Bridge of Reason

  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...

Mormons claim that, following the time of the apostles, the Christian Church fell into total apostasy. They claim: Apostasy was prophesied...2 Timothy 3:1-3 A 'Restoration' was anticipated...Acts 3:19-21 But, while apostasy was foretold, the Bible disallows total apostasy: ‘And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.’ (Matthew 16:18) ‘Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’ (Matthew 28:19/20) ‘And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of God , to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the f...

The Mormon Church is not changing it's name again, it is making a 'correction.' In an official statement in August new president, Russell M Nelson, said: “ The Lord has impressed upon my mind the importance of the name He has revealed for His Church, even The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We have work before us to bring Technorati Tags: ourselves in harmony with His will. In recent weeks, various Church leaders and departments have initiated the necessary steps to do so. Additional information about this important matter will be made available in the coming months.” Call me cynical but I have the suspicion this is not so much an impression from the Lord as a long-standing issue for the man. I imagine all those leadership meetings over the years where he tried to raise the subject - 'Oh, Russell's on his hobby horse again. Mormon is popular Russell, listen to the tech guys. ' I imagine the rolled eyes when this was announced, 'He's only...

ANN: Before I was taught by the Mormons in my teens, I only knew what I had learned at Sunday School as a small child and in R.E. lessons in school. Like many people, I thought that a Christian was someone who tried hard to do good things, read the Bible, and prayed to God. I learned from my Mormon friends that Jesus had paid for the fall of Adam, so that we are all born sinless and are held accountable only for the sins we ourselves commit. Because Jesus died for my sins, I could work to be acceptable to God and hope one day to be judged worthy of heaven. It certainly sounded right, and I looked no further. I was introduced to the Mormon church via a card through the door offering a free copy of the Book of Mormon. I had been asking a lot of questions about God and the purpose of life, so I sent it off. The book was delivered by two Mormon missionaries when I was out, so my mother made an appointment for them to come back and speak to me. Through their teaching, and visits to the chur...

The February 2017 Enisgn magazine of the Mormon Church just dropped through my letterbox. Leafing through it, my eye was immediately drawn to the visiting teaching message on page 7, Christ’s Atonement is Evidence of God’s Love. The atoning work of Jesus is a fundamental of the Christian faith. What a movement has to say on this issue tells a lot about where it stands in relation to the clear message of the Bible on first principles.The piece begins: “Understanding that our Heavenly Father gave His Only Begotten Son that we might have immortality and the potential for eternal life helps us feel God’s infinite and incomprehensible love for us.” Mormon thinking is shot through with references to feelings of course. Understanding in this instance, “helps us feel God’s infinite and incomprehensible love for us.” The Bible, however, tells us that our understanding of gospel principles helps us know ! John writes: “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God s...

The September 2016 edition of the Mormon Ensign magazine, in its Conference Notebook, carried a note by Elder Dale G. Redlund about the Atomenment of Jesus Christ. It is an exerpt from his April conference address, reported in full in the May 2016 Ensign, p42 . Here is the exerpt: I can emphatically state that because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, ultimately, in the eternal scheme of things, there will be no unfairness. “All that is unfair about life can be made right.” [ Preach my Gospel , 52] Our present circumstances may not change, but through God’s compassion, kindness, and love, we will all receive more than we deserve, more than we can ever earn, and more than we can ever hope for. We are promised that “God shall wipe away all tears from [our] eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.” [Revelation 21:4] There is much to say about this short piece but I want to draw you...

The Mormon God has evolved with the thinking of Mormon leaders. The Book of Mormon, the earliest Mormon text, insists there is one God. In a discussion between two characters named Amulek and Zeezrom we read: ‘And Zeezrom said unto him: Thou sayest there is a true and living God? And Amulek said: Yea, there is a true and living God. And Zeezrom said: Is there more than one God? And he answered, No.’ (Alma 11:26-29) In conversations with Mormons this is a helpful text. The question is at the bottom of page 235 while the answer is over the page. Asking a Mormon what answer he or she thinks Amulek gives before turning the page can make for an interesting exchange. On a time-line this teaching comes in March 1830, the date of the Book of Mormon’s publication. This ‘one God’ sounds singularly Trinitarian in nature, although is probably modalist in Smith’s mind: ‘..And the honor be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, which is one God. Amen.’ (Testimony of the...

