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This essay first appeared
in The
Southern Baptist Theological Journal (Summer, 2005)
Christians are
supposed to defend the faith (Jude 3), preserve the
Gospel’s purity (Gal. 1:6-9; 1 Pet 3:15), test all things (1
Thess.
5:21), and correct those who have doctrinally erred (2 Tim. 4:2).
Equally relevant scriptures include Eph. 4:15, which mentions speaking
the truth “in love,” and 2 Tim. 2:24-26, which says
to
correct using “gentleness and respect.”
Unfortunately,
these latter two passages often take a backseat to what becomes the
overriding aim of witnessing—that is, make sure that someone
realizes he is wrong. But this unbiblical approach never results in a
person falling to his knees, repenting, and shouting appreciation for
being shown the error of his doctrinal ways. Instead, emotional walls
go up defensive arguments are launched (no matter how baseless or
illogical they may be), and a golden opportunity to show
Christ’s
love is lost.
One of the most
obvious places where some well-meaning Christians have
failed to follow biblical mandates about sharing the good news has been
in the area of witnessing to Mormons. I have myself, truth be told,
been guilty of speaking to Mormons not so lovingly and not with so much
gentleness or respect. And I have seen similar mistakes made by others.
Given the fact that the Bible says judgment begins in the
church
(1 Pet. 4:17), I believe it is time for all of us to stop for a moment
and consider why we do what we do in the area of
“cult”
evangelism. This is especially relevant in connection to
members
of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS),
since we
share with them a number of general concepts:
(1)
There is a
personal God who cares about us (as opposed to either no God at all or
an impersonal force).
(2) Jesus Christ was a real, historical person who lived, died, and
physically rose again from the dead.
(3) A Christian’s life in this world should be marked by holy
living, pure thoughts, and zeal for evangelism.
The problem, of
course, is that Mormons define doctrinal terms/concepts
quite differently than evangelicals. For example, Mormons deny
the
traditional definition of the Trinity. “God” in
Mormonism
is an exalted man and is only one god among many gods in the universe.
Additionally, Jesus is a created being whose nature is virtually the
same as ours—the primary difference being that he has
progressed
to godhood. Mormons also teach that there are two
salvations—general, which is merely resurrection life (a gift
given by grace), and individual, which is godhood (a reward secured by
a grace/works synergy.)
| BELIEF
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Christianity
|
Mormonism
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| God |
There
is only one true God (Monotheism), who exists eternally as three
distinct Persons (or centers of consciousness): Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit. God is not a man, nor does the Father have a body of flesh and
bones. God has always been God and always will be God. God is not
married, nor has he any literal children whom he has sired in the spiritual realm.
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There
are many gods in the universe (Polytheism). The god of this planet (the
one worshiped by Mormons) is an exalted man of flesh and bones who
progressed to godhood just like all the other gods in the universe
(although we have nothing to do with those particular gods). God has at
least one wife (perhaps more) with whom he has procreated spirit
children in the spirit world (see "pre-existence"). |
| Pre-existence |
Christians are "children" of God, metaphorically speaking:
1) by having been created by God; and 2) by adoption
through faith in Jesus Christ (Rom. 8:14-16; Gal. 3:26, 4:4-6). We are
not "children" of God in any literal sense. We did not exist prior to
conception in the womb, where the spirit is created by God and placed
into our physical form (see Zech. 12:1). Moreover, with regard to race,
God is no respecter of persons, and race is not determined by anything
we have done or not done. According to scripture, there are no race
distinctions (Gal. 3:28). All people are equal in God's eyes. No one race is superior than any other race.
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All of us pre-existed (i.e., lived before
coming to earth) in heaven as literal spirit
children of Heavenly Father and his wife, Heavenly Mother. We
were procreated in as spirit babies in the same way babies on earth are
procreated—i.e., via the natural biological act of sexual
intercourse of our parents (in context of pre-existence, that would be
Heavenly Father and Heavenly Mother). Consequently, we are all brothers
and sisters in a literalsense,
having had the same heavenly Father and Mother whom we lived with on an
as-yet-undiscovered planet somewhere in the cosmos named Kolob.
Moreover, our
actions in "heaven" before coming to earth determined our race here (a
teaching that led to blatant
racism throughout Mormonism's history, although this teaching
is now being stressed much less). |
| Jesus |
Jesus,
the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, has always existed as God the
Son in the eternal realm and merely took on human form as the Christ
(the doctrine of the Incarnation). Jesus was/is God in human flesh, the
creator and sustainer of all life (see Col. 1:16). Contrary to Mormon
teachings, Jesus is not the spirit-brother of Lucifer (a.k.a. Satan).
Lucifer is a fallen angel, who has rebelled against God. He is in no
way related to Jesus or to us. He is an utterly separate creation.
