Glenn Beck's "pure personal truth," Part 1 [Real Mormonism]

Here Glenn Beck goes again, claiming he's a Christian, this time at Restoring Courage 2011 — Jerusalem. Glenn gets upset when anyone questions his Christianity. That's weird because he's a Mormon who affirms the official teaching of Mormonism aka the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS). The LDS outright deny many of the essential doctrines of the Christian faith. Moreover, LDS doctrine contradicts what Scripture teaches. So of course there are Christians who feel Beck's not a true follower of Jesus Christ — not the Jesus of the Bible anyway. When his "I'm a Christian" claim is held up to scrutiny Glenn gets his knickers in a knot. At the rally he choked up with emotion and said in an accusatory tone that only Christians question his salvation.

People are wondering, and rightly so, how a Mormon in good standing can also be an evangelical. I mean, Glenn has no plans to leave his church any time soon. Sure, that could change — and hopefully it will. But right now his wagon is hitched to the LDS and he's in it for the long haul.

What many people fail to understand is that Mormonism is a religion. It is not the same religion as Christianity, not even close, yet they say they're Christians. Take the time to study their Doctrine and Covenants and you'll find their beliefs are very different from historic, orthodox Christianity, especially when it comes to the essentials of the faith. Undeniably Mormons have high moral standards as do Christians. Mormons are right up there with evangelicals and Catholics in fighting the culture war. They oppose abortion on demand, same-sex "marriage" and have many of the same cultural concerns as other people of faith do. One thing's for sure: When it comes to fighting the culture war Mormons put their money where their mouth is, whereas a large number of evangelicals and Catholics are more prone to let sleeping dogs lie.

— After you become a good Mormon, you have the potential of becoming a god, (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pages 345-347, 354).

— The Trinity is three separate gods, (James Talmage, Articles of Faith, p. 35).

— God the Father has a body of flesh and bones, (Doctrine and Covenants, 130:22).

— God is married to his goddess wife and has spirit children, (Mormon Doctrine p. 516)

The Bible does not teach any of this! It's what the founder of Mormonism Joseph Smith and Mormon prophets taught. What does Scripture really teach? Matt explains:

Christianity, which is based on the Bible, says there is only one God (Isa. 43:10; 44:6,8; 45:5); that God is a Trinity of persons, not three gods; that God has always been God (Psalm 90:2); that God knows of no other gods (Is. 44:8); that you cannot become a god (Isa. 43:10); and that God is spirit (John 4:24). This contradicts Mormonism. Therefore, Mormonism is not biblical, and not Christian. If Glen Beck holds to the teachings listed above, then he is not Christian.

All of this begs the question: Why do evangelical leaders choose to team up with a Mormon? More specifically why did historian David Barton of Wall Builders, Attorney Mat Staver of Liberty Counsel, Mike Evans of Jerusalem Prayer Team, and Pastor John Hagee join Glenn at the Restoring Courage rally?

California megachurch pastor Jim Garlow said, "I have interviewed persons who have talked specifically with Glenn about his personal salvation — persons extremely well known in Christianity — and they have affirmed (using language evangelicals understand), 'Glenn is saved,'" Garlow reported. "He understands receiving Christ as savior." (Online source)

David Barton stunned the audience when he went on Live TV and told host Randy Robison (here) that just because Beck attends a Mormon church "doesn't say anything about his personal relationship with Jesus." Which Jesus? The counterfeit Jesus of Mormonism or the Jesus of the Bible? Barton worries that "a lot of people judge Glenn on the label, he's Mormon." He wants us to ignore the Mormon label, says he doesn't care about the label. The host probed: "You believe he's a Christian in every sense of the word?" Without flinching Barton replied, "I do. I have literally watched him pray and hear from the Lord and turn on a dime." He thinks Glenn is hearing from the God of the Bible...but is he, really?

I have a challenge for David Barton: Read Glenn's book The Seven Wonders That Will Change Your Life co-authored with Dr. Keith Ablow. In the book he lays out his "pure personal truth." (In part 2 I'll shed light on Glenn's view of "truth.")

