He spreads falsehoods and lies about other people’s beliefs and faith traditions! A true, faithful, believing Christian wouldn’t do that. The above is a clip from a short video he posted on Twitter/X on 10 July 25, accompanied with the following short text message:
Is believing Jesus is God really that important? Let’s explore why this is the very heart of Christianity & how Mormons totally miss the mark. Link.
And here is the video transcript:
Well Mormons are even further out theologically than Jehovah’s Witnesses. I mean, officially Mormons are polytheists. They don’t think there is one God. They think the God of this universe was once a man who graduated and became a God. And there are a number of other gods out there. And if you are a faithful Mormon man, you can one day be a god of your own planet. I am not making this stuff up by the way, okay? And so Mormonism has more theological oddities than even Jehovah’s Witnesses do. But if you are going to deny that Jesus is who he said he was—I mean, Jesus’s big question to everyone was, “Who do you say that I am?” right? To deny that Jesus was who he said he was in many different ways—I mean Jesus says things like this: “Before Abraham was born I am.” “Anyone who believes in me will never taste death,” or something like that, right? He says, “Pray in my name.” “I and the father are one.” “I am the alpha and the omega”—actually that is from Revelation. I mean, there are so many statements of Jesus that show he is not just a good moral teacher; that he is something beyond what just a human being would be.
So his main argument is that Latter-day Saints don’t believe in the divinity of Jesus Christ. That is a falsehood and a lie. The doctrine of divinity of Jesus Christ is more clearly, repeatedly, and unambiguously taught in modern LDS scripture (Book of Mormon and Doctrine and Covenants) than it is in the Bible. The following is a selection:
Book of Mormon Title Page:
… And also to the convincing of the Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God, manifesting himself unto all nations.
2 Nephi 11:
7 For if there be no Christ, there be no God; and if there be no God, we are not, for there could have been no creation. But there is a God, and he is Christ; and he cometh in the fulness of his own time.
2 Nephi 26:
12 And as I spake concerning the convincing of the Jews, that Jesus is the very Christ, it must needs be that the Gentiles be convinced also that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God;
Mosiah 3:
5 For behold, the time cometh, and is not far distant, that with power, the Lord Omnipotent who reigneth, who was and is from all eternity to all eternity, shall come down from heaven among the children of men, and shall dwell in a tabernacle of clay, and shall go forth amongst men, …
Mosiah 7:
27 And because he said unto them that Christ was the God, the Father of all things; and said that he should take upon him the image of man, and it should be the image after which man was created in the beginning; or in other words, he said that man was created after the image of God, and that God should come down among the children of men, and take upon him flesh and blood, and go forth upon the face of the earth—
Mosiah 15:
1 And now Abinadi said unto them: I would that ye should understand that God himself shall come down among the children of men, and shall redeem his people.
2 And because he dwelleth in flesh he shall be called the Son of God, …
Mosiah 16:
15 Teach them that redemption cometh through Christ the Lord, who is the very Eternal Father. Amen.
Mosiah 27:
31 Yea, every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess before him [Christ]. Yea, even at the last day, when all men shall stand to be judged of him, then shall they confess that he is God; …
Alma 11:
39 And Amulek said unto him: Yea, he [Christ] is the very Eternal Father of heaven and of earth, and all things which in them are; he is the beginning and the end, the first and the last;
3 Nephi 11:
14 Arise and come forth unto me, that ye may thrust your hands into my side, and also that ye may feel the prints of the nails in my hands and in my feet, that ye may know that I am the God of Israel, and the God of the whole earth, and have been slain for the sins of the world.
Doctrine and Covenants 1:
24 Behold I am God, and have spoken it; these commandments are of me [Christ], and were given unto my servants in their weakness, after the manner of their language, that they might come to understanding.
Doctrine and Covenants 19:
18 Which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit …
Doctrine and Covenants 35:
1 Listen to the voice of the Lord your God, even Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, whose course is one eternal round, the same today as yesterday, and forever.
2 I am Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who was crucified for the sins of the world, …
• • •
8 For I am God, and mine arm is not shortened; and I will show miracles, signs, and wonders, unto all those who believe on my name.
Doctrine and Covenants 38:
1 Thus saith the Lord your God, even Jesus Christ, the Great I Am, Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. The same which looked upon the wide expanse of eternity, and all the seraphic hosts of heaven before the world was made;
2 The same which knoweth all things, for all things are present before mine eyes.
3 I am the same which spake, and the world was made, and all things came by me.
Doctrine and Covenants 39:
1 Hearken and listen to the voice of him who is from all eternity to all eternity, the Great I Am, even Jesus Christ—
2 The light and the life of the world; a light which shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehendeth it not;
Doctrine and Covenants 63:
6 Wherefore verily I say, let the wicked take heed, and let the rebellious fear and tremble, and let the unbelieving hold their lips; for the day of wrath shall come upon them as a whirlwind, and all flesh shall know that I am God.
