My Mormon co-worker, Mark, came back to work after a long time away from the office. We had lunch together this week and, again, it's cause for some reflection.
LDS theology is quite the self-licking ice cream cone. Whenever they are forced to acknowledge an unrecoverable error in their belief system, new revelation has a funny way of coming along and clearing up the matter. This happened with polygamy when, coincidentally, new revelation officially ended the practice the same timeframe that Utah was admitted into the Union.
And it was revealed that blacks were no longer the cowardly, cursed sons of Cain as earlier Mormon leaders had taught; they could even obtain the Mormon priesthood. This prophetic word didn't come until 1978--strangely similar to the timing of the civil rights movement.
The same goes for theology proper. Christians who embrace the orthodox, historic faith may have to say "I don't know" from time to time. I, for one, don't know how Adam and Eve could fall, or what that passage about baptizing the dead is supposed to mean, etc. But Mormons have no qualms about going beyond what is written (1 Cor 4:6) to clear things up. This has resulted in some fanciful constructions about spirit worlds, men becoming gods, etc. When you can get away with making things up by calling it continued revelation, you seldom have to say "I don't know."
Here's hoping that someday soon, a new LDS revelation will come along that not only declares "no more revelations" but clears away all the earlier ones!
7 comments:
I find your last paragraph baffling to say the least. If you don't believe in Mormon doctrine in the first place why would you care whether new revelation was presented or not? Does Mormon relevation have any bearing on your life? It appears that you are allowing it to!
Open your Bible and you will notice that most things that come from God whether you want to call them miracles or revelations or so forth come at times of NEED.
For example, God allowed Moses to part the Red Sea Because the children of Israel were going to die at the hands of the egyptians.
The prophet Elijah was hungry and so the cruse of oil did not fail until the earth received rain. Christ himself fed the multitudes with the loafs of bread and fishes out of a Need to feed people.
The Mormons Needed to change some things so who are you to say that God is or was not behind it? Seems that is how the way he works according to my Bible.
Let the Mormons be. I do not see how their belief in continuing revelation has any bearing on you other than revealing an obvious lack of conviction in your own faith.
Dear Anonymous,
In my last paragraph I was trying to be hopeful about the future of the Mormons in a witty way (it was a weak attempt). Perhaps some day they will come back to the Bible as the authority for what to believe.
The LDS doctrine of continued relevation, not only is wrong Scripturally, but is also very dangerous spiritually. It is through LDS revelations that they have rejected very important Christian beliefs (i.e. the Trinity, the eternal diety of Christ, salvation by grace alone, etc). As a result they have a different Christ and a different gospel (2 Cor 11:4), and their desire is to convince as many as possible that this is "the restoration of the fullness of the gospel" (to use their phrase).
What I would like to see is a day when the LDS faith shares the sentiments of that great hymn which says,
"How firm a foundation, you saints of the Lord, is laid for your faith in his excellent Word!
What more can He say, than to you He said, to you who for refuge to Jesus have fled."
I've lived around Mormons the Majority of my life so I think I know a thing or two about them.
The goup you identify as "spiritually dangerous" spends millions of dollars around the world in humanitarian aid without much credit. They supply other religions with financial assistance to build and rebuild Churches as in the case of Baptist Churches burned by arson in the South some time ago. Would your Church donate financial resources to the Mormons to rebuild a Chapel despite theological differences?They operate a huge welfare system for the needy. They support many civic groups and projects regardless of differences in faith.
As a whole the Mormons practice Christianity, as I understand it, better than any other group. I would much rather see those who profess to be Christian actaully apply Christian principles in practice than spend their time on the internet trying to convince me why the Mormons or any other goup is dangerous.
I remember reading something in your Bible about "by their fruits ye shall know them." I know the Mormons! They are out trying to promote good will in society; they are not on the internet trying to prove to me that your faith is dangerous.
If you want to disagree with them for theological differences so be it. there are literally thousands of interpretations of the Bible. If you are supremely confident in yours than the Mormons should present no danger to you whatsoever. The Christian ethic places a premium on loving your neighbor not condeming them. I thought that was God's call.
Something about judging not.
I will be more persuaded by your claim of Christianity when I observe how you treat your fellow men.
ironically enough-I recently heard the Mormon Tabernacle chior on TV and they were singing, "How Firm a Foundation." coincidence?
Tim,
You are starting to make me nervous Man. Your line of reasoning sounds erily familiar to another group of people some 2000 yrs ago.
The Pharisees thought the same about Christ. They said that Christ was not a "Real Jew." and that because his interpretation of scripture differed from theirs that he was spiritually dangerous. Well, you know the rest of the story.
Listen to yourself--Think about what you are actually saying.
anonymous--
stop and think for a minute. if he was truly opposed to the mormon people, then why would he be sharing the truth with them? he may disagree theologically but there is no hate of the people. it is out of love that he shares information... a love for men created by God... in the hope that they will come to know the truth of Jesus Christ. if Christians were about hate and hating mormons and hating those we disagree with, wouldn't it be much more hateful to watch them walk down a destructive path? sure mormons are generally very "good" people who do a lot of good, humanitarian things... but we know that salvation is by faith alone, not of works. "Letting Mormons be" would be contrary to faith of born-again Christians. we want to share the saving faith found only in our Lord Jesus Christ... the same faith that saved US from our own destructive path. our concerns stem from love and a conviction in our faith, certainly not from a lack of conviction. 2 cor 2:15 says to "demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God." it is not out of arrogance or spite or wanting to offend for the sake of offending... it is out of genuine love... a love for a people who are blindy believing and are being misled. we want them to find the truth of God in Jesus Christ, and we want them to recognize the errors in mormonism. there is no need for us to feel arrogant or "ha ha we're right and you're wrong"... the truth comes straight from the Bible-- rom 1:16 says that the gospel presented in the Bible is the "power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes." it also says in gal 1:8: "but even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned!" a gospel NOT found in the Bible cannot bring salvation. just as God does not want the mormons to perish (2tim 3:9), it is our desire that no one, including the mormon people, be eternally condemned.
The last thing we want is for ANYONE to be eternally condemned. God himself does not want anyone to perish, but rather that all should repent (2 Peter 3:9). That is His desire for all people, and our desire as well!
.
oops-- made a correction on my reference and forgot to delete the previous part out-
I'd like to briefly address what I feel is the central difference in our points of view.
The biggest problem in anyone's life is not poverty, illness, family problems, job problems, stress, or the like, as serious as each of those problems can be. Our biggest problem is a holy God. A God who has righteous anger against a rebellious race.
When Mormons address the temporal needs of people (as right as that is), their works are also accompanied by a false gospel and a false Christ that cannot address the biggest problem -- the sin problem -- that all people have.
I ask for a moment that you set aside your valid objection that Christians like me are hypocrites (i.e. I don't care for the needy as much as I should) and consider whether right now this is what I am doing for you.
If you do not currently hate your own sins and find that the perfect life and obedient death of Jesus Christ is your only hope of being accepted by a holy God, would you put your trust in Him now?
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