10 Reasons We Cannot Fellowship with the Mormon Church Part 1

Give your own words a collection of Mormon quotations compiled by women as research ministries Bill McKeever is a valuable resource when wanting to know what Mormon leaders are set on a given topic and pick up your copy you Utah lighthouse bookstore or MRM.org .1 Naumann's commandment examines the teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints from a perspective view .1 Mormon is sponsored by Mormonism research ministry since 1979 Mormonism research ministry has been dedicated to equipping the body of Christ with answers regarding the Christian faith in a manner that expresses gentleness and respect. And now, your host for today's viewpoint on Mormonism. Should Christians fellowship with members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

Welcome to this addition to viewpoint on Mormonism on your host, Bill McKeever, founder and director Mormonism research ministry and with me today is Aaron shuffle all of my colleague at M. R.

Am. Aaron you've been doing a lot of research into the history of missions in the state of Utah one piece of information that were going to be talking about this week is a I guess you could call it a pamphlet, a statement called 10 reasons why Christians cannot fellowship the Mormon church tell us why you felt it was important to start digging into this history of missions in the state of Utah so little strength and seminary right now in Kansas City and I'm learning how to use a tool called so tear out.

This is just the nerd part of the story and this tool helps me collect at references that I can then impart to create bibliographies and in footnotes, so I'm just getting ready to write papers basically meant that I should learn to use this tool by creating a master bibliography of every evangelical source I can find that engages Mormonism that's published as notable son and going on this path and it's like 130 resources and friends like you are helping me admit more resources.

I look at my list, and most of its post 1960 and I think you know I've got a few things on my radar. Prior to this, but actually don't know much about the history of Christian missionary engagement of Utah and the Mormon people I know the stuff that I just haven't spent 15 years in Utah doing evangelism but I just don't know the sketches of famous notable evangelists and church planters apologists out here so I start looking at footnotes of stuff written in the 1960s and it puts me on a path of learning about some pretty neat people.

John L.

Smith, John the netting, who was a minister from Cleveland, Ohio. He spent some time in 1890s pastoring a church and subluxation is actually historical house still here dedicated him. He goes back to Cleveland Ohio with his wife and kids, and he has established the Utah gospel mission and so he would take trips out to Utah.

It's been a whole year. At times in a wagon. Three guys to a wagon doing strange evangelism and out pamphlets sharing the gospel up and down Utah talking to tens of thousands of people. I start learning more about earlier efforts even even prior to netting and I start learning about the Presbyterian school system where all these Presbyterians, especially women, single women were coming out here preschool teachers in these schools that were attached Presbyterian churches at the time, sort of the primary mission strategy of Utah for reaching all these polygamist families and their children, and up until 1890 was very successful. This is an area where Utah is getting statehood. It's at least formally and publicly dropping polygamy and getting up public school system there seen as more Americanized and ready for enculturation into the rest of America and the whole movement of Christian missions to Utah Mormons shifted and that's when we get to what were to be talking about.

There was a lot of attention in America on Utah with respect to politics churches in Utah found it especially appropriate to communicate to the outside world. Why Christians in Utah were not fellowship being religiously with the Mormon Church or with Mormons.

You mention the subject of politics in BH Robert Spurgeon Henry Roberts becomes very prominent in this whole story because he is going to run for Congress as a Democrat and there were concerns about him running as there would be concerns later on when another man runs by the name of Reed Smoot. It was BH Roberts job you might say he was commissioned to respond to this statement that was put out by the Christians in Utah. 10 reasons why Christians cannot fellowship the Mormon church.

I was actually kind of disappointed in some of his rebuttals to the arguments that they were making. I thought a lot of the statements were very legitimate but you have to remember when reading this were talking about the turn-of-the-century.

So a lot of the issues back then would not be issues that we would talk about today such as Adam God. For instance, or is you brought up the plural marriage issue Wilford Woodruff@the manifesto in 1890, promising the federal government that they would no longer engage in plural marriage or solemnize new plural marriages, even though that was, not a truthful statement. Wink wink. Yeah right.

Though there was a lot of dishonesty going on there was a lot of suspicion, and so this is I guess you could say a result of that, it is the phenomenal documents 10 reasons why we cannot fellowship the Mormon church. It's initially written by the presence of the Presbytery of Utah and only a year later the Congregational Association of Utah was a Congregationalist. That's another form of Protestants at the time and at the time. These are as far as I can tell, theologically conservative, faithful Christians, and also the Baptist associations to Utah is an 1897 in 1998 they sign on to this Presbyterian document so there's there's an multi-denominational unity of the churches in Salt Lake City with that with a really well-crafted document now with all these groups working together on this. This document is going to be reprinted a number of times and so this information is being disseminated now in multiple circles, you might say but one thing that I find fascinating is this 10 reasons statement was reprinted in the desert written news in Salt Lake City on July 8, 1921. Strange, I asked I need to look but not sure if Smitty paid to have it printed or if there is some sort of interest and editor had an reprint I don't know how on earth in that applicant has written news, but BH Roberts sees it in the desert news and he ends up delivering a sermon at the tabernacle in salt lake city on July 10, 1921. The contents of which ended up being printed in the desert news, but BH Roberts expresses some concern.

