Mormon Stumpers
In your discussions with Mormons, they will most
often wish to direct the topics presented into those areas where they feel
most informed and comfortable. Whether they are the young missionaries
at your door or friends or colleagues, they have all been taught several
lines of approach and have been drilled in making their points.
We suggest that you take charge of such conversations.
Besides acquainting yourself with the basics of Mormon teaching (in addition,
of course, to the fundamentals of the Catholic faith), consider presenting
the Mormon apologist with a few "stumpers."
"We don’t bash your church, why bash ours?"
Somehow, members of the Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-Day Saints have been persuaded by their leaders that they have
always been on the receiving end of uncharitable comments and unjust accusations.
From the time Joseph Smith began his work in 1820, the Mormon church has
gloried in the "fact" that it is a persecuted people. For them, this is
a sure sign that it is the Lord’s true church; all opposition comes ultimately
from Satan. So, if you do offer a question or a criticism, be prepared
for this reaction.
Many Mormons, including their hierarchy, look upon
any criticism—regardless of how honest and sincere—as perverseness inspired
by the Evil One. But these same individuals ignore their own past (and
present) attacks on Christian churches. You might like to point out a few
of these to those Mormons who say their church "never attacks other churches."
1. "I was answered that I must join none of them
(Christian churches), for they were all wrong…their creeds were an abomination
in [God’s] sight; that those professors were all corrupt" (Joseph Smith—History
1:19).
2. "Orthodox Christian views of God are pagan rather
than Christian" (Mormon Doctrine of Deity, B. H. Roberts [General
Authority], 116).
3. "Are Christians ignorant? Yes, as ignorant of
the things of God as the brute beast" (Journal of Discourses, John
Taylor [3rd Mormon President], 13:225).
4. "The Roman Catholic, Greek, and Protestant church,
is the great corrupt, ecclesiastical power, represented by great Babylon"
(Orson Pratt, Writings of an Apostle, Orson Pratt, n. 6, 84).
5. "All the priests who adhere to the sectarian
[Christian] religions of the day with all their followers, without one
exception, receive their portion with the devil and his angels" (The
Elders Journal, Joseph Smith, ed. Vol. 1, n. 4, 60).
6. [Under the heading, "Church of the Devil," Apostle
Bruce R. McConkie lists:] "The Roman Catholic Church specifically—singled
out, set apart, described, and designated as being ‘most abominable above
all other churches’ (I Ne. 13:5)" (Mormon Doctrine, 1958, 129).
7. "Believers in the doctrines of modern Christendom
will reap damnation to their souls (Morm. 8; Moro. 8)" (Mormon Doctrine,
1966, Bruce R. McConkie, 177).
Some contemporary Mormons, embarrassed—at least
publicly—by McConkie’s ranting, will respond with, "That’s only his opinion."
This is disingenuous at best. Keep in mind that McConkie, who died in 1985,
was raised to the level of "apostle" in the Mormon church after he had
written all these things. And still today, his Mormon Doctrine is
published by a church-owned publishing company and remains one of the church’s
bestsellers.
"We have no revelation on abortion"
Didn’t you assume Mormons were pro-life? That’s
certainly the image their church attempts to broadcast, and most Mormons,
in fact, mistakenly believe their church opposes abortion and regards it
as an objective evil. But not so.
Indeed, the Mormon church accepts abortion for
a number of reasons. The Church Handbook of Instructions, approved
in September, 1998, states that abortion may be performed in the following
circumstances: pregnancy resulting from rape or incest; a competent physician
says the life or health of the mother is in serious jeopardy; or a competent
physician says that the "fetus" has severe defects that will not allow
the "baby" to survive beyond birth. In any case, the persons responsible
must first consult with their church leader and receive God’s approval
in prayer (156).
This same Handbook, the official policies
of the Mormon church to be followed by all local church leaders throughout
the world, also claims: "It is a fact that a child has life before birth.
