Pastor Will’s Top Ten Questions
For the last few weeks, a man who goes by the name of “PastorWil” has been tweeting about the Church of Jesus Christ and so-called “Mormonism.” Today, he tweeted a link to a recent blog post entitled My Top Ten Questions For Mormons. As a so-called “Mormon” myself, I will endeavor to respond to each of his top ten questions. Here we go! :-)
1. Do you believe the Bible has been corrupted?
Of course I do. I suspect you do, too. There are literally thousands of Bible translations. No two are exactly alike, and they often contradict each other. Do you believe that the Inspired Version of the Bible (used by the Community of Christ) and the New World Translation (used by Jehovah’s Witnesses) are both 100% accurate? If not, then you, too, believe that the Bible has been corrupted.
2. If the Bible is corrupted, then why does the LDS church still use the King James and not the Joseph Smith Translation?
This is actually a trick question. The Church does use the Joseph Smith Translation, but one reason we don’t use it exclusively (nor even primarily) is because Joseph never specified which of his notes were translation, which were inspired commentary, which were questions, which were personal notes for his own use, etc.. There are other reasons, but I’d say that’s a big one.
3. Do you believe you can become a god?
Yes, I do. That doesn’t mean I’ll ever be equal with my Heavenly Father, just like having my own children doesn’t make me equal with my Earthly father. But yes, I absolutely believe that through the grace of Christ, I can become perfected in Him. Don’t all Christians?
4. As a paid clergy, do you believe I am paid by the Devil?
Directly? I severely doubt it. Indirectly? Perhaps, but I hardly think myself qualified to judge that one, especially since I don’t even know you.
5. Looking at the chart below and if you agree with it, do we worship the same God?
Yes, I agree with it, and yes, we worship the same God. The problem is that I accept both halves of the chart as accurate while you only accept the left side.
6. Moroni 8:18 says; for I know that God is not a partial God, neither a changeable being; he is unchangeable from eternity to all eternity. My question is: If God is from eternity to all eternity, how can he have once been a man born by another God and wife on another planet?
The Prophet Alma taught that “all is as one day with God, and time only is measured unto men” (Alma 40:8; cf. 2 Peter 3:8). While the topic of his instruction was the resurrection, this profound truth has much farther-reaching implications. God does not understand time the way we do. Just as physicists are now beginning to understand that time is somewhat illusional, so God can exist outside of our limited, human understanding of temporality. (There’s actually a great episode of Through the Wormhole about this very thing, which surprised the heck out of me by solidifying what I’ve long suspected to be the case.)
In short, my personal belief—“The Gospel according to Jeffrey”—is that part of becoming a god is learning how to exist outside of time. Ergo, once one becomes a god, one always has been.
7. Have you read the whole Bible or at least the New Testament? (Not the Joseph Smith Translation)
Yes. I’m sorry to say I’ve only read the Old Testament all the way through once, although I have read individual books multiple times. I’m not sure how many times I’ve read the entire New Testament, but I can think of at least three. (As an aside, I think you’d be extremely hard pressed to find a Latter-day Saint who has read the entire Inspired Version of the Bible; I happen to own an old copy, but most don’t even know it exists.)
Completely peripheral (since you’re asking me), but you may want to pose this question to President Thomas S. Monson. I certainly can’t confirm this, but I remember about 15 years ago, someone told me that he had actually memorized the entire KJV.
8. In the Bible when it talks about “He being pierced because of our transgression” and “we are healed by His wounds”, Evangelical Christians see this as refereeing [sic] to Jesus on the cross (Isaiah 53:5). Why Does the LDS church believe that Jesus paid for our sin in the Garden of Gethsemane?
Isaiah is correct: the Atonement was a process that began in Gethsemane and concluded on the cross. The answer to your specific question, though, is: because the Savior said so.
9. If Jesus was the only begotten son of God, then how are we spirit sons and daughters of God and his wives as well?
The title “Only Begotten Son” is given to signify that Christ is the only One of us whose mortal body was begotten of God. Latter-day Saints sometimes clarify this distinction by using the phrase “Only Begotten Son in the Flesh” (cf. Doctrine & Covenants 93:11).
(As an aside, the idea that our Heavenly Father has multiple wives is not doctrinal. God has never seen the need to specify how many wives He has, so any number tossed out—even zero—would be completely conjectural.)
10. If you came to find out that the Mormon faith was not true, would you leave it?
Of course. If you come to find out that the Church of Jesus Christ is true, will you join it?
So there we have it. Ten questions, ten answers. PastorWil, your move.
1. Do you believe the Bible has been corrupted?
Of course I do. I suspect you do, too. There are literally thousands of Bible translations. No two are exactly alike, and they often contradict each other. Do you believe that the Inspired Version of the Bible (used by the Community of Christ) and the New World Translation (used by Jehovah’s Witnesses) are both 100% accurate? If not, then you, too, believe that the Bible has been corrupted.
2. If the Bible is corrupted, then why does the LDS church still use the King James and not the Joseph Smith Translation?
