Bridge of Reason

If you want to know your heart leap for joy at the hope we have in Christ read the first two chapters of Ephesians. Chapter one reminds us of who Christ is, what he has achieved, reminds us that all we have as believers is 'in him.' Then, as though to sober us from our celebrations lest we get cocky about all that we have, Paul reminds us: 'And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked...like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses and sins, made us alive in Christ...'  (Eph.2:1-5) The first thing to realise is you can be dead and alive at the same time, alive to the things of this world but dead to the things of God. The second is that it is the common lot ( like the rest of mankind ) until Christ comes along. The third is that your new life is a work of God, and the fourth is that this new life costs you your old life. The Bible calls relinquis...

  ‘Jehovah’s forgiveness is always based on his complete knowledge of a situation.’ In the June 2022 Watchtower Study Edition, study article 24 talks about God as the greatest forgiver. Unpacking what this means they write at one point: 'Unlike human judges, Jehovah always has a perfect grasp of all the facts of any case that comes before him. (Gen. 18:20, 21; Ps. 90:8) He is not limited by what humans see or hear. He completely understands how a person’s actions are influenced by his genetic makeup, upbringing, and environment as well as by his emotional and mental condition. Jehovah also reads the heart. He fully perceives the motivations, intentions, and desires of each person. Nothing can be hidden from Jehovah. (Heb. 4:13) Thus, Jehovah’s forgiveness is always based on his complete knowledge of a situation.' Is this true? Does God judge according to extenuating circumstances? Is 'I couldn't help myself' a fair defence before the judge of all mankind, as ...

Faith and works are a perennial issue in explaining the gospel. The cults insist we are saved by a combination of faith and works. The world likewise imagines a great set of weighing scale, our sins on one side, our good works on the other. The world follows the thinking of Aristotle, who argued a man must love his neighbour and then love God; out of that love for my neighbour will spring my love for God. He would argue that if we are to gain eternal life we are to first obey. Any number of Scripture verses lend themselves to this view:; Mt.7:21; Ro.2:6; 1 Cor.3:14; 2 Cor.5:10; Js.1:22; Js.2:18-20. The Bible is replete with injunctions to ‘work out your salvation,’ (Philip.2:12-13). It may come as a surprise to Jehovah’s Witnesses then, who think Christians don’t witness, to Mormons too, who believe we have an easy-believism, that Christians are ever aware of these verses, striving to obey them. I have been reading Tyndale in recent months. He is incredibly helpful with this subject...

After sharing some pizza with my new Mormon missionary friends, Elders E and Y, I went along today at their invitation to attend the Mormon General Conference down at the well-known LDS church in South Kensington opposite the Science Museum. It was really nice to bump into my old friend Elder J there, and also get to know a Down Syndrome gentleman named Chris who told me he is a deacon in the church. The meeting was a repeat of the Saturday afternoon session in Salt Lake City on the big screen. There were the usual line-up of Mormon 'suits' giving speeches one after the other - mostly white, middle-aged gentlemen from the Quorum of 12 or the Seventy, though there was one endearing Japanese chap. Occasionally the speeches were punctuated with a number from the choir - one of which those around me joined in with, the other of which was just listened to. I am on this ongoing search to distill the Mormon message, and (I'm probably going to oversimplify here) according to the ta...