Mormonism, The Way

2. A History of Mormonism
Preparedby
Dr GlenChristie,ThD
ComparativeReligion
FaithBible College

3. Joseph Smith, the Founder
Born 1805
Claimed to have received
a vision during the NT
revival, in 1820:
 Sees the Father and Son
 Asks them which church he
should join
 Answer: None! They are all
corrupt!

4. The Book of Mormon
Smith is told he has been
chosen to restore the church
to its original purity.
He is shown a set of golden
plates containing God’s
revelation for the Western
world.
Smith begins to translate
tablets, said to be in
reformed Egyptian, using the
Urim and Thummim.
The translation is published
in 1830.

5. Translation of Golden Tablets
“The priest could use the urim and thummin to determine God’s
will in a particular situation. We are not exactly sure what the urim
and thummin were, but the priest carried in his breastplate
perhaps two sticks or stones, one white and the other black, that
would give a yes or no answer to a specific question. Should Israel
be preparing for battle, they would somehow shake or toss the
sticks. If they turned up black the Israelites would not go to battle,
and if they turned up white they would proceed into battle with
the knowledge that they were in the will of God. That is one form
of divination that God allowed in the Old Testament. in Exodus
28:30, “Also put the Urim and the Thummin in the breastpiece, so
they may be over Aaron’s heart whenever he enters the presence
of the Lord. Thus Aaron will always bear the means of making
decisions for the Israelites over his heart before the Lord.”

6. Joseph Smith’s Career
In June 1829 Peter,
James and John appear
to Smith, restoring the
Melchizedek priesthood.
B of M is printed, 1830.
Smith & followers begin
to distribute “the
Golden Bible.” First
known as the “Book of
Commandments”
Later retitled as
Doctrine and Covenants

7. Mormons after Smith
Brigham Young becomes
Smith’s successor.
After 2 more years
opposition, Young leads his
followers to Utah, where
they build their new society
in the wilderness.
The Mormons continue to
evangelize in the US and
Europe, encouraging
converts to come to Utah.
By the 1880s, there are
80,000 Mormons

8. Some Comments on History
Joseph Smith’s family was involved in
the occult and something like crystal
gazing before he founded the church.
There are serious historical problems
with Smith’s vision story.
Though the Mormons were mistreated
by their neighbors, some of their own
words and deeds contributed to this.

9. Some Comments on History
The newspaper Smith destroyed was
threatening to expose his teaching of
polygamy, which was then only rumored
among the Mormons.
Smith had been practicing polygamy on the
sly for some years, and some of his ‘wives’
were married to others.
There is evidence that Smith had sexual
relations with about forty women.

10. Mormon Doctrine
Tested by the Bible

11. Mormon Doctrine
The Mormon Scripture includes:
 The Bible – KJV
 The Book of Mormon
 The Doctrines & Covenants
 The Pearl of Great Price

12. The Articles of Faith – 1830
We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His
Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost.
We believe that men will be punished for their own
sins, and not for Adam’s transgression.
We believe that through the atonement of Christ, all
mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and
ordinances of the Gospel.
We believe that the first principles and ordinances of
the Gospel are:
 (1) Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ;
 (2) Repentance;
 (3) Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins;
 (4) Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Spirit.

13. The Articles of Faith – 1830
Believes in the same organization that existed in the
Primitive Church, viz., apostles, prophets, pastors,
teachers, evangelists, etc.
Believes in the gift of tongues, prophecy, revelation,
visions, healing, interpretation of tongues, etc.
Believes the Bible to be the Word of God so far as it
is translated correctly; also believes the Book of
Mormon to be the Word of God.
Believes all that God has revealed, all that He does
now reveal, and believes He will yet reveal many
great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom
of God.

14. Good Mormons become gods
“… if a man marry a wife by my word [with
proper authorized ceremony] … ye shall come
forth in the first resurrection … and shall
inherit thrones, kingdoms, principalities … and
they shall pass by the angels, and the gods…
Then shall they be gods… then shall they be
above all… because they have all power, and
the angels are subject to them. Verily, verily, I
say unto you, except ye abide my law, ye
cannot attain to this glory.” – D&C 132:19-23

15. Mormon Vs Tradition
Will obviously deny that they worship other
Gods, though they will admit that there are
other Gods, and that God the Father, whom
they worship, was once a man.
Will have ways of explaining apparent
disfulfillments of prophecies.
Will claim that the Bible has been corrupted
by the harlot church, and many ‘plain and
precious promises’ removed from it.

16. Agree with Bible: Summary
The Book of Mormon does not appear to
agree w/ the Bible in the matters of:
 Whether the fall of Adam was good or bad
 Whether the New Jerusalem will be in the Eastern
or Western Hemisphere
 Whether the inheritance of Joseph will be in E or
W Hemisphere
 Whether the God of the Bible has always been
God
 Whether we can earn our salvation or not
Some of these are serious matters!

17. Archeology & The Book of Mormon
In Alma 18:9-10, King Lamoni is pictured as
having horses & chariots.
The horse is now known to have been extinct
in the W Hemisphere for many millennia until
it was introduced again by the Spaniards.
The wheel also never made it to the W
Hemisphere until introduced by Europeans.

18. Archeology & the Book of Mormon
In fact, though the Book of Mormon
names many great cities in the W
Hemisphere, archeologists have yet to
locate any of them, in stark contrast to
the Bible’s references to cities.
The Smithsonian Institution has a form-
letter they send out to inquirers making
just this point.

