WE ARE NOT MORMONS
Let’s ask this question. Would you read some books that was written by a man that had several wives and worshipped idol if these books would get you closer to God?
Almost everyone would say “NO” to this question . If this is the case, then people would need to get their Bibles and tear out the books of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and The Song of Solomon, as would you read in the 11th chapter of 1Kings where Solomon had 700 wives, princesses and 300 concubines: and his wives turned away his heart (vs.3).
As you could surmised from this statement that when Solomon was younger, God used him, and as he turned older, he fell away. Could this be a correct statement?
Now let me ask this question. Could this have happened to anyone else in the course of time? We, the people of The Church of Christ, believe that this has happened to Joseph Smith. We believe God did use Joseph Smith to bring about and publish a book we call The Record of the Nephites, known better as the Book of Mormon. Does this makes us Mormons? If you believe of the Bible, does that make you a Catholic? (This is not putting down Catholics). The same holds true to us. Many believes that just because you believe in the Book of Mormon, you are either a Mormon or a break off from the Mormon church, which are both totally wrong.
Let us explain some history to help better understand this situation:
In the 1820’s, we believe God did show Joseph Smith where to find some hidden plates and how to interpret them. These plates contained a history of people that came to this land at the time of the Tower of Babel (See Genesis 11:8) and also of a history of a people that came to this land 600 B.C. by direction of God’s orders. We also believe that on May 18, 1829, John the Baptist (a resurrected being) laid his hands on Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery and placed the Holy Priesthood after the Order of the Son God on both of them. Joseph Smith also was shown where a temple would be built in Independence, Missouri.
God used this young man, then the falling away started. Most people don’t realized that all the people that joined the church that God instructed to start were in different groups. All together, there were 23 different groups, each with their own leader. The largest was the group with Brigham Young as their leader. These people called themselves Mormons. Since they were the largest, everybody thought all the church called themselves Mormons. A lot of the groups didn’t believe the false prophecies of Joseph Smith , prophecies that didn’t go along with the written words of God, including the group our Church came out of led by a man named Granville Hedricks, but stayed with them because of the Book of Mormon.
After the death of Joseph Smith in 1844, the different groups went their separate ways. Brigham Young took his group to what is now known as Salt Lake City. Granville Hedricks took his group to Iowa, then later led by God to Independence, Missouri. When upon arriving to Independence, Missouri, this group bought the plot of land where the Lord showed Joseph Smith where the temple would be built. This is why the church on that parcel of land are called “The Temple Lot People, or The Church of Christ, Temple Lot.”
As you can see, no one broke away from anyone. They just went their separate ways.
The following is a list that we differ from the Utah Mormon Church:
- We call ourselves Christians, giving honor to Christ and Christ only.
- We name our Church after Christ and Christ only do we give honor to.
- Our 3 standard books are; The Bible (KJV), The Record of the Nephites and The Word of the Lord-Brought To Mankind by an Angel.
- We do not have prophets or presidents over our Church. Christ is the head of our Church.
- We believe the angel Nephi, not Moroni, visited Joseph Smith.
- We do not believe in spiritual marriages conducted in temples.
- We do not believe in multiple marriages (Polygamy, having more than one wife).
- We do not believe in baptisms for the dead.
- We do not believe in becoming as equal to God.
- We do not believe in secret oaths.
- We do not believe God designated many temples. God only pointed out one spot for His Temple and that is in Independence, Missouri U.S.A.
- We do not believe in High Priests, for Christ was the last High Priest.
- We only believe in one holy priesthood, and that is The Holy Priesthood after the Order of the Son of God.
- We worship Jesus Christ. We do not worship man.
- We do not believe that Jesus Christ is the “spirit brother” of Satan.
For More Information, Please Contact:
THE CHURCH OF CHRIST
Independence, Missouri USA
Phone & Fax: (816) 833-0640
Web Site: www.elijahmessage.com
E-Mail: elijahmessage@peoplepc.com