Resources for talking with Mormons

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Just a quick question.

Can anyone recommend good resources, on line or in print, for talking with LDS church members in the street or when they come to the door?

Preferably resources from a Catholic perspective. (Also preferably easy to read, accurate and relatively easy to digest)

Any help would be appreciated, the Mormons seem to want to convert this town rather a lot. They are quite worrying people in their utter certainty about their faith, and their refusal to admit that there might be the remotest possibility that they are mistaken. So perhaps any discussion won’t come to anything but at least if I’m doing the discussing then no one else is.
 
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asteroid:
Just a quick question.

Can anyone recommend good resources, on line or in print, for talking with LDS church members in the street or when they come to the door?

Preferably resources from a Catholic perspective. (Also preferably easy to read, accurate and relatively easy to digest)

Any help would be appreciated, the Mormons seem to want to convert this town rather a lot. They are quite worrying people in their utter certainty about their faith, and their refusal to admit that there might be the remotest possibility that they are mistaken. So perhaps any discussion won’t come to anything but at least if I’m doing the discussing then no one else is.
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I have published to this site a number of times a booklist which I would gladly post again if it would be helpful. If you are going to engage Latter-Day Saints in an extended dialogue I would recommend something on the order of my booklist, to truly get to a place where you can understand Mormonism from an LDS persepctive.

If you are looking, as you say, for a source for quick rejoinders or simple summaries of some of the criticisms levelled at the LDS Church, my booklist might not be helpful, and perhaps others will weigh in with things more appropriate. I would caution you however to use material that is truly reliable if you wish to make an impression that will really plant a seed. So much of the readily-available material out there is NOT very carefully put together and may contain blatant inaccuracies. The LDS have been pretty-well ‘innoculated’ against a lot of the grossly-bad attacks against their Church and woul simply dismiss you as an ‘anti-Mormon’ (synonymous in their minds with ‘bigot’) if you could not discern that the material you were using was off-the wall.

You are well advised to spend a great deal of time learning your own Catholic faith in a way that allows you to articulate clearly and with sound arguments and evidence to those outside of your faith. This is much preferable to devoting your time to ‘refuting’ false doctrine, Mormon or otherwise, using sources whose reliability may be marginal.
 
Can anyone recommend good resources, on line or in print, for talking with LDS church members in the street or when they come to the door?
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It is a good practice to not engage in dialogue with them. Freeze them out.
You are well advised to spend a great deal of time learning your own Catholic faith in a way that allows you to articulate clearly and with sound arguments and evidence to those outside of your faith.
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👍

Thoroughly acquaint yourself with their beliefs and history, so that when friends and neighbors want to know you can tell them.
 
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Jerusha:
It is a good practice to not engage in dialogue with them. Freeze them out.
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What are you scared of Jerusha? If you know your own doctrine you should have nothing to fear.
 
Awww!!! Casen 😃 Good to see you!! You are an exception. I’m talking about the aggressive ones that
LDS church members in the street or when they come to the door
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GW Russell was the poet who wrote the poem I excerpted for my signature. I wasn’t certain at first if you were addressing me. Anyhow here’s the list:

By non-LDS:

Mormon America: Power and Promise, Richard K. Ostling and Joan K. Ostling, Harper, 1999. Very impartial, much better than some explicitly anti-Mormon books or even most books by investigative journalists–the latter tend mainly to be irreligious/secular and miss a lot because of their biases against relgion in general.

Joseph Smith’s Response to Skepticism, Robert N. Hullinger, Signature Books, 1992

Religious Seekers and the Advent of Mormonism, Dan Vogel, Signature Books, 1989.

Two which I recommend only for the evidence which their research uncovered, NOT for the interpretations and ‘spin’ which the Tanners put on that evidence:

The Changing World of Mormonism, Jerald and Sandra Tanner, Moody Press, 1980.

Mormonism–Shadow or Reality?, Jerald and Sandra Tanner, Modern Microfilm Company, 1972.

Several from LDS sources. I really advise people NOT to spend too much time only reading anti-LDS stuff–it is difficult to find material which doesn’t include at least some mistakes or which is tainted by the author’s biases against the LDS Church. If you read anti-LDS material–try to read at least two books by Mormons on the same subject for every ONE book by an ‘Anti’–it will help you keep perspective. Not every pro-LDS book has to be apologetic in nature, but it should help you gain a better grasp of how the same ideas look from ‘inside the head’ of practicing LDS, which is always a help in dialoguing with members of other faith-traditions. :

The Articles of Faith by James Talmage

Jesus the Christ, by James Talmage

**A Marvelous Work and a Wonder **by LeGrand Richards

The House of the Lord by James Talmage (Talmage is a classic LDS writer, greatly revered).
You May Claim the Blessings of The Holy Temple, (alternative title: The Holy Temple), Boyd K. Packer, Bookcraft, 1980

**Church History in the Fulness of Times **distributed by the LDS Church (Church Distribution)

Gospel Principles Church Distribution

An Approach to the Book of Mormon by Hugh Nibley

The Mormon Doctrine of Deity by B.H Roberts (another much-revered classic LDS apologist–who is rumored to have suffered doubts about his Mormon faith in his declining years, btw).

