Comparing Mormonism with Christianity

This material was written to briefly describe the basic differences in doctrines between Mormons and Christians.  Mormons refer to themselves as the “Church of Jesus Christ Latter Day Saints”.  Some Christians even believe that they share a common spiritual heritage with the Mormons, but is that really true?  Does a Mormon really believe in the Jesus of the Bible?  According to the teachings of the Bible, can a Mormon have the promise of eternal life?

Mormon Testimony

Mormons will bear their testimony to you and tell you that they know the Mormon church is true and that Joseph Smith was a true prophet of God. They say their testimony is in their heart. The Bible says not to trust your heart because it is deceitful. "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?" (Jer. 17:9).

Mormons say they get their testimony by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit bears witness of the truth. The Holy Spirit bears witness of Jesus (John 15:26) and that Jesus sends the Holy Spirit (John 15:26). A "false" Jesus will not send the true Spirit of God. The point is that only the Jesus of the Bible will send the Holy Spirit. If they don't have the right Jesus, they can't have the true Holy Spirit, and their testimony is invalid. We will show that the Jesus in the Book of Mormon is NOT the Jesus of the Bible.

Mormons believe that if you read the Book of Mormon and then pray and ask God whether or not it is true, you will receive a testimony from the Holy Spirit verifying its truth. God never says to pray about truth. He says to search the Scriptures to find truth (Acts 17:11; 2 Tim. 3:16).

The Mormon Jesus
The literal son of god and his goddess wife.
The brother of all spirits born in heaven.
Was married and had wives.
One of 3 gods in the godhead.
The Trinity is three separate gods.
Had a beginning.
Atoned for sin on the cross and in the garden of Gethsemene.
Was born in Jerusalem (Book of Mormon, Alma 7:9,10).
Brother of Lucifer.
Jesus' sacrifice was not able to cleanse us from all our sins, Journal of Discourses, Vol. 3, p. 247, 1856.
There is no salvation without accepting Joseph Smith as a prophet of God, Doctrines of Salvation, Vol. 1, p. 188.
Mormons teach that Jesus is a created being. Yet the title page of the Book of Mormon says that Jesus is the Christ the Eternal God

The Christian Jesus
Not the literal son of god and his goddess wife.
Not the brother of all spirits born in heaven.
Was not married and did not have wives.
Not one of 3 gods in the godhead.
The Trinity is 3 persons in one God.
Did not have a beginning.
Atoned for sin on the cross alone.
Was born in Bethlehem.
Not the brother of Lucifer.
His atoning death on the cross was able to cleanse all sins.
Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life.

There is a simple way to see if someone has the true Jesus or not. By true Jesus, I mean the one of the Bible, not the one of Mormonism who is the brother of the devil, nor the Jehovah's Witness Jesus who is Michael the Archangel, and certainly not the one of the New Age Movement who is simply a man in tune with the divine consciousness.

In cult theologies, Jesus is a creation in one form or another. If you are a Christian then you will be able to pray to Jesus, not just through. You will be able to worship Jesus equally with the Father. And you will be able to call Jesus your Lord and God. A cultist cannot do this. A cultist has a false Jesus, and, therefore, a false hope of salvation.

If you put your faith in a Jesus that is not true, then your faith is useless. The power of faith does not rest in the act of believing, but in its object; the greatest faith in someone false is the same as no faith at all. Sincerity and false messiahs do not bridge the chasm of sin between God and man, only the Jesus of the Bible does that.

Jesus said that He was the only One who reveals the Father (Matt. 11:27 and Luke 10:22): "All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and no one knows who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him." (NIV).

So, to know the true Father you must first know the true Jesus. The true Jesus is found in the Bible.

If you were to say, "Father receive my spirit," who would you be praying to? The Father, right?

If you were to say, "Jesus receive my spirit," who would you be praying to? Jesus.

In Acts 7:59, Stephen, while full of the Holy Spirit (v.55), prayed to Jesus:

"And they went on stoning Stephen as he called upon the Lord and said, 'Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.'" (See also Acts 9:14; Rom. 10:13.)

Stephen prayed to Jesus, not just through Him. If it is acceptable for him then it should be alright for you. The Jesus of the Bible is prayed to. I pray to Jesus. Do you? If yes, good. If not, why?

But you might say, "Jesus said to pray to the Father." I do. But I also pray to Jesus as Stephen did. If the church is only to pray to the Father then why did Stephen, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, address Jesus in His prayer? Was he wrong? See also 1 Cor. 1:1-2 with Zech. 13:9 where calling upon the name of the Lord is prayer and prayer is addressed to Jesus by the Corinthian church.

