Part Two:
(2)
FOLLOW-UP ON
LETTER
TO MORMON CHURCH
I HAVE just
mentioned the 8-page ad the Mormon Church had in the Reader's Digest
(October 1980). In view of what I knew about the Bible, this prompted me
to ask several questions. Certainly no one should be offended by this (or
even by a public examination of their religion) since the advertisement
is appealing to the general public. If they have truth that I don't have,
I want it. A letter was received from Salt Lake City, but my questions
were not directly dealt with or answered in the letter. On the other hand,
some pamphlets and material more of a nature to orient me with the Mormon
Church were enclosed. However, what Salt Lake City had not done, two fine
looking young Mormon "elders" locally came by to do, having seen the letter
in my publication, The Sword and Staff.
I was in the print shop in my basement, press inked,
and working away. I was interrupted by my son, who said there were two
men from the Mormon Church to see me. I told him that if they wanted to
talk with me to come on down. The two men turned out to be two young fellows.
With smiling faces and hand shakes warm and friendly,
projecting every bit of the image of the "elders" portrayed in the Reader's
Digest ad, they introduced themselves. They said they had come to answer
my questions. I told them I had ink on the press, but if we could talk
while I was printing that would be fine. However, there would be one condition.
We would use only the Bible in our discussions. They consented (although,
I felt, for tactical reasons).
I got my Bible. I reviewed the letter I had written,
pointing out the questions the Reader's Digest ad had prompted.
There were basically four questions (I said): (1) concerning why these
young men were called "elders"; (2) concerning "eternal marriage," which
they teach; (3) concerning baptism by proxy (in the place of someone who
is dead); (4) and the fourth question boiled down to the matter of modern
day revelations.
"First, this matter of you fellows being called ELDERS,"
I confronted them with friendly force, "If you are an elder, I am a teenager."
I emphasized that the very word for elder in the New Testament (presbuteros)
meant an older person, that it was used applied to an older person
who was an officer in the church, and that one of the qualifications for
the office was to be a married family man (Titus 1:5-7; I Timothy 3:1-7).
With an assured and knowing smile, one of my young
visitors who was more aggressive than the other (in a friendly way) informed
me that I had misapplied one of the Scriptures (Titus 1:5-7), that an elder
and a bishop were two different offices. My Mormon visitors were elders
and not bishops--and that there were elders in two different orders
of priesthood, the Aaronic and that of Melchisedec.
I said, "Wait a minute. Let's open the Bible and
nail this thing down as we go along." Whereupon I turned to Titus 1:5-7
and read aloud, "For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest
set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain ELDERS in every city,
as I had appointed thee: If any be blameless, the husband of one wife,
having faithful children, not accused of riot or unruly. For a BISHOP must
be blameless…" Here I pointed out that the words ELDER and BISHOP were
used interchangeably, referring to the one and some office or person. (This
is further verified in Acts 20:17,18, where Paul is talking to elders of
the church at Ephesus. They are called ELDERS in verse 17 and in verse
28 they are called OVERSEERS. The word OVERSEER is episkopos in
the original Greek New Testament, being the identical word that is translated
BISHOP in Titus 1:7, KJV).
As I stressed the truth and clarity of these Scriptures
to my listeners, I was told that it was a matter of interpretation and
that I was now arguing (obviously saying this serves as good answers when
none others are readily available). I was told that they did not argue,
that they testified. That they could not convince or convert anyone, only
God could do this. That if we wanted to know the truth, we should pray
to know it. I quoted to them where we are told to "search the Scriptures,"
that the Holy Spirit guided the apostles into ALL TRUTH (John 16:13), and
that we have it in the Scriptures. Paul plainly told Timothy that the Scriptures
are "profitable for doctrine; for reproof (proving over again), for correction,
for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly
furnished unto all good works" (II Timothy 3:16,17). We are commanded to
study to show ourselves approved (II Timothy 2:15). If we want the truth,
we have it in the Bible.
This matter of thinking that there are really such
orders as the priesthood of Aaron and of Mechisedec for us in the church
today was really mind-boggling to me. In all kindness, I just couldn't
see how anyone could believe that (on the basis of the Bible). I was told
that it was taught in the book of Hebrews, whereupon I suggest we turn
there and read (but we never got around to it). The 7th chapter of Hebrews
mentions the priesthood of Melchisedec (one man). This man was a priest
way back in the time of Abraham. We have no record of the beginning of
his priesthood or the end of it. There is a lesson drawn here applied to
the priesthood of Christ. Christ is now our high priest in heaven who lives
forever to make intercession for us. Christ is the only high priest; there
is no other today (I Timothy 2:5). As far as the priesthood of Aaron is
concerned, that was part of the Old Testament Jewish system which terminated
when Jesus died on the cross and the New Testament began (Hebrews 9:11,12;
Galatians 3:24,25; Colossians 2:14; Hebrews 9:15-17). We have no separate
priesthood from the people today. Christ is the great high priest in heaven
(Hebrews 7:24-26; Hebrews 10:19-21) and every Christian is a priest before
God (I Peter 2:5,9; Hebrews 10:21,22). This is what has been called the
priesthood of believers.
