> Twilight?

No.  Try again.

> The Book of Mormon?

Yes, that’s the one.  How much do you know about it?

> It’s the Mormon version of the Bible.

Um, okay.  We need to talk.  This article is for you.

First, it’d be good to understand what the Bible is.  The Bible comes in two sections: the Old Testament and the New Testament.  I’ll use bullets to summarize as quickly as I can:

Old Testament

• Begin date: “In the beginning…”
• Moses writes about creation, Eden, the flood, the tower of Babel, Abraham, the establishment and exodus of Israel.
• Law of Moses instituted for Israel.
• Other prophets and historians write about Israelite conquests and generally the lineage history of the  house of Israel.
• Stories of the Lord’s intervention, prophets foretell Israel’s captivity in Babylon.
• Israel is taken captive by Babylon (around 600 BC), then eventually set free to rebuild; prophets foretell the coming of the Messiah.
• End date: About 400 BC.

New Testament

• Begin date: About 1 BC.
• Jesus is born and hailed as the Messiah, he grows up and starts teaching and performing miracles.
• Jesus is crucified for the world’s sins and is resurrected (33 AD); he establishes a Church on the shoulders of his Apostles.
• An important Jew (Saul) hates this upstart Church and tries to destroy it; he is later visited by Jesus and becomes Paul, an important missionary.
• Paul travels all over Mesopotamia, Greece, and Rome teaching about Jesus; many NT books are letters to his followers.
• Some writings from other Apostles (Peter, James, John, etc.).
• Prophesies of the eventual return of the Messiah, Jesus.
• End date: About 70 AD.

Mormons believe the teachings, visions, and prophecies in the Bible (both testaments) to be the word of God breathed to the prophets who served as scribes and mouthpieces for the Almighty.

> You’re kidding me.  Mormons read the Bible?  The same one I read?

Yup.  We English-speaking Mormons prefer the King James Version.

> So, how is the Book of Mormon any different?

Well, let’s examine the Book of Mormon.  It actually has two major sections, too.  The first one is the main story:

Lehites

• Begin date: About 600 BC.
• Israel is about to be taken captive by the Babylonians (see Old Testament, above); the Lord tells a prophet named Lehi to get his family out before it happens.
• They travel away from Jerusalem, through the desert, to the sea and build a ship.
• The Lord brings them across oceans to the American continent (they probably land in Mexico or Guatemala).
• Lehi’s family breaks apart into Nephites and Lamanites.
• A lineage history of the Nephites, their kings and the wars with the Lamanites.
• Prophesies of their future and of the coming Messiah.
• Signs testify when the Messiah is born (a new star, 1 BC), and when he dies (earthquakes, tempests, volcanoes, 33 AD).
• The resurrected Jesus arrives and shows crucifixion nail prints in his hands and feet, teaches the gospel, performs miracles, and sets up a Church.
• Peace reigns for centuries.
• Wickedness returns.  The Nephite dynasty is destroyed.
• Mormon summarizes everything by inscribing this whole story on thin sheets of gold, bound in book form (about 400 AD).
• Mormon gives the gold plates to his son, Moroni, who adds the Jaredite history, journeys to a hill in New York, and buries them in a stone box.
• End date: About AD 421.

Jaredites

• Begin date: about 3,000 BC
• Jared and family are led by the Lord to leave the tower of Babel; they move out and build barges to float to the American continent (probably Mexico).
• Jared’s brother sees visions of the future and foretells the coming of a Messiah.
• Lineage history of Jared’s descendants; wars, kings, important events.
• Jaredites turn wicked and destroy themselves.
• Ether summarizes the account on metal plates, they are recovered by the Nephites, and added to the gold plates by Moroni.
• End date: about 600 BC.

> So, wait.  That’s not even the Bible stories or anything.  Instead of Moses and Paul you’ve got Nephi and Jared and Moroni.

Yes.  It’s vital to see the distinction between the Bible and the Book of Mormon.  They are about two completely separate groups of peoples on opposite sides of the globe.  That’s the main difference.  To put it simply:

Bible = Middle East

Book of Mormon = America

> But you mentioned Jesus.  Is that the same Jesus as in the Bible?  How does he show up in America?

Same Jesus, born in Bethlehem, raised in Nazareth: the Son of God.  After he died and was resurrected, he appeared to the peoples of the Book of Mormon.