Jesus was also worshipped. The verses are:

"And those who were in the boat worshiped Him, saying, 'You are certainly God's son!'" (Matt. 14:33)

"And behold, Jesus met them and greeted them. And they came up and took hold of His feet and worshiped Him."(Matt. 28:9

See also Matt. 2:2,11; John 9:35-39; Heb. 1:6.

The Jesus of the Bible is prayed to and worshiped. Do you do what Jesus' disciples did? Do you pray to and worship the true Jesus? Since it is against Mormon theologies to pray to Jesus but only through if you do worship Jesus, how can you do that without praying to Him? And, do you honor Him equally with the Father as Jesus said to do in John 5:23? If you do not, then why not?

There is just one more issue to address. Do you call Jesus your Lord and God?

After Jesus' resurrection He showed Himself to many people. One of them was Thomas.

"Thomas answered and said to Him [Jesus], 'My Lord and my God!'" (John 20:28) The literal Greek says, "The Lord of me and the God of me."

"My God!" is a pagan expression used today. Two points can be made from this. First, do you agree that Thomas a devout Jew was swearing, like a pagan of today? Second, there is no biblical account of 'swearing'. To say Thomas was swearing, or merely exclaiming profound surprise, then what is your evidence--except that you assume first of all that Jesus cannot be God.

God calls Jesus God in Hebrews 1:8:

"But of the Son He [the Father] says, 'Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever...'"

The Jesus of the Bible is prayed to (Acts 7:59; 1 Cor. 1:1-2 with Zech. 13:9/Ps. 116:4; John 14:14), worshiped (Matt. 2:2,11; 14:33; 28:9; John 9:35-38; Heb. 1:6), and called Lord and God (John 20:28; Heb. 1:8). If I have the wrong Jesus, and therefore I serve the wrong God, then why do I pray to Jesus, worship Him, and call Him my Lord and God as the Scriptures teach? But, if you have the true Jesus, why is it you don't do those things? I think the answer is simple. The Jesus of the cults is not the true Jesus. Therefore, they are wrong.

Belief in God
LDS Prophet Joseph Smith taught that God was once a mortal man (History of the Church, Vol.6, Ch.14, p.305-6).

President Brigham Young declared that God was once a finite being: (Deseret News, Nov.16, 1859, p.290).

President Joseph Fielding Smith said that God had a father, a grandfather, etc.: (Doctrines of Salvation, 2:47).

President Joseph F. Smith taught that God was born as a mortal on some other earth: (Deseret News, Church News, Sept. 19, 1936, p.2).

Apostle Bruce R. McConkie taught: "The Father is a glorified, perfected, resurrected, exalted man who worked out his salvation by obedience to the same laws he has given to us so that we may do the same" (A New Witness for the Articles of Faith, p.64)

Apostle Melvin Ballard explained that God has a wife: (Achieving a Celestial Marriage, LDS Church manual, 1976, p.129).

Brigham Young taught that faithful Mormons can achieve godhood: (Discourses of Brigham Young, p.245).

James E. Talmage taught that God progressed from a mortal to a god: (Articles of Faith, Ch.24, p.430 - p.431).

In order to contend for the claim that God has a body, Mormons may want to refer to the passages where the Bible speaks of God’s being able to hear, see, etc. Therefore He must have a body. The Bible also speaks (Psalm 91:4) of "his feathers, and under his wings". This does not mean that God looks like a chicken.

Mormons believe that God is a creature of the universe, an exalted man of flesh and bones; that he progressed to be God; that Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit are separate gods, united in purpose, not in substance; that God himself is bound in authority to his God and Father, who in turn had a God and Father above him, a part of an endless chain of partriarchal deities; that God has a wife (or wives) with whom he propagates spirit children to come to this world; that we ourselves, by proper obedience, can become a god in our own right in that partriarchal chain.

How do Mormons define the term "Father"?
What Mormons mean: A resurrected, exalted man who presides over our world. His proper name is Elohim. He is only one of many gods, and he, himself, is subject to his father before him (whom we know nothing about). He was once a man and progressed one step at a time until he reached godhood. He has a physical body of flesh and bones "as tangible as man's." Like all of us, he also has an eternal "intelligence" (soul), but he was also born to his spirit parents as a spirit being, and also was born to physical parents as a physical being. He has many wives, and has procreated billions of spirit children (all of us) in the same way that children are normally procreated by their parents. We are to follow his example and become gods of our own worlds and populate them in the same way.

