Understanding Mormonism — Ron Carlson

Christian Responsibility to Defend the Faith

I began dealing with the cults about 11 years ago when I ran into a man named Walter Martin. And Walter has been a real friend and encouragement to me over the last 10 years. And other people like Mark Allen and the tenors who have had the tremendous input on how to deal with Mormons.

And I simply stand in their shadow and I feel very privileged to be here. And what you just saw concerning the temple ceremony, we as Christians have a tremendous responsibility to share our faith with those who are involved in the Mormon religion.

The first Peter chapter three verse 15 tells us, as Christians we ought to be ready always to give every person an answer, a reason for the hope that lies within it. Jude verse three tells us that we ought to contend earnestly for the faith, which has been delivered once for all time into the saints.

And that is what we must do as we deal in the battlefield. We saw the temple rituals, which play such a central part in the Mormon church announced that they're gonna be building another 15 or so temples throughout the world.

They presently have missions in 83 countries in the world. One of our concerns has been to deal with Mormons on a worldwide scale. I've had the privilege of lecturing now in over 50 countries of the world, just returned from 13 countries of Asia.

In the Philippine Islands alone, there are over 2 ,800 Mormon missionaries. They're having a tremendous influence in that country, which is 95 Catholic, the third largest English speaking country in the world.

Throughout Hong Kong, Singapore, beginning to go into South Africa now, throughout Europe. When I was in England just a little while back, we discovered that the Mormon missionaries are going into the Church of Scotland, the Church of England, which are virtually dead.

In Great Britain, only 2 of the population goes to church. Most of those are old people. There's a real mission field in Europe itself. So the Mormon missionaries are going into the Church of Scotland, the Church of England, and offering to the pastor to start a youth group in their church.

And the pastor, not understanding Mormonism, is excited that two young men would come and want to start a youth group in his church. And this is going on in Scotland and England right now. Tremendous responsibility that we get information to these people around the world.

Biblical Christianity and the Distinctive Claims of Mormonism

One of the things that continually amazes me is that the average Mormon has never been confronted with the truth of biblical Christianity. You discover that most Mormons have simply been raised in the Mormon church.

They have assumed all their life that they are in harmony with the Bible, and yet they have never checked it out for themselves. You find that those converts who go into Mormonism do not go into it for theology, but for the sugar-coated peripheral issues, business practices, social reasons, never understanding the clear distinctions between biblical Christianity and what Mormonism is teaching.

It's apparently the first, or to Galatians chapter one. Galatians chapter one. Paul here gives us some verses which are very instructive to us. Galatians one, beginning with verse six. He says, I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting him who called you by the grace of Christ for a different gospel, which is really not another.

There are not two gospels. Only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Jesus Christ. But even though we are an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to that which we have preached to you, let him be a curse.

There the Greek word is anathema, the strongest word possible under the divine curse. And then again, he says in verse nine, as we have said before, so I say it again now. If any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to that which you have received, let him be anathema.

It's important never to forget how Mormonism began in the year 1820 with an alleged revelation from a messenger of light who came to one Joseph Smith Jr. at the age of 14 and a half. Joseph Smith says that up to this time he had never before prayed in his life.

But at 14 and a half, he decided to go out into the woods and to pray. And he said he wanted to inquire of God which of the Christian churches was right and which one he should join. Now, many of you have read this vision, but I want to read it again so that we have an understanding of what is the foundation of this church.

Recorded in the plural of Great Price, Joseph Smith chapter two. He says, I knelt down and began to offer up the desire of my heart to God. I had scarcely done so when immediately I was seized upon by some power which entirely overcame me and had such an astonishing influence over me as to bind my tongue so that I could not speak.

Thick darkness gathered around me. And it seemed to me for a time as if I were doomed to sudden destruction. But exerting all my powers to call upon God to deliver me out of the power of this enemy which had seized upon me.

At that very moment when I was ready to sink into despair and abandon myself to destruction, that moment some power, some actual being from the unseen world who had such marvelous powers I had never before felt in any being.

Just at this moment of great alarm, I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head about the brightness of the sun which descended gradually until it fell upon me. No sooner appeared than I found myself delivered from the enemy which had held me bound.

