LIBERTY UNIVERSITY
JOHN W. RAWLINGS SCHOOL OF DIVINITY
Mormonism vs Christianity:
Identifying the Difference Between Worldviews
In partial completion of the course for professor:
APOL 500- C01
Dr. Todd Buck
by
Landon Flick
October 11, 2021
1
Introduction
The Mormon faith provides a worldview that is diametrically opposed to that of
Christianity. The Church of the Latter-Day Saints provides a worldview and system of beliefs
that leaves Christians with many questions, and defenses of what Christians believe. An
examination into Mormon claims to truth reveals many contradictions between Mormon and
Christian theology. In this essay a few of those contradictions will be discussed and combatted
with Christian theology.
Analysis of Aspects of the Mormon Worldview
In this section, I will discuss Mormon claims to truth in their theology from their perspective.
Theology, or our view of God, is important in helping us develop our convictions. Our
convictions form our beliefs, and our beliefs help form our doctrine. It is by studying God that
we learn how to live our lives to glorify Him. Sticking with Latter-day Saint tradition in this
section we will refer to God as Heavenly Father. In the paragraphs to follow we will look at
Mormon claims to truth on the topics of creation, salvation, baptism, prophets, and eschatology.
It is important that all religions can defend the creation of their faith, but also the creation of
the universe and all things in it. Mormons hold that creation occurred by Heavenly Father when
He organized the different matter already present in the universe.1 He is more of a sculptor than
creator, since the material was already there. He was the designer. We were also present before
1Bailey, David H. "Mormonism and the New Creationism." Dialogue : A Journal of Mormon Thought 35, no. 4 (Winter, 2002):
39,59,170,
the foundation of the world and were born to our heavenly parents.2 During a meeting long ago
in the heavenly realms, two of our brothers decided to take drastically different paths; one of
them decided to be the savior of the world, Jesus, and the other is responsible for all the evil in
the world, Lucifer.3 Heavenly Father kicked Lucifer and a third of all the spirit children out of
Heaven, and today they are causing evil on the Earth. Our path was different, our brother Jesus
came and saved the world and we who are loyal to Heavenly Father, as Jesus is, become priests
on Earth once they are born and choose to obey Heavenly Father.
The process of salvation is simple and is the purpose of human life. There are a few things
we must do to be saved and become Celestially Exalted beings. First, we must be obedient to all
of the laws of the gospel.4 This is important because we know that obedience is what earns us the
highest favor of Heavenly Father. We must repent of all sins. We must be surrounded by other
priests and have the Holy Ghost given to us through the laying on of their hands. We must
especially refrain from using tobacco and consuming caffeine. Lastly, we must always pay our
full tithe to our local Latter-day Saints church. These are the things that secure our destiny in the
celestial kingdom. However, even those who refuse to obey Heavenly Father still will be given
the opportunity to be saved after salvation.5
One of the most important things we do in order to be saved is complete a baptism ceremony.
Baptism is a requirement of salvation, and one way we accomplish saving as many as we can is
through baptism on behalf of those who have gone on before us.6 Not only must we be baptized
to obey the commands of Heavenly Father, but we are privileged to be baptized for those who
2 Hindson, Edward E., and Ergun Mehmet Caner. “Mormonism.” Essay. In The Popular Encyclopedia of Apologetics, 357–361.
3 Paul Clough, “Good, Evil and Godhood: Mormon Morality in the Material World,” in Powers of Good and Evil: Social
Transformation and Popular Belief. 165. Berghahn Books, 2001.
4 Hindson, Edward E., and Ergun Mehmet Caner. “Mormonism.” Essay. In The Popular Encyclopedia of Apologetics, 357–361.
5 Smith, Timothy. “The Book of Mormon in a Biblical Culture,” (1980) 7-8.
have gone before us and rest in spirit prison. When Mormon missionaries who have passed away
proclaim the gospel to those in spirit prison, the souls there are given the opportunity to be saved
and enter paradise.7 As priests still on Earth, our job is to take on their identity in baptism,
releasing them into paradise. Baptism also allows us to publicly identify ourselves with our
belief in Latter-day Saint doctrine.8 This is one way we continue to make disciples of all people.
We know all of this information through our readings given to us by Heavenly Father through
the penmanship of the prophets. In addition to the Holy Bible (KJV), one of our most heavily
used readings is the Book of Mormon penned by Joseph Smith, as well as the Doctrine &
Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price. These are additions to the Holy Bible and are to be
viewed and used as equals to the Bible. Heavenly Father and Jesus came down to Joseph Smith
when he was 14 and revealed many things to him.9 Some of these things are included in his
writings and are valuable for us. God is still speaking through his chosen prophets and apostles
today and it is always great to hear from them in Salt Lake City.
One of the most exciting things to discuss is Mormon Eschatology. “According to Mormon
leaders, eventually everyone will be released from spirit prison and paradise and will progress to
one of three heavens.”10 The telestial kingdom is so much better than Earth and is for the most
wicked people. Murderers and criminals go here. The next is the terrestrial kingdom. This is
where religious and moral people go who never became Latter-day Saints.11 The last and best
6 Bjunn Mitchell, H. J. "Good, Evil and Godhood: Mormon Morality in the Material World. in P. Clough & Jon. P. Mitchell ."
