With another Sunday, we have another batch of letters to the editor. I received plenty of comments on my article about preaching the gospel to Mormons. Several of them were from practicing Mormons who, not surprisingly, strongly disagreed with what I said. Here are some of the other responses I received.
Comments on When the Mormons Come Calling
I have both Mormon and JW family members and have studied apologetics in that area for decades now. I appreciate that you try to reach them with the gospel and that you understand the JW’s are more likely to have a chip on their shoulder. I would say that with JW’s you must change your strategy. Trying to prove the trinity or divinity of Christ is a dead-end with the JW’s and it is the area they train for. Worst is that it doesn’t really get you to the gospel. Go for an area where they are less prepared and is essential to the gospel. They deny the resurrection of Christ from the dead. Push them to tell you their position that Jesus’ body was dissolved into gases and God recreated the archangel Michael again from His memories. Then get them to read through John 2:18-22. This outright contradicts their beliefs. Then go to the gospel definition in 1 Corinthians 15 and go through that slowly with lots of questions. Their rejection of Jesus’ resurrection is a rejection of a key and essential part of the gospel. Your time will be much more well spent there.
—Greg H, Columbia, MO
Speaking as a former Mormon, I can tell you that it can be very difficult to get through the hard veneer of Mormon doctrine – especially since most of these young men have grown up in the Mormon faith and have been indoctrinated since birth with the false gospel of Mormonism. I’m sure you know that they do not hold a view of the Bible as inerrant and that their founder Joseph Smith re-translated many verses of the Bible to fit the doctrine they teach. They hold the Book of Mormon and Doctrine & Covenants in much higher esteem and authority than the true Word of God and, for this reason, it can be difficult to point them to errors in their doctrine using the Bible alone. This is why praying for the Holy Spirit to reveal the truth to them is so key. Also, it is important to know that terms we use and take for granted have very different meanings in the world of Mormonism (such as Jesus, salvation, & hell) so you can’t assume that you are all on the same page just because you are using the same terms.
When they arrive on Saturday, you can expect them to be prepared to present to you an overview of the gospel as they understand it. They have been trained to basically ignore any objections and deflect any questions you might have. It is an excellent move to request that they listen to what you have to say in exchange for listening to their message but don’t expect too much. As I said, these are young men who have been heavily indoctrinated, have never seriously investigated the claims of their church, and rely heavily on well-practiced, canned presentations to make their point. Any veering off-script tends to be met with a deer-in-the-headlights look and an exhortation to read a highlighted passage in the Book of Mormon they will leave with you and to be on the watch for a “burning in your bosom” that will testify of the “truth” they are sharing. I pray, Tim, that the Holy Spirit will give you wisdom, discernment, and the right words to say that will at least get them questioning their beliefs and set them on a journey of discovery that will set them free from the falsehoods and imprisonment they are living under.
—Rick E, Hillsboro, OR
Appreciated your recent article on Mormonism and agree with what you say. One thought, though: I have shared the gospel with Mormons, and they will agree with everything I say. This is because of the language barrier. Every important word has been redefined by the LDS church such that you must slowly define every term carefully or else what you’re saying and what they’re hearing are two different things. I try to be intentional about defining my terms so that they will know that terms like “God”, “Jesus”, and “grace” mean something different than what the LDS church has taught them. Blessings to you.
—Jeffrey S, Central City, NE
There is also a practical reason for being polite and listening to the Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons who may knock at your door: for every minute they are spending with you, they are not next door or down the street spreading their false teachings to another person who may be more inclined to accept it.
—Paul M, St. Thomas, ON
Comments on Going All-in With Ebooks
And then, of course, there were plenty of letters about my decision to go all-in with ebooks. (See last week’s letters for more of them.)
Although not written specifically to Bible readers, I think Nicholas Carr’s “The Shallows” and Naomi Baron’s “Words Onscreen” both effectively raise the issue that reading eBooks could be changing the way we read. In my own journey into reading Scripture well, I continue to find people who are re-awakening to the possibility that reading Scripture on an e-device really does effect the way they read, how they attend to the text, and what they end up taking away from their reading. It’s easy to eRead. What might escape notice is the real possibility that reading eTexts could be changing how we read and understand Scripture.
—Brian O, Greenville, SC
I’ve enjoyed reading all about your decision to go all-in with e-book reading. And I’ve enjoyed reading the comments. My Kindle bit the dust about a year ago (it refuses to re-charge and I am hesitant to purchase another.) I went through terrible withdrawal! Which only served to show me that I was relying way too much on it. So now I’ve retreated back to the printed page. It’s been a good journey. I’m sticking here.
—Pamela N, Hudson, OH
Thank you for your article on committing to E-books. I made the same decision years ago and here is why:
- Like you, space was an issue with printed books for me. I learned this lesson eight years ago when I moved from Massachusetts to Wyoming after nine years of Bible college and pastoral ministry. In those nine years I amassed a library of nearly 2500 volumes, saturated with large commentary sets and weighty (in both thought and actual weight!) reference works. The book boxes took up the most space in our moving truck, dwarfing the upright piano and couch. After some time in Wyoming we returned to Massachusetts to plant a church, yet some of the books have yet to make the trip!
- The ability to bookmark, or copy and paste directly into documents is invaluable. I spent hours as a pastor and seminary student meticulously handwriting quotes and references into sermon notes or notecards, tasks that take no time with e-books. Insisting on printed books means considerable more time in sermon prep or academic research, and makes me think of a person that would insist on performing a lexical search through different Greek reference works that would take hours, rather than using Logos or Bibleworks, which would only take seconds. I do think a refusal to use e-books when they could save significant time is a stewardship issue that deserves consideration.
- In our digital age, e-books easily go anywhere with me. Time spent waiting while my wife shops or in an airport terminal can be used to maintain my reading plan, do research, or continue sermon prep. Many commentaries and reference works are just not mobile in their paper form, but e-books allow me to make the most of downtime that might otherwise be wasted.
- While authors might lament this, the reality is that e-books are usually much more inexpensive than printed versions and allow me to stretch my book budget much further than if I purchase paper versions. E-books seem to go on sale within months of their initial release, and I have gotten many books for a fraction of the cost of the paper version.
Thank you again for the article. No doubt there were those that had trouble adjusting to printed, bound books when they replaced scrolls hundreds of years ago!
—Mark R, Middleborough, MA
