Ed Decker > Quotes

“keeping with thousands of years of pagan tradition, Joseph Smith established himself as the sole authority over all those who were willing to let him interpret "truth and the will of God" for them. Mormons obtain a "testimony," not that Jesus Christ is their personal Savior and Lord, but that Joseph Smith was a true Prophet of God and that the Mormon Church is the only true Church upon the earth. This Mormon "testimony" is not based upon reason, conscience, or agreement with the Bible, but upon a subjective feeling called the "burning in the bosom." When anyone accepts this feeling as the evidence of authenticity, he automatically thereafter accepts whatever Joseph Smith or his successors said or say.”
― Ed Decker, The God Makers: A Shocking Expose of What the Mormon Church Really Believes

“Apostle Pratt wrote,
If we should take a million of worlds like this and number their particles, we should find that there are more gods than there are particles of matter in those worlds. The Gods who dwell in the heaven have been... exalted also, from fallen men to Celestial Gods to inhabit their Heaven forever and ever."
This has been the consistent teaching of Mormonism since Prophet Smith first publicly proclaimed it more than 150 years ago; and it is the very essence of Mormonism today. In”
― Ed Decker, The God Makers: A Shocking Expose of What the Mormon Church Really Believes

“According to Smith's testimony, that of Jesus, and that of the Bible itself, Joseph Smith was visited by Satan masquerading as God and pronouncing his curse upon the Christian church and the creeds of Christendom.”
― Ed Decker, The God Makers: A Shocking Expose of What the Mormon Church Really Believes

“One wonders, then, why God allowed literally tons and mountains of evidence to remain in verification of the Bible. Church leaders have become very concerned by the questions being raised due to the absence of evidence, and the fact that descriptions of cities, rivers, mountains, and journeys in the Book of Mormon cannot be correlated at all with topography and geography. To quiet these questions, for which The Brethren have no answers, an article was published in the Church Section of the Deseret News cautioning Church members about putting too much importance upon facts and evidence:
The geography of the Book of Mormon has intrigued some readers of that volume ever since its publication. But why worry about it?
Efforts to pinpoint certain places from what is written in the book are fruitless.... Attempts to designate certain areas as the Land Bountiful or the site of Zarahemla or the place where the Nephite city of Jerusalem sank into the sea "and waters have I caused to come up in the stead thereof" can bring no definitive results. So why speculate?
To guess where Zarahemla stood can in no wise add to anyone's faith. But to raise doubts in people's minds about the location of the Hill Cumorah, and thus challenge the words of the prophets concerning the place where Moroni buried the records, is most certainly harmful. And who has the right to raise doubts in anyone's mind?
Our position is to build faith, not to weaken it, and theories concerning the geography of the Book of Mormon can most certainly undermine faith if allowed to run rampant.
Why not leave hidden the things that the Lord has hidden? If He wants the geography of the Book of Mormon revealed, He will do so through His prophet....”
― Ed Decker, The God Makers: A Shocking Expose of What the Mormon Church Really Believes

“Jesus not only declared that God is not a man, but spirit, but He later confirmed that a spirit does not have flesh and bones. To Peter, Jesus clearly stated that His Father does not have flesh and blood.
Shockingly, the LDS Church claims exactly the opposite: "The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man's, the Son also; but the Holy Ghost has not a body of flesh and bones, but is a personage of Spirit. Were it not so, the Holy Ghost could not dwell in-us" (Doctrine and Covenants 130:23).”
― Ed Decker, The God Makers: A Shocking Expose of What the Mormon Church Really Believes

“To understand Mormonism it is necessary to recognize, first of all, that it represents a revival of ancient pagan myths and practices under Christian labels. This we will document. Strangely enough, rather than being ashamed of the obvious fact that Mormonism is paganism revived, leading Mormons have pointed this out themselves. They even look upon it as proof of the truthfulness of Mormonism, in spite of the fact that the Bible so clearly denounces and condemns paganism as a satanic seduction to rebellion against the only true God.”
― Ed Decker, The God Makers: A Shocking Expose of What the Mormon Church Really Believes

