Tough Questions Answered

Wondeful to meet other former LDS now in the body of Christ! Praise the Lord!! I was LDS for 19 yrs — deeply active and married in the LDS temple. The Lord ardently persued me and I became part of the body of Christ in Nov of 2007! My children as well have embraced the Lord Jesus and we are praying and anxious to have my husband join us as well. Please pray for him as he still is active LDS. ( his name is dru).
God bless you in the work you do here,
gloria

Dear Bother Darell? for first, I am pator George Caleb Oguta
I am a kanyan , who is sunday worshipper, I mean trinitarian, I have been looking how you give asnswer to many teachings and how you publish things, its really encouraging, please keep it up.
Thank you so much to hear your religion background, it’s inspiring.
Sorry to have ask this, are you a prophet, you have answer to many question.
I would love to invite to to Kenya to come and help me in bible discussion
God bless you

Hello,

My name is Roger Morris. I am a medical doctor and company director from Queensland, Australia. I have recently started a blog called ‘FaithInterface’, discussing the interface between Science, Philosophy & Christian Theology. I would love to do more study in the future, either the MA apologetics/philosophy through SES or the MA Science & Religion through Biola. You are welcome to view my blog and interact with it as you please. I think we will have much in common regarding our interests.

Regards,

Roger Morris.

(( Darrell))

Wow! I just now realized I have fallen upon your blog prior to Jessica referrig me… cool…

Your note gives me hope — 6 yrs! Wow that is a long time…. when you have a moment I would love to hear how things went during that time. Perhaps you have blogged here about it already, so I need to go and look thru the archives.

God bless you brother for contending for the faith!

Gloria

Oh, wow! Praise God for what He has done in your life and in the life of your wife!! Amazing…..I am so encouraged!
Thank you so much for taking time to share with me, and for the testimony of God’s goodness and His redemptive work in the lives of His children! We truly serve an awesome God!
I will email you and exchange contact info, as I would love to speak with your wife.

God bless you both and those beautiful kids!

Gloria

Hi I live In scandinavia and it is lot off Christians ,Jehovas whitnesis,musslims,buddhisists etc. here.but i think like a taiost.If yuo are a god christianfor,ex yuo have to believe that god are all mighty and Jesus for real existed and are the son off God right!?Also yuo then have to believe that is only throght Jesus yuo can come to Haeven because Jesus says so in the bible,right?How can a Christian believe that when there noProves that God exist and even less proves that Jesus existed for real?Isent it only in christiannity yuo can come to the Heaven thruoght Jesus?Why is Jesus better than ,for.ex Buddha,moses,muhammed or Lau tzu in this case?(If yuo believe that)I belive only in 60% off the bible ,what are yuo present then?More or less?I dont believe in old testamentets genesis for.ex.if they talk about intelligent design or Creation without energy from nothing etc.I dont believe in a God who cares or loves us etc. but I believe in higher and mightier forces than yuo and me ,and everlasting energy and natural laws etc. with are not created but exist for ever and so on.Also I believe that everything have one and only true and mighty suorce etc.What do yuo think abuot that? wonders Aki.T. The sun off cosmos. e-mail aki@aol.se

Dallas,

Thank you for your kind words about my posts on Mormonism. This is a dual blog and the credit for the “Does God Hate Esau” post goes to Billy.

Have a great night!!

Darrell

Hey good stuff…keep up the good work!

Thank you for sharing your perspective Finn. I am not sure how much you know about the LDS Church or what your current beliefs are, but allow me to explain where I am coming from.

Having come out of the LDS Church to Christ, I believe the LDS Church is not of God. It teaches doctrines that, while appearing to be good, actually lead people away from God. In short, they are damning. As a result, it would actually be unloving of me not to tell people as much.

