Christianizing Mormonism

When Richard J, Mouw, president emeritus of Fuller Theological Seminary, spoke at the Orem LDS Institute of Religion November 15, 2013, he epitomized the mindset that drives the present apostasy in Christianity.  Mouw stated, “There’s more commonality than we realized in the way we talk about Jesus and his atoning work.”  He went on to declare that “the hope that shines within us” (Christians and Mormons) is a shared belief in “the redemptive power of Jesus Christ.”  One might better understand Mouw’s line of reasoning by his glowing endorsement of the Book of Mormon.

“But when you stop and read it,” he said, “a lot of the doctrine looks and sounds like our doctrine, with language that sounds like the kinds of things we say.”

One could say the same thing about other religious books.  But what’s the line of resonating here?  God did not send us an almost perfect Christ, nearly perfect salvation plan, or Scriptures that magnanimously spread apart to allow the inclusion of erroneous doctrine.   So why is Mouw ecstatic about the book of Mormon that “looks and sounds like”, but in fact is not God’s word?  Imagine if you discovered that everything your fiancé told you was almost true.  Would you still marry?  Would you leave a pastor that took great pains to speak the truth to accept one that spoke almost truth?  It is baffling to me why a Christian would base his or her acceptance of a religion on a book that contained almost truth.  We should not discern Mormonism by its almost truthful book, but by God’s perfect truth.

Mouw continued to declare that Mormons and evangelical Christians “say the same things” about Jesus Christ.  That may be true on the surface to a certain degree, but true Christians do not say that Jesus is the brother of Lucifer as do Mormons.  Everything else the Mormons say about Jesus is predicated on that and equally false LDS doctrine.  Of course, one would expect to find similarities since Joseph Smith plagiarized greatly from the Bible as well as borrowing from the Masonry and Islam.  It does not mean that Mormons and Christians believe the same about Christ.  Further, Christians have known about those similarities from the beginning.  Why did we not join with the Mormons from the beginning if the similarity is a premise for ecumenism?  If that question were to be posed to Mouw or one of his associates, namely Rick Warren, the answer would most likely be that God has decided to do a new thing in this century.  The New Reformation that Warren is calling for apparently includes the “shalom” between Muslims and other cults and diabolical religions.  Mouw declared in his speech, “The best thing we can do together is to defend the rights of Muslim women to wear a burqa, or the religious rights of Sikhs or Jehovah’s Witnesses.”  To present the proper context for that statement he went on to say, “We need to figure out how we can work together in the battle to maintain our religious rights.”  I disagree.  The best thing that Christians can do is to present the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

That last statement may indicate the true purpose in Mouw’s warm words for Mormonism.  Ever since Mitt Romney’s failed bid for the presidency, it appears that certain denomination leaderships, such as the Assemblies of God, have ramped up the process of forming an agreement with the LDS. They apparently believe that the agreement is necessary to resist the federal government encroachment of religious rights. However, eschatological prophecy will be fulfilled no matter how many coalitions are formed to prevent the madness of a antichrist society. Further, Christian leaders must beware that in forming a coalition with a cult they do not provide an opportunity for the cult to snatch souls from Christianity.

Additionally, there is Mouw’s straw man argument that Christians and Mormons are shouting and demonizing one another. “These are profound teachings that we both talk about,” Mouw said. “These are the things we need to be talking about rather than shouting at each other and demonizing each other.” I do not know of any shouting at and demonizing of Mormons. Even if that were so, it would not be a reason to require Christians to have fellowship with unfruitful works of darkness. By the way, it is not “shouting or demonizing” to speak truth.  Mormonism is a diabolical religion whose apologists have been attempting for years to convince everyone that they are also Christians. The litmus test is to ask the LDS to renounce the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith, the secret Mormon rituals, their false doctrines, and confess the true and complete Gospel of Jesus Christ. I don’t believe that they are going to do that, or that the professing Christians who are fraternizing with them are encouraging such a move.

The objective is obviously an ecumenical agreement with the LDS cult.  It is based on a faulty premise that God has called us to commit such an error.  The question that must be asked is, “Who stands to gain by such an ecumenical endeavor?”  Christianity does not stand to gain anything at all unless the goal is to prove that we are willing to compromise our faith. Mormons stand to gain a great deal, which is the reason that they have been insisting that they are also Christians.   Look at it this way; if the Satan has any chance of bring down a Christian, he must first infiltrate his mind.  To accomplish that feat, he must lure him into position to be infiltrated. God’s word tells us to abstain from fleshly lusts that war against our souls.  Therefore, believers are careful about what they allow to access their minds.  We guard our hearts and minds by rejecting evil thoughts, imaginations, and everything that exalts itself against the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Professing Christians that fraternize and form alliances with diabolical religions and cults are as individuals that invite Satan inside for a friendly chat.   The guard is gone, the resistance is no more, and all caution is thrown to the wind.  Although some of these individuals believe they will remain Christians, it is not the case for many of the ones who follow their lead.  Therefore, the gain is completely in favor of Mormonism.  Christianity will not require Mormons to become true Christians, but Mormons will attack the ranks of weak or unsuspecting Christians like a virus.  Christianity has to come down into the deception to fraternize with Mormons because they cannot come up.  If Mormonism were to rise up from the deception, it would mean the end of their religion.

