Bridge of Reason

In an article in the  July 2014 Ensign magazine , t he current Mormon president, Russell M Nelson, a Mormon apostle at that time , addresses the issue of the gathering of Israel and the second coming. The theme is a subject for another time but I want to pick up on one almighty untruth right there towards the end of the piece. Claiming that the Book of Mormon is  “the instrument to bring about the gathering,”  and that it clarifies the connection of the Mormon Church with the biblical house of Israel, Nelson goes on to assert: “ The Book of Mormon contains the fulness of the gospel. Without the Book of Mormon, we would know little about the Atonement of Jesus Christ.” A footnote to this astonishing claim states: “ The word atonement in any of its forms appears in only one verse of the King James Version of the New Testament (see Romans 5:11). It appears in 24 verses of the Book of Mormon.” ‘ In any of its forms?’ Of course, as a Christian, I instinctively react ...

  The Book of Mormon and The Land of Jerusalem The Book of Mormon describes a ‘land of Jerusalem.’ The land of Jerusalem appears about 40 times in the book. It is not found once in the Bible, and that is important. Perhaps the most controversial reference to the land of Jerusalem is in Alma 7 where Alma seeming to foreshadow the role of John the Baptist, saying: ‘Repent ye, and prepare the way of the Lord, and walk in his paths, which are straight; for behold, the kingdom of heaven is at hand, and the Son of God cometh upon the face of the earth. And behold, he shall be born of Mary, at Jerusalem which is the land of our forefathers…’ Alma 7:9,10 Of course, Jesus was born in Bethlehem and not ‘at Jerusalem.’ Where is the land of Jerusalem? Mormons say Alma was written 500 years after Nephi left Jerusalem, that this is entirely consistent with how the Book of Mormon describes places “being in the land” of cities. However, t he people of the Book of Mormon are supposed to ...

I wonder would you do something for me? Read through the following brief account of a little adventure I had recently and then answer the two questions at the end. Its a true story, I know because I made it up myself: I recently bought a car because I planned to go on a road trip with a friend and my old jalopy simply wasn’t up to it. It surprised me that, within my budget, I was offered a great little model, much better than my old banger and with an interior so comfortable it was like driving a limo. When I arrived at my friends’ house he took one look and said, “Nice wheels.” “You like my motor?” I replied. “Its a nice Auto,” he said, “and it looks like that model is going to take us places.” With that we got in the vehicle and drove off on our adventure. Q1 . How many times does the word “car” appear in this narrative? Q2 . How many times is a car mentioned in this narrative? We’ll get back to this shortly. It still amazes me how Mormon thinking makes Mormon leaders s...

It is always good to know old friends are still on form and issuing thoughtful challenges to the ministry of Reachout Trust. One such is a good man who is a faithful Mormon and has been for many years. The challenge was to our use of the word ‘Mormon’ when we know ‘the name is the CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST of Latter-day saints.’ The question is, which church name would he have us use given the name has changed so much over the years. Instead of Mormonism should we call it, ‘The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints-ism?’ I would point out the current Mormon prophet, M Russell Nelson, has point-blank contradicted the policy of his immediate predecessor, Thomas S Monson. Perhaps Mormons should look closer to home and have the Mormon Church do some housekeeping. The various names of the church have been: The Church of Christ - 1830 The Church of the Latter Day Saints - 1834 The Church of Jesus Christ - Joseph Smith, History of the Church, 3:24, footnote The Church of God - ibid ...

  I recently attended a course entitled ‘Who is My Neighbour?’. We spent three days looking at the beliefs, teachings, and practices of Islam. During the course we had a tour of a Mosque and had three Muslim ladies visit us to share how their faith shapes their lives and way of thinking. It was all very interesting. The programme was designed to help Christians better engage our Muslim neighbours with the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. As we shared about what we had learned, I realised that I got something from the course that no one else did. The more I heard about the beliefs and practices of Islam, the more I thought to myself that Mormonism is Islam in disguise. This is the first in a series, where I will compare and contrast the beliefs and practices of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints with those of the Islamic religion. Mormons and Muslims ‘ Elder Carlos E. Asay of the Presidency of the First Quorum of the Seventy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-da...

What is the greatest film of all time? If you said: ‘Indiana Jones and The Raiders of the Lost Ark’ – you are correct. I love this film it has everything in it. There is action, there is a hero, there is a baddy, there is romance, there is humour, there is the search for biblical treasure and then they throw in some villainous Nazis – what a film! But recently, I discovered something else in the film – an anachronism. A What? An anachronism is something belonging to a period other than that in which it is exists. An example of this would be that you are perhaps watching a film about Henry VIII and suddenly an aeroplane fly’s past or, in the case of Indiana Jones, which is set in 1936, a map is shown showing names of countries that were not named as such in the 1930s. Though anachronistic, you can still enjoy these films, because they are just films, but sometimes anachronisms can be far more damaging and cannot be ignored. A Book from God What if anachronisms are found in a r...

  It is no surprise that the Book of Mormon has something to say about spiritual rebirth. Latter-day Saint history speaks of times of religious fervour and renewal during Joseph Smith’s younger years. It was, they claim, this period of spiritual fervour that caused Joseph to become confused. The First Vision account recounts what he did: When Joseph was 14 years old, he was inspired by  James 1:5 , which promises, “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.” Joseph determined to pray to know which church he should join and to ask for forgiveness of his sins. [1] There can be little doubt that during such a period, Joseph would have heard preachers declaring that a person must be ‘born-again’; that a spiritual rebirth was required to enter the Kingdom of God. But why were these enthusiastic preachers proclaiming this? Because they were convinced of what Jesus taught Nicodemus. In m...