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Jesus Christ / Joseph Smith DVD Distribution Conceived and Carried out by a Broad Consortium of Churches, Ministries and Non-Profit Organizations
Salt Lake City, UT (PRWeb) March 30, 2007 -- Since its founding in 1830, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has insisted that it alone represents true Christianity and that all other churches professing the name of Christ are part of a "Great Apostasy," that has incorporated corrupt doctrine and practices. (Pearl of Great Price, Joseph Smith 2:19)
This statement misunderstands the LDS doctrine of the Great Apostasy. Latter-day Saints see the apostasy as a very early event in Christian history (probably within the first 1-2 centuries of the Christian era. Modern Christianity is a victim of the Apostasy; they are not responsible for it.
Numerous churches, ministries and para-church organizations have now come together as part of a consortium ("Good News for LDS") to produce and distribute a DVD presentation that answers this accusation from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The consortium here tries to pretend that they have been accused or attacked by the Latter-day Saints. The Saints do not attack other faiths—they share their own beliefs.
The consortium's DVD attempts to
Members of the consortium frequently receive questions about the differences between Biblical Christianity and Mormonism. This DVD was created to inform people with questions about the differences between the two faiths.
The groups standing behind this DVD are well aware that members of the LDS Church are sincere about their beliefs. "It is not our desire to belittle those beliefs. In fact, we would be the first to defend the right of every Latter-day Saint to share their faith with others and we hope that they will allow us the same courtesy to clarify our beliefs," said Randy Gavin, spokesman for GoodNewsForLDS.org.
Why Mormonism? Many of those involved with this project were once members of the LDS Church. At one time, they believed very strongly that Joseph Smith was a true prophet sent by God to restore Christianity to the earth. When they realized that their presuppositions were not true they had to make some extremely difficult life-changing decisions. This product includes many of those difficult issues with which they had to wrestle.
It is easy for some to automatically assume that those who disagree with the premises of the LDS Church are motivated by hatred and are therefore "anti-Mormon;" however, "It is our hope that thoughtful people will look beyond the name-calling to carefully examine the areas of belief that separate the LDS Church from the biblical norm," said Pastor Floyd McElveen, a member of the consortium, "In our experience, we have found that many people have a very limited understanding of what Mormon leaders have actually taught. Because this is true even within the LDS Church, some Mormons might feel that much of what this DVD contains is fabricated. For this reason great pains have been made to document the statements it contains." The historical statements in the video Jesus Christ / Joseph Smith are taken directly from LDS publications, Joseph Smith's teachings, and speeches given by those who are recognized as authorities in the LDS Church.
The making of this DVD is an act of love and has been placed into peoples' hands so that they too can carefully examine the truth claims of the LDS Church. Just as we respect the right of Mormon missionaries to come to our doors and share what they believe to be true with us, we hope that members of the LDS Church will respect the right of their neighbors to come to their door through this medium and share what they have found to be true.
About GoodNewsForLDS.org
GoodNewsForLDS.org is a consortium of churches, para-church ministries and non-profit organizations dedicated to discovering, promoting and disseminating knowledge. Good News for LDS - (888) 261-0222
About LaBarge Media
LaBarge Media is a creative services agency in New York specializing in digital video production, multimedia design and duplication. LaBarge delivers cost-effective and high quality multimedia productions to a wide range of corporate and non-profit clients. LaBarge Media - (888) 394-2850
GoodNewsForLDS.org Media Contact
Randy Gavin
Good News for LDS
(315) 789-0143
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