I have found myself grieved today. It all started 10 years
ago, even though I only found out about it a few years ago. Then it happened
again this past weekend. I found myself drawn to this presentation because I
care about Mormons. I was one. My mom’s side of the family are still involved
heavily in the religion and what I saw in these presentations scared me. Not
because he presented very clear biblical ideas, but because he only presented
those ideas that are held in common with the Mormons without drawing any
distinctions. He failed to define his terms, and that failure could have dire
eternal consequences.
As you may have guessed from the title of this post, I
sincerely believe that those following the Mormon faith are deceived by a
doctrine of demons. An angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:12–15) revealed a
different gospel (Galatians 1:6–10) to a boy in New York, and now millions
around the world are following his prophecies, writings, and a different Jesus.
I used to be one of them.
On his Facebook page, Dr. Ravi Zacharias noted: When asked about
my goals
for visiting with the LDS community here, I said that I hope in our
discussions we come to a Biblical understanding of
who Jesus is. I always want to leave the door open for dialogue and show
everyone the love of Christ, and I hope that through the process of
interaction, we will arrive at the truth.
I am sorely afraid that did not
happen as a result of the two speaking sessions that will live on as the legacy
of this visit. While he did use biblical language to describe the things he
spoke of, that language is the same language used by the Mormons in the
audience. If there was an atheist or a Buddhist in the audience (very
doubtful), then they heard about Jesus and redemption (without any call to
repent), but the Mormons were affirmed in their beliefs.
In apparent response to some critics, this video was posted
on his website the following day. http://www.rzim.org/rzim-news/ravis-recap-from-utah/
He says he wants to build bridges, but he made everyone in
the audience think they believed in the same Jesus. Later he will have to tell
them it is a different Jesus and I built this bridge so I could tell you that
you are wrong. This seems deceptive. And what about those Mormons he will never
speak to again who heard his message which made no distinctions and did not
seek to define terms?
To the Students
The first talk was at BYU to an audience of faculty and
students there. You can see the video at this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dD3v-vZ_ix0
At 36:55, he made the only comment that might even approach
a distinction. Mormons believe that Jesus is a created being. Zacharias drew
from Isaiah 9 to describe the eternality of the Son of God. The Son is not
born, the Son eternally existed. It is the child that is born; the Son is
given. I agree. But so might the Mormon in the audience.
I have discussed this point with Mormon missionaries within
the last year, as well as one of the local church elders, and they affirmed the
eternality of the Son. When I first heard this I was a bit taken aback. As a
Mormon, I was taught that Jesus was born of the Heavenly Mother and Father. As
a Christian I, and others, reasoned that this means He cannot be eternal. However,
the Mormon apologists have devised a way of making Jesus eternal, so that when
a Christian approaches a Mormon with this obvious biblical contradiction, they
can send the Christian reeling by agreeing that Jesus is eternal. They simply
say that He eternally existed in the mind of God or that His spirit always
existed, it was just awaiting a body…the body provided by the sexual union of
the Heavenly Father and Mother. So, to a Mormon, Jesus is eternal. Zacharias
failed to make a meaningful distinction because he did not carefully define his
terms. So the Jesus he spoke of and the Jesus in the Mormon’s mind are the same
Jesus.
At 49:00 into the video, Zacharias speaks of the unity of
worship that “we” will have at the consummation. This is only one example of
the multitude of inclusive pronouns he used to describe everyone in his
audience. As I will describe in some of the comments below, he also included
them in his use of the phrases “the Scriptures,” “the Word of God,” and “His
Word” by failing to make any distinctions between the Mormon and Christian
conception of these terms.
Given to a Christian audience, his talk would have been a
brilliant explanation and defense of the value intrinsic to humanity redeemed
by Christ and created in the image of God.
Given to a majority Mormon audience who thinks it is Christian,
it was an ecumenical hash that may have lulled many into a slumber.
He said nothing that distinguished the Mormon concept of
humanity or God from the Christian view, he only propped up their belief by
referring to Jesus and the Father and the Holy Spirit as if the Mormons had the
same conception.
