Archive for Mormonism
How to Witness to Mormons
Posted by: | CommentsOverall Strategy
Failure to have an effective strategy can result in an encounter between a Christian and a Mormon that goes like this. The Christian shows the Mormon a Bible verse that contradicts lds teaching. The Mormon then responds with another verse that he feels supports his beliefs. The Christian then counters with another verse, to which the Mormon replies with still another, and so forth. Such a Scripture-bashing discussion can be described as “biblical Ping-Pong.” Doctrines and supporting verses bounce back and forth, perhaps for hours on end, with no tangible results other than the sweaty exhaustion that follows a real Ping-Pong game. Even if the Christian seems to have come off the winner in the debate, this carries no more weight with the Mormon than if it had been a mere Ping-Pong game he had lost. He is still not about to change his religion.
Mormon Teachings on The Trinity
Posted by: | CommentsThe LDS Position
Mormons are taught that the historic Christian position on the Trinity (three Persons in one God) is false. Instead, they believe that the first vision of Joseph Smith and subsequent “revelations” from Smith reveal that God the Father and God the Son are two separate gods and the Holy Spirit is a third.
They believe that the Godhead is like the First Presidency of the church: a president and two counselors, the president being first in authority. God the Father is the president, and the Son and Holy Spirit are His two counselors. They regard the Trinity as a pagan heresy, much like the Jehovah’s Witnesses do (except from the other extreme). While the Witnesses are radical monotheists, the Mormons believe in a plurality of Gods—the Godhead being the most obvious example of that plurality.
Mormonism and Lucifer – Jesus’ Brother?
Posted by: | CommentsLUCIFER
Lucifer is a Latin name meaning “light bringer.” It is the name of the devil or Satan in Mormonism, especially applied to him before his rebellion against God. Of course, it is also the name of Satan in orthodox Christianity (Isaiah 14:12). However, this initial similarity conceals some important doctrinal differences between the two faiths.
Lucifer is actually the Latin form of the Hebrew word Hayelel in the Isaiah passage (Strong’s Concordance #1966). Technically, the name Satan is not the devil’s name, but only a title that describes his function (ha satan in Hebrew). It means “the adversary” or “he who opposes” (Smith’s Bible Dictionary, p. 75). This distinction is held in both Mormonism and Christianity (Mormon Doctrine, p. 677). Both faiths believe Lucifer to be some sort of fallen angel, the tempter, and an opponent of both man and God.
What Mormon’s Believe and Teach
Posted by: | CommentsMormonism
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (whose members have been nicknamed Mormons) claims to be the restoration of the true church established by Jesus Christ. It has no association in any way with Roman Catholicism or with Protestantism. “Its theology, its organization, and its practices are in many respects entirely unique among today’s Christian denominations.”1 “It possesses the divine priesthood of God, … and is headed by prophets and Apostles as was the Church in the days of Peter and Paul.”2 Indeed, “if it had not been for Joseph Smith and the restoration, there would be no salvation. There is no salvation outside The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.”3
Mormonism, Jesus, Satan, and Huckabee!
Posted by: | CommentsMormonism, Jesus, Satan and the Presidential Elections!
Recently there was a "dust up" when Mike Huckabee stated he thought the Mormon Church (LDS – Latter Day Saints) taught that Jesus and Satan were brothers. People were quick to say that Hucabee was wrong in what he said and quickly defended Romney.
Hearing folks "sparring" on this issue resulted in my doing some research of my own to see what the Mormon Church really believes. I’ll briefly state what I found. Then the rest of this article will show some direct quotes from the Official Mormon (LDS) website incase anyone wants to look it up for themselves. I will also briefly contrast the Mormon beliefs with what Christians have believed down through the centuries.