Ressurection!

I know that the SAD group is dead and gone, what usefullness it served only time will tell, but I'd like to post a few follow up articles, take'em or leave'em, perhaps they might be useful to someone at some point. Having looked at cults that have an impact in the local area there is one group that I think needs attention and that is the Christadelphians they seem to have halls in quite few parts of Manchester, Sale and Macclesfield are two that I have come across. They have taken significant advertising space both in local newspapers and on public transport, especially back at the time of the Commonwealth games, but who are they and what do they believe? So few seem to know anything about them, so I hope to do a '101' on them nothing too clever but lets hope usefull.

They're playing with my mind!

Understanding the

'propaganda machine'

Just before the Christmas break we began to explore a little the world of the Media and Advertising industries.

However what soon becomes obvious is that to study such a subject means that we must understand what these powerful and influential forces are bringing their pressures to bear down upon. We need to understand something of the psychology of human nature in fact to be more accurate we need to understand the psychology of FALLEN human nature.

I think what we need to walk away with from these studies is a healthy sense of our own vulnerability. When we are young we come at life with a certain sense of invincibility, we have energy and a certain amount of confidence in our own savvy, of course there is nothing wrong with some aspects of this, you do need energy and your wits about you as you move into a fast moving highly competitive world, trying to find your place in it all.

But human nature is such that confidence,and knowledge can soon become arrogance and presumption. Energy and motivation can soon become recklessness and obsession. To some extent it's the peer pressures that play with these forces that lead to the mental health crisis that is raging amongst the young; depression, eating disorders,and an alarming increase in teen suicide, young males are especially effected.

The Prophet Jeremiah's words cut right across the popularized myth that 'people are basically good'..."The heart is more deceitful than all else and desperately sick; who can understand it? (Jeremiah 17v9) The paraphrase The Message puts it as "The heart is hopelessly dark and deceitful, a puzzle that no one can figure out" How true, dark, deceitful a puzzle. Our social and psychiatric sciences invest vast money and manpower into denying the first and trying to work out the second!Sadly to no avail, you only need to walk around with your eyes open and your brain switched on to see that society is dying and that human sin is the disease!

Where does this leave us though in the light of our subject material.

As I say we may have feelings of self confidence and being astute but the reality is that the fallen mind is gullible and easily led astray, and while much of the mind is indeed an unfathomable mystery as Jeremiah declares, there are however those who are have sufficient knowledge of certain areas, of human thinking who are able to push 'certain buttons' inside our heads and get us to think certain things and to do certain actions. That's the case in the world of advertising and also at the more extreme end of the spectrum with more sinister forces such as those from history like the Nazis, however we need to be aware that such sinister manipulative powers are still very much at work in the world today and perhaps surprisingly enough to many of us they are working even in this country, shaping and influencing the thinking of the masses, trying to engineer huge moral shifts in society's thinking and thus produce a society that conforms to their own twisted values.

We may look a little more at the means used to engineer such changes in another session.

For our session today (15th April 2007) I want us to look at a programme which was broadcast over a year ago and repeated this past Christmas Derren Brown's' The Heist'. Derren Brown is a Psychological Illusionist, he is an atheist and highly sceptical of paranormal phenomena, which is what in part has fuelled him to develop a career debunking so much of today's 'paranormal industry', he is amazing to watch and what will become clear and the aim of showing it to you is to give you an amazing demonstration of how gullible we are and how the buttons inside our minds can be pushed without us even realising it's being done.

Watch and enjoy by all means but also be alarmed as to what's going on here and what it's implications are in other areas as well.

Next SAD Group Meeting

God willing we hope to meet on Sunday 15th April 2007 for our next session after an much too long break.

Check the blog in the next few days for summary notes on the last session we had.

Thanks

Sorry it's been quiet!

Apologies for the lack of any news on our resumption of the SAD group. work load, illness, peoples movements have made it difficult to bring it all together, we were hoping to resume in March but we are now looking at April as the earliest that we can do. A date will be given as soon as can be arranged.

