Expert: Michael Kelley - 5/6/2009

Question
QUESTION: how are you brother Michael, i wonder, why you go to Mormon ? when people say Mormon is not truth , what do you thing ?Last , have you ever compare Mormon with regular church ? thank you

God bless you :)

ANSWER: Greetings Cheong,
 I will be happy to answer your questions. Please note I am ex-LDS and belong to the Church of Christ that believes in the Bible and Book of Mormon (BoM).

 Why do I go to a Mormon based church? Because of the truth. The Bible foretells of the coming of the BoM (especially in Isaiah 29 and other places) and teaches the very same principles of the Gospel of Christ as the Bible does. Really I do not go to a "Mormon" church but a Christian church. The ancient prophet named Mormon was a devout Christian who compiled many books from other authors and put them together into one work which was called the Book of Mormon. It covers the event where Jesus visited the ancient native Americans on this land (the Americas) which Jesus alluded to in the Bible where He said He had other sheep that He was to go see and that they would "Hear His voice" meaning He was to visit them in person. The Bible makes no mention of Jesus visiting any others than the Jews so this could not mean the Romans or other Gentiles... only the lost tribes of Israel. The BoM also teaches all of the fundamental doctrines of Christ that the Bible teaches, only more clearly because it was translated only once.

 How do we compare to other churches? That depends.... most people aren't aware of it but there are many "Mormon" based churches, not just the large Utah based "Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints" commonly called the LDS. The LDS are very different from most Bible only churches. They used to practice polygamy and racial discrimination. They currently practice other doctrines such as Celestial Marriage, Baptism for the Dead, the 1st Presidency, a Changing God, Man becoming Gods and many other lesser doctrines that other churches do not believe in and find objectionable. Ironically the BoM (Book of Mormon) not once teaches ANY of these doctrines, and even strongly opposes some of them, especially polygamy which it describes as an abomination and whoredom to God with no exception. The Church of Christ has never practiced polygamy or racism and also strongly rejects these other false doctrines. In many ways the Church of Christ is similar to many Bible only churches, I would guess the 7th Day Adventists would be very similar to us, only we worship on Sundays and of course believe in the BoM as gospel, equal to the Bible. The Adventists even understand some of the Biblical prophecies similar to us in expecting a Restoration in the early 1800s like we do.

 If we are so similar to some Bible only churches, why the need for the BoM and the Restoration to begin with? In the Bible it is said several times that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word shall be established. That is why the BoM was sent, to establish to the truth of the first (the Bible) and to restore the Church of Christ that had dwindled through apostasy during the dark ages through Catholocism. Many knew of the apostasy and is why many churches split off from Catholicism to form the many Protestant and other churches today. However these efforts have fallen short thus requiring the bringing forth of the BoM which teaches the true Christian gospel in great plainness.

 Unfornately many errors entered in the early Mormon church, and after the death of Joseph Smith it split into many factions, with Brigham Young taking many to Utah to begin the polygamist faction that has grown the fastest. The Church of Christ hasn't grown near as fast (you can sell a lie but can't give away the truth to many) and has some 10,000 members worldwide. Jesus did foretell in both the Bible and BoM that His church would be few in number while many would take the wide path that leads to destruction. It is unfortunate and tragic, but this prophecy does seem to be fulfilled. Even more unfortunate many assume the LDS obtained their doctrines from the Book of Mormon which couldn't be farther from the truth, the BoM opposes their doctrines. Anybody who takes the time and read it for themselves will find it only teaches the same beautiful gospel that the Bible teaches... the same fundamental gospel that Jesus taught.

 You can find out more about the Church of Christ and the BoM at this link if you are interested:
http://www.churchofchrist-tl.org/

Feel free to ask any other questions that you like.

God Bless,
Mike

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: thank brother for your info
  before i respond my view, i have two more question

1) you believe joseph Smith have met the true Angel ?

2) does Mormon believe God is Trinity ?

God bless you :)

Answer
Greetings Cheong,
 In answer to your questions...

1. Yes, I cannot help but believe Joseph Smith was visited by an angel from God because of the absolute certainty that I have that the BoM (Book of Mormon) is true and of divine origin. I know this by direct revelation as well as through many Biblical prophesies, archaeological, and internal literary and Hebraic evidences. Saying that though... I also am not blind to the many errors and sometimes grievous mistakes that Joseph Smith made which cast the beautiful gospel contained in the BoM in a negative light. Most completely reject the BoM because of Smith's mistakes, which I feel is erroneous. King David made many grievous errors such as had many wives and concubines, was warlike, and murdered Uriah to hide the affair David had with Uriah's wife. While any good Christian would never accept any of David's terrible mistakes, they still accept the book of Psalms as scripture, because they know David was walking humbly before God when he was inspired to write each passage in Psalms. Many of David's Psalms were direct prophesies of Christ. I view Joseph Smith in much the same light, he was visited by an angel, did translate (not author) the BoM, and was instrumental in restoring the Church of Christ.

2. Neither Bible nor BoM ever mention the word "Trinity", however both books strongly teach the doctrine of the Trinity, ie God consists of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. The BoM teaches this repeatedly. Again the LDS twisted this true doctrine into various false doctrines that seem to leave the Trinity and support man becoming Gods, plural Gods, and Jesus was once a man as we were and through Celestial Marriage became a God as we can. Again the BoM is much closer to the teachings of Bible only churches than the LDS church. This is the hardest struggle we have in the Church of Christ, showing others that the BoM teaches pure Christianity and does NOT teach LDS doctrines that so many assume it does.

Again feel free to ask other questions, I am happy to help.

God Bless,
Mike