Mormon Stumpers
In your discussions with Mormons, they will most often wish to direct
the topics presented into those areas where they feel most informed
and comfortable. Whether they are the young missionaries at your door
or friends or colleagues, they have all been taught several lines of
approach and have been drilled in making their points.
We suggest that you take charge of such conversations. Besides
acquainting yourself with the basics of Mormon teaching (in addition,
of course, to the fundamentals of the Catholic faith), consider
presenting the Mormon apologist with a few "stumpers."
"We don=92t bash your church, why bash ours?"
Somehow, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
have been persuaded by their leaders that they have always been on the
receiving end of uncharitable comments and unjust accusations. From
the time Joseph Smith began his work in 1820, the Mormon church has
gloried in the "fact" that it is a persecuted people. For them, this
is a sure sign that it is the Lord=92s true church; all opposition comes
ultimately from Satan. So, if you do offer a question or a criticism,
be prepared for this reaction.
Many Mormons, including their hierarchy, look upon any criticism=97
regardless of how honest and sincere=97as perverseness inspired by the
Evil One. But these same individuals ignore their own past (and
present) attacks on Christian churches. You might like to point out a
few of these to those Mormons who say their church "never attacks
other churches."
1. "I was answered that I must join none of them (Christian churches),
for they were all wrong=85their creeds were an abomination in [God=92s]
sight; that those professors were all corrupt" (Joseph Smith=97History
1:19).
2. "Orthodox Christian views of God are pagan rather than
Christian" (Mormon Doctrine of Deity, B. H. Roberts [General
Authority], 116).
3. "Are Christians ignorant? Yes, as ignorant of the things of God as
the brute beast" (Journal of Discourses, John Taylor [3rd Mormon
President], 13:225).
4. "The Roman Catholic, Greek, and Protestant church, is the great
corrupt, ecclesiastical power, represented by great Babylon" (Orson
Pratt, Writings of an Apostle, Orson Pratt, n. 6, 84).
5. "All the priests who adhere to the sectarian [Christian] religions
of the day with all their followers, without one exception, receive
their ****tion with the devil and his angels" (The Elders Journal,
Joseph Smith, ed. Vol. 1, n. 4, 60).
6. [Under the heading, "Church of the Devil," Apostle Bruce R.
McConkie lists:] "The Roman Catholic Church specifically=97singled out,
set apart, described, and designated as being =91most abominable above
all other churches=92 (I Ne. 13:5)" (Mormon Doctrine, 1958, 129).
7. "Believers in the doctrines of modern Christendom will reap
damnation to their souls (Morm. 8; Moro. 8)" (Mormon Doctrine, 1966,
Bruce R. McConkie, 177).
Some contem****ary Mormons, embarrassed=97at least publicly=97by
McConkie=92s=
ranting, will respond with, "That=92s only his opinion." This is
disingenuous at best. Keep in mind that McConkie, who died in 1985,
was raised to the level of "apostle" in the Mormon church after he had
written all these things. And still today, his Mormon Doctrine is
published by a church-owned publi****ng company and remains one of the
church=92s bestsellers.
"We have no revelation on abortion"
Didn=92t you assume Mormons were pro-life? That=92s certainly the image
their church attempts to broadcast, and most Mormons, in fact,
mistakenly believe their church opposes abortion and regards it as an
objective evil. But not so.
Indeed, the Mormon church accepts abortion for a number of reasons.
The Church Handbook of Instructions, approved in September, 1998,
states that abortion may be performed in the following cir***stances:
pregnancy resulting from rape or *****; a competent physician says
the life or health of the mother is in serious jeopardy; or a
competent physician says that the "fetus" has severe defects that will
not allow the "baby" to survive beyond birth. In any case, the persons
responsible must first consult with their church leader and receive
God=92s approval in prayer (156).
This same Handbook, the official policies of the Mormon church to be
followed by all local church leaders throughout the world, also
claims: "It is a fact that a child has life before birth. However,
there is no direct revelation on when the spirit enters the
body" (156). Previous teachings by former Mormon prophets referred to
the unborn child as "a child," "a baby," a "human being," and decried
abortion as "killing," "a grievous sin," "a damnable practice."
