Our minds work mostly on assumptions, not personal facts--ALL DAY LONG. The sooner we understand the process of the mind and get control of it the faster we can become free. The mind collects various facts and repeating patterns then processes these ideas into a mental “computer transformer”, which then creates and establishes rational assumptions that work within us automatically on a daily basis. These are deep and subconscious "paradigms" that influence our thoughts and actions sometimes more than we would like. And these assumed paradigms give us all stability of thought. Most of our paradigms are simply "assumed" to be true. Why? Because as mentioned when we are kids growing up we believe what we are told and assume certain ideas to be the truth. Then we operate with those mental structures that we have believed in. Some are 100% true. Some are 100% false. And some are mixture of truth and error called half-truths. When we grow older, we realize we will spend the rest of our lives examining, testing, and reevaluating what we assumed to be true as children. My process of self-discovery hovered around Mormonism because it was our families’ way of life. Most of my time in the last 23 years has been spent unraveling the LDS puzzle. When I was twenty I reasoned that life is short and eternity is a long time. I became quite sober-minded and took the responsibility for my own thought and actions because I wanted to be sure I was grounded in the truth. This book is a culmination of a lifetime of effort to find a way of thinking that I could honestly feel comfortable with considering the many contradictory facts that do exist in Church history and its theology. I am now very happy with my beliefs. I can logically and satisfactorily deal with almost all contradictions in the LDS Church that that personally troubled me for many years. I believe the assumptions are true the fit all the available facts that have been recorded better than any other assumptions I’ve seen yet and allows me to retain my belief in God and Christ.

This book is based on the following specific assumptions:

• 1) There is a God.
  
• 2) He always tells the truth.
  
• 3) The truth is always logical.
  
• 4) True and false angels can appear to people.
  
• 5) Joseph Smith saw Jesus alone, not Heavenly Father, in his First Vision experience in 1820, according to the 1832 version recorded by his own hand. The purpose of praying was to receive a remission of his sins, not to find the true Church. Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph Smith and told him he was forgiven and that God was calling him into the ministry.
  
• 6) Eighteen years after the experience, Joseph Smith changed his First Vision story to promote what he thought was true in 1838. The deception was an honest attempt to protect the priesthood he believed in, thus influencing more people to believe in it. The fabrication was a very convenient way to tie the core concepts of Mormonism’s doctrine into one story. Observing the key LDS doctrines that are taught by Joseph Smith’s 1838 First Vision account, it is clearly evident that Joseph Smith coordinated the LDS doctrine into one grand story. The idea of a one true church he took from D&C 1:30. The idea of God and Jesus Christ being two separate resurrected beings came from D&C 76:23. How Satan manufactured these false revelations and false visions I do not know. Only God and the devil completely understand the supernatural realm of visions. For vision of the Father and Son in D&C 76:23, perhaps the devil used the knowledge already in Joseph Smith’s spirit from his pre-earth life and reflected that knowledge to both Sidney Rigdon and Joseph Smith. Perhaps it was from the devil’s own experience with the Father and the Son. I don’t know. This book does not dispute the spiritual experiences claimed by Mormonism but rather assumes the source of many (but not all) of the experience is not from God.
  
• 7) After his experience with Jesus Christ in the grove, Joseph Smith innocently positioned himself to receive false manifestations by dabbling into the occult powers to dig for treasures, for which activity he was arrested and fined, the judge declaring him to be a public nuisance.
  
• 8) The devil possesses unusual supernatural powers as recorded in the Bible.
  
• 9) The devil’s primary strategy is to bury lies into the truth, thus making the lies difficult to detect.
  
• 10) False angels appeared to Joseph Smith and deceived Him.
  
• 11) False angels can materialize solid objects such as gold plates, just as the magicians of Pharaoh turned staffs into live snakes.
  
• 12) False angels can also materialize in physical forms, thus shaking a person’s hand, so that they can feel it by the flesh. They can appear in glory as angels of light. The incorrect doctrine of the discerning angelic messengers by a “hand shake” in D&C 129 is the single incorrect principle that caused Joseph’s deception. Rather, Joseph Smith should have used Paul’s test in Galatians 1:8 to detect false messengers, which was a grave mistake.
  
