The Mormon View of God Refuted                                                                                                   by Jack Kettler

In the book The Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith we have Mormon founder Joseph Smith's view concerning God:

God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man, and sits enthroned in yonder heavens! . . . for I am going to tell you how God came to be God. 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.... It is the first principle of the Gospel to know for a certainty the Character of God, and to know that we may converse with him as one man converses with another, and that he was once a man like us; yea that God himself, the Father of us all dwelt on an earth, the same as Jesus Christ himself did; and I will show it from the Bible.(1)

Mormon apostle James Talmage in his work Articles Of Faith tells us about the Father-god of Mormonism:

In the Doctrine and Covenants we learn this about the Mormon god:

In the Journal of Discourses Mormon leader Wilford Woodruff tells us this about God:

In the Mormon work History of the Church we learn more about Smith's views concerning God. Not only does Smith's god change, but also polytheism is a position that is also promoted. Smith tells us here about his polytheistic beliefs:

Not only are there supposedly many gods in the universe, there are apparently just as many redeemers, tempters, and planets. In the Journal of Discourses Brigham Young, second prophet of the Mormon religion, tells us this:

Early Mormon leader Orson Pratt faithfully following Joseph Smith in his book titled The Seer tells about the Mormon scheme of reality:

Contemporary Mormon writer W. Cleon Skousen in his book The First 2000 Years has drawn together some of these teachings and brought out the implications that this view of reality holds:

The Christian View of God:

Hear, O Israel the LORD our God is one LORD: (Deut. 6:4)

This is called the Shema, the central confession of faith of the Old Testament covenant people. This was a distinctive belief of the people of Israel, setting them apart from all pagan concepts of god.

All of the following verses will clearly demonstrate that the God of the Bible is completely different from the Mormon god, who changes and is essentially nothing more than a big man. The following verses prove God's spiritual nature and his attributes that set him apart from finite or limited men. Numerous passages prove that God is not a man because of the fact that God is the creator. God sets himself apart from sinful men by clear declarations. How many verses does it take to prove that God is not a man who changes? Consider carefully the passages in this section to see if the quotations by various Mormons are in harmony with the Bible.

God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the
son of man, that he should repent:... (Num. 23:19)

Who hath wrought and done it, calling the
generations from the beginning? I the LORD,
the first, and with the last; I am he. (Isaiah 41:4)

Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and
my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may
know and believe me, and understand that I
am he: before me there was no God formed,
neither shall there be after me. (Isaiah 43:10)

...I am the first, and I am the last; and
beside me there is no God. (Isaiah 44:6)

I am the LORD , and there is none else, there
is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou
hast not known me: That they may know from the
rising of the sun, and from the west, that there
is none beside me, I am the LORD, and there is
none else. (Isaiah 45:5-6)

Remember the former things of old: for I am
God, and there is none else; I am God, and
there is none like me. (Isaiah 46:9)

God's omniscience is proved by the following verses:

Great is our Lord, and of great power: his
understanding is infinite. (Psalms 147:5)

The eyes of the LORD are in every place,
beholding the evil and the good. (Proverbs 15:3)

Produce your cause, saith the LORD; bring
forth your strong reasons, saith the King of
Jacob. Let them bring them forth, and show
us what shall happen: let them show the former
things, what they be, that we may consider them,
and know the latter end of them; or declare us
things to come. Show the things that are to come
hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods: yea,
do good, or do evil, that we may be dismayed, and
behold it together. Behold, ye are of nothing,
and your work of nought: an abomination is he
that chooseth you. (Isaiah 41:21-24)

In the above verse God compares His knowledge with that of all false gods.