However, there is no direct revelation on when the spirit enters the body"
(156). Previous teachings by former Mormon prophets referred to the unborn
child as "a child," "a baby," a "human being," and decried abortion as
"killing," "a grievous sin," "a damnable practice." Spencer W. Kimball,
the prophet who died in 1985, taught, "We have repeatedly affirmed the
position of the church in unalterably opposing all abortions" (Teachings
of Spencer W. Kimball, 189).
It appears that this "unalterable" position, constantly
"affirmed," is just another in a series of doctrinal and moral teachings
that Mormons have reworded, reworked, rescinded, or reneged—though never
officially renounced. Such is the quality of the Mormon belief in "continuing
revelation." Don’t expect dogmatic or ethical consistency. Rather, look
for expediency and conformity with "the times."
A further statement in the Handbook says:
"The church has not favored or opposed legislative proposals or public
demonstrations concerning abortion (156)." While the Mormon prophet claims
to speak the mind and will of God, he can neither figure out when the unborn
child becomes human or if it is God’s desire that we protect the unborn
unconditionally.
Your Mormon friend will offer the excuse that his
church leaves many decisions to the free agency (free will) of its people,
and that abortion is one such concern. You might point out the irony in
the fact that the Mormon church has no hesitation or uncertainty in making
the following declarations:
1. "The church opposes gambling in any form" (including
lotteries). Members are also urged to oppose legislation and government
sponsorship of any form of gambling (Handbook, 150).
2. The church also opposes [correctly, of course]
pornography in any form (158).
3. Church members are to reject all efforts to
legally authorize or support same-sex unions (158).
There is no need for a member to pray for divine
guidance or seek church approval for such activities, for there will be
no divine or ecclesiastical finessing of morality to permit even an occasional
bingo game. A prayerful game of poker, unrepented, will bar the member
from the temple and ultimate salvation; a prayerful, by-the-book abortion,
unrepented, won’t.
Something’s wrong here
"Only Mormons teach the true nature of God."
Because they believe the Church established by
Christ 2,000 years ago fell completely away from his teachings within a
century or so of his death, Mormons argue that only a thorough "restoration"
(and not a simple "reformation") of the true Church and its holy doctrines
would lead man to salvation. Joseph Smith organized this "restored church"
in 1830. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints preaches a belief
central to most religions: one must know the true nature of God. "It is
the first principle of the gospel to know for a certainty the character
of God" (Teachings of Joseph Smith, 345ff).
No Christian disputes the absolute necessity of
knowing the nature of God (to the extent our reason, aided by grace, can
apprehend this great mystery). Indeed, the Catholic Church and other Christian
denominations have been united in a constant belief in the supreme God
as almighty, eternal, and unchanging. Mormons have not been favored by
similar clarity from their self-described "prophets" who receive "direct
revelation" from the gods.
You may wish to ask your Mormon acquaintance to
consider the following authoritative statements by their earlier and present
prophets.
1. In an early book of "Scripture" brought forth
by Joseph Smith, the creation account consistently refers to the singular
when speaking of God and creation: "I, God, caused . . . I, God, created
. . . I, God, saw. . . . " The singular is used 50 times in the second
and third chapters of the Book of Moses (1831).
2. In another of Smith’s earlier works, the Book
of Mormon (1830), there are no references to a plurality of gods. At
best, there is a confusion, at times, between the Father and the Son, leading
at times to the extreme of modalism (one divine person who reveals himself
sometimes as the Father, sometimes as the Son) or the other extreme of
"binitarianism," belief in two persons in God. The Book of Mormon also
makes a strong point for God’s spiritual and eternal unity (see Alma 11:44
and 22:10-11, which proclaims that God is the "Great Spirit").
3. Another early work of Smith is the Lectures
on Faith (1834-35). There is continual evidence that the first Mormon
leader taught a form of bitheism: the Father and the Son are separate gods.
The Holy Spirit is merely the "mind" of the two.
4. At about the same time, we begin to see a doctrinal
shift. Smith had acquired some mummies and Egyptian papyri. He proclaimed
the writings to be those of the patriarch, Abraham, in his own hand, and
set out to translate the text. His Book of Abraham records in chapters
four and five that "the gods called . . . the gods ordered . . . the gods
prepared" some 45 times. Smith thus introduces the notion of a plurality
of gods.
