Latter-day Saints (Mormonism)

Latter-day Saints believe that the true church established by Jesus fell into apostasy after the apostles died, and that it was restored in 1830 through Joseph Smith, to whom God the Father and Jesus Christ appeared, and who translated the Book of Mormon from golden plates by the gift and power of God. Scripture is therefore the Bible (as far as it is translated correctly), the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price, with a living prophet and apostles who continue to receive revelation. God the Father is understood as an exalted being with a glorified body of flesh and bone; the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost are three distinct beings united in purpose, not one being in three persons. Jesus Christ is the literal firstborn spirit child of the Father, the Jehovah of the Old Testament, who took a body, atoned for sin in Gethsemane and on the cross, and rose again; he is Saviour and Redeemer, and members will say plainly that they are Christians. Human beings are spirit children of heavenly parents who lived before birth, came to earth to gain a body and be tested, and may through the atonement of Christ, faith, repentance, baptism, the gift of the Holy Ghost, temple ordinances and enduring to the end be exalted: to become like God and live eternally in families. Salvation in the sense of resurrection is given to nearly everyone through Christ; exaltation, the fullness of eternal life, requires covenant obedience. Temples are where the most sacred ordinances are performed, including eternal marriage and ordinances on behalf of the dead. The church is organised, lay-led, and deeply committed to family, service and clean living, and its members are among the most sincere and generous people you will meet.

Latter-day Saints believe in God, in Jesus Christ as Saviour who died and rose, in prayer, in Scripture, in moral seriousness, in the family, in service to neighbour, and in life after death. They read the Bible, sing many of the same hymns, and will tell you sincerely that Jesus Christ is at the centre of their faith. The vocabulary you share is real: atonement, grace, faith, repentance, baptism, eternal life. Start there, and say honestly that you admire the devotion, the generosity, and the seriousness about family that you see. Do not treat a Latter-day Saint as a stranger to the Bible; most know it better than the average churchgoer.

The words overlap; the meanings part, and it is kinder to say so than to let the overlap stand in for agreement. First, God: historic Christianity confesses one God who is Father, Son and Spirit, eternal, without body, uncreated and unlike anything he made (Isaiah 44:6-8; Isaiah 45:5; John 4:24); Latter-day Saint teaching holds that the Father has a body and that the three are separate beings, and that humans may become as God is. Second, Jesus: Christians confess him as the eternal Son, of one being with the Father, through whom all things were made (John 1:1-3; Colossians 1:15-20; Hebrews 1:1-3); Latter-day Saint teaching makes him the first spirit child of the Father, exalted and divine, but not the one God in the sense the creeds mean. Third, how one is saved: Christians hold that eternal life is a gift received through faith in Christ alone, not earned by ordinances or obedience (Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 3:5; Galatians 2:16); Latter-day Saint teaching distinguishes the general resurrection, given by grace, from exaltation, which requires covenants and obedience. Fourth, revelation: Christians hold that the apostolic faith was delivered once for all and that Scripture is complete and sufficient (Jude 3; Galatians 1:6-9; 2 Timothy 3:16-17); Latter-day Saints hold that the church was restored through new scripture and continuing prophetic revelation. The Book of Mormon, the First Vision and the priesthood restoration are the historical claims on which the rest depends, and Latter-day Saints themselves say so.

Read these before the conversation. Each one opens in the Bible reader.

• 1 Peter 3:15-16

  Gentleness and respect, for a people who are used to being mocked.

• Isaiah 44:6-8

  There is no God besides me, and I know of none: the Bible's own answer to the idea of many gods or of becoming one.

• Isaiah 45:5

  The same, in one line worth knowing by heart.

• John 4:24

  God is spirit.

• John 1:1-3

  The Word was God and made everything: not a firstborn spirit among spirits.

• Colossians 1:15-20

  Firstborn over creation means heir and head, not first created; the next verse says all things were created through him.

• Hebrews 1:1-3

  The Son as the exact expression of God's being.

• Ephesians 2:8-9

  Saved by grace through faith, not by works: the sentence to compare with 2 Nephi 25:23.

• Galatians 2:16

  No one is justified by works of the law.

• Titus 3:5

  Not by righteous works we have done, but by his mercy.

• Galatians 1:6-9

  Paul on a different gospel, even from an angel: the passage every Latter-day Saint has already heard, so use it thoughtfully rather than as a weapon.

• Jude 1:3

  The faith delivered once for all to the saints.

• 2 Timothy 3:16-17

  Scripture as sufficient to make the person of God complete.

• Revelation 22:18-19

  Often quoted against added scripture; know that it refers to the book of Revelation itself, and say so, because your friend will.

• 1 John 5:13

  You can know you have eternal life: the assurance the gospel offers now.

Define the words. Almost every conversation with a Latter-day Saint goes wrong because both people say grace, or Son of God, or eternal life, and each hears their own meaning. Ask, gently: when you say Jesus is the Son of God, what do you mean by that? Then say what you mean. Talk about God's nature before anything else, because the doctrine of God is where the two faiths actually part, and the questions of the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith follow from it. Ask to read the Bible together; most Latter-day Saints will gladly, and the Bible is the one book you hold in common. Be honest about assurance: the single most freeing thing many former Latter-day Saints report is discovering that eternal life is a gift already given, not a standard still to be met, so speak of what Christ has finished (John 19:30; Hebrews 10:12-14). Expect a testimony rather than an argument: your friend was taught to bear testimony of the restored gospel, and may invite you to pray about the Book of Mormon; you can answer that you test every message against the Scripture God has already given, and that you have. Do not rush. Leaving a faith that is also a family, a community and a whole way of life costs more than most Christians imagine; be the friend who is still there afterwards, and pray for them by name.

• Do not say Latter-day Saints are not Christians as your opening line. They believe they are, sincerely; the honest and more useful statement is that their teaching about God and Jesus differs from historic Christianity at the root, and to explain how.
• Do not repeat the sensational versions of what happens in temples, or use the word cult. Both end the conversation and neither is necessary.
• Do not claim the Book of Mormon teaches nothing about grace or the atonement. It teaches both, at length; the difference lies in what exaltation requires and in who God is.
• Do not assume the person believes every teaching from the church's past. Some historical teachings have been revised or set aside, and the individual in front of you may not hold them.
• Do not use Revelation 22:18-19 as if it were about the whole Bible. It refers to the book of Revelation, and your friend knows it.
• Do not attack Joseph Smith's character as your main argument. Even if every criticism were granted, it would not by itself settle who God is; keep the conversation on God and on Christ.

What your friend is likely to say, and an answer you can give in your own words, with the passages behind it.

Example conversations: what was said, what worked, what to avoid, and the passages used.