God the Father has a body of flesh and bones, Doctrine and Covenants, 130:22.

God is married to his goddess wife and has spirit babies, Mormon Doctrine p. 516.

We were first begotten as spirit babies in heaven and then born naturally on earth, Journal of Discourse, Vol. 4, p. 218.

The first spirit to be born in heaven was Jesus, Mormon Doctrine, page 129.

The Devil was born as a spirit after Jesus "in the morning of pre-existence," Mormon Doctrine, page 192.

Jesus and Satan are spirit brothers, Mormon Doctrine, p. 163.

A plan of salvation was needed for the people of earth so Jesus offered a plan to the father and Satan offered a plan to the father but Jesus' plan was accepted. In effect the Devil wanted to be the Savior of all Mankind and to "deny men their agency and to dethrone god." Mormon Doctrine, page 193; Journal of Discourses, vol. 6, page 8.

God had sexual relations with Mary to make the body of Jesus, Journal of Discourses, Vol. 4, p. 218, 1857. In Mormonism, Jesus is a creation, the product of relations between god and his goddess wife who used to be people from another world (Mormon Doctrine by Bruce McConkie, pp. 192, 321, 516, 589).

One of the truly dividing lines between Christianity and Mormonism is their doctrine of the plurality of Gods. Mormonism teaches that there are many many gods. (Mormon Doctrine by Bruce McConkie, page 163; Teachings pages 348-349). In there desire for legitimacy they will even quote 1 Cor. 8:5 to say that the Bible also teaches many gods. 1 Cor. 8:5 says, "For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many ‘gods' and many ‘lords')". They will say, "see, even the Bible says there are many gods."

You can say, "It says there are many that are called gods. It doesn't say they really are gods. It is saying that they only called gods. The Scriptures recognize that there are false gods (Gal. 4:8). Besides, the Bible flatly denies the existence of any other gods. "You are my witnesses," declares the LORD, "...Before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after me" (Isaiah 43:10). "This is what the LORD says -- ...I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God...Is there any God besides me? No, there is no other Rock; I know not one" (Isaiah 44:6,8). "I am the LORD, and there is no other; apart from me there is no God" (Isaiah 45:5).

The true Gospel
Ask a Mormon "What is the gospel?". He will say something like, "The gospel is the laws and the ordinances of the Mormon church". You usually hear an answer dealing with works, obedience, doing something, etc. ".

Explain that the gospel is the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus...for sins. (1 Cor. 15:1-4): "Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures". Then turn to 2 Cor. 4:3-4 and read again. "And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God."

Mormonism maintains that the true gospel message was lost from the earth shortly after the apostles died. The Mormon Apostle Orson Prat said, Jesus ... established his kingdom on earth ... the kingdoms of this world made war against the kingdom of God, established eighteen centuries ago, and they prevailed against it, and the kingdom ceased to exist." (Journal of Discourses. Vol. 13, page 125). But Jesus said, "And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it" (Matt. 16:18, KJV).

"Adam's Fall"
Brigham Young taught that Adam and Eve, before coming to earth, were beings who had passed through mortality on another planet and earned celestial exaltation. In other words, they had become gods. Under the direction of his patriarchal head Elohim, Adam, then known as Michael, came to organize the earth along with Jehovah. Before organizing gross matter into the physical earth, Michael fathered the spirits of of everyone who would come to the planet, including Jesus' spirit.

Adam and Eve then came to earth in their celestial bodies of flesh and bone (no blood). By eating of the fruits of the earth, their bodies became charged with mortality, and a "veil of forgetfulness" fell over them, preventing them from recalling their previous existence as deities. The Fall was a planned and necessary step to begin making the physical tabernacles of humanity and bringing pre-existent spirits to earth to start their journeys toward exaltation. With this task completed, Adam and Eve returned to their previous place of glory in the Celestial Kingdom. When the time came, Father Adam came to the Virgin Mary and Jesus was conceived in the flesh in the same manner that all men are begotten. Prior to the millennium, Adam will increase Christ's stewardship to include the entire world, giving Christ power and authority to reign for a thousand years. At the end of the world, Christ then renders his kingdom to Father Adam, who in turn renders his kingdom to his father, and so on and so on. Faithful Mormons who have kept the celestial laws will also have the opportunity of such eternal increase by becoming Adams and Eves to other worlds.

