mormonism

Latter Day Uneasiness

Rick Bundschuh — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 11:21:27 -0700

Let me just put it out there and take the wacks for being intolerant; I would be very uneasy having a devout Mormon in the Oval office.

Watching the political wrangling of the pachyderm party and the various missteps of those hopefuls for nomination to lead the nation, it is quite obvious that the “religious affiliation” question is a minefield not to be crossed.

So let me attempt to bravely venture out where one is forbidden to go and explain my queasiness.

Some religions are nutty.

Scientology comes to mind as a loopy scam.

Some religions are deceptive, cloaking their real ideas and agenda in the guise and language of an already accepted faith.

The Gnostics were pretty good at this as I recall.

Some religions require that you suspend your logic and reasoning and substitute an emotional embrace instead.

Jim Jones created this environment in a deadly manner.

Frankly, Mormonism is all of the above. A remarkably nutty story that reeks of a scam and insists that in spite of all logical evidence the contrary, the truth of their story is verified through the warming emotion of the heart. Then has the gall to wrap the whole kooky enchilada in the language and events of orthodox Christianity.

Yes, there are many wonderful, sweet people who are Mormons. Yes, yes, they have high moral standards and are clean cut and well scrubbed and yes, they talk about God and Jesus.

But it is the story they have put their trust in that gives me pause and their willingness to dive headlong into this tall tale with unquestioning hesitation.

For me, the faltering point in giving a thumbs up to a Mormon in the oval office comes from their gullibility.

So I ask myself, would I trust a person who naively believes the LDS story to have the discernment to lead a nation? Perhaps an example would give clarity to my point.

What if the lead candidate believed in Fairies?

In the late 1800’s some seemingly smart people such as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (author of Sherlock Holmes) bought into a hoax that showed photos of these wee folks scampering on vegetation. (See his still in print book The Coming of Fairies if you don’t believe me.)

As much as I admire the work of Sir Doyle, the fact that he believes in Fairies, would, in my mind, disqualify him for being the Prime Minister of England.

And yes, I am well aware that any garden-variety atheist would attempt to turn this argument against me because I subscribe to orthodox Christianity.

But one has to admit there is quite a difference between believing in the Gospel story and Fairies.

Or that a young man from upstate New York, already convicted of defrauding a neighbor by pretending he had the power to find hidden treasure, was given gold plates with unheard of script and a seer stone to translate them with. (Which unlike Biblical documents were supposedly and conveniently whisked away by an angel after completion.)

Or that the same young man was endowed with insight to explain what was wrong with the Bible and all other religions as well as vested with the authority to reinvent Biblical terms and ideas wholesale resulting in an American version of British Israelism, holy underwear, Masonic like rituals, sibling rivalry of Satan and Jesus, a new and uncharitable race in ancient America, bedding other men’s wives and innocent fourteen year old girls and many other sordid and strange examples.

For my money…and vote, there is too much at stake to risk standing behind someone who is devoted to the story of Mormonism, even if he is a nice guy with good morals.

It means that he is susceptible to nonsense, easy to fleece, gullible. And those are fearful qualities to have in the one at the helm of a nation.

Love Your Neighbor, the Atheist

Sean McDowell — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 17:33:30 -0700

When Jesus was asked the most important commandment in the law he answered to “love the Lord your God” and “love your neighbor.” In other words, the most important thing for Christians to do is to love (Mark 12). And yet this summer I have been reminded how far we have to go in learning to love our neighbors. Let me explain.

One of my favorite ways to teach students is through role-playing. I take on the part of an atheist, Muslim, Mormon, or a member of some other non-Christian worldview and challenge students to articulate and defend their beliefs accordingly. I have done this with groups of as few as twelve students or as many as 6,000.

One of the great values in role-playing is that it quickly reveals how little students actually understand their faith. Rarely have I encountered a student who was conversant about theology, science or philosophy. Most defend their views by quoting verses (even though my role-play persona typically does not believe in the Bible) or by pointing to some personal experience. As Barna studies reveal, few Christians understand or can articulate their faith.

And yet my role-play also reveals how students treat non-believers. This summer I role-played as an atheist at a summer camp. As soon as I put on my “atheist shirt,” to indicate I was role-playing, a youth pastor yelled out, “You are going to hell.” Everyone laughed. Another student read me Psalms 14:1, which says, “The fool says there is no God.” Others clapped and jeered as soon as they answered my questions or countered my challenges. Rather than loving me as a neighbor they told me I was going to hell, called me a fool, and cheered against me as if I was their cross-town rival.