The Lord Jesus said, "You must be born again" (John 3:3, 5, 7, 8, 1 Peter 1:3) to qualify as a Christian. Muslims do not believe Jesus was God, they believe He was the last prophet sent by God. They respect him as much as they respect Abraham, Moses and Muhammad. Are Muslims Christians? No. New Agers are pantheists. For them God is all, all is God. They hold that "Jesus was a highly evolved man who realized his inner divinity — the Christ Consciousness — demonstrating that all men could achieve this." Are they Christians? No.

Recently Larry Klayman, founder of Judicial Watch and Freedom Watch, wrote an article to show his support for Restoring Courage. "So it came to pass," said Klayman who is an evangelical, "that Glenn pulled off a magnificent spectacle, bringing Christians and Jews from all parts of the globe together to show their courage in supporting Israel." (Online source) Glenn also brought many Mormons. Why did Klayman not mention them? If Beck was a Muslim would he have left that out of his article? No, he wouldn't have. What he probably would have said was, "Glenn pulled off a magnificent spectacle, bringing Muslims, Christians and Jews from all parts of the globe together..." Surely Klayman would have included "Muslim" if a Muslim organized and hosted the rally!

Giving Larry Klayman the benefit of the doubt, he probably thinks Mormons are Christians because they have a habit of saying they are. It doesn't help that Christian luminaries such as Richard Land of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, Bishop Harry Jackson who presides over one of the largest African American churches on the East coast and Jim Garlow (referred to above) stood with him at his 2010 rally in Washington D.C. and as I mentioned earlier, other noted evangelicals stood with him in Israel. These men don't seem to have a problem with the fact that even though Glenn says he's a Christian he remains a member of the LDS Church. As a matter of fact, the tour company he recommended to those attending his big shindig is owned by Mormons. Jack Kinsella went to the Israel event and claims this is something he concealed. In a piece he wrote Stolen Blessings: The LDS Connection he says LDS Travel is "identical in every respect to Voyager Travel, except that LDS Travel makes it clear that it is a Latter Days Saints Church operation." Jack was irked that sincere Christians that took Glenn's advice to use Voyager Travel inadvertently contributed to the advancement of Mormonism.

After all the brouhaha over whether or not Glenn Beck is a Christian I do hope our Christian leaders, some of whom are clergy, others attorneys, will not just take his word for it. I hope they'll dig deep into LDS doctrine to find out what Mormons believe. The Bible warns:

Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try [test] the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. (1John 4:1)

Believers must test to see if LDS teaching is true or false. For example, do the Latter-day Saints really teach that God has a body of flesh and bones as Matt Slick claimed? Let's visit the LDS Gospel Library Gospel Topics to see if it's true or false:

God the Father is the Supreme Being in whom we believe and whom we worship. He is the ultimate Creator, Ruler, and Preserver of all things. He is perfect, has all power, and knows all things. He "has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man's" (D&C 130:22). (Bold added.)

No doubt some Beck fans will be annoyed that I'm "attacking" their hero. I hope you're annoyed enough to research Mormonism (links below) and to go and look at Scripture to see if what I'm saying here is true.

I must digress for a moment to explain why I'm writing a piece on Glenn Beck. Some of the subjects I cover in my column are politics, the culture war, and religion which include the cults, the occult, and a potpourri of aberrant movements within Christianity. My aim is to unearth unbiblical teaching and bring it to light. The reason I do it is because there's a stunning lack of discernment in Christendom that I find deeply troubling.

For many years I was one of those Christians who blazed my own trail. My belief system was decidedly New Age but I called myself a Christian nonetheless. My worldview was anything but Christian, I was a New Age/gnostic/mystic/mess. I professed Christ, yet I rarely read the Bible and when I did I'd find fault in most of what I read. When my Christian mother challenged me on my goofy beliefs I'd snap back, "You believe what you want I'll believe what I want!" And I believed what I wanted for decades! I won't go into all that was wrong with my beliefs now. I'll just say that I was a very eclectic "Christian." And that's mainly because I was influenced by my friends, most of whom were not Christians, and also by the postmodern culture I grew up in. My mother's death and a nasty divorce were the two events that caused me to reassess my life.

Providentially God put me in a job where I met and became friends with true believers. My new friends challenged my esoteric beliefs and urged me to read the works of conservative Christian theologians, philosophers and apologists. They also urged me to find a church, read the Bible and get involved in a Bible study. I took their advice.

