When the elders come to your door, they’ll have an interesting message to share. Here are some of the highlights of what they’ll be telling you:

The First Vision

In 1820, a young New York man named Joseph Smith had a vision of the Father and Jesus. Through this and subsequent visitations, Joseph was made the prophet of the restored church of Christ, later to be called the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Unfortunately for the Mormon claim, there are several versions of this First Vision (as it is known to LDS), with significant differences between the stories (particularly in the area of just who it was he saw - Jesus alone, Jesus with angels, Jesus with the Father or angels alone). Either Smith was making up the story, or his memory was terrible.

The Book of Mormon

Smith claimed an angel named Moroni led him to a set of golden plates, which had been buried in the hill Cumorah, near his upstate New York home. By the power of God, he was able to translate the plates (written in “Reformed Egyptian”), publishing the result in 1830 as the Book of Mormon. Smith’s book describes two Middle Eastern migrations of peoples to the Americas, spanning from 600 B.C. to A.D. 421 (with a brief flashback to the Tower of Babel era). The second group to arrive on America’s shores split into two peoples: the evil Lamanites and the Godly Nephites. They ravaged each other with war upon war, until the entire civilization was wiped out about 1500 years ago.

The problem with this fascinating claim is that there’s no evidence for it. If such civilizations existed and if such protracted battles took place, surely there’d be artifacts left behind. However, no such Book of Mormon items have ever been identified.

The Great Apostasy

Shortly after the death of the last Apostle (John, around A.D. 100), the Church of Jesus Christ fell into apostasy. Paganism merged with Christianity, perverting it and creating a pseudo-Christian church. At this time, priesthood authority was removed from the earth, not to be returned again until 1830, with the restoration through Joseph Smith.

This claim falls apart under the scriptural weight of Matthew 16:18. There, Jesus promises that the “powers of death shall not prevail” against His Church. According to LDS belief, the powers of death did prevail against it - just a couple generations after Jesus’ death!

Henotheism

Mormons reject the monotheism of mainline Christianity and Judaism. Instead, they embrace the belief that the universe is full of gods, though they worship only one (Heavenly Father). This claim is dealt with in the body of the preceding article.

Three levels of Heaven

In LDS theology, heaven has three possible levels (and some sub levels in there, as well). The highest level is the celestial kingdom. Here, a Mormon man who was faithful and married in the temple can achieve Godhood, receiving a planet to populate and rule with his wife.

The middle level is the terrestrial kingdom - a place for the good members of non-LDS religions. Here, the residents live in a paradise in the presence of Jesus.

The lowest level is the telestial kingdom. The wicked of the world are sent to this realm. However, even the telestial kingdom is superior to life on earth. While there is a hell in Mormonism, it is reserved for Satan, the fallen angels and apostate Mormons.

The Bible is clear that, for the dead, there are only two final destinations: heaven or hell (cf. Matthew 25:31-46). While there are different degrees of glory in heaven, they don’t constitute separate locations. Additionally, Scripture teaches that the wicked will spend eternity in hell, a place of eternal torment (cf. Revelations 20:12-15; 21:8).