> I heard that the Book of Mormon replaces the Bible, and I’m not comfortable with that idea.

They are two very different accounts of separate peoples.  They’re like cake and ice cream.  Neither one is meant to replace the other.  In fact, they are enhanced when used together.  Give me both!

> Okay, but wouldn’t the Bible have mentioned something about the Book of Mormon?

It does!  The Lord told the Bible prophet Ezekiel that the stick of Judah (the Bible) and the stick of Joseph (the Book of Mormon) will be joined together “and they shall become one in thine hand” (Ezekiel 37:16-17).  Also, Jesus Christ taught the disciples that he had other sheep, “which are not of this fold” whom he intended to visit (John 10:16).

In the Book of Mormon, an angel explained to Nephi that “These last records [the Book of Mormon] . . . shall establish the truth of the first [the Bible] . . . and shall make known to all kindreds, tongues, and people that the Lamb of God is the Son of the Eternal Father, and the Savior of the world; and that all men must come unto him, or they cannot be saved” (1 Nephi 13:40).

What they have in common is their devotion to the Savior of all men.  Jesus is the long-foretold Messiah.  We may be saved from our sins and crimes and from death itself through His holy name.  These books of scripture tell us how we can receive this precious gift.  I recommend you read both.  You may order a free copy of each from mormon.org (the official Church website).

> Alright.  I’m clicking on that link right now!

Swimming is something we do mainly for recreation, like sailing, golfing, four-wheeling, and going to the movies.  The Lord has asked us to spend one day of our week in worship.  Recreation often distracts from this goal.  We prefer to find activities that focus our thoughts on the Savior and bring us together as families.

Is there something inherently evil about swimming?  No, but we can lose our spiritual balance when we overfill our time with fun-seeking.

The Lord instructed Joseph Smith, “That thou mayest more fully keep thyself unspotted from the world, thou shalt go to the house of prayer and offer up thy sacraments upon my holy day; for verily this is a day appointed unto you to rest from your labors, and to pay thy devotions unto the Most High” (D&C 59:9–10). Notice that there is a blessing associated with Sabbath observance, and you can choose to claim it or not.  Freedom from the ‘spots’ or moral pollutions of the world is more important to me than swimming.

The blessings of closer communion with God easily outweigh the pleasure I might get playing Marco! Polo! in the community swimming pool (called the ‘Municipool’ where I live), especially when I can enjoy a swim on six other days of the week.

The blessings are not reserved only for Mormons, either.  Give it a try and see how you feel.  See David’s excellent article on Sabbath Day worship to learn how.

You’ll often hear phrases like, “I know that God lives,” and “I know Jesus died for my sins,” and “I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God.”  Sometimes visitors come away from these meetings non-plussed by our uber-confident ‘knowledge’ of things.  It got me thinking.

Whenever someone says they know something, they are saying they have high confidence that their belief coincides with objective truth.  We do this all the time.  You say, “I just know the dentist is going to lecture me on flossing” because 1) he’s done it before and 2) you still haven’t been flossing.  Your previous experience and the evidence of your behavior lead you to this prediction.  There are many ways we gather knowledge; I’ll list a few here for illustration:

• Personal experience (five physical senses,  sense of balance, pain, hunger, etc.)
• Emotion and intuition (love, fear, instinct, etc.)
• Experiences of others (advice, anecdotes, biographies, etc.)
• Logical and mathematical proofs (a priori)
• Found evidence (archeology, historical documents, paleontology, forensics, etc.)
• Robust scientific experimentation that controls for all variables (physics, chemistry, etc.)
• Scientific experimentation/observation that controls for variables where possible (sociology, political science, economics, etc.)

We all tend to have some level of confidence in these methods, some more than others, depending on many factors, but each of these can lead a person to say “I know…” if the learning method is compelling enough.  Even so, many would argue that none of the methods I listed above are capable of producing reliable knowledge of things as transcendent as God.  Archeological digs might lend credence to a religious belief, but surely not firm knowledge.  These critics have a point, so I would add one more item to the list:

• Revelation from God

God speaks to His children in various ways.  He gave Joseph prophetic dreams that came true; He spoke to Moses from a burning bush (and also face-to-face).  He sent an angel to Mary to announce the birth of Jesus.  Joseph Smith saw and listened to the Father and the Son in a grove of trees.

To Joseph of Egypt, Moses, Mary, Smith and many others, those experiences were indisputable.  They had every right to declare, “I know” instead of “I believe,” and they did.

