The Bible Exposes Joseph Smith
You can love people in the Mormon faith and still embrace the truth. They are not in opposition to one another. In fact, the Bible says that authentic Christian love rejoices in truth. It never runs from it, even when it is hard, ugly, or hurts to hear. In the case of Joseph Smith, the creator of the Latter Day Saints, the verifiable truth is all these and more. Joseph Smith tried to change the Bible to suit his own desires. In order to do so, he created a faith that conflicts with the core tenets of Christianity. He made up an entirely different history, Jesus, gospel, and God. He covered over his own sins with false claims of authority. He made predictions about the future that did not come true. Worst of all, he contradicted the Bible to appeal to people and led them to destruction.
The Mormon Historical Problems that Destroyed a True Believer
I know these statements may seem blunt. You may know members of the LDS church who are very nice people and fear offending them. You may wonder what the big deal is? It is simple.
Joseph Smith was a wolf like Jesus warned you about in the Scriptures. History shows you how he snuck in and devoured many unsuspecting people.
For when they speak great swelling words of emptiness, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who have actually escaped from those who live in error. While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage. 2 Peter 2
This is exactly what Smith did. His legacy carries on today with millions of nice people stuck in the very same chains Jesus died to free them from. I detail the non-Christian teachings of the Mormon Church here:
But don’t take my word for it. False teaching is a serious charge. Many people claim to have the “truth” and the Mormons themselves will claim to the contrary. They will appeal to your sympathy and claim to be just another denomination. How can you be sure what is accurate? How can you know what is truth?
It is like the words from the children’s song: The Bible tells you so!
The claims and doctrines of the Mormon faith are directly contradicted by the Word of God…and history, archeology, and failed prophecy.
The Mormon Historical Problems that Destroyed a True Believer
Let’s stick with the Bible for this post, though. The Bible is your guidebook for all things Christian in the world. It is how Jesus laid down the outline for His church. This church has stood and proclaimed the same Gospel and the real Jesus for 2,000 years.
Matthew 16:18
And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
This Gospel is the only way to the real Way, Truth, and Life, Jesus!
41 Authentic Bible Verses to Contradict Mormonism
1) Deuteronomy 6:4-5
“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.
This is part of the Shema from the Old Testament. It is the prayer God commanded the Israelites to pray daily in worship of Him. Note – It is God who composed and commanded this prayer. Jesus Himself would have recited this prayer about 12,000 times while with us. The Shema was recorded in the Bible almost 3,000 years ago. It remains an important part of Judaism today. It also has been proven to be accurately recorded in the Bible. An intact copy of Deuteronomy, including this prayer, was found with the Dead Sea Scrolls. These were ancient scrolls found buried in a cave in Israel in 1947. They were compiled and stored before the Romans destroyed Israel in 68 AD. This means that you can be certain that the Bible at the time of Jesus included the statement “the Lord is One”.
What does it say about God?
That He is ONE. God commanded daily affirmation of that there is One God. This belief is foundational for Judaism and Christianity. They are monotheistic faiths – meaning one god.
How does it contradict Mormon theology:
The Mormon Church says there are at least 4 main gods. There are also many lesser gods. The Bible says the Lord is One. Joseph Smith disagreed and said God is not one. Who will you believe?
Joseph Smith’s core claim was the Bible was corrupted in some way. This gave him the pretext to alter it to make his new faith. He vaguely claimed this “corruption” occurred sometime after the Apostolic period ended but before his creation of the Book of Mormon in the 1800’s. The Dead Sea Scrolls expose the enormous problem with this claim. They include an intact copy of the Old Testament Bible that was put in the cave in Israel before the end of the Apostolic period. They then remained there undisturbed until after Joseph Smith made his claims. So what does this mean for Smith?
It definitively destroys Smith’s justification for changing the Bible. He said it was corrupted. The evidence proved that it was not.
The Bible has declared the Lord is One for 3000 years. Joseph Smith says otherwise.
2) Deuteronomy 4:35,39
Unto thee it was shown, that thou mightest know that the LORD he is God; there is none else beside him…..Know therefore this day, and consider it in thine heart, that the LORD he is God in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath: there is none else.
