Fast Facts on Mormonism

John Ankerberg, John Weldon

Description

Respected authors John Ankerberg and John Weldon use their unique question-and-answer style to look candidly at Mormon teachings that are clearly incompatible with orthodox Christianity. Readers discover answers to questions such as-- Was God ever a man? Were Jesus and Lucifer brothers? Are we saved by what we do? Does Mormonism include occult practices? Clarifying the terms Mormons use as well as their views on the Bible, the authors reveal the huge chasm between what Mormons and Christians believe. Fast Facts(R) on Mormonism is a clear, well-written guide that will help readers comprehend one of the world's fastest-growing belief systems in light of the clear teaching of the Bible. Perfect for individual study and group discussions.

Sujets

• Philosophie et théologie

Informations

• Publié par: Harvest House Publishers, Inc.
• Date de parution: 01 mars 2003
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780736935791
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

®

®

Unless otherwise marked, all Scripture references are taken from the Holy Bible: New International ® ® Version . NIV . Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by the International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. The “NIV” and “New International Version” trademarks are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by International Bible Society.

® Verses marked NASB are taken from the New American Standard Bible , © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

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FAST FACTS is a registered trademark of The Hawkins Children's LLC. Harvest House Publishers, Inc., is the exclusive licensee of the federally registered trademark FAST FACTS.

FAST FACTS®ON MORMONISM Copyright © 2003 by John Ankerberg and John Weldon Published by Harvest House Publishers Eugene, Oregon 97402 www.harvesthousepublishers.com

Library of Congress CataloginginPublication Data

Ankerberg, John, 1945  Fast facts on Mormonism / John Ankerberg, John Weldon.  p. cm.  Includes bibliographical references.  ISBN 9780736910798 (pbk.)  1. Mormon Church—Controversial literature. I. Weldon, John. II. Title.  BX8645 .A684 2003  289.3—dc21 2002014463

All rights reserved.No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or trans mitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, digital, photocopy, recording, or any other— except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.

Printed in the United States of America

C ONTENTS

Authors’ Note . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S ECTION I I NTRODUCTION 1. Why Is Mormonism Important? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2. How Influential Is Mormonism? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3. How Did Mormonism Begin, and Who Was Joseph Smith? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

S ECTION II T HE B OOK OF M ORMON 4. Was theBook of MormonProduced by Occult Methods? . . . . 5. Do Human Sources in theBook of Mormon Disqualify Its Claims to Divine Revelation? . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6. Does the Science of Archaeology Support the Book of Mormon. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .? . 7. How Credible Is the Manuscript Evidence for the Book of Mormon. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .? . 8. Does theBook of MormonTeach Mormon Doctrines? . . . . . .

5

9 12

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32 33

S ECTION III C ONTRADICTIONS AND F ALSE P ROPHECIES IN M ORMON S CRIPTURES 9. Are There Contradictions in Mormon Doctrines? . . . . . . . . . 37 10. Are There Contradictions Between the Bible’s Teachings and Mormon Doctrines? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 11. Was Joseph Smith a True Prophet of God? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

S ECTION IV M ORMONISM AND C HRISTIANITY 12. Does Mormonism Believe in One God? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13. What Does Mormonism Believe About the Biblical Trinity? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

51

56

14. Was God Once a Man? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 15. What Does Mormonism Teach About Jesus Christ? . . . . . . . . 60 16. What Does Mormonism Teach About Salvation by Grace? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 17. What Does the Bible Teach About Salvation by Grace? . . . . . 73 18. What Does Mormonism Teach About the Atonement of Christ? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 19. Is Mormonism an Occult Religion? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

S ECTION V A C RITIQUE OF THE LDS C LAIM TO B E C HRISTIAN 20. Is the Mormon Claim to Be Christian an Unintentional Misinforming? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85 21. What Have Others Said About Mormonism Being a Christian Religion? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 22. What Are the Real Mormon Beliefs About Christianity? . . . . 93 23. What Are Some Helps on Talking with Mormons? . . . . . . . . . 98

S ECTION VI M ISCELLANEOUS I SSUES 24. What Is the Fruit of Mormonism? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105 25. What is FARMS? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109 26. Do the New LDS Scholarship, Evangelical Responses, and LDS/Evangelical Dialogue Need Work? . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112 27. How Credible Is LDS Scholarship? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120 28. Who Defines LDS Faith? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141 D OCTRINAL S UMMARY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148 M ORMON “A RTICLES OF F AITH 151. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ” . N OTES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153

A UTHORS ’ N OTE

This book is part of a series of short “Fast Facts” books designed to help the reader understand the basic facts that support the claims and the truth of Christianity. Some books in the series will deal with the evidence directly and some with evaluating the claims of other faiths or movements. Some readers may want to explore some of the questions posed in more detail. For deeper study, the reader is encouraged to seek out many of the fine books listed in the extensive notes section at the end of this book, especially the following: Jerald and Sandra Tanner,The Changing World of Mormonism. Bill McKeever, Eric Johnson,theMormonism 101: Examining the Religion of Latter-day Saints. Bob Witte,Where Does it Say That?(www.irr.org). Institute for Religious Research,The Book of Mormon Today(www.irr.org). D. Michael Quinn,Early Mormonism and the Magic World View(2nd Edition). David Persuitte,Joseph Smith and the Origins of the Book of Mormon(2nd Edi- tion). Smith Research Associates,New Mormon Studies CD-ROM: A Comprehensive Resource Library. Brent Lee Metcalfe (Editor),Mormon: Explo-New Approaches to the Book of rations in Critical Methodology. Richard N. Ostling, Joan K. Ostling,Mormon America: The Power and the Promise. Francis J. Beckwith, Carl Mosser and Paul Owen, eds.,The New Mormon Chal- lenge: Responding to the Latest Defenses of a Fast-Growing Movement. Kenneth D. Boa, Robert M. Bowman, Jr.,Faith Has Its Reasons: An Integrative Approach to Defending Christianity.

Websites Utah Lighthouse Ministry (www.utlm.org) Recovery from Mormonism (exmormon.org) Tapestry Against Polygamy (polygamy.org) Alpha & Omega Ministries (aomin.org) Institute for Religious Research (irr.org) Child Protection Project (LDS abuse information) (childpro.org)

Close Look at Mormonism (www.mindspring.com/~engineer_my_dna/ mormon/). MormonAlliance (abuse information) (mormonalliance.org). Mormonism Research Ministry (mrm.org). Reason - Dedicated to Filling In the Missing Pieces of the Mormon History Puzzle (http://www.xmission.com/~country/reason/reason.htm). (See “A One-page Course in Mormonism” and the links section on that page.) Alpha Ministries (www.alphamin.org).

This list was revised and updated fromThe Encyclopedia of Cults and New Religions.

“We are Christians in a very real sense and that is coming to be more and more widely recognized. Once upon a time people everywhere said we are not Christians. They have come to recognize that we are, and that we have a very vital 1 and dynamic religion based on the teachings of Jesus Christ.”

—LDS President Gordon B. Hinckley