Pete's Blog

Mormonism is almost a form of universalism. Depending on which Mormon you talk to either only those former Mormons who went into apostasy will go to hell, or those who knowingly and willingly reject the Mormons' gospel will. The reasoning behind this is they think that hell was created for the spirits who rebelled against Elohim (i.e., specifically God the Father in Mormonism; Yahweh is Jesus within that system) before the foundation of the world, and that earth is for everyone else by Elohim. The enticement for becoming a Mormon is getting into a better level of heaven; there are three different spiritual levels of heaven, and then there's also hell. If you want more information on the system, I would recommend listening to James White on Issue Etc. talk about Mormons' view of heaven.

To ascend to the best level of heaven, you need to be baptized by a Mormon who's been baptized (they believe in a similar form of apostolic succession as Catholics, that the Holy Spirit is only passed on by the laying on of hands by someone who already has the Holy Spirit). For some non-Mormons who are dead, modern day Mormons will go through the rite of baptism for the dead which they take from 1 Corinthians 15:29, "Otherwise, what do people mean by being baptized on behalf of the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized on their behalf?" So, for example, if a Mormon man were to take an interest in the late Marilyn Monroe he could get baptized for her (which, realistically, has probably already been done, Mormons keep such quality and extensive genealogical records to track such things), hoping that she respond to the preaching of the gospel in the next life (which they justify based on 1 Peter 3:18, 19: "Christ ... in the flesh ... went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison"), and he'll meet her in his level of heaven.

All that is introduction to a controversy I read about in an article that's arisen between Mormons and Holocaust survivors and their descendents. When new names of victims of the Holocaust are discovered, the Mormons are getting baptized for them. The Jews are worried that this practice will play into the hands of future Holocaust deniers. They're worried that people will look back on history, reading through the Mormons' genealogies, see all these victims' names and think that they were Mormons not Jews.

The Mormons are responding by agreeing to take all the Holocaust victims' names out of their records. I guess it shouldn't surprise me since I think that Mormons even have a non-proselytizing policy for Jews, considering them to have their own covenant.

The reason I wanted to post on this is because I find it funny. This is what happens when your communion tells you that anyone who doesn't believe what you believe needs to be evangelized, and then makes exceptions. It makes perfect sense to me that the Mormons would be getting baptized for these deceased Jews – they didn't believe in Jesus or Joseph Smith, of course they need to be baptized. The idea that Jews' own covenant covers them is just confusing, unless you consider that what's realistically happening is the Latter Day Church is compromising since it's so politically incorrect to evangelize Jews.

Lastly, I think this serves as an example of why exclusivism (i.e., that only those who accept the Gospel will be saved, with the exception of babies and mentally disabled people in some cases) in evangelicalism is the only consistent position to take. There is no biblical warrant for thinking that you can be saved outside of Christ, even if the Gospel is not available where a person perishes. It may seem harsh, but first, it's just, and second, it's such a motivation to go and send. "How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent?" (Rm. 10:14, 15).

Labels: Miscellaneous, Politics