There are no other gods beside me. There is none else. God’s unaltered Word states this fact with certainty.
3) Ephesians 4:4-5
There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
The New Testament clearly also sets out there is One God. It is undisputed that Paul was a chosen vessel of God. He met Jesus in person. He states he was given his doctrine by Jesus directly. He is agreed by all to be an Apostle of Christ. He was also Jewish and knew the Shema. The Lord is One. God is One…not many.
The Mormon faith claims the Lord is not One. Their doctrine says the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are not One, they are not a Trinity. They also allege there must be at least one more god, a holy mother god because one would be necessary to create spirit children, which is what people are. That is 4 main gods. Then there are many other gods because people also can become gods.
This is clearly not One God as set out in Ephesians.
4) 1 Timothy 2:5
For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,
One God…not many.
5) Isaiah43:10,11
Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no savior.
Isaiah also sets out important points here.
There was no god in existence before the One God of the Bible. He is eternal. There are no other gods on other planets. There are also no gods formed after the God of the Bible. Anyone claiming to be headed towards godhood is contradicting Isaiah.
There is also no savior other than the God of the Bible. One God who is your savior.
The LDS Church claims that God was not always God. The short version says that God was once a man on another planet and/or existence and he was made into God by doing such good works. This process has taken place many times other than with “our god” and continues to happen. In short, their doctrine claims there were other gods formed before God and there are other Saviors besides Jesus.
The Bible says there is One eternal God, One eternal Savior who is God…not many men or spirits becoming god.
What if I am Scared to Share my Faith?
6) Isaiah44:6,8
Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.Fear ye not, neither be afraid; have not I told thee from that time, and have declared it? ye are even my witnesses. Is there a God beside me? yea, there is no God; I know not any.
God speaking here. God is the first and the last. This means He is all things, everything begins and ends with God. Jesus calls Himself the same thing, the Alpha and Omega, Beginning and End, First and Last, in Revelation. This statement covers everything. There is no god beside the One True God.
One All Sufficient God…not many.
7) Colossians 2:6-9
As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.
Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.
These verses contain a warning to Christians to not be led away from the truth of Christ. Paul saw the false teachers like Joseph Smith coming and said to have none of it.
He also states in Christ Jesus the Lord all the fullness of the Godhead dwells. The Father is in Jesus. The Holy Spirit is in Jesus. It is a statement of the Trinity.
Three Persons, One God…not many.
Joseph Smith’s faith denies this oneness among the persons of the Trinity resulting in many gods.
8) Galatians 1:8
But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed.
Joseph Smith claims an angel delivered the Book of Mormon to him. It doesn’t matter whether this incident where something appears is true or a fabrication. The Mormon gospel is contrary to one Paul preached, so what is Paul’s direction?
9) Matthew 7:15
“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.”
Joseph Smith was a demonstrably sinful person. He had many wives and took them behind the back of his first wife. He also married women who were already married. This demonstrates one of the signs of someone being a wolf. They may appear righteous on the surface, but inside they seek to devour others.
Smith’s sin consumed him and those around him.
33 Chilling Bible Verses on False Teachers
10) 2 Peter 2
But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber.
The revelation of the nature and identity of Jesus has remained consistent for 2,000 years. The Bible and letters of the early church from as early as the 1st Century prove this consistent message. Jesus is Lord, Christ, and God eternal.
2 Peter 2 lays out the tactic to expect from the false prophets to come. They come in pretending to be Christian and looking holy. They then bring in destructive heresy and deny the true Jesus.
Peter would not have been surprised by the tactics of Joseph Smith.
11) 1 John 4:1
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.
This charge from the Apostle John tells you to not believe even the most convincing person unless they are from God. It does not matter if they have fancy buildings and a billion dollar corporation behind them. You must test the spirit behind a person or their claim because they might be from Satan.
How do you do so? By comparing their claims against the Bible.