(2001) 160-165.
7 Hindson, Edward E., and Ergun Mehmet Caner. “Mormonism.” Essay. In The Popular Encyclopedia of Apologetics, 357–361.
8 Oman, Nathan. "A Defense of the Authority of Church Doctrine." Dialogue : A Journal of Mormon Thought 40, no. 4 (Winter,
2007): 1,28,177,
9 Hindson, Edward E., and Ergun Mehmet Caner. “Mormonism.” Essay. In The Popular Encyclopedia of Apologetics, 357–361.
10 Hindson, Edward E., and Ergun Mehmet Caner. “Mormonism.” Essay. In The Popular Encyclopedia of Apologetics, 361.
11 Hindson, Edward E., and Ergun Mehmet Caner. “Mormonism.” Essay. In The Popular Encyclopedia of Apologetics, 361.
level of heaven is the celestial kingdom. This is where all Latter-day Saints who were fully
obedient will be reunited again with Joseph Smith and the other priests. In the celestial kingdom
our goal is to achieve the state of godhood and become Heavenly Fathers and Heavenly Mothers
to spirit children of new Earths.12
In this section we have identified a few Mormon claims to truth in their theology. In the
paragraphs above we examined some Mormon beliefs including those on creation, salvation,
baptism, prophets, and eschatology. It is important to note that just as Christians across the world
have differing views on theology, so do Mormons and these beliefs may not be held by all Latter-
day Saints.13 However, they are widely held views across the Mormon Church, and all identified
through the Bible and Book of Mormon.
Critique of Aspects of the Opposing Worldview
In this section we will begin to breakdown the views outlined by the Latter-day Saints that
are discussed in the above section. The Bible and Christian’s will have many responses to the
views outlined above, but so do common sense and culture. Through looking at Joseph Smith’s
inaccurate translations, Mormon plural marriages, and their equality with God we see three
criticisms of the Mormon faith.
Joseph Smith had many writings during his time as a prophet. These writings claimed to be
inspired by God and he was simply the penman for them. However, some of the writings were
just translated. Once Joseph Smith claimed to have gained access to an original writing of
Abraham from the book of Genesis, it was on a scroll and Joseph Smith claimed he translated the
scroll word for word and that is how his writing the “Book of Abraham” originated. At the time
12 Hindson, Edward E., and Ergun Mehmet Caner. “Mormonism.” Essay. In The Popular Encyclopedia of Apologetics, 361.
13 Bowman, Matthew. "THE CRISIS OF MORMON CHRISTOLOGY: HISTORY, PROGRESS, AND PROTESTANTISM,
1880-1930." Fides Et Historia 40, no. 2 (Summer, 2008): 1-25.
in the mid 1800’s, there was no one else able to translate Smith’s Egyptian document. However,
when the Rosetta Stone was found, humans were able to learn to read and translate the language
again. When the same scroll was translated again by another person it was found that Smith’s
translations were totally inaccurate. The document was in fact the Egyptian Book of the Dead
and has nothing to do with Abraham or Genesis. This is one reason the Mormon faith is viewed
as not credible and inaccurate. Anything that is truly from God will not be able to be disproved
no matter how radical it may seem. 14
Another criticism of the Mormon faith is the history of the practice of plural wives. This all
supposedly began with a special revelation received by Joseph Smith in 1843 in which he was
told by God that he could engage in plural marriages. That revelation would become Mormon
scripture and would become highly practiced by men of the Mormon faith for a few decades.
Polygamy as we know it is illegal in the United States today but has been a topic of controversy
towards the Church of the Latter-day Saints for decades. Along with polygamy usually comes
other sexual misconduct and harassment allegations, However the Mormon church has widely
escaped many of these because of follower’s submission and obedience to their leaders.15 The
church has since rescinded its doctrine of plural wives and encouraged its congregants to not
practice polygamy.
In 1844 Joseph Smith preached one of his most famous sermons ever which included this
extremely controversial comment: “God himself was once as we are now… We have imagined
and supposed that God was God from all eternity. I will refute that idea and take away the veil so
that you may see, He was once a man like us.”16 He then goes on to tell his listeners that eternal
14 Hindson, Edward E., and Ergun Mehmet Caner. “Mormonism.” Essay. In The Popular Encyclopedia of Apologetics, 358.
15 Hindson, Edward E., and Ergun Mehmet Caner. “Mormonism.” Essay. In The Popular Encyclopedia of Apologetics, 357–
361.
16 Hindson, Edward E., and Ergun Mehmet Caner. “Mormonism.” Essay. In The Popular Encyclopedia of Apologetics, 359.
life means becoming “Gods” themselves. This obviously would come as a shock to any Christian
and would be considered a heresy. Considering oneself to be equal with God in any respect is
cause for a vast array of questions. However, this would go on to become the foundation the
Mormon church builds upon and their eschatological beliefs.
