18,000 Jesus vs. Joseph Smith DVDs Distributed Ahead of Mormon Conference

Christian Post ^ | Mar. 27 2007

[Between the Lines]

PHOENIX (AP) - A Christian group distributed in Arizona 18,000 copies of a film designed to sway members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to quit.

About 15,000 DVDs of the film "Jesus Christ/Joseph Smith" were dropped off at homes in Mesa, Gilbert and Tempe over the weekend, said Jim Robertson, executive director of Concerned Christians, an organization largely made up of former Mormons. Another 2,000 copies were handed out in Snowflake and Taylor and 1,000 in Tucson.

The film, which contrasts the teachings of Jesus Christ and LDS founder Joseph Smith, was given away as part of effort to persuade members to leave the ''church.''

"We've found this works very well. We need to step out in faith to do it," said Robertson, a former Mormon who founded the organization 35 years ago. "We're not against the Mormon people. If we hated the Mormons, we'd let them stew in their own juices."

Don Evans, an LDS spokesman in Arizona, said Robertson is on a lifetime crusade to attack the church.

"It won't faze members of our church one iota," Evans said. "They're strong enough in their own beliefs. It's water off their backs."

The DVD distribution was timed for the weekend before the LDS church holds its general conference in Salt Lake City.

[Between the Lines]

The entire video can be viewed online here: http://goodnewsforlds.org/ for those interested in seeing it.

Here are two critiques of the Jesus vs. Joseph Smith DVD.

This one by FAIR: http://en.fairmormon.org/index.php/Search_for_the_Truth_DVD

And this one by an Evangelical Christian: http://johnwmorehead.blogspot.com/2007/02/jesus-christjoseph-smith-video_10.html

[Macoraba]

I bear my testimony. The Catholic Church is the one true religion and the Pope is the Vicar of Christ!

[garylmoore]

The Catholic Church is the one true religion and the Pope is the Vicar of Christ!

Where in your Bible does it say that?

[Macoraba]

Matthew 16:18. And I say to thee: That thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

[aruanan]

"It won't faze members of our church one iota," Evans said. "They're strong enough in their own beliefs. It's water off their backs.

This is how folks believe an 19th century, pre-anthropology, British Israeloid version of American pre-history.

[Verax]

"Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth." 1 Timothy 4:1-3

[MarkBsnr]

Matthew 16:18. And I say to thee: That thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Hell is very active these days. We need to be just as active.

[narses]

+

Freep-mail me to get on or off my pro-life and Catholic Ping List:

Add me / Remove me

Please ping me to all note-worthy Pro-Life or Catholic threads, or other threads of interest.

[edcoil]

Notice who is attacking whom here. The bible also says to not forsake fellow worshipers. Both groups are praying to the same God.

[Mr. Jeeves]

The various Christian denominations and their conceptions of God have devolved into nothing but competing projections of the human mind and ego - new evidence arrives every time one of these cases of religious one-upmanship appears.

Spiritually awakened people have no use for any of this. That's why membership levels in all of these denominations have dropped so drastically in recent years - they have completely forgotten what they are doing in their frantic scramble for new adherents and cash contributions.

[Gamecock]

Clearly the Pope is all through that verse. < /sarcasm>

[Salvation]

Something for all to ponder from today's First Reading -- Do we all encounter false Gods in our present day culture? These three men were borne out of the furnace by the angel of the Lord because they refused to worship false gods.

Reading 1
Dn 3:14-20, 91-92, 95

King Nebuchadnezzar said:
“Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego,
that you will not serve my god,
or worship the golden statue that I set up?
Be ready now to fall down and worship the statue I had made,
whenever you hear the sound of the trumpet,
flute, lyre, harp, psaltery, bagpipe,
and all the other musical instruments;
otherwise, you shall be instantly cast into the white-hot furnace;
and who is the God who can deliver you out of my hands?”
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered King Nebuchadnezzar,
“There is no need for us to defend ourselves before you
in this matter.
If our God, whom we serve,
can save us from the white-hot furnace
and from your hands, O king, may he save us!
But even if he will not, know, O king,
that we will not serve your god
or worship the golden statue that you set up.”

King Nebuchadnezzar’s face became livid with utter rage
against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
He ordered the furnace to be heated seven times more than usual
and had some of the strongest men in his army
bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego
and cast them into the white-hot furnace.

