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July 16, 2019 5:00 am
Answering questions by Bill McKeever during Johnson deals with 36 commonly asked questions by your LDS friends and neighbors. It's a great resource for Christians want to share their faith with friends and loved ones. We should pick up your copy today at your favorite Christian bookstore viewpoint on Mormonism program that examines the teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints from a biblical perspective viewpoint when Mormonism is sponsored by Mormonism research ministry since 1979 Mormonism research ministry has been dedicated to equipping the body of Christ with answers regarding the Christian faith in a manner that expresses gentleness and respect. And now, your host for today's viewpoint on Mormonism welcome to this additional viewpoint on Mormonism. I'm your host, Bill McKeever, founder and director Mormonism research ministry and with me today is a good friend of mine, Don Vino spelt VE I and OT but it's pronounced Vino. I've known Don for several years. He is the president of EM and are I in fact am a board member of EM and are in EM and R stands for Don evangelical missions to non-Christian religions. We have a conference once a year, held in different places, but lately we've been in New Orleans New Orleans Baptist seminary.
Don is with Midwest Christian outreach and if you want to check out his website and I strongly encourage you to do so its Midwest outreach.O RG Midwest outreach.O RG out Don. The reason why want to have you on today you wrote a blog title is liberalism. Another religion now some might be wondering, will bill what does that have to do with Mormonism. What that was.
What's so intriguing about it because as I was going through your blog and in talking to you about it personally. What this article has to do with is a book that was written by a Christian theologian by the name of John Gresham, Meech, and now John Grisham matron was born in 1881 he died 1937 but he was an American Presbyterian.
He was a scholar in New Testament he was an educator in the early 20th century and he was also the professor of New Testament at Princeton seminary between 1906 and 1929.
So what I would say about that is you could say that he was a part of Princeton back when it had a real importance when it comes to Christianity. Now certainly it does not anymore. Like many of those Ivy League schools that started out as Christian institutions. It no longer seems to have that testimony, except perhaps with the topic organ to talk about today and that is liberalism because I know Harvard has a very liberal position regarding Christianity. So don't think just because something comes from Princeton or comes from Yale or from Harvard in those places that they have a strong Christian emphasis that's going to support biblical ideals because they just don't anymore. They just don't sadly that heritage is long gone, but John Gresham H and what you give a little bit of background on him and why did he write the book in 1923 Christianity and liberalism while he wrote the book because what he saw effective in the book itself faces talk about how the culture has been transformed over the previous 75 years away from us on biblical faith to another religion that he calls liberalism was interesting as I read that because we been writing that same thing for the last 20 years that the church largely abandoned the faith hundred 50 years ago, so he sang it in 1923, �75 will probably have the same page without cause or relieving doctrine and liberalism was was creeping in and saying well really is. It's about how we treat one another and so she brought this up to say let's look at this critically. We can talk about things that are historically true. But once we give meaning to them that they become doctrine so set. For example saying that Jesus died. That's a historical statement to say Jesus died for me as a doctrinal statement and so trying to divorce one from the other really creates another religion and so is trying to sound the warning as a an educator and a pastor to Christian for, say, look, you are giving up your birthright actually really arguing about to try to do this, that he's a feeling one is not met at Roman Catholic in 1951, wrote a book called God and Man at Yale very articulate and his whole thesis was you Yale are teaching socialism and communism. When you are free to do that but you are teaching against those who are supporting you were capitalist and so this is a theme that has been going on for a long time and said to it's a battle between worldviews, liberalism versus Judeo-Christian ethics and and thought. So when you say that matron is arguing that liberalism is has abandoned Christianity is that because basically they've abandoned the fundamentals of the Christian faith. That is correct okay see that's the argument that we use with Mormonism that even though it claims to be Christian. It has the veneer of Christianity because it has a band, and the basic doctrines of the Christian faith, and I should say this, I should probably clarify the little bit better. That's a much abandoned, but denied or distorted the basic teachings of the Christian faith that Mormonism or the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints more properly, it does not deserve a place under the umbrella of Christianity correct it is decidedly a different religion. By the way, that was William F. Buckley content of the book. It is interesting in chapter 2, matron says this is talking about the Judaizers coming into Galatia now. It was increasing right talk to people who are in new cults website are newer religious movements and asked him what he trying to do. They say or try to get back to first century Christianity, when the church is lost the first century Christianity. This trade is for Babylon, rolled up our false religions or whatever and there's this idea that there is pristine United doctrinal faith in the first century everyone agreed on everything was a big Kumbaya movement going on and I have to ask. Some have you like read the Bible. I know when you look at what Paul especially dance.
