[Paleopsych] Walter H. Bradley: Why I am not a Mormon
Lynn D. Johnson, Ph.D.
ljohnson at solution-consulting.com
Tue Sep 20 02:03:16 UTC 2005
These are pretty old straw-man arguments and not particularly cogent.
For a look at current mormon and anti-mormon dialogs, see:
www.fairlds.org
Plenty of more interesting things there.
Lynn
Premise Checker wrote:
> Walter H. Bradley: Why I am not a Mormon
> http://acts413.org/religions/mormon.htm
>
>
> "NOW WHEN THEY SAW THE BOLDNESS OF PETER AND JOHN, AND PERCEIVED THAT
> THEY WERE UNLEARNED AND IGNORANT MEN, THEY MARVELLED; AND THEY TOOK
> KNOWLEDGE OF THEM, THAT THEY HAD BEEN WITH JESUS."
>
> CHALLENGING PEOPLE TO THINK FOR THEMSELVES ABOUT LIFE'S MOST IMPORTANT
> QUESTIONS.
>
> WHY I AM NOT MORMON
>
>
> The day that Christ came into my heart, I covenanted with Him to
> accept the Bible as a guide in all things. I take for granted that my
> reader, if a Christian, has done the same. It was from the standard of
> the Word that I investigated Mormonism, seeking further light from
> God.
>
> I have no tirade to direct against Mormonism as a national menace, as
> do some. I am not jealous of her growing political power. I have no
> quarrel with her vast wealth and mercantile pursuits. I care not to
> hale forth the skeletons that may linger in the closets of her past.
> To the Christian, the question is not, how faulty are the lives of
> poor erring men? But, how closely are they trying to follow the Bible?
> Be their lives as faulty as they may, if they love the truth of God's
> Word, that truth will eventually sanctify their lives, and make them
> like the divine pattern. (John17:17). Judas was among the twelve, but
> that does not condemn Christianity. Satan and his host are transformed
> into ministers of righteousness (2 Corinthians. 11:14, 15), still his
> teaching is false.
>
> The Christian's sole question must be, "What saith the Scripture?" If
> they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light
> in them." Isaiah 8:20. It is the Scripture alone that is "profitable
> for doctrine." 2 Timothy 3:15-17. In mentioning a few of the things
> that the Bible contradicts and condemns in Mormonism, I trust I may
> help some, and offend none but the son of perdition.
>
> GOD IS SUPERHUMAN
>
> The Bible is plain in portraying the super humanity of God. When the
> Almighty spoke to Moses from the burning bush, He proclaimed Himself
> to be Jehovah, the Self-existent One. This fundamental fact He
> reiterated and emphasized in many Scriptures. "Before Me there was no
> God formed, neither shall there be after Me. I, even I, am the Lord:
> and beside Me there is no Saviour." Isaiah 43:10, 11. "I am the first,
> and I am the last; and beside me there is no God. . . Is there a God
> beside me? Yea, there is no God; I know not any." Isaiah 44:6, 8.
>
> Then, as God, the Deity stands alone. Apart from the Godhead, no one
> ever was divine. God is the Creator, man the created, absolutely
> dependent upon God for every phase of his being. Any attributes of
> divinity man might ever have would only be imputed to him by God. Man
> did not have the power of creation (Psalm 100:3), and his very
> existence was conditional (Genesis 2:17). By sinning, Adam and all his
> family became mortal, subject to death, (Romans 5:12). The same as you
> and I, Adam had to experience a spiritual rebirth, and receive from
> Christ all he might ever hope to have or to be (1 Corinthians 15:22);
> and Adam's Creator said, "Beside me there is no Saviour."
>
> In contradiction to this, I find that Mormonism's highest authority
> makes God a mere man, the man Adam; and makes Adam the creator, the
> father of his own Saviour. I submit as proof of these startling
> teachings of the Latter-day Saints, only what may be found in the
> writings of the first presidency and the twelve apostles of the Mormon
> Church. That this is to the Mormon the highest of authority, witness
> the following:
>
> "It would seem altogether gratuitous and uncalled for on our part, to
> write a commendatory preface to the discourses of the First Presidency
> and The Twelve Apostles of this church. To the Saints their words are
> the words of God, their teaching fraught with heavenly wisdom, and
> their directions leading to the salvation and eternal lives. . . . The
> choicest fruit that can be culled from the tree of knowledge, suited
> to the taste of all who can appreciate such delicious food."--Preface
> to "Journal of Discourses," volumes 2, 4.
>
> Then surely I can gain a correct view of the doctrines of Mormonism by
> comparing the writings of these men with the Bible, which to me is the
> Word of God.
