7.24.2005
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Matthew 7:15
Which is Jesus telling us, "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves." There are many false prophets, but perhaps the most insidious are those who claim to preach the true gospel of Jesus Christ -- yet deny Him.
The Mormons are in this category; claiming Christ in their title, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, yet expanding on His Gospel and creating a new gospel out of whole cloth. It now seems that one of their precious fairy tales is coming unraveled.
One of those fairy tales is that, somehow, and absent any archaelogical or other evidence (other than a "prophet's" claims, none substantiated), Polynesians and Native Americans are descendants of a lost tribe of Israel. Well, it seems that a pesky Australian soon-to-be-ex-Mormon scientist, Simon Southerton, is under attack for the heresy of using scientific evidence to debunk a theory what strikes some (ok, at least me) as, well, bizarre. Dr. Southerton has written "Losing a Lost Tribe: Native Americans, DNA and the Mormon Church". The bottom line? Scientifically, at least, any connections between Polynesians, Native Americans, and Israelites simply don't exist.
Here, the believer has to back up, and remember that that is sometimes what faith is about -- belief in things unseen. Skeptics are always reminding us that we've no modern, scientific proof even that Jesus lived, let alone was resurrected. We have plenty of other proof, for instance, eye-witnesses who later preached the Gospel. Records of activities in and around the time of Jesus. But there's no "hard" evidence, say, for example, a videotape, or photographs, or anything else that would pass a skeptic's muster today.
The Mormon case is different. It is now asking its members to continue to believe a blasphemous addition to Scripture that is directly contradicted by modern science. It is one thing to say, "I believe in this because I have faith." It's quite another to continue to believe something that is a) fanciful to begin with, b) contradicts the fundamental truth of the Christian Gospel, and, c) is strongly refuted by hard, scientific evidence.
We are all entitled to believe what we will. We are none of us entitled to claim that, somehow, God is concealing something by allowing His scientific laws to be bent or broken on behalf of our idiosyncratic reading of Christ and His people Israel. When you do this, you are now in violation of both the true Christian faith, and logic.
And, are exactly what we've been warned against: a false prophet.
| technorati tag | Christianity|
The Mormons are in this category; claiming Christ in their title, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, yet expanding on His Gospel and creating a new gospel out of whole cloth. It now seems that one of their precious fairy tales is coming unraveled.
One of those fairy tales is that, somehow, and absent any archaelogical or other evidence (other than a "prophet's" claims, none substantiated), Polynesians and Native Americans are descendants of a lost tribe of Israel. Well, it seems that a pesky Australian soon-to-be-ex-Mormon scientist, Simon Southerton, is under attack for the heresy of using scientific evidence to debunk a theory what strikes some (ok, at least me) as, well, bizarre. Dr. Southerton has written "Losing a Lost Tribe: Native Americans, DNA and the Mormon Church". The bottom line? Scientifically, at least, any connections between Polynesians, Native Americans, and Israelites simply don't exist.
Here, the believer has to back up, and remember that that is sometimes what faith is about -- belief in things unseen. Skeptics are always reminding us that we've no modern, scientific proof even that Jesus lived, let alone was resurrected. We have plenty of other proof, for instance, eye-witnesses who later preached the Gospel. Records of activities in and around the time of Jesus. But there's no "hard" evidence, say, for example, a videotape, or photographs, or anything else that would pass a skeptic's muster today.
The Mormon case is different. It is now asking its members to continue to believe a blasphemous addition to Scripture that is directly contradicted by modern science. It is one thing to say, "I believe in this because I have faith." It's quite another to continue to believe something that is a) fanciful to begin with, b) contradicts the fundamental truth of the Christian Gospel, and, c) is strongly refuted by hard, scientific evidence.
We are all entitled to believe what we will. We are none of us entitled to claim that, somehow, God is concealing something by allowing His scientific laws to be bent or broken on behalf of our idiosyncratic reading of Christ and His people Israel. When you do this, you are now in violation of both the true Christian faith, and logic.
And, are exactly what we've been warned against: a false prophet.
| technorati tag | Christianity|
posted by John Luke at 7:58 PM
Welcome. My name is John Luke Rich, (very) struggling Christian. The focus here is Christianity in its many varieties,
its fussing and feuding, how it impacts our lives and our society, with detours to consider it with other faiths (or lack thereof).
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