12) 2 Timothy 4:3
For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions,
The message of the Gospel is about the finished work of Jesus. It is a demonstration of His glory, His sacrifice, and His completed mercy showered on you. The focus is Jesus.
The Mormon faith focuses on people. It suits man’s passions. It has mountains of rules, requirements, and burdens that it place upon people in order to get them to do the whims of the leaders of the faith. The ordinances and rituals must be scrupulously satisfied in order for a person to please God and toto be raised to a higher level in heaven. This was awfully convenient for Joseph Smith and the other early leaders of the church as they took many wives and demanded monetary support. These required works also shift the center of the faith. It makes it all about them. Their works, their glory, and their preoccupation with self are on center stage rather than God’s mercy and grace.
You controlling your own life appeals beautifully to one’s own self.
It has nothing to do with Jesus.
13) 2 Corinthians 11:13-15
For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds.
Satan does not come in with a flashing sign “False Doctrine Leading You to Hell”. He works through the swelling appeals of false teachers and prophets.
14) Revelation 22:18-19
I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.
God warns not to mess with the Bible. Joseph Smith not only changed the Bible, he also added completely new books and doctrines.
The Prosperity Gospel is Garbage – A Simple Response to a False Gospel
15) Deuteronomy 18:22
When a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that the Lord has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You need not be afraid of him.
There are many instances of Smith and his successors specifically speaking in the name of the Lord and being wrong. It is important to note that this is not just you or I making a mistake. These men called themselves prophets and claimed to speak from God. They told their church things to come and established what should have been unchangeable doctrine. They were repeatedly wrong in their predictions, sometimes in ludicrous ways. They backtracked on the unchangeable doctrines of God when they became inconvenient.
The Bible tells you they are not prophets and not speaking for God as a result.
16) Colossians 2:18-19
Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.
17) John 1:1-4
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.
John speaks of the eternal nature of Jesus as God. Jesus is the Creator of All Things. There is nothing that was made that was not made through Jesus. This means just what it says – Jesus made everything and there was nothing that was made that Jesus did not make. Simple, right?
Not so much for Joseph Smith as the Mormons say Jesus was created. They claim Jesus was not always God, as well.
John says all things were made through Jesus. The Mormon Church says “Not so”. They are contradictory statements.
Who is right?
18) Colossians 1:16
For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.
Jesus is eternal Creator of all things – again , all things.
19) 1 Corinthians 15:3
Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, 2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.
3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. 6 After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. 7 After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles. 8 Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time.
Scholars believe 1 Corinthians 15 is a written version of the Creed of the church. It was a statement of the core of the Gospel to be memorized by the Church. The eternal God, Jesus, died for your sins in accordance with the Scriptures. It is the same message preached by Christians to this day.
20) Ephesians 2:8-9
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Salvation is a gift of God. It is not a result of works so that no man can boast. If you had a part to play in saving you then you would be tempted to be prideful about it. This is the definition of grace.
The Mormon faith claims grace does not actually mean a free gift. God actually meant “grace, after all you can do”. In other words, grace is a free gift after you have earned it. They also have no idea how much they have to earn before the grace kicks in. This fundamentally makes no sense.
It would be like a parent placing a wrapped gift in front of their small child on their birthday and demanding payment for it. The child would naturally try to pay for it through chores and the like , but could never know if their labor was enough. If they did pay enough by this mysterious standard, there is still a huge problem. The gift would no longer be a gift. It would certainly bear no resemblance to a loving free gift.
Grace is either free or it is not grace.
Lessons of Grace from a Crown of Thorns
21) 1 Peter 2:9
9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; 10 who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.
You are chosen. You are a royal priesthood. Peter addressed this to those who are in Christ without limitation, right now. It is your birthright when you are born again. It is your identity, rather than something to be earned.
11 Life Changing Bible Verses about being Born Again
The Mormon Church says “Yeah, we don’t do that either”. They claim a male only priesthood. They used to claim black people could not be part of it. They argue these blessings are limited to those who follow their rules and meet their approval. They make people dance for the approval of those who are “truly special” to God, rather than the rabble.
I am going to trust Peter on this one too.
