Posted on 12/17/2014 6:04:21 AM PST by Gamecock
You’ve got to be careful what you share online. Over the weekend Facebook and Twitter were suddenly inundated with links to a new recording of the Christmas hymn “Angels From the Realms of Glory” mashed up with “Angels We Have Heard on High.” It was recorded by The Piano Guys and features David Archuleta, a one-time runner up on American Idol. It is a creative recording that intersperses shots of the musicians with video taken to record the world’s largest nativity scene. The song is beautifully sung and the music is rich; it is no surprise that it quickly gained over one million views. Well and good, right? Well, except for one thing: Its purpose is to separate you from Jesus Christ.
This video was produced as a key part of a huge social media campaign called #ShareTheGift—a Mormon evangelistic social media campaign. This campaign is meant to reclaim Christmas as a religious holiday but also to serve as a gateway into Mormonism. At the end of the video is a brief testimony by Steven Sharp Nelson of The Piano Guys who shares what Christmas means to him and who points to a second video titled “He Is the Gift.” This video, in turn, leads to a page at Mormon.org that shares why you, too, ought to become Mormon.
As I said, you’ve got to be careful what you share online. What looks good at a glance may harbor some deep concerns.
I thought a lot about this video over the weekend and want to offer a few reflections on its significance.
This video reminds us that Christians—true Christians who hold to the true gospel of the Bible—are not the only ones who use biblical language and who sing the great hymns of the Christian faith. Mormons sing many of the same hymns as we do, though they often change the lyrics to remove any references to the Trinity or to otherwise make them palatable with Mormon theology. (e.g. Where in “Holy, Holy, Holy” we sing “God in three persons blessed Trinity” they sing “God in his glory, blessed Deity.”) Mormons claim to be Christians and to honor the Bible; they speak of Jesus as their Savior and Redeemer and claim that he is the only begotten son of the Father; they proclaim a gospel of faith in Jesus Christ, repentance, baptism, receiving the Holy Spirit, and persevering to the end. But they also deny the doctrine of the Trinity, they deny the divinity of Jesus Christ, and they deny justification by grace alone through faith alone. Though they proclaim that they are Christians, in reality they are Christ-deniers. We do not need to apologize for this and cannot over-emphasize it: Mormons are not Christians. Yet they share just enough of our beliefs that they can masquerade as Christians if we do not look deeper than the surface.
This video also reminds us why Mormonism is a quickly-growing religion. Mormons rarely win and woo converts through their theology. It has been my experience that most Mormons do not know a lot of theology and that most of them do not much care for theology. Mormons win followers through their promise of a better life and through their example of happy, clean-cut individuals and families. And sure enough, this video is full of beautiful people behaving beautifully. There is not a tattoo or body-piercing to be seen, not a hair out of place, not a frown in the crowd. Mormonism does not have to offer theology because it speaks to the realm of felt needs. The great promise of Mormonism is “you can be like us” or, even better, “your family can be like ours.” For many people that is very nearly irresistible.
This video serves as a helpful reminder that Mormons and many others use new media very well. These Mormon evangelistic efforts are always very clever and very compelling. They always give away enough information to make it seem like Mormons are just another friendly group of Christians, and they withhold the information that distinguishes them from true Christians. They speak gladly of the affirmations but tend to hide the denials. This video is powerfully effective at accomplishing its purpose—to serve as an advertisement for Mormonism and to function as a gateway into Mormonism.
Finally, this video reminds us that even good songs can be dangerous. Most years I enjoy watching a performance of Handel’s “Messiah,” and it does not much bother me that few of the musicians involved are Christians. They sing the most God-glorifying words set to sublime music, and do it without a shred of faith in Christ. But there is a substantial difference between God-glorifying music sung by unbelievers and God-glorifying music sung by false teachers who intend to use that music to lead you away from Christ. This performance of “Angels From the Realms of Glory” is meant to turn you away from justification by grace through faith alone and meant to turn you toward the false gospel of Mormonism. The song was not intended to glorify Jesus, but to draw attention to a false representation of him. The song itself is not the problem, of course; the problem is the purpose behind the song and the campaign that generated it.
This video reminds us once again: Not all that glitters is gold.
LDS HYMN #27 "PRAISE TO THE MAN"
1) Praise to the man who communed with Jehovah! Jesus annointed that Prophet and Seer.
Blessed to open the last dispensation, Kings shall extol him, and nations revere.
chorus: Hail to the Prophet, ascended to heaven! Traitors and tyrants now fight him in vain.