Spencer W. Kimball, the prophet who died in 1985, taught, "We have
repeatedly affirmed the position of the church in unalterably opposing
all abortions" (Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, 189).
It appears that this "unalterable" position, constantly "affirmed," is
just another in a series of doctrinal and moral teachings that Mormons
have reworded, reworked, rescinded, or reneged=97though never officially
renounced. Such is the quality of the Mormon belief in "continuing
revelation." Don=92t expect dogmatic or ethical consistency. Rather,
look for expediency and conformity with "the times."
A further statement in the Handbook says: "The church has not favored
or opposed legislative proposals or public demonstrations concerning
abortion (156)." While the Mormon prophet claims to speak the mind and
will of God, he can neither figure out when the unborn child becomes
human or if it is God=92s desire that we protect the unborn
unconditionally.
Your Mormon friend will offer the excuse that his church leaves many
decisions to the free agency (free will) of its people, and that
abortion is one such concern. You might point out the irony in the
fact that the Mormon church has no hesitation or uncertainty in making
the following declarations:
1. "The church opposes gambling in any form" (including lotteries).
Members are also urged to oppose legislation and government
sponsor****p of any form of gambling (Handbook, 150).
2. The church also opposes [correctly, of course] ****ography in any
form (158).
3. Church members are to reject all efforts to legally authorize or
sup****t same-*** unions (158).
There is no need for a member to pray for divine guidance or seek
church approval for such activities, for there will be no divine or
ecclesiastical finessing of morality to permit even an occasional
bingo game. A prayerful game of poker, unrepented, will bar the member
from the temple and ultimate salvation; a prayerful, by-the-book
abortion, unrepented, won=92t.
Something=92s wrong here
"Only Mormons teach the true nature of God."
Because they believe the Church established by Christ 2,000 years ago
fell completely away from his teachings within a century or so of his
death, Mormons argue that only a thorough "restoration" (and not a
simple "reformation") of the true Church and its holy doctrines would
lead man to salvation. Joseph Smith organized this "restored church"
in 1830. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints preaches a
belief central to most religions: one must know the true nature of
God. "It is the first principle of the gospel to know for a certainty
the character of God" (Teachings of Joseph Smith, 345ff).
No Christian disputes the absolute necessity of knowing the nature of
God (to the extent our reason, aided by grace, can apprehend this
great mystery). Indeed, the Catholic Church and other Christian
denominations have been united in a constant belief in the supreme God
as almighty, eternal, and unchanging. Mormons have not been favored by
similar clarity from their self-described "prophets" who receive
"direct revelation" from the gods.
You may wish to ask your Mormon acquaintance to consider the following
authoritative statements by their earlier and present prophets.
1. In an early book of "Scripture" brought forth by Joseph Smith, the
creation account consistently refers to the singular when speaking of
God and creation: "I, God, caused . . . I, God, created . . . I, God,
saw. . . . " The singular is used 50 times in the second and third
chapters of the Book of Moses (1831).
2. In another of Smith=92s earlier works, the Book of Mormon (1830),
there are no references to a plurality of gods. At best, there is a
confusion, at times, between the Father and the Son, leading at times
to the extreme of modalism (one divine person who reveals himself
sometimes as the Father, sometimes as the Son) or the other extreme of
"binitarianism," belief in two persons in God. The Book of Mormon also
makes a strong point for God=92s spiritual and eternal unity (see Alma
11:44 and 22:10-11, which proclaims that God is the "Great Spirit").
3. Another early work of Smith is the Lectures on Faith (1834-35).
There is continual evidence that the first Mormon leader taught a form
of bitheism: the Father and the Son are separate gods. The Holy Spirit
is merely the "mind" of the two.
4. At about the same time, we begin to see a doctrinal ****ft. Smith
had acquired some mummies and Egyptian papyri. He proclaimed the
writings to be those of the patriarch, Abraham, in his own hand, and
set out to translate the text. His Book of Abraham records in chapters
four and five that "the gods called . . . the gods ordered . . . the
gods prepared" some 45 times. Smith thus introduces the notion of a
plurality of gods.