Doctrine and Covenants 76:
1 Hear, O ye heavens, and give ear, O earth, and rejoice ye inhabitants thereof, for the Lord is God, and beside him there is no Savior.
2 Great is his wisdom, marvelous are his ways, and the extent of his doings none can find out.
3 His purposes fail not, neither are there any who can stay his hand.
4 From eternity to eternity he is the same, and his years never fail.
Doctrine and Covenants 101:
16 Therefore let your hearts be comforted concerning Zion, for all flesh is in mine hands. Be still and know that I am God.
Modern LDS scripture affirms, confirms, and attests to the divinity of Jesus Christ far more clearly, comprehensively, repeatedly, and unambiguously than the Bible does. Nowhere in the Bible is the doctrine of the divinity of Jesus Christ taught as clearly, explicitly, unambiguously, and affirmatively as it is in modern LDS scriptures. Telling falsehoods and lies about other people’s beliefs and faith traditions is not a good idea. It backfires in the end—and the end result will be the damnation of hell, if not speedily repented of.
Another falsehood he has perpetrated against LDS beliefs is that they are “polytheists”. Polytheism means that you worship more than one God. Latter-day Saints worship one God the Father, and his Son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost (which is “one God,” 2 Nephi 31:21; Alma 11:44; Mormon 7:7; Doctrine and Covenants 20:28). LDS also believe in the deification of man, which is a separate issue.
Firstly, the doctrine of the deification of man or theosis (and by extension, plurality of gods) was a well established doctrine in the early Christian Church, and was extensively taught, written, and talked about by the Early Church Fathers. All the Early Church Fathers, including the Apostolic Fathers, the Ante-Nicene Fathers, Post-Nicene Fathers, from the first century onwards (such as Ignatius, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Theophilus, Tertullian, Clement of Alexandria, Hippolytus, Novatian, Origen, Cyprian, Methodius, Lactantius, Athanasius, Hilary of Poitiers, Gregory of Nyssa, Gregory Nazianzen, Basil, Ephraim the Syrian, Ambrose, Augustine, Jerome, Hilary of Arles, John Chrysostom, Mark the Ascetic, Aphrahat—all the way down to Athanasius, Origen, Augustine and beyond), they all believed in, and extensively wrote on the deification of man, or theosis—and by extension, plurality of gods. They all taught that men can become gods. Examples of their writings are extensive, and can be seen here. And traces of it also still exist in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The reason why he doesn’t believe that is because his religion is apostate. It apostatized a long time ago, and lost many of its early beliefs and doctrines.
Another falsehood about LDS beliefs that he has perpetrated is the idea that we believe we will become “god of our own planet,” which of course is a perversion of the truth and a lie. While LDS theology indeed teaches the deification of man (as the early Christians did), nowhere is it stated that we became “god of our own planet”. Here is a quote:
Doctrine and Covenants 132:
20 Then shall they be gods, because they have no end; therefore shall they be from everlasting to everlasting, because they continue; then shall they be above all, because all things are subject unto them. Then shall they be gods, because they have all power, and the angels are subject unto them.
Which is indeed also confirmed in the Bible:
John 17:
20 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;
21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:
1 John 3:
2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
3 And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.
2 Peter 1:
3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:
4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
But nowhere is it stated in LDS scripture that they become “gods of their own planet”. LDS scripture teaches that those who are so exalted in the celestial kingdom of God, and thus “deified,” or become “gods,” receive all that the Father has:
Doctrine and Covenants 84:
37 And he that receiveth me receiveth my Father;
38 And he that receiveth my Father receiveth my Father’s kingdom; therefore all that my Father hath shall be given unto him.
Who wants to be a “god of their own planet” when they can have all that God the Father has—all the stars, planets, galaxies in the universe that God has created? It is estimated that there are 2 trillion galaxies in the universe, each of them containing trillions of stars with their planets. Who wants to be “god of their own planet,” when they can have all the trillions x trillions x sextillion of stars, galaxies, and planets that God has created? There is no LDS scripture that says that we become “gods of our own planet”. Joseph Smith never taught such a doctrine, neither is it found in any LDS scripture—which is the ultimate source of LDS theology and doctrine. So he is “making stuff up”. The bottom line is that he is a false teacher, and not to be trusted to teach divine truth.
They are in it to make money; and since attacking, denigrating, and spreading falsehoods and lies about “Mormonism” is popular in Evangelical circles, they like to engage in that activity in order to maintain their popular base. They are not interested in the truth. They are the emissaries of Satan, who was a liar from the beginning (John 8:44)—and will receive their reward from him in due time.
