—“We know, for example, that we were sons and daughters of heavenly parents—males and females”[Gospel Principles, Chapter 2: Our Heavenly Family (2011).]

Official Mormon Hymns:
—“heavenly parents” [“Oh, What Songs of the Heart” (hymn #286)]
—“heav'nly parents” [“We Meet Again As Sisters” (hymn #311)]
—“...I've a mother there. .. Father, Mother, may I meet you In your royal courts on high?” [“O My Father” (hymn #292).]

Mormon Authorities
—Joseph Fielding Smith
(Mormonism's 6th president-prophet): “God revealed that principle that we have a mother as well as a father in heaven to Joseph Smith; Joseph Smith revealed it to Eliza Snow Smith, his wife; and Eliza Snow was inspired, being a poet, to put it into verse.” “Man, as a spirit, was begotten and born of heavenly parents, and reared to maturity in the eternal mansions of the Father, prior to coming upon the earth in a temporal [physical] body” [Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph F. Smith (1998), 335.]
—Orson Pratt: “In the Heaven where our spirits were born, there are many gods, each one of whom has his own wife or wives... Each God, through his wife or wives, raises up a numerous family of sons and daughters;... As soon as each god has begotten many millions of male and female spirits …he sends both the male and female spirits to inhabit tabernacles of flesh and bones. … The inhabitants of each world are required to reverence, adore, and worship their own personal father who dwells in the heaven which they formerly inhabited.” [The Seer, 1853 (1990 ed.), vol. 1, 37.]
—Spencer W. Kimball(Mormonism's 12th president-prophet): “queenly elegance of our Heavenly Mother, and knowing how profoundly our mortal mothers have shaped us here” [“The True Way of Life and Salvation,”Ensign (May 1978), 4.]
—Brigham Young (Mormonism's 2nd president-prophet): [In articulating the controversial Adam-God doctrine] “I tell you more, Adam is the father of our spirits …our spirits and the spirits of all the heavenly family were begotten by Adam, and born of Eve. …I tell you, when you see your Father in the Heavens, you will see Adam; when you see your Mother that bore your spirit, you will see Mother Eve.” [Manuscript Address of Brigham Young, Oct 8, 1854.”]
—Bruce R. McConkie (LDS 'General Authority'): “Implicit in the Christian verity that all men are the spirit children of an Eternal Father is the usually unspoken truth that they are also the offspring of an Eternal Mother. …This doctrine that there is a Mother in Heaven was affirmed in plainness by the First Presidency of the Church… they said that ‘man, as a spirit, was begotten and born of heavenly parents, and reared to maturity in the eternal mansions of the Father,’ that man is the ‘offspring of celestial parentage,’ and that ‘all men and women are in the similitude of the universal Father and Mother, and are literally the sons and daughters of Deity’” [Mormon Doctrine (1979), 516.]
 

