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CULTS AND SECTS: A CLOSER LOOK AT THE MORMON FAMILY
Their strong emphasis on family is based on their beliefs about eternal
destiny.
The TV scene fades with a husband and wife warmly embracing each other
and their several children. An announcer says, A message from the Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This short, public-service ad
leaves you thinking, That's what a home really should be; those Mormons
sure have good families.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS; also called
Mormons) for many years has projected an image of fostering strong,
wholesome, closely-knit family units. People of other faiths often are
amazed by the apparent stability and size of LDS families. Indeed, the
LDS church encourages strong family relationships, lasting marriages,
and parenthood.
LDS leaders encourage church members to participate in a weekly Family
Home Evening to promote this emphasis. In this program, LDS families are
encouraged to schedule one night a week at home together for a time of
study, communication, and fun activities. Local LDS congregations,
called wards, are prohibited from scheduling activities that would
conflict with the Family Home Evening.
Baptists and other Christians commend the Mormons for their promotion of
healthy families. Most Christians naturally assume that Mormons stress
family relations for the same reasons as other churches. Christians
often are shocked to learn of the underlying theological reasons for the
Mormon church's emphasis on the family.
Families Are Forever
A popular LDS slogan is Families Are Forever! That saying, to most
people, sounds like a romantic ideal that the love a family shares
transcends time. However, Mormons consider it to be the literal truth.
They actually believe the family unit is intended to last forever.
The Mormon church teaches that husbands and wives can be married not
only till death do us part, but beyond death into eternity. Families may
remain together forever in the celestial kingdom, the LDS designation
for the highest level of heavenly glory. Mormon men and women who are
sealed together in private celestial marriage ceremonies, conducted only
in LDS temples, are believed to be joined as husbands and wives forever.
Children also may be sealed to their parents for eternity.1
LDS temples (121 worldwide) are consecrated buildings specially designed
for conducting certain sacred rituals, including endowment ceremonies,
baptisms for the dead, and celestial marriages. No public worship
services are conducted in LDS temples. Only LDS church members who are
deemed worthy enough to obtain a temple recommend may even enter a
dedicated temple. Most newly built LDS temples are only open for public
inspection for a couple of weeks prior to their formal dedications.2
What surprises Christians even more is that the Mormon church teaches
that husbands and wives who are joined in celestial marriage may become
gods. Mormons believe they can eventually establish and populate other
worlds such as this one, provided they have a celestial marriage partner
(or partners) with whom they can produce spirit children in the
celestial kingdom. They believe the Mormon husband can become a heavenly
father and his wife (wives) a heavenly mother of millions of newly
created human souls.3
This process, called exaltation or eternal progression, is exactly the
way Mormons believe our Heavenly Father became the God of this world.
They believe He was once a man as we are now, who, along with his wife,
progressed to become God. He is now an exalted man with a physical body
of flesh and bone, just one of an unknown number of other gods.4
Mormons also believe Jesus was a spirit child of the Heavenly Father who
became another god and was chosen as Savior of the world.5 The Holy
Ghost is a third god who has a body of spirit yet exists in the form and
likeness of a man.6
Another twist to the Mormon family emphasis is the time, energy, and
money spent in genealogical research. Mormons believe it is their
responsibility to trace their family history in order to find names of
deceased non-Mormon relatives. They believe they can be baptized on
their behalf in the LDS temple in order that the relative can attain the
celestial kingdom. Dead people are also sealed in celestial marriage by
proxy for the same reason.7
Doctrines Strange?
These Mormon doctrines seem strange to most Baptists and other
Christians. Many find it hard to believe a church calling itself
Christian could teach such things. Nonetheless, these unusual ideas are
standard beliefs of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints. It is easy to understand, therefore, why they put such a heavy
emphasis on family issues. Mormons believe the family not only is an
important aspect of their religious life, but it is essential to one's
eternal destiny. One can never progress to godhood in the celestial
kingdom without a strong family.8
Christians do not agree with LDS teachings on celestial marriage. The
Bible certainly teaches that the family is an important element in a
person's life. However, the Scripture nowhere teaches that marriages
last beyond death or that one's eternal destiny depends on his or her
marital status, family relationships, or procreativity. More important,
the Bible nowhere teaches that people can become gods. The only biblical
character who even suggested such a notion was the serpent (the devil)
in Genesis 3:5!
Thus, while Christians respect and commend Mormons for emphasizing
strong families, they cannot agree with their reasons for doing so.
Elevating any institution, even one as important as the family, to a
level of such spiritual significance as do the Mormons is tantamount to
idolatry.
The clear teaching of Scripture is that salvation is a result entirely
of God's grace (Eph. 2:8-9). It is received by repenting of one's sin,
putting one's faith in Jesus Christ, and submitting to Him as one's Lord
(Acts 3:19; Rom. 10:9-10). A major function of the Christian family is
to encourage children to receive that salvation and grow in their faith.
However, one's salvation is an individual decision that ultimately is
independent of one's family status.
For a clear, biblically based perspective on the purposes and functions
of the Christian family, read The Bible and Family Relations by T.B.
Maston and William Tillman (Broadman Press, 1983).
For more information on the teachings of the Mormon church as compared
to the Bible, contact the Interfaith Witness Department of the Home
Mission Board (HMB), (404) 410-6220; or call HMB Customer Services, 1
800 634-2462, or fax, 1 800 253-2823, and request the free Belief
Bulletin entitled Mormons (363-58F).
Recommended Reading
Roberts, R. Phillip (with Tal Davis and Sandra Tanner). Mormonism
Umasked (Nashville: Broadman & Holman), 1998.
Endnotes
Achieving a Celestial Marriage (student manual) (Salt Lake City:
Corporation of the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints, 1976), pp. 129-132.
Boyd K. Packer, The Holy Temple (booklet adapted from book of same
title) (Salt Lake City: Corporation of the President of the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1982), p. 2.
Achieving a Celestial Marriage, p. 129.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Gospel Principles (Salt
Lake City: Corporation of the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints, 1988), pp. 6, 293.
Ibid., pp. 15-16.
Ibid., p. 34, and Bruce R. McConkie, A New Witness for the Articles of
Faith (Salt Lake City: Deseret Books, 1985), p. 51.
Gospel Principles, pp. 247-252.
Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1987),
pp. 117-118.
Tal Davis, Interfaith Evangelism Associate for Cults, Sects, and New
Religious Movements
Adapted from The Truth About the Mormon Family in Home Life Magazine,
vol. 45, no. 8, pp. 48-49, May 1991. Used by permission.
A Southern Baptist Convention agency supported by the Cooperative
Program and the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering.
Copyright,1993, Home Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention,
Alpharetta, Georgia
All rights reserved. Churches may reproduce this publication in limited
quantities for congregational use.
All other inquiries should be addressed to: Director, Editing
Department, North American Mission Board, SBC.
Copyright 2002 North American Missionary Board, SBC
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