Pastor Jeff McCullough has posted a new video in which he attempts to answer questions put to him in the comments section of his videos. I am going to respond only to the first question put to him, and his response to it. Someone by the name of Vicki Wannop puts to him the following question:
“Have you prayed to God with an open heart and contrite spirit to know if the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and those things you don’t believe in, are true? Have you searched the scriptures to see the true meaning? Are these things that might be very controversial in your religion, and cause you to be afraid, or not open up to the truth of them? I am not trying to be smart or anything, just asking real questions?”
To which he then gives the following answer:
“This is a really good question Vicky, because it really drives at a really foundational question, and that is, how do we arrive at what we believe, or what we put our faith in? I am aware that Vicky is asking this question because in the Book of Mormon, and throughout Latter-day Saint teaching, there is a call, after reading the Book of Mormon, or meeting with missionaries, or contemplating Latter-day Saint doctrine, to pray and ask the Lord if it is true; and if you get a feeling that it is true, or if you feel a burning in your bosom, then that is confirmation that the Holy Spirit is giving you faith to believe in these things. The opportunity for someone to embrace a more biblically orthodox, mainstream Christian understanding of the gospel, doesn’t start with, ‘You have heard all these things, do you think they are true?’ It actually starts with something is being presented, doesn’t match your reality. Let me explain:
“The mainstream Christian idea of the gospel starts with this very real and simple concept that ever since the garden of Eden, all of mankind is lost, and dead in their sin; that we are conditionally sinful, and separated from God. So really the consideration to embrace the gospel starts with looking in the mirror, that this idea talked about in the scriptures, of this conditional reality, matches the reality of how we experience existence every day. It is when we agree with God on our fallen condition, and our need for a Savior, that we then are able to consider taking a step of faith, of embracing the invitation that he has given us to put our faith in Jesus as the remedy for our sin.
“So to answer Vicki’s question, I have thought about, and I have prayed about, and I am investigating the claims from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; but my lack of embracing those things, is more tied to the fact that I believe what the Bible teaches about my condition that matches my reality; and I believe that the faith that I have put in Jesus has brought me alive in ways that I never experienced prior to putting my faith in Jesus; and there is nothing that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint teaches, that in any way sort of augments this joy-filled and peace-filled reality that I experience on a daily basis as I walk indwelled by the Spirit, looking forward to the hope of resurrection with him. So I appreciate and understand the question, and hope that my honest response to that gives insight into how I consider the truth claims of the LDS church.”
I have issues with both the question that is put to him (or how it is phrased), as well as the answer he gives in response to it. The “question” relates specifically to the Book of Mormon. It relates to a promise that is contained in the Book of Mormon, as follows:
Moroni 10:
3 Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things [i.e. the Book of Mormon], if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts.
4 And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.
5 And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.
The promise is contained in the Book of Mormon itself. It specifically relates to the Book of Mormon, and is associated with prayerfully reading the book, not just “praying” about it. The “witness” comes as a result of prayerfully reading the book, with a sincere desire to know of its truth. It is not about praying to know if the “Church” is true, or the “missionaries,” or “contemplating Latter-day Saint doctrine” etc., as he has expressed it. Once the truth of the Book of Mormon has been established (by a personal revelation), however, that also confirms the truth of the prophetic calling of Joseph Smith, and of the Church that he established by a revelation from God. Either the Book of Mormon is true, or it isn’t. It can’t be half and half, or somewhere in between. And if it is true, that also makes Joseph Smith a true prophet, and the Church he established God’s true Church. That is what the “praying” is all about. It is about establishing the truth of the Book of Mormon first and foremost, not something else.
Another mistake that he makes (which may also in part be the fault of Latter-day Saints), is that he associates this testimony of the Holy Ghost with “feelings,” which again is not correct. The Holy Ghost is a revelator, it reveals truth:
John 14:
15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.
16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
John 16:
12 I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.
13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.
14 He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.
1 John 2:
20 But ye have an unction [anointing] from the Holy One, and ye know all things.
• • •
27 But the anointing [Holy Ghost] which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.
When the Holy Ghost reveals to you the truth, then you know. You are not “guessing,” or just having vague “feelings” about it. That is how Peter knew that Jesus was “the Christ”:
Matthew 16:
16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.
17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.
Peter knew something. He wasn’t just “guessing,” or having some good “feelings” about something. That is how the testimony of the Holy Ghost works. It is spirit communicating with spirit. It is something that can only be experienced. It is not something that can be described, explained, communicated, or conveyed to someone else. Each person can only experience it for himself. It is like the “oil in the lamp,” which cannot be “shared” with someone else (Matt. 25:1-13). The reason why Latter-day Saints sometimes talk about it in terms of “feelings” is because they have no other way to describe it. But it is a knowledge, an assurance, a divine witness, not just a “feeling”. How did Peter know that Jesus was “the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matt. 16:16-17)? He wouldn’t have been able to explain to someone else how he knew; that is why Jesus had to tell him. But he knew; he wasn’t just guessing, or having good “feelings”. The testimony of the Book of Mormon by the power of the Holy Ghost is obtained in the same way.
The rest of what he has said in his response to that question are basically irrelevant to the answer to that question. How he understands the gospel based on his biblical or historical understanding of Christianity is irrelevant to the question of whether the Book of Mormon is true or not. The Book of Mormon does not contradict what is in the Bible. The Book of Mormon claims to be a book of ancient scripture in addition to the Bible, and confirms and supports what is in the Bible. It is more of the same. It serves several purposes. Its first purpose is to be a witness to the restoration of the gospel in the latter days. If it is true, that means that the Restoration is true. It means that a restoration of the gospel has taken place. Its second purpose is to clarify many doctrinal matters over which the Bible has been ambiguous, or has lacked sufficient clarity, and which has resulted in numerous doctrinal and theological controversies among Christians (see Doctrine and Covenants 10:62-65). Its third purpose is that “faith also might increase in the earth” (Doctrine and Covenants 1:21). Having gained a divine witness by the power of the Holy Ghost that the Book of Mormon is the word of God and is true; it also increases our faith and testimony that God lives, that he is real, and that he is “unchangeable” (Malachi 3:6; Hebrews 7:24; James 1:17; Mormon 9:19; Moroni 8:18; Doctrine and Covenants 20:17); that he is “the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8; 1 Nephi 10:28; 2 Nephi 2:4; 27:23; 29:9; Alma 31:17; Moroni 10:19; Mormon 9:9; Doctrine and Covenants 35:1); and that he is just as willing and able to reveal himself to us in our time as he did to prophets anciently; and to give us revelation and scripture as he did anciently; which in turn has a tremendous power to increase the faith of those who have obtained that divine witness for themselves. These are the purposes for which the Book of Mormon has been revealed in our time. And the promise is that much more shall be revealed in due time.
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