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Mormonism teaches: God has physical sex in heaven
In Mormon theology, God is made of flesh and bone, and has a goddess wife/wives. Together, they produce ethereal children in heaven. Although most contemporary Mormons make no claims about how God's children are produced, earlier Mormon leaders taught that it was by sex between God and his goddess wife/wives.
Brigham Young (Mormonism's 2nd president-prophet): “He [God] created man, as we create our children; for there is no other process of creation in heaven, on the earth, in the earth, or under the earth, or in all the eternities, that is, that were, or that ever will be” [Journal of Discourses 11:122]
GOD AND HIS GODDESS WIFE “BEGET,” “PROCREATE.”1
Joseph Fielding Smith (Mormonism's 10th president-prophet): “Man, as a spirit, was begotten and born of Heavenly Parents.” [Improvement Era 13:80]
Orson Pratt (Original 'Quorum of the Twelve' member): “In the heaven where are spirits were born, there are many Gods, each of whom has his own wife or wives, which were given to him… while yet in this mortal state” [The Seer, 37.]
Carfred Broderick: “God is a procreating personage of flesh and bone” [Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought (Autumn, 1967), 100-101.]
GOD HAD SEX WITH MARY IN ORDER TO PRODUCE JESUS
On Earth, God had sex with Mary to beget Jesus. This should be relevant because, whether Mormon theology is true or a man-made invention, it increases the likelihood that using physical sex to procreate is simply the “Heavenly Father's” way of doing things.
  1. Often quoted out of context is…
    John A. Widstoe (Mormon apostle): “Sex Among the Gods. Since we have a Father who is our God, we must also have a mother, who possesses the attributes of Godhood.” [Rational Theology, 64-65.]
    Upon closer examination, however, it becomes evident that Widstoe is referring to sex as a synonym for gender.
    • “Sex, which is indispensable on this earth for the perpetuation of the human race, is an eternal quality which has its equivalent everywhere. It is indestructible. The relationship between men and women is eternal and must continue eternally. In accordance with Gospel philosophy there are males and females in heaven. Since we have a Father, who is our God, we must also have a mother, who possesses the attributes of Godhood. This simply carries onward the logic of things earthly, and conforms with the doctrine that whatever is on this earth is simply a representation of spiritual conditions of deeper meaning than we can here fathom.”
    Compare:
    • “We affirm as reasonable, scriptural, and true, the eternity of sex among the children of God. The distinction between male and female is no condition peculiar to the relatively brief period of mortal life. It was an essential characteristic of our pre-existent condition, even as it shall continue after death, in both disembodied and resurrected states … [The] scriptures attest a state of existence preceding mortality, in which the spirit children of God lived, doubtless with distinguishing characteristics, including the distinction of sex, “before they were [created] naturally upon the face of the earth.” [“The Eternity of Sex,” Millennial Star (24 August 1922): 530.]
 

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Mormonism teaches: God is made of flesh and bone
According to Mormonism, God is an exalted man with body parts, who was originally a human on another planet. Even now, he is comprised of flesh and bone, with eyes, ears, feet etc.

Mormon Scripture / Standard Works

• “The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man’s;” [Doctrines and Covenants 130:22]
• “we know that both the Father and the Son are in form and stature perfect men; each of them possesses a tangible body … of flesh and bones,” [Articles of Faith (1899), 38.]

Mormon Authorities

Joseph Smith (Mormonism's founder-prophet): “God himself… is an exalted Man, and sits enthroned in yonder heavens. … if you were to see him today, you would see him like a man in form—like yourselves, in all the person, image, and very form as a man;” [Journal of Discourses, vol. 6, 3-4.]
Heber C. Kimball (First presidency councilor): “We shall go back to our Father and God, who is connected with one who is still farther back; and this Father is connected with one still further back, and so on. [Journal of Discourses 5:19]
Joseph Fielding Smith (Mormonism's 10th president-prophet): “God is an exalted man... The Prophet taught that our Father had a Father and so on. [Doctrines of Salvation, 1:10,12]
Bruce McConkie: “God is an organized being just as we are who are now in the flesh” [Gospel Doctrine (1966) 64.]
Carfred Broderick: “God is a procreating personage of flesh and bone” [Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought (Autumn, 1967), 100-101.]
GOD CAN ONLY BE ONE PLACE AT A TIME
Brigham Young (Mormonism's 2nd president-prophet): “Some would have us believe that God is present everywhere. It is not so”[Journal of Discourses 6:345.]
James Talmage: “If God possesses a form, that form is of necessity of definite proportions, and therefore of limited extension and space. It is impossible for Him to occupy at one time more than one space of such limits”; “God is not omnipresent… cannot be physically present in more than one place at a time” [A Study of the Articles of Faith, 43, 48.]
GOD RESIDES NEAR AN UNCHARTED STAR CALLED “KOLOB”

Mormon Scripture / Standard Works


• “[Abraham] saw the stars, that they were very great, and that one of them was nearest unto the throne of God; … and the name of the great one is Kolob, because it is near unto me, for I am the Lord thy God: I have set this one to govern all those which belong to the same order as that upon which thou standest.” [Book of Abraham 3:2 (in The Pearl of Great Price)]