Known unto God are all his works from the
beginning of the world. Acts (15:18)

... And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest
all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus
saith unto him, Feed my sheep. (John 21:17)

Neither is there any creature that is not
manifest in his sight: but all things are
naked and opened unto the eyes of him with
whom we have to do. (Heb. 4:13)

For if our heart condemn us, God is greater
than our heart, and knowest all things. (I John 3:20)

God's omnipresence is seen in the following verses:

But will God in very deed dwell with men on
the earth? behold, heaven and the heaven of
heavens cannot contain thee: how much less this
house which I have built! (II Chron. 6:18)

Wither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither
shall I flee from thy presence? (Psalms 139:7)

Thus Saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne,
and the earth is my footstool: where is the
house that ye build unto me? and where is the
place of my rest? (Isaiah 66:1)

Can any hide himself in secret places that I
shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill
heaven and earth? (Jer. 23:24)

Though they dig into hell, thence shall mine
hand take them; though they climb up to heaven,
thence will I bring them down. (Amos 9:2)

God that made the world and all things therein,
seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth
not in temples made with hands; Neither is worshipped
with men's hands, as though he needed any thing,
seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all
things; And hath made of one blood all nations of
men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and
hath determined the times before appointed, and the
bounds of their habitation; That they should seek the
Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find
him, though he be not far from every one of us: For
in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain
as certain also of your own poets have said, For we
are also his offspring. (Acts 17:24-28)

God's omnipotence is seen in the following verses:

All things were made by him; and without him
was not any thing made that was made. (John 1:3)

I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the
ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was,
and which is to come, the Almighty. (Rev. 1:8)

Before the mountains were brought forth, or
ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world,
even from everlasting to everlasting thou art God. (Psalms 90:2)

These things hast thou done, and I kept silence;
thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as
thyself: but I will reprove thee, and set them in
order before thine eyes. (Psalms 50:21)

I know that thou canst do every thing, and
that no thought can be withholden from thee. (Job 42:2)

Ah Lord God! behold, thou hast made the heaven
and the earth by thy great power and stretched
out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee. (Jer. 32:17)

I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger,
I will not return to destroy Ephraim: for I am God,
and not man; the Holy One in the midst of thee: and
I will not enter the city. (Hosea 11:9)

For all the gods of the nations are idols: but
the Lord made the heavens. (Psalms 96:5)

For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore
ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. (Malachi 3:6)

They shall perish, but thou shalt endure:
yea all of them shall wax old like a garment; as
a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall
be changed: But thou art the same, and thy years
shall have no end. (Psalms 102:26-27)

But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With
men this is impossible; but with God all things
are possible. (Matt. 19:26)

God's spiritual nature is proved by the following two verses:

God is a Spirit: and they that worship
him must worship him in spirit and in
truth. (John 4:24)

Behold my hands and my feet, that it is
I myself: handle me, and see, for a spirit
hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me
have. (Luke 24:39)

It should be abundantly clear that the God of Holy Scripture is not the finite changeable god of Mormonism. One final Scripture reference will be given before going on to the next section.

Professing themselves to be wise, they became
fools, And changed the glory of the uncorruptible
God into an image made like to corruptible man,
and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping
things. (Romans 1:22-23)

Ontology or Metaphysics, the ultimate nature of reality:

What do you mean by God? Has he always been God? Where did he come from? Are there other gods in the Universe like your god? Does your god have a body? If he is a glorified man with a body, is he limited or finite? How does he travel? A space ship? How does he communicate with the other gods in the Universe? Intergalactic phone service? Celestial conferences?

Has your god with a body traveled everywhere in the Universe? If so, when? How long would it take him to do this? Does your god know everything? If he has not been everywhere in the Universe how could he? Could your god ever be overthrown by other gods from a different part of the Universe that have a different agenda than his? If not, how do you know that? Can you give me a guarantee of this? Based upon what? Is there a creator/creature distinction? Do men and the Gods exist in a realm of being in general? Is God further up the scale of being than man? Are there two types of being; created/uncreated? Is reality ultimately one (a unity), or many (a diversity)? How do the universals relate to the particulars?