When the light rested upon me, I saw two personages whose brightness and glory defy all description standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me calling me by name and said pointing to the other, this is my beloved son, hear him.

Now my object in going to inquire of the Lord was to know which of all the Christian churches or sects was right that I might know which to join. No sooner therefore did I get possession of myself so as to be able to speak than I asked the person of Joseph stood above me in the light, which of all the Christian churches was right and which one should I join?

I get the picture of how Mormonism began. At the age of 14 and a half, Joseph Smith says he was seized upon by some enemy of the unseen world. Thick darkness gathered around him, his tongue was held down so that he could not speak, he was sinking in despair.

So all of a sudden there appeared over his head a pillar of light. This light were two personages who later alleged were God the Father and Jesus Christ. Now he asked these personages, which Christian church was right and which should he join?

Now here's what the personage of light told him. Verse 19, I was answered that I must join none of them for they were all wrong. And the personage who addressed me said that all their creeds were an abomination in his sight and that all their teachers were corrupt.

Now this is how Mormonism began in 1820. With a messenger telling Joseph Smith that all the churches were wrong, that all the creeds of Christendom were an abomination. That means this messenger was telling Joseph Smith that the Trinity, the deity of Jesus Christ, the blood atonement, salvation by faith alone and Jesus Christ were all an abomination.

Now as you study Mormonism, Mormons need to ask themselves the question, who was this messenger of light in 1820? Telling Joseph Smith that all the creeds of Christendom were an abomination. Was it Jesus Christ?

Or was there somebody else speaking from that pillar of light? The church began. Now listen, one of the things that has concerned me is that as you deal with Mormons, they have never been confronted with the fact that Mormonism is not of the Bible.

It is not of God. They have never been confronted with the simple fact of biblical Christianity. And yet Mormons claim to be in harmony with the Bible. Let me read for you what Bruce McConkie in Mormon Doctrine says concerning this issue.

I wanna quote from Mormon Doctrine, page 513. Listen to one of their first apostles, Bruce McConkie, I quote, "'Mormons take every honorable opportunity "'to herald the views of Mormonism to the world, "'for they are the pure unadulterated Christianity of old.

"'Mormonism is Christianity. "'Christianity is Mormonism. "'They are one and the same, "'and they are not to be distinguished from each other "'in the minutest detail,' unquote.". Going further in Mormon Doctrine, page 333, Bruce McConkie says, quote, "'The gospel is a living, abiding, eternal, "'and unchangeable truth "'that has existed co-equal with God from eternity "'and always will exist.'".

Now, you need to understand that it's the Mormons' claim themselves that the gospel is an eternal, unchangeable truth, and that you cannot distinguish Mormonism from Christianity in the minutest detail.

They are, in fact, one and the same. Now, people say, well, how then do we test Mormon revelation and Mormon teachings to see whether it is from God or not? If someone comes along and claims to have a new revelation from God, as does Joseph Smith, how are we to know whether that revelation is from God or not?

Scripture as the Objective Standard for Testing Revelation

Well, actually, it's very simple. The Mormons claim that the same God who has given us the Bible has also given us Mormon revelation. Now, the question becomes, how do we know whether that revelation is from God or not?

How do we test that? Mormon missionaries will often ask the question. They say, well, do you believe it is possible for God to give a new revelation? My answer is absolutely yes. God is sovereign, and if he wants to give a new revelation today, he can anytime he wants to for the simple reason he's God.

But what you need to understand is this, that God has already told us in Malachi 3 .6 that he is immutable, he does not change. In Hebrews 6, 17, and 18, God has already told us that he does not lie, he is consistent in truth, he will never contradict himself.

You see, God is not schizophrenic. He's not gonna communicate one truth to one generation and a different truth to another generation. But God is immutable, he is consistent in truth, he does not change.

Therefore, if someone comes along and claims to have a new revelation from God, and we have many people in churches today who are standing up saying, I have a revelation, I have a vision, I have a prophecy.

Well, how are we to test those things to see whether they're from God? It's very simple. Since God does not change, he does not contradict himself, we must always test these latter day revelations, these younger revelations, by God's oldest revelation, the Bible.

