Do The Mormons Teach Another Jesus?

Many assume the Mormon Jesus is the same Jesus we find in the Gospels.  However, what we find when we take a closer look at the teachings of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (the Mormons) is a completely different Jesus than the one we find in the Bible.

While it's true they have the same name – Jesus – they are not the same person.

The name Jesus was actually a very common name during New Testament times.  The name is the Aramaic version of Joshua (Yeshua), meaning "Jehovah is salvation."

However, even during the first century the apostles warned about people who were perverting the gospel of Christ and were preaching another Jesus – not the Jesus of the Bible.

For example, the apostle Paul criticized the Christians at Corinth for swallowing every false teaching that came along.  2 Corinthians 11:4 – "For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted — you may well put up with it!"

Unfortunately, this has happened to many today – including many who have been deceived by the Mormon teachings about Jesus.

The Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints (the Mormons) have created a "false Jesus" who is central to their teachings, but who is completely different from the true Biblical Jesus.  The Jesus presented in the Bible fulfilled each and every Old Testament prophecy.  However, the Jesus taught by the Mormon church has been created to fulfill the many blatantly false teachings of Joseph Smith and early Mormon writers.

Anyone who is a member of the LDS church, or who is seriously considering becoming a Mormon, needs to examine the Mormon version of Jesus in the light of what the Bible teaches about the one and only true Jesus – the Christ, the Son of God.

To do this, you will need to compare what the Bible teaches about Jesus with the teachings of the Mormon church found in the Book of Mormon (BOM), the Doctrine and Covenants (DC) and the Pearl of Great Price (PGP) – along with the words of the men whom the Mormons claim are true prophets of God contained in such writings as the Journal of Discourses.

So let's begin by looking at several basic teachings about Jesus.


How was Jesus conceived?

According to both the Old and New Testaments a virgin would conceive and bear a son (Isaiah 7:14, Matthew 1:23, Luke 1:35).  The way the virgin would conceive would be by the Holy Spirit coming upon her. The child would be Jesus Christ who would be born into the world.

However, the Jesus of the Mormons was not conceived by the Holy Spirit, but by a sexual act between Mary and the Father in Heaven.  When the Virgin Mary conceived the child Jesus, the Father had begotten him in his own likeness.  He was not begotten by the Holy Ghost.  And who was the Father of Jesus?

"He is the first of the human family; and when he took a tabernacle (Body), it was begotten by his Father in heaven, after the same manner as the tabernacles of Cain, Abel and the rest of the sons and daughters of Adam and Eve; from the fruits of the earth, the first earthly tabernacles were originated by the Father and son in succession…..Jesus, our elder brother, was begotten in the flesh by the same character that was in the garden of Eden, and who is our Father in Heaven" (Journal of Discourses, 1:50-51)

Did Jesus have a Heavenly father and Mother?
 

The Bible tells us Jesus, was eternal before he took upon himself the form of man.  He was called "God" in the Old Testament because he possessed the same degree of deity of God the Father and God the Holy Spirit.  The prophet Isaiah wrote:  "For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." (Isaiah 9:6).

However, the Mormons teach Jesus was the spirit child of a heavenly father and mother, and that he had other heavenly or "spirit" brothers, including Lucifer (Satan).  They also teach the Mormon heavenly father was once a man of flesh who "became" God, and that it is within the potential of all obedient Mormons to also become a god like Jesus and the Heavenly father – having spirit children with their eternal wives.

"As man is, God once was: as God is, man may become" (Mormon prophet Lorenzo Snow, quoted in Milton R. Hunter, The Gospel Through the Ages, 105-106)

"Remember that God, our heavenly Father, was perhaps once a child, and mortal like we ourselves, 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 now is" (Apostle Orson Hyde, Journal of Discourses, 1:123)
 

Where was Jesus Born?

According to the both the Old and New Testaments the Messiah (Christ) was to be born in the city of Bethlehem, a city located several miles from the city of Jerusalem. (Micah 5:2, Luke 2:4-16, Matthew 2:1-6, John 7:42).  The Bible never confused Bethlehem and Jerusalem as being the same city.

However, according to Mormon doctrine, Jesus was born in the city of Jerusalem, not in Bethlehem.  They claim that Bethlehem is in the "district" of Jerusalem.  There was no such "district" in Biblical times.  The so-called "district" of Jerusalem is only a way of explaining a blatant mistake made by Joseph Smith (the founder of the Mormon church) whose "Book of Mormon" claims Jesus was born in Jerusalem.


Was Jesus married?

According to the Bible, Jesus was never married.  In fact the Bride of Christ is the church – such as the church in Ephesus and elsewhere (See Matthew 25:1-10, Revelation 19:6-14, 2 Corinthians 11:2).

In fact, the apostle Paul told the Christians in Ephesus that husbands should: "... love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it..." (Ephesians 5:25).

However, the Jesus created by the Mormon church was not only married, but he was married to three women – two them sisters (Jesus married Mary and Martha and the other Mary at Cana of Galilee).  In addition to three wives, the Mormons claim Jesus had children before he was crucified.
 

"Whereby he could see his seed, before he was crucified" (Apostle Orson Hyde, Journal of Discourses, 4:259; 2:82)

Are Jesus and Satan brothers?

The Bible informs us Satan, means "adversary" in Hebrew.  According to scripture, Jesus created all things (John 1:1-3, Colossians 1:16, Hebrews 1:2), which would include Satan.  Jesus on the other hand was the Son of God, and was worshipped by all the angels when He came into the world.

The writer of the Hebrew letter in the New Testament says:  But when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says: "Let all the angels of God worship Him."  But to the Son He says: "Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your Kingdom." (Hebrews 1:6, 8)

Unless Jesus was God the Son, the angels would be sinning by worshipping another angel.  God on the other hand commands the angels to worship the Son whom He also calls God.

However, the Mormon Jesus, according to Joseph Smith’s revelation, is the brother of Satan who had a competing plan for salvation.  God the Father, choose Satan’s brother, the Mormon Jesus’ plan for salvation.  
 

"And the Lord God, spake unto Moses, saying; That Satan, whom thou has commanded…came before me, saying — Behold, here am I, send me, I will be honor.  But, behold, my Beloved Son which was my Beloved and Chosen from the beginning, said unto me — Father, thy will be done, and the glory be thine forever."  (Pearl of Great Price, Moses 4:1-2)

Does it matter?

Does it really matter if the LDS Jesus and the Jesus of the Bible are all that different?  The answer is YES!

In the New Testament gospel according to Matthew Jesus taught that there is coming a time when people will be confronted with the issue of whether or not they are following the teachings of Jesus the Christ – the Son of the Living God. 

Jesus said: "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves... Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.  Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?'  And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'" (Matthew 7:15,22-23)

No one will deny the fact that the Mormons do many good works – including many works which they say are done in the name of Jesus.  But is this enough?  The Jesus of the New Testament didn't think so.  In the last day there will be many who claim to be believers and followers of Jesus.  But the ones who will be rewarded with a home in heaven are those who keep the will of the Father in heaven – the will of the Father in heaven revealed in the pages of the Old and New Testaments – and no where else.

The Jesus of the Bible said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father, except through me.". (John 14:6)

Unless you believe in and obey the Jesus of the Bible you cannot be saved.