The Christian God cannot be overthrown since there are no other gods! Our God is Omnipotent (all powerful) and He is Omnipresent (everywhere present) and is Omniscient (all knowing).

If there are more senior gods in the Universe, why not put my faith in one of them? Why put my faith in a junior god? Could your god ever step down from being god? If he became a god, it is conceivable that he could quit someday.

Epistemology:

Are Mormons and your God, or gods, empiricists, rationalists, irrationalists, or do you hold to some other concept of gaining knowledge? Former Utah University professor, Sterling McMurrin, on page eleven of his book, Theological Foundations of the Mormon Religion, states that Mormons and their Gods are basically empiricists [gain knowledge through experience and sensations]. Is McMurrin correct in his perception of Mormon epistemology? Are the revelations of the Mormon god empirically based revelations?

Aristotle, John Locke, David Hume, George Berkeley, and Bertrand Russell were all empirical thinkers. They would all agree that knowledge comes through the senses in the following order: (a) sensations (b) perceptions (c) memory images, (d) development of abstract ideas. Perceptions are inferences from sensations. How do you know valid from invalid inferences? About five percent of the population does not have any memory images at all. How can these people be empiricists? What about studies which deal in the areas of the threshold of sensations? These studies show unreliable the senses can be, especially sight (colors), and hearing (sound). Also, can tiredness, drugs, and optical illusions deceive the senses? What about sin? Demonic deception?

Empirical epistemology has its roots in the pagan philosopher Aristotle. Should a Christian incorporate pagan thinking into Christianity?

Ethics:

Is there a law structure above your god that he is accountable to? If so, how do you know he's interpreting if correctly? Where did this law structure come from? If there are eternal laws in the Universe above the Mormon god, wouldn't this law structure be God? Do all the gods interpret it the same? Are there evil gods in the universe? If not, how do you know? If so, could they destroy or defeat the good Gods?

Teleology:

Is history linear or endless? Is eternal progression a concept of history that involves endlessness? Will the Mormon god ever defeat evil in the Universe? Why haven't the more senior gods defeated it yet? Will time ever cease to exist in the part of the universe your god rules over? What about other parts of the universe? Is there any real substantial difference between eternal progression and the Hindu teleological concept of history? What is the difference, if any? Does your god control history? In what way? Partially? Completely? What is the ultimate purpose of creation? In what way does evolutionary theory differ from eternal progression? In what ways are they similar?

Notes:

1. Joseph Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, Arranged by Joseph F. Smith, (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company, 1976), p. 345, 346.

2. James E. Talmage, Articles Of Faith, (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company, 1988), p. 39.

3. Joseph Smith, Doctrine And Covenants, (Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, 1977), p. 238.

4. Wilford Woodruff, Journal of Discourses, Vol. Six, (Liverpool: 1859), p. 120.

5. Joseph Smith, History of the Church, Vol. Six, (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company, 1978), p. 474.

6. Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, Vol. Fourteen, (Liverpool: 1872), p. 71.

7. Orson Pratt, The Seer, (Salt Lake City: Eborn Books, 1990), p. 132.

8. W. Cleon Skousen, The First 2000 Years, (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1990), p. 354-356.

Passages in the Book of Mormon that teach one eternal God:

And now Abinadi said unto them: I would that ye should understand that God himself shall become down among the children of men, and shall redeem his people.

And because he dwelleth in flesh he shall be called the Son of God, and having subjected the flesh to the will of the Father, being the Father and the Son

The Father, because he was conceived by the power of God; and the Son, because of the flesh; thus becoming the Father and Son

And they are one God, yea, the very Eternal Father of heaven and of earth. Mosiah 15:1-4.

And Zeezrom said unto him: Thou sayest there is a true and living God?

And Amulek said: Yea, there is a true and living God.

Now Zeezrom said: Is there more than one God?

And he answered, No.

Now Zeezrom said unto him again: How knowest thou these things?

And he said: An angel hath made them known unto me.