Claim: "With the concept of God being so drastically different between the Bible and Joseph Smith’s teachings one must wonder how Joseph Smith could claim that the Book of Mormon was another Testament of Jesus Christ." - Patrick Powell
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The claim that the Bible and Joseph Smith disagree is false, as shown here. Joseph Smith disagrees with the non-Biblical creeds and resulting interpretations of the Bible favored by Mr. Powell.
The Book of Mormon is another testiment of Christ because it clearly teaches redemption through a personal covenant relationship with God, through the Lord Jesus Christ.
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Claim: "But we cannot believe both the Bible and the writings of Joseph Smith when the Bible tells us there is only one God and Joseph Smith tells us there are many gods and we must become gods ourselves." - Pamela Robertson
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Answer #2
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Claim: "You just don’t pay lip service to Jesus; you enter into Him. You become a part of Him. You absorb. You identify completely with His suffering on the cross; His resurrection from the dead; His claims to be the Son of God and therefore qualified to pay the price we could never pay; and once we believe in Him in that deep sense of commitment which can be instantaneous—in fact it has to be—at that moment we have eternal life." - Dr. John Whitcomb, Theology Professor, Old Testament Scholar
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Despite the video's implication, Latter-day Saints agree wholeheartedly with this doctrine. The Book of Mormon, which the critics claim cannot be a testament of Jesus Christ, contains an account of a group of people who are transformed by faith in Christ:
- 2 And they had viewed themselves in their own carnal state, even less than the dust of the earth. And they all cried aloud with one voice, saying: O have mercy, and apply the atoning blood of Christ that we may receive forgiveness of our sins, and our hearts may be purified; for we believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who created heaven and earth, and all things; who shall come down among the children of men.
- 3 And it came to pass that after they had spoken these words the Spirit of the Lord came upon them, and they were filled with joy, having received a remission of their sins, and having peace of conscience, because of the exceeding faith which they had in Jesus Christ who should come, according to the words which king Benjamin had spoken unto them.(Mosiah 4꞉2-3)
The Book of Mormon also teaches:
- 32 Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God.
- 33 And again, if ye by the grace of God are perfect in Christ, and deny not his power, then are ye sanctified in Christ by the grace of God, through the shedding of the blood of Christ, which is in the covenant of the Father unto the remission of your sins, that ye become holy, without spot. (Moroni 10꞉32-33
Latter-day Saints do not wish to simply pay "lip service" to Jesus, as Dr. Whitcomb says. Therefore, they seek to obey when Jesus commands them to do something. To say we believe while not trying to obey (however imperfectly) would indeed be to give lip service. As Jesus Himself taught:
- 15 If ye love me, keep my commandments. (John 14꞉15)
And, after presenting His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus admonishes us:
- 24 ¶ Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:
- 25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.
- 26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:
- 27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it. (Matthew 7꞉24-27).
Is Jesus lying, or does He expect us to obey to the extent we are able?
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Claim: "In Christianity eternal life is a gift. It’s the most radical understanding of how one goes to heaven, is resurrected, has eternal life, in the religious realm—by grace or saved through faith—it is the gift of God. Why is it a gift? Because Jesus Christ did something that we couldn’t do for ourselves. He died on the cross satisfying God’s sense of justice against sin; paid the price for our sins; was raised eternally through the resurrection with a glorified body. When we put our faith and trust in Him your pain of sins and believing in Him we receive salvation as a gift." - Dr. Phil Roberts, President, Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
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Latter-day Saints also agree with this doctrine. The Book of Mormon, which the critics malign, teaches:
[1] We can't do it ourselves:
- 5 And men are instructed sufficiently that they know good from evil. And the law is given unto men. And by the law no flesh is justified; or, by the law men are cut off. Yea, by the temporal law they were cut off; and also, by the spiritual law they perish from that which is good, and become miserable forever.(2 Nephi 2꞉5)
[2] We are saved by grace because of Christ's sacrifice for our sins:
- 6 Wherefore, redemption cometh in and through the Holy Messiah; for he is full of grace and truth.
- 7 Behold, he offereth himself a sacrifice for sin, to answer the ends of the law, unto all those who have a broken heart and a contrite spirit; and unto none else can the ends of the law be answered.(2 Nephi 2꞉6-7)
[3] Christ died on the cross to satisfy the demands of justice:
- 7 Yea, even so he [the Messiah, Christ] shall be led, crucified, and slain, the flesh becoming subject even unto death, the will of the Son being swallowed up in the will of the Father.