For most of us, though, the glorious visions and visitations of heavenly beings haven’t yet happened.  For us, God has promised another form of revelation: a personal witness of spiritual truths through the power of the Holy Spirit.  He is available to bear witness of the Father and the Son.  ”By the power of the Holy Ghost, ye may know the truth of all things” (Moroni 10:5).  This witness may be less dramatic or conspicuous than an angelic visitor, but its convincing power may be even more sure than a vision (see Joseph Fielding Smith, Answers to Gospel Questions, 2:151; 1 Nephi 17:45-46).  Because of His subtlety, it may take many prompts for you to hear the Holy Ghost and again many more before you trust them enough to say “I know.”  But it can happen.  This is how I know God lives and that Jesus is the Christ.

You can know, too.  Like other modes of learning, it won’t necessarily come in an afternoon of mild curiosity, but it will with dedicated seeking, knocking, and asking over the course of weeks and months and years.  Begin now and you will taste the deliciousness that is the knowledge of God.

Odds are, you didn’t hear their message.  Maybe you were in the middle of repairing your truck, or you were in a bad mood from a long day at the office, or you thought they were Jehovah’s Witnesses.  Could be you were curious of what they had to say, but didn’t want to let on.  Mostly, you didn’t know what to expect.

It’s understandable.  I hate being blindsided by unexpected surprises; not knowing what’s coming or how to control it.  Missionaries approaching you out of the blue is the epitome of being caught unaware.  My hope with this article is 1) to teach you what you can reasonably expect from these young men and women and 2) to give you some ideas of how to act the next time they arrive.

The Greeting

A missionary’s purpose is to share a vital message with you; it’s so important that they dedicate two years of their lives on their own dimes to come present it to you and your neighbors.  When they are new to being a missionary, they learn quickly how important trust is.  In order for their message to change lives, it must first be heard; for the message to be heard requires a person’s trust.  Establishing trust within 15 seconds at a complete stranger’s doorstep is a truly daunting feat!

From my own experience, I can testify that most missionaries are trustworthy.  They are typically honest, clean, kind, and very respectful of other’s beliefs.  It’s difficult to establish all of this in the first few moments of introduction, but they will try.  They will shake your hand,  introduce themselves as representatives of the LDS Church, give their names with a smile, and ask to be invited inside for a discussion.  The hope is that you will see or feel in them some spark of goodness that will persuade you to give them just one fair hearing.  Sometimes it happens, often it doesn’t.

Imagine that you are at this moment of decision: consider your options.  If you are like me, your gut will tell you to avoid the hassle, avoid the awkwardness of meeting new people and turn them away.  But, if you had a few minutes to weigh the consequences, your sense of adventure might say, “What the heck!  They’re no threat; I’ll listen to ‘em.  I can TiVo American Gladiators tonight.”

I hope that wherever you are, you will decide right now to invite them in next time.  Give them a chance.  If not, at least be civil.  A polite “No, thank you” is exactly as effective as a tirade of verbal abuse at keeping them from returning, so save your energy.

Let’s assume you invite them in.  Once inside, they won’t usually dive right into a religious discussion.  They will chat politely about your family, your job, hobbies, etc.  They will also be glad to answer questions you have about their backgrounds.  Ask them where they are from, what they plan to study in college, how long they have been missionaries, etc.  Again, they hope to establish a good relationship of trust with you.  This isn’t merely a gimmick; they really are interested in you because they hope eventually to become your friends.  If there’s one thing Mormon missionaries believe in (besides their message), it’s that everyone is a potential friend.  There are people I met on doorsteps as a missionary that I grew to love and I still keep in contact with.

Their Presentation

At some point, the missionaries will change the topic to religion and begin the presentation they arrived on their missions to give.  They may request to begin with a prayer in order to invite the Holy Spirit.  Because they are guests in your house, they will allow you to decide who should say the prayer and it’s just fine to pick one of them or to say it yourself.  Do whatever you feel most comfortable with.

Many people assume that the message they have to share will basically mirror a typical sermon from their local pastor, about Jesus suffering on the cross and how we can be saved if we believe in Him.  This is central to our beliefs and essential to understand; it will take a prominent role in the lesson, but the missionaries will go deeper into what makes the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints unique.  The message is not only that Jesus saves, but that Jesus speaks.

