Explorations Class #15

Mormon Elders at Your Door

Perhaps you sent in a card requesting one of those excellent LDS videos on families. Or maybe you answered that TV ad for a free Bible. Whatever the case, a pair of Mormon Elders are at your door to make the delivery. The price of the "free" Bible or video is a presentation on the Book of Mormon. You let the clean cut, neatly dressed young men in, and they begin their presentation. It goes something like this.

"I want to bear you my testimony that I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the true Church, that Jesus is the Christ, and that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. Further, I have prayed about the Book of Mormon and have received a testimony of the Holy Ghost that it is true." They proceed with a brief description of the BOM. It is "another testament of Jesus Christ", and describes the visitation and teaching of Jesus Christ in the New World after his departure from Palestine.

Such sincerity is impressive, and many people are swayed by it. Those who question the testimony are directed to read James 1:5.

5 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. (KJV)

The prospect is told that if they read the BOM, and pray to God as James instructs, they will receive a similar testimony from the Holy Spirit.

1. Is it possible to be both sincere and wrong?

2. Was James speaking to people who needed to know what was true? (James 1:1-4)

3. What is wisdom, and what is the reason for asking for it? (James 1:1-5)

4. Is there an objective, absolute standard of truth? (Rom 1:18-20, Is 8:20, 2 Tim 3:14-15, Acts 17:11)

5. Without an absolute standard against which to measure our understanding, what will be the result? (Prov 14:12; 28:26, Jer 17:9)

6. How can we safeguard against the errors of our own feelings? (Prov 30:5-6; 13:13, Is 40:8, Matt 24:35, Rev 22:18-19)

7. What should we say about someone who claims to have a testimony of the Holy Spirit which is contrary to the Bible? (John 16:13)

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. And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things. Moroni 10:4-5

8. If we already know the truth about the BOM, what are we doing if we follow the advice in Moroni 10? What does the Bible tell us about this activity? (Deut 6:16, c.f. Matt 4:7)

The LDS Church distributes Bibles along with the BOM. The reason is that the BOM is supposed to be a third testament of Jesus. Article of Faith #8 states, "We believe the Bible to be the Word of God as far as it is translated correctly; We also believe the Book of Mormon to be the Word of God". However, we must be careful to understand the LDS use of the word "translated". To them it includes transmission, with the implication that the original text of the Bible has been altered almost beyond recognition prior to its translation into English (or other modern languages). To correct the perceived errors in the Bible, Joseph Smith prepared the "Joseph Smith Translation". The JST contains about 5,000 changes from the King James, including a wholesale rewrite of Matthew 24, which, curiously, adds nothing to the original.

Joseph Smith declared (JSH Vol. 4, p461) that the BOM is "the most correct of any book on earth."

9. What source texts should we use when witnessing to Mormons?

10. When John 3:16 is presented to Mormons as disproof of the doctrine of Progression (to be studied later), they will read it as follows: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son (in the flesh)..." How should we address this method of reading scripture? (Is 55:8-9, Rev 22:18-19) How did Jesus treat scripture? (Matt 4:4, etc.)

"And it came to pass that the angel of the Lord spake unto me, saying: Behold, saith the Lamb of God, after I have visited the remnant of the house of Israel - and this remnant of whom I speak is the seed of my father - wherefore, after I have visited them in judgment, and smitten them by the hand of the Gentiles, and after the Gentiles do stumble exceedingly, because of the most plain and precious parts of the gospel of the Lamb which have been kept back by that abominable church, which is the mother of harlots, saith the Lamb - I will be merciful unto the Gentiles in that day, insomuch that I will bring forth unto them, in mine own power, much of my gospel, which shall be plain and precious, saith the Lamb." 1 Nephi 13:34 (emphasis added)

11. What did Jesus say about the possibility of losing the gospel from the earth? (Matt 16:18; 24:35, c.f. Mark 13:31, Luke 21:33)

12. What is the gospel? (1 Cor 15:1-4, Titus 3:3-7)

13. Was any of it left out? (Acts 20:27) Is there a difference between saying that "part of the gospel is missing" and saying that "part of the Bible is missing"?

14. How much of the Bible is required for salvation? (Acts 16:31, Rom 10:9; 1:18-20) What does this say about the LDS claim that the BOM is required reading?

15. What should we do with any teaching which is contrary to the Bible? (Is 8:20, Deut 13:6-10, Gal 1:8-9)

Think about it:
Is the Bible the only source of truth? How can we identify the voice of the Holy Spirit?