FAIR is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing well-documented answers to criticisms of the doctrine, practice, and history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Difference between revisions of "Evangelical witnessing to Mormons/Craig Blomberg - Jesus to the Mormons"
m (New page: {{DoYouHaveQuestions}} ==Dr. Craig Blomberg's 'Top Ten Things Jesus Would Say to Mormons'== Dr. Craig Blomberg, a noted Evangelical scholar, gave a [ speech] in which he discussed ten th...) |
m (→Nicene Trinitarianism) |
||
| Line 24: | Line 24: | ||
Latter-day Saints—like the Bible and Book of Mormon—believe that God is one. There have been many answers to the question of how God can be one, while also consisting of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Dr. Blomberg wishes to have Jesus say that Latter-day Saints ought to believe in the Nicene Trinitarianism solution to that problem. | Latter-day Saints—like the Bible and Book of Mormon—believe that God is one. There have been many answers to the question of how God can be one, while also consisting of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Dr. Blomberg wishes to have Jesus say that Latter-day Saints ought to believe in the Nicene Trinitarianism solution to that problem. | ||
| − | Latter-day Saints who practice Bible study know that the idea of God being "one God in three persons" is [[Godhead_and_the_Trinity|nowhere taught in the Bible]]. It is also not taught in the Book of Mormon. Bible scholars are unanimous that these ideas are not to be found in the Bible, or in Christian history | + | Latter-day Saints who practice Bible study know that the idea of God being "one God in three persons" is [[Godhead_and_the_Trinity|nowhere taught in the Bible]]. It is also not taught in the Book of Mormon. Bible scholars are unanimous that these ideas are not to be found in the Bible, or in Christian history for more than two centuries after Christ's resurrection. Jesus himself and the apostles were not Nicene Trinitarians, and neither were any Bible writers or first century Christians: |
:Thus the New Testament itself is far from any doctrine of the Trinity or of a triune God who is three co-equal Persons of One Nature.{{ref|hill1}} | :Thus the New Testament itself is far from any doctrine of the Trinity or of a triune God who is three co-equal Persons of One Nature.{{ref|hill1}} | ||
Revision as of 12:33, 21 May 2009
|
Contents
- 1 Dr. Craig Blomberg's 'Top Ten Things Jesus Would Say to Mormons'
- 1.1 #10 I admire your devotion to your families, to your wards and to giving generously to your church.
- 1.2 #9 I never intended anyone to believe in me and act in any way they please. You are right to reject that idea.
- 1.3 #8 Please don’t judge me based on unkind things done by some who profess to know me.
- 1.4 #7 I applaud your restored emphasis on Bible study. Please note when you read the Book of Mormon how often it says I am one God in three persons and how often it says that salvation comes by my grace alone.
- 2 Footnotes
Dr. Craig Blomberg's 'Top Ten Things Jesus Would Say to Mormons'
Dr. Craig Blomberg, a noted Evangelical scholar, gave a [ speech] in which he discussed ten things which he claims Jesus would tell Latter-day Saints. These points have been summarized. FAIR would not presume to put words in Jesus' mouth save those recorded in scripture, but Dr. Blomberg's comments are worthy of response.
#10 I admire your devotion to your families, to your wards and to giving generously to your church.
#9 I never intended anyone to believe in me and act in any way they please. You are right to reject that idea.
Latter-day Saints whole-heartedly agree with this idea. As we will see in #3 below, however, this conviction is often misunderstood or misrepresented by Evangelicals.
#8 Please don’t judge me based on unkind things done by some who profess to know me.
Why would Latter-day Saints judge Jesus simply because others have misused his name? Dr. Blomberg seems to presume that Latter-day Saints have judged "true" [i.e., conservative Evangelical] Christianity based on the actions of others. This is not the case—Latter-day Saints have discovered Jesus and come to know him through the Bible, the Book of Mormon, and the teachings of modern prophets.
Latter-day Saints do not reject Evangelical Christianity because of the actions of Evangelicals—they reject it because they believe they have found something better that teaches them more about Jesus.
#7 I applaud your restored emphasis on Bible study. Please note when you read the Book of Mormon how often it says I am one God in three persons and how often it says that salvation comes by my grace alone.
This point consists of two main claims:
Nicene Trinitarianism
Latter-day Saints—like the Bible and Book of Mormon—believe that God is one. There have been many answers to the question of how God can be one, while also consisting of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Dr. Blomberg wishes to have Jesus say that Latter-day Saints ought to believe in the Nicene Trinitarianism solution to that problem.
Latter-day Saints who practice Bible study know that the idea of God being "one God in three persons" is nowhere taught in the Bible. It is also not taught in the Book of Mormon. Bible scholars are unanimous that these ideas are not to be found in the Bible, or in Christian history for more than two centuries after Christ's resurrection. Jesus himself and the apostles were not Nicene Trinitarians, and neither were any Bible writers or first century Christians:
- Thus the New Testament itself is far from any doctrine of the Trinity or of a triune God who is three co-equal Persons of One Nature.[1]
- The New Testament does not contain the developed doctrine of the Trinity.[2]
- There is in them [the Apostolic Fathers], of course, no trinitarian doctrine and no awareness of a trinitarian problem."[3]
- The Church had to wait for more than three hundred years for a final synthesis, for not until the Council of Constantinople [AD 381] was the formula of one God existing in three coequal Persons formally ratified.[4]
Salvation by grace alone
|
Footnotes
- [note] William J. Hill, The Three-Personed God (Washington DC: The Catholic University of America Press, 1982), 27.
- [note] New Testament Theology (Grand Rapids MI, Zondervan, 1967), 1:84.
- [note] JND Kelly, Early Christian Doctrines, revised edition, (New York: Harper, 1978), 95.
- [note] Edmund J. Fortman, The Triune God: A Historical Study of the Doctrine of the Trinity (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1972), 44.