Some Provocative Questions

  1. The Book of Mormon tells of the final battle between the Nephites and Lamanites. This battle took place on Hill Cumorah in New York, where the gold plates were hidden. If hundreds of thousands of people fought in this Great War, as the Book of Mormon claims, why are there no artifacts as evidence? (Mormon 3:11-23) (LDS Mormon 6:9-23)
  2. Why did Joseph Smith try to join the Methodist Church in 1828, when in his 1820 vision the Lord supposedly commanded him to join none of them (Baptist, Methodist and Presbyterian churches) as they were all an abomination in his sight? (The Amboy Journal, April 30, 1879, p. 1, and June 11, 1879).
  3. Why did Joseph Smith’s mother, Lucy, brothers, Hyrum and Samuel, and sister, Sophronia, stay involved in the Presbyterian Church until 1828? Didn’t his own family believe Joseph’s vision was from God?” (Sessions Records, Western Presbyterian Church of Palmyra).
  4. Why weren’t the three witnesses to the Book of Mormon taken into Joseph Smith’s house and literally shown the gold plates, instead of being taken to the woods where they only witnessed them in a “vision”? (RLDS Church History, Vol. l, Ch. 4, p. 46)
  5. According to the claims of the Book of Mormon, the Lord led three groups of people to America from the Middle East — the Jaredites (approx. 2200 B.C.), the Nephites and the Mulekites (approx. 600 B.C. before the exile). How could any of the three groups have brought the Urim and Thummim to America when they were still being used in Jerusalem in 458 BC after the Jewish exile? (See Ezra 2:62-63)
  6. Why would the Lord give Joseph Smith the Urim and Thummim to translate the gold plates when traditionally they were used by the high priest for the purpose of making decisions, not translating languages? (Exodus 28:30).
  7. Since, according to the Bible, human beings do not become angels when they die, how could Moroni (a general in the Book of Mormon narrative) have come to Joseph Smith bearing a message and be identified as an angel? Jesus taught that we become like angels at the resurrection in the sense that we will not procreate (Mark 12:25; See Angels, Angels, Angels, by Billy Graham).
  8. In Section 83:3c (LDS Sec. 84:20-22) of the Doctrine and Covenants, Joseph Smith stated that without the authority of the priesthood no man could “see the face of God, even the Father, and live.” Since Joseph claimed to see the Father and Son in 1820, and the priesthood was not restored until 1829, how could he have lived through the experience?
  9. Why does the Book of Ether say that the language of the Jaredites was not confounded at the tower of Babel, when Genesis states that the Lord confounded all the languages of the earth at that time? (Gen. 11:6, I.V., Book of Mormon, Ether 1:7-11) (LDS Ether 1:33-35)
  10. Why would Joseph Smith say Baptism for the Dead was the most “glorious of all subjects belonging to the everlasting gospel?” (Doctrine and Covenants, Sec. 110:17a) (LDS Sec. 128:17). Shouldn’t the most glorious subject be the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ?
  11. How could Moses, who murdered an Egyptian, appear in glory on the Mount of Transfiguration if, according to Joseph Smith, murder is an unpardonable sin? (Doctrine and Covenants, Sec. 42:6, Exodus 2:l2; Matthew 17:3) (LDS D&C Sec. 42:18)
  12. A martyr is one who willingly lays down his life for his beliefs. How could Joseph Smith have died a martyr when he fought for his life and shot three men (killing two) before being killed himself? (Mormonism: Shadow or Reality? pp. 258, 259)
  13. Why does the Book of Mormon teach that Adam and Eve could not have had children unless Adam fell? When God told Adam and Eve to be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth, they were still in the Garden of Eden before the fall. (Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi 1:115; Genesis 1:30 I.V.) (LDS 2 Nephi 1:2:25)
  14. Why did the leadership of the RLDS church accept the “Joseph Smith III blessing” as genuine and include it as appendix G in the Doctrine and Covenants, then later have to remove it when it was discovered to be a forgery? Where was their prophetic discernment?
  15. In Lucy Mack Smith’s book, “Joseph Smith and His Progenitors, (page 120), she tells of an incident where her son fought off attackers while, “running at the top of his speed” through the woods for three miles with the gold plates tucked under his arm. How could that have been possible when the plates were estimated to weigh approx. 230 pounds? Also, how could Emma Smith have moved them “…from place to place as it was necessary in doing my work”? (Saints Herald, October 1, 1879)
  16. The Book of Mormon states that there are only two churches, the church of God and the church of the devil. If the RLDS Church is the only true church (thus the church of God), does that mean that all other Christians churches make up “the church of the devil?” (Book of Mormon, 1 Nephi, 3:220-222) (LDS 1 Nephi 14:10)
  17. How could 1820 have been the year of Joseph Smith’s grove experience when Rev. Lane and Rev. Stockton, (the Methodist and Presbyterian ministers who attended the revival), were not assigned to the Palmyra area until 1824? (Wesley Walters, “New Light on Mormon Origins” pp. 7-10)
  18. Joseph Smith claimed that Adam and Eve moved from Mesopotamia to Daviess County, Missouri, after they were expelled from the Garden of Eden. 1) How did they get there? 2) Why doesn’t the Bible mention anything about such a remarkable move? (Doctrine and Covenants, Sec 104:28a) (LDS Sec. 107:53)
  19. What is so disturbing or embarrassing to the RLDS/CoC Church about the following historical documents, all written by Joseph Smith but excluded from the RLDS/CoC canon of Scriptures: Book of Abraham, Book of Moses and Lectures on Faith?
  20. Why have several of Joseph Smith’s “inspired revelations” in the Doctrine and Covenants been moved from the main body to the appendix and then out of the book altogether? (See sections 107, 110, 113, etc.) Are his revelations becoming increasingly embarrassing to the leadership of the church?