• 13) False angels gave Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdrey a false priesthood.
  
• 14) The Book of Mormon is mostly theologically correct, but has some errors.
  
• 15) The Book of Mormon is historical fiction. There were no Lamanites or Nephites.
  
• 16) Jesus probably did visit the ancient American Indians according to legends of a “great white god”. But the Book of Mormon is not a true record of that event.
  
• 17) The devil’s purpose in creating the Book of Mormon is to share many truths about Jesus Christ in order to hook the people into believing a false LDS priesthood and a false purpose of life, complete with occult temple ordinances.
  
• 18) Satan used what was already in Joseph Smith’s mind to create the Book of Mormon through occult powers using a “peep stone” and the Urim and Thummim, which is mental technology that is beyond man’s current understanding. Therefore, many thought patterns that were common to Joseph Smith’s historical time period ripple through the Book of Mormon, such as the geography in the book of Mormon, the idea that the Indians were part of the lost tribes of Israel, American politics, and so on. The Book of Hebrews, for example, could have had in influence in Joseph’s mind and therefore used by the devil in the translation of the bogus gold plates, leaving patterns of similarities in the Book of Mormon. The translation process explained in D&C section 9 clearly explains that the false angels did not “dictate” the translation to Joseph Smith, but it involved using his own thoughts and studying the matter out in his mind first, then asking the Lord if it were correct. If correct he would receive a burning in the bosom; if not, a stupor of thought. Therefore, Joseph Smith’s personal thoughts had a significant impact on the Book of Mormon. In the final analysis it could be true the light inside Joseph himself coupled with his imagination and story telling abilities created the entire book of Mormon while under the influence of demonic powers that distributed powers into his soul that stimulated the work. If true, the “burning in the bosom” translation process explain easily the many errors contained in the first addition of the Book of Mormon that were later corrected by Joseph and others with no thought of doubting the work being true. The process involved human pondering, and thus, human error. Joseph would logically conclude he just “messed up the translation” and needed to fix it the way “God wanted it”. When an error was found, he went back through the mental process, thought about it, made the change, got the burning and the bosom, and made it right! And thus—many changes occurred in the Book of Mormon after the first printing. It was NOT a dictation process as many assume who do not understand, and Joseph knew this and felt absolutely no guilt in correcting the errors he didn’t catch the first time he “studied it out in his mind”. Indeed, he was probably glad someone found the errors, so the light of God could fix it through the mental process of study, meditation, and burning in the bosom. Humans make mistake.
  
• 19) The Solomon Spaulding “Manuscript Found” theory explains that Sidney Rigdon is the author of the Book of Mormon, who copied the ideas from a stolen manuscript written by Solomon Spaulding. The theory is a deception inspired by the devil to sidetrack the debate of Mormonism away from the LDS priesthood given by false angels. Many other theories about the origin of the Book of Mormon claim Joseph Smith or some other man is the author and Mormonism. Many are deliberate hoaxes and frauds, thus ignoring the supernatural experiences of many witnesses. The Book of Mormon is the least important theological foundation of Mormonism. This book will spend no time or effort disputing the Book of Mormon.
  
• 20) Joseph Smith was a semi-honest man, caught between the powers of God and Satan in which he had no control over. He was honest and closer to the Spirit of the Lord in 1820 when he saw Jesus Christ than he was in 1844 by which time he was mostly under the control of false carnal impulses and demonic influences. But he never fell into complete darkness during his ministry. Writings such as D&C 121 on unrighteous dominion originated from the severe conditions of liberty jail and contain great truths, although mixed with gross error. No human being is 100% good or 100% evil.
  
• 21) God knew from the beginning that when he sent Jesus Christ in 1820 to Joseph Smith, that the devil would make a counter-move with false angels, inspiring the Book of Mormon, a false priesthood, and a false purpose of life. Satan’s moves have always been part of God’s plan, and the devil is playing slowly into the hands of God. The devil is paranoid of Mormonism, because he does not know why God appeared to Joseph Smith in 1820. For this reason, the devil has done all that he can to run the LDS Church off the track to Jesus Christ. It is for this reason Joseph Smith and the early Apostles received so much opposition from Satan. It is also why the LDS Church receives so much opposition today. The good things in the LDS Church, which are from Christ, Satan fights against continually. Satan’s strategy is to shift the focus and allegiance of the Church to the priesthood ordinances and false principles that he taught Joseph Smith, such as its being the only true Church, to keep the LDS Church under his control and not allow God to accomplish whatever purposes are intended. These purposes are known only to God and will be unfolded over time.
  
