A Response to FARMS Critique of Questions to ask your Mormon Friends
Nonoffensive? (Pp. 155-160)
In our book, we attempt to show the reader how to ask LDS friends and acquaintances questions about their faith that we have used with reasonable success in our ministry. These questions are designed to show how Mormonism falls short in light of the Bible and history. After all, many Mormons have never thoughtfully and systematically worked through the reasons behind their faith. It was in our preface where we attempted to give the Christian some hints on how to become a better witness. After quoting some of these references, Jacobson writes:
Since most of the arguments and accusations presented in Questions to Ask Your Mormon Friend have, in the past, proven to be at least mildly offensive to the majority of Latter-day Saint members, it is hard to understand why the authors believed these same arguments would fail to offend this time around. In addition, the authors ignore much of the good advice that they gave to their readers and thus produce the same negative confrontations that they tell their readers to avoid. (pg. 156)
First of all, it needs to be pointed out that we have encountered many Mormons who perceive themselves as being "persecuted" for any attempt to question their beliefs, no matter how civil the question may be presented. We are well aware that this "persecution complex" is unfortunately a character trait of many Latter-day Saints. Still, we never said none would be offended; we merely state that the way in which we phrase the questions may be less offensive to the Latter-day Saint, thus allowing the Christian to engage in a meaningful dialogue. Jacobson charges that we break our own advice, which she summarizes from pages 10 and 11 of our book:
- "Avoid telling Mormons what they believe. Instead, ask them what their position is on a certain issue."
- "Make sure to define your terms ... Mormonism has adopted Christian terminology while substituting its private definitions."
Under the first area of "good advice," Jacobson attempts to show "What Mormons say" as compared to "What McKeever and Johnson tell the Mormons what they really believe." In her set-up, Jacobson says that non-LDS like us cannot know what Mormons believe unless we directly quote LDS leaders or writers. When we attempt to clarify in our own words what Mormonism "teaches" (notice, we are not saying this is what every Mormon "believes"), Jacobson claims that we have no authority because we are not Mormon and therefore should not "tell the Mormons (what) they really believe." What Jacobson has done is set up the classic smokescreen.
We need to point out that Jacobson would have to admit that not every person who claims to be a Mormon believes in the same things. Yet this is the impression Jacobson seems to give. If we quoted Ogden Kraut, D. Michael Quinn, or Richard Hopkins--all of whom consider themselves to be as "Mormon" as any other Latter-day Saint--should we assume that what they say is true Mormon thought? What if they disagree? Or what if our neighbor is "Mormon" but tells us something that contradicts the leadership in Salt Lake City? Should we believe the neighbor or the LDS prophet?
Unfortunately, Jacobson does not explain how we can tell which Saints can be believed and those who can't be trusted. Jacobson and others who claim that we should only listen to those Mormons who don't contradict Mormonism need to realize that this is why we try to be concerned with "what Mormonism teaches" rather than with "what Mormons merely believe." In our writings we attempt to quote those Mormons who are either considered LDS general authorities or who speak in harmony with what official LDS doctrine teaches.
By using this argumentation, Jacobson makes a fatal error by attempting to give an impression that, since we are not LDS, we do not have the authority to summarize what Mormonism teaches. Jacobson's argument breaks down quickly. If her line of reasoning is correct, then how is it possible for any Mormon to attack such important Christian doctrines as grace and the Trinity? Mormons are not evangelical Christians, yet this hasn't stopped such Mormons as Joseph Smith, George Q. Cannon, Bruce McConkie, Richard Hopkins, or the many Mormons to whom we witness to in the streets of Manti or on the phone, from chastising Christians and their beliefs. To say you have to be a Mormon to understand Mormonism is akin to saying that only politicians can understand politics or only auto mechanics are able to comprehend the inner workings of cars.
While we may not see eye-to-eye on important doctrines, many Mormons and Christians speak the same language--English--and, when the terms are fully defined, this is how we can compare our faiths and understand that the two are incompatible. This is why studying the Bible and the history of Christianity are essential as we dialogue in a civil manner.
Regarding the second piece of good advice (defining terms), Jacobson criticizes the Mormon/Christian dictionary that we produced at the end of our book. So, with words like "testimony," "prophet," "scripture," "Christian," "omnipotent," etc., she wonders how is it possible for two non-Mormons such as ourselves to give LDS definitions. According to Jacobson's logic, since she is a Mormon, and since these are not the exact words that SHE would have used for the definition, our LDS definitions are flawed. She never concedes that perhaps it is her definitions that may be flawed. She never backs her definitions with authoritative references.
While we attempted to be as complete as possible in such a concise 44-page dictionary (with close to 200 definitions), we obviously had to be short and to the point. We summed up whole doctrines in a paragraph or less, something that we discovered is an extraordinarily tough thing to do. However, the reader will notice that in many cases we defined the word by using a direct quote from official LDS sources.
We'd like to take a closer look at where she felt we "failed to recognize the definitions which Mormons give to many words."