Steve Noel

Thanks for the recommendation.

Thanks. I am a bit overwhelmed already. I can use this thread for future reference though.

They had Rough Stone Rolling at my local library. Thanks.

I started reading that last night. Thanks.

This, along with several other posts here, helps me understand why. I have never read the KJV and I know that many struggle to read the Bible if they are trying to read the KJV.

I am not a big fan of reading online so any book recommendations are also welcomed.

Thanks. I am looking for responses to specific biblical passages that are commonly understood by Evangelicals to contradict Mormon doctrines.

I was wondering if you all could direct me to resources that respond to biblical arguments used against LDS beliefs?

This is a really good question. I don't know that I can adequately answer it, but I will share my opinion. I think that most Evangelicals are not really familiar with the teachings and history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. For the most part, what the average Evangelical has heard about Mormonism is that it is a cult. Evangelical books on cults always include a chapter on Mormonism (e.g. Walter Martin's The Kingdom of the Cults or Ron Rhodes' The Challenge of the Cults and New Religions). So, in many instances, once you are identified as a Mormon, the Evangelical will instantly reject whatever you have to say. As you've noticed, this is often not because they are familiar with the teachings and history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is based on the fact that they automatically associate Mormons as cultists. This actually happens to me often as well. I am a Pentecostal. Many Evangelicals have been told that Pentecostals are not theologically orthodox. Some would even view Pentecostals and Charismatics as largely non-Christian (e.g. John MacArthur's Strange Fire: The Danger of Offending the Holy Spirit with Counterfeit Worship). Many times I have been in great conversations with people about Scripture and they have mentioned "those loony Pentecostals" who twist the Bible. I usually don't tell them that I'm Pentecostal, because they don't really know what Pentecostals believe. They usually are only aware of some strange teachings and practices of prominent Pentecostals / Charismatics. They don't seem to be aware that we also reject much of this as well (see Michael L. Brown's Authentic Fire: A Response to John MacArthur's Strange Fire). To be honest, I have often found this tendency in myself as well. We often have strong opinions about things we are only familiar with on a surface level. I think this is evidence of human depravity. Much more could be said here. I have limited my response here to trying to explain the specific kinds of situations you've described. This would not be the case with those who are more informed about Mormonism.

Nope. Must be from someone similar. I just took this from my desktop camera when I joined here a couple days ago.

Nope, that's not me. I don't have a Linkedin account.

If you look in the OP you will see that this is the book I am quoting from. I started to read it several years ago and didn't get too far in. I will restart soon.

Many of these examples I would agree with. What really prompted my deeper inquiry here was the inclusion of Hinduism and Buddhism. These religions do not believe in a personal God at all. This is not a slight misunderstanding.

I would not say that someone who misunderstands some things is worshiping another God. I do not seek to major on the minors. That being said, if you look at the 3 Scriptures I have referenced (1 Cor. 8:5; Acts 17:16-33; Acts 19:26) you will see that there is biblical precedent for what I am saying here. I do not have all the answers. I am just trying to say what Scripture says.

I really don't know the answer to that question. It would be a good one to search the Scriptures on.

Thank you for the encouragement.

I think what you say here is valid. When Paul was in Athens (Acts 17:16-33) he looked at all their idols (false gods) and used one (an "unknown god") to preach the gospel of the true God. In this message he also called them to repent of their false views of God (vv. 29-30).

I would go with A as well. I knew virtually no theology when I was converted.

I appreciate your response. You are the first Latter-day Saint I have seen answer this way.

Please note that I am not making an argument for the Evangelical perspective or against the Mormon perspective here. I am definitely not instructing you who you do not worship. I am just trying to bring more focus to my question in the OP.

I agree. Since we all have an incomplete knowledge of God we should be cautious here. That being said, I think the Scriptures I referenced do tell us that there is a line that can be crossed where we are no longer talking about the one true God

I am not critical of the emotion. I am part of an Evangelical tradition (Pentecostalism) that is alright with open expressions of emotion. I am just having fun with you all.

I have seen several responses like this in another LDS forum where I asked this question. The reasoning seems to be that since there is only one God, whatever someone calls God must be that same God. In the other forum someone stated that if a person worships a cow or a stick and calls that God, then it is the same God, because there is only one God. What I think is being missed is the reality that there are "so-called gods" (1 Cor. 8:5). That is, some worship, pray to, and believe in gods that do not exist in reality. These gods are not the true God but are false gods. The Ephesians worshiped many different gods in the 1st century. Yet when Paul came to Ephesus he proclaimed that "gods made with hands are no gods at all" (Acts 19:26). So, for the apostle Paul, every being that was called God was not God. Let me illustrate: If you say that the President of the United States is a 6'1'' married African-American man with graying hair, and I say that he is a 5'4'' single Caucasian man with blonde hair, are we describing the same man? There is only one man who is the President of the United States. In this illustration, my description of the President does not correspond to reality, therefore, my "President" does not exist. A President exists, but the person I described was not him. That is similar to how I see this question about God.

I did watch just about all of Saturday's 2nd session. One thing is for sure... your leaders cry a lot

What translations are you referring to?