And if we test that new revelation by God's oldest revelation, and we find that it is consistent and in harmony with the Bible, well, then there's no problem. But if we test this new revelation by God's oldest revelation, and we find that it contradicts at any point, you must always throw out the younger revelation, hold back to God's oldest revelation, for God does not change, he is consistent in truth, he will never contradict himself.

You see, scripture must be our authority in dealing with the cult. As 5 Thessalonians 5 .21 says, test all things, hold fast to that which is true and good. 2 Timothy 3 says, all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for reproof, for correction, for teaching, for training in righteousness.

Hebrews 4 .12 says that the word of God is sharper than any two-edged sword, testing all things. Scripture must be our authority. Now, Mormon missionaries, as you know, I love to ask you the question, have you prayed about Mormonism?

Have you prayed about the Book of Mormon? Whether these things are true or not? Have you prayed about it? I was speaking back at the University of Virginia recently and a Mormon missionary asked me that question.

He says, have you prayed about it? Whether these things are true or not? And I said to him, you know, I honestly have. And I said, God told me that Joseph Smith was a false prophet and Mormonism was a lie.

He rocked back on his heel. All of a sudden it became his subjective testimony versus my subjective testimony and we're lost on a sea of relativity. You see, there must be some objective basis of authority by which you test all visions, all revelations, all testimonies, some form line, some standard by which you judge these things and God has told us that his word is that objective basis of authority.

The Graveyard Spiral and the Need for Biblical Truth

Now, why is that so important? Well, let me give you an illustration of what I mean. When I was growing up, I always wanted to be a pilot and so through junior high and high school, I worked every day after football and basketball practice in a hamburger joint in Long Beach, California or a restaurant cooking hamburgers.

Finally, when I was 16, I had saved up enough money that I took all my flying lessons one summer in three months. And on my 17th birthday, I was legally old enough to get a pilot's license. Now to get a pilot's license, it's very much like going for a driver's exam.

The examiner sat in the cockpit of the airplane next to me and we took off from Long Beach airport and he asked me to take the plane up to 5 ,000 feet and we did a variety of maneuvers. Now, one of the maneuvers that he asked me to do that day is what is known as a graveyard spiral.

Now graveyard spiral is this, you're flying along at 5 ,000 feet and you begin to pull back on the wheel of the plane. Now, when you pull back on the wheel of the plane, the nose of the plane will go straight up in the air.

Now, when the nose of the plane gets straight up in the air, something happens to the plane, it stops. And when a plane is stopped 5 ,000 feet up in the air, there's only one way it goes and that's not up.

But what you do is you pull the plane into a stall and you stop and then you turn the plane over on its back upside down and you begin to dive backwards down towards the earth spinning around in circles.

Now, that's really exciting. First time I ever did it, I threw up all over downtown Los Angeles. Worse than a roller coaster, there's nothing underneath you. But when I went up with the examiner, we did something even more exciting than that.

He first asked me to put on the hood. Now a hood is a visor that comes down over your eyes and on both sides so you cannot see outside the plane. All you can see are those instruments, those gauges in front of you.

And then with this hood on, this visor, not being able to see outside the plane, the examiner said to me, now go into a graveyard spiral. Now you see they called that for a reason. You did it wrong, folks.

That's where you end up. Well, what you do is with this hood on, not being able to see outside the plane, I began to pull back on the wheel. I could feel myself going back in the seat as the nose of the plane went up and stalled, turned the plane over on its back and began to dive backwards down towards the earth spinning around in circles.

Now, as I was spinning towards earth, not being able to see outside the plane, something began to happen to me inside, inside my stomach. All of a sudden, your equilibrium, your sense of balance, your emotions go haywire.

It's called vertigo. And the plane will be spinning right. But because your equilibrium is so upset, your mind and emotions will make you think that you're turning left. And if a person was to rely on their own mind and emotions to get out of a graveyard spiral, they would think they were turning left.

So you would compensate by going right, but the plane is already going right. You would go into a worse spin and you would crash. And you soon discover that there's only one way that a person can survive a graveyard spiral.

And only one way. And that is to look at those instruments and to look at those gauges and to obey what they are saying, even though it may be different and contrary to how you think and feel. Because those gauges tell the truth and they do not lie.