According to Mormons, Adam was caught between two contradictory commands from God: (1) to abstain from the named fruit, and (2) to multiply and replenish the earth. He chose to obey the second and "transgress" the first. Thus "Adam fell that men might be." (II Nephi 2:25) Mormons believe that Adam was Michael the Archangel, although a disregarded teaching of Brigham Young was that Adam was also God, himself (Journal of Discourse, vol 1, pp.50).

According to Christians, sin entered the world through Adam. (Romans 5:12) He and Eve took of the forbidden fruit in an attempt to be as gods. We were in his loins at the time of the fall, and were born with his same sin nature. We are not accountable for Adam's mistake, rather we are judged because we are just like Adam.

Atonement
What Mormons mean: Jesus bled from his pores in the garden of Gethsemene (1) for the purpose of making all people immortal regardless of how they are judged, and (2) to atone for those individual sins which are confessed, repented of, and not repeated. There is only atonement for sins which are individually repented of. This cycle is part of the step-by-step plan of eternal progression ultimately toward godhood. Jesus' blood cannot atone for murder. The cross is generally disdained as a murder weapon, and is therefore not found on any Mormon church building.

What Christians mean: Jesus, "the Lamb of God," came to earth expressly to die a brutal death and pay the penalty for our sinful nature demanded by God's righteous justice so that He could rightly offer us reconciliation and eternal life as a free gift to those who would receive it by faith. (Romans 3:24-28) Moses, David, and Paul were all murderers, but the blood of Jesus is sufficient to pay for all sin. The only unforgivable sin is to reject forgiveness itself and the accompanying presence of the Holy Spirit. The cross is beautiful to a Christian, and we are encouraged to remember Christ's agony because it exhibits His profound love for us. (I Cor.1:18)

Baptism
Mormon doctrine of proxy baptism comes from 1 Corinthians 15:29. Their teaching that Christ preached to those in the spirit world is taken from 1 Peter 3:18-4:6 and they believe that he preached to them persuading them to accept the proxy baptism provided on behalf of those who had died before.

The Mormon teaching of proxy baptism is contradicted by Alma (34:34-35).

"Child of God"
What Mormons mean: All people. Every spirit is the literal offspring of God the Father and one of His wives in the pre-existence. We are all brothers and sisters.

What Christians mean: Only those who receive Christ are children of God. (John 1:12-13) "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." One becomes a spiritual baby by being "born again" of the Holy Spirit, and thereby becomes heir to all God's spiritual riches. It is Christians, then, who are brothers and sisters. The family of God is called the church. As adopted children we can call God "abba" (Romans 8:15)

Clothing
Special garments, worn by Mormons who have received their endowments and/or have been married in a Mormon temple, are believed to prevent physical and spiritual harm to the wearer.

Feelings
The sincerity and depth of feeling about one's faith does absolutely nothing to establish the truth of its teachings. Countless people of various faiths, christian and non-christian alike, have the same unshakeable testimonies in their beliefs that Mormons possess. Most Muslims have no doubt whatsoever that "There is but one God, Allah, and Muhammed is his Prophet." Fundamentalist Christians can often tell you the exact time they were "Born Again," and the radical changes it brought to their lives, and how they now "know Jesus." Devout Catholics are convinced that the Pope has the ultimate spiritual authority a man may possess. And Mormons, of course, firmly believe that their church is led by a living prophet in the person of the Church President.

Virgin Birth
What Mormons mean: God, the Father, had sexual relations with the virgin Mary and she conceived Jesus. Mary did not conceive by the Holy Ghost. Mary conceived through a miracle by the power of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 1:18). A person who conceives as a result of sexual relations is not a virgin.

"Grace/Salvation"
What Mormons mean: Grace from God is something we have to earn, by "obedience to the laws and ordinances of the gospel." (3rd Article of Faith) It is granted after our deeds demonstrate our worthiness. "By grace we are saved after all we can do." (II Nephi 25:23) All blessings from God are "predicated" upon obedience to laws which correspond to the particular blessings. (D&C 130:21)

Christianity defines grace as God's unmerited favor. By definition, grace is a gift which is not earned or deserved. (Ephesians 2:8,9). "All our righteousness is as filthy rags" says the Bible.

Matthew 13:43 states that it is the righteous ones who will be in the Father's Kingdom. And Matt. 5:48 gives the command to BE PERFECT. Note that the word be is present tense(so, also in the J. Smith translation). Like someone telling a child to " be careful", Christ was not asking us to head in that direction or make that our future goal... He commands perfection NOW! HOW can we meet this requirement? Hebrews 10:10-14 tells us that it is through the sacrifice of Christ that we can be seen as or counted as PERFECT in God's sight:

(vs. 14:) "For by one offering he has perfected forever them that are being sanctified...
(vs. 10:) We are sanctified by the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all."

