The Mormon Mirage, and Q&A

On today’s Bible Answer Man broadcast (11/12/25), Hank reads a letter from a Mormon listener, who was hurt by Hank’s comments on Mormonism and claims that his statements were either untrue or taken out of context. Hank responds by demonstrating that Mormons believe in a false Christ and a false book—The Book of Mormon.

Hank also answers the following questions:

Are unbelievers automatically judged when they die, or are they waiting for the Second Coming? Steve - Oklahoma City, OK (8:53)
I am a Mormon convert. I hear many critics distorting Mormon teachings. There is evidence for the Book of Mormon's reliability. Jim - MT (15:59)
Why do we put so much stress on religion? Isn’t religion man-made? Mike - Wichita, KS (21:50)
I am disappointed that you find a need to degrade the Mormon Church. Linda - Cortez, CO (23:49)

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:07):
Broadcasting across the United States, Canada, and around the world.
This is the Bible answer Man Broadcast. Your host for
the program is Hank Canagraph, president of the Christian Research Institute.
We're on the air because life and truth matter. For
more information resources or to donate to CRI, call eight

(00:29):
eight eight seven thousand CRI, or go online to equip
dot org. That's equip dot org. The following program was
pre recorded to start today's Bible answer Man broadcast. Here's
your host, Hank Canagraph.

Speaker 2 (00:46):
Thank very much, Randy. Before we go to our callers,
which we'll do in just a moment, I want to
say just a couple of words about memorable keys to
the Mormon Mirage. It is a flipchart available for your
of the ministry. I have gotten a fire storm of
comments and even criticisms, some of them coming from Mormons themselves,

(01:12):
and a lot of them have been given in a
very sweet way. I might add, for example, a letter
from Brad who says, first, I love your radio broadcast,
the Bible answer Man, so thank you for that. As
a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter
day Saints, I was hurt by your comments in your

(01:34):
broadcast and on your website, your statements regarding our faith
are either not true or taken out of context to
the point that they are sensationalized. That, by the way,
is a very strong charge not true or sensationalized. If

(01:55):
in fact we were communicating that which was not true
or sationalizing information, that would indeed be an egregious error.
Brad goes on to say, I have faith in Jesus
just as you do. Let me pause for a moment
to say, I have no doubt that he has faith

(02:17):
in Jesus. The point is that he has the wrong Jesus.
He has another Jesus, he has another Gospel. And that
point cannot be missed as we talk about Mormonism, and
as you look at the deviations of Mormonism and of
their founder Joseph Smith, who said that the Book of

(02:40):
Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth
and was the keystone to their religion. That was his view,
that was what he held to. Not only that, but
he believed that all the Christian creeds were wrong, and
all the Christian professors were corrupt, and all their doctrines

(03:02):
an abomination, and that he had been called not to reform,
but to restore a church that had disappeared from the
face of the earth. So Joseph Smith had some very
strong words about Christianity when he proposed his alternate view

(03:23):
of spirituality. The view that Jesus Christ was conceived by
sexual intercourse between God and the Virgin Mary. The view
that the Bible is filled with errors and then superseded
by the Book of Mormon in the words of all
Mormon prophets. The view that God was once human like
we are dwelling on earth, and became God through faith

(03:46):
and good works, just as we can do ourselves. Brad
goes on and writes, I believe the Bible to be
the Word of God, and yes, I also believe the
Book of Mormon to be the Word of God. I
will continue to listen to your insightful broadcast, but I

(04:07):
don't understand how the spirit of denigration of one's faith
can so easily exist on your show. And let me
again point out this is not a denigration of faith.
What it is is exposing that faith for what it is.
It is a faith in something that is not faithful. Indeed,

(04:30):
if you open the Book of Mormon, the first words
you will encounter are these. The Book of Mormon is
a volume of holy scripture comparable to the Bible. It
is a record of God's dealings with the ancient inhabitants
of the Americas, and contains, as does the Bible, the

(04:50):
fullness of the Everlasting Gospel. The Book of Mormon, however,
is the record of two greats civilizations. The first Jaredites
left the Tower of Babel and immigrated to the Americas
twenty two hundred years before Jesus Christ. The second migrated

