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Criticism of Mormonism/Books/Becoming Gods
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Contents
- 1 Response to "Becoming Gods: A Closer Look at 21st-Century Mormonism"
Response to "Becoming Gods: A Closer Look at 21st-Century Mormonism"
| A FAIR Analysis of: Becoming Gods: A Closer Look at 21st-Century Mormonism A work by author: Richard Abanes
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One Nation Under Gods |
Sub-articles
Becoming Gods: A Closer Look at 21st-Century Mormonism by Richard Abanes
Summary: This book could best be described as an Evangelical apologetic work against Mormonism. The book spends much time refuting LDS interpretation of scriptural passages in the Bible, often claiming that Mormons have misinterpreted the scriptures and that they require "deeper study." In fact, it is claimed that LDS scholars have only a superficial knowledge of the scriptures, at one time stating that "[p]roperly interpreting them is not as simple as reading today's newspaper"
This is an index of claims made in this work with links to corresponding responses within the FairMormon Answers Wiki. An effort has been made to provide the author's original sources where possible.
| Claim Evaluation |
| Becoming Gods |
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Preface
Summary: Claims made in Preface: "Can't We All Just Get Along?"Jump to Subtopic:
- Response to claim: 13 - Mormons exist in "two distinct groups:" Chapel Mormons and Internet Mormons
- Response to claim: 15 - The Journal of Discourses was viewed on par with the Standard Works by early Church members
- Response to claim: 16 - "Gospel Principles" is published by the Church, but contains a disclaimer that states that it is not an official publication of the Church
- Response to claim: 17, 331n35 - Mormons "focus on a minor issue while dismissing the broader point that is being made by a critic of the church." Example: "celestial sex"
- Chapter 1—
Brief Summary: Claims made in "Chapter 1: God's Latter-Day Prophet" (Click here for full article)∗ ∗ ∗
- Chapter 2—
Brief Summary: Claims made in "Chapter 2: And it Came to Pass" (Click here for full article)∗ ∗ ∗
Chapter 3
Summary: Claims made in "Chapter 3: Thus Saith Joseph"Jump to Subtopic:
- Response to claim: 84, 370n9-11 - The revelations in the Book of Commandments were modified because they were "showing their age"
- Response to claim: 85, 371n14 - Mormons view divine truth as "not absolute or fixed; it is changeable, flexible"
- Response to claim: 87, 370n23 - Joseph received a "false revelation" through his seer stone to go to Toronto, Canada to sell the Book of Mormon copyright
- Response to claim: 89, 372n28 - After translating the Book of Mormon he was not supposed to become a prophet or organize a Church
- Response to claim: 89, 372n29-30 - Joseph modified what is now D&C 8:6-9 to hide Oliver Cowdery's use of a divining rod
- Response to claim: 90, 372n34, 375n35 - Apostle William E. McLellin left the Church because he was "shaken by the changes made in the revelations"
- Response to claim: 94 - Joseph Smith turned the "Book of Breathings" into the "Book of Abraham"
- Response to claim: 94-98 - The restoration of the missing portions of Facsimile 1 were "terribly wrong"
- Response to claim: 99 - LDS apologists' main purpose is to explain away "any and all criticisms that might damage the validity of Smith's writings"
- Response to claim: 100 - One or two words in Egyptian were expanded to entire paragraphs in English
Chapter 4
Summary: Claims made in "Chapter 4: One God Versus Many Gods"Jump to Subtopic:
- Response to claim: 109 - Mormons embrace polytheism—the belief in a plurality of gods
- Response to claim: 112 n25-26 - Mormons redefine monotheism to be the worship of one "primary or supreme god above all other gods"
- Response to claim: 114 - Early biblical church quotes used by Mormons to support tritheism only superficially support their position. Upon closer examination, they do not provide this support
- Response to claim: 114 - Mormons worship the Godhead as "one god"