This is actually a trick question. The Church does use the Joseph Smith Translation, but one reason we don’t use it exclusively (nor even primarily) is because Joseph never specified which of his notes were translation, which were inspired commentary, which were questions, which were personal notes for his own use, etc.. There are other reasons, but I’d say that’s a big one.
3. Do you believe you can become a god?
Yes, I do. That doesn’t mean I’ll ever be equal with my Heavenly Father, just like having my own children doesn’t make me equal with my Earthly father. But yes, I absolutely believe that through the grace of Christ, I can become perfected in Him. Don’t all Christians?
4. As a paid clergy, do you believe I am paid by the Devil?
Directly? I severely doubt it. Indirectly? Perhaps, but I hardly think myself qualified to judge that one, especially since I don’t even know you.
5. Looking at the chart below and if you agree with it, do we worship the same God?
Yes, I agree with it, and yes, we worship the same God. The problem is that I accept both halves of the chart as accurate while you only accept the left side.
6. Moroni 8:18 says; for I know that God is not a partial God, neither a changeable being; he is unchangeable from eternity to all eternity. My question is: If God is from eternity to all eternity, how can he have once been a man born by another God and wife on another planet?
The Prophet Alma taught that “all is as one day with God, and time only is measured unto men” (Alma 40:8; cf. 2 Peter 3:8). While the topic of his instruction was the resurrection, this profound truth has much farther-reaching implications. God does not understand time the way we do. Just as physicists are now beginning to understand that time is somewhat illusional, so God can exist outside of our limited, human understanding of temporality. (There’s actually a great episode of Through the Wormhole about this very thing, which surprised the heck out of me by solidifying what I’ve long suspected to be the case.)
In short, my personal belief—“The Gospel according to Jeffrey”—is that part of becoming a god is learning how to exist outside of time. Ergo, once one becomes a god, one always has been.
7. Have you read the whole Bible or at least the New Testament? (Not the Joseph Smith Translation)
Yes. I’m sorry to say I’ve only read the Old Testament all the way through once, although I have read individual books multiple times. I’m not sure how many times I’ve read the entire New Testament, but I can think of at least three. (As an aside, I think you’d be extremely hard pressed to find a Latter-day Saint who has read the entire Inspired Version of the Bible; I happen to own an old copy, but most don’t even know it exists.)
Completely peripheral (since you’re asking me), but you may want to pose this question to President Thomas S. Monson. I certainly can’t confirm this, but I remember about 15 years ago, someone told me that he had actually memorized the entire KJV.
8. In the Bible when it talks about “He being pierced because of our transgression” and “we are healed by His wounds”, Evangelical Christians see this as refereeing [sic] to Jesus on the cross (Isaiah 53:5). Why Does the LDS church believe that Jesus paid for our sin in the Garden of Gethsemane?
Isaiah is correct: the Atonement was a process that began in Gethsemane and concluded on the cross. The answer to your specific question, though, is: because the Savior said so.
9. If Jesus was the only begotten son of God, then how are we spirit sons and daughters of God and his wives as well?
The title “Only Begotten Son” is given to signify that Christ is the only One of us whose mortal body was begotten of God. Latter-day Saints sometimes clarify this distinction by using the phrase “Only Begotten Son in the Flesh” (cf. Doctrine & Covenants 93:11).
(As an aside, the idea that our Heavenly Father has multiple wives is not doctrinal. God has never seen the need to specify how many wives He has, so any number tossed out—even zero—would be completely conjectural.)
10. If you came to find out that the Mormon faith was not true, would you leave it?
Of course. If you come to find out that the Church of Jesus Christ is true, will you join it?
So there we have it. Ten questions, ten answers. PastorWil, your move.
Jeff, I want to thank you. You, so far are the only member of the church (LDS) who has answered all the questions. I can’t say that I believe your faiths theology but I believe you believe them and you answer them truthfully as you believe. This is something that I have yet to find asking these questions to members of you faith and I have been asking these questions for 7 years now. Thank you again for answer them truthfully as you believe.
ReplyDelete“If you come to find out that the Church of Jesus Christ is true, will you join it?” My answer is the same when asked this before. If there was evidence for the Book of Mormon (i.e. Cities, coins, wars sites, early manuscripts pre 1820) then I would look into it. The issue is, God has given a large amount of evidence to back up the Bible.
ReplyDeleteRight now I am watching “Evidence of the Book of Mormon” from BYU Professor Daniel C. Peterson and the problem I am having with it is he has yet to provide evidence but only what he feels is right. (I have not finished the movie yet) More so, it seems to be just a love story for Joseph Smith instead of hard evidence. I believe in truth and I look for truth in everything. This was what I did when the LDS Missionaries first started talking to me about 9 years ago. I looked into the evidence, read the book of Mormon and then came to see that what I was read was untrue. I looked into both the Christian faith/Bible and LDS faith/Book of Mormon and found that the Christian faith and the Bible are true.