Realizing its serious business to be a follower of Jesus Christ, I spent most of my free time trying to sort out what I believed and why I believed it. One of the first books I read was Ray C. Stedman's Authentic Christianity. What an eye-opener that was! Then I moved on to John White's The Cost of Commitment and other books by White. But the book that shook me to my core was R.C. Sproul's The Holiness of God. I highly recommend it.

I also read books on the New Age movement (NAM) written by Christian authors who warned of its dangers. I devoured Kingdom of the Cults by Dr. Walter Martin. There's no doubt reading his books and listening to his audio tapes gave me insight into the cults and the occult.

So, why am I sharing my personal journey? I want readers to know where I'm coming from and why I'm committed to exposing false teachers. When I bring to light false teaching/ teachers/ preachers/church leaders, what Jesus called "ravenous wolves," I do it for one simple reason: Wolves influenced my thinking for many years and the unbiblical beliefs I held prevented me from maturing in my faith.

One of my HUGE regrets is that I influenced those around me with all the New Age/gnostic/pagan/psychobabble I was into. I mean, why not? The beliefs I latched onto seemed right for everyone! (Sounds like Oprah, doesn't it?) In < a href="http://www.emailbrigade.com/331.html">The Purpose Driven dismantling of Christianity, part 1 I call this sort of Christianity "syncretism stew," which is Christianity plus... paganism...mysticism... new revelation...signs & wonders...Jungian psychology...man-centered self-esteem... Twelve-steps...universalism (all roads lead to God)... and, thanks to Rick Warren, global peace. This concoction may sound nourishing, but it causes spiritual malnutrition!

Those who believe God enlightens some and not others and that they have some sort of secret knowledge have been drawn into the heresy that the early church faced and defeated, namely gnosticism. Once again the Gnostic Gospel has reared its ugly head.

Christianity never has been nor is it now meant to be some sort of esoteric experience. And besides, going down that road leads to spiritual pride. Authentic Christianity entails a daily walk with the Lord Jesus Christ and obedience to his commands. (John 14:15) It is that simple. The only way we can truly know God is through what He has revealed to us in the Bible. If the Bible is not true, if it is just a book of myths and fables as some say it is, if it's not the way God reveals who He is and His ways to us anyone can claim to have the indisputable truth about God.

Quote from LDS.org: And he said unto me: Behold there are save two churches only; the one is the church of the Lamb of God [LDS], and the other is the church of the devil [Christendom]; wherefore, whoso belongeth not to the church of the Lamb of God belongeth to that great church, which is the mother of abominations; and she is the whore of all the earth. 1 Nephi, 14:10 Book of Mormon

Quote from LDS.org: LDS Church President Lorenzo Snow expressed the nature of the Father in his couplet, "As man is, God once was — and as God is, man may become."

[A]s the Agent of the Father and Judge of all, Christ is able to be both merciful and just (John 5:22; Romans 2:16). To obtain His mercy, or be saved from His wrath, or indigation [sic], on the day of judgment, men and women must (1) have faith in Christ, (2) repent of their sins, (3) be baptized by one of His authorized agents in water in the likeness of His burial, to come forth born again of the Spirit, (4) receive the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands, again by an authorized servant of God bearing His priesthood, and (5) endure in faith in Christ and repentance from sins to the end of their mortal lives. (Online Source)

The nature of that body...will depend on the result of the Last Judgment, at which Jesus will assign each soul to one of three degrees of glory (heavenly kingdoms): the celestial kingdom in the presence of the Father and the Son for those who accept Jesus Christ and receive all LDS saving ordinances, either as a mortal or by proxy; the terrestrial kingdom, a place of glory in the presence of Christ for righteous persons who refuse to receive the saving ordinances and for those who do not keep the covenants they commit to; and the telestial kingdom for the wicked. A further destination, called outer darkness, is reserved for Satan, his devils, and those mortals who commit the unpardonable sin and thereby become the sons of perdition.[61] Those who are ultimately destined for the telestial kingdom will be those who suffer for their sins in hell; however, these persons remain in hell only the 1000 years during the millennial reign of Christ, after which they will exit hell and be resurrected with an immortal body into a state of peace. (Online Source)

Thank you, Elsie, for taking me up on this.