The next day a girl came up to me and thanked me for fairly representing atheism. And the reason she cared was that she, herself, is an atheist. She said to me, “I have been doubting God for some time. I have a lot of questions. The reason I’m afraid to tell anyone is that I fear they will treat me exactly as they treated you last night.” I shared her story with the entire group the next day (with her permission) and you could have heard a pin drop. This was the first time many of them reflected on how they really treat people of other faiths.

I asked the students to consider what was in their hearts during the role-play. Were they really trying to understand my worldview, listen to me, love me as a human being, and draw me to Christ? Or were they trying to win the argument? Most admitted it was the latter.

How do you treat people of other faiths? Do you love them, as Jesus called us to do? I have heard pastors take cheap shots at atheists and listened to Christians tell derogatory jokes about gays. Why on earth would they come to church or consider the claims of Christ when we treat them like that? Paul made it clear that if we speak in tongues, or speak prophecies, but have not love, then we have nothing (1 Cor. 13:1-2).

The best way to overcome our biases about people of other faiths is to reach out and genuinely engage them in relationship. Don’t just hang out with other Christians. Sadly, people of other faiths are often surprised when Christians actually do this. But this is what Jesus did! Some of the most enriching relationships I have had over the past few years are with atheists and other non-Christians. When we actually build relationships with atheists, Muslims, agnostics, New Agers, or other non-Christians we will stop stereotyping them, and be in a much better position to love them. So, what non-Christian can you engage? How can you love your neighbor?

Archaeological insights from the Holy Land

Sean McDowell — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 13:00:52 -0700

For the past week I have been on an apologetics study tour of the Holy Land with 25 high school students. Along with visiting the Dead Sea, Masada, the Sea of Galilee, the Garden of Gethsemane, and many other remarkable sites, we had the special treat of hearing a lecture by filmmaker Joel Kramer. He is the award-winning producer of The Bible vs. Joseph Smith as well as many other films. He is currently working on a PhD in archaeology at Hebrew University.

Here are some highlights from his presentation that I trust you will find as fascinating as I do:

Jerusalem is the most archaeologically excavated city in the world, but only 1% of the entire city has been excavated. The sites that have been excavated (even though they are a minority of all possible sites) consistently confirm the biblical record.

There are currently more Mormons excavating archaeological sites in Jerusalem than evangelical Christians.

Joel spent fifteen years working with Mormons in Utah and now he works in Israel. According to Joel, Mormons take a myth and try to make it historical. Non-believers in Israel do the opposite—they take something historical and try to make it a myth.

The idea that Jesus never existed is a laughing matter in Israel. No reputable scholars whatsoever hold this view—none. It would be as absurd as going to Utah and saying Joseph Smith never existed or going to Mecca and saying Mohammad never existed. Here is a direct quote from Joel: “The archaeology of Jesus is one of the only things that scholars agree about in this country. Whether Jewish, secular humanist, or Christian, they all agree on the archaeology surrounding Jesus.”

When Joel arrived in Jerusalem he asked for the leading archaeological claims that challenge the Bible so he could excavate them first. He was told the leading archaeological challenge to the New Testament is the Talpiot Tomb and the leading Old Testament challenge is Jericho. As a result, he did his first two documentaries on these two sites (The Jesus Tomb Unmasked and Jericho Unearthed). After excavating them carefully he came to the conclusion that Jericho is one of the most powerful archaeological supports for the Bible and the claims that the Talpiot tomb housed the bones of Jesus are utterly overblown.

Joel considers the following fact the most powerfully attested in the Bible. According to the Scriptures, King Hezekiah of Judah protected Jerusalem from Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, who was the head of the most powerful empire in the world in the 8^th century B.C. He had wiped out everything from far north of Israel through Egypt but had his heart set on the city of Jerusalem. The archaeological record confirms the biblical account—all the cities were wiped out during this time except Jerusalem (see 2 Kings 19). Sennacherib’s palace in Lachish has even been excavated and there are records of the defeat of many cities but no record of the defeat of Jerusalem.

Learning From Mormons

Sean McDowell — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 14:35:33 -0700

Last Friday I invited a local Mormon leader to speak to my 11^th grade theology class. This is the first time I have ever done this. Typically I take my students on trips to visit other people, but some students don’t go on those trips so I wanted them all to hear from a Mormon firsthand. He was thoughtful, kind, prepared, and very articulate. In fact, I was very impressed by how well he knew his stuff and how confidently he portrayed it. He even quoted from C.S. Lewis, although he took him out of context. I wish more Christians had his poise and confidence.

