Module review

Begin by asking what she believes, since members vary in emphasis. Then explain fairly that LDS sources teach God the Father has a body of flesh and bones (D&C 130:22), that Joseph Smith taught God was once as we are now and is an exalted man (King Follett discourse, 1844), summed up in Lorenzo Snow's couplet, and that the exalted may become gods (D&C 132:20). In fairness, the church's essay “Becoming Like God” says God's children will always worship him. Scripture, however, says no god was formed before Yahweh or after him (Isa 43:10), that God knows of no other God (Isa 44:6-8), that he is God from everlasting to everlasting (Ps 90:2), that he is not a man (Num 23:19) and that he is spirit (John 4:24). This changes everything: God is no longer the uncreated Creator, Jesus becomes an elder spirit brother rather than the eternal Son through whom all things were made, and grace becomes enabling power rather than God justifying the ungodly. Close with a kind question such as “Did Heavenly Father have a Father?”

• asks rather than assumes
• LDS sources cited accurately (D&C 130:22, King Follett, Snow, D&C 132:20)
• biblical texts on the one eternal, uncreated God
• why it changes Christ and salvation
• respectful tone and a genuine question

Thank them and represent the promise fairly: Moroni 10:4 says God will manifest the truth to those who ask with a sincere heart and real intent, often described as a burning in the bosom (D&C 9:8). Christians agree the Spirit gives assurance (Rom 8:16), but Scripture tells us to test a new revelation by what God has already said, not by a feeling. Deuteronomy 13:1-5 rejects even a prophet whose sign comes true if he leads to other gods; Galatians 1:8 curses an angel with another gospel; the Bereans examined the Scriptures (Acts 17:11); and the heart is deceitful (Jer 17:9). Note gently that the test cannot fail, because no witness is blamed on lack of real intent, and ask whether praying about adultery and feeling peace would make it right. On history, choose one issue and cite the church's own essay: for example, the Book of Abraham papyri are funerary texts from the third century BC to the first century AD, and the essay offers a missing-papyrus or a catalyst explanation. Then return to the main question: does the God of later LDS teaching match the God of Isaiah 43-45?

• fair statement of Moroni 10:4 and D&C 9:8
• Scripture as the test (Deut 13; Gal 1:8; Acts 17:11; Jer 17:9)
• the test cannot fail; the adultery question
• one historical issue with the church's own response
• redirects to the doctrine of God and the gospel

Thank him and take his words seriously: many leaders, such as Brad Wilcox, now stress that grace is available before, during and after our efforts. Ask what he means by being saved and by exaltation, and whether he can know today that he will be exalted. Usually grace will still turn out to be enabling power to keep covenants, while exaltation depends on ordinances and enduring to the end (2 Nephi 25:23; Moroni 10:32; Articles of Faith 1:3). The Bible says we cannot do our best, because we are dead in sin (Eph 2:1), and no one has kept every commandment (James 2:10). The eternal Son bore the penalty for our sins as our substitute, and God justifies the ungodly by crediting Christ's righteousness to all who repent and believe (Rom 4:5; 2 Cor 5:21). Good works are the fruit of salvation, not its root (Eph 2:8-10), and believers can know now that they have eternal life (1 John 5:13). Share how you know you are forgiven, and invite him to read Romans 4 together.

• fair account of the newer grace emphasis (Wilcox)
• clarifying questions about salvation, exaltation and assurance
• inability: dead in sin; James 2:10
• justification of the ungodly through Christ's substitution and imputed righteousness
• works as fruit; assurance; warm invitation

The restoration rests on the claim that after the apostles died the true church, its priesthood authority and plain truths were lost, so that God had to restore them through Joseph Smith (1 Nephi 13:26-29; Joseph Smith-History 1:19). If the church never totally fell away, there was nothing to restore. Jesus promised that the gates of hell would not prevail against his church (Matt 16:18) and that he would be with his disciples to the end of the age (Matt 28:20), and Jude 3 speaks of the faith once for all delivered to the saints. Church history shows real corruption and division, but corruption is not total apostasy: God has always kept a remnant (Rom 11:5), and the Reformation renewed the church by recalling it to Scripture, not by creating a new priesthood. Hebrews says the Aaronic priesthood was fulfilled in Christ and that Jesus holds his Melchizedek priesthood permanently (Heb 7:11-12, 24), while all believers are a royal priesthood (1 Pet 2:9). The manuscript evidence also shows the Bible was not lost. Ask kindly: “What exactly was lost, and how do we know it was lost completely?”

• states the Great Apostasy claim accurately in LDS terms
• explains why everything depends on it
• Matt 16:18; 28:20; Jude 3
• corruption is not total apostasy: remnant and Reformation
• Christ's permanent priesthood (Heb 7) and the priesthood of all believers