The final analysis is that Mouw and his associates appear unable to grasp the basic elements of satanic deception.  However, a greater and more ominous factor seems to be in the mix.  In my opinion, they had a preconceived plan to befriend not only the Mormons, but also Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, and other religions and cults.  The purpose is to form a global coalition of religions, a One World Religion not dissimilar to the coming One World Government.  Compromise is simply a small pragmatic price to pay for the culmination of their goal.

What do they hope to gain by this coalition?  They hope to gain world peace and unity with freedom from religious persecution.  It is an honorable goal on the surface.  Nevertheless, the means and method by which is it achieved is antithetical to the kingdom of God.  Thus, it is a direct assault on the kingdom of God.  It is entirely possible that from such a platform of ecumenism and compromise, the False Prophet will stand and perform lying signs and wonders.    Mouw and his accomplices would bend heaven to provide a protective arch over hell.  It does not seem to matter if true Christianity is lost in the rumpus of ecumenical fervor.  They have been altering Christianity for several decades, morphing it into a religion that flaunts paganism and a cosmic Christ.  No wonder the cults believe that Christianity has sufficiently changed (weakened) enough to accommodate them.  Its exclusivity became lost in the Emergent Movement’s substitution of major Christian distinctives with elements of the New Age and secular culture.

This decay did not happen overnight.  It has been long in the making.  I personally believe that it is now too far gone to turn around.  Consider that not only do most professing Christians not know about the diabolical decadence of Christianity, but they do not care.  This ignorance and apathy is indicative of both why the decadence exists and why with cannot be aborted.  In my opinion, contemplative spirituality is the door that led to this deception.  In nearly all of the recent forays by professing Christians into ecumenism, contemplative spiritually has been in the mix.  It appears to be the catalyst of the great and final deception.  Contemplative prayer causes an individual to become deceived and thus susceptible to demon possession.  One would have to be completely deceived to make or believe the statements that Mouw made concerning Mormonism.  I do not know how or why Mouw became deceived or to what extent, but I can declare that he is deceived about Mormonism.

It is for these reasons that I believe that Mouw, Wood, Warren, and others have sinned greatly against the Body of Christ.  Mouw’s statement, “God has placed us in the world, in this nation, and calls us to seek the shalom together,” is indicative of the aberrant paradigm that they have bought into and now promote.  God never called true Christians to join in peace and fellowship with diabolical religions and cults.  There is no biblical paradigm for what they have done and are doing. Instead, there are strong scriptural warnings against their actions. Here are but a few of them:

“Do not be deceived: “Evil company corrupts good habits.” (1 Corinthians 15:33 NKJV)

“And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them.” (Ephesians 5:11 NKJV)

Therefore, “Come out from among them And be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, And I will receive you.” (2 Corinthians 6:17 NKJV)

“But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner—not even to eat with such a person.” (1 Corinthians 5:11, NKJV)

The present apostasy in Christianity is in my opinion the final one before the revealing of the Antichrist.  It is very large and rapidly getting larger.  There are many elements to the apostasy, but one major factor drives it all and that is deception.  Christ warned us that the final deception would be very clever and a large number of people would succumb to it.  Although there have been other apostasies and deceptions, I firmly believe that we are at the end of the age and are witnessing the deception that Christ warned us about in Matthew 24:24.  Many Christian leaders are succumbing to the lure of this deception.  It is as if they never gave any thought to the fact that it could come upon them or to the manner and means of its arrival.  The manner of this deception is not only the subtraction of truth, but also the addition of clever, truth-sounding, lies.  In some cases it is only the addition of clever, truth-sounding, lies.  Adding lies to truth will indeed obscure truth and minimize or alter its result.  However, Satan knows that some, perhaps much, truth must remain in order to make the deception more appealing and undetectable.  Therefore, it is no doubt that one might find more in common with deception and deceivers than one might disagree with.  Consider that when the serpent tempted Eve, there was more truth in his statements than error.  Satan will give you a truckload of truth if you will swallow a spoonful of poison.  The most clever deception is like a drop of cyanide in a glass of fresh water.