Mormon Authorities

Joseph Smith: “Kolob, signifying the first creation, nearest to the celestial, or the residence of God. First in government, the last pertaining to the measurement of time. The measurement according to celestial time, which celestial time signifies one day to a cubit. One day in Kolob is equal to a thousand years according to the measurement of this earth, which is called by the Egyptians Jah-oh-eh.” [Book of Abraham, Facsimile No. 2, explanations to Fig. 1.]
Joseph Fielding Smith (6th President-Prophet of LDS church): “The Lord made known to him the following facts: That Kolob… is nearest to the celestial, or the residence of God. …Oliblish, so called by the Egyptians, stands next to Kolob in the grand governing creation near the celestial, or place where Godresides. This great star is also a governing star and is equal to Kolob in its revolutions and in its measuring of time.” [Man: His Origin and Destiny (1954), 461.]
Bruce R. McConkie (LDS 'General Authority'): “The record says: 'It was after the Lord's time, which was after the time of Kolob (one day on which planet is equal to a thousand years our time);' … “Kolob means 'the first creation.' It is the name of the planet 'nearest to the celestial, or the residence of God.'” [Mormon Doctrine (1958), 184, 428.]
Bruce R. McConkie(LDS 'General Authority'): “Elder William W. Phelps teaches very effectively the endless nature of all good things: If you could hie to Kolob… D'ye think that you could ever, Through all eternity, find out the generation Where Gods began to be?” [Mormon Doctrine (1958), 163-164.] (See “If You Could Hie to Kolob,” Hymns of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, LDS Church, 1985.)
 

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Mormonism says we, Satan, Jesus are spirit siblings
Mormonism teaches that God has a wife in heaven, and produces spirit children with her. Mormonism teaches that you, me, Satan, and Jesus are thereby spirit siblings who were born to them. In this way, Jesus and Satan are literally brothers.
Mormonism's Official Curriculum Material etc.
• “All men and women are literally the sons and daughters of God … Every person who was ever born on earth is our spirit brother or sister. Because we are the spirit children of God, we have inherited the potential to develop His divine qualities. Through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, we can become like our Heavenly Father…”[Gospel Principles, Chapter 2: Our Heavenly Family (2011)]
• “Elohim is literally the Father of the spirit of Jesus Christ and also of the body in which Jesus Christ performed His mission in the flesh…” [First Presidency and Council of the Twelve, “God the Father,” compiled by Gordon Allred, (1916), 150.]
Mormon authorities
Joseph Fielding Smith(Mormonism's 6th president-prophet): “Man, as a spirit, was begotten and born of heavenly parents, and reared to maturity in the eternal mansions of the Father, prior to coming upon the earth in a temporal [physical] body” [Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph F. Smith(1998), 335.].
Bruce R. McConkie (LDS ‘General Authority’): —“A plan of salvation was needed for the people of earth so Jesus offered a plan to the Father and Satan offered a plan to the father but Jesus' plan was accepted. In effect the Devil wanted to be the Savior of all Mankind and to 'deny men their agency and to dethrone god,'” … “Jesus Christ, Lucifer, and all of us were spirit children of God in the pre-mortal world” [Mormon Doctrine (1958), 193, 278.]
Bruce R. McConkie (LDS ‘General Authority’): “The Father begets; the Son is begotten; they are Parent and Child” [Doctrinal New Testament Commentary, Vol. 3, 138.]
Orson Pratt (A 'Quorum of Twelve Apostles' original member): “If none but gods will be permitted to multiply immortal children, it follows that each God must have one or more wives. God, the Father of our spirits, became the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ according to the flesh” [The Seer, 158.]
JESUS IS OUR OLDER BROTHER (SAME SPECIES)
Mormonism scripture