• 22) To believe that Joseph Smith fabricated the entire Mormon religion is too simplistic. The assumption ignores scores of evidence and testimony of supernatural events, such as the three witnesses, the visitation of angels to many people, the Kirtland Temple dedication, and other valid and honest experiences by LDS members. To believe that a man who is dead can still influence millions of people on earth, each claiming the restoration to be true, is not a logical conclusion. Other powers outside of man are influencing the Mormon story. Any man could not have carried on such a fraud for 155 years after he was dead. On the other hand, to also conclude that the devil appeared as Jesus Christ to Joseph Smith 1820 is also too simplistic and ignores the fact that God has preserved and sustained the LDS people in a unique body for a purpose known only to Him. Several million Mormons live in a unique part of the United States of America. God’s plan for sending Jesus in 1820 is unfolding to some degree. The Mormons are an identified group of people that have high moral values and believe in God sincerely. Recorded miracles such as the sea gulls eating the crickets in the Salt Lake valley or angels pushing the pioneer handcarts urge the reader to believe that God is behind a hidden purpose in Mormonism. Finally, so many factions of Mormonism existed soon after the death of Joseph Smith with so many options of priesthood succession available, it a miracle from God that the LDS Church survived the death of Joseph Smith in the way that it did. Today there is only one religious organization viewed as the “LDS Church” from the world’s perspective--the faction carried on by Brigham Young. These God-inspired events and frequent miracles that happen in the modern lives of members convince many the Church is true, strengthening their faith in God and Jesus Christ. The devil knows this and continually fights to destroy the LDS Church the best he can by moving the Church away from Jesus Christ and the truth. He conceals historical evidence, promoting theological lies that contradict the truth in the Bible, feeding the Mormons a false gospel. On the other hand, Satan also blinds the Anti-Mormons. Their approach is one-sided, ignoring many facts of history, thus erroneously concluding that Joseph Smith was a complete liar and fraud. They many times ignore the good and true things in the Church by only exposing the lies and contradictions of Joseph Smith and Church history, leaving the LDS member no clear path to Biblical Christianity in the process of loosing a testimony. Many members leave the LDS Church and stop believing in God entirely. By this strategy the devil keeps total control over Mormonism. He keeps the members as well as nonmembers in darkness. In His paranoid state, Satan does not desire to relinquish his control of Mormonism to God in any way, binding the LDS Church to a false priesthood and temple ordinances and the non-members to false assumptions about the origins of Mormonism. Satan will continue to fight the truth wherever it is found.

It is not necessary for me to site every evidence that drives my assumptions, neither is it the purpose of this book. We need only to agree that perhaps these assumptions are a “possible” explanation of the origin of Mormonism. If my assertions are only viewed as possible, then we are on the same team, and my book will make perfect sense. If not, you have the right and privilege to gather all the evidence you wish and make your own conclusions that fit the facts about Mormonism. I don’t claim to be perfect. Perhaps I misunderstood an assumption or fact and came to the wrong conclusion. But if you agree with the logic and assumptions presented, then my conclusions can not be easily ignored. I believe the LDS Church can not what it claims to be because its theology is illogical. That is my claim. I will go into much greater detail in forthcoming chapters. I welcome anyone who has credible facts or information that can be used as input to modify or change any assumption I’ve made. But I stand on my own beliefs as identified. I would rather make an educated assumption and stand on it, stating it as such, rather than to not decide at all. In this way my mind can close the door to Mormonism and move on by taking with me what I believe is true and discarding what I believe is false.