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Jesus,
like all of us, is a literal spirit child of Heavenly Father and
Mother, who was born in the spiritual realm with us. He is
distinguished from us, however, because he was the "firstborn" of God.
Therefore, he is literally our elder brother. Another spirit child of
God was Lucifer, commonly known as Satan, or the Devil. Consequently,
Jesus is the spirit-brother of Lucifer. All of us, in fact, are
siblings from the pre-existence state when we lived together on Kolob, which Mormons believe is God's planetary home. |
| Virgin Mary |
Jesus
was miraculously born of the virgin Mary in fulfillment of Old
Testament prophecies (see Is. 7:14). He was conceived without the aid
of man, by the power of the Holy Spirit. Mary remained a virgin until
after the birth of Christ. |
Jesus
was conceived on Earth via physical relations between Heavenly Father
and Mary (who was a virgin when God visited her, but was no longer a
virgin when he left her impregnated). This teaching is rarely if ever
talked about among Mormons, and truth be told, many Mormons will deny
the teaching, which leaves them with no real explanation of how (given
their full theology) Mary became pregnant. Early Mormon leaders,
however, made it very clear how Mary was impregnated (quotes by early Mormon leaders and more
recent leaders
indicate that this is still an underlying belief in Mormonism). As of 2008, the Mormon Church had not yet issued any official
repudiation of those statements by former church leaders wherein it was
clearly suggested that Jesus was conceived by way of sexual relations
between God and Mary. |
Eternal
Life |
After
death, those
who have accepted Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior will
eternally dwell in heaven with God (Rom. 3:24, 10:9); those who have
not accepted Christ as their Savior will be eternally separated from
God and judged according to their deeds (Matt. 11:21-24; Luke
12:45-48). Classic Protestantism teaches that heaven and hell are the
only states of existence that are available to persons in the
afterlife. Moreover, there are no other gods, nor can anyone become a
god—no matter how
dedicated they may be to truth, the Bible, the church, their fellow
man, or Christ. Although anything can be called a god (1 Cor. 8:5,e.g., sex, drugs, fame, money), there is only one true
God by nature (Is. 43:10, 44:8; 1 Tim. 2:5; James 2:19). The
biblical passages indicating that there is only one true God are
numerable (Deut. 6:4; 1 Ki. 18:18-39; 2 Sam. 7:22; is. 45:2-22). By
preaching the one true God, the Old Testament prophets were reminding Israel of how utterly separate their God was from the false
pagan gods represented by pagan idols. Similarly, the New Testament is
replete with verses that clearly indicate there exists only one true
God (Gal. 3:20; 1 Tim. 1:17, 2:5; James 2:19; Jude 25)
.
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There
are three
realms/kingdoms in the afterlife: 1) the Telestial Kingdom; 2)
the
Terrestrial Kingdom; and 3) the Celestial Kingdom. A person's
actions in this life determines the kingdom to which they will
eventually go. The first kingdom is reserved for non-Mormons whose
lives were marked primarily by immorality and wickedness (oddly,
Mormons still consider this state to be a kingdom of glory). The second
kingdom is for non-Mormons and also Mormons whose lives were general
marked by kindness, goodness, and trying to live the best life
possible, but who were "not valiant in the testimony of Jesus" (see the
Mormon Doctrine
& Covenants
76:75-77, 79). The third kingdom is reserved for those faithful
Mormons who lived exemplary lives. It has three levels itself, and only
at the highest level can a Mormon attain godhood. Reaching this highest
level of the Celestial Kingdom is exaltation (i.e., the state
of a god). As Mormon apostle Bruce McConkie stated, "That
exaltation which the saints of all ages have so devoutly
sought is godhood
itself" (see Mormon Doctrine,
pp. 566-567). Mormon president Gordon B. Hinckley put it this way:
"[T]he whole design of the gospel is to lead us onward and upward to
greater achievement, even, eventually, to godhood" (Mormon General
Conference, Salt Lake City, October 1994). |
| Salvation |
Salvation
is cannot
obtained by any works of righteousness, service to God, or acting
kindly/lovingly to one's fellow man. Salvation is based purely on
acceptance
of Jesus Christ as one's personal Lord and Savior. Accepting Jesus as
one's Savior grants salvation to someone as a free gift of God by
grace alone through faith alone (Eph. 2:8-10). Good works (also known
as works of righteousness) are merely the outward result of one's
inward change. To use an analogy. A dog barks because it
is already a dog. It doesn't bark to become a dog. Likewise, an
apple tree bears apples because it is already an apple
tree—not because it is trying to become an apple tree. In this
same way, a Christian practices good works because he/she is already a
Christian, and it is the natural outpouring of their identity in
Christ. Works of righteousness do not (and cannot) make us righteous
before god (Rom. 4:2, 4-5).. Instead, we do good works because we are
already righteous through what Christ accomplished for us via his life,
death, and resurrection (Phil. 3:8-9). Our works basically show others
that we are saved (James 2:22-24).