We can be seen as perfect because of the blood sacrifice of Christ and thus meet Matthew 5:48's requirement!

Romans gives the picture of receiving a GIFT of imputed or transferred righteousness:

"Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin. " (Next follows a description of Abraham having BELIEVED and having been counted as RIGHTEOUS before God...) "Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; But for us also, to whom it (righteousness) shall be imputed, if we believe on Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; Who was delivered for our offenses and was raised again for our justification. Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. (Rom. 4:6-8, 23-25, 5:1)

The next chapter explains that even though Adam's sin (one man) brought spiritual death to many, the obedience of Christ (one) will bring spiritual life to many. Note: not YOUR obedience... HIS obedience. (5:19) He wants to give you a 100% clean record as a GIFT! Romans 6:23 says, " For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." This is God Almighty's only offer! Paul said in Philippians 3:9 that he wanted to be "found in Him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but the righteousness which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith."

The curse of preaching another gospel
"I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ into another gospel; Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.

As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed." (Gal. 1:6-9)

Note the importance of the warning -- so important that it was repeated.

It is preaching another gospel that brings the curse. I Cor. 15:1-4 defines the gospel as the message of the death, burial and resurrection of Christ for our sins..(note that there are no laws and ordinances in it) and says it is the message by which "ye are saved". Romans 1:16 says the same. The GOSPEL is the message by which we are saved if we believe in it (again....that means we are talking about MORE than resurrection).

The Mormon gospel states that one's works (II Nephi 25:23) determine whether they qualify for glory. They have redefined grace to mean the opposite of what it means... they have DENIED THE VERY BASIS OF SALVATION by reversing it. (see Acts 20:24). The curse of Galatians 1 was on those who PERVERTED the GRACE of CHRIST in salvation. The only way I know to pervert the concept of unearned favor is to tell people they have to earn it or be worthy of it, and that is what is at the heart of the Mormon plan.

Human existence
Mormons teach that we were first born in heaven as a result of a relationship between God and one of his many wives.

Marriage and divorce
God was probably married to Mary and that she divorced God in order to marry Joseph.

Mormons get their belief in marriage for eternity from Matthew 16:19. This teaching is not found in the Book of Mormon.

New Birth Experience
If mormonism were true, there would be no need for a new birth experience. The Book of Mormon requires a new birth experience (Mosiah 27:24-28). These verses are not taught. The idea of a new birth experience is foreign to Mormonism which teaches that one must endure to the end to see which of the three kingdoms of which one might be worthy.

Poligamy
Early mormon apostles taught that Christ was a polygamist. There are several minor Mormon groups in Utah, Arizona, and Mexico who continue poligamy.

Sects within Mormonism
The Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, with headquarters based in Independence Missouri, reject everything that Brigham Young and his successors have done. This group has its own edition of the Book of Mormon and Doctrine and Covenants.

Church of Christ – Strangite sect: James J. Strang. His followers include congregations in Colorado. They worship on Saturday, attempt to keep the Law of Moses, practice circumcision, and make animal sacrifices.

Sin
A mormon does not feel that he is a sinner, rather, he is a god in embryo. He believes that "as man is, God once was, as God is, man may become".

"Temple"
What Mormons mean: A number of sacred buildings, not used for general assembly and worship. Secret rituals are performed inside including the "endowment" ceremony in which the participant receives secret signs, tokens, and handshakes believed to be important when the person passes certain checkpoints on his way to the Celestial Kingdom after he dies. Much of the time these rituals are performed in proxy ceremonies for dead persons whose names have been obtained from genealogical research. Only about one in six Mormons meet the requirements for a "recommend" and are allowed within.

What Jews and Christians mean: The temple was the one sacred building on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem intended to be the dwelling place of God's Shekinah Glory. Only the High Priest was permitted to enter the room called the "holy of holies" to sprinkle the blood of the sacrificial goat on the mercy seat of the Ark of the Covenant once a year on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. This function was first filled by the portable "tabernacle" during the time of Moses, then by three different temples on Mount Moriah over the course of history. The temple was a "shadow" or "copy" of the true dwelling place of God in heaven. (Hebrews 9) There was never any such thing as endowment ceremonies or rituals for the dead performed there, and such would have been blasphemy.

