Author: Aaron Shafovaloff
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Our Father Adam, by Charles Penrose
The following was published first in the September 1902 Improvement Era and Millennial Star (11 December 1902). It represents an attempt by proponents of Mormonism to obfuscate Brigham Young’s Adam-God teaching.
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Three Evangelical Perspectives on Witnessing to Mormon Missionaries
This article was originally posted at Dan Phillips’ blog, Biblical Christianity. I am re-posting here as a part of a three-article simultaneous posting between Tim and Bridget, two other evangelical bloggers. Please see their articles as well. — Getting turned down and even having doors slammed in your face isn’t fun. It’s emotionally and physically…
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A Poem on the God Who Perhaps Sinned
“Our Father in heaven, who once was perhaps a horrific sinner…” Warning: this is an edgy poem meant to engage sleeping consciences over the God Never Sinned issue. Our God Who Perhaps Sinned Perhaps our God was a nasty brute Perhaps our Mom was a prostitute They are exalted now, don’t mind If they want…
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How the Gospel Confronts Idolatry
“You can’t really administer the gospel in a life-changing way unless you also, like Paul always did, discern and expose and challenge the idols of your place… If you’re trying to communicate the gospel to anybody you need to know what their idols are, because the gospel is [that] you’re saved by grace, and the…
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Six Reasons I Take a Cautious Approach to Seeming Changes
When some changes to Gospel Principles were publicized, the Mormon response was varied. Some of the more intellectual Mormons with quaint positions (such as a denial of vivaporous spirit birth, denial of the past progression of God from mere mortality unto godhood, and denial of the existence of a female-gendered Heavenly Mother) were undoubtedly happy…
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Changes to Gospel Principles
The following are some notable changes between editions of Gospel Principles. The editions published are as follows: 1978, 1979, 1981, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1992, 1995, 1997, and 2009. Underlined text marks something as new. Not all changes have been compiled, but only what seemed at least moderately notable. The most salient changes are marked in yellow.…
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God Never Sinned
God testifies of himself, “Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me.” (Isaiah 43:10). Inspired by the Holy Spirit, David testifies of him, “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.” (Psalm 90:2) It is…
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Mormonism, Officiality, and Plausible Deniability
By Aaron Shafovaloff Perhaps the most honest and appropriate page on the entire lds.org domain is http://www.lds.org/official-doctrine. As of October 2, 2009, it reads, “The requested object does not exist on this server. The link you followed is either outdated, inaccurate, or the server has been instructed not to let you have it.” Christians who attempt…
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God Doesn’t Sing Amazing Grace; He Never Was a Wretch Like Me
Ralph, a Mormon, writes, To say that the LDS God was a sinner would be like an LDS saying that the Traditional Christian God cannot forgive sins and make men perfect. We all know from the Bible that God has promised that those who believe in Him will have their sins forgiven and He will…
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A Simple Question about Temple-Worship
The year is 2050, and Jesus has not yet returned. Things have radically changed. Muslim buildings have been completely removed from Palestine, the Jews have rebuilt a temple in Jerusalem, and the Mormons have built a temple of their own in Samaria. What would Jesus say to them concerning the “hour”? Can you imagine a…
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Joseph Is Pleading the Cause of the Saints in the Courts Above?
MRM received the following e-mail from a Mormon on March 27: Greetings I must comment on a little section quoted regarding the poem / hymn “The Seer, Joseph The Seer” by John Taylor. Your written word states : The portion quoted by Hinckley is rather innocuous compared to some of the other lines. For instance,…
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We Thank Thee, O God, for BYU Professors
Heads up: I get snarky over the hypocrisy and sophistry of BYU professors. Without BYU professors, how else would we sift through the contradicting teachings of Mormon prophets and apostles? How else would we escape the “common misunderstandings” fostered by the top priesthood authorities in the Mormon Church? We thank thee, O God, for BYU…
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On Heart for the Lost
Andy Bird and I discuss some witnessing tips and some issues related to my presentation at Compassionate Boldness 2009.
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Why We Glory in the Chief Instrument of Christ’s Torture and Execution
“The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will…
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If You Only Had a Few Minutes
If you were visited at home by Mormon missionaries and only had a few minutes, what seed would you plant? I would first ask them to bear their testimony, and then thank them, and then say, “Would you mind if I shared a testimony?” They always say yes. If you don’t have time for that…
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Mormonism’s Church-Centered View of Membership
Listen Given the principles, policies, and behaviors we have observed from the Mormon Church and its members, it seems that being in the Church is often (but not always) regarded as more important than believing what the Church teaches.
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Press on, Christians
Some of you might wonder why those of us in the countercult ministry keep on keeping on. We persist because: we love the Mormon people we want our Mormon neighbors to have a warranted assurance of permanent and comprehensive forgiveness and secured eternal life we are not of this world. Jesus prepared us (read John…
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Heavenly Mother
As Gerald Lund once put it, many members simply assume that “the Church teaches many principles which are accepted as doctrines but which the First Presidency has seen no need to declare in an official pronouncement.” (“I Have a Question,” Ensign, Feb.
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Daniel Peterson Affirms That Smith Obtained the Plates on September 22nd, the Autumnal Equinox
On an earlier thread I had written, “If I’m reading the snippets correctly from Astronomical Tables of the Sun, Moon, and Planets, the Autumnal equinox would actually have been on the 23rd for all the years in question (1823-1828). But this is irrelevant, because Smith would have gone off the local almanacs of his time. According to…
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Would a secret ceremony that depicted Mormon bishops as hirelings of Satan be sacred too?
A Mormon left this comment on the Secrets of the Mormon Temples video a few days ago, It saddens me that some have so little respect for what is sacred to others. Watching movies like this one literally destroy the sanctity that is in the temple and poison the minds of all who watch it,…