>
> SAYS ADAM IS GOD
>
> Place before you the Bible and the "Journal of Discourses." Open the
> Bible and read prayerfully the scriptures I have given. Now open the
> "Journal of Discourses," volume 1, page 50. Compare with the Bible
> what follows:
>
> "Now hear it, O inhabitant of earth, Jew and gentile, saint and
> sinner! When our father Adam came into the Garden of Eden, he came
> into it with a celestial body and brought Eve, one of his wives with
> him. He helped to make and organize this world. He is Michael, the
> archangel, the Ancient of Days about whom holy men have written and
> spoken. He is our Father and our God, and the only God with whom we
> have to do. Every man upon the earth, professing Christian or
> non-professing, must hear it, and will know it sooner or later."
> (Italics and capitals as in text).
>
> There can be no mistake here. Whereas God declares His superhuman
> divinity, Brigham Young declares the human divinity of the man Adam as
> the sole God of the human race. Not only does this teaching exalt a
> sinful man into the seat of God, but it hurls the Bible Jehovah from
> His heavenly throne. "God Himself was once as we are now and is an
> exalted man, and sits enthroned in yonder heavens! This is the great
> secret."--"Compendium," page 190, or 175. This comparison of Mormonism
> and the Bible is disastrous. No one can deny that the God Mormonism is
> a man, a created man, a man who sinned! And this is one reason why I
> am not a Mormon.
>
> ADAM Jesus' FATHER
>
> That Adam is the father of his own Saviour must follow logically from
> such teaching, and is unblushingly preached by the same prophet, seer,
> and revelator. Denying the Bible statement that "that which is
> conceived (margin "begotten") in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she
> shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call His name Jesus" (Matthew
> 1:20, 21; Luke 1:35). President Young teaches: "When the Virgin Mary
> conceived the child Jesus, the Father had begotten him in His own
> likeness. He was not begotten by the Holy Ghost. And who is the
> Father? He is the first of the human family. Now remember from this
> time forth and forever that Jesus Christ was not begotten by the Holy
> Ghost." And that he, in his position as prophet, seer, and revelator,
> and first president of the Mormon Church, considered this teaching as
> of utmost importance, Brigham Young continues, "Now let all who may
> hear these doctrines pause long before they make light of them, or
> treat them with indifference, for they will prove their salvation or
> damnation."--"Journal of Discourses." Volume 1, pages 50, 51.
>
> God forbid that I should treat this with indifference, or pass it by
> lightly; for not only does it make the man Adam the creator of his own
> Saviour, but without question, it teaches that Jesus was not the pure
> and Holy Son of God, but was the illegitimate offspring of an
> adulterous liaison between the man Adam, the first of the human race,
> and Mary, the lawful wedded wife of Joseph. This is another reason why
> I am not a Mormon.
>
> Not content with so degrading our blessed Lord in His birth, this
> system we are studying makes Him a lawbreaker in His life. The law
> that Jesus gave Moses, and which He kept on earth (Leviticus 18:18;
> John 1:1-3; 15:10), forbade a man's having two sisters as wives at the
> same time. President Hyde, of the Mormon church, asks himself the
> following question: "Then you really mean to hold to the doctrine that
> the Saviour of this world was married? Do you mean to be understood
> so? And if so, do you mean to be understood that He had more than one
> wife?"
>
> His answer follows on page 82: "We say it was Jesus Christ who was
> married (at Cana) to be brought into the relation whereby He could see
> His seed before He was crucified. . .I do not despise to be called a
> son of Abraham if he had a dozen wives; or to be called a brother, a
> son, a child of the Saviour if He had Mary, Martha, and several others
> as wives." "Journal of Discourses," Volume 2, pages 81, 82.
>
> THE DOCTRINE OF THE HOLY PRIESTHOOD
>
> Even more derogatory to the glory of Jesus, and yet of paramount
> importance to the Mormon system, is the doctrine of the holy
> priesthood. It is to them what the sun is to light. Without it, the
> gospel has no virtue, the dead cannot be resurrected, the living
> baptized, or men and women be married in the sight of God. Witness the
> words of Charles W. Penrose, first counselor to Heber J. Grant, first
> president, prophet, seer, and revelator of Mormonism today:
>
> "The ordinances of the gospel referred to in the previous tracts of
> this series, cannot be effectually administered without divine
> authority. . . .Baptism, even if solemnized according to the form and
> pattern followed by the Saviour and His appointed servants, will be of
> no avail and will not bring remission of sins, unless the officiating
> minister has received authority from the Deity to act in the name of
> the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. . . . This Divine
> Authority was called the Holy Priesthood. . .and was established in
> the Christian Church by the Saviour Himself."--"Rays of Living Light,"
> page 17. "There are in the church two Priesthoods, namely the
> Melchisedec and the Aaronic. . . All other authorities or offices in
> the Church are appendages to this Priesthood. . . .The Latter Day
> Saints have this Priesthood, with its authority, ordinances, and
> blessing. How they have obtained it is a very important
> question."--"Compendium," page 64, 65.