For some reason during the course of our conversation
with my friendly visitors we failed to get involved with the second and
third questions I had asked. The second question concerned their teaching
that there is eternal marriage beyond this life, whereas Jesus said that
we would be as the angels in heaven--neither married nor given in
marriage (Matthew 22:23-30). And the third question had to do with their
practice of being baptized in the place of someone who has died never accepting
Christ.
However, we did touch somewhat upon the fourth question
before they left. It concerns modern day revelations. As is commonly known,
they believe that Joseph Smith received the Book of Mormons as a
revelation from heaven in the last century (the 1800's). Also, our discussion
uncovered their beliefs in continued revelations today to the "apostles"
in their church. They believe that we still have the spiritual gifts witnessed
in the early church, too.
In response to this, let me say again that we have
"ALL TRUTH" (God's completed revelation) in the form of the Bible, the
New Testament. The Holy Spirit guided the apostles into "ALL TRUTH" (John
16:13). The revelation was made to the apostles and prophets in the early
church (Ephesians 3:5), and is now recorded in the Holy Scriptures. We
have already pointed out from II Timothy 3:16 and 17 that the Scriptures
are "profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction
in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, THROUGHLY FURNISHED
UNTO ALL GOOD WORKS." Peter tells us that "His [God's] divine power hath
given unto us ALL THINGS that pertain unto life and godliness, through
the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue" (II Peter
1:3). According to Jude 3, the faith has once and for all been delivered
to the saints. The New Testament is called an "everlasting covenant" (Hebrews
13:20). In other words, Christianity is a completed religion, God's final
revelation to man, and the Bible is a closed book (no more is to be added).
Consider Galatians 1:8 and Revelation 22:18 and 19.
And that brings us to this matter of apostles and
the other inspired men, prophets. As Ephesians 3:5 said, the revelation
of the New Testament had been made to them. The church is "built upon the
foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the
chief cornerstone" (Ephesians 3:20). In other words, the church is built
upon the truth of the deity of Christ, and the truth revealed to the apostles
and prophets. There are no more apostles and prophets in the church today
than there is another Christ. Foundations are laid only once, and ours
is sure and steadfast. The truth has been established, confirmed. It is
ours. It is here to build on.
I asked one of my young visitors what an apostle
was, since it is claimed they are in the Mormon Church today (and since
it is claimed that they get revelations in addition to that of Joseph Smith).
I kept asking what an apostle was. I finally got the answer that they were
Christ's representatives and witnesses. The last word was the one I wanted.
Pressing further, I asked, "Witnesses of what?" He didn't get the point,
so I turned to Acts 1:22 and read. As Matthias replaced the fallen Judas
as an apostle, this condition or qualification was laid down, "Beginning
from the baptism of John, unto that same day that he was taken up from
us, must one be ordained to be a WITNESS WITH US OF HIS RESURRECTION."
That the apostles were the personal and official eyewitnesses of Christ
and his resurrection is stressed throughout the book of Acts (Acts 1:8,22;
2:32; 4:20,33; etc.). (A person can not be a witness in court unless he
has seen something with his own eyes). In this capacity they confirmed
the truthfulness of the message and got the church started. Their work
was singular and unique. Obviously no living person today could qualify
to be an apostle, nor is the work of an apostle needed. The church has
been started and their inspired teachings endure in the form of the New
Testament Scriptures. (Likewise, the gift of prophecy, along with the other
supernatural gifts of the Spirit, ceased in time, I Corinthians 13:8-10;
etc.).
When I said that to be an apostle one would have
had to have been upon this earth when Jesus was here and to have seen him
in his resurrection with one's own eyes (among other things), I was told
that this was just a matter of interpretation. (But read Acts 1:22 again,
and see for yourself what it says).
As we continued talking, as a matter of conversation,
I asked, "If there is such a thing as modern day revelations, whom should
we listen to?" The Mormons are not the only ones making this claim, and
different groups are teaching different things. I was told that we should
pray that God would show us the truth. My visitors said they couldn't convince
anyone, only God could do this.
Whereupon I reminded them that the Bible claims to
be the truth (John 17:17; I Peter 1:25), and if we followed the Bible alone
we wouldn't have to worry about the various contradictory modern-day "revelations"
being true or false. We know the Bible is God's Word. It is the truth.
This led me to suggest that their Book of Mormons
should be in harmony with the Bible, if it is a revelation as they claim.
God doesn't contradict Himself.
And this brought us back to where we had started.
When I had written the letter in response to the advertisement in Reader's
Digest, I said that I didn't know much about the Mormon religion, but
I had spent considerable time with the Bible. Therefore, my knowledge of
the Bible prompted the questions I wrote. Several things I read in the
ad didn't level with what I knew about the Bible. There had to be an explanation.
Time had slipped by in a hurry. With a few mess-ups,
I had continued printing while talking. The young Mormon "elders," deciding
the time had come to end their visit, left the way they had come--very
friendly and undaunted. They certainly were gentlemen, but it didn't seem
to bother them in the least that they hadn't answered my questions to my
satisfaction. They promised to drop by if they were ever in that neighborhood.
Good-naturedly, I said, "You fellows haven't answered any of my questions.
But if at any time you want to write the answers from THE BIBLE on a piece
of paper and hand them to me, that will be fine." With that they smilingly
left. The "any time" never came, and the answers were never received.
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