『Unveiling Mormonism』のカバーアート

Unveiling Mormonism

Unveiling Mormonism

著者： PursueGOD
無料で聴く

【Amazonプライム会員限定】今ならプレミアムプランが4か月 月額99円。

10月19日まで。※適用条件あり
Join Ross Anderson and Bryan Dwyer, pastors with over 50 years of combined ministry experience in Utah, as they take a deep dive on everything Mormon – from theology to history to culture. New topic every Monday.Copyright 2026 PursueGOD キリスト教 スピリチュアリティ 社会科学 聖職・福音主義
エピソード
  • What Mormons Believe about God

    What Mormons Believe about God
    2022/12/05
    What we believe about God is probably the most important thing we can believe. Everything else in a world view starts with our concept of God. So let’s try to understand what Mormonism says about God so we can compare our own beliefs.The Unveiling Mormonism podcast pulls back the curtain on Mormon history, culture and doctrine. Join us for new episodes every Monday. Find resources to talk about these episodes at pursueGOD.org/mormonism.Help others go "full circle" as a follower of Jesus through our 12-week Pursuit series.Click here to learn more about how to use these resources at home, with a small group, or in a one-on-one discipleship relationship.Got questions or want to leave a note? Email us at podcast@pursueGOD.org.God the Father has not always been God. According to Latter-day Saint thinking, there was a time when God was not God. Before he became divine, he existed as a mortal human being. Joseph Smith, the founder and first prophet of Mormonism, put it like this in a message called the King Follett Discourse:God himself was once as we are now…. It is the first principle of the Gospel to know for certainty the Character of God,...that he was once a man like us; yea, that God himself, the Father of us all, dwelt on an earth, the same as Jesus Christ himself did.Our Heavenly Father, says Smith, was once human, just like us, and dwelt on some planet much like ours. Lorenzo Snow, a later LDS prophet, summarized this doctrine in a famous saying: “As man now is, God once was.” By contrast, the Bible teaches that God has always been God. Psalm 90:2 declares, “Before the mountains were born, before you gave birth to the earth and the world, from beginning to end, you are God.” Long before anything else existed, God was still God. One translation says, “From everlasting to everlasting, you are God.”God the Father is an exalted man. But the being Mormons worship as God did not remain in his mortal human state. Over time, he progressed to become a god. This is what the word “exalted” means to Mormons: to be exalted is to become like God, with all the powers and prerogatives of God. In the King Follett Discourse, Joseph Smith added: “God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man, and sits enthroned in yonder heavens!” In other words, God is the same kind of being as humans are. Thus in Mormonism, deity is not an intrinsic condition, but an attainable status or role. If godhood is intrinsic, humans cannot become gods, because humans are a different kind of being than God is. But to Latter-day Saints, God is not a different sort of being, the same kind of being who has achieved a higher standing or position. By contrast, the Bible teaches that God is not a man, nor ever was a man. Number 23:19 states quite clearly, “God is not a man, so he does not lie. He is not human, so he does not change his mind.” God does not have the failings that human beings have, such as deceit or uncertainty. The reason is not because he is more highly evolved or exalted than we are in our present condition. The reason is because God is not human at all.God the Father has a physical body of flesh and bone. If God is an exalted human being, it follows that he would have the same anatomy as we do. This is expressed in a training manual called Gospel Principles: “His eternal spirit is housed in a tangible body of flesh and bones.” It makes sense that if God is or was a man, he would have a human body with two arms, two legs, internal organs, and the rest. But the Bible teaches that God does not have a body. God is a spirit. In John 4:24, Jesus simply said, “For God is Spirit….” He didn’t say that God has a spirit, but that God is spirit. By definition, that means God is not embodied. For example, in Luke 24:36-39 (ESV), when the resurrected Jesus appeared to his disciples, they thought he was a spirit. Jesus set them straight: “A spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” In Jeremiah 23:24, God says, “Am I not everywhere in all the heavens and earth?” This would not be possible if God had a physical, human body - even if it was an exalted or glorified body. Human beings can become like God is now. Earlier we quoted Lorenzo Snow: “As man now is, God once was.” This saying has a second part: “As God now is, man may be.” If God was once a man who became God, it makes sense that others can do the same thing. But while this idea may be logically consistent within the LDS worldview, the Bible teaches otherwise: that God is a far different kind of being from us. We can never become deities. This is the lie the serpent tempted Adam and Eve with in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:5). He claimed that if they are the forbidden fruit, “You will become like God.” The prophet Isaiah condemns in the strongest terms those who fail to maintain that distinction. He quotes a king who thought he could become like God (Isaiah 14:14-15): “I will climb ...
    続きを読む 一部表示
    44 分
  • Unpacking the CES Letter

    Unpacking the CES Letter
    2026/09/29

    In this episode we explain the CES Letter—an 84-page document detailing major historical, textual, and scientific discrepancies within LDS history. For many, reading these facts feels like a sudden punch to the gut, causing their entire identity, family dynamic, and spiritual framework to crumble. Rather than retreating into fear, bitterness, or total secularism, this episode offers a compassionate and intellectually honest path forward. Guided by Paul's command in 1 Thessalonians 5:21 to "test everything... hold on to what is good," we examine the actual claims of the CES Letter, contrast the historical reliability of 19th-century Mormon claims with 1st-century biblical Christianity, and point listeners to an unshakeable, grace-filled foundation in the real Jesus of the Bible.