>
> Even if their own estimate of the absolute necessity of this
> priesthood to their system is accepted, yet that priesthood is found
> to be strictly anti-biblical and anti-christian. I shall deal with
> three aspects of the question--the Aaronic priesthood, the Melchisedec
> priesthood, and the authority of both.
>
> The Aaronic priesthood, beginning with the calling of Aaron himself,
> was distinctly limited as to both duration and place. "Thou and thy
> sons with thee shall keep your priest's office for everything of the
> altar, and within the veil." Numbers 18:7. There they were to
> minister. They were not anointed priests until after the sanctuary had
> been anointed. As long as God had on earth a temple or a sanctuary,
> they were to be priests there, and no one else could have any right to
> priesthood. Any other than a son of Aaron coming near would be put to
> death.
>
> In this sanctuary, they were to offer the sacrifices of "bulls and
> goats" (Hebrews 9:1-4), for "every high priest is ordained to offer
> gifts and sacrifices (Hebrews 8:3)." Without these sacrifices, they
> could not be priests. If the time should ever come when God should
> remove His presence from the Aaronic temple and sanctuary, and the
> blood of bulls and goats should cease to have sacrificial value, then
> Aaron, with no ministry, no temple, and no sacrifice, would no longer
> be a priest.
>
> The Bible surely declares that time to have been at the first advent
> of Jesus. The Aaronic sanctuary "was a figure for the time then
> present," "imposed on them until the time of reformation" (Hebrews
> 9:9, 10), "till the seed should come to whom the promise was made"
> (Galatians 3:19). Christ is the Seed. (Galatians 3:16) The Seed came.
> (Galatians 4:4). The true sacrifice was offered. (Hebrews 9:14) No
> longer had the blood of bulls and goats any value. (Hebrews 10:8-14).
> The veil that had hidden Aaron's sacred priesthood from common eyes
> was rent in twain. (Matthew 27:51). The time of reformation had come,
> "Christ being come an High Priest." (Hebrews 9:11). "When that which
> is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away." 1
> Corinthians 13:10. The limits, as to both time and place, that the
> Bible had prescribed for Aaron's work, were reached in Christ, and
> Aaron's priesthood had to cease by limitation. Thus to claim now to
> have the Aaronic priesthood, is to deny the coming, the death, the
> sacrifice, and the priesthood of Christ. Hence I cannot be a Mormon.
>
> AARON'S PRIESTHOOD ONLY AN OBJECT LESSON
>
> This work of Aaron's, which ended when the priesthood of Jesus began,
> was simply an object lesson to teach the Jews of Christ's priesthood
> (Hebrews 8:1-5), and Aaron's priesthood had to cease before Christ's
> could even begin (Hebrews 9:8). "We have a great high priest, that is
> passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God." Hebrews 4:14. "If
> therefore perfection were by the Leviticus priesthood. . . .what
> further need was there that another priest should rise after the order
> of Melchisedec, and not be called after the order of Aaron." Hebrews
> 7:11. "The priesthood being changed." Hebrews 7:12. It was not
> continued subordinate, not perpetuated on earth in a lesser degree,
> but changed; changed because we must have a priest, and Aaron was a
> priest no longer. Christ, our new priest succeeding Aaron, is the "one
> mediator between God and men, and not priests. As there could,
> therefore, be but one Melchisedec priest, and as Christ, on the oath
> of God, was that one forever (Hebrews 7:21), it follows with
> inexorable logic "this man, because He continueth ever, had a
> priesthood that passeth not from one to another." Hebrews 7:24,
> margin. Then in their claim to have the Melchisedec priesthood on
> earth today, Mormonism tacitly declares that Christ has again died,
> and is still dead, and that His priesthood has passed to them! Do you
> wonder why I cannot be a Mormon?
>
> JOHN THE BAPTIST DEAD
>
> Now on the third aspect, the "authority," as Counselor Penrose says,
> "How they have obtained it is a very important question." It is indeed
> a very great question. I will grant their premise that the holy
> priesthood is all in all to Mormonism, and that without it, there
> could be no Mormonism. I will grant that if they have not the
> priesthood they claim, the whole movement is an imposture. I will even
> grant that if they do have this priesthood from God (which I have
> already proved cannot be), they are the true church of God, and all
> others are false. Surely I will; for the Bible clearly teaches that by
> no possibility could the authority, even of if did exist, have come to
> them in the way they claim.
