The document summarizes key beliefs and practices of Mormonism, including: - Joseph Smith founded the religion in 1823 after receiving visions from the angel Moroni. He translated ancient scriptures into the Book of Mormon. - The President of the Church is considered a prophet who receives revelation from God. - Mormons believe in three levels of heaven - the celestial kingdom, terrestrial kingdom, and telestial kingdom. Outer darkness is equivalent to hell. - Mormons believe Jesus Christ is the Savior and Son of God. They practice baptism, believe marriage lasts eternally, and follow the Word of Wisdom on health. However, some of their beliefs diverge from mainstream Christianity.

1. THE CHURCH OF LATTER DAY
SAINTS
MORMONISM

2.  September 1823 – Joseph Smith
was visited by angel Moroni.
 September 1827 – Joseph Smith
received a record which
contained the fullness of the
gospel of Jesus Christ.
 Joseph was inspired by God to
translate the record to English.
 The compilation was named the
Book of Mormon after an
ancient prophet called Mormon
who had compiled the ancient
record.
 The book verifies, as another
testament of Christ, the reality
and divinity of Jesus Christ. It is,
then, a second witness that
affirms the truth of the Bible.

3. THE PRESIDENT
• Church’s leader
• Head of the First Presidency (the church’s highest governing body)
• Referred to as the prophet
• Receives council from God

4. FIRST MORMON
GATHERING
In Fayette Township, New York, Joseph
Smith, founder of the Mormon religion,
organizes the Church of Christ during a
meeting with a small group of believers.
MORMONISM TODAY
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints is the fourth largest Christian church
in America. More than half of its 14 million
members live outside the United States.
Yet despite the faith’s growth and
presence, survey results continue to show
that relatively few people are familiar with
Mormon beliefs.

5. 1. CELESTIAL KINGDOM
• is to be compared to the glory of the
sun
• is where God dwells.
• People who inherit celestial glory are
those who “received the testimony of
Jesus, and believed on his name and
were baptized after the manner of his
burial, being buried in the water in his
name.
THE THREE DIVISIONS OF HEAVEN
• can be compared to the glory of the
moon
• the people who died without learning
the laws of Christ.
2. TERRESTRIAL KINGDOM
• can be compared to the glory of the
stars
• these are those who would not receive
the gospel of Christ or the testimony of
Jesus, but they have not denied the
Holy Spirit
3. TELESTIAL KINGDOM

6. Outer darkness is
equivalent to hell.

7. BELIEFS
• Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world and the Son of our loving
Heavenly Father
• Christ’s Atonement allows mankind to be saved from their sins and
return to live with God and their families forever.
• Christ’s original Church as described in the New Testament has been
restored in modern times.
• Refer to the Trinity as ‘Godhead’

8. BELIEFS IN PRAYER
• Spontaneous and prompted by the Holy Spirit
• To use language that shows love and respect for deity–Thee, Thou, Thy,
and Thine
• Prayer is a defense against temptation

9. LAWS OF HEALTH
• Word of Wisdom
• was given by revelation to Joseph Smith
• was made a commandment under Brigham Young in 1851
• Mormons must live according to the dictates of the law in order to enter
a Mormon temple
• not only admonishes against the use of harmful substances, but it also
describes those foods which are good for man
• all men are responsible for their own behavior

10. MORMON MARRIAGE
• Marriages for eternity
• The bride and groom make covenants and promises to God.
• The authority for the promises in a celestial marriage, or eternal
marriage, comes from God
• When a bride and groom enter the temple they are to be 'sealed'
• God is the foundation of their marriage
• They practice a sealing ordinance
• You then become 'one', a single unit consisting of two halves.

11. CAN WE BECOME GODS?
• Latter-day Saints believe that God wants us to become like Him. (Romans
8:16-17; 2 Peter 1:4)
BUT
• “As man is, God once was, as God is, man may become,”
• “God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man, and sits
enthroned in yonder heavens! … 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.” Smith continued: “Intelligence is eternal and exists
upon a self-existent principle. It is a spirit from age to age and there is no
creation about it. All the minds and spirits that God ever sent into the world
are susceptible of enlargement.”

12. ARE WE GETTING OUR OWN PLANET?
• ‘’No. This idea is not taught in Latter-day Saint scripture, nor is it a doctrine
of the Church’’ Romans 8:16-17; John 14:2
BUT
• "All those who are counted worthy to be exalted and to become Gods, even
the sons of God, will go forth and have earths and worlds like those who
framed this and millions on millions of others
• "Then will they become Gods...they will never cease to increase and to
multiply, worlds without end. When they receive their crowns, their
dominions, they then will be prepared to frame earths like unto ours and to
people them in the same manner as we have been brought forth by our
parents, by our Father and God”

13. DO MORMONS PRACTICE POLYGAMY?
• Polygamy was officially discontinued in 1890 — 122 years ago. Those
who practice polygamy today have nothing whatsoever to do with the
Church.
BUT
• New and everlasting covenant
• In 1890, under threat of exile to Mexico, Mormons officially abolished
polygamy in the earthly realm
• In secret temple ceremonies, Mormon males continue to be sealed to
multiple wives — in the heavenly realm.
• It was not until the Mormons were threatened with exile that their
president, Wilford Woodruff, received a revelation relegating polygamy
to the afterlife.

14. RACE RELATIONS
• The gospel of Jesus Christ is for everyone. The Book of Mormon states,
“Black and white, bond and free, male and female; … all are alike unto God”
(2 Nephi 26:33). This is the Church’s official teaching.
BUT
• The third extra-biblical revelation in the Mormon Canon — namely, the Pearl
of Great Price — was used for years by Mormons to prevent African-
Americans from entering their priesthood and consequently from being
exalted to godhood in the system’s celestial kingdom.
• Mormon prophet Brigham Young went so far as to declare that the reason
“Negroes” have a “flat nose and black skin” is because God had put a curse
on them

15. CONCLUSION
• Even this cursory overview of Mormon history and theology should
make it abundantly clear that while Mormons use Christian terminology,
both the roots and fruits of their religion are decidedly unbiblical. It is
crucial that Christians learn to scale the Mormon language barrier.

16. BIBLIOGRAPHY
• Newsroom (2012) What is Mormonism? Overview of Mormon Beliefs –
Mormonism 101from
http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/mormonism-101#C6
• History.com Staff (2010) in History.com April 06, 1830 : Mormon Church
established from http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/mormon-
church-established
• Hank Hanneegraff (2005)The Basics Of Mormonism - Christian Research
Institute from http://www.equip.org/article/the-basics-of-mormonism/
• Wikibooks.org (2013) Cultural Anthropology