(05:12):
from Jerusalem around six hundred BC and divided into two
great nations, Nephites and Lamanites. The Lamanites were, according to
the Book of Mormon, white and exceedingly fair and delightsome. However,
due to sin, the Lord God did cause a skin
of blackness to come upon them. The lone Nephite survival

(05:37):
in the final battle, according to the Book of Mormon,
with their Lamanite enemies, was a mighty military commander named Moroni,
and along with his father Mormon, Moroni inscribed what Joseph
Smith called the most correct of any book on Earth
and reformed Egyptian hieroglyphics, and then buried in the hill Camorra,
and after being resurrected as an angel, Moroni appeared to

(06:00):
the prophet Joseph Smith and instructed him relative to the
ancient record and its destined translation into the English language.
Now here's the problem. The Book of Mormon has been
utterly devastated by the facts. Anthropology demonstrates conclusively that the Jeredites,

(06:25):
the Lamanites, and the Nephites were little more than the
figment of Joseph Smith's fertile imagination. Not only that, but
the places mentioned in the Book of Mormon are mythological,
which is to say, there's no such thing as the
land of Moron north of the Great Sea of Desolation.

(06:51):
So the point here is that Brad has placed his
faith in something that is faithless. The Book of Mormon
is not the most correct any book on earth, and
it should not be the keystone to any religion. Anthropology
and archaeology demonstrates it to be false. We should not
place our faith in a false God, a false Jesus,

(07:14):
and a false revelation. And therefore, when I point this out,
there's no sensationalism. We're doing what we do because truth matters.
If you have a different Jesus, and a different gospel.
You have a Jesus and a Gospel that cannot save.
It is the very reason that we have prepared memorable
keys to the Mormon Mirage. It is to reach Mormons,

(07:38):
and it's also to equip Christians to know what they
believe in why so that they can use the deviations
of Mormonism as springboards or opportunities to share the truth
and love and grace that only the real Jesus, the
one who spoke of the universe left into existence, can
bring to the human heart, not the Mormon Jesus, the

(07:59):
one who's the spirit breath Lucifer, but the creator of
all things. So it really makes a difference what you
believe and why you believe what you believe, and certainly
makes a difference who you believe. The Mormon Jesus is
no Jesus at all. It is a false Jesus. The

(08:20):
real Jesus is the only one that can bridge the
divide between our sin and the holiness of God. Again,
the Mormon Mirage is available for your gift to the
ongoing work of the Christian Research Institute. You can access
it online at equipp dot org or when you write
me at box eighty five hundred, Charlotte, North Carolina, zip

(08:42):
code two eight two seven one. Or when you pick
up the telephone and speak to our resource consultants triple
eight seven thousand and the letters CRI. Let us go
right to the phone lines. First up, I want to
talk to Steve and Oklahoma. Hi, Steve, Hi, how are you?

Speaker 3 (09:01):
I'm fine? Would you just clarify a little bit for
me that you know, I know you talked about believers
that once they die that I have something with the
body is present with the Lord and are awaiting, you know,
the second coming of Christ when the dead and Christ
shall rise. And then also unbelievers when they die or
they automatically judged then or are they waiting also the

(09:22):
return of Christ as the second coming.

Speaker 2 (09:25):
Yeah, here's what's going on. We believe as Christians on
the basis of the Bible that there's life after life
after life. There's life after life in the sense that
when a believer dies, they're absent from the body present
with the Lord. In other words, the non physical aspect
of their humanity is in relationship to God. There's life

(09:45):
after life after life in that there is a time
when Jesus Christ will appear again and put all things
to right, and then the soul will return to the body,
and the body will be raised immortal, imperishable, in corruptible,
and we will live as human beings in a renewed
universe and forever explore the glory and greatness of the

(10:07):
one who saved us by his grace. As far as
what happens to those who die outside of Christ, Jesus
gives us a picture of that in Luke chapter sixteen.
There's a rich man who dies. There's also a beggar
laying by his gate who dies. The beggar ends up
in Abraham's bosom or paradise, which means that he ends

(10:31):
up in relationship with God. The rich man, who wanted
no part of God in this life, he ends up
in torment. But in both cases, Lazarus and the rich
man are awaiting that which will happen when Jesus Christ
returns to put all things to right, where there is

(10:54):
a judgment that takes place, a judgment of rewards and
a judgment of punishment in Hell. I've laid this out
very clearly in a book called Resurrection. Check it out
of the way at equipped dot org. We'll be right
back with more of your questions right here on the
Bible Instrument Broadcast. Please don't touch that dial.

