13 Main Beliefs

1. I believe in God, our eternal Father, in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost. Three distinct individuals.

2. I believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for what Adam did in the Garden of Eden.

3. I believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel. It is by grace we are saved, but we must keep the commandments and repent of our sins or his atonement will not be effective for us. We cannot just say, "I accept Jesus as my Savior and have the sins disappear that we have committed in our life.

4. I 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. I 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. I do not believe you can go to a college or university and get God's authority. Only he can give it and it has to come through someone who has the priesthood of God.

6. I believe in the same organization that existed in the Church when Christ was on the earth, for example, apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists, etc.

7. I believe in prophecy, revelation, healing, interpretation of tongues, and so forth.

8. I believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly; I believe there are some errors that those who translated made. I also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God, another witness of Jesus Christ.

9. I believe all that God has revealed, all that He continues to reveal through his prophet, and we believe that He will continue to reveal council and guidance to his Church through his prophet.

10. I claim the privilege of worshiping God in the manner I believe, and allow everyone the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may.

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

12. I believe in being honest, true, chaste. I believe that a good honest life lived true to ones spouse and family is an important goal in life.

13. I believe that God has provided a means for all of us to live with our families forever. To achieve that goal we must be married for eternity by those who hold the priesthood of God.

Christ in The Book of Mormon?

Many people know us as Mormons. Mostly because of our belief in The Book of Mormon.

The Book of Mormon is a book of scripture that testifies of the divinity of Jesus Christ. The Bible is a record of those in the middle east and their spiritual experiences. The Book of Mormon is about the people who came from Jerusalem and other places to Central and South America and their spiritual experiences.

Here are some examples of quotes from prophets from The Book of Mormon and from Jesus Christ as he revealed himself to the people in The Book of Mormon.

"2 Nephi 31:16 And now, my beloved brethren, I know by this that unless a man shall endure to the end, in following the example of the Son of the living God, he cannot be saved."

"3 Nephi 18:16 And as I have prayed among you even so shall ye pray in my church, among my people who do repent and are baptized in my name. Behold I am the light; I have set an example for you."

"3 Nephi 27: 19 And no unclean thing can enter into his kingdom; therefore nothing entereth into his rest save it be those who have washed their garments in my blood, because of their faith, and the repentance of all their sins, and their faithfulness unto the end.
20 Now this is the commandment: Repent, all ye ends of the earth, and come unto me and be baptized in my name, that ye may be sanctified by the reception of the Holy Ghost, that ye may stand spotless before me at the last day.
21 Verily, verily, I say unto you, this is my gospel; and ye know the things that ye must do in my church; for the works which ye have seen me do that shall ye also do; for that which ye have seen me do even that shall ye do;"

"Helaman 3:25 And so great was the prosperity of the church, and so many the blessings which were poured out upon the people, that even the high priests and the teachers were themselves astonished beyond measure.
26 And it came to pass that the work of the Lord did prosper unto the baptizing and uniting to the church of God, many souls, yea, even tens of thousands.
27 Thus we may see that the Lord is merciful unto all who will, in the sincerity of their hearts, call upon his holy name.
28 Yea, thus we see that the gate of heaven is open unto all, even to those who will believe on the name of Jesus Christ, who is the Son of God.
29 Yea, we see that whosoever will may lay hold upon the word of God, which is quick and powerful, which shall divide asunder all the cunning and the snares and the wiles of the devil, and lead the man of Christ in a strait and narrow course across that everlasting gulf of misery which is prepared to engulf the wicked—"

Christ is our Savior. His atonement is for all who will repent and follow the commandments to the end.

It is true.

God, Jesus Christ, Holy Ghost are 3 not 1

I realize that God is all powerful and can do anything he wants.

I also realize how he set up this earth. Each person is an individual. We don't have several people in one.

I believe in God as an individual, his son Jesus Christ (how can he be a son if he is also his father?), and I believe in the Holy Ghost.

Jesus, representing his father, as a mediator between us and God was born on earth as a man. If God is a spirit as many claim, then he is also part human. That doesn't even make sense.

When Christ was baptized, the voice of God came from the heavens, Christ was in the water being baptized, and the Holy Ghost was there witnessing the event and was represented by the sign of the dove. 3 people, not one.

When Stephen was being stoned, he looked up and saw Christ on the right hand of God. Two individuals, not one.

When Joseph Smith was trying to find what church to join he went into the woods and asked God. God and Jesus appeared to him together, as two individuals. God said to Joseph, pointing to Christ, "this is my beloved son, hear him".

Joseph was told that because of wickedness, the truth had been lost from the earth and was now just the philosophies of men mingled with scripture. He was told that he, Joseph, would restore the fullness of the gospel and church of Jesus Christ to the earth.

That gospel would have a prophet and 12 apostles as it did in Jesus' time, and would have authority directly from God and Christ to restore what had been lost for centuries. Included was the fact that by revealing themselves to Joseph, he learned that they are separate and distinct individuals.

That's what I believe.

It's true.

Don't add to the Bible?

This is the argument given against The Book of Mormon.

I’m tired of people saying the Book of Mormon can’t have anything of value because the bible says not to add anything else to it. That’s what the Book of Revelations says, and John, who wrote it, was referring to the book he was writing, not to a compilation of books done hundreds of years later that we call the bible.

Years after John the revelator was dead, the bible was compiled. If you use your same argument as you use against the Book of Mormon, none of the books of the bible could be added to the Book of Revelations.

I believe in the Bible. We use the King James version.

I believe in The Book of Mormon.

The Book of Mormon talks about another group of people and God’s dealings with them and their belief in the Savior.

It talks about Christ visiting the people and his giving them the gospel.

Here is a quote from The Book of Mormon:
"For behold, the Spirit of Christ is given to every man, that he may know good from evil; wherefore, I show unto you the way to judge; for every thing which inviteth to do good, and to persuade to believe in Christ, is sent forth by the power and gift of Christ; wherefore ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of God."

The Book of Mormon, like the Bible, is the word of God, given to help us keep his commandments and return to Him.

It's true.