Jane_Doe Posted August 24, 2018 Posted August 24, 2018 3 hours ago, Analytics said: If you take what evangelicals say at face-value, then Mormons have faith in Jesus Christ and are therefore saved! I 100% agree with you there. Many Evangelicals are willing to see that. Others deny it by doing bunch of backflips and spinning the "different Jesus" bs. All in all, it's that individual's choice what they are going to do.
Analytics Posted August 24, 2018 Posted August 24, 2018 45 minutes ago, smac97 said: But it is part of the plain meaning of what many, many Evangelicals actually say about members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Their "fundamental, primary message" is to have faith in Christ. But here many Evangelicals resort to a sort of No True Scotsman-esque flourish when that message is applied to people like me. It goes like this: EV: All we need for salvation is to believe in Jesus Christ. ME: I believe in Jesus Christ. EV: No, you Mormons believe in a false Christ. I'm saying that you have to believe in the true Jesus Christ. ME: But I do believe that. I believe in the Jesus Christ of the Bible. EV: No, you believe in a "different Jesus," like it says in 2 Corinthians 11:4. ME: No, we don't. This point has come up so often that a well-known scholar in our church, Robert Millet, has written an entire book about it: A Different Jesus?: The Christ of the Latter-day Saints. EV: You believe in a different Jesus. Just like this article says. And this one. And on and on and on. And so it goes. Round and round on the merry-go-round. Ad infinitum. No. Thanks, -Smac I see. What I am saying is that by definition, their fundamental, primary message is strictly limited to, "All we need for salvation is to believe in Jesus Christ." The purpose of my post was to present a model for why they feel the need to add those subsequent ideas that contradict their fundamental, primary message.
smac97 Posted August 24, 2018 Author Posted August 24, 2018 7 minutes ago, Analytics said: I see. What I am saying is that by definition, their fundamental, primary message is strictly limited to, "All we need for salvation is to believe in Jesus Christ." I acknowledge that. My post pertained to the implied caveat that arises whenever a Latter-day Saint presumes to take the foregoing statement at face value. Hence the "No True Scotsman" reference. 7 minutes ago, Analytics said: The purpose of my post was to present a model for why they feel the need to add those subsequent ideas that contradict their fundamental, primary message. Okay. I'm not sure we are in substantial disagreement. Thanks, -Smac
jkwilliams Posted August 24, 2018 Posted August 24, 2018 (edited) 13 minutes ago, smac97 said: I acknowledge that. My post pertained to the implied caveat that arises whenever a Latter-day Saint presumes to take the foregoing statement at face value. Hence the "No True Scotsman" reference. Okay. I'm not sure we are in substantial disagreement. Yes, a lot of EVs I have met say they believe that accepting Christ as your Savior is the only thing required for salvation, but it often comes down to whether you accept a number of extra-Biblical doctrines, as if salvation were a multiple-choice test. "Oh, I'm sorry. The correct answer is C, 'God exists as three persons or hypostases, but is one being, having a single divine nature. The members of the Trinity are co-equal and co-eternal, one in essence, nature, power, action, and will.'" Edited August 24, 2018 by jkwilliams
Analytics Posted August 24, 2018 Posted August 24, 2018 44 minutes ago, smac97 said: I acknowledge that. My post pertained to the implied caveat that arises whenever a Latter-day Saint presumes to take the foregoing statement at face value. Hence the "No True Scotsman" reference. Okay. I'm not sure we are in substantial disagreement. Thanks, -Smac I don't think we are in any disagreement on this. I just think their position is kind of bizarre and wanted to offer my speculations about what is really driving it.
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