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Bob and co-host Kevin Conover interview Gary Sabin, part of the Mormon 70’s Quorum, and Mormon state president, Steve Pynes to discuss/clarify/contrast the beliefs of Mormons and Christians.

Is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormonism) merely another denomination of Christianity or are its claims contradictory to the Bible?

The two topics discussed in the most detail:

1) Does the Bible teach one God for the entire universe or many gods?

2) Is salvation a matter of faith alone or faith plus works?

NOTE: All parties spoke respectfully despite some of the disagreements. Bob and Kevin began by acknowledging that on social and moral issues Mormons and Christians work well together.

Some additional thoughts from Bob Siegel:

A one hour radio show goes by very quickly. Sometimes ideas are quickly touched upon without resolution. I want to offer some information on two areas of discussion:

1) There was some disagreement about whether Mormons accept the book of Enoch. I was challenging Mr. Sabin’s interpretation of I Peter and offering an explanation from the book of Enoch. I do NOT accept Enoch as part of the Bible. But sometimes these additional ancient documents reveal things the Jews believed thus shedding some light on an otherwise strange passage, especially when a letter is written by an apostle to an audience which already knows what he is talking about. It is difficult to read other people’s mail. If Peter refers quickly and casually to something Enoch explained in detail, it is helpful to have that information. It does not mean we need to accept Enoch as inspired. It merely means that there is a particular part of the book which Peter agreed with or perhaps some lost  parent writing found its way into the book of Enoch and  Peter was familiar with THAT writing. Whatever the source of this doctrine, if Peter was inspired, (and both Mormons and Christians believe he was) then at least that particular explanation of 1 Peter from Enoch  is also inspired.

All to say that when Jesus went into the spiritual prison, He was not (as Mr. Sabin suggested) rallying additional souls for God’s cause. He was condemning disobedient angels who had fallen from heaven and were now imprisoned. The Bible uses the terms “angels” and “spirits” interchangeably at times. As a matter of fact, one can turn to 2 Peter and see Peter call these same beings “angels.”

I brought up Enoch merely to point out an irony. A more accurate interpretation of Peter from a book Mormons accept (to some degree) would not be accepted by Mormons.

In any event, there IS a fascination that Mormons have with Enoch.  The following link is offered as an example for further interest http://eom.byu.edu/index.php/Enoch

2) In the discussion of multiple gods as opposed to only one God, Gary Sabin said that Jesus  (in John 10) was quoting not only from the Psalms but from Isaiah as well. I have no doubt that our guest said this sincerely but he is sincerely mistaken. He specifically sited Isaiah (41:23) which says the following:

“Tell us what the future holds, so we may know that you are gods. Do something, whether good or bad, so that we will be dismayed and filled with fear.” NIV

“Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law,‘I have said you are gods’ ?”

In context, Isaiah was talking about idol worship and mimicking the so called gods that wicked people follow, which makes sense since these chapter and verse divisions were not originally in the Scripture and we are very close here to Isaiah 43:10, the passage I brought up initially where Isaiah says there is only one God and in doing so contradicts the words of Joseph Smith.

Earlier on the show, Gary himself acknowledged the importance of looking at verses in context. This must include putting Isaiah 41:23 in the context of Isaiah’s larger discussion.

ADDITIONAL STUDY: To further explore some of the issues raised on this radio show, see Bob Siegel’s article: Can Evangelicals And Mormons Work Together?