As an example: Let’s say you had a friend who was taking drugs that you knew were killing him. Finn, would you tell him? Or, would you say, “To each his own. I will leave my friend alone and let him continue taking his drugs.”? While the latter might be the more “politically correct” thing to do given our current “tolerant” society, it would actually be the most unloving thing you could do. I think you will admit that if you truly loved your friend, you would be the first to tell him that he was killing himself and that he needed to get off the drugs. At first, your friend might not be terribly happy with you; however, once he got off the drugs and was able to see them for what they truly are, he would likely be incredibly grateful.

That is how it is with me and the LDS Church. I have left it for God and, as a result, want to tell help those who are still trapped by its lies.

God Bless!

Darrell

Finn,
You have completely misread Darrell. He does not hate Mormons at all. He is still friends with many of those whom he knew in the Mormon church. His beef is with the false teachings of the church. He is trying to help, not hurt Mormons. He is a very pleasant person to be around, but he tells the truth as he sees it when confronting false teachings that threaten people’s souls. You can be a kind and compassionate person who tells the truth.

It sounds to me like you don’t believe what a person thinks about God is important, that Darrell should just cease talking to Mormons about their beliefs and leave them alone. If you really believed that a person’s view of God could send them to hell, you would not be attacking Darrell for what he is doing. What do you expect him to do???

God bless,
Bill

I Bill,

I will certainly be follwing your blog. God bless you.
Steve

http://stephenpugh-cdp.blogspot.com/

If I remember it right the Christian bible (but not coran etc)say that Jesus is the son off God and that Maria gave birth to Jesus as virgin WITHOUT sexual intercourse!? How can that be posible?The real ornest christian have to give a good explenation to this.Else I dont believe that Jesus existed att all as the son off God but as a person like yuo and me who was crusified etc, but not because off the reason in the christian bible,remember, coran (the muslims etc,)dont think Jesus was the son off God so “who”is right?

I know I wrote a wholelot but yuo dont have to hurry with the answers I also understand if you dont want to or cannot answeer. Study the points, what am tryin to say etc. I hope i made my points clear, also remember I live in Sweden and that I dont use english in my every day life. Am a Finlander who moustly speak Swedish and Finnish.(Amen A.gigles)Am a ornest trueth seaker?What are yuo then?

Itis something strange in yuor believe if yuo think a person (Jesus)etc. HAVE to suffer and die on the cross to liberate an other person(yuo and me etc)from sin?!How can a intellectual person believe such a thing aint it something wrong in beliving things like that?ONLY one person yuo and me no god or other person are in responsibily for our sins!If I sin do something wrong I dont blame yuo or an other person or God etc.So if yuo think Jesus did not suffer on the cross, why dont yuo try to replace him?If someone hit a nail trought yuo body ,do yuo say thank yuo to that person or yuo God?Remember if God are allmighty he but Jesus on the cross also Jesus ment that Pontuis pilatus was gods tool to put Jesus on the cross.Because Jesus sayd”Yuo have power over me only because God given yuo that power”.But I dont believe like yuo I believe that Jesus existed might,but as a rebell etc. not the son off god.It was rutin off the romans to put people on the cross,thouse they thought was rebells and criminals or did not like the roman occopation.Also yuo avoid the guestion off Jesus virginbirth,Natural biology explain that when Jesus are not the son off God but an ordinary humen been.Then yuo did not notice the argument if God exist and areall mighty why god cannot wipe out energy or natural laws?The only solution have to be God dont exist, are not powerfull enaught etc.Right?!Remember noone off us can prove the existence off God(If God exist or not)But I can prove existence out off existence ,like energy exist for ever and are noncreated, so one off the suorces to our existence are energy,natural laws cosmic and darwinian AUTOMATIC cyclic evolution ,right?How can it posibly be an other way?The Christian bible argu that God create or are the suorce off the World, But I argu that the World ,universe and cosmos can exist without a god, that are not strange to me at all, Yuo christian or abrahamic etc, god only so far exist to me inside the bible fairy tails, as fiction etc. If yuo dont think so , give only ONE prove that god exist outside the christian bible and try to avoid words like “miracles” and Creation in yuo God explenations.Also remember that the Coran say Jesus did not come back to go to heaven after the crusification it says that Jesus are somekind off prophet etc. but am not sure.Anyway the Jesus storys are not the same in the coran compered with the christian bible so who are right?But thats the problem off the muslims and christians not mine am either christian or Muslim.

