Excerpts from Conversation with a Mormon
mormon: “[God] has invited you to read [the book of mormon], and then pray. That’s when the still small voice comes. After the trial of your faith” Me: no wait, let me rephrase, you’ve invited me to read it
[some debate about why I should read the book of mormon...]
Me: Nothing in your power is going to change me, you can have the best arguments in the world for me to read that book. lock me up and talk to me day after day 360 days a year, but it will take God himself to come down from heaven in some fashion in order for me to read the book or mormon or any other book as the word of God. whether it be in a still small voice or a earthquake, it will take him speaking to my heart persistently. He will honor that I test the spirits.
mormon: “what you’re describing is conversion. And you’re absolutely right. It’s not done by convincing, or arguments, or forcing
It’s by the spirit
only God’s spirit can enter and make that change
for that, the heart has to be open”
me: That comes down to, which spirit is converting people to accepting the book of mormon as the word of God - is it God’s spirit? or the man’s own heart
mormon: is what?
me: the spirit which is causing people to accept the book of mormon as truth and follow its statutes
there is a spirit (many spirits) behind people accepting that they can be empowered with psycic powers
it all comes down to testing the spirits
see that they glorify Jesus Christ and not man or anything else that crawls upon the earth.
and see that the spirit is of Christ and not to glorify man in the name of Christ
[end of conversation]
That is what it comes down to. Is, “the spirit” … the spirit of God? You must test all things against the word of God to make sure that they are of the spirit of God. Many can claim to be of, “the spirit”… but it was only the voice of their own heart and desire that they sought out that spirit and now they are trapped.
July 9th, 2008 at 9:35 am
Most Latter-day Saints will refer to the “fruits of the Spirit”, citing Galatians 5:22-23 which tells us, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”
They will say that investigators should look at the good in the church, the values, morals, humanitarian aid, missionary service, etc. and then quote Matthew 7:16 where it is written that, “A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.”
Likely a reference will also be made to the day of Pentecost described in Acts chapter 2 where the people witness preaching by the Spirit and then “were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?”(v. 37). Latter-day Saints focus heavily on the feelings which the Spirit may bring to a person, including a “pricking” in the heart, or burning in the bosom.
The reality is that Latter-day Saints place people in positions where the need to believe is felt. Often people who experience conversion are needing something in their lives, and have often recently had some major change in their lives such as a death in the family or unemployment. In addition, the circular reasoning employed by missionaries creates a foundation on which rational thought is constrained but the person feels as though they are making intellectual, emotional, and spiritual progress.
As for The Book of Mormon specifically, I recommend anyone read it. I think there are many valuable bits in it. I highly recommend a passage known as King Benjamin’s address, which can be found starting in Mosiah chapter 2.
October 22nd, 2008 at 2:48 pm
Nice article. Thanks.
Eugene