Introduction
If you are on social media of any kind, you have probably noticed the increase in content created by Mormon influencers. From traditional wives to The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, to moderated debates and #MormonMissionaries using TikTok to spread the Mormon message, Mormonism has become increasingly visible online.
Why is this? In my opinion, there seems to be a concerted effort to present Mormonism through social media as Biblical, Protestant, and Christian. There is just one problem: Mormons, also known as Latter-day Saints (LDS), are not Christians. Why do I say this? A few things: Mormons believe Jesus and satan are brothers; they don’t believe the Bible is reliable; they believe Jesus is a created being, and they believe that we can become like God. As Christians, we cannot affirm these claims as they fall outside of traditional orthodoxy. I hope to show why this is the case in more detail – let’s dive in.
There seems to be a concerted effort to present Mormonism through social media as Biblical, Protestant, and Christian. There is just one problem: Mormons … are not Christians.
The Man, Joseph Smith
As with most cults* and sects (see definition below), there is usually one man or woman who is the focal point of the movement and, more often than not, seen as a prophetic voice. This seems especially true for the groups that emerged in the Burned-Over District during the Second Great Awakening. The Adventists had Ellen G. White; the Jehovah’s Witnesses had Charles Taze Russell, and the Mormons had Joseph Smith.
To understand Mormonism, we need to spend a little time looking at the life and character of Joseph Smith before he became a self-proclaimed prophet to millions of people. From an early age, Smith and his parents were involved in occultism and occult-adjacent practices, the most notable of which was their use of peep stones in their search for hidden treasure; of special interest was the infamous Captain Kidd (remember that name). How does a stone help you find treasure? According to folk magic, the stone was placed in a hat; the practitioner then buried their head in the hat and supposedly received supernatural visions of where treasure or lost property was buried. Treasure hunting and peep stones will become important, as I’ll show later.
In 1820, Smith claims to have received a dramatic vision when God the Father and God the Son appeared to him to announce that Christianity was in a dire state and that he had been appointed to usher in a new dispensation. Despite this encounter, and due to his treasure-hunting exploits, it wasn’t until 1823, when he was visited a total of three times by an angelic being named ‘Moroni’, that he started taking his supposed calling seriously.
Pause. Remember Captain Kidd? Pirate lore told how he sailed through the Comoros Islands and past a port city called Mroni (Moroni). Many scholars, both Mormon and secular, have noted the connection between Smith’s divine revelations and the oft told and well-loved story of Captain Kidd. For one side, it is obvious deception; for the other, coincidence. [1]
Moroni and Mormon
I mentioned Joseph Smith’s obsession with treasure hunting and peep stones would become important; here’s why: it just so happens that Moroni’s chosen method of revelation was through an epic treasure hunt where he revealed golden plates to Smith, filled with ‘reformed hieroglyphics’ (not a real language) that could only be interpreted by Smith with, you guessed it, his peep stone. For those trying to think critically, the story just seems too convenient.
With the tablets in hand, Smith and his scribes translated the plates over a period of about two and a half years, at times dictating up to 8 pages a day. Much of the translation reportedly took place with Smith behind a curtain, and at other times while the plates were in a different room altogether. Although several of his scribes later signed statements claiming they had seen the plates, no independent witnesses ever examined them before – according to Smith, Moroni took them back. Interestingly, Mormons will use these scribes as the two or three witnesses (2 Corinthians 13:1) needed to establish the divine origin of the Book of Mormon, but fail to realise that the same could be said for other false texts like the Koran.
One final point on the tablets before we move on to the contents of the mysterious treasure. According to Smith, John the Baptist apparently appeared to him and his father-in-law while they were translating the tablets to ordain them as Aaronic priests. Shortly after that, they claimed that the apostles Peter, James, and John conferred the Melchizedek Priesthood.
To outsiders, this all seems highly untenable. For the faithful, however, the fact that Smith was the only one able to translate the plates only reinforced their belief that he was a true prophet.