Nebuchadnezzar rose in haste and asked his nobles,
“Did we not cast three men bound into the fire?”
“Assuredly, O king,” they answered.
“But,” he replied, “I see four men unfettered and unhurt,
walking in the fire, and the fourth looks like a son of God.”
Nebuchadnezzar exclaimed,
“Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego,
who sent his angel to deliver the servants who trusted in him;
they disobeyed the royal command and yielded their bodies
rather than serve or worship any god
except their own God.”

[Logophile]

The film, which contrasts the teachings of Jesus Christ and LDS founder Joseph Smith, was given away as part of effort to persuade members to leave the ''church.''

Why the scare quotes?

"It won't faze members of our church one iota," [LDS spokesman] Evans said. "They're strong enough in their own beliefs. It's water off their backs."

Brother Evans is undoubtedly right. It has been my experience that efforts to lure people away from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints tend to be ineffective. If anything, such campaigns often have the opposite effect of strengthening the faith of the members.

[Between the Lines]

Why the scare quotes?

My guess would be that they wanted to say cult but backed off and put church in quotation marks to imply that it is not a church.

[Spiff]

These people sound like the very same drooling morons who stand out in front of the LDS Easter Pageant in Mesa every year ( which depicts the life, death, and resurrection of the Savior Jesus Christ), with signs saying that Mormons don't believe in Christ and are not Christian. I've seen this with my own eyes as I drove past the LDS Temple where the pageant was taking place. There, on the sidewalk, was a loud group of so-called "evangelicals" with signs saying that Mormons do not believe in Jesus Christ. Directly behind them was the stage where the standing room only Easter Pageant was being presented. At the very moment I drove past, there was an actor portraying Jesus Christ ascending into heaven under some of the brightest, most dazzling light I'd ever seen.

The anti-Mormons wouldn't know the truth even if it weighed 10 tons and fell on top of them. I'm not saying that these people should say that the LDS Church is true, but that they could at least tell the truth about even the most obvious things about the LDS Church. But if it wasn't for the lies they spread, an entire cottage industry of anti-Mormon tracts, books, videos, etc. would go under and anti-Mormon pastors and preachers would actually have to come up with something meaningful to speak about on the Sundays that they use to spread their hate of Mormons.

[Titus Quinctius Cincinnatus]

Matthew 16:18. And I say to thee: That thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Er, actually, no. Christ said "thou are Peter (petros), and upon this rock (petra), I will build my church. A petros is a small pebble, while a petra is a huge slab of rock, like a mountainous ledge. Petra is the same word used by Jesus in Matthew 7:24-25 for the "rock" which the wise man builds his house upon and which withstands the wind and floods. In 7:24, Jesus specifically says that the "rock" was "His words" which His disciples were to hear and believe. This all strongly suggests that the petra which He was to build His church upon was not Peter himself, but rather the confession of faith ABOUT Christ which Peter had just made, and which contained the truth about Christ, and pointed people TO Christ for to put their trust in Him.

[1000 silverlings]

I agree with all that you said. In addition, a little history:

"Petra" was also a fortified city in those times. It was literally carved out of the rocks and one of the great wonders of the ancient world. It's likely Jesus was making a pun or a comparison to it when talking about the beauty and strength of the church that he would establish.

http://nabataea.net/petra.html

[Larry Lucido]

Jesus vs. Joseph Smith DVDs

I wonder if the original was on Pay-Per-View.

[Macoraba]

Muslims, Baha'is believe in Jesus too but that doesn't make them Christian.

In the local Hindu temple in my community they have a picture of Jesus hanging on the wall. They aren't Christians either!


There are different Jesuses. For Muslims he's only a prophet. For the Hindus some might consider him to be divine, an avatar of some kind.

Mary Baker Eddy called her religion Christian Science but that doesn't make it Christian.

So Mormons can put Jesus in their church's name too but that doesn't mean they are Christian either! But that doesn't mean Mormons are bad people either.

[Logophile]

Muslims, Baha'is believe in Jesus too but that doesn't make them Christian.

Do Muslims and Baha'is believe that Jesus Christ is the Only Begotten Son of God? Do they believe in his Virgin Birth, his Atonement, or his Resurrection? Do they even claim to be Christians?