“Joseph's brother Hyrum taught that "every Star that we see is a world and is inhabited... the Sun and Moon are inhabited, and the Stars... are inhabited the same as this Earth."8 There were even commonly accepted fantasies among the early Mormons about taking trips to these other worlds out in space. Oliver B.Huntington claimed that Joseph Smith's father had prophesied over him at Kirtland in 1837 that he would preach the Mormon gospel "to the inhabitants of the moon...."' A record has been found of a December 15, 1836, blessing that Joseph Smith, Senior, gave to Lorenzo Snow (who later became President of the Church):
Thou shalt have power to translate thyself from one planet to another; and power to go to the moon....”
― Ed Decker, The God Makers: A Shocking Expose of What the Mormon Church Really Believes

“Secrecy is contrary to Christianity. Jesus did not found a secret society. When falsely accused of many things before the Sanhedrin, and when the high priest demanded to know His doctrine, Christ specifically stated: "I spoke openly to the world; I always taught in the synagogue and in the temple where the Jews always resort, and in secret have I said nothing."' Moreover, He warned His disciples against secret doctrines and practices with these words: "For nothing is secret that shall not be made manifest.... Therefore whatever you have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light, and that which you have spoken in the ear in closets shall be proclaimed upon the housetops."29 The Bible declares that the "hidden things" are to be reproved and brought to light,' and that anything done in secret will receive special attention in the judgment.31 As for secret revelations beyond those given in Scripture, the Bible clearly rejects this idea by repeated affirmations of its sufficiency and completeness. For example:
All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect [mature, complete, lacking nothing], thoroughly furnished unto all good works.32
According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue... .33
If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book.”
― Ed Decker, The God Makers: A Shocking Expose of What the Mormon Church Really Believes

“John Taylor, the third Prophet and President of the Mormon Church, had this to say about the African-American in Journal of Discourses 22:304: "After the flood we are told that the curse that had been pronounced upon Cain was continued through Ham's wife, as he had married a wife of that seed. And why did it pass through the flood? Because it was necessary that the devil should have a representation upon the earth as well as God......”
― Ed Decker, The God Makers: A Shocking Expose of What the Mormon Church Really Believes

“Respected Mormon archaeologist Professor Dee F.Green has said:
The first myth we need to eliminate is that Book of Mormon archaeology exists.... If one is to study Book of Mormon archaeology, then one must have a corpus of data with which to deal. We do not.
... No Book of Mormon location is known with reference to modern topography. Biblical archaeology can be studied because we do know where Jerusalem and Jericho were and are, but we do not know where Zarahemla and Bountiful (nor any location for that matter) were and are.
... A concentration on geography should be the first order of business, but we have already seen that twenty years of such an approach has left us empty-handed.30”
― Ed Decker, The God Makers: A Shocking Expose of What the Mormon Church Really Believes

“On the afternoon of
June 8, 1873, preaching from the pulpit of the Mormon Tabernacle in Salt Lake City, President Brigham Young declared:
The devil told the truth... I do not blame Mother Eve.
I would not have had her miss eating the forbidden fruit for anything in the world....
They must pass through the same ordeals as the Gods, that they may know good from evil... .27
The belief that Satan told the truth and that Adam and Eve did the right thing in following him instead of God comprises the very heart of Mormonism.”
― Ed Decker, The God Makers: A Shocking Expose of What the Mormon Church Really Believes

“His further comments in this particular article are significant:
All this criticism may be too narrow. There is plenty of evidence that the Latter-day Saints are gullible on many subjects, not just this one.
President Harold B.Lee expressed impatience with the rumor-mongering which is endemic among Mormons. The too-generous standing ovations at BYU are becoming legendary.
Salt Lake City has earned a nationwide reputation as a center for stock fraud, and Douglas Stringfellow beguiled Utahans for years.27”
― Ed Decker, The God Makers: A Shocking Expose of What the Mormon Church Really Believes

“The founding Prophet of the Mormon Church also declared that the moon was inhabited by people about six feet tall who dressed like Quakers and lived to be a thousand years old.' Smith's successor, Brigham Young, came forth with an even more amazing revelation-that the sun is also inhabited.”
― Ed Decker, The God Makers: A Shocking Expose of What the Mormon Church Really Believes