He writes this one of the reason impels me to the consideration of these 10 reasons and that is since they are published to the world issue contract form and as I understand it by the Association associations named as sponsors for them and reproduced in our old church newspaper.

I think that something is due in the way of explanation and defense to the youth of our people that they should understand how far in these 10 reasons we are misrepresented and how far they may state the truth concerning our faith and doctrine. So he was concerned that that this would have some influence, even on the youth of the LDS church.

In this statement. I'm going to quote from it, it says the events lately transpiring among us appeared to demand a clear, candid and unequivocal statement of reasons on the part of this, the Presbytery of Utah why Christians cannot fellowship the Mormon church.

It is not that Christians entertain ill will toward Mormons as neighbors and citizens, nor are they averse to cooperating with them in the work of moral and social reform and in the promotion of temperance. On the contrary, Christians of every name most earnestly desire to unite with the Mormon people in all feasible plans that have as their in the social, political and moral advancement of our Commonwealth. There is however a line of demarcation that Christians cannot overlook that they cannot disregard that fidelity to truth and duty requires the Presbytery of Utah to emphasize at this time.

The question is purely a religious question. It goes to the very root of Christian belief and duty.

It concerns all men alike who profess the Christian religion, and desire to promote the glory and honor of the name of Christ. I like that that statement is in there because many people misunderstand what we say fellowship were not talking friendship.

We are not at all saying we should look at the LDS people is somehow enemies.

This is purely a doctrinal position showing how the LDS church, though it claims to be Christian claims really to be the only true Christian church on the face of the earth, and that's one of the arguments that they're going to respond to. But I think that's important that people know this were not saying you can't be friends with Mormons you should be friends with Mormons.

Why wouldn't you be friends with. Mormons are great. People are very nice people. Some of this comes from first printing five work. Paul says I'm not telling you not to associate with people of the world in general didn't have to out of the rental and telling you is if somebody is a swindler or an idolater, or an adult or not to have century religious table fellowship with them. The portion of the statement that I just read that says it is not that Christians entertain ill will towards Mormons. It's as neighbors and citizens, nor are they averse to cooperating with them in the work of moral and social reform and in the promotion of temperance.

I have many people asked me should we get involved with the Mormon church when it comes to social issues. I've always expressed caution on that. I'm not saying that we shouldn't think there are times when it's probably prudent to do something like that when it says in the work of moral and social reform and in the promotion of temperance.

You had mentioned something to me that you thought that statement might be a bit of a jab at BH Roberts. Personally, why do you think that x-rays understand he was not for the temperance movement, which is interesting. I don't think the district at this time was necessarily strict teetotaler that we should probably explain because a lot of people don't remember that in our history that there was a strong movement against the use of alcohol and drunkenness was the trifecta of the suffrage movement, the anti-polygamy movement in the temperance movement was overlapping the anti-polygamy. Part of that especially being aimed at the LDS church.

This statement that I was reading goes on to say.

Therefore, the question is before us and before the public. Why cannot Christians walk in fellowship with Mormons in religion as they do with each other and thus begins the 10 reasons do you think that much has changed outside of the fact that yes this mentions plural marriages also mentions Adam God, which is still pretty fresh in our American history and in the history of the LDS church, but do you think over the course of many years since this statement came out in the late 19th century that these reasons are still something that we as Christians should take seriously today. Everyone of them still relevant in some fashion, especially when we think about the high standard that Christians in the Bible holds those who claim to be prophets and apostles to somebody claims to be a prophet or apostle.

We looked to know someone that the Lord will if their true will protect from speaking egregious atrocious heretical things about God and the gospel. The authors of this document. Hold LDS apostles and prophets to that kind of standard in a way they seem to take the statements of the leaders of the LDS church.

In some cases much more seriously than even they take them in and I think that's really what's frustrating sometimes is the LDS church claims that they have prophets and apostles guiding the church today. These men are led by the spirit of God. God speaks directly to the profit but yet down the road if you were to ever quote some of these leaders you'll find very quickly that some Latter Day Saints tended just rolled her eyes and say well I don't take that seriously. So in a sense, you might say that we as evangelicals do take our prophets and apostles, the ones mentioned in the Bible and New Testament much more seriously than many Latter Day Saints tomorrow are going to take a closer look at the actual 10 reasons why Christians cannot fellowship the Mormon church.

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