- Response to claim: 115, 379n47-48 - The Trinity is "one of the most important doctrines of the Christian faith" and is at the "heart of the Christian conception of God"
- Response to claim: 130 - The Mormon concept of the "eternality of matter" is a pagan belief
- Response to claim: 130 - The Mormon concept of "pre-existence of spirits" is a pagan belief
- Response to claim: 130 - The Mormon concept of "human deification" is a pagan belief
Chapter 5
Summary: Claims made in "Chapter 5: Heavenly Father is a Man"Jump to Subtopic:
- Response to claim: 136 - Biblical verses that describe God as having body parts are "difficult to interpret and require careful study"
- Response to claim: 136 - Mormons do not believe that "God is not a man" in spite of Biblical verses that state such
- Response to claim: 137 - God is a Spirit
- Response to claim: 149 - The title "Son of Man," does not mean "son of a man," contrary to what Mormons may assert
Chapter 6
Summary: Claims made in "Chapter 6: Siblings from Eternity Past"Jump to Subtopic:
- Response to claim: 154 - Heavenly Father and Heavenly Mother "through some kind of sexual union" clothed each of us with a spirit body
- Response to claim: 156, 394 n. 28-31 - The belief in a "Heavenly Mother" is not supported by scripture and was simply added by Joseph Smith
- Response to claim: 157 - According to Brigham Young, our spirit body was created via a sexual union of Heavenly Father and Mother
Chapter 7
Summary: Claims made in "Chapter 7: After All We Can Do"Jump to Subtopic:
- Response to claim: 183 - Latter-day Saints are claimed to reject the "Evangelical belief" that "Christ was born of the virgin Mary"
- Response to claim: 184 - "Until recently, the common belief clearly implied throughout the history of Mormonism...was that Jesus' conception occurred via sexual intercourse between Heavenly Father (Elohim) and Mary"
- Response to claim: 185, 405n41 - Early LDS leaders redefined "virgin" to mean a woman who has never known a mortal man, since Heavenly Father is immortal
- Response to claim: 187, 406n54-55 - Latter-day Saints reject the idea that the death of Jesus on the cross was a significant part of the atonement
- Response to claim: 201 - The three heaven doctrine has no basis in the Bible, but is only based upon a vision of Joseph Smith
Chapter 8
Summary: Claims made in "Chapter 8: Ye Are Gods"Jump to Subtopic:
- Response to claim: 205 - Many Bible verses refute the notion of deification
- Response to claim: 213 - The concept of "deification" is actually derived from Greek philosophy
Chapter 9
Summary: Claims made in "Chapter 9: More Than One Wife"Jump to Subtopic:
- Response to claim: 225 - In Mormon theology, "creating" includes not only making a world, but peopling it through procreating, through sexual union with one's spouse
- Response to claim: 226 - The statement in the 1835 D&C condemning polygamy was "perhaps in an attempt to conceal Smith's affair"
- Response to claim: 233, 422n47 - Mormons believed that plural marriage was necessary for deification in the Celestial Kingdom
- Response to claim: 233, 422n48-49 - Brigham Young said, "The only men who become Gods, even the Sons of God, are those who enter into polygamy"
- Response to claim: 237 - "Although wives continued to live with their husbands, they would receive conjugal visits from Smith whenever the need arose"
- Response to claim: 237, 424n71 - Zina Huntington married Brigham Young while still married to Henry Jacobs, and Henry stood as a witness
- Response to claim: 237, 425n73-75 - "Wife swapping" was "wholly acceptable"
- Response to claim: 237 - The Bible does not sanction or command polygamy. "Most Israelites were monogamous"
- Response to claim: 239, n. 80-83 - "Early Mormon leaders" believed that Jesus and his apostles were polygamists
- Response to claim: 240 - The Book of Mormon "seems to condemn polygamy," but Latter-day Saints "deny that this is the case"
- Response to claim: 241 - How could Jesus have been a god before he was born, before he had a physical body?
- Response to claim: 241 - How could the Holy Ghost be a god, since he does not have a physical body?
