Late last week and early this week I had debated some Mormon's on their beliefs - as is evidenced in the post below - their beliefs are truly baffling. This isn't a post to criticize the GOP presidential hopeful, I will be voting for him, at times it is the lesser of two evils, even if someone claims Christianity, i.e., George W. Bush who would eventually say that all roads lead to one place. Not helpful.
Keeping this in the context of what the post title suggests, I let my Mormon friend have the "last word" on a thread of comments. His direct quote was, "The BOM. is the word of God. The word of God does not add to the word of God.", if you think this is bad, try to debate them sometime, they come up with some doosies. :)
So, is the Book of Mormon (BOM), truly the Word of God? According to his above statement it is, so, since we have become a relative society I can say what you believe is what you believe and what I believe is what I believe. Um, no. There is a little thing called "Objective Truth", Objective because it is apart from us, coming out of or from another Entity, namely God. And, it is Truth due to the place from where it comes and so we see in the Bible God's self revelatory nature come to the front and His plan of redemption spelled out in flesh and blood.
This is where the Mormon faith is on very thin ice. In recent years they have become more and more relative, especially when it comes to their BOM. Not that there hasn't been a thread of it since the beginning, Mr. Smith wasn't just putting all of the things together from different religions, he was actually listening to the dictates of his own mind. Their continued changing of their own book, that they say is "another testament", by their false prophets is laughable at best. Their own book, the BOM, has been changed almost 5,000 times, I'm not talking variants, like a "the" here or an "a" there, whole swaths have been removed and added, why? Because new prophecies happen from their false prophets.
I think it strange, as they call themselves a Christian faith, that they use arguments against the Bible that atheists and agnostics would use. That is sad, to say the least but one tactic that they'll use for their own benefit and it is all due to the fact that their own BOM is malleable.
One of my friends made a much better argument for the infallible - inerrant nature of the original text, Mormon's cannot stand it when you start using those words because that makes the Bible something to be reckoned with, not just another book that they can mold to their likings. So, we do believe that the Bible that was handed down is infallible and inerrant in the original texts that we have been given and I'll give you the quote that he said:
I would love to answer your question about whether the Bible we have today is reliable and without errors or not... First, I don't rely on an English translation. I have Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic texts that I read from (the original language of Scripture). We don't currently have the original "letter to the Ephesians" from Paul's own hand, but then again, we don't have any original writing of any work before the middle ages. We have no copies of most classical works until 500 years or so after their writing and then we have only 20 or so copies on average. That's what we base our knowledge of roman History and Greek Philosophy from! THE BIBLE is unique in that we have copies from within 100 years of its writing and we have over 5700 copies of the original Greek New Testament alone! The entire New Testament can also be reproduced in it's entirety from millions of quotations from Early church fathers. We can compare these handwritten copies to find minor errors where, perhaps, someone was getting sleepy as they were writing. Still, the only remaining questions about what the original said are minor: Should there be a "the " in font of that word or not? Is that number "666" or "616"?None of the questions could change the core doctrines of the Bible. There are no gaping holes, only questions about very minor details.
So, where would I be talking about the BOM changing? Well, glad that you asked. :) Here is one verse that, if they took it from the Bible, would change the core doctrine that they cling to with everything, namely their desire to show their works to be meritorious, meaning that God accepts my works as a "completion" of my salvation.
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23 For we labor diligently to write, to apersuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by bgrace that we are saved, after all we can cdo.
(2 Ne. 25:23)
or
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
(Ephesians 2:8-9 ESV)
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Why add the "after all we can do"? This is where the moral Mormon would tell you that he is doing this and this and this...but what makes that so scandalous? Think about it, what if Jesus would've said to the Pharisees, you know what, you guys have it all right, I like your works of righteousness. Works that he would give no credence to eventually got Him crucified, that is because we are not justified by works - after what we can do - we're justified, only by the blood of Christ. Our works, will one day, be judged, from that same sacrifice.
I've talked about our works of righteousness being, according to Titus 2:5, works that don't gain merit with God but are a reaction to the love that He's given through Christ. But that is where this delineation makes all the difference in the world. If you have any work to do that completes the work of Christ, we have a problem, and that is where the Mormons have a problem when calling the BOM, the "word of God".
Their words make salvation possible but from the Bible it is impossible, but with God it is possible, the type of salvation that makes it possible, through my works, is deficient. Romans 8:30, who is called, who is justified, who is glorified? Paul isn't talking about a future state, he is talking about what has happened in eternity past. It might be something that we are just aware of but that doesn't make the truth of what he is saying any less, these are past events, counted as done with God.
Mormons make it possible for all of this to happen just by their changing of one verse and adding a five word phrase. It is the difference between heaven and hell, literally.
Boasting in the God who saves completely,
Tim
