Mormons

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Notthemama1984

Notthemama1984

Puritan Board Post-Graduate
In my evangelism class we interview people about their views of God. I chose to interview a Mormon missionary today and was surprised at how their Gospel message is very creepily similar to Arminiamism.

My understanding of Mormons is very basic. Can someone give me some points on where Mormons differ from Christianity and thus are cultic/heretical?
 
1. They deny the deity of Christ
2. They deny the atonement of Christ.
3. Their epistemological foundation is the "burning in the bosom", a subjective self authenticating of their experience.

Others can finish out the long list for you I am sure.
 
If you want to know more, James White of the Dividing Line radio show is an expert apologist with Mormons (as well as with JWs and Roman Catholics).
 
I also think they do not believe the canon is complete as we accept it. For example, they give divine authority to the writings of Joseph Smith, their "prophet".
 
1. God is a man
2. There are many Gods
3. You can become a God
4. Adam's sin was a blessing so that we could procreate and become Gods
5. Salvation is a combination of faith and works.
6. There isn't really a hell (hell is basically like what we have now).
7. People can find salvation after they die
8. We can be part of the Melchizedek priesthood
9. They believe in the continuing sign gifts
10. They believe in continuing, modern-day, authoritative revelation
 
I recently had a run in with two mormon missionaries, I learned a few things on how to aproech them.

1. They despertly want their religion to look and sound like the orthodox christian religion. But this is a deception. We have to learn a lesson from the later work of the philosopher Wittgenstien, the meaning of a word is dependent on its use. They use the traditional language of the church but mean radically different things. They have a doctrine of the Trinity that sounds deceptivally like our own but they deny that the three persons of the Trinity are one in essence. I tried pressing them on exact definitions for what they were saying and that really helped me to see the differences between us.

2. They, it seems to me, like to start with an evangilistic presentation, "did you know that Jesus Christ appeared to the indans" (or something like this). What I didn't do was respond with "I don't remember reading that in the new testament". I think that by responding with that question you immediatly put them on the deffensive, they now have to prove that the Bible is not accurate and their book is the rightful correction of these so-called mistakes. In fact when I asked them for an example of some place in the Bible that was incorect they simply said "we'll be on our way now...". I don't why they didn't want to continue talking, so I would hate to pressume.

3. I would recomend looking up christian websites that can help you understand their P.O.V. from a christian perspective.

I hope that helps.
 
There is no infallible revelation in Mormonism. God may and does change his mind with subsequent revelations. God and Jesus are in essence not different from their spiritual children, all of us. A friend of mine say, in Mormonism, God is not that great; sin is not that bad; grace is not that necessary; and man is not that helpless.

A former Mormon friend says the Book of Mormon could have been written by almost any intelligent but not so well educated frontier US Arminian in the early 1800's. Mormonism is an outworking of Arminianism. But, many additional distinctive Mormon documents come after the Book of Mormon in subsequent revelations. Their scriptures include the Pearl of Great Price and the Doctrines and Covenants.

They often use Christian terminology, like "atonement," with an entirely different meaning. I have a copy of the Mormon scriptures, which also contain a glossary of their theological terms.

If you can get a copy of Gospel Principles, published by the LDS (a paperback book available at Deseret Book stores], it will give you a good summary of current official Mormon teaching. This is likely used in training Mormon "missionaries" for their task. Reading this, you’ll know as much or more than they do about their organizations teaching.

The Mormon mission is used more to bring young men into line with their organizational authority than to actually make coverts. However, some desperate and ignorant people do end up swallowing their lies.

There are many things which Mormons once taught, which they no longer teach or emphasize. They are embarrassed by their past and want to be respectable. Better to address them in terms of what they actually currently teach, rather than concerning what they once taught or what we think they teach. Though. it is interesting to ask, "If Brigham Young taught the doctrine (which he did) that God was once a man who became God, was he wrong? Was this heresy? Was he then a heretic?"