22) 2 Corinthians 12:9
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
This one is more subtle. The Mormon doctrine of salvation is built on you doing the right thing. You have to do “all you can do” and then maybe God will show mercy…or throw you into the Outer Darkness. This is what breeds the “super nice Mormon” along with suffocating cultural pressure.
Do you see Paul’s response?
Paul admits he could never do all he could do. He is weak. He is a sinner – chief of them, in fact. In Romans, he writes he does not do what he knows he should. This would label Paul a failure in Mormonism. He did not do “all he could do” and was weak. “Not a team player”, say Mormonism.
God responds very differently. He tells Paul that weakness is exactly what God needs to carry out His will.
God Doesn’t Call the Qualified, He Qualifies the Called
23) Romans 6:14
For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.
24) Romans 11:6
But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.
Standing before God is never based on works…or it is not grace. The Mormon definition of grace is therefore not grace but works according to Paul. Grace is free or else it is not the Christian definition of grace.
Is Your Gospel Worth Dying for?
25) James 4:6
But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
26) Hebrews 4:16
Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Why are you encouraged to go to God without fear?
It is not because you worked hard, attended church, or achieved a level of holiness. It is because you need mercy and grace. You failed. Jesus did not.
Jesus does not need your help to complete your salvation.
27) 1 Corinthians 15:10
But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.
28) John 1:16
And from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.
29) Romans 5:8
But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
30) Titus 2:11-14
For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.
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31) Romans 3:20-24
For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
The Old Testament nation of Israel was regimented through the detailed system set out in the Mosaic Law. God set out in great detail the rules to follow, the Temple system, the sacrifices, and even parts of how the people should dress. Jesus came and fulfilled the Law. The Bible says all the ceremonies and structures of the Law were a shadow of what was to come in Jesus. This was great news as the Bible says no one could keep the Law.
Joseph Smith responded to this eternal truth by creating a knock off version of systems of the Mosaic Law. He replaced the Temple with multiple temples. He replaced priests with more priests. He replaced the tassles of the Old Testament Jew with the holy undergarments. Mormonism is all about his temple, his works, his garments, and his imagination. Since they bear similar names as Biblical ideas, it may be difficult to spot the problem but it is huge.
Jesus already fulfilled the Law and set you free. The requirements were all just pointing to Him. Ignoring this truth and making new versions of these old structures denies the finished work of Jesus.
32) Colossians 1:15
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.
Jesus is the Eternal God.
33) John 8:58
Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.”
For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, 2 to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all, first being translated “king of righteousness,” and then also king of Salem, meaning “king of peace,” 3 without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, remains a priest continually.
Jesus deliberately equates Himself with the Father in this passage. The God who spoke in the Burning Bush is the great “I AM”. Jesus called Himself the same name, “I AM”. Jesus does not say that He is like a god or they are similar. He shares the same identification as the Father, “I AM”. The crowd of first century Jews clearly understood the significance. They heard Jesus call Himself the God of the Burning Bush and responded by trying to stone Him for blasphemy.
Joseph Smith denies the Father and Son are One.
Jesus is the Eternal “I AM”.
34) John 4:24
God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
35) Hebrews 1
Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.
36) Revelation 3:21
The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne.
37) 1 Corinthians 7:1-2
Now concerning the matters about which you wrote: “It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman.” But because of the temptation to sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband.
The Mormon Church doctrine was polygamy was required by God. Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, and many others had dozens of wives. They claimed Jesus was also a polygamist.
They claimed this was from God. The fact they later changed it does not make it better. The Bible in the New Testament calls this adultery.
38) Matthew 19:4-6
And He answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.”
39) 1 Peter 2:24
He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.
Healed completely and finally. His work, not your constant striving to earn God’s approval.
40) Psalm 90:2
Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
41) Romans 8
There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. 2For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. 3For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, 4that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. 6For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 7Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. 8So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
9But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. 10And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
12Therefore, brethren, we are debtors—not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. 13For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. 15For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” 16The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.
Are you free from the law of sin and death? This means you are already received eternal life. You are already adopted into the eternal God’s family. God already approves of you and guarantees your place in heaven. Jesus already paid enough that you don’t have to earn your righteousness, which you never could.