I hope to continue where we left off, looking at Media and Advertising and it's effect on the Christian mind. I hope to find some time before the next SAD group meeting and put up a recap of what we covered in our last meeting, so that we can pick up the pace relatively quickly.

Do make use of the blog! Remember it is a forum for group discussion and it can be for various subjects not just the current topic of study just send your email address to sadgroup@ntlworld.com and instructions as to how to access the blogosphere will be sent to you! You ultimately make it or break it.

Mormon Doctrine- Part 2- The Cornerstones

First a small disclaimer. Our time in the SAD group is limited and there are many areas of Mormon history and doctrine that we just didn't have time to touch on. I do try to give more information in the blog but as I have said before Mormonism is a huge field of study and one that takes up considerable time, I make no claims to be any sort of expert and my function both in the group and in the blog is purely to glean information and present it in a concise form. So please don't look on this material as groundbreaking or exhaustive, it's very far from that.

The Chorley Temple

Cornerstones
Just as with it's huge temple edifices Mormonism is built upon certain cornerstones, its distinctive doctrines which despite the best attempts of the LDS to dress them up as Christian, in fact set Mormonism far outside the realm of anything that we can even remotely call Christian.

If ever there was a single statement that could condense the whole of Mormon doctrine into just a few words it would surely be the words of a former Mormon Church President Lorenzo Snow (left) in 1840 (President is the highest rank in the LDS, they are viewed as direct successors of Joseph Smith and Prophets in their own right, in essence a Mormon Pope, their word is binding in its authority)

"As man is God once was; as God is man may be"

The God of the LDS
The God of Mormonism bears no relation to anything that we can recognize in historical Christian Theology. The 'God the Father' of Mormonism was once just an ordinary man like you and me but through righteous living he is now elevated to the position of godhood occupying the highest of heavenly spheres 'The Celestial Kingdom' and living near a star/planet called Kolob along with his many wives! This is not the God of the Bible this is a god with a physical body a god who is bound by limitations, a god who like us is still in the process of development. It is this path to godhood that Mormonism wants us to aspire to tread. Through Baptism, Priesthood, and various ceremonies coupled with works of righteousness we too can one day ascend to the position of gods ruling over other worlds alongside our many wives and populating these worlds with our spiritual children, who in turn repeat the whole process again.

With such a god as this at the heart of LDS theology we need not be surprised when Mormons enthusiastically embrace 'Open Theism' and Arminian views of human nature.

Free will- and Satan the Spirit brother
They reject any idea of an all knowing God, a God that governs by his eternal decrees and operates according to his good pleasure. In the Mormon world as in the world of the Arminian 'Free Will' is god. Infact part of Mormon narrative is the teaching that Jesus and Lucifer are spirit brothers children of God the Father and God the Mother! A war broke out in heaven as a result of Jesus and Lucifer's differing plans of Salvation for the human race Jesus upholding the fee will of humans while Satan wanted to force people into belief and submission, needless to say Jesus won the argument war broke out Satan got thrown out along with his angelic supporters.

It's obvious from all this that a Calvinistic world view is utterly incomprehensible to the Mormon mind. I have even heard a Mormon on one occasion defend the idea that the wandering Israelites sent out missionaries to the cities of Canaan to preach the gospel in order to allow them the opportunity to choose to believe in the God of the Israelites, the fact that there was no scripture to support such an idea was irrelevant, what mattered was that there was no way that a loving God could punish sinners for their willfully perverse and debauched lifestyle at least not without the power of free will reigning supreme!

Mormonism- Polytheistic & Anti-Trinitarian
What becomes self evident is that Mormonism is not even a monotheistic religion. Mormons will insist that they believe in one true God and in a Godhead just like you do but again beneath what seems theologically orthodox language lies a totally different meaning; For the Mormon the Godhead is not the Trinity as we would understand it but rather a gang of god's working together or a divine club for gods who rule over and operate in this world. God the Father is one of these gods and Jesus is his son a separate god in his own right and God the Holy Spirit which Mormons despite their dismissal of the idea of these gods as spirit beings still seem to end up with the Holy Spirit as a spirit being in all but name. As mentioned previously these gods rule over this realm of the earth but that is not to say that there are not a myriad of other gods ruling over other worlds.