I learned a couple things from this encounter that Christians may consider taking to heart.

First, the higher degree of education a Mormon receives the higher is his/her participation in the church. And yet the exact opposite is true for evangelicals. Even though the Mormon faith is essentially built on a subjective experience (see Moroni 10:4), Mormons have come to value the intellect and education. Mitt Romney and Glenn Beck are good examples of leading Mormon intellectuals who are having a positive impact on culture. Why is it that a faith built on subjective experience produces many leading thinkers?

In contrast to Mormonism, there is compelling evidence for the claims of Christianity. There are reliable eyewitness claims of the miracles of Jesus, archaeological support, and early manuscripts verifying the biblical accounts. My father and I lay out the basic evidence for the historical Jesus in our book, More Than a Carpenter. Yet none of these exist for the events, people, and lands mentioned in the book of Mormon—none.

My visitor pointed to the finding of the city of “Nahom” as confirmation of 1 Nephi 16. But as many Mormon scholars admit, this is the only possible find corroborating Mormonism, and it is highly suspect. See here for the whole story. Simply put, there is not a single credible archaeological find for Mormonism. Amazingly, a religion based on subjective experience encourages education. And yet evangelical Christianity, which really does have compelling objective evidence, downplays education and the development of the mind. Why is this so?

Second, my guest was very appreciative that we treated him with kindness. I spent about thirty minutes prepping my students to ensure they treated him lovingly and respectfully, as 1 Peter 3:15 instructs. I didn’t want them rolling their eyes, laughing, or asking uninformed questions. Yet this does not mean we held back the tough questions. In fact, to his credit, he encouraged us to ask tough questions! And we did. How many of us to go people of other faiths and invite tough questions? We asked him about his views of the trinity, the Mormon view of works-based salvation, and the evidence for Joseph Smith truly being a prophet of God. We had a lively yet cordial dialogue.

He thanked me afterwards for being a gracious host. He shared how a large church in southern California (which will remain unnamed) brings students to his Mormon church for regular visits. According to him, they quote their “anti-Mormon” literature and simply criticize him and the Mormon Church without taking the time to understand. This saddened me, because I often role-play as an atheist to Christian students and am amazed how they often care more about winning an argument than genuinely listening, clarifying, and treating someone with love. There is nothing wrong with raising objections to Mormonism, or any other religion, but we must do a heart-check as to our motivations. Is it to win an argument? Or is it truly to help lead someone to the truth?

According to my guest, Mormons often feel hated by evangelicals. If so, this certainly isn’t going to encourage them to seriously consider what we believe. Paul said if we speak truth but don’t have love then our words are worthless (1 Cor. 13). We must never back down from speaking truth to our Mormon friends. After all, they knock on doors attempting to persuade people to their beliefs. But we must see them as human beings made in the image of God who are just in need of the saving grace of Jesus as anyone else.

Is "Cult" a Four-Letter Word?

Christianity 101 — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 16:54:52 -0700

Mormonism is in the news these days, thanks to Glenn Beck, the highest profile Mormon since American Idol runner-up David Archuleta. Beck's rise to fame has come as a conservative radio and television talk show host and best-selling author, and most recently as a speechmaker for the Tea Party.

His call at a rally on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial for America to turn to God has conservatives and Christians in a lather. Does Glenn Beck speak for America? More crucially, does Glenn Beck speak for God and Christians?

In the interest of bringing clarity to the conversation, we thought it would be useful to do a couple of things. First, since Mormonism is often referred to as a "cult" (a word that sounds pejorative and mean-spirited), we want to explore with you just exactly what a cult is. In a subsequent post, we will outline some of the distinctives of Mormonism so you can answer the "Is Mormonism a cult?" question for yourself.

The word cult comes from the Latin word cultus. Its original definition referred to members of an organization who cared about the same things. The English word culture is derived from the same Latin word.

When used in a religious context, cult defines a group that holds certain ideas and practices in common, but the specifics of its beliefs are either so new or so different that they take it beyond the religion from which it started.

Theologians R.C. Sproul and Tim Couch have identified ten characteristics that typically distinguish groups that fit into the category of a cult. Here is their list, along with our brief explanations.