The lesson is known as the Restoration of the Gospel.  Just as this is the first thing the missionaries teach, it was the first thing we published on this website two years ago.  Go read it! With more familiarity on the topic beforehand, you will have better comments and questions.  You’ll also be better able to listen to the whispering from the Holy Spirit during the meeting.

During the presentation, the missionaries will take turns discussing each topic.  It may sound somewhat rehearsed (because they do rehearse it; the rehearsals help them cover the essential points within a reasonable time-frame; their visit will probably last no longer than 20 minutes unless you invite them to stay longer), but I hope you will recognize that the missionaries really believe it.  They are committed to it.  You can also help them out of rehearsal mode by showing interest and asking them questions along the way.

Future Visits

The missionaries will end their talk by asking you to read from the Book of Mormon, ponder over the message, and pray to God about it.  They really don’t expect you to believe them at their word (you are still essentially strangers after all), but they have full confidence that Heavenly Father will confirm the truth through the Holy Ghost.  They will want to follow-up and see how He answers you, so they will request a return appointment, usually within a week.

My advice is to take their commitments seriously: read, ponder and pray all week.  Asking God if their message is true can do no harm, and it will do plenty of good.  Also, get their phone number so you can contact them if you need to reschedule or if you have questions or concerns that just can’t wait.

They have several more lessons, so they hope you will keep inviting them back after each visit.  Each subsequent lesson will resemble this first one except a bit longer (maybe up to an hour), they might bring along someone from the local congregation, and every visit you’ll move steadily from complete strangers to solid friends.  In fact, I’d wager it won’t be long before you’re asking them to come for dinner.

I’d like to open the comment section to stories of when the Elders or Sisters came to your house for the first time.  What was the experience like?  What did you learn from it?  Have they been back since?  If you don’t have a story to share, invite the missionaries over by clicking here!

President Thomas S. Monson and his counselors have sent a message to all Mormons to contribute to Church Humanitarian Services, even despite current economic hardships:

Our hearts are filled with sadness as we have watched the suffering in Haiti in the wake of the devastating earthquake. We turn to the example of Jesus Christ who reached out to “lift up the hands which hang down” and “strengthen the feeble knees.”  We are keenly aware that many in America are dealing with economic challenges caused by the recession. However, we are appealing to members to donate to Church Humanitarian Services as their means allow in order to help our Haitian brothers and sisters.  Many have already contributed and others are anxious to do so.

Money is not the only need in Haiti. People are frightened, bewildered, and wholly uncertain about their future. In addition to what people can do in helping with food, water and shelter, there needs to be a calming influence over that troubled nation. We invite our people everywhere to supplicate God for a spirit of calm and peace among the people as urgent aid and reconstruction efforts continue.

I would like to extend this appeal to all those who read this blog.

There are many noble charities you may give to.  If you donate to Church Humanitarian Services, one hundred percent of your money will go towards helping those in need.  None of it goes to administrative overhead expenses.  None. That is where I’ve sent my donation, and I intend to send more as I continue to reevaluate my wants and needs.

Please also pray for the survivors.  Distress, panic, and fear are their worst enemies right now.  Pray for angels to attend to them.  Pray that they will feel Heavenly Father’s love.  Pray that they will be given assurance of their future, and ask Him what more you can do.

This was a question from a reader named Jim:

I have a general question…
I currently find myself in a rather difficult situation where I (a non member) of the Church of LDS have fallen for a devout believer. This is not a whimsical interest, we have known each other for nearly a year now, it is also a mutual interest, we have discussed our feelings for each and agree that there is a real potential for a relationship.

Now as I explained before she is a devout believer. This immediately creates some obvious obstacles given the fact that I am not a member, the main ones being:
No sex before marriage
No alcohol
No tea/coffee
Restricted activities on Sundays

Now I appreciate that these are only a few of the more general restrictions/guidelines that are in place. But we talked about them. Regarding the no sex before marriage I said why not give the relationship a go, then if in six months or so time we find out we are not that compatible, we could part, but if it is going very well we can continue. I have had sex before but have also been for long periods without it, and explained to her that if we were in a serious relationship that we both thought was heading somewhere I could handle holding off having sex until we were married.  As for the other things, I feel confident that we could work around them.

