Romish system

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The roots Mormonism shares with Rome (Part 1)

When Satan wants to lead people away from God, he doesn’t necessarily put up a new building–he simply changes the name of the business and hangs a new sign out front.

“She is termed, in other places, by the same prophet, “The whore of all the earth,” making the nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. Some three centuries ago there came out sortie excellent men, named Martin Luther, John Calvin and many others that might be mentioned, who protested against the wickedness and abominations of the Church wherein they had been educated, and of which they had been members. Because of their protestations against the mother Church they were called Protestants.”–Apostle Orson Pratt, Journal of Discourses Vol. 14, p.346

Orson Pratt is, in the above quote, making an obvious reference to the Roman Catholic Church. And lest you think this is simply his opinion, this thought is recorded in Mormon “Scripture” in two places. Furthermore, you can find many other quotes from early Mormon leaders referring to the Vatican in like manner at this link.

Doctrines and Covenants (D&C) 88:94—“And another angel shall sound his trump, saying: That great church, the mother of abominations, that made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, that persecuteth the saints of God, that shed their blood—she who sitteth upon many waters, and upon the islands of the sea—behold, she is the tares of the earth; she is bound in bundles; her bands are made strong, no man can loose them; therefore, she is ready to be burned. And he shall sound his trump both long and loud, and all nations shall hear it.”

1 Nephi 14:10-11—10 And he said unto me: Behold there are save two churches only; the one is the church of the Lamb of God, and the other is the church of the devil; wherefore, whoso belongeth not to the church of the Lamb of God belongeth to that great church, which is the mother of abominations; and she is the whore of all the earth. 11 And it came to pass that I looked and beheld the whore of all the earth, and she sat upon many waters; and she had dominion over all the earth, among all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people.

Granted, Mormonism did not spring forth from the Roman church–but they are, shall we say, born from the same root system, and they both have the same father. And whether they want to admit it or not, the LDS church has more in common with the Roman church than they do with true Christianity. It is as if Satan led Joseph Smith to simply take the structure and hierarchy of Romanism, throw in some Hinduism with it, plagiarize the King James Bible, and sprinkle in just enough Christian terminology (not to mention repeating the phrase “And it came to pass” ad nauseum) to fool countless numbers of folks.

The purpose of this post is not to defend the Vatican. Nor is it to begin a debate about Romanism. What I endeavor to do, though, is to show that as much as the early Mormon church railed about the Romish church being “The Whore of Babylon” and so forth, there are many beliefs and structures in Mormonism that show that the Mormon church is not that different from their Papal cousins.

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They both teach that after you die, someone else can come along and perform rituals that will help improve the state you are in.

–Catholicism has indulgences.

  • 2nd Maccabees 12:43—And making a gathering, he sent twelve thousand drachmas of silver to Jerusalem for sacrifice to be offered for the sins of the dead, thinking well and religiously concerning the resurrection.

–Mormonism has baptism for the dead.

  • D&C 128:18—It is sufficient to know, in this case, that the earth will be smitten with a curse unless there is a welding link of some kind or other between the fathers and the children, upon some subject or other—and behold what is that subject? It is the baptism for the dead. For we without them cannot be made perfect; neither can they without us be made perfect. Neither can they nor we be made perfect without those who have died in the gospel also.

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Quiz

In 1559, Pope Pius IV gave the following excuse for not allowing people to read the Bible in their native tongue:

Since experience teaches that, if the reading of the Holy Bible in the vernacular is permitted generally without discrimination, more damage than advantage will result because of the boldness of men, the judgment of the bishops and inquisitors is to serve as guide in this regard. Bishops and inquisitors may, in accord with the counsel of the local priest and confessor, allow Catholic translations of the Bible to be read by those of whom they realize that such reading will not lead to the detriment but to the increase of faith and piety. The permission is to be given in writing. Whoever reads or has such a translation in his possession without this permission cannot be absolved from his sins until he has turned in these Bibles.

Several years later, another writer said the following:

Easy access to sacred Scripture should be provided for all the Christian faithful…Since the word of God should be available at all times…suitable and correct translations are made into different languages, especially from the original texts of the sacred books.

Question: Who is the source for this second quote? And no fair Googling.