A mormon would say:-"Oh yes we believe in one true god, just as you do, god the father is the one true god for this world!"

The God who emerged
So here is the god of the Mormon world, a god who has a wife, apparently she isn't mentioned in the bible so as to spare her being dishonored by unbelievers. This is a god who entered into sexual relations with his wife and she bore him spirit children, amongst these are Jesus and Lucifer and somewhere in there is Michael, though trying to follow the divine lineage is confusing. In fact the birth of Jesus was the result of a sexual relationship between god the father and Mary. While most of us who are evangelical find all this stomach churning; Think about the fact that here we have a church which embraces this blasphemous nonsense and at the same time is more than happy to dress up in glitzy Christmas garb and sing to us with a full orchestras accompaniment 'The Virgin Mary had a baby boy!' Who is kidding who? The only thing more daunting in scale than their temple edifices, is the scale of their hypocrisy and deliberate attempts to deceive and hoodwink a generally gullible and ignorant audience.

This then is a god who didn't form the universe rather he emerged from preexisting matter. He in turn made our planet from that same preexisting matter, what we have then is a god who is just as subject to the forces of the universe as we are. The man Elohim attained godhood and in so doing created the world by 'organizing' this matter, both the eternally preexistent inorganic matter and the preexistent primal intelligences from which human spirits are made.

The Adam God Theory
Brigham Young who emerged as Smith's successor, took the Mormon doctrine even further with his 'Adam God Theory'.

When our father Adam came into the garden of Eden, he came into it with a celestial body, and brought Eve, one of his wives, with him. He helped to make and organize this world. . . . the seed was brought from another sphere, and planted in this earth. . . .He is Michael, the Archangel, the Ancient of Days about whom we have written and spoken-He is our father and our god, and the only god with whom we have to do...
When Adam and Eve had eaten of the forbidden fruit, their bodies became mortal from its effects, and therefore their offspring were mortal" (Journal of Discourses 1:50, emphasis in original).


Brigham Young

Many Mormons today would seek to distance themselves from such a bizzare concept, but in so doing they place themselves in a difficult situation, because as a president of the LDS Brigham Young would claim to posses the same infallible prophetic voice that his predecessor Joseph Smith had. Of course they can say that successive prophets have brought further light with them, but surely this makes nonsense of the so called 'infallibility' that is meant to underpin the doctrines of the LDS.

Mormon Salvation
We could spend a great deal of time examining the world of Mormon ritual, its system of priesthoods its hierarchy, the pseudo polygamous practices of 'Celestial Marriage', A system of theology which is built around the concept of a second chance after death and its practice of baptism for the dead. However we should get to the hear of the matter what sort of salvation does Mormonism offer? What is it's gospel?

It is a religion of righteousness through works, the constant effort to attain to an eternal dwelling place in the Celestial Kingdom the highest of the Mormon worlds.

Mormons believe themselves to have pre existed as spirit children their memories having been wiped clean in the vale of forgetfulness they now pursue through mortal bodies the state of eternal godhood Only those who comply rigorously with Church doctrine, unswerving loyalty, diligent and meticulous observance of rules and regulations can attain a status of being declared officially 'Temple Righteous' and be allowed into the hallowed sanctuary of the various Mormon Temples dotted around the world. Through Celestial Marriage they can guarantee the salvation and status of their partner or as the case maybe 'partners'. Righteousness involves the 2 years of missionary service, careful attention to modest dress and a diet devoid of stimulants, (Mormons are well known for their avoidance of Caffeine,) The importance of Family life is promoted, despite this Utah has a higher than national average rate of divorce and teen suicide. Family Life and the wholesome image of the loyal all American Mom, apple pie and all, is again a powerful propaganda tool in easing the still prevalent suspicions that many Americans have towards the LDS.

