The reason behind this post was because on Friday night, I went back to the skate park at Castle Rock with two cases of water and a small camera bag packed with tracts. As I made the rounds, there was a woman, probably in her 40s or 50s, sitting along one of the planters, watching her two sons and one of their family friends skate. I offered some water and the tallest boy took one. When I offered the kids and mom some million-dollar bill tracts, they all took them. I began asking questions of faith to lead into sharing the Gospel.
The tallest boy, the family friend, said that he was a Christian, a Seventh-Day Adventist, specifically. The other two boys and mom identified themselves as Mormons. I spoke to the tallest boy and said, "As a Christian, what does it take to get into Heaven?"
Before he could answer, mom interrupted. "You know," she said with a certain smugness, "we Mormons are Christians, too."
I paused for a moment, and said that I would like to come back to that point in a few minutes. Immediately, it was as though a huge wall came crashing down between mom and me. She directed the three boys to get back to riding their bikes, and they did as they were told.
As the boys left to ride around, mom sat with her nose upturned, looking down through her glasses, crossing her arms, but not making direct eye contact with me at all. She said that no matter what I said, she called herself a Christian and that was it. While she did not go really beyond that, I could sense that saying much more would be provoking her to make a scene, so I politely went to witness to others around the park.
In hindsight, this was dumb. Even if she made a scene, she would have wound up drawing teenage skaters around her, which I knew would probably cool her temper, and provide an even greater opportunity to share the Gospel because healthy conflict draws a crowd. At the worst, she would have contacted law enforcement, and I would have been in the clear, courtesy First Amendment rights on public property. I should have remained more concerned about her soul and the souls of the three boys instead of letting her be.
Additionally, I've studied Mormon apologetics for some time, and know some of the better points to open discussions with them that are great for transitioning to a (true) Gospel presentation. I've listed a few of these below to help equip fellow believers in witnessing to Mormons. These are the ones that I prefer the most, and are not an inclusive list of everything that can be used.
Remember, these concepts are for opening the door to a conversation, and not to be used as the means for trying to persuade a Mormon to leave their false religion. The Holy Spirit does the conviction and change; we need to present God's Law and Grace in preaching the Gospel to them. Those are the critical things that must be done.
-Are Mormons Christians? One of the best ways in addressing an objection like I encountered, where Mormons claim that they are Christians, is to explain things through the eyes of a Christian. Ask something like, "If I, as a Christian, want to go to a Methodist, Baptist, or Presbyterian church, I am welcome to do so, because we are joined as one in the Body of Christ. Even unbelievers may enter any of the services. Would I receive the same welcome as a Christian in trying to enter one of your Mormon temples?"
This argument shows that there is something that differentiates between Mormons and Christians, if equal access is restricted. While there are some elements within Christianity that may be restricted, such as Communion, and certain individuals who may be restricted due to their behavior, access to worship for normal, saved Christians is not prohibited.
-Is the Bible the Word of God? If you ask a Mormon if the Bible is the true Word of God, you'll likely get an answer like, "Yes, and so is the Book of Mormon." But ask the question a second time for confirmation, and this time, the answer tends to be, "Yes, the Bible is the Word of God, insofar as it is translated correctly."
This response is a perfect bridging point. Ask about what makes it a correct translation. The answer may vary from how a prophet interprets it to how it gets written down. The key part here is to cover some degree of factual bibliology. Ask what makes more sense: one person's interpretation of the translations, or the coherency of Scripture through translations of the original Hebrew and Greek dating back through thousands of translators over thousands of years? The person would typically be reticent to say that one person could trump all of them, but sometimes they have more confidence in their "prophets" than they do in secular and religious scholars.
Then direct the Mormon to their own KJV Bible that they typically possess when trying to convert people. Ask them what qualifies a person to be a prophet of God. Surprisingly, most of them cannot identify the litmus test anywhere in the Bible. Direct them to Deuteronomy 18, which lays out how if a person who claims to be a prophet ever makes a prophecy that does not come true, that prophet is not of God, that he should be ignored, and that he should die. Emphasize the cost of the error in making a false prophecy by looking at Deuteronomy 13.
After all of this, ask the Mormon if Joseph Smith has ever made a prophecy that never came true. Chances are that the Mormon will think that Smith was infallible with his predictions. Any discernment website on Mormon history will show a number of failed prophecies, including a family friend who was supposed to have great business and success within a year, but who died in the winter. Ask them what would then happen, Biblically, if this is true.
Sometimes, Mormons will try to turn this argument upside down by saying that it was not translated or understood correctly, since their primary line of faith lays in their prophets. But when you remind them that this is from their own Bible, it discredits their argument.
-Handy verses. There are a number of verses in the Bible that can be quickly used when certain arguments come up. I've listed some of the situations below and the verses that disprove them:
- We have to earn something / do something to be saved, such as baptism. Ephesians 2:8-9.
- There are many gods. Isaiah 43:10-11, 44:6, 45:5-6.
- Jesus Christ was a created being. John 1:1-4.
- Jesus Christ was the spirit brother of the devil. Ezekiel 28:15.
- Joseph Smith was visited by an angel. 2 Corinthians 11:14.
- Jehovah and Elohim are different entities. Deuteronomy 4:35, Psalm 100:2.
- There is no Hell. Revelation 20:11-15.
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