Mormon Direction

Most of us have seen this literature, where people have claimed Mormonism is false, accusing the Mormon Church of cover-ups, lies, false doctrine, and the sort. They have quoted leaders of this Church and even LDS scholars and from these quotes they made claims and accusations against the Church and its doctrines, sometimes against the membership as a whole. Some members of the Church found themselves swayed by Anti-Mormon literature, where their testimony and belief in the Church has fallen or crumbled, but of course, this is not true for all members.

My testimony was challenged, even degraded by some Anti-Mormons, but in the face of all the Anti’s, I continued steadfast with the Church and relied heavily on the Holy Spirit to offset the Anti deluge. In the past, I wondered why some members quit the Church when the availability of the Holy Spirit was (to me) so easy, but over time I saw that these members did not have any spiritual testimony from the Spirit or they failed to maintain their spiritual testimony and fell to the wilds of the world.

I have also read a book or two from other (Anti-Mormon) Christians, I was not impressed, especially with how they have misrepresented statements from Church leaders, made ludricous claims and misused the Bible, even using the Bible to justify their attacks and false claims, which is why I wrote this article.

It is not the intention of the Church (or myself) to force censor onto fellow members of the Church as many will read Anti-Mormon literature. Some will throw it in the trash bin while others will consider the claims and some will take it as gospel.

To provide some help, I would like to do is provide some suggestions when reading Anti-Mormon literature.

1. Know the scriptures, what they mean, context, etc - this is important because Anti-Mormons will use Bible passages to make claims or justify themselves.
2. Review Bible passages (used by Anti-Mormons) in other Bible versions. Biblegateway.com is a good place to access numerous Bible versions. Anti-Mormons generally do not use the King James Version and some other Bible versions are very poor, having corrupted many of the passages, even removed some.
3. Know some Bible history or find good quality resources that reveal how the Bible was formed.
4. Know some history of the early Christian Church. A good book to obtain is “The Inevitable Apostasy and the Promised Restoration” by Tad R. Callister. This book provides historic proof that “Mormon Doctrines” are not Mormon, but early Christian and practiced by the early Christian Church. 
5. Never assume quotes of Church leaders and scholars used by Anti-Mormons are quoted correctly or quoted in proper context. Anti-Mormons have a bad habit of spinning the words of others to suit their attacks and claims. Check quotes out, take the time to find and research the words used within their proper context. The Internet provides access to many of the early Mormon writings.
6. Depend on the Holy Spirit and keep the faith. This has been a faith saver for me. Many times the Spirit assisted me in finding the needed information to confirm the truth regarding concerns about the Church. Those who choose not to seek the help from the Spirit may find themselves lost or confused when dealing with Anti-Mormon literature.
7. Take your time. Never be impatient when trying to research historic information about the Church and always keep the mind and heart focused on obtaining truth and correct understanding that sustains faith. Sometimes, resolution takes time as it depends on if you are ready, faith-wise, to receive the information. You may need further spiritual development before God will open the door to the information you seek. This is, of course, faith testing.
8. Trust Church leaders. The worst thing to do is develop a mistrust for Church leaders. Since God wants them there and approves of who is there, trust, but in that trust keep your free will because I do not suggest blind obedience.
9. Learn to recognize when others are caught in personal issues. One of the most prevalent problems that lead people down the wrong path with misunderstandings is when they allow their personal issues to take the lead. Personal issues are not truth about the Church, they are only truth about the person who lives those issues and they are….personal.

With these suggestions, a member can properly arm him/herself against the many wild claims from Anti-Mormons and disaffected ex-members. Always be prepared, your faith will increase because of it.