Speaker 1 (11:14):
To find out more about the materials mentioned on the show,
call a CRII Resource consultant toll free at eight eight
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Our website is also an excellent reference destination to help you.
Just go to equip dot org and find articles by Hank, books,

(11:37):
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O Box eighty five hundred, Charlotte, North Carolina, ZIP two
eight two seven one. The Bible answer Man will continue
in just a moment.

Speaker 4 (12:01):
Hank Hanigraph has dedicated his life to defending truth because
Truth Matters. Yet, an encounter with Christians in the Underground
Church of China left Hanograph contemplating his Christian experience. They
were experiencing something beyond truth. They were experiencing life. Truth matters.
Life Matters More by Hank Hanigraph is two books in one.
Because Truth Matters. Part one equips Christians to defend the

(12:25):
essential truths of the historic Christian faith. In Part two,
Hank explains why life matters more and how we can
experience the height of human existence union with God. Prepare
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Life matters more, the unexpected beauty of an authentic Christian

(12:46):
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Speaker 1 (13:01):
The number of wolves surrounding the Christian flock is growing,
and they relish nothing more than docile's sheep, utterly incapable
of defending themselves from militant secularists at home to militant
Islamists abroad. The assaults on Biblical Christianity are growing dangerously,
but Christian Research Institutes Support Team members aren't in favor

(13:22):
of feeding these wolves. Instead, each day they're making possible
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What's more, Support Team members are equipping themselves with criis
Equipping Essentials, a handpicked collection of the best apologetics tools around.

(13:43):
Your selection of resources are just our way of saying thanks.
To learn more about the benefits of membership, simply visit
equip dot org. Once again, that's equip dot org.

Speaker 5 (14:01):
To fully grasp the significance of Christ's Messianic rule, you
must drink deeply from the wellspring of Old Testament prophecy.
In Hebrews, as in the rest of the New Testament,
the Old Testament history of Israel is interpreted as a

(14:22):
succession of types that find ultimate fulfillment in the birth, death, resurrection,
and ascension of the Christ we celebrate at Christmas.

Speaker 1 (14:37):
Hank Hanagraph has penned The Heart of Christmas, a devotional
for the season, to ensure that just as you prepare
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the Heart of Christmas, a devotional for the season, by
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(15:07):
The famous British apologist G. K. Chesterton once noted the
true soldier fights not because he hates what is in
front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.
Because at CRII we love what is behind us, our faith,
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(15:28):
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(15:52):
dot org. Here again is CRI President Hank Canograph.

Speaker 2 (15:57):
I want to go back to the phone lines and
talked to Jim. He's listening in Montana High Jim, Oh, Hi, I.

Speaker 6 (16:04):
Gotta tell you, I do listen in once in a while.
And I am a I guess what people would call
a convert to the LDS church only because I spent years,
whether it was travel I retired from the military, whether
it was the fact I grew up in a Christian
home where I you know, I spent my time overseas
and the time I was a military, I visited and

(16:27):
worshiped with different people in different churches. And the fact
is I believe all the good stuff that most orthodox
fundamental Christians say they believe, but I do believe that
there is more, and that there are some blanks to
be filled in. One of the things that troubles me
is I consider myself, honestly, probably one of the best

(16:50):
read researched latter day saints that there is. I've got
a phenomenal library and of things that aren't even in
print anymore. And you know, the journals course is a
huge volume, you know, thirty volumes of records of things
that were discussed by all the latter day prophets, from
Joseph Smith on down, and you know, things like this.