Smith and Co’s fervent labours would eventually produce the Book of Mormon, the sacred records of the prophet Moroni. According to the Book of Mormon, around 600 BC, a man named Lehi and his family left Jerusalem under God’s direction and traveled to the Americas. There, Lehi’s descendants split into two rival civilizations—the righteous Nephites and the rebellious Lamanites—whose history is marked by cycles of faith, apostasy, prophecy, and war.
The book culminates with the resurrected Jesus Christ appearing to the people in the Americas after His resurrection in Jerusalem, teaching His gospel and establishing His church among them. The narrative ends with the destruction of the Nephite civilization, after which the final surviving prophet, Moroni, buries the sacred records that Joseph Smith later claimed to have translated as the Book of Mormon.
Walter Martin, in Kingdom of the Cults, writes, “For the Mormon, then, the Bible predicts the Book of Mormon; the Book of Mormon interprets Old Testament prophecy, and it claims to be part of the new covenant to Israel. It is also supposed to be “another witness” to the truth of the Christian Gospel.”[2]
If we exercise discernment, we will notice that the Book of Mormon claims to record Jesus’ movements after His resurrection, which the Bible knows nothing about. As those who believe the Bible is the only revelation of Christ, this should concern us. But we also need to understand that, for The Church of the Latter-day Saints, the Bible is not the perfect Word of God, but a corrupted version that is only true if translated correctly. Article 8 of the Mormon Articles of Faith reads: “We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly; we also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God.”[3]
Despite the numerous attempts by LDS influencers to convince everyone otherwise, they simply do not hold Scripture as their final authority …
As you read this, I hope you can see the implication – the Book of Mormon is the word of God translated perfectly; the Bible isn’t. Despite the numerous attempts by LDS influencers to convince everyone otherwise, they simply do not hold Scripture as their final authority; that honour falls to the Book of Mormon and two other volumes: Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price.
Doctrine and Covenants is a collection of revelations, visions, and instructions primarily received by Joseph Smith, with a few later revelations added by subsequent LDS presidents. The Pearl of Great Price is a compilation containing The Book of Moses, The Book of Abraham, Joseph Smith—Matthew, Joseph Smith—History, and The Articles of Faith.
It is important to mention these because the majority of objectionable Mormon doctrines are found in these sources, including: God the Father having once been a man (a role He earned); humans potentially becoming gods; Jesus and Lucifer being spirit children of Heavenly Father; a plurality of gods; eternal progression (men can become gods); and temple ordinances being necessary for exaltation.
Each one of these is problematic, but let me briefly unpack two of them: the idea of Jesus and satan as spirit brothers and eternal progression.
An LDS apologetics site asserts the following about Jesus and satan, “Jesus, Satan, and all humanity share God the Father as their spiritual sire. However, moral agency led Jesus to obey God the Father perfectly and share fully in the Father’s divine nature and power. The same agency led Satan to renounce God, fight Jesus, and doom himself to eternal damnation. The remainder of God’s children—all of us—have the choice to follow the route chosen by Satan, or the path to which Christ invites us and shows the way.”[4]
If you didn’t pick up the error, let me help. By believing that Jesus and satan are spirit brothers with the same Heavenly Father and Heavenly Mother, they are reducing Christ to a created being who obeyed the Father, while his brother satan rebelled. Scripture, however, is clear that Jesus is uncreated, co-eternal, and of the same substance as the Father and the Spirit (Thanks, Tertullian). In layman’s terms, they deny the Trinity and the clear teachings of Colossians 1:16 (ESV), “For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.”
And John1:3 (ESV), “Through Him all things were made, and without Him nothing was made that has been made.”