I live in Idaho where Mormons make up 27 percent of the population. I can see Mormon chapel spires everywhere around where I live. There are probably more than ten chapels within a three mile radius of my home. Boise has a temple.
 
All the answers are really good so the only thing I can essentially add: Mormons are Hyper-Arminians and Super Free Willers. Extremely high view of mans' free will.
 
My experience with Mormon missionaries is they're quite well trained in dealing with questions regarding biblical authority and revelation and the deity/non-deity of Christ. They expect such debates. And as central as these are, your typical Mormon missionary is well indoctrinated on these issues and unable to hear the truth.

What they don't expect from a Christian is to truly hear the gospel of grace. Mormonism is indeed Arminian-esque and heavily works oriented. Mormon missionaries are the cream of the works oriented crop. Think Pharisees. Trying hard to please God. Self-righteous, yet secretly aware they don't and can't measure up. More than one has been intrigued when I've told them I too once tried to be good enough to please God, but now I see those efforts only took me away from God and held me in bondage. The freedom of the gospel seems unheard of in their circles.

So I would not preach to them from, say, Revelation 22 about adding to God's word. I'd preach Philippians 3: "But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ." It goes to the heart of where the average Mormon missionary is at.
 
Claudiu, yes there is. When you get past the 'happy fluffy family' bit that most people see, it gets bizarre.

I also think they do not believe the canon is complete as we accept it. For example, they give divine authority to the writings of Joseph Smith, their "prophet".
Click to expand...

They do accept the KJV, when it is "properly translated", that is, the Inspired Version. Also, there have been over 4,000 changes to the Book of Mormon since it was first dropped from heaven. Go check out the archaeology on Hill Cumorah in NY state, where a huge battle was to have taken place in 'ancient America'. Nothing. Nada.

One uber-creepy thing: a child in our community died when we were in China and the Mormons we knew wanted the full name of the child so that they could 'pray him into heaven'. Though I knew their pagan prayers would not make a difference, I refused to give the name.
 
Yep. Baptism for the salvation of the dead is another one of their strange practices. Which is why they have the very best genealogical databases around. There is a continual ritual of baptism by proxy for dead ancestors going on at the Salt lake City temple from what I understand.

And they wear special underwear.
 
The interesting thing is that i've been speaking with two mormon elders at my house(one day they came to my door and we've been letting them in and speaking with them. We had two official meetings already). At our last meeting I had to draw the line with them(I'm trying not to "scare" them off so that I may proclaim the gospel to them. They tend to leave if they get any hint that you are not being "genuine"). Their view of God, Christ, Atonement, and the Gospel are the most important differences, in my opinion.

For example, with the Atonement they believe that Christ suffered at the garden of gethsemane(mostly) and at the cross (partially). They also believe that only until you repent(their view of repentance is wrong) and do all that you can, THEN His grace is sufficient for you(read the book of Moroni 10:32-33).
 
I grew up as a Mormon, and one of the real disheartening things about the church is the fact that the church preaches a great "works-oriented" doctrine that does not filter down to all members. The church teaches that there are three levels of heaven: telestial, terrestrial, and celestial. A female can only be accepted into the celestial kingdom if they: 1. are Mormon, 2. are married and such marriage is sealed as a Mormon in the temple, 3. her husband stays in good standing. It should be noted that although similar requirements are made of men, they do not have to be married to achieve the celestial kingdom, where they are their own god of their own earth.

Jesus was, in their faith (I hate to even type this), the product of a carnal relationship between God the Father and Mary. They believe Jesus to have carried God's DNA, so to speak.

Look for The God Makers: A Shocking Expose of What the Mormon Church Really Believes, by Ed Decker. There used to be a book in print Mormons are Christians, Too. I can't find it, but in the author's effort to make the church seem closer to Christianity, they have the opposite effect.

The Doctrine and Covenants of the Mormon Church still have several items in them, that are just skipped over during seminary (all teenagers are indoctrinated within the church daily in the mornings). For example, polygamy is an accepted practice in the D&C, but the church placed a notation that they would not be doing it anymore due to federal laws.
 
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