http://ericbarger.com/mormonism_cult.htm
It's a Sad Fact but Mormonism IS a Cult
Eric's Note: In August 2005 a reader of our newsletter wrote concerning my position on the Mormon Church. Here is the email (unedited) and my response:
Begin email
Saddened by anti-Mormon email...
I am writting to infom you of how saddend i was to read an email you have posted on to the internet. (Eric's note: read the email here.) It is relating to the girl who is becoming a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I am not saddend by the girls decision, in fact i am happy to here she is chosing for her self to lead the life she wants to lead, in stead i was saddend by your remarks and the remarks of her Uncle. While you may not share the veiws of the girl, and her boyfriend, and for that matter a large amount of others, i do not feel that this gives you the right to talk like that about the church. If she were converting to Islam, Catholisism or any other denomination would you have been quite so outraged?
I myself am convert to the LDS faith and i have never felt so much joy and happyness that i feal through my membership. I love the Lord Jesus Christ with all my heart and i love his Father too. I know that i never had the kind of happyness i did before i joined, and that im so much happier than all of my friends and family that are not members of the church. I know that i am living in a good way, and that what im doing and not doing is clean and heathy for me. I do not go out getting drunk, high or smoke which are all very bad for ones system. I on the other hand love those around me, help in anyway i can wether it be giving people lifts, visisting them or any other act of service i can do for them. I am a strong member of my community and i feel blessed with what the Lord has given to me. I know that most if not all of the belssings in my life have came from my membership within the LDS chruch.
If you notice i have not sprouted any negative and hurtfull "facts" about you or any other person or faith. I would not do such a thing. This is because of one of the 13 Articles of Faith that I hold so dear, which states:
"We calim the privilage of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same preivilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may."
I hope you bear this in mind the next time you decied to critized someone else for what they believe or how the wish to live their life.
Kind Regards
Vicki (Aberdeen, Scotland)
End email
Eric's Response
Hi Vicki,
Yes Vicki, I would be equally disturbed should anyone join any cult, world religion or spiritual group (Islam, Catholicism, etc) that does not lead one to eternal life and true salvation. It really doesn't matter if you think I have a right to point out the fallacy of Mormonism or not. The Bible DEMANDS that I do so and for that single reason, I must. I don't care what sounds right to a culture like ours. It is what IS right according to the Word of God. That doesn't mean that I aim to offend anyone but the truth often offends people. This is especially true in a culture where virtually anything has become acceptable. When someone (like me) stands up and calls right "right" and wrong "wrong" it is going to bother some people. Apologetics and comparative religions (what our ministry does) have a tendency to shake people up. If somebody (like me) comes along and points out unbiblical doctrines or heresies by which others have become deceived it can indeed make people uncomfortable. Anyone who who gives answers for faith that unmask Satan's often sweet sounding lies sticks out because people want to believe what they want to believe - not what is actually biblically accurate, spiritually healthy and actually truthful.
I am not certain what email you are referring to as we have encouraged thousands of people to flee Mormonism.
Here is why.
It is really quite simple. If the Jesus of the Mormon Church was indeed the Jesus of the Bible then the Mormon Church would be a vehicle in which one could find salvation. However, the Jesus of Mormonism is NOT the historical, Biblical Son of God. Thus, Mormonism teaches and believes in a "Jesus" who is unable to save and whose entire premise is based upon the teachings of a false prophet named Joseph Smith.
You need to read the warning the Apostle Paul gave about "different Jesus'" who would come to deceive. Read it in II Corinthians 11:3-4.
To accomplish the introduction of this new false Jesus, Mormonism demands that people abandon the prophetically tried and true Jesus of the Bible. The switch comes when Joseph Smith claims to be adding to the Biblical story, sort of filling in the gaps via the instructions of the angel he called Moroni. On the surface (and without thorough investigation) Mormonism may sound similar to the authentic Christian story. But once you analyze the stark differences, the Mormon Jesus is clearly not the Biblical Jesus and Mormonism is not authentic Christianity. The heresies of Mormonism can only be justified if one follows Smith's leading and tests the Bible by the teachings of The Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants and The Pearl of Great Price which are all many centuries newer than the Bible, instead of the other way around. To any truthful investigator transposing the Bible as ultimate authority and replacing it with Smith's teaching is completely backwards and is frankly laughable. The Bible - the oldest and ONLY inspired document - commands us to test any and every "new" revelation by it to make certain that it actually came from Almighty God. When one does this the BOM and other Mormon texts are woefully lacking.
Mr. Hinckley - your current "prophet" - did himself separate the Mormon Jesus from the Christian (read that Biblical and historical) Jesus when he stated:
“In bearing testimony of Jesus Christ, President Hinckley spoke of those outside the Church who say Latter-day Saints ‘do not believe in the traditional Christ.’ (He said) ‘No, I don't. The traditional Christ of whom they speak is not the Christ of whom I speak. For the Christ of whom I speak has been revealed in this the Dispensation of the Fulness (sic) of Times...In this dispensation, the Lord has declared that this Church is the only true and living Church upon the face of the whole earth.’”
- LDS Church News Archives, Saturday, June 20, 1998 reporting on Hinckley’s speech to 6,600 missionaries assembled in Paris. (http://www.desnews.com/cgi-bin/libstory_church?dn98&9806210091.)
This comes in line with what Milton Hunter wrote too:
“The appointment of Jesus to be the Savior of the world was contested by one of the other sons of God.
He was called Lucifer, son of the morning. Haughty, ambitious, and covetous of power and glory, this spirit-brother of Jesus desperately tried to become the Savior of mankind.”
- Milton R. Hunter, The Gospel Through the Ages, p. 15 (First Council of The Seventy)
Oh how I wish (for the sake of every Mormon) that the Mormon Jesus was indeed the Biblical Jesus and was capable of saving souls from eternal judgment. But because the Mormon Jesus is a counterfeit, I must and I will continue to warn you and whom ever else I can to turn from the Mormon Church and find salvation in the REAL Jesus.
The trail of broken and deceived lives that Joseph Smith left behind represent an eternal tragedy. The truth is that those who have trusted Joseph instead of the Bible are destined for the same destruction that he is experiencing in Hell at this moment. The only remedy to avoid this outcome is to repent and accept the Jesus of the Bible as Lord and Savior.
I pray that you will examine the BIBLE alone and find that the Mormon Church is not an avenue to eternal salvation when examined under the light of God's infallible and eternal Word.
I do not wish to engage in an extended debate with you. I have plenty on my website concerning Mormonism to help any honest seeker of truth. However, I will be glad to be here for you if you should ever want to honestly interact and seek the freedom and joy that only Jesus Christ - the crucified and risen Lord - can bring.
God bless you!
Eric Barger
End Eric's Response