5. The clearest exposition of this departure from
traditional Christian doctrine is seen in Smith’s tale of a "vision" he
had as a boy of 14. Both the Father and the Son appeared to him, he wrote;
they were two separate "personages." This story of two gods was not authorized
and distributed by the church until 1838, after his Book of Abraham
had paved the way for polytheism.
6. Readers will notice that the Father is said
to have appeared, along with his resurrected Son. In his final doctrinal
message, Smith showed how this was possible.
In the King Follett Discourse (a funeral talk he
gave in 1844), Joseph Smith left his church with the clearest statement
to date on the nature of God:
"God himself was once as we are now, and is an
exalted man, and sits enthroned in yonder heavens[.] That is the great
secret. If the veil were rent today, and the great God who holds this world
in its orbit, and who upholds all worlds and all things by his power, was
to make himself visible—I say, if you were to see him today, you would
see him like a man in form—like yourselves in all the person, image, and
very form as a man. The scriptures inform us that Jesus said, ‘As the Father
hath power to himself, even so hath the Son power’—to do what? Why, what
the Father did. The answer is obvious—in a manner to lay down his body
and take it up again. Jesus, what are you going to do? To lay down my life
as my Father did, and take it up again. Do you believe it? If you do not
believe it, you do not believe the Bible. The scriptures say it and I defy
all the learning and wisdom and all the combined powers of earth and hell
together to refute it."
As the Mormon church has taught since that time,
God the Father was once a man who was created by his God, was born and
lived on another earth, learned and lived the "Mormon gospel," died, and
was eventually resurrected and made God over this universe. As such, he
retains forever his flesh-and-bones body.
7. Aside from some temporary detours (Orson Pratt
said the Holy Ghost was a spiritual fluid that filled the universe; Brigham
Young taught that Adam is the god of this world), the Mormon church has
constantly taught that God the Father is a perfected man with a physical
body and parts. Right-living Mormon men may also progress, as did the Father,
and eventually become gods themselves. In fact, fifth president, Lorenzo
Snow, summed up the Mormon teaching thus: "As man now is, God once was;
as God now is, man may be." Snow frequently claimed this summary of the
Mormon doctrine on God and man was revealed to him by inspiration. (See
Stephen E. Robinson, Are Mormons Christian?, 60, note 1.)
8. "Thou shalt not have strange gods before me."
What is stranger than a God who starts off as a single Spirit, eternal
and all-powerful; who then becomes, perhaps, two gods in one, and then
three; who never changes, yet was once born a man, lived, sinned, repented,
and died; who was made God the Father of this world by his own God; and
who will make his own children gods someday of their own worlds?
That all believing Christians are shocked and disturbed
by this b.asphemy may—just may—be nudging the Mormon leadership to soften
their rhetoric (if not actually change their heresy). A case in point is
an interview with current church prophet, Gordon B. Hinckley, published
in the San Francisco Chronicle on April 13, 1997. When asked: "[D]on’t
Mormons believe that God was once a man?" Hinckley demurred. "I wouldn’t
say that. There’s a little couplet coined, ‘As man is, God once was. As
God is, man may become.’ Now, that’s more of a couplet than anything else.
That gets into some pretty deep theology that we don’t know very much about"
(3/Z1).
A surprising admission, as Hinckley seems to disparage
the constant teaching of all his prophetic predecessors.
Choose, if you like, any one of these three attacks:
on Christians; on the sanctity of life; on God. Ask your Mormon listener
to explain the contradictions of his church. Don’t be satisfied with a
personal, subjective, emotional "testimony." Demand clarification of confused
and contradictory teachings.
When they aren’t forthcoming, be prepared to offer
the truth.
NIHIL OBSTAT:
I have concluded that the materials
presented in this work are free of doctrinal or moral errors.
Bernadeane Carr, STL, Censor Librorum, August 10, 2004
IMPRIMATUR:
In accord with 1983 CIC 827
permission to publish this work is hereby granted.
+Robert H. Brom, Bishop of San Diego, August 10, 2004
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