Dear Sally... (1 of 7)

     I’ve been corresponding with a incarcerated woman for almost a year now. She read one of my books compliments of the prison library, found my address, and wrote to me. She asked if I might be willing to write back, and I said I would. So we’ve been trading letters since last fall. When I hear from Sally (not her real name) I usually get an update on her latest round of legal filings, her frustrations and troubles with other prisoners and staffers, and her hopes for the future. She would like to write a book one day about her experiences. I hope she does. If only half of what she says is true, her experience with the State of Florida’s justice system would make a great script for one of those Lifetime Channel movies.

    When I write to Sally, it’s usually about ordinary things, and hopefully something she is actually interested in hearing about. If I have an interesting newsletter or some really good jokes, I send them along, too, always being careful to limit my pages to the restricted amount. I try to include an encouraging Scripture or two in my letters, also. And I never staple or paper-clip anything together when I mail a letter to Sally. It is harder to get things into prison than you might think -  I had an envelope returned to me once because of the metal clasp attached to it. Apparently, inmates can do extraordinary things with tiny metal envelope clasps.  

    I discovered early on that Sally is committed to her faith, drawing what encouragement she can from her Mormon church while she serves her time. She even sacrificed a good bit of postage to send me copy of an LDS magazine. It’s impressive to receive a gift of any kind from someone with so little. 

    Since Mormonism is quite different theologically from traditional Christianity, I wondered how I might respond. While searching out ideas on the internet, I found a very respectfully written blog article from a retired Baptist preacher, Dr. Nelson L. Price. I copied Dr. Nelson’s article to send along to my pen-pal, and included some notes of my own.  Then I thought perhaps the readers of my own blog might appreciate a having a little knowledge of what Mormon doctrine teaches. So here follows a few items from Dr. Price’s research and article, along with my commentary to Sally, which appears in italics:

"Members of the Church say they believe Jesus Christ is the Firstborn of God the Father. By that, what do they mean?"

1. They believe “We are sons and daughters of God, and we lived in a pre-mortal existence as His spirit children” (Doctrine and Covenants and Church History, [hereafter noted as “D&C”], p. 106).

Sally, the Bible teaches that God created man on the sixth day of creation. There was no pre-mortal existence:  

27 So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. (Genesis 2:27)
 
2. “God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man, and sits enthroned in yonder heavens!!! . . . We have imagined that God was God from all eternity. I will refute that idea and take away the veil, so that you may see,” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 345).
God used to be a man on another planet, (Mormon Doctrine, p. 321; Joseph Smith, Times and Seasons, vol. 5, p. 613-614; Orson Pratt, Journal of Discourses, vol. 2, p. 345; Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, vol. 7, p. 333).

Sally, the Bible teaches that God the Father (YHWH) is not a man:

19 God is not human, that he should lie,
 not a human being, that he should change his mind.
    Does he speak and then not act?
 Does he promise and not fulfill? (Nu. 23:19 NIV)

It also teaches that Jesus, THE Son of God was fully human - the incarnation of God Himself, in human flesh: 

18 This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. (Matt. 1:18 NIV)

14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. (I John 1:14 NIV)

3. God the Father had a Father, (Joseph Smith, History of the Church, vol. 6, p. 476; Heber C. Kimball, Journal of Discourses, vol. 5, p. 19; Milton Hunter, First Council of the Seventy, Gospel through the Ages, p. 104-105).

Sally, the Bible does not teach that. God has always been and will always be. There was no one before Him, for He is the beginning and source of all good things. God as Father is not “begotten” of anyone. Jesus the Son is begotten of the Father, that is, Jesus is God’s unique Son. Through the new birth that Jesus offers, people become sons and daughters of God:

 35 The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands. 36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them. (I John 1:35-36 NIV)

29 If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him. (I John 2:29 NIV)

3 See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. 3 All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure. (I John 3:1-3 NIV)

4. There is a mother god, (Articles of Faith, by James Talmage, p. 443). God is married to his goddess wife and has spirit children, (Mormon Doctrine, p. 516).

Again, the Bible does not teach that. The children of God are quite human, because we all descended from Adam and Eve, who are God’s creation. Adam received God’s breath of life (spirit) only after he had a body.  Man never existed as merely a spirit prior to receiving a body.

5. The first spirit to be born in heaven was Jesus, (Mormon Doctrine, p. 129). Jesus and Satan are spirit brothers and we were all born as siblings in heaven to them both, (Mormon Doctrine, p. 163; Gospel Through the Ages, p. 15). “Therefore we know that both the Father and the Son are in form and stature perfect men; each of them possesses a tangible body . . . of flesh and bones,” (Articles of Faith, by James Talmage, p. 38).

6. The Devil was born as a spirit after Jesus “in the morning of pre-existence,” (Mormon Doctrine, p. 192). Jesus and Satan are spirit brothers and we were all born as siblings in heaven to them both, (Mormon Doctrine, p. 163).

Sally:  Satan, which means “adversary,” was a created angelic being once known as Lucifer. Jesus the Son is part of the Godhead and is not a spirit brother to a fallen angelic creature! It is blasphemy to give Satan the same stature as Jesus Christ.

7. A plan of salvation was needed for the people of earth so Jesus offered a plan to the Father and Satan offered a plan to the Father. Jesus’ plan was accepted. In effect the Devil wanted to be the Savior of all Mankind and to “deny men their agency in order to dethrone God,” (Mormon Doctrine, p. 193; Journal of Discourses, vol. 6, p. 8).

Sally:  Satan was the reason a plan of salvation was needed in the first place. He tempted Eve in the garden, she and Adam sinned, and it all went downhill from there. The idea that God would entertain a plan of salvation from the devil is just ridiculous! Satan is a thief, a liar, a deceiver, and a destroyer. This is what Jesus had to say about it:

10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. (John 10:10 NIV)

(continued in part 2)

Dr. Nelson is Pastor Emeritus, Roswell Street Baptist Church · Former Pastor, Oak Park Baptist Church New Orleans, Louisiana. You can find Dr. Price’s complete article here:
http://www.nelsonprice.com/what-does-the-mormon-church-church-of-latter-day-saints-church-teach/