Aki,

I answered your earlier posts because you stated you were an honest seeker of truth. Apparently, you just were looking for an argument and you chose to insult me. Your questions were not an honest attempt to discover what and why Christians believe as they do.

You are free to deny the Bible’s clear teachings, and substitute your own ideas about sin, justice, Jesus, and God. Mankind has invented their own ideas of God for millennia. Idolatry is as old as mankind. As I said, I was such a person for the first 25 years of my life.

Your vain ideas will fail you when you appear before the Lord after you die.

And of course, if you deny such a day will ever take place, then why would you waste time on blogs like this one, arguing with such a one as I. To declare oneself a logical, intelligent person, and to show such concerns is quite illogical.

I know, I surely don’t have the time to waste.

The last word is yours…should you desire it.

I’m an Evangelical Christian who is attempting to erect a case for Christianity in my new blog. Make comments, if you wish, when you can. Thanks. http://realitygodjesus.wordpress.com/

Hi Bill, just visited your website today. Thank you and God bless you for your ministry. We need you today more than ever in these last days! Keep up the great work!

Hi all! What caught my eye in your blog was coming across the Jan 7 post titled, “What Are They So Afraid Of?” Bill got right to the point in just a few sentences and nailed it; that critics of ID employ ‘dirty tricks’ more than reason and intelligent debate to weigh the evidence.

While not clearly enumerated in the post, ID’sts are well aware of the tricks employed, such as hammering on dead issues like junk DNA, supposed vestigials, overstating extinctions, and of course ‘bad design’ arguments, some of which are refutable, but at least debatable.

The most reviled tactics are things like tying ID’sts to flat-earth believers, conspiricists, and agenda based motive mongering, to name a few. They need to be addressed, however, since they continue to surface.

The ‘afraid’ premise is evidenced by 1) the plethora of tactics, most without real substance, and by 2) the fact that the responses are so ongoing and virulent. If ID’sts were really just a bunch of illiterates (unschooled in science), antagonists (kill science), and fundies (motive driven), why not just leave them be? Richard Dawkins himself warns his followers that to respond even minimally is to give them credence.

So yes, fear IS an operative. But to get back to the original question, just what IS it that they (Dawkins et al) are afraid of?

I’d love to discuss the topic for hours on end, but I’m a little too late. I’ll be around however, when the topics of intelligent design as a possible operative in helping to understand the meaning of life, and that would be based on both logic AND the empirical evidences that clearly abound today. Faith can come easily I feel, but not when materialist barricades exist.

I am a skeptic by the way. Skeptical of any scientific theory that relies too much on predictions that fail over time to answer key questions, that fail to be substantiated by the data, and that for validation, rely too heavily on ‘consensus’ by its adherents.

I agree. Evolution is a myth. God created everyone and everything on Earth. SuperGod created God. SuperDuperGod created SuperGod and so forth ad infinitum. Everything has its own creator. It’s the only thing that makes sense.

hey, nice blog…really like it and added to bookmarks. keep up with good work

By the way, how does yuo “Christian faith”explain why innecent people children etc. suffer and die in a tzunamy and eartquage etc?If yuo God are allmighty , the first reason, source etc. to everything Yuo god also started that Znumamy where the innecent child etc suffer and die ,right?If Yuo god love yuo and the “humanity”why did “he” allow that child to die and suffer in the tzunamy for.ex?If a” miracle”happant that god save say, one off 10 children why not all the children etc?But if i argu that yuo god dont exist and that IMPARTIAL , nonfeeling etc. natural ,forces and laws(gravitation etc.)make tzunamis etc. (automaticly)and kill the poeple , aint that a better explenation? So far!Evolution for.ex gave us brains to avoid the tzunamy, thouse who wasent smart enught because lack of information etcdied, thats the way it work i nature, right?!

