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Where Doctrine Ends and Another Gospel Begins

One of the most important questions that comes up when Christians and Mormons discuss theology is where the line should be drawn between a legitimate doctrinal disagreement and a difference so fundamental that the teaching becomes another gospel. That question deserves a biblical answer, because simply saying that the Trinity is the line in the sand does not really explain why Christians regard certain differences as essential while treating other disagreements as secondary. The better question is whether the doctrine in question preserves the God, the Christ, and the gospel that were proclaimed by the apostles. Scripture does not teach that every disagreement between Christians creates another gospel. Believers have disagreed about baptism, church government, spiritual gifts, prophecy, and many other subjects without necessarily abandoning the gospel. Paul, however, makes it clear in Galatians 1:6–9 that there is a point at which a doctrinal change becomes something much more serious ...
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The Historical Record: Mormons and Slavery

If someone says “Mormons never had slaves,” the historical record says otherwise. Even the Mormon Church's own official history acknowledges that some early Mormons owned enslaved people. It specifically names Green Flake, Hark Lay, and Oscar Crosby, who were enslaved to Mormon families and traveled with the 1847 Mormon pioneer company to Utah.¹ The National Park Service confirms the same history. Green Flake was born enslaved, converted to Mormonism, and was brought west with the Mormon pioneers. His labor was even accepted by the Church as part of the Flake family's tithing.² And this wasn't just a few people passing through Utah. Slavery was legally permitted in Utah Territory. In 1852, Mormon leaders serving in the Utah legislature debated slavery. Brigham Young and Orson Spencer supported legalizing and regulating slavery, while Apostle Orson Pratt strongly opposed it. Young and Spencer's position won, and the legislature authorized a form of Black slavery.¹ S...
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Smart Mormons?

Mike Jensen wrote an article about Mormon theology and seemed very impressed with the Mormon idea of a war in heaven over free agency and liberty. But just because something sounds good doesn't mean it is biblical. Mormonism teaches that we all lived with God before we were born, that Jesus and Lucifer were spirit brothers, and that Jesus and Lucifer presented different plans for saving us. But where does the Bible actually teach that? The Bible never says Jesus and Satan are brothers. It never says we all lived with God before coming to earth. It never says Jesus and Lucifer presented two different plans of salvation. And it never says the war in heaven was a battle over human freedom. The Bible gives us a very different picture of Satan. Isaiah 14:13–14 says: I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God... I will be like the most High.” And Jesus said about Satan:  “He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth” (John 8:44). That...
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Do the Mormon Church's 17 "Marks of the True Church" Stand Up to Biblical Examination?

Before I begin, I want to get one thing straight. One of the most common objections I hear is, "How can you say Mormonism isn't Christianity? We believe in Jesus Christ." The answer is simple. Christianity isn't defined by simply using Jesus' name. It is defined by believing in the Jesus Christ revealed in Scripture and the gospel preached by His apostles. The New Testament warns about "another Jesus" and "another gospel" (2 Corinthians 11:4; Galatians 1:8-9). The issue has never been sincerity—it has always been truth. The Mormon church teaches doctrines that are not found in the Bible, including that the Father has a body of flesh and bones, that all people lived in a premortal existence, that additional scripture stands alongside the Bible, that temple ordinances are necessary for exaltation, and that faithful men and women can become gods. Those teachings come from Joseph Smith's later revelations—not from Christ and His apostles. This ...
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When Disagreement Becomes “Persecution”

Religious disagreement becomes difficult when criticism of a belief system is treated as an attack on the people who hold those beliefs. That distinction is especially important when discussing Mormonism, its claims of exclusive priesthood authority, its history of polygamy, and its differences with biblical Christianity. I recently encountered a Mormon who told me that I have “no priesthood nor authority to teach,” citing Galatians 1:8 as though that passage somehow gives the Mormon Church exclusive authority to teach religious truth or prevents me, as a Christian, from examining and challenging Mormon doctrine. The same person invoked the persecution of Mormons in the 1800s, claimed that Mormons were driven from Illinois for the “legal and constitutional” practice of polygamy, and compared that history with modern disputes involving same-sex marriage and Mormon temples. Each of those claims deserves an answer. And whenever someone tells me what I, as a Christian, supposedly can or ca...
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LDS-Owned Property and Prostitution in Nineteenth-Century Salt Lake City

The history of prostitution in nineteenth-century Salt Lake City remains one of the more controversial aspects of early Mormon Utah. Discussions of the topic are often polarized. Critics sometimes claim that Mormon leaders openly supported prostitution, while defenders frequently dismiss concerns altogether. The historical record supports neither extreme. Instead, the evidence reveals a more complex reality: prostitution existed openly in Salt Lake City, a significant red-light district developed within the city, and some church-owned or church-controlled commercial properties were leased to tenants operating within that district.¹ ² The historical record demonstrates that prostitution existed openly in Salt Lake City, that a substantial red-light district developed within the city, and that some church-owned or church-controlled commercial properties were leased to tenants operating within that district.¹ ² The evidence does not support the claim that prostitution was an official doct...
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Eternal Progression or Eternal Deception? A Biblical Response to Mormonism

The Mormon doctrine of eternal progression isn’t just a theological difference—it is a direct contradiction of the most basic truths the Bible teaches about God. Mormonism openly teaches that God was once a man who progressed to godhood, and that humans can follow the same path. This is not speculation—it is rooted in the teachings of Joseph Smith, especially in the King Follett Discourse, and later echoed by Lorenzo Snow: “As man now is, God once was; as God now is, man may become.”¹ ² That statement alone should raise serious concern for anyone who takes Scripture seriously. The Bible does not present God as a being who became God. It presents Him as eternally God, uncreated, and utterly unique. In Isaiah 43:10, God declares, “Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me.”³ That directly rules out the idea that God was once something less—or that others will become gods in the same sense. Malachi 3:6 says, “I the Lord do not change.” Psalm 90:2 says God is “from everl...
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