And you must obey them. And my friends, our world today is in a graveyard spiral. And a lot of our Mormon friends are in a graveyard spiral and they're heading for a collision. And we desperately need, as never before, some instrument, some gauge that would tell us the truth and will not lie.

You can study all the religions, all the philosophy, economic and political theory you want, you soon discover there's only one gauge that will tell you the truth. That is God's word, the Bible. Not only does it tell us how we got into this graveyard spiral, but you see, it's the only thing that tells us how we can get out of it.

And you see, we must obey it, even though it may be different and contrary to how you think and feel. Because it's God's truth. And God does not lie, he is consistent in truth. He will never contradict himself.

Now scripture must be our source. Now in dealing with Mormons, the foundation stone, and we've had tremendous lectures on a variety of different subjects. But ultimately the foundation stone for any system comes down to the doctrine of God.

Mormon Teachings About the Nature of God

What does a person believe about the doctrine of God? And I would like to just briefly share with you some things as how to deal in this area. When you come to the Mormon doctrine of God, Mormons teach basically four things concerning the doctrine of God.

Number one, Mormons teach that God the Father has a body of flesh and bones. Number two, Mormons teach that God has evolved for mortal man. That God is a man who has evolved and progressed to become a God, and he is simply one God in a pantheon of God.

A man in heaven with a body of flesh and bones. Thirdly, Mormons teach polytheism. Polytheism, the belief in the existence of more than one God. Mormons believe there are literally thousands and hundreds of thousands of God.

And fourthly, every male Mormon is striving to become a God himself. Let me read for you what their authorities, Joseph Smith and Brigham Young, taught concerning the doctrine of God. The sermon given by Joseph Smith two months before he was assassinated in Carthage, Illinois in 1844, a sermon which was heard by over 18 ,000 people and taken down by five Mormon scribes, recorded for us in Times and Seasons, Volume 5, page 613, also in Mormon Doctrine, page 321.

Listen to what Joseph Smith said, I quote. God was once as we are now an exalted man and sits enthroned in yonder heaven. I say if you were to see him today, you would see him like a man in form, like yourselves and all the person, image, and very form of man.

I'm going to tell you how God came to be God. We have imagined that God was God from all eternity. I will refute that idea and take away the veil. God was once a man like us and dwelt on an earth the same as Jesus Christ did.

And you have got to learn to be God's yourself, the same as all gods before you, namely by going from one small degree to another, from a small capacity to a greater one. Brigham Young in Journal of Discourses, volume three, page 93 says, the Lord created you and me for the purpose of becoming gods like himself.

We are created to become gods like unto our father in heaven. Brigham Young in Journal of Discourses, volume 10, page 223 goes on to say, quote, man is the king of kings and the Lord of lords in embryo.

Did you get that? Man is the king of kings and the Lord of lords in embryo. He goes on, gods exist and we had better strive to become one with them. A plurality of gods exist. Indeed, this doctrine of plurality of gods is so comprehensive and glorious that it reaches out and embraces every exalted personage.

Those who obtain exaltation are gods. Lorenzo Snow, the past president of the Mormon church put it succinctly this way. As God is, as man is, God once was. As God is, man may become. And then in Journal of Discourses, volume one, page 123, we read, listen carefully.

Remember that God, our heavenly father, was once a child and mortal like we are. And rose step by step in the scale of progress in the school of advancement, has moved forward and overcome until he has arrived at the point where he is now.

And then in Doctrine and Covenants, section 130, verse 22, we read, God the father has a body of flesh and bone as tangible as man. Now this is Mormon doctrine. You need to understand that Bruce McConkie in Mormon doctrine says that you cannot distinguish Mormonism from Christianity in the minutest detail.

They are one in the same. Therefore, we must with Mormon simply test Mormon revelation by God's word, the Bible, to see if they are one in the same or not. To begin with, number one, Mormons teach that God the father has a body of flesh and bone.

What does the Bible say about this? Turn with me to John chapter four. John chapter four, verse 24, the only passage in the New Testament concerning the nature of the father given to us by the one who knows better than anyone else, that is Jesus Christ himself.

John four, verse 24, Jesus said, God is spirit. The Greek literally says, God is pure spirit. And those who worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. Now the logical question to ask yourselves is this, well, what is a spirit?

