What are the basic teachings of the Latter Day Saints or Mormons?

I know many LDS or Mormons, who say they are Christians. Being a Christian from my understanding, means having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ the Son of God. What are your thoughts? Isn't it taught in the Latter Day Saints that there are many gods or the chance for mankind to become a god?





"For as man is, god once was, and as god is man may become". Said by the fifth LDS President Lorenzo Snow, June of 1840.





This quote is contrary to the historical biblical Christianity.

What are the basic teachings of the Latter Day Saints or Mormons?
Mormonism teaches that God used to be a man on another world and that he became a god by following the laws and ordinances of his god on his home world. He brought his wife to this world, a woman he had married on the other world. She is, essentially a goddess.


In his present god-state, he rules our world. He has a body of flesh and bones. Since god and his wife are both exalted persons, they each possess physical bodies. In their exalted states as deities, they produce spirit children that grow and mature in the spiritual realm. The first spirit born was Jesus. Afterwards Lucifer was born along with the rest of us. So, Mormonism teaches that we all pre-existed in the spirit realm having been produced from the union of god and his goddess wife. Therefore, we all existed in spirit form before coming down down and entering the bodies of human babies that are being born on earth. During this ‘compression' into the infant state, the memories of their pre-existence is 'veiled.'


God the father, who is called Elohim, was concerned for the future salvation of the people on earth. In the heavenly realm, the Father had a plan for the salvation of the world. Jesus endorsed the Father's plan. Lucifer did not. Lucifer became jealous and rebelled. In his rebellion he convinced a large portion of the spirits existing in heaven to side with him and oppose god. God being more powerful then they, cursed these rebellious spirits to become demons. They can never be born in human bodies.


The remaining spirits sided with God. Since they chose the better way, when it comes time for them to live on earth, they have the privilege of being born in races and locations that are relative to their condition and choice made in the spirit realm.1


In the Mormon plan of salvation there needed to be a savior: Jesus. But Jesus was a spirit in heaven. For him to be born on earth, Brigham Young the second prophet of the Mormon church said that instead of letting any other man do it, God the Father did it with Mary. He said that the birth of our savior was as natural as the birth of our parents. Essentially, what this means is that Brigham Young taught that god the father came down and had relations with Mary, his spirit daughter, to produce the body of Jesus. Though many Mormons will not entertain such incestuous thoughts about God and Mary, this is what Brigham Young taught and as far as we know, this has not been denied by the Mormon church.


Nevertheless, Jesus was born, got married, and had children.2 He died on the cross and paid for sins -- but not on the cross only. According to Mormonism, the atonement of Christ was not only on the cross. It began in the Garden of Gethsemane before he went to the cross.


In Mormonism, men and women have the potential of becoming gods. President Lorenzo Snow said, "As god once was, man is. As God is, man may become." In order to reach this exalted state of godhood, a person must first become a good Mormon, pay a full ten percent tithe to the Mormon church, follow various laws and ordinances of the church, and be found worthy. At this point, they receive a temple recommend whereupon, the Mormon is allowed to enter their sacred temples in order to go through set of secret rituals: baptism for the dead, celestial marriage, and various oaths of secrecy and commitment. Additionally, four secret handshakes are taught so the believing Mormon, upon entering the third level of Mormon heaven, can shake hands with god in a certain pattern. This celestial ritual is for the purpose of permitting entrance into the highest level of heaven.3 For those who achieve this highest of heavens, exaltation to godhood awaits them. Then, he or she, will be permitted to have his or her own planet and be the god of his own world and the Mormon system will be expanded to other planets.
Reply:The basic teachings of the LDS Church are found on the Articles of Faith (Aquaakerman's answer below). A lot of the things listed in the "Best Answer" are not true. So thumbs-down for me. Report It

Reply:You've not listened to these guys have you? They believe in Jesus Christ and that after his Resurrection in the Holy Land he came to America to spread his teachings to the Native Americans. The founder, John Smith, (great name huh?) claimed that he found some "Golden Tablets" then he lost them! But his teachings were that man upon death could go to some kind of heaven, but there were stipulations. Hey, Man, just let some of those guys knocking on your door inside and listen to learn.
Reply:The main beliefs of the LDS Church can be found in their Articles of Faith:





1. We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost.





2. We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam's transgression.





3. We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel.





4. We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are: first, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second, Repentance; third, Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; fourth, Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost.