“The indisputable fact is that, long before and long after the 1843 "revelation," polygamy was being practiced in secret by Mormon leaders, who compounded their sin by public denials that were just plain lies. At the time of his self-righteous denial and empty threat that he could "prove" his accusers "all perjurers," Joseph Smith had at least four and probably seven times
the seven wives he was accused of having! If he lied about this issue, what else would he lie about? How could anyone accept anything he said?”
― Ed Decker, The God Makers: A Shocking Expose of What the Mormon Church Really Believes

“Mormonism was founded on the purported visit of two personages of light who brought a different gospel, a different Christ, and a different spirit. The Bible itself identifies these two beings who appeared to Joseph as he fell under the marvelous power of that unseen being from another world: They were beings who were the enemies of God.
But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.... For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness, whose end shall be according to their works (2 Corinthians 1 1:3,4,13-15).
According to Smith's”
― Ed Decker, The God Makers: A Shocking Expose of What the Mormon Church Really Believes

“The implication that Mormons are always laboring to convey is that anything sacred must be kept secret. This would presumably excuse the death oath of secrecy imposed upon Temple Mormons as a legitimate necessity for preserving the sacredness of the ceremonies performed inside Mormon
Temples. However, there is neither biblical nor logical support for this. There is not one example in the Bible (or the Book of Mormon, for that matter) of any ritual, ceremony, or act of worship that was practiced in secret-much less an example of an oath forfeiting one's life for revealing something sacred.”
― Ed Decker, The God Makers: A Shocking Expose of What the Mormon Church Really Believes

“Some Church leaders have come up with ingenious explanations for the complete failure to find any evidence supporting the Book of Mormon. In a March 25, 1964, address, Fletcher B.Hammond said: `:.. The Gentiles have not yet received the Book of Mormon by faith... and until they do... it appears that empirical facts will not be allowed to come forth as evidence of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon... ."'S”
― Ed Decker, The God Makers: A Shocking Expose of What the Mormon Church Really Believes

“The central belief both in Mormonism and paganism is the ancient dream that men can become gods. This universal and popular delusion began with Satan's impossible and self-contradictory ambition to be equal with God: "I will be like the Most High!"" How many Most Highs can there be? Satan lured Eve into joining his mad rebellion against the one true God by promising that she too could become a god.”
― Ed Decker, The God Makers: A Shocking Expose of What the Mormon Church Really Believes

“Bill's" wife became a Mormon after they had been happily married for years and had several children. When he wouldn't convert to Mormonism, the local LDS leaders assisted "Diane" in divorcing and relocating in Utah, where she was quickly married to a "righteous" LDS widower. When attempts by both the husband and Diane's family were made to see the missing children, the LDS family disappeared to Alaska.”
― Ed Decker, The God Makers: A Shocking Expose of What the Mormon Church Really Believes

“As we shall see, both the Melchizedek Priesthood and the alleged "First Vision" (which, in spite of its nine contradictory versions, is the foundation of Mormonism) show a progression in Prophet Smith's ideas that betrays a definite and growing influence from Masonry.”
― Ed Decker, The God Makers: A Shocking Expose of What the Mormon Church Really Believes

“It was Smith who claimed he had received revelations about this premortal state from god-men who allegedly put us here and live on a distant planet near a giant star called Kolob.”
― Ed Decker, The God Makers: A Shocking Expose of What the Mormon Church Really Believes

“Mormons are taught to parrot the LDS Eighth Article: "We believe the Bible to be the Word of God as far as it is translated correctly." How does one know where it is not "translated correctly"? By very definition, that is wherever the Bible conflicts with Mormon doctrine (which is almost everywhere), in which case the latter is followed.”
― Ed Decker, The God Makers: A Shocking Expose of What the Mormon Church Really Believes

“Though most people reject that claim as extravagant, they are left with the impression that
Mormonism is simply an extreme form of Christian fundamentalism. Nothing could be further from the truth. On the contrary, Mormonism is a modified 'form of paganism which is so carefully camouflaged with a facade of Christian terminology that it even deceives most Mormons.”
― Ed Decker, The God Makers: A Shocking Expose of What the Mormon Church Really Believes