Anyway, just as it looked like we were reaching a situation where we might be about to give things a go, she told me about the temple, and how in order to be sealed/united together in this life and the next you need attend a ceremony there after your civil marriage ceremony in order for this to happen.  The catch…only LDS members can enter the temple.  Now this seems to have put the brakes on anything potentially happening between us. She’s of the view (as am I) that if we start dating it would become fairly serious and could well lead to marriage, but that as I am not a member we would not be able to be sealed united at her temple.  This idea crushes her I think.  She is also concerned about the difficulties of raising a family (she wants four children) that has a parent who is not a member of LDS.  She obviously wants to give her children the opportunity to join and is worried a non-member partner would make this difficult.  I have tried saying that I don’t think this would be such an issue, although not a member of LDS I do believe in god and live a clean lifestyle that would fit in with hers.

I think she is also worried that if she did have a crisis of faith, having a husband who was not a member would be difficult as he would not understand what she was going through and offer support/advice etc. on the subject.

So anyway, I have rambled on long enough, but I do have a couple of questions for you…
1) Is there any way of being sealed/united together in life without going through a temple
2) Are there strictly no exceptions whereby a non member could enter a temple?
3) And thirdly what sort of general advice could you give us concerning the situation we find ourselves in?

Thanks for your help

-Jim

Here is my response:

Jim, thank you for your question. You seem to be very understanding and willing to be patient. I can’t say there are any easy answers, though.

1) Is there any way of being sealed/united together in life without going through a temple?

You can be united together in life without going through the temple, because the church recognizes all legal civil marriages as binding for the duration of life, “as long as you both shall live.” And such a relationship can be very rewarding, but the problem (as you already know) is that it falls short of the goal your paramour has dreamed of since she was young: “For time and for all eternity.”

It’s a powerful motivating force in my life.  My family plans on being together forever, and because of that we are interested in creating worthwhile bonds now.  It also helps us make good decisions in other areas of life, since we don’t want to diminish the family by letting our standards slip and losing our promise.  The promise is obtained through covenant with God and is known as “sealing.”

The ordinance of sealing is only performed in holy temples by men who have been authorized by God. It isn’t available anywhere else.

2) Are there strictly no exceptions whereby a non-member could enter a temple?

It’s a lovely thought to want to have this ceremony for the sake of your girlfriend, but even if you had the sealing, without you believing in it and devoting yourself to it, there is no more promise in it than a civil marriage.

Only those who have prepared themselves in every way may enter the temple, and this includes baptism for remission of sins by an authorized priest, and reception of the Holy Ghost. It also includes an interview with a Mormon bishop to ascertain faithfulness (do you hold to chastity, honesty, temperance, etc?). You must also be willing to enter into certain covenants with the Lord.

In short, even just being a member is not enough to enter the temple. I’m sorry. There are no exceptions allowing anyone unprepared (including non-members) into a temple.

3) And thirdly what sort of general advice could you give us concerning the situation we find ourselves in?

There are three distinct scenarios I can see. It depends on how strongly you and she are willing to pull.

1. You marry civilly “until death do you part”
2. You receive baptism and prepare yourself for eternal marriage.
3. You split up.

#3 (split up) will happen if you decide against converting and she doesn’t give up her desire for eternal family. You might each still find a mate compatible with your ideals, so it’s not all bad, but obviously not what you want to hear.

#1 (civil marriage) is a possibility.  A quick visit to the local Justice of the Peace will have you married in the eyes of the law.  Plenty of latter-day saints belong to part-member families and many have found a way to “make it work,” but the heart of the issue isn’t the same as any other interfaith marriage.  It goes beyond being able to understand your spouse’s religion and deciding on where to take the kids on Sunday.  To a Mormon, marriage itself is a fundamental part of the gospel and the crowning glory associated with salvation.

She would see a civil marriage as compromising her long-standing commitment to herself and to God to be sealed for all eternity.  It would certainly be difficult for her, as you pointed out, Jim.  She may harbor secret hopes that you will eventually come around and join the Church after perhaps years of marriage; also, after your death she may wish to have you sealed to her by proxy — after a baptism for the dead. But even that is contingent on your posthumous desire for it. If you didn’t want it in life, it’s unlikely you’ll change your mind the minute you die. And without your permission, it will not be binding.

I do not endorse a civil interfaith marriage with a Mormon.  Not for you or anyone that is in any position to choose it.  The Mormon usually leads life pining for a relationship with eternal promise and despairing that it isn’t happening; often they let themselves slip away from God.  The non-Mormon feels constant pressure to convert and becomes annoyed that the problem doesn’t go away.  I’ve seen too many problem relationships.  If this heartache can be prevented, I advocate preventing it.