By believing that Jesus and satan are spirit brothers with the same Heavenly Father and Heavenly Mother, they are reducing Christ to a created being…
If Jesus is the creator of all things, which He is, then He is the creator of satan and not his spirit brother. This teaching, along with those listed above, needs to be rejected outright.[5]
Secondly, eternal progression: this doctrine teaches that after death, believers continue to learn and grow. That in itself is not controversial. Puritan preacher Jonathan Edwards, who intensely studied Heaven, believed “the saints will be progressive in knowledge to all eternity.”[6]
The difference is that the LDS church believes that if you live a life of obedience to the doctrines of the church, you will inherit the Celestial Kingdom and a state of exaltation. Exaltation means becoming like Heavenly Father in character, glory, and ability, or as Lorenzo Snow articulates, “As man now is, God once was; as God now is, man may be.”[7]
In other words, man can become God, which means that God was once a man in a long line of men who ascended to the position of Heavenly Father. Again, this is completely contrary to Scripture. Consider Revelation 1:8 (ESV), “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”
And Ephesians 4:4-6 (ESV): “There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”
Aside from the theological concerns, there are also archaeological problems the LDS church has had to wrestle with. Despite claims of large ancient civilizations and epic battles, no archaeological sites have been found to support the Mormon narrative. Add to this the small problem of genetics. Smith claimed that the Native Americans were descendants of Lehi, but the genetic data points to Native Americans descending from Northeast Asia and not from Israel. At this point, I have to conclude that there is spiritual deception at play here that refuses to acknowledge the very real lack of evidence.
Final thought: What about polygamy? For most people, the idea of plural marriages is often associated with the LDS church. While not official doctrine, polygamy was practiced in the early LDS church and by Joseph Smith himself (after he was caught in adultery). Interestingly, it was a polygamy-related matter that saw Smith arrested and eventually killed by a mob of over 150 men in 1844. The church officially stopped the practice in 1890, although it is still practiced by Fundamentalist sects.
Morman Missionaries
For most people, especially those outside of the US, their first and only interaction with Mormons will be with a Mormon missionary. The Latter-day Saints are zealous missionaries, and currently approximately 88 500 full-time missionaries are serving worldwide for the LDS as of July 2026. That’s a staggering number of mostly young people giving 18 months of their lives to spread the false gospel of Mormonism. Missionary zeal is driven by the LDS belief that only those who believe their restored gospel, and those who spread it, will spend eternity in the Celestial Kingdom. As mentioned before, only those who go to the Celestial Kingdom can become gods, while those of us who don’t will spend eternity in the Terrestrial Kingdom, a kind of second-place eternity. Better than nothing, but a massive deviation from the biblical teaching on Heaven and Hell as found in the true gospels.
If you happen to be approached by a Mormon missionary, I wouldn’t encourage debate unless you are familiar with their doctrines. Still, I would encourage you to present the true gospel to them in the hope that the truth of Christ would pierce the deception they live in. Our hearts should break for them as much as they do for any other unbeliever.
Our hearts should break for them as much as they do for any other unbeliever.
Final Thoughts
In closing, this article has only scratched the surface, covering the very basics of LDS beliefs and why I don’t hold to them. Apart from the theological, archaeological, and scientific issues, did I mention they don’t drink coffee?
Mormon mothers, missionaries, and influencers on TikTok and Instagram often present a wholesome picture of family and community that appears appealing in a society that has largely abandoned the traditional family model in favour of individualism and woke ideology. However, this is a shallow veneer that masks a dangerous and deceptive theology. They might have Christ’s name on their buildings, but I fear Christ does not know them (Matthew 7:21).
* Cults are usually defined by set criteria:
Extra-biblical revelation
Elevating their own writings above Scripture
Redefining biblical words and concepts
Distorting the nature and character of God and Christ
Distorting biblical teaching on salvation
References:
1. https://www.dialoguejournal.com/wp-content/uploads/sbi/articles/Dialogue_V46N03_412b.pdf
2. Kingdom of the Cults, Walter Martin, pg 159
3. https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/comeuntochrist/article/articles-of-faith
4 https://www.fairlatterdaysaints.org/answers/Jesus_Christ/Brother_of_Satan
5. James White, lecture Link
6. [4] Jonathan Edwards, The Works of Jonathan Edwards, ed. Perry Miller, vol. 13, The Miscellanies, ed. Thomas A. Schafer (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1994), 483.
7. R. Snow Smith, Biography and Family Record of Lorenzo Snow (1884), 46.
