Description
From back cover:
Most people are not aware of the wide divide that exists between Mormonism and Christianity. Members of the LDS Church are taught not to question the teachings of the church despite the leaders being instructed to manipulate the facts and hide the truth whenever it is deemed useful to do so. The Wide Divide is a comprehensive and chronological study of Mormonism rendered in a holistic rather than a topical approach. It covers the panorama of early Mormon history with a comprehensive analysis of its doctrine. The major premise of the book is, "Are Mormons Christian?" If you are a Mormon, it is very critical that you answer this question correctly before you meet Jesus in eternity. Please do so.
Table of Contents
Preface
Introduction
What the LDS Church teaches
The wrong Jesus
Imposters
Part 1: The History of Joseph Smith
- It All Began with a Family Deeply Involved in the Occult
The religious climate of America in the early 1800s
Magic, sorcery and occult
A man without a moral compass
The truth is not considered uplifting
- The Prophet-to-Be Is Arrested as a Glass Looker
Joseph meets Emma Hale
Joseph Smith is charged as a disorderly person
The 145-year cover-up
An authentic court record
Joseph and Emma elope
- An Act of Religious Radicalism, Dishonesty and Deception
Translation of the Book of Mormon begins
Harmony, Pennsylvania
Martin Harris
116 missing pages
Joseph joins the Methodist Church
Oliver Cowdery
Eleven eyewitnesses
“Down on Your Knees, Brethren, Every One of You”
The translation is finished
The Book of Mormon is published
Christ’s blueprint?
- The Church of Christ Is Founded
Missionaries sent to Missouri
Kirtland, Ohio
Familiar spirits
The church centers in Ohio and Missouri grew rapidly
A Plethora of inspired revelations received
The Law of Consecration
The Native American revelation of 1831
- The Beginning of Mormon Polygamy
Joseph Smith presumes to correct and revise the Bible
Tarred and feathered for moral turpitude
Mormon Population in Jackson County Increases Rapidly in 1832-1833
Construction begins on the first Mormon temple
Joseph’s sixteen-year-old housemaid
Driven out of Jackson County, Missouri
- Joseph Smith’s First Contact with Heavenly Messengers
The bedroom visits and the angel’s message of 1823
The angel’s name altered
The angel Nephi
Where are the plates?
The Book of Abraham
Familiar spirits in Kirtland
Driven out of Clay County, Missouri
The Kirtland Apostasy of 1837
Leaders excommunicated
- Mormons in Missouri and Illinois
The garden of Eden in American
Mrs. Lucinda Harris
The Law of tithing
The Danites and dissenters
Sidney Rigdon’s salt sermon
Sidney Rigdon’s 1838 Fourth of July speech
The 1838 Mormon War
Haun’s Mill
Joseph Smith taken prisoner
Nauvoo
Mormons seek redress a second time
Orson Pratt was the first to publish a version of Joseph’s first vision
Lorenzo Snow’s famous couplet
- Polygamy
Louisa Beaman
Zina and Prescendia Huntington
Agnes Coolbrith
Sylvia Sessions Lyon and Patty Bartlett Sessions
Mary Elizabeth Rollins Lightner
Emma defends Joseph
Joseph was commanded by the Mormon god to institute polygamy
What does the Bible say about polygamy?
What does the Book of Mormon say about polygamy?
Mrs. Marinda Nancy Johnson Hyde
Nancy Rigdon
Mrs. Elizabeth Davis Durfee
Mrs. Sarah Kingsley Cleveland
Eliza Roxcy Snow
Delcena Johson Sherman
Sarah Ann Whitney
Martha Mcbride Knight
Mrs. Ruth D. Vose Sayers
Flora Ann Woodworth
Emily Dow Partridge and Eliza Maria Partridge
Almera Woodward Johnson
Lucy Walker
Maria Lawrence and Sarah Lawrence
Helen Mar Kimball
Hannah Ells
Mrs. Elvira Cowles Holmes
Rhoda Richards
Desdemona Catlin Wadsworth Fullmer
Olive Grey Frost and Mrs. Mary Ann Frost Stearns Pratt
Nancy Maria Winchester
Those who reject polygamy reject their salvation and godhood
Joseph Smith finally unveils his revelation concerning marriage
Melissa Lott
Sarah Scott Mulholland
Mrs. Phebe Watrous Woodworth
Mary Huston
Mrs. Fanny Young
- The First Vision Fails the Test of Authenticity
A dichotomy established
The first account
The second account
The third account
The fourth account
The fifth account
The revival controversy
When did church leaders know about the first vision?
