From time-to-time, some LDS missionaries visit me at my aunt’s house here in KC-MO. Instead of shutting the door on them I sit down with them and to discuss the differences in our theologies, hoping to share the good news of Jesus Christ as is found in the Bible. If anyone who wishes to dialog with Mormons, here is an amazing site by two former members of the LDS church: Utah Lighthouse Ministry. Another ministry that originally began as an outreach to Mormons and has since become an apologetics ministry in the fields of Roman Catholicism, Mormonism, Watch Tower theology, Textual Criticism, and most recently, Islam: Dr. James R. White’s Alpha and Omega Ministries (Although I will warn you, he is very much a Calvinist–and I like it!). In fact Dr. White wrote a book called Letters to a Mormon Elder and it is available online here. I really recommend these resources if you wish to engage in an apologetics ministry with Mormons in a loving way.

I want to present an argument or presentation that has come to mind that I am thinking about presenting to the Mormon missionaries next time we meet. However, I wish for the authors here to read this argument and let me know if it is valid and usable. Here is my thought.

Here is a link to an article found at Utah Lighthouse Ministries about how LDS views of God contradict what the Bible teaches, such as LDS God is an exalted man called Heavenly Father and Elohim (OT name) and also that LDS holds to a form of polytheism. Letters #4 and #5 also address this issue in Letters to a Mormon Elder.

My question is, has God totally contradicted himself in his revelation to Israel and the New Testament Apostles with what his revelation to Joseph Smith Jr. and the LDS Church? If yes (and I think the evidence is weighty that Mormonism and the Bible are contradictory), I think there is a massive problem in the nature of God and his trustworthiness. If the Mormon church is correct and God is not what the Bible says he is to be, did God give the OT prophets false revelation? I say that because the God of the OT is called Jehovah and he is omnipresent, omnipotent, and omniscient, he is eternal, sovereign, and he is the only God who created the heavens and the earth. If that is a false revelation, and Mormonism is true, then I must discount the Bible’s testimony of God. But this brings me to another question, if God gave the OT prophets false revelation, what makes the revelation of the Mormon church true? It almost feels like a catch 22. If God didn’t tell Isaiah and Moses and David the truth, then how can we know that he isn’t lying to the Mormon prophets? How can I trust this God?

But if what is said in the Bible is correct revelation about God and who he is, then one must not adhere to what the LDS Church teaches, for it is false. They are not worshiping the real God of Israel. Their God is an exalted man, but Numbers 23:19 declares that to be explicitly false.

When I think about the Mormon doctrine of God and Mormonism as a whole, I see that it is too inconsistent with itself to be a real truth claim. It claims to be restoring us to the original practice of the church and the reconnect us to the real God of Adam, Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Joseph Smith. But the God of Joseph Smith cannot be the same one found in both the Old and New Covenants.

What do you guys think? Have I gone wrong somewhere in my thinking? How can I fix it up? Or Should I just not try this out?