When Mormons Try to Co-opt Your Homeschool Co-op

Maybe it has already happened to you, but it is very likely to happen in the near future. You have a homeschool co-op or Bible study group, and you receive a request to join your group. You start talking or reading and realize that it’s a Mormon family who wants to join your group. Are they Christians? They say they are. Do they believe the Bible? Should you let them in?

How you answer those questions could have a significant impact on you and those you are responsible for leading. So what do you do?

Foundations

Growing up in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints was an interesting experience. It is not something I would choose again, but I see how God has used it to help me better communicate the truths of the Christian faith in the face of so many challenges. I was born into an LDS1 family (while many refer to this group as Mormons, their preference is to be called members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints) on my mom’s side. Her family was very involved in LDS affairs for several generations and lived in the Salt Lake Valley and southern Idaho. I spent time as a child in the Church Office Building, where my aunt worked, and across the street at Temple Square and its teaching-oriented visitor center.

I was baptized into the church at 8, received the priesthood at 12, did baptisms for the dead in the Logan Temple, and participated in seminary (religious instruction during school hours). I left the church through complicated family dynamics at age 14, but I have spent considerable time studying the beliefs and practices of the LDS. In my training as a youth, I was taught to acknowledge that “we are different than Christians.” After God had saved me in my late 20s and I became a Christian apologist, I slowly began to notice a drift in the public face of the LDS church.

There was a big campaign beginning in 2010 that presented “normal” people doing “normal” things, closing with the tag, “And I am a Mormon.” This was followed by focused social media campaigns around Christmas and Easter that invited people to learn about Jesus by featuring The Piano Guys and other influential celebrities. Clicking the links would then take you to various LDS resources. Then in 2018, a huge shift happened as President Russel M. Nelson announced that the church should be known by its full name rather than shortened forms. This meant that rather than referring to the Mormons, we were now expected to say members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints—quite a mouthful.

This was done, as Nelson noted, to refocus the name on the person of Christ—the one who had founded the church and given the name. Mormons now wanted to be known as Christians. Mormon.org was redirected to ChurchOfJesusChrist.org, and the landing page emphasizes Jesus, both textually and visually. The church logo was changed from the trumpeting angel Moroni to the Christus statue depicting Jesus with outstretched arms. The very foundation of the LDS church was when Joseph Smith claimed that God the Father and Jesus Christ appeared to him as a teen. The “Father” directed Smith to hear what his “Son” had to say. He heard that “all their [the existing churches’] creeds were an abomination in his sight; that those professors were all corrupt.”2

Let’s look at some of the doctrinal distinctions, and I think we will see a world of difference.

Who Is My Neighbor?

Focusing on five key areas will let us see whether or not those who make great neighbors are actually part of the broader body of Christ (Colossians 1:15–19; 1 Corinthians 12:14–31). A current theme in LDS apologetics has been to focus on the difference between credal Christianity and the supposed restored and only true church founded by Joseph Smith. So let’s look at those differences and how they might impact the Christian groups they seek to join.

A Source of Authority

The revelation of the triune God in the 66 books we know as the Bible has traditionally been the rule of faith for Christians. The Nicene Creed uses the language of 1 Corinthians 15 as it grounds the historicity of the resurrection “in accordance with the Scriptures.” The creeds assume the authority of Scripture and appeal directly to that authority without apology.

But when you hear someone like Glenn Beck tell a crowd how much the Scriptures mean to him, you need to stop and ask, “What Scriptures?” While Latter-Day Saints look to the Bible, their eighth article of faith states, “We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly; we also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God.”3 Just as in the Roman Catholic Church, man sits in authority over God’s Word to determine what is to be trusted and what is not.

Along with the Book of Mormon, supposedly recording the several groups of Jews who lived in the Americas from the dispersion at Babel to the time of Jesus, the Pearl of Great Price and the Doctrine and Covenants are also considered authoritative revelations.

Additionally, the articles of faith look for truth coming from individual revelation (article 7) and modern prophets speaking on behalf of God (article 9). Early prophets like Joseph Smith and Brigham Young proclaimed that their official teachings, when finally delivered, were on par with the Bible: “I have never yet preached a sermon and sent it out to the children of men, that they may not call Scripture. Let me have the privilege of correcting a sermon, and it is as good Scripture as they deserve.”4

God and Man

One of the most shocking differences is the LDS idea that man and God are “of the same essence and co-eternal.”

One of the most shocking differences is the LDS idea that man and God are “of the same essence and co-eternal.” Passages like D&C 93 and Smith’s teaching in the King Follet Funeral Sermon (Discourse) affirm this idea, and many prophets have affirmed that the LDS believe there are a multitude of gods, three of which are honored in LDS worship.

All the Christian creeds clearly identify the trinitarian nature of the godhead and the fact that mankind was created. There is a Creator/creature distinction throughout the Bible and outlined in the creeds. Colossians 1:16 includes mankind as part of the visible creation of God the Son, contrasted with the invisible spiritual realm.

To highlight this difference, LDS prophets have consistently taught that their god, Elohim or Heavenly Father, was once a man who was exalted to godhood. In literal union with the heavenly mother,5 he created the spirit children who came to earth to receive bodies (you and me) to be tested for their worthiness. If found worthy, they can be exalted to godhood. A couplet offered by prophet Lorenzo Snow captures this idea: “As man now is, God once was; as God now is, man may become.”6

This implies that there was a god who created and exalted Elohim just as Elohim created and may exalt humanity. So how can god and man be both eternal and created? Smith invented the idea of “intelligences” to mend this clear contradiction in his teachings (see D&C 93). Verses 21–23 teach that just as Jesus was in the beginning with the Father, so were you and I. Verse 29 explains this as an intelligence that is eternal and cannot be created.