Joseph Smith and the Beginnings of Mormonism, Robert L. Bushman, University of Illinois Press, 1984

Encylopedia of Mormonism (Not suggesting anyone read the whole set but selected articles as needed)

**The Work and the Glory **Gerald Lund (9-volume fictional account of Joseph Smith–good intro to LDS history).
 
Church magazines:

Ensign: Also available for reading on-line at: lds.org/gospellibrary/pdfmagazine/0,7779,592-6-1,00.html

Meridian Magazine: An on-line magazine and excellent way to stay current on happenings in the LDS Church. NOT an official LDS-sponsored magazine to my knowledge but very conservative and faith-affirming. See the following URL: meridianmagazine.com/

Videos (for those who prefer to learn by watching and listening rather than by reading–all of these are basically LDS-church sponsored so will be faith-affirming, not controversial or challenging):

The Work and the Glory: Video retelling of Lund’s series of novels.

The Mountain of the Lord: Very enjoyable if rather heavy-handed acount of the building of the SLC temple. Told as if through the eyes of the presiding LDS prophet at the time the temple was completed, Wilford Woodruff. Ducks the issue of polygamy–very tear-jerking to see Woodruff grieve over the loss of his first wife but he never mentions that he had four OTHER wives.

Come Unto Me: Touches on some central LDS doctrines and themes. Not one video but several, and of varying quality.

How Rare a Possession: On the Book of Mormon. Also a compendium of several short videos.

**Legacy: **At one time, this was shown in LDS Visitor’s Centers and is very well done. Is a ‘composite’ of several people but mainly the life of one early LDS woman. Manages to tell the story of one of Smith’s polygamous wives while somehow never mentioning that she was in fact once married to Smith.

You’ll find many of these in a public library or available there via inter-library loan. A local LDS Ward library may also lend you some of them as well. (A ‘Ward’ is roughly equivalent to a Catholic parish). And offer to lend you gobs of others. No need to buy them all nor to read them all: you simply want to gain real insight into the mind and spirituality of Mormonism. These, plus the LDS ‘Standard Works’ (Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, Pearl of Great Price, along with the King James Bible) will give you plenty of grasp of basic Mormonism.

Just making the effort to learn will help keep dialogue open. If all you do is read ‘anti-Mormon’ stuff and regurgitate this back to your Mormon acquaintances–you’ll hit the shoals of irresolvable disagreement pretty quickly. Especially when you stumble across something which is clearly inaccurate and/or hateful in it’s presentation. The Mormons will spot the inaccuracies immediately and ‘mark’ you mentally as someone who is simply uninterested in knowing the truth about their faith. They will usually cease giving you a hearing, and often they won’t bother even to pretend to listen.
 
You may want to put up a “No Solicitation” sign on your door/window. I live in Utah where there are tons of them that go around to try and convert people. If they get very aggressive though, I would let them know that you can persuade them to leave by calling your local law enforcement people as well. Also, if your neighbors are LDS, you may want to check with them to see if someone has referred you name to the church to be spoken too.
 
With lds folks, I rely simply on Matt:16:18 and Gal.1:8.
Beyond, those scriptures, there is nothing to discuss with them from a religion point of view. They refuse Sacred Tradition and I refuse their bom, pogp and d&c so there is no other middle ground.
I have know the kindest mormons in my time whom I liked very much but religious discussion is out.
We can talk family, recipies, etc., only.
 
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Jerusha:
Awww!!! Casen 😃 Good to see you!! You are an exception. I’m talking about the aggressive ones that
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Thanks Jerusha, I’ve been away for awhile and unable to post much. It’s nice to see some familiar people around here.

Anyway, I used to be one of those “aggressive” missionaries going door to door through the streets in South America and from my experience the best preparation for “confronting” or better yet, “discussing” religion with LDS missionaries is not to read a bunch on anti-mormon literature but rather, it’s to know your own religion!

