Report on Mormon Apologetics. !!

ROLCAM · Posted: Thu Jul 12, 2007 2:51 pm Post subject: Report on Mormon Apologetics. !!

Report on Mormon Apologetics.

Mormon apostle Boyd K. Packer stated that ".confrontation is not the way to reason through a challenge such as this." Throughout, he stressed a non-confrontational approach to witnessing to outsiders. This rather contrasts with the exhortation of Mormon scripture in the Doctrine & Covenants: "Wherefore, confound your enemies; call upon them to meet you both in public and in private; and inasmuch as ye are faithful their shame shall be made manifest" (sec. 71:7). It fits well, however, with<b< the goal of preventing Mormons from engaging in encounters that could seriously challenge their beliefs.

Packer did not give reasonable answers to Christian critics so much as he assured Mormons it was proper not to worry or concern oneself with their criticisms. Whatever the critics' reasons, whatever their evidence, it just did not matter. Packer specified the proper Mormon attitude: "The much better approach is to teach, We need not justify wha
t we believe, only to teach and to explain. There is a knowledge that transcends rational explanations, sacred knowledge that leads to conversion." Mr. Packer has hereby signaled to Mormons that they may legitimately suspend rational thought when it comes to their religion. At the same time he has relieved both them and himself of strict accountability to the Bible. And, Gnostic-like, he has claimed a special, "sacred," inside knowledge as sufficient authority on which to base belief in Mormonism.

Packer asserted, and Mormons like to believe, that this inner, subjective, spiritually imparted witness or testimony "leads to conversion." This is true only if one thinks of "conversion" in terms of an outward profession, such as being baptized into the Mormon church. The truth is, the very willingness to accept this spirit's testimony as sufficient proof to establish the truth of Mormonism is demonstration that "conversion" to Mormonism's most
basic premises has already occurred. Reliance on the Bible as an objective standard against which all claims to truth must be measured has already been abandoned. The alternative choice to put faith in the inner, subjective feelings and impressions of the heart has already been made. Thus divorced from God's Word, the human heart is the devil's playground (Jeremiah 17:9; Proverbs 28:26).
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Roland Camilleri

Moderator

Sydney , Australia.