Even John and his epistles there arguing against movements and ideas that were springing up even in the early years.
So for instance when the Mormons talk about apostasy.
I would argue and say will.
Apostasy is a been cropping up ever since the first century there's been nothing like Mormons described this grade apostasy were Christianity ceased to exist, making it necessary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints to spring up and filling that vacuum but yet we would argue certainly there's been apostasy and false teaching. Springing up all the time and this is why in the early years of the church. They had the apologists come on the scene to combat a lot of those errors and to put the church back on the right course right so matron says this about Paul and the Judaizers, which is what Galatians was written about is that Paul very clearly saw very clearly that the differences between the Judaizers and himself was the differences between two entirely distinct types of religions. It was a differences between a religion of merit and religion of grace.
If Christ provides only part of our salvation, leaving us provide the rest that we are still hopeless under the Lotus them, for that matter how small the gap which must be bridged before salvation could be attained. The awake and conscious sees clearly the that are wretched attempted goodness is insufficient to bridge that gap. Oh my goodness that that sounds so much like what we read Mormon leaders saying and I can recall that James Faust who is a member the first presidency before he passed away. He gave a conference message. We talked about how Christ does so much and then we have to do the rest.
In order for the full atonement to kick in and give us.
For instance, the forgiveness of sins, and such that even Latter Day Saints hope to achieve before they die. So there's a lot of similarity between us to really address this idea that we can at some point, do something sufficiently good to fill up the gap between us and God and what we have that at operating in some circles within the Christian church, the higher life movement. The Keswick traditionalists are absent from England. This idea that the Moses gave the law, which obviously we can keep an Christ came along to give a higher law that we now can keep an eye go. Okay, I'm confused if we couldn't keep the Mosaic law.
How can we keep the higher law, it just doesn't work were talking about. For instance, murder Jesus higher law would include even having no feelings or hatred against an individual that he says is is equal to murder right right right you have heard it say about; adultery but I say if you look adorable.
Plus you've committed the act a couple things of half and therefore for those who want to deny Jesus was claiming equality with God or that he was God. That statement itself proves he believed he was God because he elevated his word to the status of Scripture absolutely that's really that's really important for groups like Jehovah's Witnesses. Second, what is what is demonstrated is that the the requirement for acceptance by God is so high we can't get over that wall was so deep we can think of is so thick we cannot get through it. It is so long we can get around it. We cannot do it. We can't even contribute a little iota and if we come to terms with the Scripture we realize as matron says it is heartbreaking. We can't contribute anything anything and I think that is certainly something that is lost on members of the LDS church because even though they will argue what we believe in grace and they do they have a definition of grace, but it certainly is in the New Testament, definition, and I think what you're describing here Don is the fact that as Christians we recognize our fallenness. We recognize we come short of the glory of God. As you mentioned, we can't go over can't go under.
We can't go around.
Our only hope is to come to the foot of the cross and asked for God's mercy upon us because we realize there's nothing that we can possibly add to what Jesus has done basically with the Mormons are telling us is that Christ's sacrifice on the cross was not all sufficient.
There's something left that must be done. And of course Latter Day Saints feel that that's their personal performance in keeping their covenants keeping the commandments and repenting, according to their unique definition of repentance right and so when you've done that you have as matron points out created a new religion Christianity you can be another religion and asked perfectly fine release. The alpha site which is credited by the religion. See that's the thing I I just wish they would be honest and say that they created another religion, but I think what compels us as Christians to really bear the arm if you will, and kinda declare war on that claim. Not that we are declaring war against Mormon individuals. It's a it's a declaration against the errors of Mormonism that its leaders are trying to say represents true Christianity. This is why, because they have gotten away from these things that as Christians we find to be very important if you are a Christian at all women talking to Don Vino keys with Midwest Christian outreach you want to check out his website its Midwest outreach.org he's the president of the MNR and were in a talk with Don a little bit more about this blog article that he wrote it was titled is liberalism. Another religion and so we hope that you tune in for that broadcast thank you for listening. If you would like more information regarding this research ministry. We encourage you to visit our website www.mrm.org you can request a free newsletter Mormonism research. We hope you will join us again as we look at another viewpoint is did you know that this year marks the 40th anniversary of Mormonism research ministry.
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