Of all the assumptions stated, the greatest mystery is understanding why God would send Jesus Christ to Joseph Smith in 1820 knowing that false angels would detract him from his mission. One may conclude God failed with Joseph Smith, but He did not. God knows all things. Satan is playing into the hands of God. God knew in the beginning what Satan would do, and God is going to use the whole LDS experience against the devil. For example, God can use the testimony of the three witnesses to prove that there are powers beyond human beings in another dimension, thus challenging the beliefs of agnostics and atheists who are bound to the physical world as they see it, and perhaps leading them to God. God can also better teach his children to discern between truth and falsehood through the Mormon experience, and use that experience for His purposes and glory. Having his children discover the counterfeit gospel in Mormonism and truly understanding the power of false angels, for example, the Mormon people will surely become an asset for Christianity as the Anti-Christ comes onto the world scene teaching false concepts that may be very similar to Mormonism. However, what ever the purpose God has in mind, only time itself will show us God’s intelligent reasons for sending Jesus Christ in 1820 to Joseph Smith.

But now lets look at the devil’s point of view. If you were Satan and Jesus suddenly appears to Joseph Smith, what are you going to do? Are you going to stand idly by and watch Christianity truly become more pure and holy? Or would you not use the method that worked for you in the past? What was that method? To deceive the Church after the first century by proclaiming a "legalistic" authority and the one "universal" (Catholic) true church. It worked like magic to drag the original Christians into darkness, and so why not do it again? Do we not see it was mixing legalistic authority with the State that caused so much bloodshed? People in the name of God exercised external power because they had the “authority” from God. The priesthood was falsely viewed as an external authority, just as the Mormons view it, not as an inner authority of Jesus.

Now, how are you going to get this priesthood scheme to work? If you just appear to Joseph Smith and ordain him by false angels, and he goes and tells others, what evidence is there for anyone to believe in Joseph Smith and this priesthood? None. People would just say Joseph was lying. No one would believe him. THERE MUST BE EVIDENCE!

So you invent the idea of Nephites and Lamanites, mix the gospel of Jesus Christ into a fictional story, and produce tangible gold plates that witnesses can be see and touch. You imitate the glory of God to three witnesses, commanding the witnesses to tell everyone that the Book of Mormon is from God, exhorting them to pray about the truths in the book. Now you have a plan that can succeed. God will support the truth anywhere, and you know He confirm the true gospel to believers. The book contains the “fullness” of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Once believed, you can reveal your false priesthood and occult temple ordinances and divert Joseph off the path of Jesus, for they will now have the evidence required to believe in the false principles of salvation.

But how do you appear to Joseph Smith and get the Lord's permission to deceive him? You tempt him with treasure hunting and lie to him about peep stones and occult practices. Have him find a peep stone with unusual powers. Have him dabble in the power. Then Joseph is set up to receive you, and he will believe you. Pretty slick. You send your angels, and then immediately move Joseph Smith away from the truths in the Bible and Book of Mormon. Joseph delves into deeper theology about God’s plan of salvation, driving the "eternal progression" counterfeit gospel. And thus YOU TAKE CONTROL of the religion, continually moving the saints to the occult temple.

By changing our lens for viewing Mormonism, we can formulate very reasonable explanations for the contradictions that exist in LDS doctrine and Church history. For example, I stated in the introduction about God promising to build a temple in Jackson County “in this generation”. Watch what we can do when we put the assumptions in place that I’ve stated above.

Let’s first look at the facts in Church History:

• 1) God makes a promise about a temple being built in Jackson County Missouri.
  
• 2) The non-Mormons kick the LDS out of Jackson County to Clay County making it impossible.
  
• 3) God is justified by calling Zion’s camp to retake Jackson County by arms.
  
• 4) God is unsuccessful using Zion's camp because the people sin.
  
• 5) The Church is finally booted out of the land completely.

• 1) Establish a goal to build an occult temple in which members would serve Satan’s esoteric gospel of eternal progression. If the goal of building the temple is accomplished in Jackson County by the Latter-day Saints, then SATAN WINS.
  
• 2) At the same time, Satan can stir up opposition to create contention from other forces to promote death and bloodshed over Mormonism’s objective to populate the land and build the temple. If Joseph Smith can be killed by the controversy, then the devil ALSO WINS; he can cause great confusion in the church, splinter it, and severing the LDS organization and mission, thus defeating the purposes of God in appearing in 1820. The devil would prefer to have Joseph dead rather the temple being built because he doesn't know why Jesus appeared to him! But if he can't kill Joseph Smith, because God always protects him, then he'll settle for the goal of the occult temple and deceive the Latter-day Saints by perverting the gospel of grace.