(17:11):
I keep hearing that God the Father had sexual relations
with Mary, and that's absolutely not true. There is nothing
in the LDS doctrine that states that we believe that
she was overshadowed, you know, by the power of the
Holy ghost and in some I don't know, he caught
the supernatural way is the right way to put it.
But in a spiritual way she was able to conceive.

(17:33):
Thus she was able to maintain the fact that she
was a virgin. He was born of a virgin birth.
We do not believe that she was had sexual relations
with God the Father before Jesus Christ was born, and
you know, we believe that Jesus Christ is literally the
Son of God. He's the first begodden of the Father,
the only begotten in the flesh, and that he had

(17:56):
the power to lay down his life and take it
up again. We believe that he's the only name under
heaven by which a man can be saved. We believe
that he's our mediator, the only way that a person
gets to the Fathers through the Son. You know, they're
they're just crucial things like that to me that that
I know what we believe, and I hear people distorting
these things. And the fact is people are always looking

(18:19):
for archaeological or historical things. And I have literally volumes
and volumes of books of the research that's been conducted
not only by the Church but other independent archaeologists and
historians all over South America that definitely documents things that
are related to.

Speaker 2 (18:40):
So you believe that there's a lend of Moron north
of the Great Sea of Desolation.

Speaker 6 (18:44):
You know, I believe that there's a lot of places
that we can't particularly point a finger and put a
finger on that we have through the descriptions. But it's
one of those things that we've said before. If a
person is going to be a Latter day Saint, first
of all, you have to have a believe that Joseph
was a prophet. And if you believe he's a prophet,
then you get to believe that, you know, if he's

(19:05):
the Book of Mormon is the Word of God. You
can't take one with you out the other, right, and
you have.

Speaker 2 (19:09):
To also believe what he said when he said that
all existing churches were wrong, all their creeds were an abomination,
and all their professors were corrupt. But you know, here's
the problem that I have. I think you need as
a Mormon to be fair to your own scholarship. Bruce McConkie,
as you are recognized as a well read Mormon, is

(19:32):
a real hero of the Mormon faith. And Bruce McConkie
was very clear in communicating what we say Mormons believe
with respect to how Jesus Christ was conceived. And again,
I think you have to be fair to your own leaders.
I don't think it's fair to distort what they say.

(19:54):
Bruce McConkie, for example, made very clear that quote our
Lord was conceived in heaven by heavenly Mother and came
in flesh as the result of heavenly Father having sex
with the virgin Mary. And then he went on to
say Christ was begotten by an immortal father in the

(20:15):
same way that mortal men are begotten by mortal fathers.
As far as Jesus Christ is concerned. The idea therefore
becomes that Jesus Christ is not that Jesus Christ described
in the Bible, the one who spoke in the universe
left into existence, but rather he is a different Jesus.

(20:39):
He is a Jesus who ends up being the spirit
brother of Lucifer.

Speaker 6 (20:46):
Okay, first of all, I got it. There's a couple
of things that you're talking about that. First of all,
if a person doesn't understand the context of which they
were said and understand what was being said, that it
will sound like it's all mixed up. But first of all,
when he's talking about being conceived of a heavenly father
and a heavenly mother, this leads to the discussion where

(21:07):
we believe in a pre existence, yes, and try for
the people don't yes, so that in those terms, yes,
we do believe that every single person that has come
to the earth or that will yet come to the
earth is literally a begotten spirit child of God.

Speaker 3 (21:23):
Right.

Speaker 2 (21:23):
No, No, I understand that. And that's not the point
that I'm making, although it is a point that I
would make. The point I'm making is what we have said,
according to your own Mormon leaders is true with respect
to how Jesus was conceived by the Father and the
Virgin Mary. And again I was quoting Mormon sources, authoritative

(21:45):
Mormon sources, and I think it's important to be fair
to those authoritative Mormon sources. Let's go back to the
phone lines and talk to Mike. He's in Wichita, Kansas. Hi, Mike, Hi,
I'm doing good. How are you well?

Speaker 7 (22:00):
Fine? I go to a non denominational church, and I
want to ask you, why do we put so much
stress on religion. Religion is man made. It's not God
following or Christ following.