  21. How could a record written in the Egyptian language help Jewish people preserve the language of their fathers which was Hebrew? (Book of Mormon 1 Nephi, 1:82; Mosiah 1:6) (LDS 1 Nephi 1 3:19; Mosiah 1:4)
  22. Why were New Testament teachings such as Christian baptism practiced in the Book of Mormon hundreds of years before Christ was born? (Mosiah 9:44) (LDS Mosiah 18:12)
  23. Joseph Smith records that an angel visited him in his bedroom in 1823 and instructed him about obtaining the gold plates. In Church History, Joseph said the angel’s name was Nephi, but in the Doctrine and Covenants, he said it was Moroni. Why the contradiction, and which is correct? (RLDS Church History, Vol. 1, p. 12; Doctrine and Covenants Sec. 26:2; 110:20) (LDS Sec. 27:5-6, 128:20)
  24. In June of 1831, a General Conference was held at Kirtland where several elders were ordained as high priests. It is stated in Church History that “this was the first occasion in which this priesthood (Melchizedek (ed. note: RLDS/CoC church uses Melchisedec)) had been revealed. If this is true, what priesthood did the six elders hold that organized the church on April 6, 1830? (RLDS Church History, Vol. 1, p.194)
  25. Why did Joseph Smith embrace Masonry, when the Book of Mormon explicitly teaches against secret combinations? Why do many RLDS/CoC members join the masons when to do so they have to repeat the following vow: “I am in darkness and want to be led into the light of Free Masonry?” Do they really believe they are in darkness by belonging to the RLDS/CoC Church?
  26. Why did John the Baptist, and Peter, James, and John have to restore priesthood authority on Joseph Smith when RLDS/CoC doctrine teaches that at least four men with authority (the apostle John and the three Nephites) never died, but still remain on the earth? (Doctrine and Covenants, Sec. 7:1b,c; Book of Mormon, 3 Nephi 13:13-19) (LDS Sec. 7:2; 3 Nephi 28:2-8)
  27. There is no record in the New Testament of any individual ever having a priesthood conferred upon him in an ecclesiastical ceremony. With regard to ordaining men, there are a total of eighteen occurrences of the English verb, to ordain, in the New Testament. None of them however, speak of ordaining to the priesthood, but rather they refer to men being chosen to fill a particular office or to carry out a specific task. Why, then, do the RLDS/CoC teach that ‘the laying on of hands’ is necessary in ordaining eligible priesthood members?
  28. How could Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery have been ordained to the Aaronic priesthood by John the Baptist before they were baptized? (RLDS Church History, Vol. 1, pp. 35, 36)
  29. According to the Aztec religion, Quetzalcoatl (“the feathered serpent”) was just one of many pagan gods who was part deity and part cultural hero…In worshiping these pagan gods, it was a common practice to offer human sacrifices. Why would RLDS/CoC want to claim that Quetzalcoatl was Jesus Christ? Also, it has been determined that Quetzalcoatl first appeared about A.D. 1000. How does this fit Book of Mormon chronology?
  30. Why did Oliver Cowdery record in his 1834 history of the church, that in 1823 Joseph Smith did not even know if a supreme being did exist? Surely if Joseph had been visited by the Father and Son in 1820, he would have remembered it three years later! Remember, Oliver’s history was written under Joseph Smith’s supervision. (See “A Reproduction of A Series of Letters written by Oliver Cowdery by the Church of Jesus Christ” RLDS Historians Office.)
  31. Frederick M. Smith, former RLDS Prophet stated, “…is it not true that the Lord called upon educated men to represent him?  Why would an “inspired man of God” make this statement in light of the Biblical statement, “When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men they were astonished and they took note…” (Acts 4:l3)
  32. Why is there no Biblical or historical record of a man named Lehi, who had lived in Jerusalem all his life, and who along side Jeremiah, prophesied of the coming destruction of Jerusalem?
  33. Why did Emma Smith, David Whitmer, Martin Harris, and Isaac Hale, all agree that Joseph Smith put a seer stone in a hat (an occult device) to translate the Book of Mormon, when Joseph himself said he translated it by the gift and power of God? (Saints Herald, Nov. 15, 1962, pp. 14-22)
  34. How could Alma, in the Book of Mormon, have been a High Priest when he belonged to the tribe of Joseph (Manasseh), and not the tribe of Levi? The Bible teaches that High Priests must be descendants of Aaron and belong to the tribe of Levi. (Mosiah 9:2, 11:17; 1 Nephi 1:165, Numbers 3: 5-9) (LDS Mosiah 17:2, 23:16; 1 Nephi 6:14)
  35. Why would Joseph Smith name Isaiah and Esaias as two separate men when they are one and the same? Esaias is the Greek name for Isaiah! (Doc and Cov. Sec. 76) (LDS Sec. 76)
  36. Why would Nephi tell the people 600 years before Christ, to “…feast upon the words of Christ?” (2 Nephi l4:4) (LDS 2 Nephi 32:3)
  37. Since High Priests could only serve in the Aaronic (Levitical) priesthood by commandment of God, why did Joseph Smith include them in a Melchizedek (ed. note: RLDS/CoC church uses Melchisedec) priesthood?
  38. How could Nephi have used a compass over 500 years before Christ (1 Nephi 5:190) (LDS 1 Nephi 18:12), when the magnetic compass was first used by the Chinese around A.D. 1100?
  39. Why would Joseph Smith admonish his people not to drink “wine or strong drink” (Doc. and Cov. Sec. 86) (LDS Sec. 89) and then attempt to construct a bar in the Mansion House and only reneged when his wife Emma declared, “Either that bar goes, or I go”? (Saints Herald, Feb. 1999, p. 18; Doc. and Cov. Sec. 86) (LDS Sec. 89)
  40. If a fourteen-year-old boy appeared at your door one morning and told you the Lord had shown him in a vision that all existing churches, (including the RLDS/CoC church), were an abomination in His sight and that he (the14-year-old) had been chosen by God to establish a new church which would be the “only true church” would you believe him? If not, why not? Joseph asked the people of his day to accept his testimony with only himself as a witness!

