From almost the very beginning of their movement, this heretical teaching developed through their founder Smith.   He specifically taught that “God himself was once as we are now, no more than an exalted man.”  

Joseph Smith’s predecessor, Brigham Young, continued this heretical teaching by later advocating that Adam was both an earthly father and heavenly God who was the first man on the earth and its framer and maker.

One of the most recognized and revered Mormon apostles, Orson Hyde, taught also that all Mormons were to remember God as a heavenly Father who was once a child and a mortal like themselves.  

In summary, God rose step by step through advancing good works, and eventually arrived at the godhood position he now holds. 

The Book of Mormon is supposedly an account of the original inhabitants of America to whom Christ appeared after his resurrection. Joseph Smith claimed he translated it from the “golden plates” shown to him by the angel Moroni.

There are major problems with the accuracy of this supposed “most correct of any book on earth” since it has undergone almost 4,000 changes correcting chronological, historical, and contradictory problems. It has received criticism from archaeologists and historians since its inception.

Who actually authored the book has also been long debated. It is possibly a fabrication that Smith wove together from other sources such as Ethan Smith’s Views of the Hebrews or the Ten Tribes of Israel in America (1823), Solomon Spalding’s Manuscript Found (1812), Thomas Thorowgood’s Jews in America (1650), and certain popular books of that era. While there is no solid proof of this, there are many resemblances that appear to be beyond mere coincidence.

Also, there are rumors of theft and plagiarism that leaves one wondering.   It is amazing that Mormons sometimes think that Joseph Smith came up with a new revelation from God regarding the ancestry of the Native Americans. However, the popular theory was already well developed at this time. The theory would eventually be proven inaccurate by historians and archaeologists, but not until after Smith had fabricated various parts of people’s writings on the theory and made it into a religion.

In some respects it would seem more appropriate to call the Book of Doctrine and Covenants the keystone of Mormonism.   It is in such a book that Joseph Smith put forth the heretical teachings of baptism for the dead, celestial marriage, plurality of wives, plurality of gods, and possibility of attaining godhood.  

The book of Doctrines and Covenants is given much greater weight than the Bible, because according to Mormonism, it is inspired, while the Bible on the other hand is full of errors due to irreparable translation weaknesses.  

The Bible is hardly ever read or referred to by Mormons.  In my opinion they only use the Bible as a minor reference to prove to others they are a Christian denomination.   They are not.

This contains three major books called Moses, Abraham, and Joseph Smith. In this book Smith elevates himself to a Biblical position equal to Moses and Abraham. Unfortunately for Joseph, this book shows better that any of the others his great deception.

In1835 he purchased several mummies and papyri covered with hieroglyphics. Smith claimed “that one contained the writings of Abraham while he was in Egypt and that another was the work of Joseph, son of Jacob.” He supposedly translated the short hieroglyphic message into the greatly expanded Book of Abraham.

In 1967 the papyri that Smith used were rediscovered and no less than 4 expert Egyptologists examined the papyri. They all found the same thing; the papyri were nothing more than the record of an Egyptian funeral ceremony honoring the Egyptian god Osiris. Only those who wish to preserve the fantasy that Joseph Smith was given the ability to translate the book of Abraham still vainly try to defend his work.

The Mormons basically pay lip service to the Bible referring to it as “the Word of God insofar as it is translated correctly” (Articles of Faith of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Article 8). The problem, though, is they claim that the correct translation of the Bible is impossible because the Catholic Church changed the original word of God. Mormons use to teach that the Catholic Church was the “abominable church” spoken of in Nephi 13:26-29 that corrupted the gospel of the Lamb.