First, Christianity says that Jesus is God.  He came to save us from our sins by dying on a cross, and then resurrection three days later.  The JW’s do not believe Jesus is God, but rather the archangel Michael.  Nor do they believe he resurrected, but rather went back to Heaven to be an angel.

JW’s only use the New World Translation, which is  a bad translation from the Greek.  You do not see any Greek scholars in the JW’s because they would realize how bad of a translation this truly is.

JW’s also do not believe in Hell.  They believe that we all get to go to Heaven, and those who do not get to go on the first time get a second chance.

What about their claiming 144,000 people going to heaven (Revelation 7:4)?  Isn’t there more?  They have answered this question by saying that the first 144,000 get to go to Heaven, and everyone else (the second flock) gets a paradise on Earth.  Oddly enough, the Mormons use this same verse (John 10:16) when referring to Jesus come to the Americas.

Bottom line as to why the JW’s are a cult; they do not believe Jesus is God yet claim to be Christian.

This would be like me taking a comic book and using it as my Bible.  Then, denying that anything else is correct to any degree.  It is quite ignorant and can be frustrating when talking to a JW.

I would like to point you to an article from Christian Apologetics & Research Ministry.  I hope you can find some good information.

 http://www.carm.org/jw/nwt.htm

For one, they do not believe in the trinity.  They say that Jesus is not the main focus, but rather Jehovah.  The Holy Spirit is not believed to be a divine member of the trinity either.  Rather, the holy spirit (notice the lower case letters) is another name for Jehovah at work.

The kicker is that they do not believe Jesus is God, but rather a created being.    He is the human incarnation of Michael the Archangel.  They claim that there was no bodily resurrection, but rather go back to being Michael.

They also do not believe Jesus died on the cross.  They think the original word translates into ‘steak.’  The word (stauros) is found in John 19:17 and following.   It’s a bad translation of the word.  Looking into the two thousand years people have been reading Greek scriptures, it is funny to think that the JW’s are the only ones who think this translation.

Some other issues with the torture stake.  John 20:25 speaks of multiple nails.  Matthew 27:37 says the sign is above Jesus’ head, not above his hands.  John 21:18-19 Jesus talks about stretching out hands on the cross, which cannot be done with the stake.

How are they able to come up these beliefs?

They use one translation of the Bible, their translation.  The New World Translation was made in 1955, and that is the one source they use.  They claim this is the only reliable interpretation of the Bible.  Obviously they have followed suit of Charles Taze Russell in not knowing how to translate Greek.

He is really the founder of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, though because of his questionable character, is no longer looked as the founder by the Jehovah’s Witnesses.  When looking towards most cults, often times the leader is not all together a great person (Joseph Smith from the Mormons).  Charles Taze Russell (CTR) is of no greater stature.

He actually predicted the second coming of Jesus on two occasions.  His first prediction was for 1874, and when that did not happen it was predicted for 1914… and didn’t happen.  In 1881 he co-founded Zion Watch Tower and Tract Society with William Henry Conley.

Russell also lied under oath about being able to read Greek.  When asked to identify the alphabet, he could not make out any letters.  He never went on to advance his education and never learned a language like Greek or Hebrew.

-Joseph Rutherford (1869-1942)

Rutherford took over this religious group when Russell died.  He tried to cover up Russell’s failed prediction of Jesus’ second coming by claiming that’s when he was crowned as “Lord of Creation.”  Rutherford claims that this made Satan mad, and was at this time (1914AD) cast out of heaven.  He caused World War I after this event.

The group officially became known as the Jehovah’s Witnesses while Rutherford was in charge.

To separate from these two men, the JW’s have set a couple policies in place.  First, only writings published after 1942 would be considered authoritative (that’s when Rutherford died).  And second, no authors are identified on the writings as to prevent being  wrong in court.

Why would the JW’s try to separate from their founding fathers unless they were not good men?  Obviously they are trying to hide something from their members and public; something that would add to their falsity as a religion.

Christianity is monotheistic.  This means that there is a belief that only one god has ever existed.  Christianity also believes that God has no beginning and created all things.  Mormonism, on the other hand, is polytheistic (sources).  They believe that God was not always God (great article concerning this matter), and that God was not created any differently than any of us (Doctrines and Covenants 93:29).

Mormons also consider the Book of Mormon to be just as authoritative (if not more) than the Bible.

Mormons believe we can become gods.  Here is a great article concerning that: As God Is, Man May Become?

For these reasons, the Mormons are a cult.  Thank you for the time you have spent in discussing this issue with me.

We are not here to look at the Bible today, however.  The Book of Mormon is what we are focusing on in this particular post.  The Latter Day Saints look at this book as their primary historical book.  This is the book that supposedly came from golden plates that Joseph Smith translated.  Mormons refer to the Book of Mormon as their Bible.  Know lets look at what it says…

I do not have the time to get into too extensive detail, but here are some issues historically with the Book of Mormon.

