Today, August 18^th (8/18), is “We Agree with Moroni 8:18” Day. Every year since 2011 “We Agree with Moroni 8:18” Day has been promoted by Christians on social media as a day of focused outreach to Mormons using (you guessed it) Moroni 8:18 from the Book of Mormon:

“God is not a partial God, neither a changeable being; but he is unchangeable from all eternity to all eternity.”

This passage from the Book of Mormon has a biblical parallel:

“Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.” (Psalm 90:2)

Therefore, Christians agree with this idea expressed in the Book of Mormon. The one true God has always been God – from all eternity to all eternity; from everlasting to everlasting.
But modern day Mormonism does not agree with Moroni 8:18 or Psalm 90:2. While professing to believe both the Bible and the Book of Mormon, Mormonism actually espouses something quite different about God.
In 1830 Joseph Smith, the founding prophet of Mormonism, published the Moroni 8:18 declaration that God was “unchangeable from all eternity to all eternity,” claiming to have received this information by revelation from God Himself. Fourteen years later this same prophet told his congregation,

“I am going to tell you how God came to be God. We have imagined and supposed that God was God from all eternity, I will refute that idea, and will take away and do away the vail, so that you may see.” (King Follet Discourse, April 7, 1844)

In 1830 Joseph Smith (via the Book of Mormon) taught that God was an unchangeable being, unchangeable from all eternity to all eternity. Then in 1844 he refuted that idea, teaching instead that God was not always God, but had to become God. The prophet went on to explain,

“These are incomprehensible ideas to some; but they are simple. It is the first principle of the Gospel to know for a certainty the character of God and to know that we may converse with him as one man converses with another, and that he was once a man like us; yea, that God himself the Father of us all, dwelt on an earth the same as Jesus Christ himself did; …
“Here, then, is eternal life–to know the only wise and true God; and you have got to learn how to be Gods yourselves, and to be kings and priests to God, the same as all Gods have done before you, – namely, by going from one small degree to another, and from a small capacity to a great one, – from grace to grace, from exaltation to exaltation, until you attain to the resurrection of the dead, and are able to dwell in everlasting burnings and to sit in glory, as do those who sit enthroned in everlasting power.”

Joseph Smith refuted Moroni 8:18. In other words, he sought to prove that the “unchangeable” God that Mormons believed in, the God who was “God from all eternity,” was in fact not “unchangeable from all eternity to all eternity.” And by insisting that this post-Book of Mormon doctrine of God was true, he disproved (refuted) the Book of Mormon itself.
Christians strongly disagree with Mormonism and view it as a non-Christian religion, yet we agree with Moroni 8:18 insofar as it agrees with the Bible. But Mormonism, the religion that professes the Book of Mormon as scripture, disregards this verse and promotes a different god.
The Bible says,

“And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” (John 17:3)

Knowing the only true God is crucial. If Mormons hope for a blessed eternal life, they must know the only true God. They must embrace the truth of the unchangeable, eternal God taught in Moroni 8:18 and Psalm 90:2.
Today, August 18^th (8/18), please join us in agreeing with Moroni 8:18 and Psalm 90:2.
May you know the only true God – the God who was and is and is to come (Revelation 4:8).

I have both Mormon and JW family members and have studied apologetics in that area for decades now. I appreciate that you try to reach them with the gospel and that you understand the JW’s are more likely to have a chip on their shoulder. I would say that with JW’s you must change your strategy. Trying to prove the trinity or divinity of Christ is a dead-end with the JW’s and it is the area they train for. Worst is that it doesn’t really get you to the gospel. Go for an area where they are less prepared and is essential to the gospel. They deny the resurrection of Christ from the dead. Push them to tell you their position that Jesus’ body was dissolved into gases and God recreated the archangel Michael again from His memories. Then get them to read through John 2:18-22. This outright contradicts their beliefs. Then go to the gospel definition in 1 Corinthians 15 and go through that slowly with lots of questions. Their rejection of Jesus’ resurrection is a rejection of a key and essential part of the gospel. Your time will be much more well spent there.

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Speaking as a former Mormon, I can tell you that it can be very difficult to get through the hard veneer of Mormon doctrine - especially since most of these young men have grown up in the Mormon faith and have been indoctrinated since birth with the false gospel of Mormonism. I’m sure you know that they do not hold a view of the Bible as inerrant and that their founder Joseph Smith re-translated many verses of the Bible to fit the doctrine they teach. They hold the Book of Mormon and Doctrine & Covenants in much higher esteem and authority than the true Word of God and, for this reason, it can be difficult to point them to errors in their doctrine using the Bible alone. This is why praying for the Holy Spirit to reveal the truth to them is so key. Also, it is important to know that terms we use and take for granted have very different meanings in the world of Mormonism (such as Jesus, salvation, & hell) so you can’t assume that you are all on the same page just because you are using the same terms.

When they arrive on Saturday, you can expect them to be prepared to present to you an overview of the gospel as they understand it. They have been trained to basically ignore any objections and deflect any questions you might have. It is an excellent move to request that they listen to what you have to say in exchange for listening to their message but don’t expect too much. As I said, these are young men who have been heavily indoctrinated, have never seriously investigated the claims of their church, and rely heavily on well-practiced, canned presentations to make their point. Any veering off-script tends to be met with a deer-in-the-headlights look and an exhortation to read a highlighted passage in the Book of Mormon they will leave with you and to be on the watch for a “burning in your bosom” that will testify of the “truth” they are sharing. I pray, Tim, that the Holy Spirit will give you wisdom, discernment, and the right words to say that will at least get them questioning their beliefs and set them on a journey of discovery that will set them free from the falsehoods and imprisonment they are living under.****

Appreciated your recent article on Mormonism and agree with what you say. One thought, though: I have shared the gospel with Mormons, and they will agree with everything I say. This is because of the language barrier. Every important word has been redefined by the LDS church such that you must slowly define every term carefully or else what you’re saying and what they’re hearing are two different things. I try to be intentional about defining my terms so that they will know that terms like “God”, “Jesus”, and “grace” mean something different than what the LDS church has taught them. Blessings to you.