I am on the mailing list to receive the Salt Lake City Messenger, a magazine produced by former Mormons. An interesting part of their magazine is “Excerpts from Letters and Emails.” On page 18 of Issue 116, May 2011, the following was published:
February 2011: I am LDS, just a member, not a leader, and what makes it interesting is I have had special experiences similar to those which Joseph Smith had. I have received revelation for myself, and have sure knowledge… There are many out there like me that have had similar experiences, they know also. They have been visited by the power of the Holy Ghost and instructed and have obtained knowledge first hand for themselves too.
As strange as it seems, this view of “receiving revelation” is in tune with Latter Day Saints doctrine.
Formal debates with Mormons are very rare. However, discussions have been conducted over the years. An interesting debate was held in Salt Lake City, August 17-21, 1942. The participants were Otis Gatewood of the church of Christ in Salt Lake, Utah and Kenneth E. Farnsworth, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, also of Salt Lake, Utah. This was an oral debate, and a book was published soon after the discussion. The book is now rare and hard to obtain. I bought my copy in October 1974.
James D. Bales was the moderator for Otis Gatewood. Bales wrote a five-page review of the debate at the end of the book. Extracting from page 228 is a portion of this review as follows, in response to LDS doctrine concerning “continuous revelation”:
1. Farnsworth assumed that continuous revelation is necessary in order to unite Christendom. He seemed to assume that believers were not united because they had a volume 2,000 years old and that they would be united if they had continuous revelation. Continuous revelation is assumed to be essential to unity of Bible believers.
2. The falsity of that position. This is shown by two things: First the Book of Mormon has helped establish other sects. Those who would be willing to unite on the Bible cannot on the Book of Mormon. Second, their continuous revelations have not brought them unity…
3. What we need is not continuous revelation, but to speak where the Bible speaks and to respect its silence. This will bring the unity for which Christ prayed.
The Scriptures condemn such folly of men, who claim to receive direct and continuous revelation. “But in vain do they worship me, Teaching as their doctrines the precepts of men” (Matthew 15:9 ASV). “Whosoever goeth onward and abideth not in the teaching of Christ, hath not God: he that abideth in the teaching, the same hath both the Father and the Son” (2 John 9).
I marvel that ye are so quickly removing from him that called you in the grace of Christ unto a different gospel; which is not another gospel only there are some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, should preach unto you any gospel other than that which we preached unto you, let him be anathema. As we have said before, so say I now again, if any man preacheth unto you any gospel other than that which ye received, let him be anathema. (Galatians 1:6-9)
