Mormons At The Door

I was visiting my mother recently when there was a knock at the door. Two nicely dressed young men, with ties and white shirts, were standing at the door. It was a warm day, so my mother invited them in, offered them a glass of water and a discussion ensued. As you have probably guessed, they were representatives from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon). I found them very knowledgeable and forthcoming about their beliefs. I want to evaluate a few of their claims here, for our readers.

On the Bible and the Book of Mormon

After explaining to our Mormon guests that our belief was that the Bible was the Word of God and was the yardstick against which all other doctrines should be measured, they quickly agreed, as long as it is translated correctly. They also made the claim that the Bible and the Book of Mormon do not contradict each other. There is clearly a problem with such a claim until you remember their caveat -- as long as the Bible is translated correctly. So I am assuming wherever the two contradict, it is the Bible that is not correctly translated. I am not aware of a "correct" translation in their eyes. They tend to use the King James Version of the Bible but they do not make the claim that it is translated correctly. I believe that they will not offer a "correct" translation of the entire Bible because then they would be setting themselves up for criticism from the scholarly community. They have already done this in the short passages they have attempted to "translate." It is not a matter of Christian scholars against Mormon scholars, it is a matter of Hebrew and Greek scholars against Mormon scholars. To satisfy the claim that the Book of Mormon and the Bible do not contradict, any Mormon translation of the Bible would need to greatly stray from the any Biblical manuscripts we have.

We had some discussion about the numerous changes to the Book or Mormon over the years, which was denied by our guests. Our guests claimed to have actually seen a copy of the original printing and there was no difference from what they use today except perhaps some punctuation. This is clearly false and one can only assume our guests were given a forgery that was claimed to be an original. If one looks at an original and does the comparison, one will find thousands of corrections and changes, many doctrinal in nature.

Our guests asked if two books, the Bible and the Book of Mormon, wouldn't be better than one, the Bible, just as two witnesses are better than one in a court of law. Not at all, if one of the witnesses, the Book of Mormon, is not credible.

On Salvation

The conversation eventually came around to this pivotal topic. What must one do to be saved? To my surprise, our guests agreed with almost everything we had to say. They agreed that salvation is by grace, through faith in Christ and not by works. They agreed with Peter when he answered the question of what one must do to be saved by saying one must repent and be baptized (Acts 2:38). They agreed that Jesus died to conquer sin and death in our place. They agreed with everything, hook line and sinker. So were they suddenly "Christians"? I was extremely suspicious of their claims up until that point so I thought we ought to talk about some definitions. I suspected they might have co-opted "Christianese" and changed all the underlying definitions of who Jesus is and what happens when we die.

It was refreshing that our guests didn't appear to hide their beliefs when I asked who they thought Jesus was. To cut to the chase, Mormons believe Jesus is a created being and is not a member of a triune God. In addition, they believe angels and human spirits are the same thing. They believe human spirits pre-existed their bodies. They believe Satan is the spirit brother of Jesus. They also believe everyone goes to Heaven and through works, one can gain a higher level in Heaven.

So when a Mormon claims that salvation is by grace, through faith in Christ and not by works. They are saying their salvation is through a created being they call "Jesus Christ." It is not the true Jesus Christ. They are also really saying their "Jesus Christ" died for nothing because everyone goes to Heaven. It is through works that they gain access to the higher levels of Heaven, according to their beliefs.

Is this just nit picking? Certainly not. If I said I believe in Jesus Christ and have made him my savior but I also say my neighbor Bob is the Jesus Christ I believe in, then my belief is not the same belief as the Christian belief and my Jesus is not the same Jesus Christians believe in. The real Jesus called us to believe in him, not in an impostor. In the Bible, Paul warns about accepting a different Jesus or a different gospel (2 Cor 11:3-4; Gal 1:6-9). The Mormons, though they have co-opted Christian terminology, are indeed guilty of preaching a different gospel and accepting a different Jesus.

Hope For The Mormon

But all is not lost for a Mormon truly interested in the truth -- an objective truth, not one that relies on a "burning in the bosom." If they truly believe the Bible is the word of God, they should study how it is translated and then read a reliable English translation like the New American Standard Version. They should test their beliefs and their "revelations" by this yardstick and make an informed decision. One cannot rely on the revelations of others or even on their own "revelation." How can they know a revelation is of God? By seeing if it is in line with what God has already said in the Bible. Any additional information that might add to God's word can also be dismissed as inaccurate or at least unnecessary.

-ed
e-mail: wwcw@wwcw.org

I want to learn more about how I can have a relationship with the creator of the universe.

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