Apologetics

It has come to this: The Mormons won’t visit even if I invite them.

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Seriously.  It is hard to imagine being less popular.  We’ve often joked that we are on Mormon and Jehovah’s Witness “do not call” lists, because I’m glad to take the time to visit with them when they come to my door.  

But this was different.  Some Mormon neighbors were having a Christmas party and put in a plug for the missionaries they were hosting.  I introduced myself, told them where we lived and said, “We should talk.”  They were excited at the time, but never came by.  Hmmmmmm . . .

These folks are notoriously hard to convert, but if they are going to come to you then you might as well be equipped to offer some brief challenges to them. You never know how God might use your efforts to save someone – especially when one of their pair is usually a junior member who hasn’t been in the cult as long.  Worst-case scenario: You keep them from telling their falsehoods to one of your neighbors.

More importantly, you and your loved ones should know the basics of why these are cults. It is easier to play defense (keeping people out of false religions) than offense (converting them away from false religions).  Far too many people, including some of their members, think they are just different Christian denominations.

My standard approach with Jehovah’s Witnesses is to focus like a friendly pit pull on a couple things: First, their Bible’s mistranslation of John 1:1 (“a God” instead of “God,” as all the ancient manuscripts say). They will try to change the subject but I keep bringing them back in the most polite ways.  With so much evidence regarding what the originals said, why would their Bible get it wrong?

Then I offer them literature, knowing they aren’t allowed to take it. I emphasize how my religion — Christianity — tells me to test everything and hold onto the good, and to test everything in light of scripture (1 Thessalonians 5:21, Acts 17:11) . Hopefully it plants a seed that they are in a cult that won’t let them examine alternative views.

With Mormons, I focus on Galatians 1:8-9. I ask if their Gospel is the same as Paul’s. If yes, then the rest of their works are redundant. If no, then I should immediately reject it.

But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.

CARM.org has great information on both Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses.

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5 thoughts on “It has come to this: The Mormons won’t visit even if I invite them.”

  1. With JWs, I like to focus on Hebrews 1, because they claim Jesus was just an angel – Michael the archangel. Hebrews 1 makes them think. Another way to make them think is to use one of their publications and then show how many bald-faced lies are in it. As an example, they published a booklet, “Should You Believe the Trinity”; Midwest Christian Outreach developed a packet with copies of all the documents cited in this booklet, showing the original context and how the documents were all abused. The last time JWs visited (we are certainly on their “no fly zone” list now as we watch them bypass us), I had a copy of that packet on the coffee table in front of us while I was explaining the dishonesty in it, and then questioned how they could trust leadership which did such things. The guy got huffy, denounced the packet as obviously fraudulent and then tried to change the subject. Since I kept focussing on the REAL context of the documents, he finally said they had to go. All that while, the lady with him was listening closely. She surreptitiously slid the packet into her bag while looking at me with an expression of concern. Just by doing that, she violated their rules about not taking literature, but the guy never saw her do it. We just prayed that she examined it for herself and perhaps left that cult.

    With Mormons, which we have a lot of around here due to the history of the area (Nauvoo just 2 hrs SE, Iowa City, 10 min SE is where the trains ended, and then Coralville, directly south of me, is where the departure point for Utah was), I like to demonstrate that Smith was a false prophet. Another approach I like is demonstrating problems with the Book of Mormon and the many contradictions between it and their Doctrine & Covenants.

    But I think another really effective way to get the LDS thinking is to hammer them on their need for forgiveness, something for which they can never be sure they have in the LDS. Bill McKeever gave me the idea for that in one of the classes he led in one of the many apologetics conferences we’ve attended. For this, one must get a copy of Spencer Kimball’s “The Miracle of Forgiveness,” to familiarize with the LDS doctrine.
    http://watchmansbagpipes.blogspot.com/2011/03/how-does-mormon-attain-forgiveness.html

    You’d be surprised what little things will prick the conscience of cult members. With me, as a Mormon, it was learning that God had sex with Mary which really bothered me, because Mary was supposed to be a virgin! This item led me to a long period of in-depth research into the origins of the LDS to the point where I finally left the cult, knowing that I’d been “had.” A bit over a year after leaving the church, and not caring if there was a God or not, I was invited to a Bible study with Navigators. Forty years ago last month I placed my faith in the REAL Christ and turned my life over to Him.

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  3. Proof Texting is never very meaningful. All groups do it – Jesus and Paul did it too with the Old Testament. I wouldn’t waste my time in such a conversation either.

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