- 8 And thus God breaketh the bands of death, having gained the victory over death; giving the Son power to make intercession for the children of men—
- 9 Having ascended into heaven, having the bowels of mercy; being filled with compassion towards the children of men; standing betwixt them and justice; having broken the bands of death, taken upon himself their iniquity and their transgressions, having redeemed them, and satisfied the demands of justice.(Mosiah 15꞉7-9)
[4] Eternal life is a "gift from God":
...lay up for yourselves a treasure in heaven, yea, which is eternal, and which fadeth not away; yea, that ye may have that precious gift of eternal life, which we have reason to suppose hath been given to our fathers.(Helaman 5꞉8)
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Claim: After mentioning the LDS doctrine of the three degrees of glory, the video adds: "In Romans 6:23 it talks about although “wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life." - John McCartney, Pastor, First Baptist Church of Tooele, Utah.
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ANSWER
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Claim: "In order to gain access into the celestial heaven Joseph Smith’s revelation requires keeping the Ten Commandments as well as all the commandments found throughout the three sacred Mormon books; be baptized into the Mormon Church; tithe; get married in the Temple; obey the Word of Wisdom; be baptized for the dead; magnify the Church callings; and the list goes on."
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ANSWER
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Claim: "It is only by trusting Him that we come to be able to enjoy the glory of heaven. ‘I am the way, the truth and life and no one, not one person, comes to the Father but through me.’" - John McCartney, Pastor, First Baptist Church of Tooele, Utah.
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ANSWER
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"There is no religion in the world that believes this except the religion of the Bible because every religion in the world says we just have to do something to contribute, we have to earn our way, we have to somehow please God with ourselves and our attitudes in our words and deeds. Impossible." - Dr. John Whitcomb, Theology Professor, Old Testament Scholar
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ANSWER
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Claim: "According to the Bible, repenting of our sins and faith in Jesus Christ is the only way to gain eternal life. In John, Jesus was asked “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?” Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.” (John 6: 28,29)"
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ANSWER
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Claim: "In fact, the Bible refutes the ordinances in Joseph Smith’s Articles of Faith by stating, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” (Eph. 2:8,9 NASB)"
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ANSWER
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Claim: "Joseph Smith said, “I have more to boast of than ever any man had. I am the only man that has ever been able to keep a whole church together since the days of Adam... Neither Paul, John, Peter, nor Jesus ever did it. I boast that no man ever did such work as I. The followers of Jesus ran away from Him; but the Latter-day Saints never ran away from me yet.” (History of the Church, vol. 6, pg. 408, 409)
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ANSWER
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Claim: "Joseph Smith’s Doctrine & Covenants teaches that Joseph himself holds the keys to the kingdom of heaven (on screen) “Verily I say unto you, the keys of this kingdom shall never be taken from you, while thou art in the world, neither in the world to come...”(D&C 90:3) (on screen ends) and if Joseph Smith holds the keys to heaven then how can Jesus claim, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.” (Matthew 28:18)"
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ANSWER
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Claim: "God’s word tells us that “there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus...” (1 Timothy 2:5) In stark contrast, Brigham Young stated, “...that no man or woman in this dispensation will ever enter into the celestial kingdom of God without the consent of Joseph Smith.” (Journal of Discourses, Vol. 7 p 289)"
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ANSWER
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Claim: "In the Bible it is clear that our salvation rests in the hands of Jesus Christ alone. Why? Because from the beginning God’s word tells us that the penalty for all sin is death—both physical death and spiritual separation from God." “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23) (on screen)
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ANSWER
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Claim: To pay [the] penalty [for sin] a person must:
[1] Be sinless
[2] Be infinite to pay the infinite penalty for mankind’s sin
[3] Die as a substitute by shedding of blood to pay sin’s penalty
[4] Rise from the dead to defeat sin and death
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ANSWER
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Claim: "No other person could do what Jesus did; therefore only faith in Jesus’ death on the cross and resurrection can save a sinner."
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ANSWER
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Can we know that we have eternal life? Scripture states, “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.” (1 John 5:13)
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ANSWER
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