These three criticisms of the Mormon faith are a big deal and shouldn’t be taken lightly.
They should be examined, tested, and questioned regularly. Not only does the Bible and
Christianity raise red flags to each of these three criticisms, so do culture and common sense.
Through these three areas we begin to see the chinks in the armor of the Mormon faith. The only
way to truly make sense of these issues is to hold them to God’s Word and let Him shine truth on
them from the perspective of a Christian.
Defense of Christianity
In this section the defense of my Christian faith will be made against the Mormon faith laid
out above. In studying a different worldview in depth, it has led me to hold to my convictions of
the Christian faith even deeper. In this section the contradictions between the Mormon “truths”
and the Christian truths will be brought to light. Creation, Biblical infallibility, salvation by grace
through faith, the purpose of baptism, and eschatology will be discussed and contrasted with the
Mormon worldview.
In the beginning God created the heavens and the Earth.17 This is a verse that every
Christian knows and holds onto as the foundation of their faith. God is the creator of all things,
not just a sculptor who designed things as the Mormons believe. We know that the Earth was
nothing, formless, a void until God spoke it into existence. Among all the things that He created,
He created Adam, the first human. Then from Adam, God created Eve. They then disobeyed God
and the one thing He commanded them not to do and sin entered the world. 18 We don’t know the
exact answers to everything that happened between the time of creation and when Satan fell from
Heaven, but we do know that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God were all present in one
person, Jesus, in the beginning.19
We know that God’s Word is actually a person, Jesus. “In the beginning was the Word, and
the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.”20 The same
beginning that is referenced in Genesis 1 is the same beginning that is again referenced in John 1.
It is the foundation of Christianity to believe the Bible is the inspired Word of God that has been
penned by men through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Knowing Jesus is the living Word,
gives us hope that we are not reading the writings of any man, but of a God who is alive. The
Bible is infallible and inerrant, not to be added to or taken away.21 God’s word was complete with
the revelation of John in the book of Revelation. The basis of Joseph Smith adding to the cannon
of scripture is blasphemy and his writings should be looked at as such. Knowing what we know
17 Crossway Bibles. (2016). Genesis 1:1. In ESV: English standard version.
18 Brown, Jeannine K. "Creation's Renewal in the Gospel of John." The Catholic Biblical Quarterly 72, no. 2 (04, 2010): 275-
90,
19 Crossway Bibles. (2016). Luke 10:18. In ESV: English standard version.
20 Crossway Bibles. (2016). John 1:1-2. In ESV: English standard version.
21 Crossway Bibles. (2016). 2 Timothy 3:16-17. In ESV: English standard version.
about his bogus interpretation of the Egyptian scroll, we should take all his writings and view
them as erroneous.
Learning more about the Latter-day Saints law keeping requirement for heaven saddened me.
They truly don’t know the good news of the Gospel, to be saved by grace through faith not of our
own doing but as God’s free gift to us in Christ.22 Attempting to earn salvation by living up to a
set of standards placed before us is what the Old Testament is all about. It shows us that we can’t
meet those standards on our own and that is why we need Jesus as our savior. We know that it is
God’s law that allows us to see our sinfulness.23 Living according to the law is the standard we
are to strive for but ultimately know that we can never live up to God’s standard which is what
Jesus came to do.
The Latter-day Saint’s purposes for baptism are confusing and highly inaccurate according to
God’s Word. Christians believe that Baptism identifies them with Christ after their salvation.
Baptism doesn’t produce salvation for us or anyone else. It allows us to identify ourselves with
Christ in his death, burial, and resurrection.24 It also signifies a believer joining God’s family
publicly and our intention to be a part of a local church. Other than that baptism has no special
power to save anyone, especially a dead person.
The last major defense that will be made is that of eschatology and heaven. This is one of the
most highly debated things among Christians today because of the unknowns that go along with
them. There are some stories of people who have died and come back to life that tell of
encounters with God, but no one really knows for certain what it will look like when we die or
22 Crossway Bibles. (2016). Ephesians 2:8-9. In ESV: English standard version.
23 Crossway Bibles. (2016). Romans 7. In ESV: English standard version.
24 Lifeway Staff. “The Significance of Believer's Baptism.” Accessed September 28, 2021.
when Jesus’ second coming happens. However, we know that none of it looks like what the
Latter-day Saints believe. The Bible teaches that to be absent from the body is to be present with
the Lord.25 When we pass on from our earthly bodies, we receive a new heavenly body, and we
are present with Jesus to worship him for the remainder of eternity. We do not get placed in
different levels of heaven, we do not become gods, we do not stay married in heaven.26 These are
a few of the areas that Christianity differs largely with the Mormon faith.
Conclusion
Through examining the Mormon worldview, we can see many contradictions to the
beliefs Christians hold dear. Evaluating different worldviews claims to truth helps make our
convictions even stronger. It is important to know what each worldview believes, and to be able
to make a defense of that belief with Christian theology.
25 Crossway Bibles. (2016). 2 Corinthians 5:8. In ESV: English standard version.
26 Crossway Bibles. (2016). Matthew 22:30. In ESV: English standard version.
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