Discussing Mormonism!

I came across the above Q&A video in which George Grant, Voddie Bauchman, Michael Morales, R.C. Sproul, and R.C. Sproul Jr. answer gospel questions, moderated by Chris Larson. At 38:57 minutes into the video the following dialog takes place between RC Sproul and Voddie Bauchman. R.C. Sproul begins the conversation by addressing Bauchman as follows:

Sproul: “What about down there in Texas, they are saying, some of these Southern Baptist preachers of yours are saying, that Mormonism is a cult!”

Bauchman: “Some of these southern Baptist Preachers of mine! Yeah! Those guys I identify with!” 

Sproul: “When I was a student, we used to study the cults, and every book that I studied about the cults included Mormonism in it … because of its fundamental denial of the Deity of Christ. But boy, if anything is politically incorrect now!” 

Bauchman: “Isn’t it interesting though, we have gone from a place where, if you look at, for example, original documents, early documents, from the settlement here, even before you know the Declaration of Independence, if you look at those original documents, the question would not have been, Are you willing to, you know, not call Mormonism a cult? But the question would have been, Are you willing to acknowledge Jesus Christ; and that all of the things outside of him would be a cult? We have come full circle in that. It just seems bizarre that now we are willing to cut people off if they are not willing to say, It is okay for a man to believe that, you know, Elohim had sex with Mary; you know, Jesus was a product of that; he had three wives, they had multiple children; and that you, if you are a good Mormon, will eventually go and inhabit your own planet, and through infinite celestial sex you will populate that planet, and be your own Christ on your own planet. And now we have people in the press who are pulling microphones in the faces of candidates and saying, I dare you to call that a cult! And they are saying, Nozebalz! We won’t do that!”

Firstly, in answer to R.C. Sproul (he is not with us anymore, but for the benefit of those who may agree with him), they should know that the doctrine of the Deity of Christ is taught more unambiguously and affirmatively in the Book of Mormon (and in other LDS scriptures) than it is anywhere in the Bible. Mormonism, Mormon revelation, and Mormon scripture not only does not “deny the Deity of Christ,” but affirms it more strongly, and discusses it more intelligently and meaningfully than it is done anywhere in the Bible. I have already discussed that subject (with quotes and references) in my previous post, which can be seen here. It is a blatant falsehood and a wicked lie to allege that Mormonism “denies the Deity of Christ”. Mormon revelation affirms it more strongly than it is done anywhere in the Bible. See my previous post for examples.

Secondly, in answer to Voddie Bauchman’s comments, every single one of the doctrines that he has attributed to Mormonism is a false attribution. Not one of them is true Mormon doctrine. That is not what Mormonism teaches. True Mormon doctrine is to be found in Mormon revelation and Mormon scripture, which includes the Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price; and no such doctrines are found in any of them. Mormonism does not teach any of the things that he has attributed to it. Why they would want to perpetrate such blatant falsehoods and lies against Mormonism, is a question for them to answer. But I don’t see how it will be doing them any good.

For R.C. Sproul, I am willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. I think that in his case, it was a matter of genuine ignorance rather than anything else. But I don’t think I would be equally generous towards the rest. Mormonism is true. The Book of Mormon is a book of scripture and a revelation from God. It teaches the doctrine of the Deity of Christ more strongly than the Bible does. It teaches, affirms, and clarifies many Christian doctrines better than the Bible does. It resolves many theological ambiguities that in the Bible are left unclear. It is unquestionably the word of God; and those who reject it will be damned unless they repent.