This blog (link below) records the experience of a convert-to-be in our ward. His wife is a member of the church. I had only seen him a few times and never talked to him until very recently. I think you'll really find it interesting. If the first entry is interesting, please continue to read on. His newer entries can all be found listed on the left-hand side:
http://gnp30.blogspot.com/2007/11/january-19-2008.html
Paul
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Interesting story. As you know, what I do not believe is:
2a) Do you believe the Church and gospel of Jesus Christ have been restored through the Prophet Joseph Smith?
2b) Do you believe that [current Church President] is a prophet of God?
I do find it interesting that Mormons use CS Lewis as a source sometimes. He was very intelligent, but also, wasn't LDS. As I recall, he was Pentecostal, right?
Darin
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I just looked C. S. Lewis up on Wikipedia. It says he joined the Church of England. I couldn't find anything else after that about his denomination (but I only skimmed, and I couldn't find Pentecostal on the page when I searched for it). It also said that he is quoted by a variety of denominations including Roman Catholic and Mormon. I thought that was interesting that they make note of what you noticed, that we quote C. S. Lewis a lot.
We're generally willing to accept good ideas from sources outside the church. Of course people are weak and imperfect, so it does happen that church members look down on religious things from outside the church because they think "if it is really what God wants it would have come from within the church." This is a misunderstanding. The apostles suffered the same misunderstanding when they thought they should stop someone from preaching and healing in the name of Christ Jesus, and the Lord corrected them and said there is not reason to fight against him. I'm sorry, I can't find the reference in the New Testament and I can't exactly remember the story (but I remember reading it).
Paul
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Logically Paul, to me, any church (or business for that matter) is going to use (quote, etc...) someone else who is widely accepted as a respected leader or great thinker. Businesses do it with John Maxwell because he's been a successful leader. Your church probably uses CS Lewis because most Christians accept him and his ideas, ESPECIALLY Mere Christianity. I don't know any fellow Christian who doesn't love that book. Of course, it would be really bold of your church to stop paralleling themselves with mainstream Christianity, and instead of giving away KJV Bibles on TV, give away the doctrinal books the best describe your core belief system, The Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price.
Darin
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You must know that the book we give away the most is the Book of Mormon. That's the book the missionaries carry around extra copies of for example. I think it's important to let the world know that we don't disregard the Bible and we study it quite diligently.
Aside from many goals of ours that are unique among Christian, we still do have some common goals and beliefs. You'll notice that the second baptismal interview question mentioned by my friend the blogger was whether or not you believe in Jesus Christ as the Lord and Savior of the World. His feeling at the time of writing was that he wasn't sure. This is essential for baptism and more importantly for salvation. We can agree on that. And the Bible, Book of Mormon, D&C, and Pearl of Great Price are priceless tools for that goal.
Paul
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Paul, seriously, I understand what you are saying, but please don't try to ignore that on television, your church is giving away Bibles because they are widely accepted. A worldwide poll on what book is more accepted, I'm sure you would agree with me, would show that it is the Bible. Giving away more Book or Mormons has nothing to do with the fact that what is advertised on TV are Bibles. That is a separate thing altogether. Really, it's marketing. Can you agree with me on that? It would be like the Bible being some great toothpaste that everyone knows of and is really accepted, and the Book of Mormon being a toothbrush. Rather than your toothbrush company marketing the toothbrushes which you produce, you are marketing the toothpaste.
Darin
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Darin, God produced both the Book of Mormon and the Bible. He can use them both however is most productive to bring souls into His Kingdom. The tooth paste analogy is terrible because it suggests what we obviously don't believe, which is that we are producing some supplementary material of questionable value. We aren't producing anything. We just try to accept what God gives us and use it according to His direction. The Book of Mormon is actually very efficient in bringing people to Christ, but isn't necessarily very well introduced in a 30-second TV ad.
I don't see many advertisements from my church, partly because we haven't had a TV until recently, so I'll have to take your word that the church is advertising free Bibles more than anything else. I think this is a pretty recent thing, and I know that they also tend to advertise other family values related things. I can agree on the marketing part. Most random people that see a TV ad have no idea what the Book of Mormon is but do know what the Bible is. It's a way of quickly finding God-minded people.
Paul
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Sounds like rationalizing it to me. It's called a bait and switch. It's what they do at a Used Car Dealership. It's like advertising a popular, yet inexpensive, red sports car with low miles, and after you get there they tell you the sports car is already sold and they try and convince you to buy a run down Hyndai that costs more instead. Of course the sports car never even existed. Is that a better analogy for you?
BTW: technically this is an illegal business practice.
Darin
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No, I don't think you're using very good analogies. I can hardly find any similarity at all. The bait (the Bible) actually does exist and is given for free. And no switch is ever made. The goal is to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ (as we understand it).
Paul
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In this case it is a matter of perspective, in deciding if these are 'good' analogies or not. To us Pentecostal Christians, your church strays from the one and only true Gospel of Jesus Christ, and adds in doctrines no Christian would agree with at all. That's like saying, well our goal as Jehovah's Witnesses is to spread the Gospel. Sorry, there is no room for compromise, and your three books contradict what the 66 books of the Bible teach. I know you know I believe that. I don't want to go in circles, but it amazes me that even you are rationalizing why your church is giving away Bibles rather than your three books which ARE your core belief system...hence your baptisms for the dead, temple marriages, modern day prophets, etc...all of which are spoken of in your books and not the widely accepted Bible. In any Christian Supply bookstore, Pilgrim Books, Cafe Dvine, etc...the only doctrine of Mormonism is in the 'other religions' or 'cult' sections.
Darin
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Main stream Christianity doesn't define the truth.
Paul
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