    Key Takeaways
    • Testing Truth Claims is a Biblical Mandate: 1 Thessalonians 5:21 (dokimazo) commands believers to test claims against verifiable evidence rather than shielding their eyes or relying solely on internal emotional feelings.
    • The CES Letter's Impact: Synthesized existing academic research on Joseph Smith's translation methods (seer stone in a hat), Book of Mormon anachronisms and DNA evidence, the Book of Abraham papyri translations, and hidden polyandrous/teenage polygamy history.
    • Structural Failure vs. Spiritual Reality: The historical breakdown of 19th-century Mormon restoration claims does not mean God has failed or that all religion is a scam.
    • Biblical Testing Stand Up to Scrutiny: Unlike Book of Mormon claims, biblical events, locations, and historical figures are backed by extensive manuscript evidence and archaeological verification.
    • From Transactional Performance to Free Grace: Salvation in Christ is not a ladder climbed through temple ordinances and human effort, but a finished gift (Tetelestai—"paid in full") received by faith alone (Ephesians 2:8–9).

    --

    The Unveiling Mormonism podcast pulls back the curtain on Mormon history, culture and doctrine. Join us for new episodes every Monday.

    Find resources to talk about these episodes at pursueGOD.org/mormonism.

    Help others go "full circle" as a follower of Jesus through our 12-week Pursuit series.

    Click here to learn more about how to use these resources at home, with a small group, or in a one-on-one discipleship relationship.

    Got questions or want to leave a note? Email us at podcast@pursueGOD.org.

    Donate Now

    --
    続きを読む 一部表示
    22 分
  • What Mormons Believe About Scripture

    What Mormons Believe About Scripture
    2022/12/06
    Our ultimate authority is God. But how can we know what God is like and what he wants? Both Latter-day Saints and traditional Christians agree that God has revealed himself in written scriptures. But the similarities end there. Let’s take a look at what Mormonism teaches about scripture and revelation compared to the biblical perspective.The Unveiling Mormonism podcast pulls back the curtain on Mormon history, culture and doctrine. Join us for new episodes every Monday. Find resources to talk about these episodes at pursueGOD.org/mormonism.Help others go "full circle" as a follower of Jesus through our 12-week Pursuit series.Click here to learn more about how to use these resources at home, with a small group, or in a one-on-one discipleship relationship.Got questions or want to leave a note? Email us at podcast@pursueGOD.org.A SUFFICIENT BIBLE? The LDS Church recognizes four standard scriptures: the Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price (which includes the Book of Moses and the Book of Abraham). As one of four volumes of scripture, then, the Bible alone is not enough for Latter-day Saints. In fact, in the Book of Mormon (2 Nephi 29:10), God describes how more scripture, beyond the Bible, is needed: “Wherefore, because that ye have a Bible ye need not suppose that it contains all my words; neither need ye suppose that I have not caused more to be written.” For traditional Christians, however, the Bible stands alone. The early Christian church went through an extensive process to discern what writings had the features that validated them as being from God. Many books claiming divine authority did not make the cut. And unlike other books that claim to be scripture, the Bible is well supported by the external evidence of history and archaeology, as well as its internal consistency over thousands of years. Christians recognize that Jesus, not any book, is God’s final revelation of himself to humanity. Hebrews 1:1 declares, “Long ago God spoke many times and in many ways to our ancestors through the prophets. And now in these final days, he has spoken to us through his Son.” Jesus himself is the highest revelation of God. Yet the Bible is the source by which we know Jesus. It tells us the history of God’s action leading up to his coming. It reveals his life and work. It explains his message and describes how it spread. It details how his people learned to follow him in the practical issues of life. A CORRUPTED BIBLE? Mormons revere the Bible. Yet paradoxically, they also believe that the Bible cannot ultimately be trusted. The Bible Dictionary published by the LDS Church says:Joseph Smith taught that ‘many important points touching the salvation of men, had been taken from the Bible, or lost before it was compiled.’ He also said that the Bible was correct as ‘it came from the pen of the original writers,’ but that ‘ignorant translators, careless transcribers, or designing and corrupt priests have committed many errors.’This explains one reason why the Bible is not the final authority for Mormons. They believe it has been changed over time. Errors have crept in. Thus, the Bible can only be understood in light of LDS scriptures and modern prophets. In fact, Joseph Smith undertook a major revision of the Bible called the Joseph Smith Translation (JST), in which he attempted to correct the errors he believed had corrupted the Bible. (For various reasons, the JST is not the official Bible of the LDS Church. Instead, they use the King James Version.) By contrast, historic Christianity holds that the Bible has been divinely safeguarded. Latter-day Saints cannot provide any specific example of a text in the Bible where an important truth has been lost, or where intentional corruption has occurred. To the contrary, an abundance of evidence points to the remarkable preservation of the biblical text. Consider the Dead Sea Scrolls, discovered in the 1940s. One of the scrolls is a complete copy of the Book of Isaiah dating to about 200 BC. Before this discovery, the oldest copy of Isaiah was written in the 10th century, over 1,000 years later. When compared, these two documents proved to be amazingly similar. This undermines LDS claims of intentional or unintentional corruption, demonstrating how sophisticated and successful were the copying methods used to accurately transmit the biblical text.CONTINUING REVELATION? The LDS view of scripture and revelation diverges from historic Christianity in another important respect. Mormons believe that their church is led by modern day prophets who continue to receive direct revelation from God. One of their recent prophets, Spencer W. Kimball, said, “But again we testify to the world that revelation continues and that the vaults and files of the Church contain these revelations which come month to month and day to day.” For example, consider one important example from Kimball’s own tenure as the ...
    続きを読む 一部表示
    46 分
adbl_web_anon_alc_button_suppression_t1
まだレビューはありません