“The difference between Jesus and other offspring of Elohim[Mormonism's personal name for “God”] is one of degree not of kind.” [Doctrine and Covenants 93:21] Mormonism's Official Curriculum Material
• “The first spirit born to our heavenly parents was Jesus Christ …, so he is literally our elder brother (see Discourses of Brigham Young, p. 26). Because we are the spiritual children of our heavenly parents,…” [Gospel Principles (1997), 11]
Mormon authorities
James Talmage(Quorum of the Twelve Apostles member): “[A]mong the spirit-children of Elohim, the firstborn was and is Jehovah or Jesus Christ to whom all others are juniors ... Human beings generally were similarly existent in spirit state prior to their embodiment in the flesh. …There is no impropriety, therefore, in speaking of Jesus Christ as the Elder Brother of the rest of mankind.” [Articles of Faith, 425-4266.]
Bruce R. McConkie (LDS ‘General Authority’): “Christ, the Firstborn, was the mightiest of all the spirit children of the Father.” [Mormon Doctrine, 590.]
JESUS IS_MERELY_SATAN'S BROTHER (SAME SPECIES)
Spencer W. Kimball: “The importance of not accommodating temptation in the least degree is underlined by the Savior's example. Did not he recognize the danger when he was on the mountain with his fallen brother, Lucifer, being sorely tempted by that master tempter?”[The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, 163.]
Bruce R. McConkie (LDS ‘General Authority’): “The appointment of Jesus to be the Savior of the worlds was contested by one of the other sons of God. He was called Lucifer, son of the morning. Haughty, ambitious, and covetous of power and glory, this spirit-brother of Jesus desperately tried to become the savior of mankind.” [Mormon Doctrine, 193.]
Bruce R. McConkie (LDS ‘General Authority’): “He is our Father in heaven—the literal and personal Father of the spirits of all men. He begat us; we are the offspring of Heavenly Parents: we have an Eternal Father and an Eternal Mother. … Christ was the Firstborn of all the heavenly host; Lucifer was a son of the morning: each of us came into being as conscious identities in our appointed order; and Christ is our Elder Brother.” [The Mortal Messiah, vol. 1, 21]
 

Heather Frank

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The Doctrine and Covenants

Section 93
Revelation given through Joseph Smith the Prophet, at Kirtland, Ohio, May 6, 1833.

1–5, All who are faithful will see the Lord; 6–18, John bore record that the Son of God went from grace to grace until He received a fulness of the glory of the Father; 19–20, Faithful men, going from grace to grace, will also receive of His fulness; 21–22, Those who are begotten through Christ are the Church of the Firstborn; 23–28, Christ received a fulness of all truth, and man by obedience may do likewise; 29–32, Man was in the beginning with God; 33–35, The elements are eternal, and man may receive a fulness of joy in the Resurrection; 36–37, The glory of God is intelligence; 38–40, Children are innocent before God because of the redemption of Christ; 41–53, The leading brethren are commanded to set their families in order.


1 Verily, thus saith the Lord: It shall come to pass that every soul who forsaketh his sins and cometh unto me, and calleth on my name, and obeyeth my voice, and keepeth my commandments, shall see my face and know that I am;

2 And that I am the true light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world;

3 And that I am in the Father, and the Father in me, and the Father and I are one—

4 The Father because he gave me of his fulness, and the Son because I was in the world and made flesh my tabernacle, and dwelt among the sons of men.

5 I was in the world and received of my Father, and the works of him were plainly manifest.

6 And John saw and bore record of the fulness of my glory, and the fulness of John’s record is hereafter to be revealed.

7 And he bore record, saying: I saw his glory, that he was in the beginning, before the world was;

8 Therefore, in the beginning the Word was, for he was the Word, even the messenger of salvation—

9 The light and the Redeemer of the world; the Spirit of truth, who came into the world, because the world was made by him, and in him was the life of men and the light of men.

10 The worlds were made by him; men were made by him; all things were made by him, and through him, and of him.

11 And I, John, bear record that I beheld his glory, as the glory of the Only Begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth, even the Spirit of truth, which came and dwelt in the flesh, and dwelt among us.

12 And I, John, saw that he received not of the fulness at the first, but received grace for grace;

13 And he received not of the fulness at first, but continued from grace to grace, until he received a fulness;

14 And thus he was called the Son of God, because he received not of the fulness at the first.

15 And I, John, bear record, and lo, the heavens were opened, and the Holy Ghost descended upon him in the form of a dove, and sat upon him, and there came a voice out of heaven saying: This is my beloved Son.

16 And I, John, bear record that he received a fulness of the glory of the Father;

17 And he received all power, both in heaven and on earth, and the glory of the Father was with him, for he dwelt in him.

18 And it shall come to pass, that if you are faithful you shall receive the fulness of the record of John.

19 I give unto you these sayings that you may understand and know how to worship, and know what you worship, that you may come unto the Father in my name, and in due time receive of his fulness.

20 For if you keep my commandments you shall receive of his fulness, and be glorified in me as I am in the Father; therefore, I say unto you, you shall receive grace for grace.

21 And now, verily I say unto you, I was in the beginning with the Father, and am the Firstborn;

22 And all those who are begotten through me are partakers of the glory of the same, and are the church of the Firstborn.