In the final outcome the will of God intervened and the occult temple was not built in Jackson County but was allowed to be built in Kirtland instead, thus God choosing to not permit the devil’s temple prophecy to be fulfilled. Thus we see the devil playing games with God through creating conflicting goals and objectives deliberately, watching the people fight about the conflicts, and laughing all the way to hell and back. Satan’s mind works like a man’s, through agency. He has limited knowledge. He does not know the mind of God. He does not know the future. So he throws his light and darkness out to human beings, puts in the “brain implants” to control the people, then watches carefully which way the “water flows”, this spreading confusion and misery among human beings. Satan really doesn't know what is going to happen with Mormonism, but he responds and reacts continually based on the outcomes that he observes.

Jesus said: “But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.” (Matt. 5:44.) Now I ask: does sending an army, Zion’s Camp, to destroy the people in Jackson County really sound like a God of grace? Does this sound like blessing your enemies? Does it sound like the higher law of the New Testament?

The devil has his little wedges of darkness in Christianity and Mormonism. The more he can keep our minds focused on the dark errors of each other, without acknowledging the strengths and truths in every religion, than we can't humbly learn from each other. Mormons can be some of the most stubbornly arrogant people in defending their viewpoints, and they look at the Anti-Mormons using lies from the devil covered in “pretended love” to fight them. How can Christians love me when they believe in lies? Thus the Mormons believe because the Christians are lying whores and apparently contradict each other, the LDS Church is true. What kind of logic is that? “I’m right because you are all wrong?” That is the fundamental premise of LDS theology. It rests on the fundamental assumption that Christianity is in apostasy.

But the assumption is false. Christ’s priesthood authority is not what the Catholics or Mormons believe it is, as explained previously. Therefore, a complete and universal apostasy never occurred. The Church of Jesus Christ is a spiritual church in the hearts of all true believers. It has continued since the time of Jesus Christ, according to the words of Jesus: “And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou at the Christ, the son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed are thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou are Peter, and upon this rock [knowing by the Holy Spirit that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God.] I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” (Matt 16:17-18.)

Now, we can either believe Jesus Christ, who said the gates of hell would not prevail against his Church, or we can believe Joseph Smith and his false angels who claim a complete and universal apostasy occurred. Again, consider the logic of Mormonism deeply: “I’m right because you are all wrong”. It is grounded in a negative thought that concentrates on darkness rather than light.

On the other hand, the Christians see the false temple and historical contradictions and assume JOSEPH SMITH lied about the whole thing, thus justifying their own misperceptions. Some even go so far as deliberately lying against the Mormon Church, believing they are doing their friends a favor. Oh, the damage this false logic creates! Lying is never justified, no matter what the circumstances. It is pretty clear from the evidence, for example, that liars perpetuated the Solomon Spaulding theory explaining the origin of the Book of Mormon. There is no valid evidence to support the theory even though it has existed since the beginning of the Church. When the Church discovered and examined the Manuscript Found that supposedly was used by Joseph Smith to write the Book of Mormon, it became clear to all that it is only remotely similar to Book of Mormon. It takes an unreasonable stretch of the imagination to prove anything at all. But the theory still remains, claiming there is “a second” manuscript that was destroyed. That is ridiculous reasoning.

And so the devil has remained hidden for over 170 years. Smiling, of course, for he is delighted that so many people have believed the false Spaulding theory, being ignorant of the powers of light and darkness Satan controls. This is one example of countless lies that the devil has used to sidetrack Christians away from the true origin of the Book of Mormon.