19. Archeology & the Book of Abraham
One of the major parts of Mormon Scripture
is the Pearl of Great Price.
This work contains several parts:
 The Book of Moses – visions revealed to Joseph
Smith in December, 1830
 The Book of Abraham – an ancient Egyptian scroll
translated by Smith’s miraculous gifts
 Extracts from Smith’s translation of the Bible and
his History
 The Articles of Faith

20. History of the Book of Abraham
Joseph Smith purchased several Egyptian
scrolls from a traveling showman.
Smith claimed that he could translate these
by his divine powers, and that they told a
story about the experiences of Abraham
when he was in Egypt.
At the time, no one on earth could translate
ancient Egyptian.
The scrolls disappeared after Smith’s death,
and were thought to have burnt in the
Chicago fire.

21. History of the Book of Abraham
Smith copied pictures
from the scrolls and
printed them in his
Book of Abraham.
These pictures were
shown to several
archeologists to get
their opinion.
They said Smith was
mistaken about the
main picture, and it had
been modified.
Naturally, Mormons
disagreed with this.

22. History of the Book of Abraham
Recently, the scrolls
turned up in a NY
museum, which gave
them back to the
Mormon church when
this became public.
The text of the scrolls
has now been
translated. They have
nothing to do with
Abraham!
They show the picture
has been modified.

23. History of the Book of Abraham
Shortly before the
scrolls turned up, the
text of Smith’s Egyptian
Alphabet & Grammar
was made public.
This shows that Smith
did not know Egyptian!
It also contains samples
of text which he had
copied from the scrolls,
showing how he had
translated particular
texts.

24. Conclusions on Mormonism
Joseph Smith is a
false prophet.
The Book of
Mormon, Doctrines
& Covenants, and
Pearl of Great Price
are false revelations.
Mormonism is a
false religion.

25. Victor Paul Wierwille
1916-1985

26. History of the Founder
 Born in New Knoxville, Ohio
 Raised “in the fundamental
atmosphere of the Evangelical and
Reformed Church” and “from his
youth he wanted to be a minister.”
 Attended Mission House College
which is now known as Lakeland
College in WI.
 Obtained a Master of Theology degree at the Princeton
Theology Seminary
 Took classes at Moody Bible Institute
 Taught homiletics at Gordon Divinity School
 Received his doctorate at Pikes Peak Seminary

27. History of the Founder
 Moody Bible Institute’s registrar reveals
no records of his class completion
 Wierwille did not concentrate in biblical
studies as he claimed at Princeton; rather
he studied advanced preaching
 His TH.D. became controversial because
Pikes Peak Seminary was considered to
be a “degree mill” without “resident
instruction …published list of faculty…and
accreditation.”
UH….OH !!

28. History of the Founder
 1941 Victor was ordained into the Evangelical and Reformed
Church
 Wierwille “began to feel inadequate in meeting the spiritual
needs of the congregation.”
 1942 he defined his goal to discover the Power of Abundant
Living.
 Found himself trailing away from the beliefs of the Evangelical
and Reformed Church
 Began creating his own understanding
Created his own national religious movement

29. History of the Founder
On his way to THE WAY
 Wierwille’s direction became clear when
he though God had spoken to him
 “And that’s when He spoke to me audibly,
just like I’m talking to you now. He said He
would teach me the word as it had not
been known since the first century if I
would teach it to others.”
 By 1955: Victor incorporated The Way
International

30.  TWI claim to be a nondenominational
research and teaching ministry
 New Believer Classes
 Initial course: “Power For Abundant
Living”
 Use the Bible (only New Testament but
excluding the Gospels)
 Wierwille believes he has the True
Understanding of the Bible and other
people misconstrue the true meaning of
God’s words.
Membership and Understanding

31. The Trinity
 TWI do not believe in the Trinity.
 Teaches that Jesus is NOT God.
 Jesus regarded as a perfect human created by sinless sperm.
 To further denounce the trinity, Wierwille claims that the Holy
Spirit is a synonym for God.

32. Salvation
 In order to be saved one must
believe that Christ is the Son of
God and that he died on the cross
for our sins.
 A person is saved through oral
confession
 Once saved, they can no longer sin
because everything they do – is
the will of God.
 Wierwille uses the difference
between Standing and State to
explain why one will never lose
salvation after it is gained.

33. Proof of Salvation
 Believers are taught not to believe in Christ
but of Christ.
 When God saves a person, he gives them
Gifts:
 Speaking in Tongues
 Interpreting
 Prophecy
 Wisdom
 Ability to perform miracles
 Ability to heal others

34. The Laws
 God instituted unchangeable
principles to be obeyed by Christians
which he calls the laws:
 Law of Believing
 As one believes he recieves.
 “Fear is sand in the machinery of
life”
 Law of Tithing
 One must give %10 of Gross
income.
 As well as Abundant sharing.
 This is done to keep away
sickness and ensures prosperity
and wealth.

35. Leadership and Membership
TWI not a violent group
Wierwille was a charismatic leader: claimed
to be God’s Spokesman and acted as a
father by calling all the members his
children
Tried to socially encapsulate members.
Similar to other Christian groups such as the
Pentecostals, the Presbyterians and the
Evangelical Reform Church.
Apocalyptic Belief: That Jesus will return on
the day of Pentecost.

36. Leadership and Membership
Had a large (10%) population of members
who were homosexuals, other sexual
deviants, and sympathizers.
Rampant sexual misconduct: adultery and
child abuse.
Lawsuits: Woman-alleged “treated like
girlfriend, and Wierwille raped her”
Investigation from IRS: Using tax-exempt
funds for political reasons
Uh…OH !!

37. It’s probably not what you’re searching for !

39. THE END