I think Christianity has two components:
1) the message — what Christ is to have said about how to live a godly life
2) the messenger — the meaning of Christ personally, and his role as a unique messenger
Most denominations focus on accepting Christ as a messenger, without discussing the message so much.

What is the message, excluding the part that refers to Christ’s own role? At least this:
1) have faith in God and his benevolence
2) love your fellow man as yourself
3) be stoic in the face of life’s problems, relying on faith in God (a la Job)

In shorter form, these are:
1) optimism
2) good will and charity
3) stoicism.

So, in my opinion, the principles above are Christianity’s core, and ought to be seen as what Christianity offers to the world.

Note, I did not talk about the messenger much. Most Christian denominations focus on the messenger to a great extent.

If one has absorbed Christ’s message, then one becomes optimistic/good/stoic. Then, let the world do its worst, because it’s transient. We can live the life of Job, and NOT be healed at the end, because we’re that faithful and at peace with God.

Thanks, and Good Will, to you and all FReepers.

Don’t condemn the man though, for that makes you the judge of this man which is to claim authority over him, do you think yourself a God? With your love of the man, pull him to Christ, convert him. You don’t convert someone with hate and personal attacks. [Dila813 to Dr. Thorne]

You have declared by your attempt to redefine this word as against him and are partners with the deceiver. I am not a Mormon, I think the religion is bogus, but this attack by twisting the meaning of words is evil in the same way that the devil likes to twist words and meanings. Be gone [Dila813 to Colofornian less than 2.5 hours previous to post #101]

Could the real Dila813 please assume the witness stand?

Yea, if you go and attack him, I suppose he would.

Why don’t you just ask him to pray with you and have faith that God will enter his heart and open it to the truth.

Do you think God is that powerless? Are you insecure with your own faith?

I believe my God is all powerful and I am secure in my faith. I fear not for my God.

There’s no way mormon beliefs can be said to line up with the Apostle’s Creed. Their teachings are fundamentally different from Christianity.

Yes, Mormonism's teachings are fundamentally different from Christianity.

But actually when it comes to the very specific Apostles Creed, there's really nothing there that's objectionable to Mormon doctrine.

The closest it comes is the mention of one holy catholic church (small "c"). The word "catholic" as applied to that time of the creed just = universal -- as in one universal church...not Roman Catholic with a big "C."

But, of course, the lack of Mormon provocation over details within the Apostles Creed in and of itself proves Joseph Smith to be a false prophet.

He claimed that the unnamed entities who appeared to him -- as outlined in Joseph Smith History, vv.18-20 in the Pearl of Great Price -- told him that ALL the creeds of the Christian sects were an "abomination" to them.

Mormon, tell us: What's so "abominable" about the Apostles Creed? What in its content is so objectionable?

I've looked @ Mormon doctrine in depth. There's absolutely Nothing objectionable or putrid or abominable about its content, as the entities who appeared to Smith proclaimed.

Go ahead. Read the Apostles Creed. Then ask yourself, what kind of a being of light would appear to man and claim that the Apostles Creed was an "abomination" to him? (And He didn't same some of the creeds were an abomination; he very specifically said "ALL.")

I think we know the origins of Mormonism. The Apostles Creed would only be objectionable as an "abomination" to demonic angels.

I read what you posted.....

Are you a Christian?

To me, the focus of Christianity is/remains on the message: be optimistic/good/stoic. Christianity is not a hurdle to be jumped over — it is an understanding of our role in the world, so that we can be harmonious with God, happy and helpful.

And, in the way I describe it, I am trying to live by Christian principles. The key principle, not mentioned above but implicit, is: value your own clear conscience. It is the most important possession you will ever have.

dila813: Instead of attacking the guy personally, maybe you should be trying to convert him to your church?

Nana: How ??? The guy cries like a girl if a Christian talks to him...

dila813: Yea, if you go and attack him, I suppose he would.
_______________________________________________

Good grief...

Beck needs to “man up”

So you are saying that obeying the LORD Jesus and preaching the Gospel to Beck is “attacking” him ???

Would you come and shoo the 52,000 mormon mishies with their false religion from my door ???

Im about to cry...