Speaker 2 (22:14):
Correct Well, we don't put a stress on religion or
religious systems. What we do put a stress on is
a relationship that you can have with Jesus Christ. But
there are organizations that have correctly communicated this and are
set up so that people can worship God through prayer, praise,
and the proclamation of the Word, so that they can

(22:35):
have oneness as a body of believers, because when a
person becomes a Christian, they're not a lone ranger Christian,
but they're born into a body of believers. And also
within a church, people can be equipped to go out
and impact the world. So they're equipped and edified and

(22:55):
exhorted and encouraged to be those that reach out to
a lost and searching world. Because there are only two
kinds of people in the world, those who are of
their father, the devil, or those who are of their
heavenly Father, the one who created the universe.

Speaker 7 (23:11):
I understand that, but I just the whole religion aspect.
I had a college professor once that told history class
that all wars were fought around religion, and that's why
I just have this feeling about Well.

Speaker 2 (23:28):
That's just absolutely preposterous statement. It's hard to imagine someone
living in today's age making that kind of preposterous ahistorical remark. Okay, well,
atheism has accounted for more deaths in the twentieth century
leading up to the twenty first century than any other
system of belief. I want to go back to the

(23:49):
phone lines. Talk to Linda listening in Cortes, Colorado High Linda.

Speaker 8 (23:54):
Hello, I'm college. In regards to the man that I
had talked to you from Montana, I didn't catch his name, unfortunately,
LDS Man. Yeah, Jim, Yeah, I'm also LDS you know,
And you know I I listened to you every morning
on the right work at four o'clock in the morning

(24:16):
and on the way home. And I can tell you
right now, I'm so disappointed that you find a need
to degrade the Mormon Church when actually you not finding
the right sources. I don't know where you're searching, but
you need to search actual church sources. If you're going

(24:39):
to tell it, tell it really like it is.

Speaker 2 (24:42):
Well, we are telling it exactly like it is. And
I do give sources. I mean, when Jim asked me
about the Mormon doctrine with respect to how Jesus was
pro created, I gave him the source Bruce McConkie. Yes,
you did.

Speaker 8 (24:58):
You gave that name, only you didn't say which book
Mormon doctrine.

Speaker 2 (25:03):
And Jim, as someone who is familiar as he communicated
with the writings of Mormonism, would know very well Bruce McConkie.
And in fact, I think if you listen to him,
he acknowledged that he was familiar with this, as any
Mormon probably would be so Mormon doctrine. You look at
page I think it's five point forty seven. If you

(25:24):
look that up, you'll find this. All I'm saying is
you need to be fair to your own leaders and
not misquote them and misinterpret them. Indeed, it makes an
eternal difference whether you believe Jesus is the spirit brother
of Lucifer or you believe that Jesus is the one
who spoke in the universe leapt into existence, for only
that Jesus has the power to atone for the sins

(25:49):
of those who are not yet reconciled to God. Remember
the resource memorable Keys to the Mormon Mirage flip chart available.
Check it out on the web. Available for your gift
to the ministry. Thanks for tuning in. Look forward to
seeing you right here tomorrow with more of the Bible
Ancemen broadcast.

Speaker 1 (26:08):
You've been listening to the Bible answer Man Broadcast with
Hank Hannagraph. We pray that today's program has deepened your
understanding of scripture and helped you grow in the grace
and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. If you'd like
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Just go to equip dot org. That's equip dot org,

(26:31):
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Speaker 4 (27:01):
Truth matters, Life matters More details Hank Hanigraf's personal pilgrimage
from his long defensive truth to his discovery that life
matters more. Essentially, two books in one. Part one equips
Christians to defend the essential truths of the historic Christian faith.
Part two explains why truth is necessary but hardly sufficient.

(27:22):
That the map is not the territory, the menu is
not the meal. We are created to experience life to
the full through union with God in Christ. Is there
more to the Christian life than what you are experiencing?
Truth matters, Life matters more unveils the unexpected beauty of
an authentic Christian life. To receive truth matters, Life matters

(27:42):
more for yourself or as a terrific gift to a
friend or loved one called eight eight eight seven thousand
CRI and make a gift to support the Christian Research
Institute's life changing outreaches eight eight eight seven thousand CRI
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