5. We believe that a man must be called of God, by prophecy, and by the laying on of hands by those who are in authority, to preach the Gospel and administer in the ordinances thereof.





6. We believe in the same organization that existed in the Primitive Church, namely, apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists, and so forth.





7. We believe in the gift of tongues, prophecy, revelation, visions, healing, interpretation of tongues, and so forth.





8. 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.





9. We believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God.





10. We believe in the literal gathering of Israel and in the restoration of the Ten Tribes; that Zion (the New Jerusalem) will be built upon the American continent; that Christ will reign personally upon the earth; and, that the earth will be renewed and receive its paradisiacal glory.





11. We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may.





12. We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law.





13.We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul—We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.
Reply:I am Mormon, and yes we are Christian, Christ is the center of our Church!! (Question - What do you define as a "personal relationship" with Christ?) We do believe that our Heavenly Father (and Mother because how else would he create all us spirit children) was once as we are now, yes. We are created in His image and likeness. We believe that, through Christ, we can become like our Heavenly Father and create worlds of our own if we remain faithful to the covenants we make in the temple. We also believe we must enter in to the new and everlasting covenant of marriage to attain the highest degree of glory, which is to live eternally in the celestial kingdom with our Heavenly Father, Mother, Christ and our families. We also believe all that God has revealed, all that he does now reveal, and we believe he will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the kingdom of God. I firmly believe what President Snow stated. God loves us, we are his children.





John S - why would getting to be a god send you away? Isn't that the most wonderful gift???





The GreatWhiteHype18 has it pretty much down, except that Brigham Young NEVER taught that God had sex with Mary. We do not teach nor believe that. He is God - He can put a spirit in a womb without having sex!





And yes we do have SACRED, saving ordinances performed in the temple for ourselves and for the dead.
Reply:You can never know the basic teachings of Mormonism. Because they're steeped in occultism,Freemasonry and false teachers. Beware of wolves in sheeps clothing.
Reply:it's really hard to say everything over a computer, if you're really curious then you should contat the local LDS church and ask for some missionaries to come and talk to you, they'll be more than happy to do so and can answer questions way better than those of us can do so virtually, or check out the website which can tell you our basic beliefs
Reply:They have been fooled into believing a lie from the pit of hell itself. The same lie the serpent told Eve, i.e., that she would become a god is the message of Mormonism. But you know this, since you just quoted one of their leaders.
Reply:To learn more about the Latter Day Saints, go to www.lds.org. Or contact the LDS missionaries, they can better explain to you what the basic teachings of the LDS church teaches. The first person who posted an answer to your question had a long answer - most of the things he wrote can easily be misconstrued or misunderstood because it doesn't really cover or explain well the true beliefs of the LDS church. A lot of people persecute the LDS church without first understanding their basic beliefs and teachings, so please, know first before you make judgments or opinions about anything. You say that for you, being a Christian means having a personal relationship with God. So with that said, how can you say that the LDS people are not Christians when they believe in God and strive to have that personal relationship with God, just like you do? Did you know that there is a difference between god and God (notice the caps on the first letter of both words)? When Lorenzo Snow said that man can become a god, it does not mean that man will replace God, but be god-like, be like God in a sense that man is able to attain a glory that is not corrupt, evil, or impure - not like our present state in the earth where we as mankind are impure and corrupted.





That's why you have to contact the LDS representatives/missionaries so that you do not misunderstand the teachings and then you will stop thinking that LDS people are not Christians, because they are.
Reply:The main thing. Jesus and Satan are brothers, Gods children. You get to be god---that's enough to send me away..
Reply:There is only one God that I serve, Jesus Christ. Who cares what the LSDs say.
Reply:You should contact their church directly for answers otherwise you will get false information. Call the mormon missionaries.
Reply:being mormon myself (well i dont go to church anymore) i know that this discussion could take a long time. if you are serious about there beliefs or just curious, contact your local Church of Jesus Christ of Ladder Day Saints I am sure that they would be more then happy to send some missionarys over to discuss it with you. One thing I have learned growing up as a mormon is that about 85% of what you hear about the mormon religion is not true the good magority of it is misintrepited. And to answer your question, no we do not believe that there are many Gods and no we do not believe that we can become gods

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