If God is spirit, what is a spirit? Turn over to Luke chapter 24, and Jesus defines for us what a spirit is. After his resurrection, he appeared to the two on the road to Emmaus and then to his disciples.

In Luke 24, verse 37, it says that they were startled and frightened and thought that they were seeing a spirit. But Jesus said to them, why are you troubled? And why do doubts arise in your heart? See my hands and my feet that it is I myself, touch me and see, for a spirit does not have, what?

Flesh and bone as you see me have. Jesus said, God is spirit. A spirit does not have flesh and bone. Couple of years ago, I was watching the semi-annual convention, televised here from Salt Lake. LeGrand Richard was giving an apologetic on the nature of the father, trying to prove that he was a man in heaven with a body of flesh and bone.

And Richard had just finished trying to prove that when he went to talk then about who Jesus Christ was. And I wish I had a videotape of it, it was unbelievable. But he began his apologetic on Christ by quoting Matthew 16.

You might turn back there with me. And as he read it, his voice gradually tapered off to silence and he became quite aware that he should not be reading this after what he just finished trying to prove.

Matthew 16, verses 15 to 17, Jesus said to them, but who do you say that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, thou art the Christ, the son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said to him, blessed are you Simon Bar-Jonah because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but whom?

But my father, which is in heaven. Peter, my father, he said, is different from flesh and blood. Jesus said, God is spirit. A spirit does not have flesh and bone. But secondly, Mormons teach that God has evolved from mortal man.

That God is a man who has been evolving and changing and progressing and that he's a man in heaven with a body of flesh and bone. I was speaking back in Bismarck, North Dakota in the city auditorium two weeks ago and several thousand people there and a lady came up to me afterwards who was a Mormon.

She said, I've been a Mormon 15 years. She said, you said that God has been changing, that he has changed. She said, I don't believe that. I said, well, ma 'am, I said, Joseph Smith taught that God has evolved and changed from man.

Bring him young, taught it. She says, well, God is not changing now. I said, but was there any point in past eternity at which God changed? She says, well, that doesn't matter to us because he's not changing now.

I said, but was there any point in eternity at which God changed? She says, well, that was long before history before it concerned us. But I said, he did change. Well, that was a long time ago. God has changed at all, my friends.

He's no longer God. What does the Bible say about this? Numbers chapter 23, verse 19 says, God is not a man that he should lie, nor is he the son of a man that he should repent. Hosea 11, nine says, I am God and not man.

I am the Holy One in your midst. God is the Holy One. He's not a man who's evolving and changing. Malachi 3, six, he says, for I, the Lord, I do not change. Psalms 90, verse two, he says, from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.

God is not in a process of evolving and changing as the Mormons claim. From everlasting to everlasting, thou art God. One of the problems you soon discover, as you know, in dealing with Mormons, is that all of Mormonism was one gigantic contradiction.

Mormons don't even believe their own books. For example, you can go to the book of Mormon. Turn to the book Mormon. For example, chapter nine, verse nine. For do we not read that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever?

And in him, there is no variableness, neither shadow of changing. Or turn over to Moroni, chapter eight, verse 18. For I know that God is not a partial God, neither a changeable being, but he is unchangeable from all eternity to all eternity.

The sad thing is, Mormons don't even believe their own books. Book of Mormon contradicts Doctrine and Covenants. Doctrine and Covenants contradict Pearl of Great Price. They all contradict the Bible. They all contradict Joseph and Brigham.

And Mormons find themselves caught up in this internal contradiction and fallacy, one after another. And this is why we have seen, in the last few years, the Mormons, in their training of their missionaries, have had to throw out all objective logic.

So they now teach their missionaries this very subjective logic, so that if you ask them, how do you know Mormonism is true? They say, I know it's true because I prayed about it and the Spirit told me so.

And then they say to you, have you prayed about it? And as I shared with you earlier, I tell them I have prayed about it and God's Spirit told me Joseph Smith was a false prophet and Mormonism was a lie.

And then you're lost on a sea of relativity, his testimony versus my testimony. There must be some objective basis of authority by which you test. All revelation, all teaching, that is the Word of God.