Mingling with Gods, he can plan for his brethren; Death cannot conquer the hero again.
2) Praise to his memory, he died as a martyr; Honored and blest be his ever great name!
Long shall his blood, which was shed by assassins, Plead unto heaven while the earth lauds his fame.
3) Great is his glory and endless his priesthood: Ever and ever the keys he will hold.
Faithful and true, he will enter his kingdom, Crowned in the midst of the prophets of old.
4) Sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven; Earth must atone for the blood of that man.
Wake up the world for the conflict of justice. Millions shall know "brother Joseph" again.
Ping
WOW
This video was produced as a key part of a huge social media campaign called #ShareTheGift—a Mormon evangelistic social media campaign. This campaign is meant to reclaim Christmas as a religious holiday but also to serve as a gateway into Mormonism. At the end of the video is a brief testimony by Steven Sharp Nelson of The Piano Guys who shares what Christmas means to him and who points to a second video titled “He Is the Gift.” This video, in turn, leads to a page at Mormon.org that shares why you, too, ought to become Mormon.
Merry Smithmas!
Maybe I'm just odd, but I don't understand why this is appealing.
Where does Our Blessed Lord give us a model for "clean-cut beautiful people"? The Divine Nature condescended to be born into a dank smelly stable and to stumble through blood and dust to Calvary. The martyrs' chief adornment was shining faces, not immaculate clothes.
“Angels We Have Heard on High” is a beautiful ancient Anglican hymn.
There is NO theological way the verses could be “changed” without the meaning of the song being changed.
More happy horse hockey from the made up mormon religion. People who believe in a planet Kolob because they read about it in a “Book Of Abraham” which does not exist anywhere in Christianity, and which was composed out of the fertile creative con-artist mind of Joseph Smith.
What an embarrassment. When mormons speak or “worship” about Jesus or Christ, it is NOT the Jesus Christ of the Christian religion.
To think that Howard Hughes trusted these people with his billions. And remember this same religion has Harry Reid AND Mitt Romney under the same instructions from the Elders.
And Glen Beck as well.
I don’t know. My next door neighbors are Mormon and they divorced.
They make really good neighbors once they determine you aren’t joining their team. They turn off that smile, back-pat, elbow-milk stuff that you get at seeker-sensitive churches now.
But they celebrate Christmas like infidels. :)
Correction: The Mormon Church is not Christian.
I know several Mormons who are Trinitarian because they grew up that way. As the post says, they don’t get mired in Theology.
I remember my dad had an LP of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. He had it specifically for the Hallelujah Chorus.
And I remember, that even in my 60’s hippy, self-righteous, heathen state, I recognized that they had changed the words of the hymns to accommodate their anti-Trinitarian doctrine.
At the time, I didn’t care about the false doctrine so much, as I was not a believer.
But, being a stickler for ‘truth in advertising”, I was OFFENDED that they had changed the words of famous, traditional, and Classical Hymns.
To this day, I will not listen to their renditions of Handel, or anyone else for that matter.
Run, hide your children the Mormons are coming!!
If the Baker & Fancher parties had taken this sarcastic comment seriously on the day of THE very first 9/11 domestic terrorist attack (1857), 120 of them -- including many children -- may have survived the Mormons' execution-style onslaught.
Oh, and 17 of those children kidnapped by the Mormons for over a year DID survive...the Army had to come rescue them to return them to extended family members in Arkansas.
For those wanting to research it, search "Mountain Meadows Massacre" in Southwest Utah. "Governor-'Prophet'" Brigham Young covered it all up so that only one Mormon was ever brought to accountability for the wholesale slaughter.
Ping
Claud, meet Joel Osteen.
(Same thing really)
It is a works based religion and all they have to do is lead a good life and they are in!
Bu I suggest deep down they know they can't be good enough, which related to this 2008 piece: Religion: Depression and the (Mormon) church
“Run, hide your children the Mormons are coming!!”
I take it as a teaching opportunity to explain what a cult is and why people are drawn into one.
When my kids were very young, the nicest kids in the neighborhood were Hare Krishna kids. I let them play together, but explained what they believed and why.
Mormons are only different in that they wear magic underwear instead of saffron robes.
The article explains pretty clearly why the doctrine of mormonism and the methods used to promote it are spiritually dangerous.
Your snark notwithstanding, yes, mormons are generally good folks...but the doctrine deserves the scrutiny it gets.
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