>
> "Joseph Smith received a visitation from John the Baptist, who held
> authority in ancient times to preach and administer baptism for the
> remission of sins. He came as a ministering angel, and ordained Joseph
> Smith and his companion Oliver Cowdery, to that Priesthood and
> authority." Thus endowed, these young men baptized each other, and at
> a later date were ministered to by the Apostles Peter, James, and
> John, who ordained them to the apostleship with the authority to lay
> hands on, baptize believers and confer the gift of the Holy Ghost,
> also to build up and organize the Church of Christ according to the
> original pattern."--"Rays of Living Light," page 27.
>
> In the face of this assertion, the Bible tells me that John the
> Baptist, Peter, James, and John were dead. (Matthew 14:3-11; John
> 21:19, 23; Acts 12:2). For a complete Bible study of the condition of
> man in death, I refer you to another link on this web site. I cannot
> take space here to cover such a subject. I shall, however, quote
> enough Scripture to show that the Word of God teaches that dead men,
> good or bad, cannot come back to earth.
>
> "The dead know not anything." Ecclesiastes 9:5, 6, 10. "In death there
> is no remembrance." Psalm 6:5. "The dead praise not the Lord." Psalm
> 115:17. "His sons come to honor, and he knoweth it not." Job 14:21.
> "Man lieth down, and riseth not: till the heavens be no more, and they
> shall not awake." Job 14:14. "If I wait, the grave is my house." Job
> 17:13. Until our Lord Jesus Christ calls forth the dead in the
> resurrection, no one can be made alive. "In Christ shall all be made
> alive. But man in his own order; Christ the firstfruits; afterward
> they that are Christ's at His coming." 1 Corinthians 15:21-23. The
> resurrection has not yet taken place. (1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17).
>
> John the Baptist, Peter, James, and John are dead. They know not
> anything. They have no remembrance. They are in the grave awaiting the
> great day of the resurrection. Till then, they cannot come back. They
> did not appear to Joseph Smith.
>
> WHO INSPIRED JOSEPH SMITH?
>
> Then who did? For I believe Joseph Smith to have been inspired by some
> superhuman power. Would good angels in lying deceit have impersonated
> these dead apostles? The Christian says No; so does the Bible. Who did
> come to him and deceive him? There can, to the just, be but one
> conclusion. Paul says that "Satan himself is transformed into an angel
> of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be
> transformed as the ministers of righteousness." 2 Corinthians
> 11:13-15. As God could not deceive, nor would the holy angels do so,
> doubtless some of the evil angels transformed themselves into
> ministers of righteousness, and imposed on the Mormon prophet Joseph
> Smith. Counselor Penrose said, in the extract quoted, that they came
> as ministering angels--just as Paul said the devil would come. We
> might well expect this; for Jesus warned us that in these very times,
> "There shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show
> great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they
> shall deceive the very elect. . Wherefore if they shall say unto you,
> Behold, He is in the desert; go not forth: Behold, He is in the secret
> chambers; believe it not." Matthew 24:23-27.
>
> This same Bible truth of life only in Christ at the resurrection, also
> brands their baptism for the dead as spurious. A careful study of 1
> Corinthians 15:12-29 will convince the truth seeker that it is the
> dead, resurrected, and ascended Christ for whom, or into whom (see
> lexicon or concordance), all believers are baptized. Any theory of a
> second probation, the Bible condemns as a Satanic potion that lulls
> the unwary past probationary repentance, into the vortex of the second
> death. The Bible also clearly shows God to be the Creator and not the
> begetter of mankind. Jesus is the only begotten. And it shows that
> Adam at creation, and his sons at birth, had their first existence;
> and that the Mormon doctrine of pre-existence is contrary to
> Scriptural teaching. Such evidence, you see, prevents my being a
> Mormon.
>
> But it does not prevent my pitying and loving the Mormon people. Can
> you not, Christian reader, love them and pray for them? Pray that "the
> faith which was once for all delivered unto the saints" (Jude 3,
> A.R.V.) may dawn upon the minds of these poor children of Adam, and
> that they may embrace "the lamb of God, that taketh away the sins of
> the world;" our High Priest, Jesus, the Son of God.
>
> "Great peace have they which love thy law" [Psalms 119:165]
> Contact us at: [11]saints at acts413.org
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