I hope I can say this without offending anyone here so I’ll try to say it delicately… One of the reasons we had significant success among Catholics in my mission was because many didn’t know their doctrine too well, generally speaking. When we ran across a Baptist for example we found in most cases they really knew the Bible and could spit out scriptures from memory all day long and had a deep understanding of their theology and their interpretations of scriptures and it was hard to get anywhere with them. And JWs… well, if they’ve been in that religion very long it’s extremely hard to get anywhere with them because they get so steeped in their theology. However, many of the Catholics we met didn’t know much about even basic Catholic doctrines such as the Trinity for example. So, when we would tell them that God the Father and his Son appeared to Joseph Smith as two separate personages most would just nod in agreement and accept it.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying we were trying to trick the people. Not at all. I firmly believed and still believe everything we taught. All I’m saying is that if a person doesn’t have a firm doctrinal footing upon which they stand they are much more easily swayed toward different beliefs when presented. That’s why I suggest you know your own doctrine and you won’t have any problem or have any reason to fear others beliefs. When the JWs come to my house I invite them in and try to have a discussion with them, assuming they’re willing to discuss rather than just present. I’ve mentioned elsewhere that when I wanted to learn about Judaism I took a course from a Jewish Rabbi and I discussed Catholicism with a Cardinal I met in Chile and we had friendly and cordial discussions. But all of this could only occur because I was confident in my own testimony and doctrine and because of that I felt no need to search out anti- (catholic, Jewish, JW) literature. I’m happy to see that most of the literature suggestions in this thread have been good ones but I don’t see any need to read a lot about Mormonism before talking to LDS missionaries.
 
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catsrus:
With lds folks, I rely simply on Matt:16:18 and Gal.1:8.
Beyond, those scriptures, there is nothing to discuss with them from a religion point of view. They refuse Sacred Tradition and I refuse their bom, pogp and d&c so there is no other middle ground.
I/QUOTE]

Excellent piece,…yet I suspect they will tell me this is currupted! For that matter, I would love to hear the dialogie between my LDS and Muslem bretheren whose Bible has been been changed dramatically and the PROOF that they have for their position …(other that the burning in the bosom or because the Quaran says so PBUH)!
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Thanks everyone for the ideas and suggestions.

And yes, I agree, knowing our own faith properly is the best preparation for discussions with LDS, JW or whoever else - perhaps there aren’t enough hours in the day to learn the ins and outs of what all the different groups believe.
 
perhaps there aren’t enough hours in the day to learn the ins and outs of what all the different groups believe.
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It depends on the circumstances where you live-- if there is aggressive prostelytization, and even religious persecution from one of those groups, you need to learn about it, and learn how to counter those trends-- either through being able to discuss beliefs and history with thme, complaints to church leadership, or legal action.

I know enough that if any of them brings up the subject, I could easily lead them into a crisis of faith. So-- they just don’t talk with me about it. 😉 I’ll leave it to people like Casen to do the reforming necessary. I saw an article about Hinkley in the newspaper today-- seems like things are happening. :clapping:
 
I’m flattered that my website was listed, although I haven’t updated it for a while. I should, though, so if you have a specific question you’d like some help on, I’d love to help out. Just let me know.
 
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Jerusha:
I know enough that if any of them brings up the subject, I could easily lead them into a crisis of faith. So-- they just don’t talk with me about it. 😉 I’ll leave it to people like Casen to do the reforming necessary. I saw an article about Hinkley in the newspaper today-- seems like things are happening. :clapping:
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Jerusha,
Could you provide some detail on these claims. I’d like to know what secret information you posess that would push LDS missionaries into a “crisis of faith”.

Also, I’d like to know what reformation you feel is occuring in the LDS church.
 
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Jerusha:
I know enough that if any of them brings up the subject, I could easily lead them into a crisis of faith. So-- they just don’t talk with me about it. 😉 I’ll leave it to people like Casen to do the reforming necessary. I saw an article about Hinkley in the newspaper today-- seems like things are happening. :clapping:
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You could not lead a LDS with a faith based testimony into a crisis of faith with reasoning, because their testimony isn’t based on reason. You could not lead a LDS with a reason based testimony into a crisis of faith because there is just enough evidence (IMO) that Mormonism is valid to keep an active LDS that WANTS to believe, believing.

The bottom line is the only LDS that you could lead to a crisis of faith are those that don’t have a strong faith based testimony, or those that don’t have a strong reason based testimony, or both. The best you could do is plant a decent question, or seed and hope that it sprouts and produces fruits of truth later. The only way, I believe, that a LDS with a strong testimony will leave the LDS faith is either a brutally honest search for truth, or, a life altering spiritual experience. In any case, the Holy Spirit is the only person who really leads people into the church. We really have very little to do with it.
 
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