23 Ye were also in the beginning with the Father; that which is Spirit, even the Spirit of truth;

24 And truth is knowledge of things as they are, and as they were, and as they are to come;

25 And whatsoever is more or less than this is the spirit of that wicked one who was a liar from the beginning.

26 The Spirit of truth is of God. I am the Spirit of truth, and John bore record of me, saying: He received a fulness of truth, yea, even of all truth;

27 And no man receiveth a fulness unless he keepeth his commandments.

28 He that keepeth his commandments receiveth truth and light, until he is glorified in truth and knoweth all things.

29 Man was also in the beginning with God. Intelligence, or the light of truth, was not created or made, neither indeed can be.

30 All truth is independent in that sphere in which God has placed it, to act for itself, as all intelligence also; otherwise there is no existence.

31 Behold, here is the agency of man, and here is the condemnation of man; because that which was from the beginning is plainly manifest unto them, and they receive not the light.

32 And every man whose spirit receiveth not the light is under condemnation.

33 For man is spirit. The elements are eternal, and spirit and element, inseparably connected, receive a fulness of joy;

34 And when separated, man cannot receive a fulness of joy.

35 The elements are the tabernacle of God; yea, man is the tabernacle of God, even temples; and whatsoever temple is defiled, God shall destroy that temple.

36 The glory of God is intelligence, or, in other words, light and truth.

37 Light and truth forsake that evil one.

38 Every spirit of man was innocent in the beginning; and God having redeemed man from the fall, men became again, in their infant state, innocent before God.

39 And that wicked one cometh and taketh away light and truth, through disobedience, from the children of men, and because of the tradition of their fathers.

40 But I have commanded you to bring up your children in light and truth.

41 But verily I say unto you, my servant Frederick G. Williams, you have continued under this condemnation;

42 You have not taught your children light and truth, according to the commandments; and that wicked one hath power, as yet, over you, and this is the cause of your affliction.

43 And now a commandment I give unto you—if you will be delivered you shall set in order your own house, for there are many things that are not right in your house.

44 Verily, I say unto my servant Sidney Rigdon, that in some things he hath not kept the commandments concerning his children; therefore, first set in order thy house.

45 Verily, I say unto my servant Joseph Smith, Jun., or in other words, I will call you friends, for you are my friends, and ye shall have an inheritance with me—

46 I called you servants for the world’s sake, and ye are their servants for my sake—

47 And now, verily I say unto Joseph Smith, Jun.—You have not kept the commandments, and must needs stand rebuked before the Lord;

48 Your family must needs repent and forsake some things, and give more earnest heed unto your sayings, or be removed out of their place.

49 What I say unto one I say unto all; pray always lest that wicked one have power in you, and remove you out of your place.

50 My servant Newel K. Whitney also, a bishop of my church, hath need to be chastened, and set in order his family, and see that they are more diligent and concerned at home, and pray always, or they shall be removed out of their place.

51 Now, I say unto you, my friends, let my servant Sidney Rigdon go on his journey, and make haste, and also proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the gospel of salvation, as I shall give him utterance; and by your prayer of faith with one consent I will uphold him.

52 And let my servants Joseph Smith, Jun., and Frederick G. Williams make haste also, and it shall be given them even according to the prayer of faith; and inasmuch as you keep my sayings you shall not be confounded in this world, nor in the world to come.

53 And, verily I say unto you, that it is my will that you should hasten to translate my scriptures, and to obtain a knowledge of history, and of countries, and of kingdoms, of laws of God and man, and all this for the salvation of Zion. Amen.
I read that, that was a history of the group of people who allegedly found and translated the Gold and Brass plates. They do appear to have some awfully materialistic views of the heavens.
 

Matthias

Advanced Poster
I’ve been rereading the Ante Nicene early Church Fathers for the past year. (I’m currently reading Book 4 of Lactantius’ 4th century 7 volume work titled The Divine Institutes.) They encounter and write against much the same sort of beliefs espoused by Mormonism in their confrontations with paganism.

Would Mormons recognize the affinity and be able to agree with some of those pagan beliefs? If so, would they be receptive to repenting? I don’t know but I believe that some of them would.
 
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