“The LDS Church teaches that it was in the preexistent world that Jesus and Lucifer, two elder "brothers"" (sexually begotten sons of God as we all are)," vied before the "council of gods" for the honor of becoming the Savior of mankind. The plan that Jesus proposed was approved by the council's majority vote. In anger, Lucifer drew one-third of the brothers and sisters into rebellion against the council's decision. He then became the Devil, and his followers the demons."
Mormons”
― Ed Decker, The God Makers: A Shocking Expose of What the Mormon Church Really Believes

“Thus the Mormon dilemma: Outside the Church is no salvation,' yet inside the Church there is no hope either, for no one who is honest with himself could ever pretend to meet its impossible standards of personal righteousness.”
― Ed Decker, The God Makers: A Shocking Expose of What the Mormon Church Really Believes

“Brigham Young had explained it clearly in these words:
Shall I tell you the law of God in regard to the African race? If the white man who belongs to the chosen seed mixes his blood with the seed of Cain, the penalty, under the law of God, is death on the spot.
This will always be so.' Cain slew his brother... and the Lord put a mark upon him, which is the flat nose and black skin.
... That curse will remain upon them, and they never can hold the Priesthood or share in it until all the other descendants of Adam have received the promises and enjoyed the blessings of the Priesthood and the keys thereof.'
When all the other children of Adam have had the privilege of receiving the Priesthood, and of coming into the kingdom of God, and of being redeemed from the four quarters of the earth, and have received their resurrection from the dead, then it will be time enough to remove the curse from Cain and his posterity... 5
They will go down to death. And when all the rest of the children have received their blessings in the Holy Priesthood, then that curse will be removed... and they will then come up and possess the Priesthood... 6”
― Ed Decker, The God Makers: A Shocking Expose of What the Mormon Church Really Believes

“Joseph Smith often referred to himself in his "revelations" as "Enoch,"' claiming that he had been given this name by God. The Enoch of the legend was chosen to recover and preserve for mankind the sacred name of God; and Joseph Smith was allegedly chosen to recover and "restore" the everlasting gospel of God to the earth. Enoch buried the sacred record to preserve it just before a great disaster (the Flood), foreseeing that after the deluge "an Israelitish descendant would discover anew the sacred buried treasure." Enoch "placed a stone lid, or slab, over the cavity into the hill," exactly as Moroni did in the Book of Mormon when he buried his record as the only survivor of the disaster (great battle) that destroyed his entire nation. Joseph Smith, who recovered this record, claimed to be an Israelite, fitting the vision of Enoch even in this regard.”
― Ed Decker, The God Makers: A Shocking Expose of What the Mormon Church Really Believes

“If the spirits of the dead are either in heaven or hell, then appearances in Mormon Temples, as in seances, can only be demons impersonating the dead to foster belief in Satan's denial of death." This is why attempted communication with the dead, which is called necromancy, is absolutely forbidden in the Bible." Here again, in open rejection of the Word of God, Mormonism not only encourages but boasts of alleged contact with the spirits of the dead. At the same 1982 General Conference mentioned above, Elder A.Theodore Tuttle, another General Authority, proudly declared:
On the third of April 1836, one week after the dedication of the Kirtland Temple, the monumental event occurred-the Savior appeared and accepted the Temple!
Moses and Elias also came. Then, Malachi's prophecy was fulfilled, for Elijah the prophet stood before them...?”
― Ed Decker, The God Makers: A Shocking Expose of What the Mormon Church Really Believes

“Mormonism's uniqueness is in the fact that it was the first really successful attempt to pass paganism off as Christianity;”
― Ed Decker, The God Makers: A Shocking Expose of What the Mormon Church Really Believes

“Former Mormon President Joseph Fielding Smith made that clear when he wrote:
[There is] no salvation without accepting Joseph Smith. If Joseph Smith was verily a prophet, and if he told the truth when he said that
he stood in the presence of angels sent from the Lord, and obtained the keys of authority, and the commandment to organize the Church of Jesus Christ once again upon the earth, then this knowledge is of the most vital importance to the entire world.
No man can reject that testimony without incurring the most dreadful consequences, for he cannot enter the kingdom of God.”
― Ed Decker, The God Makers: A Shocking Expose of What the Mormon Church Really Believes