Jesus Juke

The Athanasian Creed affirms the uncreated nature of Jesus as God, aligning with passages like John 1:1–5. But the LDS Jesus was literally born as a spirit child from the union of heavenly parents: “It shows that man, as a spirit, was begotten and born of heavenly parents, and reared to maturity in the eternal mansions of the Father, prior to coming upon the earth in a temporal body to undergo an experience in mortality.”7

The LDS Jesus is referred to as our “elder brother,” but he is also the brother of Lucifer, the second-born spirit child. So Jesus is the brother of Lucifer (as are we). The Bible teaches that Jesus created the spiritual realm, including the spiritual being known as Lucifer/Satan (Colossians 1:15–17; John 1:3; Hebrews 1:2).

The LDS Jesus earned his preeminence by offering a better plan of testing the spirit children than Lucifer (Moses 4:1–4; Abraham 3:22–28). Jesus was chosen as the redeemer during the mortal existence and would provide the opportunity to live again with the heavenly parents after death.

Faith

But the sacrifice Jesus offered was not sufficient to pay the full penalty for sinners. The LDS Jesus basically makes up the gap after you have done your best to obey the “first principles and ordinances of the gospel.”8 While he is seen as the Savior, he is emphasized more as a moral example for us to follow to find greater peace and happiness in life. Salvation is not received by faith alone in Christ alone, but also through baptism, laying on of hands, and obedience to the laws and ordinances dictated by the LDS church. Faith and grace are necessary in the LDS system, but works are also necessary to dwell with Heavenly Father.

The online explanation of the gospel states:

In its fulness, the gospel includes all the doctrine, principles, laws, ordinances, and covenants necessary for us to be exalted in the celestial kingdom. The Savior has promised that if we endure to the end, faithfully living the gospel, He will hold us guiltless before the Father at the Final Judgment.9

There is even a second chance after death to respond to the gospel. Those who die without repenting of sin or receiving “the restored gospel of Jesus Christ” land in the spirit prison.10 Righteous people who have died can preach the gospel to these spirits in prison. If they respond and someone has been baptized on their behalf (baptisms for the dead are performed in LDS temples), they can enter the upper levels of heaven.

What an urgent reminder for us to share the hope of the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ.

The Bible gives a very different framing of the urgency of repentance. When Jesus tells of the rich man in Luke 16:19–31, he illustrates that there is no opportunity for repentance after death, and Hebrews 9:27 has no room for squeezing in a second chance and proxy baptism. Judgment for sin is based on what occurs during this life, and no one will cross that great chasm or return to the living to offer a warning or another opportunity to repent. What an urgent reminder for us to share the hope of the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ.

Ultimate Destination

While the Bible makes a clear distinction between those who will inherit eternal life and joy in the new heavens and earth and those who will face eternal consequence in the lake of fire (Revelation 20:12–15), LDS eschatology gives four options. The heavenly realm is divided into three tiers: the fellowship of the Father and the Son in the celestial kingdom (D&C 76:50–70), the fellowship of the Son in the terrestrial kingdom (D&C 76:71–80), and only the presence of the Spirit in the telestial kingdom (D&C 76:81–90).

The LDS believe that virtually all people will wind up in one of these three levels of eternity (and only “sons of perdition” will be cast into outer darkness). While it is by the sacrifice of the Messiah that they do so, their position is based on the works that they do to be faithful to the covenant and ordinances of God. Only obedient LDS will receive the celestial kingdom and enjoy the presence of the Father.

This flies in the face of the real Jesus’ teaching that the road to hell is broad and the road to eternal life is narrow (Matthew 7:13–14). While rewards for the saints is a clear biblical teaching, all who repent and trust in the Son’s work on their behalf will enjoy eternity in the new heavens and earth worshipping the triune God in perfection, not varying kingdoms of glory.

The Choice Is Yours

Now you have the basic information you need to make an informed decision. There are a multitude of other differences, but just these five should provide clarity in determining whether LDS (Mormons) should be classified as biblical Christians.

I would suggest that allowing someone with these views to teach your children in a co-op setting is nothing short of spiritual malpractice.

I would suggest that allowing someone with these views to teach your children in a co-op setting is nothing short of spiritual malpractice. If you are going to allow the LDS in, then it would be consistent to allow the Jehovah’s Witnesses, Christian Scientists, and Roman Catholics to join you as well.

If you want to ensure a Mormon-proof statement of faith, there are some key statements you could include so that no honest LDS family could affirm them. Consider looking at the Answers in Genesis statement of faith for clear language.11 Key topics would include: the 66 books of the Bible are the only source of truth and are infallible/inerrant; there are no modern apostles/prophets; faith alone apart from works is sufficient to dwell with God; God exists as one being in three persons (Trinity); Jesus is eternal and uncreated; God created the universe from nothing; marriage is not an eternal institution.12

As you interact with LDS members, do so with grace and truth. They need to hear of the rest that comes in trusting Christ alone for salvation13 and of the absolute trust they can have in the text of the Bible.