I am looking at this thread, and everything seems to be a projection of everything about the Mormonism being projected onto Glen Beck. I am a Roman Catholic, but I would be really embarrassed if everyone assumed that every dogma, belief, etc.. could be projected on me. Good or bad, I just don’t believe 100% of the dogma and tradition of the church, I just know too much of the church history and the politics surrounding it to buy into every traditional dogmatic item. [Dila, post #81]

This thread was about how Mormonism defined the man “Glen Beck” as if they are one in the same. Since this is the premise of this thread, I can’t buy into you trying to recast this entire thread. [Dila, post #156]

Come on, Dila, be fair. Can you name ANY adherent of ANY religion who absolutely 100% embodies every tenet, beatitude, nuance, behavior, practice, polity, etc. of that religion?

And therefore, are we to conclude, that because EVERYBODY has at least "slight wiggle room" that nobody is ever a representative of that faith or religion? Really?

I went to http://deseretbook.com -- which is owned by the Mormon church -- to find its description of a certain Glenn Beck DVD resource entitled An Unlikely Mormon: The Conversion Story of Glenn Beck (2008).

Here's an excerpt of their description of GLENN BECK's PRESENTATION that GLENN BECK APPROVED for his religious body to circulate worldwide!

...In this presentation, Glenn Beck tells an audience of nearly 7,000 about his conversion to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints...Glenn bears his testimony about home teaching, tithing, and the transforming power of the Spirit....Glenn's story will strengthen the testimony of any Latter-day Saint. In addition, An Unlikely Mormon will be an ideal missionary tool.

So. Here we have Glenn Beck himself allowing his testimony to be used by the Mormon church as "an ideal missionary tool."

Here we have Glenn Beck himself merging his testimony of this church with its missionary enterprises.

I don't see Glenn Beck "straight-arming" the Mormon church; but to hear you tell it, they are like ships passing in the night and any linkage at all is mere co-inkidink.

“Come on, Dila, be fair. Can you name ANY adherent of ANY religion who absolutely 100% embodies every tenet, beatitude, nuance, behavior, practice, polity, etc. of that religion?”

That was my point. I am being fair, I don’t think others on this thread are.

Don’t read the cd description, talk to the guy, I bet he never authored what you are attributing to him.

I bet the church wanted his story as tilth to the church.

Hogwash tax. IF the Christian 'message' was to be optimistic/good/stoic there was no purpose in the cross and Jesus could have been just like one of dozens of philosophers throughout the ages. There would have been absolutely no necessity for his death.

Optimistic - Jesus told his followers that the world would hate them like they did him.

Good - Man is innately sinful and Jesus said "none are good but God".

Stoic - LOL, well I guess you better be stoic when you are relying on a perky, works based method of salvation Tax.

“To me, the focus of Christianity is/remains on the message: be optimistic/good/stoic. Christianity is not a hurdle to be jumped over — it is an understanding of our role in the world, so that we can be harmonious with God, happy and helpful.

I’m afraid your view of Christianity is not line with the Bible. Living a certain way by one’s one power has nothing to do with Christianity.

The Bible describes humanity as lost in their sin in need of forgiveness. Jesus, who is Almighty God in the flesh, offered himself as a sacrifice for our sins. If a person accepts the sacrifice that Jesus made as payment for their sin and trusts in Him as Lord, then they are “born again” and will see the kindgom of God.

Really, you have to be a bigot to discuss religious issues. I may be new, but...
_______________________________________________

When the LORD Jesus Christ was here all He did was “discuss religious issues”

Oh and beforte he came and after also...

Why he wrote a whole book on “religious issues”

In your newness would you say the LORD Jesus Christ is a bigot ???

His whole business is about “religious issues”

Are you too new for the Bible ???

If so you might start with the Book of John...

Its in the New Testament after Luke..

I have no idea what you are talking about... go ahead and judge me

Please be aware then, that the judgment on me will come back on you...you can’t give yourself God’s authority on Earth without trying to usurp God.

This is just as bad as what people are accusing Glen Beck of doing.

I remember going to a Pentecostal Church one Sunday at the invitation of a friend of my Wife’s, the preacher said that we shouldn’t judge others less we be judged....later on in the same sermon he said that we have people coming into the Church saying they are Christians and we look at them and look at each other knowing that they aren’t Christians.

7 people rose in unison in the Church and walked out, I was one of them.

Sometimes people don’t even realize what they are doing or saying.

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