The Christian’s Challenge

Love must always be the motivation for witnessing to cultists. Real love corrects those loved, “…for whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth” (Heb. 12:6). Jesus said, “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten” (Rev. 3:19). If we truly love God and man, we will expend ourselves in warning the lost and rebuking those who are leading multitudes astray with false doctrine, for we are to preach the Word, reprove, rebuke and exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine (2 Tim. 4), in order to rescue as many as possible from God’s final judgment. Walter Martin gives the following advice.

“We must strive to keep foremost in our minds that cultists are precious souls for whom Jesus Christ offered Himself, and that they are human beings who have homes, families, friends, emotions, needs, ambitions, fears and frustrations which all men have in common. The cultist is special in only one sense, that he is already ‘deeply religious,’ and therefore, probably one of the most difficult persons in the world to reach with the Gospel of Christ…

“The evangelization of cultists is the task of the Christian Church of which each Christian is a member, a part of the Body of Christ. Until this is recognized, and Christians are urged and encouraged by their pastors and leaders to forsake the portals of Hollywood and the domain of the great god, Television, etc., for door-to-door publishing of the Good News of God’s love in Jesus Christ for a lost world, the evangelization of cultists will continue to be one of the great tragedies of the Christian Church in our day.

“It is excellent that we support foreign missions and send the light of God’s Gospel around the globe, but it is quite another thing for us to begin here, where the demand is personal, challenging and equally rewarding. This challenge is cult evangelism, the mission field on your doorstep.”
Walter Martin, Kingdom of the Cults, pp. 392-393, 399.

May we be sensitive to the urgency felt by the early church leaders as they admonished Christians to defend the faith, “Since then we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men” (2 Cor. 5:11).

And finally, may we as Christians when witnessing to the lost, have the same passion as the Apostle Paul when he declared, “I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace.” (Acts 20:24)