Bridge of Reason

 

  “For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do.” 2 Nephi 25:23 As we continue to look at Elder Dunn’s recent talk to General Conference, we see that his theme follows that common Mormon mantra – do more and be better. As someone who was once part of a group that emphasised the need to save ourselves, I feel for those, like the Mormons, who are constantly being told to try harder, work longer and jump higher to please God. Following his illustration of how the British Men’s Cycling Team achieved success, Elder Dunn suggests that Mormons can follow suit by breaking the different areas of their lives into parts and then they should consider how they may be one percent better in those areas. By implementing this strategy, he says, Mormons will make significant gains in their striving to be perfect; and perfect they must b...

If you honestly believed that God had called a Prophet to represent Him on the earth today, you would unquestionably hang on his every word. For, to heed the words of the Prophet, is surely to heed the very words of God Himself. The Church of the Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believe that God has given them such a Prophet. Each year at their semi-annual General Conference, run-of-the-mill Mormons get very excited wondering what new revelation the Prophet and leaders of their Church may bring. Same Old I have to say, as a non-member of the Church, unless I am missing something, I did not hear anything new at this month’s Conference. It was just the same old things. There was a sustaining of the leadership, a lot of ‘we are the true Church’, much talk about repentance and the need to try harder and, of course, the obligatory announcement that new temples are to be built – but nothing that I identified as new revelation. This does not seem to concern the faithful. After each General C...

  For our latest Watch Tower Wednesday on Facebook we were again in the Examining the Scriptures Daily - 2022 where, for January 4, we read: 'The apostle Paul said that all true Christians are in a race. (Heb. 12:1) And all of us, young or old, energetic or tired, must endure to the end if we want to receive the prize that Jehovah offers us. (Matt. 24:13) Paul had freeness of speech because he had successfully “run the race to the finish.” (2 Tim. 4:7), But what, especially, is the race that Paul spoke about? Paul sometimes used features from the games held in ancient Greece to teach important lessons. (1 Cor. 9:25-27; 2 Tim. 2:5) On a number of occasions, he used running as in a footrace to illustrate the Christian course of life. (1 Cor. 9: 24; Gal. 2:2; Phil. 2:16) A person enters this “race” when he dedicates himself to Jehovah and gets baptized. (1 Pet. 3:21) He crosses the finish line when Jehovah grants him the prize of everlasting life.—Matt.25:31-34, 46; 2 Tim. 4:8. w20.04...

‘We believe in the more than imperial status of human beings. We believe that our spirits are the offspring of Deity, and we hold that when Christ said to His apostles, ‘Be ye therefore perfect, even as you Father which is in heaven is perfect,’ He was not talking of a merely idealistic yet impossible achievement; but that on the contrary He meant that it was possible for men to advance until they shall become like unto the Gods in their powers and in their attainments, through righteousness.’ [1] The Bible nowhere speaks of ‘perfect’ human beings progressing to become Gods, yet Mormonism teaches that for their members to enter the celestial kingdom, and potentially achieve Godhood, they must be perfect in this life. The Mormon needs to hear what the Bible says about how a person can be forgiven and seen as righteous by Heavenly Father. Let us consider some verses that we could share with Mormon who is striving to be perfect. Righteous Righteousness is described as the quality ...

  In their Examining the Scriptures Daily for 2022, The Watch Tower begin the year with what seems a call to reason your way into the truth: 'From infancy you have known the holy writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. —2 Tim. 3:15. Timothy’s faith was built on facts that drew him closer to Jehovah. You too must logically reason on what you have learned about Jehovah from reading the Bible. To start with, you need to prove to yourself at least three basic truths. First, you need to be convinced that Jehovah God is the Creator of all things.  (Ex. 3:14, 15; Heb. 3:4; Rev. 4:11) Second, you must prove to yourself that the Bible is God’s inspired message to mankind. (2 Tim. 3:16, 17) And third, you need to confirm that Jehovah has an organized group of people who are worshipping him under Christ’s headship and that Jehovah’s Witnesses are that group. (Isa. 43:10-12; John 14:6; Acts 15:14) This does not require that you be...

  Mormonism and Perfectionism ‘Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God.’ (The Book of Mormon - Moroni 10:32) As a church we are currently going through the Book of Isaiah. After reading Isaiah 25 together, which speaks of God’s judgement against wickedness and the future joy of the believers, we discussed the question: What do we most look forward to God changing in our world? Many answers were concerned with God putting an end to things like war, starvation, child trafficking, and all kinds of evil in our world. Don’t we all long for such things? In engaging people with the gospel, you sometimes hear the objection: ‘If there is a God, why doesn’t ...