The result has been a mass of darkness and confusion, a paradigm box that both Christians and Mormons can be easily sucked into with their pride, contending with each other using bad assumptions, which is not the way of Jesus Christ—to understand the truth from an unbiased perspective. And where is God? Well, He's with both the Christians and Mormons, giving them the truths they are willing to see, and through these truths, both sides assume they are right and the other is wrong. Thus, the devil works with two powers: light and darkness. The light is the truth that he twists into darkness. And the darkness is always clearly seen “in the other guy”, not ourselves. Because he has control over these two perspectives, Satan can set people up against each other, and through pride and the idea “we are right”, he causes contention and fighting even to bloodshed. By implementing this mastermind strategy of using both light and darkness, the devil takes control of Mormonism:

• 1) The Anti-Mormons see the LDS falsehood doctrine of becoming gods and goddesses and the occult temple ordinances clearly originating from the Masons. Therefore, they reason Joseph Smith was a liar.
  
• 2) The LDS members see the conflicting Christian denominations, unscrupulous men preaching for “filthy lucre”, the lack of “external authority”, and the false doctrine of lip confessions that have no meaning, and therefore, a complete apostasy must have taken place. The LDS Church must be true.

Faithful Latter-day Saints reading this chapter will probably insist that the LDS Church and priesthood are true and that my assumptions are false. Great! I’m happy with that viewpoint as long as everyone understands the assumptions being made and the implication of belonging to a religion that has an illogical theology and false foundation. I’m not here to drag anyone away from Mormonism. If anything, my book may help Latter-day Saints truly see the core beliefs they are standing on. They can decide for themselves whether they truly want to believe the LDS theology or not. Any person has a right and responsibility to choose a belief system, and I acknowledge that. Obviously, a Latter-day Saint will agree with many of my assumptions about the Church, and I need not rehearse all the truths in Mormonism. Indeed, the truths far outweigh the errors. But those errors that do exist touch every principle and taint the religion with thick darkness, thus blinding the mind from the purity that is in Jesus Christ and His Word.

The following are the 10 key assumptions that the LDS would claim to be true, but I claim are false:

• 1) The 1838 First Vision Story. The purpose of going to the grove was to find which religion to join. Both God and Jesus Christ as glorious personages appeared to Joseph Smith and told him that all the other religions were wrong and that he should not join any of them.
  
• 2) The angels that appeared to Joseph Smith were from God.
  
• 3) True angels gave Joseph Smith the LDS priesthood.
  
• 4) The LDS Church is the only true Church on earth that has the saving priesthood.
  
• 5) Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon by the power of God. It is the Word of God and the most correct of any book on earth. A man will get nearer to God by abiding its precepts than by any other book. The Book of Mormon may have a few human errors, as stated in the title page, but such can be ignored. They are not important. Human beings are not perfect and we expect some errors. But the true principles the book contains are perfect and correct.
  
• 6) False angels can NOT materialize. If you shake the devil’s hand, you will not feel anything according to D&C section 129. The devil is a spirit and will try to deceive us. Satan is bound by these priesthood laws and must comply and try to shake our hands and show himself if we ask him to. A true angel we can detect very easily by feeling the angel’s resurrected hand.
  
• 7) False angels can not produce tangible gold plates. They are spirits and can not materialize.
  
• 8) The Bible can not be trusted as being complete for our salvation. Many things have been lost.
  
• 9) The current prophet of the Church holds the priesthood keys for our salvation. He has the revelatory responsibility and ability to commune with God just as Moses, Peter, Paul or any other Biblical prophet did. We need modern prophets to save us. Without the priesthood keys we are damned.
  
• 10) Members don’t just assume these nine assertions are true; they “know” the Church is true. A spiritual experience has confirmed the truth to them. God will reveal the truth to anyone who asks Him in faith.

I used to be a true-believing Latter-day Saint. At one time I believed all ten assumptions above as being absolutely true. But I don’t anymore. My personal experience and the observable facts forced me to change my viewpoint and assumptions over twenty three years. One must understand the degree of commitment I had in believing that Mormonism is true. I believed in the LDS testimony process so strongly that at times I bore witness that I knew the LDS Church was true as well as I could see my hand in front of me. That is how sure I was of my beliefs. But what happened? How can a person who testifies ten thousand times that the LDS Church is true, gradually change so that he concludes that what was once believed to be true can not be?

Sometimes I still wonder in amazement at the changes that have occurred in my life. It’s been radical and painful to adjust, but refreshing to know the peace of Jesus. To fully understand my perspective, it’s time to get a little more personal.