Several months ago I was getting out of my car on my street when I noticed two men walking towards me. As they were dressed in a certain manner the recognition that they were Mormon missionaries was immediate and I stalled long enough to make sure there would be opportunity to talk with them. It had been a while since I had encountered any and I always make an effort to engage individuals from different religious backgrounds whenever the opportunity presents itself.
We exchanged pleasantries for a few moments and wasn't long before we had set up a time to meet together. They knew I was on the pastoral staff of an evangelical church in the city where I live and agreed to come by my office so we could talk further.
We met a couple of times, each for over 2 hours, and discussed a myriad of different topics ranging from the credibility of Joseph Smith as a prophet, the different Scriptures that Mormons have in addition to the Bible, the office of High Priest that Jesus eternally holds, etc. etc.
Not long after we met together, these two missionaries were scheduled to return to their respective homes and so any chance for further contact was lost. As a result, my desire was to try and find Mormons close to where I live for the purpose of extended conversation - but also to get to know some on a more personal level.
After some brief internet searching I stumbled across one man's blog chronicling his life in the Mormon Church that was closest to my home. I followed along for a few months and eventually decided to contact him via email, which he was very gracious to respond to. Since then we've had some correspondence back and forth, and after many attempts, this Sunday I was able to attend his church where I met him in person (it's hard to find free Sundays to go to other churches when you work in one yourself!).
During my time there though, I was able to sit in on one of their Sunday school classes where the basic doctrines of their church were being taught. This raised many, many questions for me as much, if not all, did not seem to line up with the teaching from the Bible. I took away with me a copy of their Gospel Principles and I will continue to read through their basic doctrines and lay these teachings alongside the Bible to see how they measure up, while no doubt incorporating other topics along the way.
My hope is that as many as are interested would follow along - both Mormon and Christian alike - and each would feel free to comment, disagree, ask questions, or raise points that I had previously not considered. My goal is not to offend, only to get at the truth as honestly and respectfully as possible, while at the same time contending for the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ that we all claim to so dearly love...
Soli Deo Gloria.
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Sean
ReplyDeleteI'm curious, what teaching(s) from the Gospel Principles book do not line up with teachings from the Bible? Were there specific points that stood out when you were reading the book. Maybe if the missionaries cannot help you I might be able to shed some light on the issues or can find someone who can.
Hey J.T.,
ReplyDeletethanks for the comments and for following along!
As for your question, it would take me some time to answer it in one go, so my hope is to take a chapter (or a few chapters) from Gospel Principles, exploring them individually, comparing them with the Bible, and explaining why they differ or do not agree with one another.
It just might take me a while to accomplish my goal!
I'd sure like to hear your thoughts - as I've said before interaction with the missionaries isn't always the most fruitful simply because they move around so much. It's nice to have contact with someone who lives here in town.
I'll try to put something more up in the next few days and get the ball rolling, so to speak!
Hi Sean,
ReplyDeleteI hope that I can help and I would like to help as best I can. I'm not that well versed on the Bible, though I want to be! I have a New Testament study manual at home that I am slowly working through.
I know it's hard when you want the missionaries to spend more time on discussing issues that you have. Their main purpose is to teach. They have a manual that they use as a guide and work with the Spirit to teach the fundamentals of the gospel. They work with lots of different people as well as the members of the ward. But their main focus and responsibility is teaching. But they will try to be as helpful as they can, but their time is limited.
Have you checked out my other blog, www.ldsjournals2009.blogspot.com? I try to post articles there every few days that I think are beneficial to those who are not members to get a better understanding of what we believe. I think you might find them very interesting. All these articles are available online at www.lds.org under the General Conference tab and are aslo available as downloadable MP3 files that you can listen to.
Hi Sean,
ReplyDeletePls disregard everything I said above. I left the "Mormon" church 4 years ago and am now attending Forward Baptist Church in Cambridge.
As I commented earlier, the LDS church is a fraud and their teachings are definitely not Christian, though they believe they are Christian.
What are you up to now? Are you still a pastor at your church? what church do you attend?
Take care
J.T.