Hi bill/darrell ,
I am a perplexed indian from …. india obviously.Great blog you have going here.

After hard times , I started to think more deeply about my faith and somehow veered into christian apologetics which is a whole new world for me.I work in the science field but am impressed by the philosophical treatments applied to xianity.Hope to chip in with my comments from time to time.I guess you dont get many observants of eastern christianity on your blog.
Raised orthodox , my denomination has its roots in probably the most ancient community of christians in the world.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Thomas_Christians
Parts of our mass are actually done in syriac – a dialect of aramaic.

Good day !

Ak Tuoamala , you should probably find the appropriate topic posts on which you can post your objections to christianity , not the intro thread for christ’s sake haha

Lala,

I will gladly lift you and your friend up in prayer. Thank you for sharing!

Darrell

Reading the comments on this blog, it is interesting that they fulfill the prophesy of Joseph Smith when he said that once one is a Latter-day Saint they leave neutral ground forever. Obviously the most bitter and angry ones against the “Mormon Church” are those of you who were once of the faith and have left it and now choose to fight against it and try to destroy it. Now that the spirit of truth no longer dwells in your hearts the spirit of contention and anger fills it instead. If you are truly as you say you are then you would not try to destroy the faith you once had. You know full well that it did not and does not lead you nor anyone else away from Christ, but helps anyone who would listen, pray and understand know Him better than in any other way. Why should we cry we have enough and tell God that He cannot speak nor reveal His will to us today? That is what you say when you refuse to believe that God can or will continue to reveal His will to His children today.
These times are more complex and more troubled than any other time in the history of the world and there has never been a time, since Adam first set foot upon this world God gave him, when the revealed word of God was needed more than it is needed now. When men and women can read the same book and derive from it so many different and conflicting ideas on such basic principals that should guide our lives, it is obvious that we are unable to decide from ancient revealed word what God really wants us to do and how He really wants us to live our lives. If this were not so there would not be so many conflicting ideologies based upon the same material. To say that He cannot speak today and reveal His will and give us more scripture is to say that He is not the Great I AM that once did reveal His will. If He thought it important to let Israel know that they should not stew a kid in his mother’s milk, would He not let us know what He really meant by some of the words that are presently interpreted in so many different ways by men and women of good intent? Are not the problems that face us today more complex than whether we can eat a cheeseburger or not? Good men and women read the same text and from it derive many different and very divergent opinions on what constitutes the truth of religion, Christian faith.
When the bible itself contradicts itself and can be used by intelligent people to prove itself as incorrect then perhaps additional word of God might be of advantage to show that the contradictions are not the words of God, but the errors of men. When we say we love the word of God, why do we say that a small book of scripture is all we can take? The Samaritans will tell you that only the first 5 books of Moses are true and certainly our Jewish brothers will tell you that only the prophets up to the time of Jesus are true. The majority of Christians will tell you that only those words that were given up to the time of John’s revelation are true and our Muslim brothers will tell you that all these are true and that Mohammad was the seal of the prophets and that his work finishes it all and that he, Mohammad was the comforter promised by Jesus who would come and bring them the comfort and promises He gave them.
Jesus Himself said that the Kingdom would be established upon the earth during the lifetime of those standing and hearing his teaching, a kingdom wherein there would be no poor among them and where all the things He talked about and taught them would be fulfilled and practiced. He was crucified and ascended into heaven and those of the early church thought that the Kingdom would come right away and many stopped doing their daily work awaiting its fulfillment which never came; and we still await its coming. Some scholars would thus question whether Jesus Himself may have been surprised by the failure of His own prophesy and that His mission was prematurely interrupted. There is however scripture that shows that His prophesy was literally fulfilled, and among the house of Israel, and in that generation, but most Christians refuse to admit it or acknowledge its fulfillment. Thus they really suggest that Jesus may have been a false prophet himself, the same thing they accuse Joseph Smith of being if one or two of his prophesies did not come to pass as we may have expected. Yet in the Book of Mormon the Kingdom of God was established and thrived for several generations just as Jesus predicted and the way He directed it. You would deny that it happened at all or that He could have pulled it off.
So those in whom the light once burned and in whom it has become extinguished are usually the most bitter and angry as the spirit withdraws. I am sorry for you and your experience. Those of us who continue to enjoy the light and truth have no animosity toward you only regret that you no longer want to know everything that He would say nor want to hear and understand it all.
There is no doubt that Jesus is the Christ the Son of the Living God and that He brought the gospel to the earth and has taught it to us through the generations. That He lived for us and that He suffered for us and that He died for us that we might live again is attested to us in the scriptures of the stick of Judah and of Joseph and also given to us in modern revelation. When we say that we have enough and tell God that He should not speak to us we are being a bit proud and perhaps building our own tower of Babel wherein we would find our own way to heaven rather than His. We should be very cautious when we tell God that we have enough and that we do not any longer want to hear his word. The Spirit itself bears witness to us that Jesus is the Son of God and our Savior and Redeemer and It tells us by Its revelation, that revelation is an ongoing thing and that God the greatest of all will continue to reveal His will and mind to those who have the courage to receive and understand it. Why else would we pray and ask the Father if these things are not true if we do not expect an answer, a revelation of the Spirit that God still speaks to us? He is the great revelator of His will and He can and will reveal it to those who will listen. There is no ear so deaf as the ear that WILL not hear, nor eye so blind as the eye that WILL not see. I believe all you believe and have no problem with Christian belief that people say that by being LDS we deny. For those angry among you who deny that we have faith in our Lord and savior as the way of our salvation are themselves deceived and contracted. We enjoy the fulness of the Gospel and rejoice in the fact that what was enjoyed by the saints anciently is enjoyed by the saints today. Are we less important that they or less loved by the Father than they?

