We received a note from a friend in America regarding a Mormon video, he wrote:
“We had a visit by two Mormon missionaries here recently and they left a video with us titled ‘Finding Faith in Christ.’
I suggest you order a free copy and examine it carefully. This is a very dangerous presentation of the gospel to the uninformed and to most average Christians. It is very accurate to the Bible account and could be shown in most Churches without anyone knowing it’s source if one left off the credits at the end. Most Christians would say it is a well-done presentation and I can see nothing wrong with it. The sad part of it is it was produced by the Mormon Church and not by a Christian group.”
Finding Faith in Christ is advertised by the Mormon Church as,
“… a 29-minute video presentation that depicts events from the ministry and teachings of Jesus Christ, as witnessed by the Apostle Thomas. He testifies how he saw the Son of God heal the sick, give sight to the blind, cure the lame, and raise the dead. Thomas’s poignant witness of the Savior’s life, Atonement, crucifixion, and Resurrection will renew your faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God.”
Mike and Ann Thomas were called upon to visit a couple here in the UK just before Christmas. The couple’s son was concerned that they were being visited by Mormon missionaries. It turns out that they were being shown this film, Finding Faith in Christ and, frankly, it had them totally confused. They were Christians, although struggling somewhat, and he kept saying, “I know their not right but I can’t for the life of me see where.” It was only as Mike and Ann sat and chatted about different concerns they had that they were able to see that their initial suspicions were right. They stopped the missionary visits immediately.
The tragedy is that most Mormons today don’t know that the way that church presents itself has changed so radically. We saw the Robert Millet lecture to prospective missionaries recently, in which he underlined the fact that if every “restoration” doctrine could be found in the Bible there would be no need for a restoration. In light of this rather obvious fact the Mormonism of earlier generations emphasised the differences between Mormon and other churches. Yet the Mormon Church is going to any lengths today to emphasise what they have in common with Evangelical Christianity and obscure the differences. The Millet lecture can be viewed online.
Some observations have been made regarding this video:
Note the order of events in the sentence, “Thomas’s poignant witness of the Savior’s life, Atonement, crucifixion, and Resurrection will renew your faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God.”
The crucifixion follows the atonement. In other words, Jesus atoned for our sins, then he was crucified. It reinforces the picture of Christ’s crucifixion as “just another crucifixion” while the atonement occurred in the garden, a view widely held in Mormon circles.
Note also that, while Atonement and Resurrection have capitals, Crucifixion does not. Of course, there will be those who think this petty. However, it is the fundamental way a culture and faith is expressed that gives clues to its priorities and values. Mormonism seems in danger of inviting the charge that it is a Cross-denying faith and yet who would know this unless faithful men and women of God, who honour the work of the Cross, point it out?