1. An abrupt break with historic Christianity and its confessions. Cults usually view historical Christianity as being off base until their founder came along to straighten things out.

2. Autosotericism. This is theological lingo for "self-salvation." Cults usually specify that salvation is obtained by following certain rules and regulations specified by the cult.

3. A deficient Christiantiy. Christianity is premised on the belief that Jesus is God; if he is something less than God, then salvation by his death on the cross wouldn't work. Cults, however, take a lesser view of Christ. They might admire Jesus and view him as greater than a human, but they don't consider him as the one true God.

4. Syncretism. This is more theological jargon that simply means the blending of different elements from several religions into one synthiesized belief system.

5. An emphasis on their own distinctives. Rather than stressing the major doctrinal points of Christianity, a cult will put disproportionate emphasis on its distinguishing doctrines. Those beliefs that orthodox Christianity considers to be essential take a backseat to the cult's unique characteristics.

6. Perfectionism. Most cults teach that it is possible for a human to be perfect, a doctrine that flies in the face of Christianity's view that humans are sinful and can never achieve God's standard of perfection. Moral perfection is usually attainable by following the cult's prescribed conduct (doing some things and abstaining from others), and by adhering to the teachings of the cult's fonder and leaders.

7. An extrabiblical source of authority. While many cults recognize the Bible as a sacred piece of literature, they have additional holy books. The other writings usually take precedence over the Bible (or at least they give the authoritative interpretation of the Bible). If there is a conflict between the two, the Bible comes in second place.

8. A belief in exclusive community salvation. A cult teaches that it is the only true church. Unless you believe all of its teachings, you won't be saved. In contrast, a sect of traditional Christianity won't claim exclusive rights to salvation. Most denominational differences don't pertain to the qualifications for salvation. According to the prevailing Christian viewpoint, joining a particular denomination is not a prerequisite to get to heaven. For most cults, however, you won't make it unless you are one of their members.

9. A preoccupation with eschatology. Eschatology is the study of the end of the world. In the perspective of the timeline of Christiantiy, most of the popular cults are fairly new, having been founded in the last 200 years or so. Cults often explain that their founder brought the last word from God to prepare mankind for the end of the world. With this perspective, cults often emphasize urgency concerning the end times.

10. Esotericism. Something is esoteric if it is beyond the knowledge of most people and understood by only a select group of individuals. This is what separates cults from traditional Christianity. Each cult claims that its founder and/or leaders have access to special truth that was previously hidden and is unavailable to everyone else.

In our next post, we will list the distinctives of Mormonism.

Mormon Apologetics Trip

Sean McDowell — Fri, 21 May 2010 11:14:30 -0700

A few weeks ago I partnered with Brett Kunkle of Stand to Reason to take 22 high school students on an apologetics mission trip to Salt Lake City. One of my students, Matt Champagne, put this brief trailer together about the upcoming documentary. Check it out!

http://www.youtube.com/user/Seanmcdowell76

Conversations With Mormons Part 2

Sean McDowell — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 20:34:20 -0700

We began the training for our trip to Utah with forty students. Some dropped out for different reasons, but a common theme was they thought we were going to “beat up on Mormons.” I’ve never received criticism from Christians for our mission trips to Berkeley where we engage atheists and agnostics, but a decent number of Christians felt we shouldn’t be going on a mission trip to Utah. Why is this? I’d love to know what some of you think.

The conclusion I’ve come to is that many Christians don’t fully understand the depravity of man. Mormons are nice, well-meaning people who believe in family values. So, who are we to try and convert them? Isn’t this intolerant? It seems to me that we confuse the difference between goodness and niceness. I’ve certainly done this many times in my own life. Most Mormons are certainly nice, but does that mean they are good? According to Isaiah 64:6, “All of our righteous deeds are like filthy garments.” Mormons are just as sinful and in desperate need of God’s grace as anyone else (myself included).

Paul said, “There is none righteous, not even one; there is none who understands, there is none who seeks for God; all have turned aside, together they have become useless; there is none who does good, there is not even one. Their throat is an open grave. With their tongues they keep deceiving, the poison of asps is under their lips; whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness; their feet are swift to shed blood, destruction and misery are in their paths, and the path of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes” (Romans 3:10-18).

