Art Vanick on Glenn Beck and Mormonism

Art Vanick, co-author of The Spalding Enigma, Who Really Wrote The Book of Mormon, makes an appearance on Out of Mormonism to address the Glenn Beck Restoring Honor Rally.

Andy, Art, and Roger discuss the ramifications of the rally from a biblical Christian perspective.

Do Christians understand that Mormonism is different than biblical Christianity?

[ These are two separate "Out of Mormonism" radio podcasts from Mesa, Arizona. Very interesting.]

While Mormonism may not pose the violent / stealth and political threat that Islam does, from a spiritual standpoint, it is just as dangerous.

On the other hand, there are scriptures that point to us being Joint heirs with Jesus, Jesus telling people they will join him, join his father, and there is nothing that says we will not be deified.

DU, Revelation 21:7 says the heirs who get to live with Heavenly Father forever is open to ALL overcomers...not just married temple Mormons. And the context, reading both Revelation 21 and then 22:1-6, clearly shows that those who live in Heavenly Father's presence are:
* The bride of Christ (Rev. 21:2)--"coming down out of heaven from God" [the apostle Paul in 2 Cor. 11 and Eph. 5 references the entire true Church as Christ's bride...whereas Mormons are wrapped up in trying to find or be an eternal companion of a specific person other than Christ.]
* "The dwelling of God is with MEN" (Rev.21:3) ... not with small-g gods, DU!
* Rev. 21:24 and Rev. 22:2 and the context clearly says God's eternal presence is for "the nations" and for "the healing of nations"...whereas Mormons want to make Heavenly Father's access an exclusive Sam's Club membership privilege for Mormons only.
* And Rev. 22:2-5 clearly shows that God's servants from these nations will see His face and live with Him: And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. 3No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. 4They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light.

[I have quoted Revelation 21 and 22 with more verses below to see a fuller context]

Use your head, DU: How can you be both...
...a god of a new world...
...and live in the presence forever of a Mormon god who is not omnipresent? (Now multiply that by millions of new Mormon gods who are gods of their own worlds)

Ain't gonna happen.

ALL/Lurkers: DU's citation shows exactly why you can never take just one Mormon teaching in isolation from another.

Mormon Teaching A: "Joint heirs with Jesus" = becoming a god and inheriting God has and is, including ALL His attributes, and having your own world which you will populate with your "EC"--eternal companion.
Mormon Teaching B: The Celestial Kingdom is the "upper" level Kingdom of Heaven where the new gods reside and live forever with Heavenly Father. And ONLY married Mormon temple types qualify. Nobody else.

Note the rampant contradictions:
Place of residence: With the Father on Kolob; or with some of your family on your own planet?
Focus of worship: Heavenly Father or you or both or as many gods as exist? (Glory-stealing thieves)
Living with Heavenly Father: For married Mormons only? Or for the entire bride (church) of Christ? The nations? All the overcomers? And will His dwelling be with "men" (Rev. 21:3) -- not gods?

I encourage Mormons to read Revelation 21 and 22...at least the excerpts below...and ask yourself: Does the description of who is living with Heavenly Father forever sound like it's only temple Mormons who have become gods?

And if you concede the contradictions here. You know then that Mormon leaders have given out false monopoly information about who will be able to live with Heavenly Father forever. It's time to jettison Mormonism; and rescue the people while we can -- like the Chile miners.

Revelation 21:2-7, 22-24 : 2I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."
5He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" Then he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true."
6He said to me: "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. 7He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son...22I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 23The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. 24The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it.

Revelation 22:1-6: 1Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. 3No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. 4They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever. 6The angel said to me, "These words are trustworthy and true. The Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent his angel to show his servants the things that must soon take place."

Call your selves Christian, do it publicly, we won't come out and denounce you.

One more thing came to my rememberance that I'd like to point out. The recent edition (2009)of "Gospel Principles" chapter 16 states this;

"Soon pagan beliefs dominated the thinking of those called Christians. The Roman emperor adopted this false Christianity as the state religion. This church was very different from the church Jesus organized. "

The mormon church in this section is not only critizing doctrines, calling it false Christianity; it is also suggest its adherents are merely “called” Christians. Again, YOUR church has come out and stated in its doctrinal instructional manual that we are not Christians, but only "CALLED" Christians.

Nothing personal DU, but it is YOUR church making these statements as part of its core instructions and teachings. If you don't agree with them, then perhaps is it time for you to re-evaluate your membership and renounce them. Otherwise, they are stuck to you like white on rice.

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