MORMON “ELDERS”
The churches of Christ
Greet You (Romans
What should you EXPECT when the Mormon "elders" come to your
house? How should you ANSWER them? Some answers to these
two questions will be given in this article.
When the two young men (usually in their late teens or early twenties)
come by, they will introduce themselves as being "elders." While being
courteous, inquire of them if they brought their wives and children
with them. They will
tell you that they are NOT MARRIED. Then ask them, "Don't you believe
the
Bible?" They will answer, "yes." Then
ask
how they could be "elders" when the Bible teaches that elders are to be
married,
"having faithful children" (Titus 1:5-6)?
The twentieth chapter of Acts, verses 17 & 24 show that ELDERS and
BISHOPS are one and the same office of responsibility, so if you deem
it
wise, read to them First Timothy 3:1-2 & 4. Believe me, they will want to "get away" from this point
as
quickly as possible. If you want to end the discussion without
going
further, "hold their feet to the fire" on this matter and make the
point,
"if you believe the Bible, then you cannot be elders; if you don't
believe
the Bible, then WE don't have anything further to discuss."
The above is important because the Mormon missionaries want to start
out by ASSURING you that they believe the Bible and that their appeal
is to the Bible. But that is subterfuge. They only leave that
impression as a "springboard" to introduce the Book Of
Mormon into the discussion. The missionaries’ real purpose is to
try to convince you that God has given TWO books to mankind, the Bible
AND the Book Of Mormon, and they try to use
the Bible to persuade you of this, so as to validate the Book Of Mormon
in your mind.
They wrest and pervert Old Testament Scriptures such as Ezekiel
37:15-17 in their effort to do this. The Mormons PRESUME to teach that
the "two sticks" mentioned in Ezekiel 37 are representative of TWO
revelations (Books) from God; the stick of
The TWO sticks being brought together as ONE is spiritually symbolic
that God's "true
Remember, the whole Mormon doctrine hinges on "Mormon books," and NOT
on the Bible. Mormons go by the Book of Mormon, the Pearl of Great
Price, Doctrines and Covenants, etc. Therefore, in discussions with
their missionaries, show that the Bible is ALL-SUFFICIENT and that we
are to hear Christ (Heb. 1:1-2), NOT Joseph Smith. Insist they listen
while you "put together" such Scriptures as Matthew 7:21-27; 17:5; John
12:48-50; 20:30-31; Acts 1:1-2; II Timothy 3:15-17; II Peter 1:3; Jude
3; Revelation 22:18-19.
Christ and His word are sufficient. Christians DON'T NEED Joseph
Smith and the Book of Mormon! (nor do we
need the catechism, various articles of faith, or any other man-made
book or doctrine).
When the young Mormon teen-ager comes to your door, ask if one can be
saved WITHOUT the Book of Mormon. If he says YES, then the BOTH of you
can easily see that the Book of Mormon is NOT necessary. If he
says NO, then you should take the time to teach him the TRUTH (John
Certainly, the Bible is all one needs TO OBEY TO BE SAVED (Rom.
Help the YOUNG MISSIONARY to understand that there are MANY CONFLICTS
between the Bible and the Book of Mormon (far to
many for us to enumerate here). However, we will cite a few such
variances as examples:
(1) The Bible says that Jesus was born in
(2) The Bible tells us that during the last THREE
HOURS Jesus was on the cross there was "darkness over all the land"
(Matt. 27:45; Mark
(3) The Bible teaches "God is a spirit" (John
(4) The
Book of Mormon has the church of Christ being in existence by 147 B.C.
and
people being baptized back then (Mosiah
18:17). It teaches that those belonging to the church were being
called Christians by 73 B.C. (
Jesus said, "I will build my church..." (Matt. 16:18).
Obviously, it HAD NOT been established when Christ said that (see
Acts chapter 2 for date and place of establishment). And it was not
until shortly before His ascension that He gave instruction concerning
the baptism of
the great commission (Matt. 28:18-19). Additionally, the Bible teaches
that
the disciples were "first called Christians in
Concluding thoughts: the Mormon missionaries will try to
monopolize the conversation. They have their "spiel" down pat. They
want you to sit
there and listen to them "reel it off." Don't let that happen. While
being
courteous and kind, at the same time be firm. Remember, they want "to
get
away from the Bible" as quickly as possible because it is THEIR BOOKS
they
want to teach, NOT THE BIBLE. Tell them you're not interested in their
books,
but just the Bible! They won't stay around long under those conditions!
Please SEARCH THE ABOVE SCRIPTURES
and see whether these things are so (Acts