Spurgeon’s Warning Hits Mormonism: Man-Made Gods Exposed

Charles Spurgeon, the 19th-century English preacher renowned for his devotion to biblical truth, once warned: “If you meet with a system of theology that magnifies man, flee from it as fast as you can.” These words stand as a clear warning against doctrines that elevate humanity to a position of glory that belongs to God alone. Few religious systems today exemplify this danger more directly than the theology of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons). By claiming that human beings can become gods, Mormonism doesn’t simply magnify man—it enthrones him. Such a theology stands in stark contrast to the gospel of Jesus Christ as revealed in the Holy Scriptures.

At the core of Mormon doctrine is the belief that God the Father was once a mortal man who progressed to godhood, and that faithful Latter-day Saints can follow the same path. This concept, known as the "Law of Eternal Progression," is famously summarized by former LDS President Lorenzo Snow: “As man now is, God once was; as God now is, man may be” (Snow). The LDS manual Gospel Principles teaches, “God was once as we are now, and is an exalted man” (Kimball 305). This doctrine fundamentally redefines the nature of God and humanity. It places men on the path to divinity and turns God into a glorified human being.

Yet the Bible paints an entirely different picture of God. Scripture affirms that God is eternal, unchanging, and utterly distinct from His creation. “Before the mountains were born, before you gave birth to the earth and the world, from beginning to end, you are God” (Psalm 90:2, NLT). “I am the LORD, and there is no other; apart from me there is no God” (Isaiah 45:5, NLT). God was never a man; He is the eternal, sovereign Creator who owes His existence to no one. He does not progress or change (Malachi 3:6; James 1:17). In contrast, man is a created being: “The LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils” (Genesis 2:7, NLT). Any theology that blurs the line between Creator and creature is idolatry.

In addition to its false view of God, Mormonism also distorts the doctrine of salvation. According to The Book of Mormon, “It is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do” (2 Nephi 25:23). This idea introduces a works-based system of salvation, where grace is something earned after human effort. But the Bible says the opposite: “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done” (Ephesians 2:8–9, NLT). Salvation is by grace alone through faith alone—not by temple rituals, priesthood ordination, or obedience to church ordinances.

Furthermore, Mormonism presents a diminished view of Jesus Christ. According to LDS doctrine, Jesus is the literal spirit child of Heavenly Father and a Heavenly Mother and is the elder brother of Lucifer. This teaching denies the eternal, divine nature of Christ. But Scripture proclaims that Jesus is not created; He is the Creator: “Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation… through him God created everything” (Colossians 1:15–16, NLT). John writes, “In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1, NLT). The Jesus of Mormonism is not the Jesus of the Bible.

Paul warned that “even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let that person be cursed” (Galatians 1:8, NLT). Mormonism came through the testimony of an angel (Moroni), offering another gospel, another Jesus, and another path to glory. It is precisely the kind of man-exalting system that Spurgeon warned against.

By every biblical measure, Mormon theology fails. It magnifies man to divine status, reduces God to a once-mortal being, distorts salvation into a merit-based system, and redefines the identity of Christ. It contradicts the gospel and exalts human effort and potential. As Spurgeon rightly said, flee from it as fast as you can.

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Works Cited

Berkhof, Louis. Systematic Theology. Eerdmans Publishing, 1996.

Bowman, Robert M. Jr., and J. Ed Komoszewski. Putting Jesus in His Place: The Case for the Deity of Christ. Kregel Publications, 2007.

Geisler, Norman L., and Ron Rhodes. When Cultists Ask: A Popular Handbook on Cultic Misinterpretations. Baker Books, 1997.

Holy Bible. New Living Translation, Tyndale House Publishers, 2015.

Huggins, Ronald V. “Lorenzo Snow’s Couplet: ‘As Man Now Is, God Once Was; As God Now Is, Man May Be.’” Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, vol. 45, no. 2, 2002, pp. 301–317.

Kimball, Spencer W. Gospel Principles. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1997.

Martin, Walter. The Kingdom of the Cults. Edited by Ravi Zacharias, Bethany House Publishers, 2003.

McConkie, Bruce R. Mormon Doctrine. 2nd ed., Bookcraft, 1966.

Snow, Lorenzo. Quoted in The Teachings of Lorenzo Snow. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2012.

Spurgeon, Charles Haddon. Spurgeon’s Sermons on the Grace of God. Hendrickson Publishers, 2009.

The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1981.

White, James R. Is the Mormon My Brother? Discerning the Differences Between Mormonism and Christianity. Bethany House Publishers, 2002.

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