In the Temple of Baal
The speech at the Tabernacle (the large meeting house on
Temple Square) was preceded by several other speakers who tried to make some
form of distinction between Mormons and Evangelicals, but there was a simple
statement of doctrinal differences. You can watch the speeches at this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3h3aVs4imQI
Well into his talk, I picked up what I think he believed was
a distinction he was making. I believe he was trying to affirm that the Bible,
containing the 66 books, was the only authoritative source. However, he never
says that. He leaves that to the listener to think about. Unless you knew both
doctrines, I doubt you would ever pick up on what he was trying to do. Again,
by using the same terminology the Mormons use without any distinctions, there
is no real difference in the mind of the Mormon.
At 1:14:00 he talks about the Transfiguration and links it
to Peter’s words in 2 Peter 1:19–21. He emphasizes that Peter saw and
experienced this event. He appeals to the words of the prophets and the
movement of the Holy Spirit in recording the words. “God’s Word is truth.” The Mormon hears this
and thinks that the same has happened in the modern times; God spoke through,
and continues to speak through, modern prophets to reveal the “Word of God.” As
Zacharias speaks of “the Scriptures,” the Mormon mind does not think of the
plural coming from many writers in one book, but the four different books that
their prophets have delivered to them from their god. Every time he refers to
God, His Word, or the Scriptures, the Mormon hears his words in
non-distinguishing agreement. As before, I can’t imagine my mother disagreeing
with anything he said—she just understands his words to mean something he doesn’t
intend them to mean. It is not because they are speaking different languages,
but because they are using two different dictionaries.
At 1:32:45 Zacharias exclaims, “Young people, if you are a
young man or woman here, don’t underestimate your value in commitment to
Christ. Take the mind that God has given you and give it to Him as an
expression of your worship. He will make you an instrument of His truth and for
His glory.”
This quote will wind up on a plaque sold at Deseret Books
and used on the Mormon social media sites and publications to encourage their
youth to follow Christ. But it is a different Christ, and they follow him to
Hell.
At 1:38:15 we hear, “If there is just one application you
take away tonight, can I urge you to open the Scriptures and make it a
commitment to read the Gospel of John. Just take the Scriptures; read the
Gospel of John. Stay with the Word! Stay with the Word, because that is what
turned the heart of a nation back under young Josiah; that is what turned
David’s heart and that’s why he said what he did in his psalms when he says, you
know, Your Word is truth, is a lamp and a light, and how the Scriptures cannot
be broken.’ Paul says to Timothy to bathe in those Scriptures that he learned
as a little boy.”
The Christian hearer opens the dictionary in his mind to s.v.,
Scriptures: the 66 books of the
Old and New Testaments inspired by God and the final and sole infallible
authority for the Christian.
The Mormon open her mental dictionary to s.v., Scriptures:
the four books delivered by prophets,
ancient and modern, including The Bible (insofar as it is correctly translated
and interpreted by the General Authorities), The Book of Mormon (the most
perfect book ever written), The Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great
Price . . . and any other teachings of the modern prophets.
When I heard this line, I shuddered . . . literally. (1:47:00)
“God can turn the tide in America. You pray; I’ll pray. The day will come a few
years from now when we’ll look back and say, ‘Did you ever imagine something
like this could happen?” But it has to begin with your heart and mine. So
before you go tonight and before you go to bed, get onto your bedside and ask
the Lord to make you right with Him. That’s where it begins.”
The Mormon will be praying to a false god who has no power,
a lord who cannot be Master. What good will those prayers do him?
The following is an article posted in the RZIM website.
Rather than exhaustively analyzing the talks he gave, I will use this as a way
to point out my concerns. The italicized portions are from the article and my
comments in normal face and inset. I am sure I could write a book on this topic
(if I haven’t, already), but I hope this will help you to see my concerns.
Ravi Zacharias at the Mormon Tabernacle: God’s Word Must Be Central; Redemption Comes Before Righteousness
Dr. Zacharias Challenged
Diverse Audiences at the Mormon Tabernacle and Brigham Young University to
Read the Scriptures and Understand True Freedom
Saturday night at the Mormon
Tabernacle on Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Christian apologist and author
Dr. Ravi Zacharias spoke to an audience of around 3,000 people on “Lessons from
History, Building a Nation Under God.” He read from 2 Kings 21-22 and examined King Manasseh, who led the
Israelites to practice child sacrifice. Of Manasseh and other demagogues he
suggested, “It is possible for one person to lead millions into untold evil.”
Zacharias contrasted Manasseh’s destructive reign with the leadership of King
Josiah, who upon hearing the Book of the Law, tore his clothes in repentance
and instructed it to be read aloud before the nation.“We must build our lives upon things that are eternal,” said Zacharias. “Stay with the Word because the Word of God is what turned the heart of a nation around.”