The first vision emerged in the twentieth century as the linchpin of Mormonism
The first vision lacks the magnificence of God’s fingerprint
One more deceptive translation
- The Death of Joseph Smith
Sarah Kimball, wife of Hiram Kimball
The gun battle at Carthage Jail
Brigham Young challenges Sidney Rigdon for the presidency
Part 2: Mormon Doctrine Does Not Stand the Test
- The Book of Mormon
Prophetic inconsistencies
Translation
The culture in which Joseph Smith lived
The King James idiom permeates the Book of Mormon
The Book of Mormon does not reflect an ancient Near-Eastern background
A geographical and archaeological enigma
Anachronisms abound
DNA evidence: “A great story slain by ugly facts”
General authority and historian B. H. Roberts
View of the Hebrews
“I sorrowfully submit”
The unpublished manuscript of Solomon Spalding
Shining the light of truth
- The Standard Works: A Mountain of Contradictions
The doctrine and covenants
Contradictions between the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants
The Pearl of Great Price
The Book of Moses
The Book of Abraham
Joseph Smith—Matthew
The sign of the abomination of desolation
The thirteen Articles of Faith
Article 1
Article 2
Article 3
Article 4
Article 5
Article 6
Article 7
Article 8
Mormon leaders vilified the Bible
Article 9
Article 10
Article 11
Article 12
Article 13
The Bible
The living prophet doctrine
- Freemasonry and the Mormon Temple
Temple endowment ritual
Celestial marriage in the temple
“Is there no help for the widow’s son?”
LDS garments
Why do Mormons build temples?
The fall of Adam and Eve and the purpose for the Jerusalem temple
- Lying for the Lord and Feelings
Beware of the leaven of the religious leaders
Feelings never take the place of facts and faith
“Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored”
- The Apostasy and the Restoration
- The Mormon Priesthood, Women, and Blacks
The Aaronic priesthood
The Melchizedek priesthood
The true restoration and the priesthood of believers
Women excluded from the LDS priesthood
Blacks were denied the priesthood for 148 years
- The Gods of Mormonism
The nature of the Mormon Gods changed again
“As man is, god once was, as God is, man may be”
The gods of Mormonism are polygamist Gods
The Adam-God doctrine
Pre-Mortality (Pre-Existence or the First Estate)
Eternal regression and eternal progression
Eternal increase
The doctrine of the three heavens
Celestial kingdom—the church of the firstborn
Highest celestial degree and celestial marriage
Terrestrial kingdom
Telestial kingdom
No salvation without Joseph Smith
The spirit world and a false second chance
Hell—outer darkness
What does the Mormon Church teach about the Trinity?
What is anthropomorphism?
- The False Christ of Mormonism
The Mormon Church rejects the virgin birth and denies the deity of Christ
Mormons teach that Jesus was a polygamist
That’s right, but “do not preach it”
The Cross or Gethsemane?
Blood atonement
Mormon doctrine does not stand the test of the Bible
- Mormons Unshackled
Fawn Brodie
Jerald and Sandra Tanner
Dennis and Rauni Higley
Michael and Lynn Wilder
The Adam’s Road Band
One hundred fifty resigned
Apostasy in Sweden
Grant H. Palmer
Carl Wimmer
Part 3: Christian Doctrine
- Our Faith is Secure Because the Bible is True
Textual criticism
The Dead Sea scrolls
One more thing—prophetic accuracy
- No Other Name Under Heaven
Salvation
Heaven and hell
Sin and substitution
Made alive in Christ
Justified by faith
Doctrine of imputation
Justification and sanctification
The three tenses of salvation
Grace alone
What it means to be born again
The body of Christ
- Essential Doctrines of Christianity
Monotheism and the Trinity
The deity of Jesus Christ
The old sin nature
The virgin birth
The atonement and true Gospel of Jesus Christ
The resurrection of Jesus Christ
Christ’s Bodily Ascension
Faith
The rapture of the church
Eschatology (end of the age)
The Bible is God’s Word and final authority
A Christian is Identified with Christ
- You Can Become a Christian Right Now
The Four Spiritual Laws
Appendices
- Joseph and Emma’s Children
- Similarities Between the Book of Mormon and View of the Hebrews
- Joseph Smith’s Thirty-Eight Wives
- The 1890 and 1904 Manifestos
- The Endowment Ceremony
- Apostasy in Sweden—Fifteen Questions
- LDS Presidents
Tables
Table 1. Children of Joseph Smith, Sr. and Lucy Mack Smith
Table 2. Wives of Joseph Smith
Table 3. World Timeline in Relation to the Book of Mormon
Table 4. Contradictions between BOM and D&C
Table 5. Textual Criticism
Table 6. Justification and Sanctification
Table 7. Joseph & Emma’s Children
Figures
Figure 1. Train Illustration
Figure 2. Alleged Universal Apostasy
Figure 3. Before and After the Cross
Figure 4. Believers
Figure 5. Unbelievers
Figure 6. Doctrine of Imputation, Imputed Righteousness
Figure 7. Trinity Diagram
Figure 8. Four Spiritual Laws
Bibliography
Notes |
