Is Mormonism a cult?

by Matt Slick

Yes, Mormonism is a cult, a non-Christian cult because Mormonism denies essential biblical teachings and adds new, false doctrines. Mormonism, also called The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), teaches the following non-Christian, non-biblical doctrines. (Note that all the documentation is taken from Mormon writers and Mormon scriptures.)

God used to be a man on another planet, (Mormon Doctrine, p. 321; Joseph Smith, Times and Seasons, vol. 5, p. 613-614; Orson Pratt, Journal of Discourses, vol. 2, p. 345; Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, vol. 7, p. 333).
God resides near a star called Kolob, (Pearl of Great Price, p. 34-35; Mormon Doctrine, p. 428).
"The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man’s..." (Doctrines and Covenants 130:22).
God is in the form of a man, (Joseph Smith, Journal of Discourses, vol. 6, p. 3).
"God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man, and sits enthroned in yonder heavens!!! . . . We have imagined that God was God from all eternity. I will refute that idea and take away the veil, so that you may see," (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 345).
After you become a good Mormon, you have the potential of becoming a god, (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 345-347, 354.)
There is a mother god, (Articles of Faith, by James Talmage, p. 443).
God is married to his goddess wife and has spirit children, (Mormon Doctrine, p. 516).
The trinity is three separate Gods: The Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. "That these three are separate individuals, physically distinct from each other, is demonstrated by the accepted records of divine dealings with man," (Articles of Faith, by James Talmage, p. 35.).

In contrast to these teachings, the Bible teaches that God has always been God and was never a man (Psalm 90:2). The Bible no where says he lives near another star or that the Father has a body of flesh and bones -- which Christ contradicted in John 4:24 and Luke 24:39. We do not have the potential of becoming gods because there are no gods formed (Isaiah 43:10; 44:6,8; 45:5). The Trinity is one God (Deut. 6:4), not three.

There are numerous books written about Mormonism from a biblical perspective that expose its false teachings.

Of course, we do not hate the Mormons and we pray for their repentance that they would stop believing in false gods. But, Mormonism is not Christian.

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