HANK HANEGRAAF:
He’s talking positively, sounds like you’re talking negatively.
RICHARD ABANES:
Well actually, he’s talking untruthfully. I hate to say it that way but when I hear Hinckley, I gotta say this, it irritates me a little bit because Hinckley, out of all the recent past Presidents of the LDS Church has really gone out of his way to not only make it seem like the Church is Christian but he has actually misrepresented Mormon beliefs publicly. For example, in a March 1997 interview he was asked don’t Mormons believe that God was once a man? Now that’s an obvious belief of Mormons. Yes, they do believe that but Hinckley said I wouldn’t say that, that gets into some pretty deep theology that we don’t know very much about. Now that’s just a clear misrepresentation, and then also,
HANK HANEGRAAF:
This is a fundamental part of the doctrine.
RICHARD ABANES:
This is a fundamental part of the doctrine and as the Prophet, Seer and Revelator for the Church, he is supposed to be the one who brings into clarity the doctrinal stands of the Mormons. Then again in an August 1997 interview with Time magazine he was asked God the Father was once a man as we were. This is something that Christian writers are always addressing is that the teaching of the Church today? And basically he said quote I don’t know that we teach it.
HANK HANEGRAAF:
Isn’t it fundamental to Mormonism that God was a man, became a God, and as God now is we can become?
RICHARD ABANES:
It’s fundamental. That is almost verbatim the words of Joseph Smith. You know if he [Hinckley] can’t understand why Mormonism is not Christian it’s basically because, first of all Mormons believe as you just said God is a man. We do not believe that as Christians. They believe that Jesus is the spirit brother of Lucifer. We don’t believe that as Christians. They believe that there is marriage eternal in Heaven. We don’t believe that. They also believe that salvation is by works. We don’t believe that. I mean it goes on and on and on.
The Truth About How President Hinckley Handled this Question from the Media:
- Does President Gordon B. Hinckley Understand LDS Doctrine? by Michael Fordham
- Gordon B. Hinckley Understands Doctrine—A FAIR Analysis of: One Nation Under Gods (Link)