I’ve always been intrigued by Mormonism, but this trip really broke my heart for the Mormon people. I can honestly say that I love Mormons and pray for their salvation. They need Jesus just as much as anyone else. And God passionately desires to be in relationship with them. I stood outside the BYU library and thought of Jesus’ words in Matthew 23:37. After harshly criticizing the Jewish leaders for their hypocrisy and blindness, Jesus says, “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling

I was thrilled this week that so many youth were willing to step out of their comfort zones and converse with Mormons. Will you?

Conversations With Mormons Part 1

Sean McDowell — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 14:47:52 -0700

“I thank God for truth. I’ve thanked God for many things in my life, but never thought about thanking God for allowing me to truly know Him.”

These powerful words were spoken by one of my students last night as we debriefed from our mission trip to Salt Lake City, Utah. She was heartbroken that so many well meaning people believe a false gospel and yet, for the first time, she was truly grateful to know the truth. My heart was truly touched to hear a high school student speak these words.

For the past three days our team of six leaders and twenty-three students have been interacting with Mormon students at BYU, knocking on doors throughout Salt Lake City to talk about the gospel, and touring Temple Square to learn about the history and doctrine of Mormonism. My friend and fellow conversantlife blogger Brett Kunkle planned and organized the trip for us.

I often tell my students to seek truth with all their hearts and minds, for that is what sets us free (John 8:32). If Christianity were not true, then don’t follow it (1 Corinthians 15:14, 17). But if it is true, then follow it with all your heart. Thus, we approached mission to Mormons as truth-seekers wiling to be persuaded if the case for Mormonism were convincing. This doesn’t mean we lack convictions or commitments to Scripture, but that we truly want to hear people out and understand why they believe as they do.

My first conversation at BYU was with a couple young Mormon missionaries. After we chit chatted for a few moments I asked them how they know Mormonism is true. In other words, why should I believe Joseph Smith is a real prophet? He gave the standard Mormon response from Moroni 10:4, which says: “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.” In other words, he asked me to pray about the book of Mormon and to trust my heart.

I kindly pointed out that this is circular reasoning (there’s also a problem about trusting the heart: Jeremiah 17:9; Mark 7:21). In other words, if we want to know the truth of the Book of Mormon (BM) we can’t use a verse in the BM as our standard. To follow this advice is to assume its truth, which is the very issue at stake. Here’s what such reasoning looks like:

QUESTION: “How do I know the BM is true?”

RESPONSE: “Follow the advice of Moroni 10:4, which says to pray about it and trust your heart.”

QUESTION: “But if the truth of the BM is at stake, how can I trust Moroni 10:4.”

RESPONSE: “Because the BM is the Word of God and Moroni 10:4 is in the BM.”

QUESTION: “Wait a minute, if we want to know the veracity of the BM, how can we use the BM?”

Such reasoning is obviously circular. Muslims do this as well. One of the missionaries asked me how I know the Bible is true, so I pointed to both internal and external evidence such as non-biblical writers and archaeology. I requested one external verifiable fact that corroborates the BM and they couldn’t give me one—not one. According to Mormons the golden plates that Joseph Smith translated were taken to heaven, and any remains from the huge cities and wars in America have disappeared. Such lack of confirmation would be quite disconcerting to me if I were a Mormon. And yet many seem either unaware or unconcerned.

As I walked away one of the missionaries said, “Be sure to keep an open mind.” So I asked him how many books he’s read that are critical of Mormonism. Of course he had not read a single book. None! I listed off many of the anti-Christian books I’ve read by Dawkins, Russell, Hitchens and others and then simply left him with a question: “In light of this, who of us is the most open-minded?"

I don’t point this out to pretend I have a ready-answer for everything. That would be very far from the truth. Many times I thought of a better answer after the conversation. But I’ll be ready next time. My goal was not necessarily to convert him, (or the other people I talked with) but to lovingly challenge him to reconsider his convictions. Or to put a stone in his shoe, as Greg Koukl says.

This is only one sample of a conversation from our trip. To me, the most significant aspect of the trip was how willingly the students were to engage in conversations as well. They loved the challenge! In fact, after the first night of ministry they were so motivated to learn theology that half the group stayed up until about 1am studying the Bible and the Book of Mormon. I had to make them go to bed. They wanted to be better prepared for the next day. And many of them were.

Trips like these can really be life changing for students. In fact, every student needs to experience it. One girl had a long conversation with a Mormon student who was very hostile to Christianity. She cried afterwards because she was so heartbroken that he (and the rest of the 30,000 or so students at BYU) believes a false gospel (See 2 Corinthians 11:13-14).