Apologetics and Evidence

I find that Mormons frequently claim that they are Christians, and that they want to be referred to as Christians, and that they have even recently sought to distance themselves from the word “Mormon.” The problem is, they worship another Jesus, and here is how to show them the difference between the Mormon Jesus and the Biblical Jesus. Before we get to that, some clarifications are necessary. Specifically, that they cannot even distance themselves from being called "Mormons."   The former Mormon President Russell Nelson said,    “What’s in a name or, in this case, a nickname? When it comes to nicknames of the Church, such as the “LDS Church,” the “Mormon Church,” or the “Church of the Latter-day Saints,” the most important thing in those names is the absence of the Savior’s name. To remove the Lord’s name from the Lord’s Church is a major victory for Satan. When we discard the Savior’s name, we are subtly disregarding all that Jesus Christ did for us—even His Atonement.”...

I hear the following kinds of phrases frequently, and most often from those who hold to a prosperity gospel  or who are somehow influenced by such: “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus, Satan…” “…in the name of Jesus, go back to the pit where you belong…” “I will rebuke Satan for your healing.” I question if we, as Christians, have such power to rebuke Satan. Something you might find interesting is that the Bible never says that we do have this power, but it does say something else very interesting concerning such… I want to jump right into this and see what the Bible says. Let’s start in Jude 9-11:    “But when the archangel Michael, contending with the devil, was disputing about the body of Moses, he did not presume to pronounce a blasphemous judgment, but said, ‘The Lord rebuke you.’”   Michael the archangel did not rebuke Satan. Michael, in the world of  Jehovah’s Witnesses , is the same person as Jesus. But it is significant to know that here, Michael does no...

If every culture is, in and of itself, salvifically hopeless, then the fullness of one’s identity in Tribal culture, Asian culture, American culture, Viking culture, or any culture, is hopeless. Culture cannot save us.       1.       All cultures in and of themselves are salvifically hopeless.        2.       There are people who place the fullness of their identity in their culture       3.       Therefore, those people who place the fullness of their identity in their culture are salvifically hopeless.  Because a culture can completely change from what it began as, it can therefore not be timeless (given enough time, change in a culture is inevitable). If something is removed from that culture, or added to it, it is a different culture altogether, much like the Ship of Theseus. Winfried Corduan writes,  By the term  diffusion , I mean the distribu...