The Book of Mormon versus Mormon doctrine
THERE IS ONLY ONE GOD
Mosiah 15:1,5; Alma 11:28; 2 Nephi 31:21

Mormonism teaches there are many gods.
Joseph Smith, Journal of Discourses, Vol. 6, p. 5

THE TRINITY IS ONE GOD
Alma 11:44; Mosiah 15:5; 2 Nephi 31:21

The Trinity is three separate gods.
James Talmage, Articles of Faith, p. 35. 1985.

GOD IS UNCHANGING
Mormon 9:9,19; Moroni 8:18; Alma 41:8; 3 Nephi 24:6

God is increasing in knowledge.
Joseph Smith, Journal of Discourses, Vol. 6, p. 120.

GOD IS SPIRIT
Alma 18:24,28; 22:9,11

God has the form of a man.
Joseph Smith, Journal of Discourses, Vol. 6, p. 3.

ETERNAL HELL
Jacob 3:11; 6:10; 2 Nephi 19:16; 28:21-23.

Hell is not eternal.
James Talmage, Articles of Faith, p. 55.

POLYGAMY CONDEMNED
Jacob 1:15; 2:23,24,27,31;3:5; Mosiah 11:2,4; Ether 10:5,7

Polygamy was taught and practiced.
Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, Vol. 3, p. 266

If the Book of Mormon is the "most correct book of any on earth" (History of the Church, vol. 4:461), then why does it not contain essential Mormon doctrines such as... Church organization, Plurality of Gods, Plurality of wives doctrine, Word of Wisdom, God is an exalted man, Celestial marriage, Men may become Gods, Baptism for the dead, Eternal progression, The Aaronic Priesthood, Melchizedek Priesthood.

The founder of Mormonism said the Book of Mormon was the most correct book of any book, including the Bible (History of the Church, Vol. 4, page 461), and that a man could get closer to God by following it than any other book. Yet, essential Mormon doctrines aren't even found in it.

Who will enter Heaven?
Mat 7:21-23 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

Jesus says that not every one who says "Lord, Lord" will enter the kingdom. Some will, but not everyone. In verse 22 He clearly describes the ones saying "Lord, Lord" who will not enter the kingdom: They are the ones who also say, "Have we not prophesied in thy name? [Mormons?] and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?" The ones who will not enter the kingdom are those who think they should gain entrance due to their own "wonderful works!" Such people could not possibly know the Lord, otherwise they would know how impossible it is for men to be worthy of Him by their own efforts. But with God, He has provided another way to make it possible to be worthy.

He said those who say "Lord, Lord" in accordance with "the will of my Father which is in heaven" are those who will enter the kingdom. What is His will? John 6:28-29 Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? 29 Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent. But the Mormon Jesus is different than the Jesus of the Bible.

Why Mormonism is not Christian
The reason Mormonism is not Christian is because it denies one or more of the essential doctrines of Christianity.

Because Mormonism errors in who Jesus is, salvation is void. We are saved from our sins and judgment by putting our trust in Jesus for the forgiveness of our sins. But faith is only as good as the object in which it is placed. The Mormon Jesus is not the one of the Bible, even though they call him Jesus, and say he died for sins. But that is where the similarities stop. It is the nature of Jesus that is the issue. Jesus must be God in flesh, (second person of the Trinity) not "a" god in flesh. He must be uncreated, not created. He must be the creator (Col. 1:16-17), not the brother of the devil as Mormonism maintains.

Mormonism teaches that the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross itself (and receiving it by faith) is not sufficient to bring forgiveness of sins. It teaches that the forgiveness of sins is obtained though a cooperative effort with God; that is, we must be good and follow the laws and ordinances of God in order to obtain forgiveness. Consider James Talmage, a very important Mormon figure, who said "The sectarian dogma of justification by faith alone has exercised an influence for evil" (Articles, p. 432), and "Hence the justice of the scriptural doctrine that salvation comes to the individual only through obedience" (Articles, p. 81). This contradicts the biblical doctrine of the forgiveness of sins by grace through faith (Rom. 5:1; 6:23; Eph. 2:8-9) and the doctrine that works are not part of our salvation but a result of them (Rom. 4:5, James 2:14-18).

Why is Mormonism non-Christian? Because it adds works to salvation. It denies that Jesus is the uncreated creator. It alters the biblical teaching of the atonement. It contradicts the Christian teaching of monotheism. It undermines the authority and reliability of the Bible.

Secret Mormon Temple Ceremonies
False Mormon Prophecies