Understanding Mormonism

This book was written with the hope that it may serve as a resource for explaining Mormonism and the restored Gospel of Christ to individuals of various beliefs, in a manner that is both understandable and technically accurate. Simultaneously, it aims to assist Mormons in better comprehending their own doctrines and in countering the arguments of detractors who claim their beliefs are "unbiblical" and "non-Christian."

Indeed, it is now possible—thanks to an influx of new information regarding the Primitive Church—to demonstrate that many Latter-day Saint doctrines, which contemporary "orthodoxy" dismisses as "non-Christian," were widely recognized and essential to early Christians. These doctrines include concepts such as the preexistence of the soul, the Three Degrees of Glory, a non-Trinitarian Godhead, the deification of man, eternal marriage, baptism for the dead, and the foundational structure of the Temple experience. These beliefs, previously unrecognized before their restoration by Joseph Smith, have since been validated by numerous independent researchers. Latter-day Saints are fortunate to reclaim these ancient doctrines and should resist the urge to conceal them to appear less controversial to mainstream believers.

We will begin our exploration with a doctrine common to all Christians: salvation. Unfortunately, significant confusion arises when different sects attempt to define this vital concept and its relationship to grace, works, judgment, and reward. For some, salvation merely means being resurrected and entering heaven; however, in Scripture, it often refers to "redemption from sin," or liberation from man's fallen condition (the "First Death"). In the former interpretation, salvation is perceived as a reward for goodness, while in the latter, it is seen as a healing process that "cures" the sinner and initiates their "rebirth," enabling them to live by the Spirit and qualify for a reward.

When we compare statements in Scripture that suggest salvation comes through "faith without works" with warnings that individuals will be judged and rewarded "according to works," we begin to suspect that salvation and reward may be distinct concepts. Thus, we must seek clear scriptural definitions of these foundational ideas to foster mutual understanding among various Bible-based factions. Only then can we comprehend why Jesus required those he had saved to "keep the commandments" if they wished to enter into life, as God's laws are his norms and must be adhered to by all seeking a suitable reward.

At the same time, we need to reassure those who fear they are not "good enough" for salvation that they are not lost. God has promised to make them good if they "endure to the end" while embracing all that faith, repentance, baptism, and the gift of the Spirit entail—none of which are personal good works, but rather pathways to accessing the free grace that sanctifies individuals and empowers them to perform the good works for which they were created. In essence, one does not need to be righteous to be saved; rather, one is saved in order to become truly righteous.

We will further illustrate that the actual mechanism of salvation is best encapsulated by the 13th-century English term "Atonement." This term, meaning "At-One-Ment," describes not only man's reconciliation with God but also his union with the Divine. The concept of oneness with the Divine was central to Paul's writings, where he explains that as believers "cleave" to the Lord, they become one Spirit, gaining access to his supernatural righteousness. John also taught that when God's Spirit dwells within individuals, they become spiritually united and begin to share in God's transcendent attributes. In both instances, they receive God's personal righteousness, which replaces their human attempts at morality, thus transcending their fallen state and enabling them to perform the desired good works.

Additionally, we will examine what Scripture and the early Church Fathers conveyed about the nature of God, allowing us to understand how individuals can partake in his deity and receive his fullness—a process we propose calling "shared" or "participatory monotheism," rather than "polytheism." This understanding of deification has been a part of LDS belief since its inception and was not a "reconstruction" of Joseph Smith's earlier theology, as some critics have incorrectly asserted. In this exploration, we will resolve the apparent contradiction between the scriptural declaration that "God never changes" and the saying, "As man now is, God once was." While there is only one "God of all other gods"—who is "the same from eternity to eternity"—there are others who have become gods by receiving his fullness and can therefore claim that they were "once as man now is."

Knowledgeable Latter-day Saints should be able to articulate both statements. Yet, as a recent writer for Time noted, there exists "a vacuum of theological talent" among contemporary Mormons, a situation he finds particularly regrettable because Mormonism possesses "a lot of unusual theology to explain" (Aug. 4, 1997). However, we will demonstrate that LDS theology is not "unusual" and should not be difficult to explain, as it is entirely grounded in the theology of the New Testament and does not require any special premises or assumptions for support.

To assist us in substantiating this claim, we will periodically incorporate conclusions from objective non-LDS scholars to verify Mormonism's assertion of having restored what was once present in the Primitive Church. We will also show that many of its beliefs trace back to the time of the patriarchs, preceding the advent of theoretical monotheism and the "Lone God" of Judaism. Unfortunately, Judaism's "Lone God" became the Procrustean bed into which Christianity's Father and Son were eventually re-fitted, leading to the homoousian concept of the Trinitarian "one God."

It is often overlooked that Trinitarianism also fostered the sectarian belief that man must forever remain "totally other" than God, as it came to view divine oneness as a privileged oneness that excludes all others. However, man's true destiny, since the dawn of time, has centered around the promise of spiritual union with the Divine Nature, a teaching likely imparted to the first humans and preserved with minor variations among the major sects of antiquity. Around the "Meridian of Time," this concept was symbolized as the Mystical Marriage of Jehovah and Israel in the Jerusalem Temple and reached its ultimate expression in the New Testament writings of John and Paul, particularly in Paul's "Great Mystery" of "marriage" to Christ. This belief remains central to Eastern Orthodoxy, although many modern adherents have largely forgotten it.

Nonetheless, it continues to be the heart and soul of Mormon soteriology, echoing the allegories of the early Church Fathers, who described how the soul is destined to enter the heavenly Holy of Holies in union with the High Priest, Jesus, becoming co-heirs of God's glory and participants in his attributes. In this manner, an unbroken line of deity emerges, connecting "the God of all other gods" to his exalted offspring, maintaining a beginningless priesthood throughout eternity and celestializing the very elements as parts of his cosmic temple. This Divine Continuity best characterizes the theology of the Restored Gospel and the destiny of man's Eternal Race, whose changeless Source has forever given rise to Sons of God, who will continue to populate new worlds in an endlessly expanding universe.

Understanding Mormonism