From time to time Mormons come up with what they regard as ‘substantive’ evidence for the Book of Mormon. When ministries inevitably challenge and refute that evidence, Mormons insist that someone can only know the Book of Mormon is true by sincere prayer, citing Moroni’s promise from the end of the book: ‘And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.’ (Moroni 10:4) Of course, if you have prayed and received no such confirming answer, the sincerity of your heart, the reality of your intent, and the faith you express in Christ are all called into question. Very quickly you move from their providing evidence to their doubting your integrity… read more →

Recent years have seen the Mormon Church redouble its efforts at repackaging itself for a new generation. They're use of Search Engine Optimisation, content marketing, and social media is astonishingly slick and professional. Enter the word 'Bible' into your search engine and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will appear on the first page of results. 'Christ' gave me the same result third entry down on that page. 'New Testament' gave them second place. Type in Mormon and top place is given to mormon.org, with half the page given over to Mormon sites. You have to be impressed.   Mormon.Org Mormon.org is a simple ( you might say simplistic) introduction to Mormonism. It has 12 simple, click and play short videos that present a misleadingly disarming picture of the Mormon faith. Are these the new Articles of Faith? You can ask questions in a live chat with a missionary, and link through to I'm a Mormon , a carefully selected set of testim...

CULT! It seems such a pejorative word and certainly in ministry it is not intended as a compliment. But is it an insult? Is its use an example of disagreeing while being disagreeable? To listen to many there is no excuse for using it, especially when what people see as sensible alternatives are available such as sect, or the more acceptable “new (or alternative) religious movement.” So is “cult” used out of nothing more than spite? Or is there a legitimate application in ministry terms? History “Cult” comes from the Latin, cultus , from colore , to cultivate or to worship. Colore is the same root for the Latin cultura, from which we get culture. One of many ways of defining culture is, “the behaviours and beliefs characteristic of a particular social, ethnic, or age group.” Culture may be said to denote the system of values within a group, how a society defines itself, identifies what is important to its members and how they view the world. It teaches and evaluates the group’s his...

The official Bible of the Mormon Church is the Authorised Version or, as it is known in America, the King James Bible, or Version (KJV). Its not so much that Mormons are 'King James Only' exponents, as that this was the Bible in whose style Joseph Smith wrote the Book of Mormon. This being the case, it is the continued use of the KJV that lends some authenticity to the Book of Mormon, the latter sounding like the former and, therefore, seeming a continuation of it. Put the Book of Mormon next to a modern translation, even one as conservative as the New American Standard, and Smith's magnus opus loses something of its gloss. See for yourself. Here is a familiar text from Matthew's gospel as it appears in the Book of Mormon (yes, God himself was plagiarised by Smith):

  Utah has become the first state in the USA to reinstate the firing squad to administer the death penalty. This is sometimes called fusillading, from the French fusil , rifle. This story has several layers, from the shortage of drugs for lethal injections, to the question of which method of killing a human being is most humane, to that of whether, as European society believes, execution is simply a barbaric throwback we don’t want in the 21st century. It is this last view in Europe that has created the shortage of drugs that European countries refuse to export to America. Fusillading as a form of execution has usually been practiced in a war setting, guns being the most easily available weapon for the job, and being the quickest and most humane method available in the circumstances. In America, apart from the Civil War, for which figures are unavailable, it is estimated that 142 men have been executed by this method since 1608. Utah’s record is most striking. Forty-four exec...

The Oct. 1997 issue of the liberal Mormon Sunstone magazine (Vol. 20:3, Issue 107) carried an amusing article about alternative names for “Anti-Mormons.” (Thanks to Vince for drawing this list to my attention. Comments in brackets are my own, of course) S c eptics (And this is a bad thing because…?) Gentiles (Mormons consider themselves the new Israel) Mormon-detractors Counter-Mormons (That’s anti-Mormons to the rest of us) Anti-Christs (At least we know now what Mormons think of honest critics) Mormophobes (A phobia is a fear. This isn’t an irrational fear but a healthy scepticism – see 1 above) Nehors (Nehor is an obscure Book of Mormon character who led an apostate sect) Avatars of Satan (An avatar is an incarnation of a deity; see comment on temple “minister” below) Challengers (Fair comment. So stop name-calling and meet the challenge) The unconverted (Christians? Unconverted? Interesting insight) Contra-Mormons (pro-Christians) Post-Mormons (Tha...