Any Mormon hearing this
will equate his phrase “Word of God” with their Scriptures; The Bible, The Book
of Mormon, The Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price. While
Zacharias means the Bible alone, that is not what the Mormon’s hear. They are
encouraged to find verses of truth from their prophets Alma and Brigham Joseph
Smith . . . in the Scriptures.
Every Mormon would
agree with this statement, but they mean something totally different within
their theological system. They agree hearts are transformed and redeemed by
Jesus. The problem is they know a different Jesus. Every baptized Mormon
believes they have been redeemed by Christ.
No Mormon would
disagree.
You have probably heard
Glenn Beck tell you how important the “atonement” is to his salvation. But he
is a Mormon and has an entirely different understanding of what the atonement
is and what it accomplished. The Mormon’s think they have the Word of God. In
fact, they think they have a fuller and richer and purer Word of God than
Zacharias claims.
Again, no Mormon would
disagree with this statement, they just believe they get to become gods on top
of that. They believe Jesus is infinitely important in their salvation. The
subtle difference is so obscure to the average Mormon that they will not get
it. The average evangelical in the audience won’t know that the Mormon thinks
differently and won’t know to ask.
I was greatly
disappointed by this first event, as well. Zacharias made no clear distinctions
and constantly referred to the audience with common plural pronouns (e.g., we,
our) that would make them think they were included in his views. While he was
careful to describe Jesus biblically, he failed to make any distinctions that
were significant.
And every Mormon could
“amen” him heartily. They offered their worship to God/god alongside one
another without explanation. Mr. Ortega invited the Mormons into the communion
of the saints to worship the One True God without telling them he doesn’t
believe their God exists (if indeed he believes Mormons are not Christians, you
couldn’t tell that from his statements at the piano). He deceived them into
thinking they were worshipping the same God. To invite those who do not worship
in spirit and truth into worship alongside the saints is to invite a profane
thing to the throne of God.
This actually came
before Zacharias spoke, so I am not sure why it is placed after the above
comments. Placed here, it seems to be saying that Elder Holland was praising
the use of the Bible in the message (Mormons don’t have sermons). Elder Holland’s
use of the phrase “Word of God” makes my point for me. He knows Zacharias
rejects what he believes are all of the words of his god, but he is pleased to
use Zacharias to prop up the façade and claim that Mormons are Christians, too.
If the goal was to
understand one another better, it would seem that those doctrinal differences
would have been plainly presented with respect and clarity. Rather, the
differences were glossed over and plural pronouns were used that constantly
propped up and embellished the façade of union in Christ. Evangelicals have
“doctrinal differences” with Lutherans; we have fundamental theological
differences with Mormons. There is no union between the temple of God and the
temple of Satan (2 Corinthians 6:14–7:1). By not making any statement of
distinction, the ecumenical statement was loud and clear.
As I noted above, throughout this presentation, Zacharias used the inclusive
pronoun “we” to refer to himself and the
audience, connecting the word “Christian” to his comments. I humbly suggest
that this is an error of immense consequence—an error that will leave the
students and others in the audience believing there is really no distinction
and that they are Christians, too.
Starting the discussion
with the “Christian” answer and then never making any meaningful distinction
affirms the Mormon in believing they, too, have the Christian answer that
Zacharias has. After all, he is speaking from “the Scriptures.”
And every Mormon agreed
. . . with no distinctions.
And every Mormon agreed
. . . with no distinctions.
And every Mormon agreed
. . . with no distinctions.
And every Mormon agreed
. . . with no distinctions.
I know this may sound odd, but I am so grieved by this event. If one of my Mormon relatives were in the audience, and they may have been, I am afraid that they heard nothing that would call them out of the dark cult they are trapped in.
Can the Holy Spirit use the words spoken to raise a doubt in their minds? Surely.
Can an evangelical friend or neighbor engage a Mormon who heard the message and help them see the differences? Surely.
But what about the majority who won’t have that followup conversation and who were emboldened and affirmed in their belief that they are Christians, just like that kind and gracious man who came and spoke to us to build bridges of dialog? And those who will listen online?
All I can do is direct my grief into prayer and trust in the Triune God to help me boldly speak as I ought to speak to proclaim the mystery of the gospel . . . with clear distinction.
I hope my mom wasn't listening.
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