Mormons believe that the death and resurrection of Christ guarantees eternal life to all, the issue is at what level will we live out our eternal existence? In effect none but the worst of the worst are truly eternally lost, even dictators and tyrants may yet experience salvation if there are those who will undergo baptism for them the gospel can yet be offered to them. Those of us who they account as honourable but not believers ( I presume that includes well meaning non critical apologetic evangelicals who attend conferences like 'Friends Together') We can live in the glory of the terestial kingdom, of course we will be ruled over by our Mormon gods.

Conclusions

What have we learned together over our 3 sessions? Surely we have driven home the point of how gullible unregenerate human nature is. We scratch our heads and wonder how it is possible for intelligent people to be duped by such a charlatan as Smith, yet we must realize that were it not for the Grace of God we could have easily succumbed to any number of erroneous religions or even secular beliefs.

Disturbing
Mormonism leaves me feeling disturbed. Here is a religion that is bent on pulling the wool over our eyes, perhaps it is not surprising really, after all it's founder was a convicted charlatan and the effective methods of deceit are just as much in use today as it was in the 1830's.

Mormonism has a disturbing history, the character of Smith is embarrassing to an organization that wants to garb itself with a cloak that is whiter than white. It is tainted with brutal violence and much bloodshed, behind closed doors polygamous practice reigned, persecution was real, but such bizarre beliefs and immoral practices played into the hands of those with a grudge against a tight knit and relatively prosperous community.

The LDS is not an organization to tangle with, it has pursued through the courts those who have sought to challenge its teaching in evangelistic outreaches. It is a sinister organization with ambitions, coupled with considerable financial clout the LDS is keen to gain influence in the political sphere and Mitt Romney will be the man to watch.

Numerous evangelicals are being caught off guard with LDS offers of 'friendship' it is important that we realize that the LDS is no friend but rather an enemy to be faced up to, resisted, challenged with the truth of the Gospel, but while we abhor the organization we must feel sorrow and concern for the millions who are imprisoned by it's teaching many sincere, kind and diligent individuals embarking on a futile course of works righteousness, when you meet a Mormon, don't laugh at them or ridicule them, talk to them show them from God's word that the god of Mormonism is not the God of the Bible. Talk to them about what salvation really means, reveal to them the person of Christ his unique claims and his finished work.

Wittnesing to Mormons

My thanks for Your Thanks!

My appreciation for the kind thanks that some of you have expressed both for the blog and the presentations. I make no claims to stunning originality with either the blog or the presentations, I am indebted heavily to the research and the writings of others who specialize heavily in this area, and as you can judge from the blog I would make little headway as an academic writer. I will provide a list on the blog of people and resources that I have used in gleaning my info when I have finished the 'Doctrines ' section.

As already hinted at I will continue to finish off the notes on the 'Doctrines of Mormonism' our next SAD group meeting will be God willing 10th December when I hope to make a start on looking at the role of Media and Advertising.

SAD Group Mtg 26-11-06 - 'Bible v Book of Mormon'- video

Thanks to all of you who attended and to the Almand Smith family for the kind use of their laptop!

We wrapped up our series on Mormonism by watching a video which is down loadable from Google Video, produced by Living Hope Ministries, this is a church based ministry in Brigham, Utah, formed mostly from ex-Mormons and ministering an outreach to those in the Mormon community.

The video is both well produced and informative. We watched 'The Bible V The Book of Mormon' there is also another video made by them called 'DNA V The Book of Mormon'. Those of you who were not able to attend can either access the videos direct at:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2123385090702569026&q=mormonism
For 'Bible v Book of Mormon'
and

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=9143153898478873054&q=mormonism
For 'DNA v Book of Mormon'

If broadband connections are a problem I can happily give you the files on a CD, you will need to have either Adobe flash player or Google Video Player, they are free downloads, again if this is a problem I can supply these on the disk as well.