"CORRECTLY TRANSLATED"
When we visited Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah, we were told
several things concerning the book of Mormon. We were told by our
Mormon tour guides...
'That there was nothing written in the Book of Mormon that would
contradict with the Holy Bible. We were told that the two books were
in total agreement with each other. In fact, that the two books
compliment each other.'
We also saw engraved on fine stone the 'Articles of Faith'
that the Mormons believe. Article of Faith, number 8 reads,
'We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is
translated correctly; we also believe the Book of Mormon to be the
Word of God.'
Upon returning home we began to examine the Book of Mormon with
the Holy Bible to see if these things were true. Were there no
contradictions? Is the Mormon doctrine 'correctly translating'
the Word of God? The answer to these two fundamental questions is
examined below.
THE FALL OF MAN
What we found is that the Book of Mormon and the Holy Bible
contradict each other starting in chapter 1 of Genesis. We hadn't even
gotten started and already we found a sinful contradiction in
the Book of Mormon. For we read in the Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi 2:18
and 22-25,
"Wherefore, he said unto Eve, yea, even that old serpent who is the
devil, who is the father of all lies, wherefore he said 'Partake of the
forbidden fruit, and ye shall not die, but ye shall be as God,
knowing good and evil...And now, behold, if Adam had not transgressed
he would not fallen, but he would have remained in the garden of Eden.
And all things which were created must have remained in the same state
in which they were after they were created; and they must have
remained forever, and had no end. And they would have had no
children; wherefore they would have remained in a state of innocence,
having no joy, for they knew no misery; doing no good, for they
knew no sin...Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might
have joy."
WHAT THE BOOK OF MORMON IS SAYING
Mormons and the Book of Mormon are saying,
1. That man had no choice but to sin if we were to have babies and fill
the earth with humans. In short, there would be no sex without the
fall.
2. That without the fall, man had "no joy".
3. Without man sinning we could not do any "good" and would not have any
knowledge on how to grow into the image of God.
In summary, the book of Mormon is saying Adam fell that he might gain
a wisdom on how to have babies with joy and to be able to do good.
WHAT MORMON's SAY
Upon investigating the theology of the Mormons we find them being in
agreement with the book of Mormon and the 3 points listed above. They
state,
"Adam fell, but he fell in the right direction...toward the goal...he
fell upward." -Sterling W. Sill, Assistant to the Council of the Twelve
"It is necessary for man to learn by actual experience the
difference between good and evil...He must feel the influence and
power of death before he can appreciate eternal life. He must
comprehend the effects of sin before he can enjoy the rest
promised to the faithful..." -The Plan of Salvation
It is easy to see that Mormons agree with the 3 points listed above.
THE IMAGE OF GOD
Not only does the Mormon doctrine teach that Adam and Eve could
not have physical children before the Fall, (Moses 5:11), but that
before the Fall we would have no opportunity to become as God, that
is, to be a God ourselves. We have been told by Mormons that the
goal of every good Mormon man is to become a God himself, and
the goal of every good Mormon wife is to become a goddess. Together
they will rule over their own earth. They will be God to that earth.
They say Satan was not lying when he said that they "would be like God".
Indeed, for them to have the opportunity to be a God they must fall
and then prove their worthiness by obeying the Mormon church. So if
all goes well they too will not only be in the image of God, they will
be a God!
President Spencer W. Kimball has said, "This progress toward
eternal life is a matter of achieving perfection. Living all
the commandments (there are over 4300 in Mormonism) guarantees total
forgiveness of sins and assures one of exaltation through
that perfection which comes by complying with the formula the Lord
gave us." It follows then, that if each of you can become a God, then
God was human like us at one time too. That He too had to obey the
laws of godhood if He was to be exalted. In fact, one of the favorite
sayings within the Mormon church is..."As man is, God once was; and as
God is, man may become."
The President of the Mormon Mission in England puts it this way:
"As one of our great prophets and President of the Church has
indicated, 'As man is, God once was; and as God is, man may become.'
So you see why the Temple is so important to the LDS; because if he
is worthy to go into the Temple and there receive the secret
ordinances and covenants and keep them, he can eventually grow into
becoming a god himself." -Dr. Harold Goodman
Because the temptation and fall of man was such a blessing we now
have the opportunity to become a god if we join the Mormon
church. Mormon President Spencer W. Kimball whose picture is
displayed in Salt Lake City Utah said in 1974, "In each of
us is the potentiality to become a God - pure, holy, true,
influential, powerful...Man can transform himself...he has in him the
seeds of Godhood that can grow." To the Mormon, Satan is telling the
truth when he says, "ye shall be as God." Is all this true? Will the
Holy Bible support the first teachings of Mormonism? Have they
"correctly translated the Bible"? Are the Holy Bible and the Book of
Mormon in agreement? We were told to check it out and so we shall.
THE HOLY BIBLE
"Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the
Lord God had made. He said to the woman, 'Did God really say, `You
must not eat from any tree in the garden?' The woman said to the
serpent, 'We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did
say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of
the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die." "You will
not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. 'For God knows
that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be
like God, knowing good from evil." -Genesis 3:1-5 NIV
POINT #1
Remember point #1 of Mormon teaching? "That man had no choice but to
sin if we were to have babies and fill the earth." This cannot
possibly be true! Adam and Eve knew "how" to be fruitful in
producing babies. For on the 6th day when God made Adam and Eve what
did he tell them?
"So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created
him; ...male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to
them, 'Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue
it...God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was
evening, and there was morning-the 6th day."
-Genesis 1:27-31
No fall of man had taken place yet, and God told them to "Be
fruitful and increase". Adam and Eve already had the knowledge of
sexual reproduction otherwise God would be asking the impossible. In
fact, if you will read all of Genesis 1 you will find that things
were already reproducing according to their "own kind" right after
their creation. Let us read in Genesis 1:11,
"Then God said, 'Let the land produce vegetation: seed-
bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed
in it according to their various kinds.' And it was so."
Already the vegetation and trees are reproducing, for God
had given such wisdom to plants and trees when He made them saying,
"seed-bearing"! In addition, when God first created birds and the
creatures in the sea He said,
"God blessed them and said, 'Be fruitful and increase in number
and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the
earth." -Genesis 1:21
Now this all took place on the 4th and 5th days, a full day
before man and woman were created by God. A full day before Adam and
Eve the birds and bees were already busy. Yet Mormonism tells
us that things would have "stayed the same for eternity". That
is, the same number of things would always be if the fall had not
taken place. Indeed, man knew how to make babies, the big difference
was he was naked and intimate, but he felt no shame for his natural
condition.
"The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame."
-Genesis 2:25
The only thing Satan brought was the twisted perspective that the
way God had made things was shameful! To sinful man sex is not
pleasurable unless it is shameful. It is from this shameful desire
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