5. The clearest exposition of this departure from traditional
Christian doctrine is seen in Smith=92s tale of a "vision" he had as a
boy of 14. Both the Father and the Son appeared to him, he wrote; they
were two separate "personages." This story of two gods was not
authorized and distributed by the church until 1838, after his Book of
Abraham had paved the way for polytheism.
6. Readers will notice that the Father is said to have appeared, along
with his resurrected Son. In his final doctrinal message, Smith showed
how this was possible.
In the King Follett Discourse (a funeral talk he gave in 1844), Joseph
Smith left his church with the clearest statement to date on the
nature of God:
"God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man, and sits
enthroned in yonder heavens[.] That is the great secret. If the veil
were rent today, and the great God who holds this world in its orbit,
and who upholds all worlds and all things by his power, was to make
himself visible=97I say, if you were to see him today, you would see him
like a man in form=97like yourselves in all the person, image, and very
form as a man. The scriptures inform us that Jesus said, =91As the
Father hath power to himself, even so hath the Son power=92=97to do what?
Why, what the Father did. The answer is obvious=97in a manner to lay
down his body and take it up again. Jesus, what are you going to do?
To lay down my life as my Father did, and take it up again. Do you
believe it? If you do not believe it, you do not believe the Bible.
The scriptures say it and I defy all the learning and wisdom and all
the combined powers of earth and hell together to refute it."
As the Mormon church has taught since that time, God the Father was
once a man who was created by his God, was born and lived on another
earth, learned and lived the "Mormon gospel," died, and was eventually
resurrected and made God over this universe. As such, he retains
forever his flesh-and-bones body.
7. Aside from some tem****ary detours (Orson Pratt said the Holy Ghost
was a spiritual fluid that filled the universe; Brigham Young taught
that Adam is the god of this world), the Mormon church has constantly
taught that God the Father is a perfected man with a physical body and
parts. Right-living Mormon men may also progress, as did the Father,
and eventually become gods themselves. In fact, fifth president,
Lorenzo Snow, summed up the Mormon teaching thus: "As man now is, God
once was; as God now is, man may be." Snow frequently claimed this
summary of the Mormon doctrine on God and man was revealed to him by
inspiration. (See Stephen E. Robinson, Are Mormons Christian?, 60,
note 1.)
8. "Thou shalt not have strange gods before me." What is stranger than
a God who starts off as a single Spirit, eternal and all-powerful; who
then becomes, perhaps, two gods in one, and then three; who never
changes, yet was once born a man, lived, sinned, repented, and died;
who was made God the Father of this world by his own God; and who will
make his own children gods someday of their own worlds?
That all believing Christians are shocked and disturbed by this
blasphemy may=97just may=97be ****ging the Mormon leader****p to soften
their rhetoric (if not actually change their heresy). A case in point
is an interview with current church prophet, Gordon B. Hinckley,
published in the San Francisco Chronicle on April 13, 1997. When
asked: "[D]on=92t Mormons believe that God was once a man?" Hinckley
demurred. "I wouldn=92t say that. There=92s a little couplet coined, =91As
man is, God once was. As God is, man may become.=92 Now, that=92s more of
a couplet than anything else. That gets into some pretty deep theology
that we don=92t know very much about" (3/Z1).
A surprising admission, as Hinckley seems to disparage the constant
teaching of all his prophetic predecessors.
Choose, if you like, any one of these three attacks: on Christians; on
the sanctity of life; on God. Ask your Mormon listener to explain the
contradictions of his church. Don=92t be satisfied with a personal,
subjective, emotional "testimony." Demand clarification of confused
and contradictory teachings.
When they aren=92t forthcoming, be prepared to offer the truth.
NIHIL OBSTAT: I have concluded that the materials
presented in this work are free of doctrinal or moral errors.
Bernadeane Carr, STL, Censor Librorum, August 10, 2004
IMPRIMATUR: In accord with 1983 CIC 827
permission to publish this work is hereby granted.
+Robert H. Brom, Bishop of San Diego, August 10, 2004
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