Such a marriage does not solve the problem you are facing right now, Jim.  It only delays solving it.  It will present you every morning with the same dilemma:  ask her to surrender hope for an eternal family, get yourself to convert, or dissolve the relationship.  Avoiding the question is to choose the first option.

#2 (eternal marriage) can happen if you allow yourself to investigate the religion seriously. This is the path that I advise. Invite the missionaries over for a few lessons and read the Book of Mormon with them.  After learning a bit more about the Church and understanding why we believe the things we do, you might find your original notions of Mormonism misplaced.  People usually find the missionaries’ lessons much more substantive and credible than they anticipate.

You indicated that you have faith in God, which is essential. Believe that He will answer your prayers, and ask Him whether you should join.  Believe that He will give you the desire for eternal family that will lead you to unite with her forever.

Jim, I hope I’ve added some clarity to your dilemma. I hope you can see it from her side as well. Meditate on it and pray for guidance. I know the Lord will answer. He answers my prayers frequently.

I’d also invite you to look around at our website. You might find some more answers there. And you are always welcome to email me directly. In fact, I’d very much like to know what you decide.

-Thaddeus

I’m sitting here at work (it’s a very slow night) and I’ve just discovered your wonderful website. My wife, son and myself were baptized on Aug. 27^th and we LOVE this Church, The Gospel, our new ward family (Buckeye 2^nd), our Bishop and his counselors and all things LDS! We considered ourselves “Christians” but for some reason we couldn’t find a church where we felt “the Spirit” until we were invited to attend a Sunday service at our local meeting house. Wow! The love we felt and genuine interest in us (our family) and willingness to help with anything we needed (as we had just moved to the area) was immediately recognized as something that set these “Mormon folks” apart from the other “Christians” at other churches we were checking out. We instantly felt welcomed and loved by all. My wife and I now realize that Our Heavenly Father delivered us right into the hands of these wonderful people here in Buckeye, AZ.  Being so new to the Gospel we are soaking everything up like little sponges and we feel we have our work cut out for us. Your website will definitely help us to learn as much as we can and I can’t wait to share it with my wife in the morning. Thank you for the great website!

Merry Christmas!

Jeff

One of the questions that often came up during their visit was whether Mormons believed our works saved us or the grace of Jesus Christ did.  They made an interesting observation: when challenged with this question, each latter-day Saint (even General Authorities) responded with one of two answers.  1) We are saved by the grace of Jesus Christ.  2) Works are necessary for salvation.

On the face of it, we seem confused.  To many Christians, statements 1 and 2 are mutually exclusive; for us they fold nicely into each other.

Consider a toaster.  It has two slots, a mechanical tab, some knobs to control heat levels, heating coils, and a plug connected to the outlet.  The toaster was a wedding gift you gladly accepted from your brother; your dad’s present was to pay your first month of rent, including utilities.  You use your toaster every morning.  Drop in two limp, damp pieces of bread, push the lever down, and wait 35 seconds; then, crispy, deliciously crunchy toast pops out as if by magic!  Spread the butter on thick and enjoy.

As you feast, you make two statements to your new spouse, who does not notice any contradiction:

1) This toast was made through the generous gift of loving relatives.

2) It took some effort on my part (albeit not much) to make the toast.

We certainly can’t take the credit for the toast.  The same effort applied to an empty counter top, or to an unplugged toaster would result in disappointment.  (Maybe the bread would become “crunchy” in the sense of getting stale, but I don’t think that’s what we want).  In the same vein, we fully recognize that living by the law of Moses, or adhering to empty ritualistic tradition without a Messiah will never work.  This is why we respond with number 1.

We also know that we can’t expect the toaster to do everything for us, either.  Much of the joy of eating breakfast comes from taking the time to handcraft it.  Your brother knows that while designing and building a fully-automated toast-producing machine is possible, it isn’t what you need or want.  Besides, there’s still the matter of lifting it to your mouth and chewing.  Surely, you wouldn’t eat pre-chewed toast!  Our purpose on earth is growth, and that requires us to step up to the plate and show our willingness.  Our faith in Christ is manifest to Him by our (imperfect and small) effort.  This is why we give response number 2.

