Mormon E-mails May 2016

17 May

mailbag1We’ve received a lot of e-mails lately and thought we’d share one of those today! First, and foremost,please, remember to pray for these dear people won’t you? I know, I know, I keep yammerin’ on about this, but I know for a fact prayer does work, thus my friendly reminders! 😉 Originally we were going to list some of the others, but this one is a bit long, so we’ll be listing others throughout the week!

FYI, you can read this one on our Life After Ministries site by clicking on the link below –

This e-mail came in as a response to our post ‘Tip of the Day July 24th’. We’re listing the original post, followed by the response of the Mormon who wrote in (Chris), and then our reply.

July 24 – Isaiah 9:6; “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.”

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There isn’t one part of this verse the Mormon Church accepts as truth.  Everything their church is built upon is diametrically opposed to this truth.  July 24th is considered an almost holy day to the Mormon.  It’s when the pioneers settled into Utah.  The foundation of their beliefs began to spread like wildfire from this time forward.

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Doctrines of Salvation, Vol. 1:103; “He also taught that, literally, God is our Father; that men are of the same race-the race called humans; and that God, the Progenitor, or Creator, is the Father of the human race. “In the image of his own body, male and female, created he them, and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created and became living souls in the land upon the footstool of God.

It is a doctrine common to the Latter-day Saints, that God, the Great Elohim, is the First, or Creator, of the human family.”

From:

Chris May 14, 2016 –

I’m a Mormon, and what you have accused my Church of is completely ridiculous and offensive. We follow the teachings of Jesus Christ, the only begotten son of God. We believe that he is our Savior, and that He is the only way to salvation. We believe in the Bible to be the word of God. The Bible testifies of Christ and His mission, and among the most beautiful testimonies is the Book of Isaiah which prophesies of Christ’s birth. I have no idea why you feel like we are “diametrically opposed” to that verse of scripture, but I’m here to tell you that you are completely wrong and have no place to attack our faith.

Pioneer Day is a completely unrelated subject. It is celebrated by Mormons, and why would it not be? We celebrate the 4th of July because it represents the dawn of America’s freedom. We celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day because it represents civil rights being granted to all. And we celebrate the pioneers, because they, as Christians, bravely traveled to a new land in order to escape oppression and seek freedom to worship God. Shame on you for saying that it is un-Christian to celebrate our pioneers.

Dear Chris –

We wanted to thank you for writing in to Life After Ministries, and let you know we’re praying for you.

I want to be sure I address each of your concerns Chris because they’re obviously very important, not only to you, but ourselves as well.

First of all, I’m fully aware that what we’ve said is offensive, and for this I can’t apologize because God’s word says the His truth is offensive.

1 Peter 2:7-8; “Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, 8 And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed.”

I remember very well what it was like as a Mormon and being told I wasn’t a Christian, or that I wasn’t following what the Bible said. I was just as offended as you seem to be right now.  I lived like that for years, and then decided once and for all to find out if what people were telling me was indeed fact, or if I was being ‘persecuted’ for being Mormon.

You said –

‘We believe that he is our Savior, and that He is the only way to salvation.’

You know as well as I do, this isn’t totally true for the Mormon people. LDS prophets and other leaders from Joseph Smith to Thomas Monson have clearly stated true salvation is found in exaltation, and the only way to achieve this status is by participating in temple ceremonies to become a ‘forever family’. This is true salvation for a Mormon, and it’s also what is necessary to become a god someday.

Preparing to Enter the Holy Temple, p. 32

‘The blessing of the endowment is required for full exaltation. Every Latter-day Saint should seek to be worthy of this blessing and to obtain it.’

This doesn’t even address the fact that belief in Joseph Smith being a true prophet is also needed for salvation…

Chris, you also stated the following –

‘We believe in the Bible to be the word of God. The Bible testifies of Christ and His mission, and among the most beautiful testimonies is the Book of Isaiah which prophesies of Christ’s birth.’

While the Bible does testify of Jesus, the rest of what you said isn’t what Mormonism teaches. The 8th Article of Faith says –

AoF 1:8; “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.”

We both know that by and large, Mormons distrust the authenticity of the Bible. They believe it’s been corrupted over time, thus the need for Joseph Smith’s ‘restoration’. And even though the Book of Mormon contains this verse in Isaiah (2 Nephi 19:6), the Church still doesn’t believe what it says. Even a cursory glance of Isaiah 9:6 reveals the truth.

“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.”

Here’s a list of the reasons why Mormons can’t believe Isaiah 9:6 –

No Trinity = No Everlasting Father, No ‘Mighty God’, No Counsellor…

D&C 130:22; “The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man’s; the Son also; but the Holy Ghost has not a body of flesh and bones, but is a personage of Spirit. Were it not so, the Holy Ghost could not dwell in us.”

Furthermore, Jesus is referred to specifically as “a son of God” in the Book of Mormon (Alma 36:17). Lucifer, or the devil, is another son of God (Mormon Doctrine, p. 140 online, or p.163).

The ‘only begotten Son of God’ refers to the Mormon belief that God came down here to earth to impregnate his daughter, Mary. Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses 4:218; 8:115.

Lastly Chris, you stated –

‘Shame on you for saying that it is un-Christian to celebrate our pioneers.’

Where did I say it’s un-Christian to celebrate the pioneers? What I said is that July 24th is ‘almost considered to be a holy day’. My concern about it is how much devotion is going to deceased relatives over God who is the God of the living. It’s one thing to honor those who’ve died before us, but don’t forget the Lord is a God of the living, not the dead! Mark 12:27

Know that we’re praying for you Chris and hope to hear from you soon!

With Love in Christ;

Michelle †

1 Cor.  1:18

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