Scott

An old guy who loves Jesus. Done some stuff - Seen some things - Has some scars

[Scott @MissionaryProfB]

@PurpleKoya21 But “RED TRUCK” is literally in the name. Look, dummy. It has an engine, transmission, seats, a steering wheel, 4-wheels, just like a red truck, so it is a red truck.

[Scott @MissionaryProfB]

I grew up with Mormons. I went to a lot of activities at my local Ward. Had the "Elders" visit my home on the regular for years.

The full name has been The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints since they switched from Church of Christ in 1838, but all my Mormon friends used "Mormon" and "LDS" all the time. I did too and was never corrected once.

I think the insistence on the full name usage is part of recent rebranding efforts. I won't use the full name because it's too cumbersome, but it's their right to rebrand/re-market as they like. A lot of churches do that.

To be honest, I think the name insistence has to do with the "we're Christians too" push that has been exploding on the internet. The funny thing is that it's having the opposite effect. When they were LDS, a lot of people simply assumed they were just another kind of Christian. Now, they are making a claim, and people who previously didn't care are being compelled to make a judgment on the matter. Bad marketing plan, if you ask me... which you didn't. LOL

[Trevor Tomesh ☕ @realDrTT]

Is this true? I knew “Mormon” isn’t proper, but “LDS”?

I’ve seen plenty of y’all use the acronym yourselves.

[Scott @MissionaryProfB]

I found this an interesting comparison. In the pre-social media days, I thought I was the only person who recognized these patterns.

[Paulie @PaulieGee2004]

@Primary_Pianist

[Scott @MissionaryProfB]

The "Testimony" is, by definition, a creed. “I know the Church is true. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet. I know the Book of Mormon is the word of God.”

This testimony is a confessional formula: spoken publicly, communally repeated, and essential to LDS identity. Its three core claims (church authority, the prophetic office of Smith, and the Book of Mormon as scripture). In short, it is a Creed.

[Scott @MissionaryProfB]

@Hairball_63 @TaraBull Oh, you beat me to it. They played our little NCO club under a fake name. Wildfire??? What a great show. They figured out what we liked, then just played that kind of music for hours. Pretty cool for a late 1980's GI and his pals.

[Scott @MissionaryProfB]

@TaraBull Nelson

[Scott @MissionaryProfB]

@Primary_Pianist The challenge is that most Christians don’t know that the BoM is not the source of most of the LDS doctrines we reject.

[Scott @MissionaryProfB]

Here is your version rewritten and, hopefully, fair to both sides.
Mormon: What do I need to be saved?
Evangelical: Do you believe in Jesus?
Mormon: Yes.
Evangelical: The Jesus of the Bible?
Mormon: Yes.
Evangelical: That He is the eternal Son of God?
Mormon: Yes.
Evangelical: That He died for your sins and rose from the dead?
Mormon: Yes.
Evangelical: And that He is the only way to salvation?Mormon: Yes.
Evangelical: Then we agree on those points. But when we say “Jesus,” are we talking about the same person?
Mormon: What do you mean?
Evangelical: The Bible teaches that Jesus has always been God — eternally existing as the second person of the Trinity, one in nature with the Father.
Mormon: We believe Jesus is divine too.
Evangelical: But in LDS teaching, Jesus is a spirit child of Heavenly Father who progressed to become a god, and is the spirit brother of all humanity, including Lucifer. That’s a very different understanding of who He is.
Mormon: We still believe He’s the Savior and the only way.
Evangelical: I understand that. But if we have fundamentally different beliefs about who Jesus is by nature, then we’re not actually believing in the same Jesus — even if we use the same name.
Mormon: So you’re saying my belief in Jesus isn’t enough?
Evangelical: Actually, I’m saying the identity of Jesus matters. If the Jesus you believe in is not the eternal God of the Bible, then we’re not believing in the same person. You are right, or I am right, but we can't both be right.
Mormon: That’s a big claim.
Evangelical: It is. That’s why these conversations often go in circles — we’re using the same words but mean very different things.

I think that was fair to both.

[Scott @MissionaryProfB]

The original post created a made-up conversation where the Evangelical character makes weak, easily defeated points and then collapses into obvious circular reasoning. That’s a STRAWMAN argument. (The OP's modus operandi) By having the Evangelical draw lame conclusions rather than present any actual arguments against the Book of Mormon (historical, textual, or doctrinal), the post avoids engaging with real critiques altogether. Also, the Evan and LDS definitions of "interpreted correctly" differ substantively in their bases, methods, and possibilities.