1. 1 Nephi 18:12 – the use of a compass
   Nephi tells the story of when some Jewish people first came over the to the Americas taking place right around 575 BC.  The compass was not used as a navigation tool until 1000 AD (read about it here).  The times here are just not matching up.
2. 1 Nephi 4:9 – use of a steel sword
   Steel was not used in Rome until the 4th century BC.  Africa may have produced steel as far back as 1400 BC, but for Jews to have used this form of metal that early is HIGHLY unlikely.
3. Jacob 7:27 – French speakers
   The last word of this book is ‘adiue.’  It is French for farewell.  For information regarding the date of this word, look here.  This book took place as late as 421 BC, but this word did not even exist until the 1400′s AD.
4. Almah 20:6 – Horses in the Americas
   Horses have been around since creation, obviously.  So when the book of Almah took place, around 90 BC, horses existed.  Just not in the Americas.  It was not until the 15th century when Spaniards brought horses on this land, so yet another issue (historically) with the Book of Mormon.

There are also talks of two great people in the Book of Mormon, the Lamanites and the Nephites.  There have been ABSOLUTELY NO ARCHAEOLOGICAL FINDS to prove these two people groups even existed.

In short, there are just too many rough spots with this book.  Besides, why do we not see either of these groups mentioned in the Bible if they are so important (are real)?

This is the last of the reasons I wanted to look at the Mormons as a cult.  They look at the Book of Mormon as an authoritative writing more than the Bible.  They believe in more than one God (polytheism).  I do not wish to get into the practices that are not Christian (like baptism for the dead or the eternal progression).  Bottom line, stay away from Mormon theology.  They are clever and use much of the same language as Christianity, but they are not Christian.  God bless.

Their claim is that he is not God’s only son, but that we are all the children of God.  He is considered to be the brother of Satan.  We are all supposedly brothers and sisters in that we are all his created spirit-children.  Put the two ideas together, we are the brothers and sisters of Satan and Jesus as well!  He had to physically have many children (literally… as in having to concieve every single one of us with some female being).

God was once as we were (Teachings of the Prophect Joseph Smith, 345).  He was flesh, was mortal, and even grew up somewhere before he became God of Earth.  If we do what we are supposed to while we live, we could possibly be gods one day as well.  Then, just like God, we can work on populating our own planet.

According to Mormon theology, Jesus is not God.  Their religious foundation is based on the belief of many gods, this is called polytheism.  Christianity is monotheistic, meaning a belief in one god.

He is also not considered to be the Savior for mankind in the same sense that Christianity believes.  There is also not claim that Jesus was born from a virgin Mary, but rather that God came down and did the deed so that she was pregnant.

As we can see, the Mormon Jesus is not the same Jesus as the Christians.  Two different people.  Christians believe Jesus to be God, and since Mormons do not it would safe to assume they are seperate religions.  Unfortunately, Mormonism is still trying to masquerade as a Christian Denomination.

Smith Jr. claimed that his first vision accured at the age of 14 (1820).  Three years later, Smith claimed to have another vision from an angel named Maroni who tells him the locations of golden plates located in Palmyra, NY.  These plates came from Jews who populated the Americas; the Nemphites.

Four years later he finds the plates but he cannot show anyone because Maroni said he couldn’t.  They were written in “Reformed Egyptian,” which isn’t a real language.  Smith can’t read the fake language, and so he uses two stones that Maroni gave to him to translate.  The stones, Urim and Thummim, are held up to his eyes so that he can translate the writings.

Only three witnesses saw this crazy process happen, and all three of them ended up quitting.  Smith would be on one side of a curtain (so no one could see), and he translated outloud to someone who would write what was being said.  No one ever saw the plates.

The Church of Jesus of Later-Day Saints was officially founded in 1830, and polygamy was prevalent.  Because of such, many people opposed Smith (especially since most of his wives were under 16).  His followers went with him across the States, and since things never go well, they keep on moving.

Eventually, Smith is arrested in Navoo, IL and put in jail in Carthage, IL.  Why was he arrested?  After The Nauvoo Expositor has published some anti-Mormon material, Smith went and destroyed the Expositer’s printing press, crippling the newpaper from any further publications.  The people were so mad at Smith that they dragged him with his brother to the middle of the street and executed him.

Unfortunately, this created a martyr out of Joseph Smith.  Ever since, the Mormon’s have been actively growing.

Religion: a strong belief in a supernatural power or powers that control human destiny

Some well known world religions would be Judaism, Hinduism, Muslim, and Christianity.  Notice that one group is not claiming to be a part of another group.  Each religion is it’s own entity with a deity (or deities), sacred writing, and religious practices.

A cult (not to be confused the occult), would then be defined as follows:

Cult: a religion or sect that is generally considered to be unorthodox, extremist, or false

The best way in which a cult can be identified is to see what it claims to be.  A cult claims association with a religion, but does not share the same views of sacred writings or deity.  By looking at these two parts of a religious group, one can then decide as to whether they are a religion (or a denomination of that religion), or indeed a cult.

After some careful consideration, I have decided to start a second blog.  Too often I have talked about extremely random topics, usually never keeping a consistant flow through the site.  All of my previous posts have been moved to lifeofmick.wordpress.com.

This blog will be concentrating on some more serious topics.  There are many things in which people should know more about, so this blog will hopefully be used as a teaching device.  I’ll try to keep it interesting and worth the gander.

To start off, we’ll be looking at various cults that exist in the United States these days.  I plan on discussing the Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Christian Science, Scientology, and possibly a few others.  My hope is that by posting, you can interact with the material by commenting, and then we can have some discussion as to what the topic is.

So if you want the fun and goofy stuff, head over to the other blog.