Bridge of Reason

One of the valuable lessons I learned early in my life is, a man who does a lot of explaining has usually got a lot of explaining to do. It is often a sign someone is trying to excuse or justify something, and the more they ‘explain’ the less plausible they sound. Haven’t you ever listened to someone ‘explaining’ and thought, ‘Come on, it cant be that complicated?’ I am not saying some things, like some Scripture passages, don’t need some unpacking, but we all know the Scripture reading principle: the main things are the plain things and the plain things are the main things. The cults, of course, have their explanations all lined up and they are prepared to ‘explain’ their position at some length. This is where plain and contextualised Bible reading and understanding are so important. Jehovah’s Witnesses will tell you God’s name at the drop of a hat. They will have their explanations lined up, their proof texts ready, and will explain the importance of knowing God’s name. They wil...

Thomas S Monson, Mormon president, has announced yet another temple, bringing to 15 the number temples in Utah. There are currently 130 temples around the world. Someone wrote to Reachout recently asking about temples and here is his question and my answer:   “I am confused surely the whole purpose of the atonement of Christ was to overcome the need for animal sacrifice. He was the ultimate sacrifice. So it seems natural that by Jesus bring this higher law that superseded the Levitical laws that required animal sacrifice in temple the purposes of a temple would also change and the rituals that take place within them would develop and alter. Your suggestion that the event taking place in the modern Mormon temples does not match the operations of the ancient temples is therefore redundant as they should not be doing so but rather the Mormon temples are there to provide the ability to carry out rituals relating to this higher law of Jesus. Please respond I am genuinely in need of ...