Joseph Smith says you are none of those things. Thankfully, his words have been clearly and repeatedly shown to be false. His testimony and description of Jesus looks nothing like the Jesus of the Word of God.
It is your choice whom you choose to believe.
Thank you for scripture answers to my questions, they have answers prepared to defend their beliefs. And I’m greatful for scripture answers. Thank you
This is not accurate regarding the Mormon church. They very clearly believe in only one god and there is no confusion about it.
Hi Phil – I am sorry to say that your statement is just not true. The LDS church rejects the Trinity and instead believes that the Father, Son
, and Holy Spirit are three separate and distinct gods. It then adds in a heavenly entity called the Holy Mother with whom the Father has relations in order to create his children. That is four gods already. Then they add on the deification of people – former Mormons – after death. That people become Gods – which adds a whole bunch of gods. Even just 4 gods as a start adds up to a polytheistic religion.
They use lots of different caveats to try to avoid admitting this, but it is their fundamental doctrine.
even the book of mormon (the Book Joseph Smith gave) talks about one God. Definitely not at least 4. IDK where you got that info from
I got it from the official doctrine of the LDS church. There is a ton of misdirection and concealing of the actual doctrines that goes on and, frankly, many of the Mormons I have spoken to over the years don’t know the actual doctrine on the issue, but read it from the claimed apostles themselves:
In an 1844 sermon known as the King Follett discourse, Joseph Smith said, “God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man, and sits enthroned in yonder heavens!” He went on to say that God “was once a man like us; yea, that God himself, the Father of us all, dwelt on an earth.”
So as a starting point, Joseph Smith taught that God is not eternally God, but was once just a man who dwelt on the earth. Where did he come from? Orson Pratt, one of the early Mormon apostles, wrote,
We were begotten by our Father in heaven; the person of our Father in heaven was begotten on a previous heavenly world by His Father; and again, He was begotten by a still more ancient Father; and so on, from generation to generation, from one heavenly world to another still more ancient.
So now you have God being not only not eternally God, but a created being created by his heavenly father, another previously existing God – one of many on the many heavenly worlds that exist. Another one of the apostles explained how these many gods come into existence,
“As man is now, God once was; as God is now man may be.”
So men become gods. You are looking at possibly a huge number of gods now. But, when you limit the question to Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the LDS is just as clear:
Joseph Smith claimed Christian trinitarianism is a “popular but erroneous doctrine”. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit were “three distinct personages and three Gods.” according to Smith.
Bruce R. McConkie, a Mormon apostle in the 1970s and early 1980s, explained what was meant by this, “Three separate personages—the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost—comprise the Godhead. As each of these persons is a God, it is evident, from this standpoint alone, that a plurality of Gods exists.”
You have to add to this clear statement that each of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are three different Gods the fact that the LDS church teaches that there is a Holy Mother – a divine mother who gets together with the Holy Father to create all people.
“Each [person] is a beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents, and, as such, each has a divine nature and destiny.” – 1995 publication of the LDS Church on Family
“We forget that we have a Heavenly Father and a Heavenly Mother who are even more concerned, probably, than our earthly father and mother, and that influences from beyond are constantly working to try to help us when we do all we can.” President Harold B. Lee
So, by the clear statements of the Church, you have three different gods in the Father, Son, Holy Spirit, plus one more in the Holy Mother, plus the heavenly father of the the Father, that makes 5, plus the many other heavenly fathers on the many other planets like ours, plus the many other men who follow the pattern of God, who was once like us and became God.
The LDS church response to this is that the three gods, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are united in purpose and they only worship the one god of all of the rest. While this is interesting, partly in the way that it seeks to avoid the issue, it fails to change the essential nature of the faith as polytheistic – a faith of many gods. This may be the claim that their god is “one” that you refer to. The one that they mean simply does not mean one in number – it is a massaging of the word to make the doctrine seem less jarring than it actually is. Monotheism means one God in number, not three plus agreeing on the same idea.