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Witnessing to Mormons -

Some First Principles

by Marian Bodine

from the Witnessing Tips column of the Christian Research Journal, Fall 1987, page 7. The Editor-in-Chief of the Christian Research Journal is Elliot Miller.

When witnessing to the Mormon it is vital to select and concentrate on an isolated topic for discussion. Otherwise you will likely find yourself being taken down "rabbit trails" which rarely lead to anything productive. You will find that you cannot satisfactorily respond to one statement before another is made. Make every effort to avoid this pitfall as the discussion can become meaningless unless you can stay "on track" long enough to make your point.

Not infrequently the Mormon will interrupt your presentation with a questions prefaced with, "Well, what about...?" Usually this leads to an entire change of subject. Calmly remind the Mormon that for clarity's sake it is important that he or she allow you to finish your point. Likewise, be courteous and allow him or her to respond without interruption.

Sometimes the Mormon will interrupt you with his/her testimony, which is: "I testify to you that Joseph Smith is a prophet of God, the Mormon church is true, Jesus is the Christ, Ezra Taft Benson is a prophet on the earth today, and I say this in the name of Jesus Christ, amen." You might reply: "Your personal testimony is actually invalid because I testify to you that Joseph Smith was a false prophet, the Mormon church is not true, Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior, and Ezra Taft Benson is not a prophet on the earth today, and I say this is the name of Jesus Christ, amen." With the force of the Mormon's testimony effectively neutralized, chances are that you will not be interrupted with that tactic again.

Mormon missionaries urge the non-Mormon to pray about the Book of Mormon and ask God if it is true. When the Christian refuses to do this, the missionaries can become insistent, even trying to lay a "guilt trip" on those who are reluctant to agree to their challenge.

It is important to give some reasons why you will not pray about the Book of Mormon. The following illustrates how such a dialogue might proceed:


End of document, CRJ0017A.TXT (original CRI file name),
"Witnessing to Mormons - Some First Principles"
release A, February 7, 1994
R. Poll, CRI

A special note of thanks to Bob and Pat Hunter for their help in the preparation of this ASCII file for BBS circulation.


Copyright 1994 by the Christian Research Institute.

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