- Response to claim: 244 - "...nowhere in the Old Testament is polygamy linked with any mandates to practice it"
- Response to claim: 245, n97 - Plural marriages were performed after the 1890 Manifesto
Chapter 10
Summary: Claims made in "Chapter 10: The "Christian" Question"Jump to Subtopic:
- Response to claim: 255, 434n15 - LDS leaders spent decades denouncing mainstream Christianity
- Response to claim: 256 - The Book of Mormon teaches that there are only two churches: 1) the false church of the devil and 2) the true church of the Lamb
- Response to claim: 257 - The "ongoing condemnation of Christianity" is "built into the very core of Mormonism as a central tenet"
- Response to claim: 262, 440n46 - The "Mormon Jesus" is one of three gods overseeing this planet
- Response to claim: 262, 440n46 - The "Mormon Jesus" is the literal brother of Lucifer
- Response to claim: 262, 440n46 - The "Mormon Jesus" atoned only for Adam's transgression, providing us with the opportunity to obtain "eternal life" by our own efforts
- Response to claim: 262, 440n46 - The "Mormon Jesus" provides no salvation without accepting Joseph Smith as a prophet of God
- Response to claim: 268 - The Bible does not mention a total apostasy
- Response to claim: 273 - Baptism for the dead is unbiblical
- Response to claim: 274-276 - The need for the Aaronic priesthood ceased and was replaced by a new one that is held by all believers
- Response to claim: 276-279 - The Melchizedek priesthood was never a literal order of priests. It belonged only to Melchizedek and Christ
Use of sources
Summary: An examination and response to how the author of Becoming Gods: A Closer Look at 21st-Century Mormonism interprets the sources used to support this work, indexed by page number.
About this work
There are no books from an evangelical perspective that responsibly interact with contemporary LDS scholarly and apologetic writings.
—Paul Mosser and Carl Owen, "Mormon Scholarship, Apologetics and Evangelical Neglect: Losing the Battle and Not Knowing It?" Trinity Journal, 1998.
It is claimed that this book is an attempt to fill the void highlighted by Mosser and Owen. Unfortunately, what we find instead are the same misrepresentations and arguments that been offered in the past by anti-Mormon authors. There is nothing at all new here. This book could best be described as an Evangelical apologetic work against Mormonism. The book spends much time refuting LDS interpretation of scriptural passages in the Bible, often claiming that Mormons have misinterpreted the scriptures and that they require "deeper study." In fact, it is claimed that LDS scholars have only a superficial knowledge of the scriptures, at one time stating that "[p]roperly interpreting them is not as simple as reading today's newspaper" (p. 213).
Notable and Quotable
A summary of the painful manipulations required in order to circumscribe the meaning of the term "Christian" so that it excludes Latter-day Saints:
- Many evangelical books offer little help. Some are strident or mocking.
- —Richard Abanes, Becoming Gods, p. 11
- Mormons do in fact seek salvation within the historical person known to the world as Jesus of Nazareth, as they see him.
- —Richard Abanes, Becoming Gods, p. 265
- This does not mean that Mormons are "Christian" in an objective theological sense. It merely means there exists no other category in which they can be placed. Allowing for the broad viewpoint, however, opens up a large can of worms. What about the Branch Davidians, who called themselves "Christian" but stored illegal weapons, abused children, and murdered law enforcement officers? What about The Family, a "Christian" group that currently engages in premarital "sharing" with multiple partners and allows adultery with consent? How about so-called "Christian" witches? There are also a significant number of liberal "Christians"...who deny the virgin birth, the deity of Jesus, and Christ's physical resurrection. And let us not forget "Christian" nudists.
- —Richard Abanes, Becoming Gods, p. 265
- So if Daniel Peterson and Barry Bickmore, for example, have no problem being called "heretical Christians," then I have no problem obliging them.
- —Richard Abanes, Becoming Gods, p. 266
- When it comes to whether or not Mormons are Christian, a simple yes or no answer will never do.
- —Richard Abanes, Becoming Gods, p. 279
- Appeals Court Rules Mormon Church Is Outside Protestant Christian Faith. This ruling clearly agrees that Mormonism is outside Protestantism. And Mormonism is certainly not Roman Catholic or Eastern Orthodox. The ruling, of course, fails to answer the question: What is Mormonism? Given the fact that it is not Roman Catholic, or Eastern Orthodox, or Protestant, one can naturally extrapolate that Mormonism is not Christian.
- —Richard Abanes, blog post "Mormonism LEGALLY Declared Not Christian," October 9, 2008.
- (The following day, October 10, in response to a reader comment, the title of the blog entry was changed to read "Mormonism LEGALLY Declared Not Protestant." One poster compared the logic presented with the following: "And given the fact that San Diego is not Los Angeles, or San Francisco, or Sacramento, one can naturally extrapolate that San Diego is not in California.")