Monotheism and the Mormon Doctrine of Becoming Gods

What the Mormons have ended up worshiping, my friends, is they worship a man in heaven with a body of flesh and bones. You need to understand when the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sings the great anthems of the church, they're singing about a finite man, sexually procreated by his father God and mother God, who has evolved and changed to become a God in heaven with a body of flesh and bones, a man in heaven.

If you turn with me to Romans chapter one, Paul tells us about the great lie of the ages. Romans chapter one, verses 22 and 23. Listen very carefully. Romans one, verses 22 and 23, the Apostle Paul says, prospecting to be wise, they have become full because they exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man.

My friends, this is precisely what Mormons have done. Paul says, prospecting to be wise, they have become full and have exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God who does not change for an image in the form of corruptible man.

But thirdly, Mormons go on to teach polytheism, the belief in the existence of more than one God. Mormons believe that there are literally millions of gods, father gods, mother gods, great-great-grandfather gods, great-great-grandmother gods, on and on.

What does the Bible say about this? Turn back with me to Isaiah chapter 44. Isaiah chapter 44, verse six. Thus says the Lord God, King of Israel and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts, I am the first, I am the last and there is no God besides me.

How many gods are there? God says, I am the first, I am the last, besides me there is no God. Look at verse eight, the end of the verse. Is there any God besides me? Or is there any other rock? I know of none.

Now, if God doesn't know of any other God, what makes Joseph and Brangham think they do? Look at Isaiah 45, verse five. I am the Lord, there is no other, besides me there is no God. Verse six, that there is no one besides me.

I am the Lord, there is no other. Verse 14, the end of the verse. Surely God is with you, there is none else, there is no other God. Verse 21, the end of the verse. And there is no other God besides me, a righteous God and a savior, there is none except me.

Verse 22, turn to me and be saved all the ends of the earth, for I am God and there is no other. Are you starting to pick up a pattern here? What does it? Chapter 46, verse five. To whom then would you liken me and make me equal and compare me that we should be alike?

Verse nine, remember the former things long past for I am God and there is no other. I am God and there is no one like me. God says there's not even anybody like him. He is the first, he is the last, besides him there is no God.

My friend, simply put, the difference between Mormonism and Christianity is simply the difference between polytheism and monotheism. Nowhere in the history of the church or scripture could a polytheist ever be a follower of God.

It was for polytheism that God destroyed the nations around Israel. It was for polytheism that God destroyed Israel and sent it into exile. It was for polytheism that God destroyed Judah and sent it into exile.

And God absolutely condemns polytheism. And yet fourthly, every male Mormon is striving to become a God himself. Joseph Smith said you must strive to become a God just as all gods before you have, namely by going from one small degree to another, from a small capacity to a greater one.

Is it possible for Mormons to become God? Look at Isaiah chapter 43. Let's see what God says about it. Isaiah chapter 43, verse 10. You are my witnesses, declares the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen in order that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he.

Now God says I want you to know, I want you to believe, I want you to understand something. What is it? Before me there was no God formed and there will be none after me. I am the only God. My friends, the reason why Mormons will never make it to Godhood is because God says so.

God says before me there was no God formed and there will be none after me. I am the only God. God says I am the first, I am the last besides me. There is no God. I often like to say to Mormon missionaries, did you know the doctrine that you can become a God is in the Bible?

Did you go there? Yeah. Turn to Genesis chapter three. And the serpent said to the woman, you surely shall not die for God knows that in the day you eat of it, your eyes will be opened and you'll be like God.

My friends, the reason why I cry for Mormons, the reason why we care so deeply for them is because the same lie that got Adam and Eve cast out of the garden of Eden, it's the same lie that is gonna keep Mormons out of heaven.

I eat of the fruit. You can be God yourself. Paul says, professing to be wise, they have become fools. They've exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man.

You know, you gotta start asking yourselves the question, who was that messenger of light in 1820 telling Joseph Smith that all the creeds of Christendom were an abomination? It's interesting to me that Paul tells us in second Corinthians 11 verse 14, he says, beware, for Satan comes as a messenger of light seeking who he may deceive.

My friends, when you look at the revelation brought by that messenger, it is not of God. It is from the pit of hell. And I cry and I weep and I plead with Mormons. Think, your eternal destiny depends on it.