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Individual
salvation,
including the removal of personal sins), is based on one's own effort
and is "conditional" (Neal maxwell, "The Glorious Atonement," Aug. 29,
1999, Missionary training Center Address). The LDS Church manual Gospel Principles
provides the following conditions necessary for us to earn our
salvation/forgiveness: "We accept Christ's atonement by repenting of our sins,
being
baptized,
receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and obeying all of the
commandments. In this way we are cleansed from sin and we
become worthy to return and live forever with our heavenly Father. . .
.Christ's atonement
makes it possible to be saved from sin if
we do our part" (pp. 68-69, 1979 edition). Christ's death on the cross
merely made it possible for us to save ourselves through human effort
and good works. In addition to the above requirements, Mormons also
must spread the
gospel in a conscientious manner, abstain from coffee/tea,
and receive
forgiveness from a Mormon bishop if a serious
transgression is committed (for documentation see endnotes #62, #63,
and #64 in either Becoming
Gods or Inside
Today's Mormonism).
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| Holy
Ghost |
The
Holy Ghost is
God, Third Person, of the Holy Trinity, one with the father and the
Son, co-equal and co-eternal, one in being with the Father and the
Son—not
a separate God. In other words, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit ARE
the one God (analogous to how a singular concept such as "time"
consists of three distinct units: i.e., past, present, and future. All
are time, collectively as well as individually). |
The
Holy Ghost is a
third god, like Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ (Joseph Smith, June
16, 1844). But unlike Jesus or the Father, the Holy Ghost "god" has no
body, which is something that remains unexplained by Mormons, who at
the same time teach that all gods have a body of flesh and bones
(because all gods at one time has had to progress through "mortality"
to become a god). |
Obviously, there are many issues to
discuss with Mormons. But this can lead to many mistakes.
First, a good
approach certainly would not include mocking Mormonism or
depicting as profane those things that Mormons view as sacred (e.g.,
the undergarments that Mormons wear).
Second, it does no
good to accuse twenty-first century Mormons of
believing certain teachings/opinions/doctrines that were taught in the
nineteenth century (e.g., the “Adam-God” doctrine
taught by
Brigham Young).
Third, one should
not instantly assume the worst about a
Mormon’s
motives and/or arguments. Mormons are not always
“lying” or
“dodging the issues” or “seeking to
deceive.”
It is true that some Mormons resort to such tactics. But so do some
so-called “Christians” whose main concern is
advancing a
personal agenda or idolized doctrinal notion. The average Mormon is
very much like the average Christian in that they hold their faith
dear, see things in a certain way, and voice arguments that to their
minds make sense.
To avoid mistakes,
a few things should be remembered.
First, God is in
control. Those who are called by the Holy Spirit will
come to Him (John 17:9-10). We are merely tools (Phil. 2:3-7) that God
chooses to use in the conversion process (Rom. 10:15; 1 Cor. 3:1-8).
Second, every
Mormon is a person, not just a representation of the
corporate “Mormons.” Acknowledging this can help
eradicate
the “us vs. them” battle lines that are usually
drawn
during most witnessing encounters. Sharing the good news is not about
winning a holy war. It is about Christ touching a person’s
heart
via our interaction with them.
Third, witnessing
should be an enjoyable time of talking—not
a shouting match—about meaningful truths.
Finally, the most
important thing is to be Christ-like: show love;
speak kindly; be patient; walk humbly; bear the burden of a broken
heart. Nothing is more critical. That is what witnessing is
really
all about—not conversions. Before, during, and after every
Mormon
encounter, we must ask: Am I just seeking another conversion
badge? Do I want to hear “Uncle! Uncle!” more than
“Jesus, I receive you”? What is the attitude of
spirit that
is motivating me? Witnessing to Mormons is in many ways just
as
much about us as it is about them.
Hopefully
evangelicals will be able to do better than the admirable
sentiments expressed in 2003 by Mormon apologist and Brigham Young
University professor, Daniel C. Peterson, who happens to be a personal
friend. In reference to discussing doctrinal differences, he said,
“[Some] take this as just, ‘it’s a
competition, you
can score points.’ You know, you can ‘win on
this’—gratify your ego by defeating somebody on
that point
or something. That’s not what it’s really about.
Resist
that temptation.” Is there any reason why evangelicals should
not
follow such counsel—especially since we claim to
have the
true gospel? Certainly our Lord demands nothing less.
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