Have you ever wondered how a cult which claims to be "restored Christianity" evolved into a paganistic group which teaches polytheism and men as gods? How could this happen? Well, when Sidney Rigdon diminished in power as Smith's "counselor," Smith began to teach some very bizarre doctrines, not found in the Book of Mormon - the existence of more than one god, men becoming gods, the Mormon God's evolution to godhood. These pagan-based ideas, are now fully incorporated into Mormonism, as the writing of this prominent Mormon prove:
In chapter 17 of his book ***led "The Gospel Through the Ages," (“They Shall be Gods”), Milton R. Hunter (the book's primary author) uses paganism and its beliefs in an attempt to justify Mormon practices and concepts. Hunter writes: Hunter writes under the heading of "Pagans' Concept of Knowing God,":
“Even the doctrine of a knowledge of God as the avenue to Godhood made its way outward from the Divine Fountain of Truth into the heathenistic religions of the Mediterranean world. The teachings of the Hermetic pagan cult sound quite familiar to those who are acquainted with the doctrine taught by Jesus, by John the Beloved, by Paul, and by Joseph Smith the American Prophet. They have a close kinship to the true Gospel which came to earth through the holy prophets of God. For example, Hermes declared: ‘And this alone, even the knowledge (gnosis) of God, is man's salvation. This is the ascent to Olympus, and by this alone can a soul become good.’ This religion taught, as did the Prophet Alma, that man must experience a rebirth. The Hermetic rebirth involved nothing less than deification. ‘This is the good; this is the consummation for those who have got gnosis-they enter into God’; so declared the Hermetic teacher.
Cult members believed that such knowledge came about as a special mental or spiritual enlightment which came to them as a gift of God. (Compare this thought with John 14:16-18, 26; 15:26; 16:13.) They also maintained that demons were forever present to lead the ungodly man into unrighteous desires and habits. ‘But to the holy and good, the pure and merciful who lived piously, the spirit was ever present to help them win the Father's love by their upright lives.’
Hunter's embracement of paganism reaches its acme with this statement:
“Note the close resemblances between the foregoing pagan teachings and those of the true Gospel…Thus we see that the true doctrine of knowing the Lord as the pathway to Godhood was revealed to man as part of the knowledge of the divine plan of salvation; and, like many other Gospel truths, it was disseminated among pagan worshipers.”
Source:
http://www.mrm.org/glorifying-paganism
Folks, the bottom line is that the occultist, Joseph Smith, brought pagan beliefs into his "restored" church which is nothing but a conglomeration of pagan, "restorationism," and demonic-occult beliefs posing as the "only true Christian Church on the face of the whole earth." Hunter is so on target - we should acknowledge the resemblances between paganism and what Mormons call "the true Gospel." The Mormons have exchanged the Lord Jesus' Gospel for a mess of cultic slop derived from Mt. Olympus. Mormons are neo-pagans and look to Mt. Olympus, and not the Kingdom of Light, for guidance!
If the Mormons are pressing you to join, run as fast as you can the other way!