Hi Bill,

I was referred to your blog by one of your good friends, Greg Godat. He was not kidding; excellent material! It seems like you write on quite a few topics of interest to me also. Check out my blog – http://www.cltruth.com.

I’m actually in the process of organizing a joint apologetics effort. Shoot me an email if you’re interested.

Keep up the great work!

-Arthur

hello,
i came across with this blog by accident. I would like to know some of the false doctrines you clame the LDS teach. Just interested
thank you

Thank you. Great resource, e.g., Top Ten Myths About Homosexuality, essential Christian Beliefs…

Yapci,

Sorry for the delay in getting back to you. Many of the doctrines that I believe are incorrect in the LDS Church I have addressed in the Mormonism section of the blog. Some examples are their views on the nature of God, the nature of man, and creation ex-nihilo. Is there a specific one you would like to discuss?

Darrell

Ed,

The Eastern Church is also known as The Eastern Orthodox Church. It is a group of Chuches that all hold to one faith and are all in communion with the Bishop of Constantinople.

Prior to 1054 AD, there was one Church. In 1054, the church split into two – The Eastern Orthodox Church and the Western Roman Catholic Church. The Enlightenment, Scholastic reform, and the Protestant Reformation all occurred in the west and affected the Western Roman Catholic Church. However, the Eastern Church was isolated from most of these events and has never had a reformation. It essentially retains the same doctrine and method of worship that the Church had during the earliest times in Christianity.

If you would like to learn a little about it, I can recommend a wonderful book to you. It is titled The Orthodox Church and is written by Timothy Ware. Here is a link to the book on Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/Orthodox-Church-New-Timothy-Ware/dp/0140146563/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1315271824&sr=8-1

God Bless!

Darrell