The toaster and its connection to the wall outlet represent the infinite atonement of Jesus Christ.  He offers it to all of us.  Please receive His help gratefully and often.  He loves you, so He will not force your hand.  Insert the bread of faith, and press down the mechanical tab of repentance to unlock the power of forgiveness and blessing that awaits you.  Repentance and righteous living may seem tough at first, but He has made it much easier.  In fact, he has made it possible.

“If ye believe on his name ye will repent of all your sins, that thereby ye may have a remission of them through his merits” (Book of Mormon, Helaman 14:13).

See MormonsMadeSimple.com for more of these illustrative videos.

I can understand why.  We aren’t like most break-off sects, based on our peculiar interpretation of scripture.  People are more or less comfortable with these groups.  After all, if Martin Luther said something you don’t agree with, you can rest assured that his foundation is firmly rooted in the Bible.  He might be mistaken on some things, but by and large he agrees with mainline protestantism.  He never claimed to be a prophet.

But Mormons are new and different.  It’s all or nothing.  It can’t be swallowed half-way.

Either Joseph Smith was honest about his first encounter with God or he lied about it.  He was visited frequently by angels or he wasn’t visited at all.  He was a prophet or a hoaxer.  If one is not Mormon and will not be baptized, “Joseph Smith was a fraud” is the stance one is required to take.  The middle ground is removed.

This polarization has energized detractors to produce mountains of criticism to discredit Mormonism, which if seen by itself makes our religion look plain silly, or worse.  The criticisms range from sophomoric name-calling and laughably-inconsistent retelling of our beliefs to historical documentation and intellectual DNA analysis.  Most of this is aimed not at Mormons (these kinds of attacks rarely have the gravitas to significantly shake LDS faith), but primarily at potential investigators of Mormonism.  They are designed to damage the Church’s reputation enough that you’ll dismiss anything we might offer.

The criticism, in turn, has prompted Latter-day Saints for years to rebut the arguments and point out evidences in our favor.  This rebuttal in defense of faith is called apologetics from the Greek apologia, meaning “defense.”

The leading body defending Mormon doctrine from critical arguments is the Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research (FAIR).  It is an independent, non-profit group of Latter-day Saints dedicated to “providing well-documented answers to criticisms of LDS (Mormon) doctrine, belief and practice.”  They have a website and a wiki full of every piece of anti-Mormon material you could ask for and a confident, clear response to each.

A few weeks ago I attended their annual conference in Sandy, UT.  They had speakers from a variety of professional backgrounds.  A lawyer-economist spoke on the failed Kirtland Safety Society, a banking endeavor that Joseph Smith initiated (and according to critics, caused to fail in order to steal parishioners’ money).  A physicist (a former member of the federal government’s — and no, this isn’t a joke – Dark Energy Task Force) gave a lecture on Joseph’s cosmology compared with a modern physics account of the creation of the universe.  There were talks with titles like, “Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Plural Marriage (but were afraid to ask),” “Haplogroup X in Light of Recent Book of Mormon Claims,” and “Joseph the Seer, or Why Joseph Translated with a Rock in His Hat.” I came away impressed with their professionalism and their ability to make the topics accessible, interesting, and relevant.

My favorite FAIR contributor is a professor of Islamic Studies and Arabic named Daniel C. Peterson.  I became a fan through watching his FAIR presentations on YouTube.  (Click here to see Dr. Peterson’s review of Christopher Hitchens’ infamous book god is Not Great).

Members of FAIR look into the criticisms in their spare time and on their own dime; the Church doesn’t fund their research.  There are important reasons for that.  One of the key reasons is that Father has a different method for teaching us, which the Church favors.  It doesn’t require advanced degrees or superior reasoning capacity, and the objective isn’t merely knowledge.  The objective is goodness, even Godliness.  He created this whole world as a sort of school.  A proving ground.  What is required is a humble heart and a will to follow Jesus Christ.  Learning how to pray is much more vital to this kind of education than writing a thesis.

So, if you are investigating the Church, and you’ve been bombarded with defamatory information in anti-Mormon pamphlets or movies, first go to God.  You can learn a lot through prayerful revelation.  This should be your first step.  Always.  If it still bothers you, poke around FAIR’s website.  They’ve heard it all.  You may find peace in knowing that when you don’t have all the answers, some smart, faith-filled people have blazed the trail ahead of you.  It certainly helps me.