[Scott @MissionaryProfB]

@BigMac61815311 @EricLDaugh I live in one of the commie states, so we’re still at $5

[Scott @MissionaryProfB]

@Wafflewarf @Primary_Pianist I know. Deep thoughts are hard. If Satan uses Scripture as it is meant to be understood in context, it will not deceive anyone. But if he takes it out of context and then misapplies it, someone could be deceived. So, he's not using Scripture; he's misusing Scripture.

[Scott @MissionaryProfB]

LDS are blowing up X today. They are responding to cartoonlike caricatures of their faith by making cartoonlike caricatures of the Protestant faith. What a waste of everyone's time.

[Scott @MissionaryProfB]

The Book of Mormon (BoM), when read in isolation, is far more compatible with biblical Christianity than the full system of Latter-day Saint (LDS) theology that developed afterward. The sharpest breaks with Nicene orthodoxy and historic Christian doctrine on the nature of God come primarily from the Doctrine and Covenants (D&C) and Pearl of Great Price (PoGP), along with Joseph Smith’s later teachings.

[Scott @MissionaryProfB]

Worth reading. A couple of useful quotes in there.

[Mike Winger @MikeWingerii]

Mormons are often very personally offended when Christians say that Mormonism isn’t Christian. This is dumb.

Joseph Smith’s first “encounter” with God involves God telling Smith that every creed Christians profess is an abomination to God.

Every creed.

That includes the Nicene Creed. They reject who God is, who Jesus is, the nature of salvation, the nature of exaltation, the clear teaching of Scripture, etc..

Mormonism rejects the very core of the Christian faith in all its essentials. Joseph Smith knew this but nowadays they are playing mind games with their own people and with real Christians.

Either THEY are Christians or WE are. It’s one or the other. Not both.

When asked “Will all be damned but Mormons?” Smith replied, “Yes, and a great portion of them unless they repent and work righteousness” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pg. 119)

The Doctrine and Covenants (1:30) leaves no doubt to the Mormon teaching of exclusivity when it says the LDS Church is “the only true and living church upon the face of the whole earth, with which I, the Lord, am well pleased ….”

Brigham Young, second only to Joseph Smith in Mormonism said…

“Should you ask why we differ from other Christians, as they are called, it is simply because they are not Christians as the New Testament defines Christianity” (Journal of Discourses 10:230).

“The Christian world, so-called, are heathens as to the knowledge of the salvation of God” (Journal of Discourses 8:171).

I could easily give you pages of them saying they are the only true Christians and how we are all ignorant beasts and our doctrines are wrong. They knew at the time they had a different God, gospel, Scripture, and system of belief. But now it has become expedient to pretend otherwise while still preaching all those false and unchristian things.

Mormons, your leaders are gaslighting you and you are gaslighting us. You aren’t Christian but we want you to be. Flee from Mormonism. Flee from Joseph Smith.

[Scott @MissionaryProfB]

I want to improve this post slightly—I'm a member of the NEW Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.—I deny Joseph Smith as the prophet. The temple is nonsense & I don't wear the garments. I love coffee & tea. Oh. And the Book of Mormon is true but only as long as it's translated correctly (only my church decides if it’s correct it not). I only believe in one heaven & the Trinity is true.

But I'm still LDS. Why? Well, it’s literally in our name.

The point of this is merely to point out how LDS sound to us.

[Melissa Dougherty @Meldougherty77]

I'm a member of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. But I deny Joseph Smith as the prophet and actually think he's a false prophet. The temple is nonsense and I don't wear the garments. I love coffee and tea. Oh. And the Book of Mormon is true as long as it's translated correctly. I deny all your core doctrines.

But I'm still LDS.

[Melissa Dougherty @Meldougherty77]

I'm a member of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. But I deny Joseph Smith as the prophet and actually think he's a false prophet. The temple is nonsense and I don't wear the garments. I love coffee and tea. Oh. And the Book of Mormon is true as long as it's translated correctly. I deny all your core doctrines.

But I'm still LDS.

[Scott @MissionaryProfB]

@Meldougherty77 @LizzieMarbach @jakemmccleary I love the people that don’t get the sarcasm. Yes, you nailed the exact issue. You could have called it the New Church of… then said, “And I’m LDS too because it’s literally in our name.” That would have added another layer.

[Scott @MissionaryProfB]

@BasedMikeLee Do you think rebranding and insisting on the full, very, very, very long name created a space issue? Is it necessarily a conspiracy? Honest question.