Countercult ministries/Watchman Fellowship

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Countercult ministries: Watchman Fellowship

Claim Evaluation

Watchman Fellowship

Index of claims made by Watchman Fellowship

The following subarticles provide and index to claims made by Watchman Fellowship on their web site, with links to responses in the FAIR Wiki.

Claims made in "Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Profile"

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• Response to claim: Joseph was told during the First Vision that "all the Christian Church's doctrines 'were an abomination'"
• Response to claim: Mormonism is a "polytheistic religion," because of the belief that God the Father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost are three distinct and separate personages
• Response to claim: According to Joseph Smith, God "was once a man like us"
• Response to claim: Brigham Young said that the birth of Jesus Christ "was as natural as are the births of our children; it was the result of natural action"
• Response to claim: Jesus "is the brother of Lucifer"
• Response to claim: Latter-day Saints make a distinction between the Holy Ghost and the Holy Spirit
• Response to claim: "every worthy male, according to the standards of Mormonism, will become a god and rule over their own planet"
• Response to claim: There is a "Mother God"
• Response to claim: We are all spiritual offspring of our Heavenly Father and Mother, and we once lived in the pre-existence
• Response to claim: "Black people are black because of their misdeeds in the pre-existence"
• Response to claim: salvation or exaltation "is based on one's own good works or merit"
• Response to claim: Latter-day Saint consider the Bible "suspect due to its many errors and missing parts"

Claims made in "Hinckley Claims LDS Worship Different Christ"

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• Response to claim: Gordon B. Hinckley's statement to "prove" that Latter-day Saints believe in "another Christ"
• Response to claim: The "Traditional Christian Christ" is "Eternally God." The "Mormon Christ" was "not always God" and "became a God"
• Response to claim: The "Traditional Christian Christ" is "Only God." The "Mormon Christ" is "One of Many Gods"
• Response to claim: The "Traditional Christian Christ" is "Creator of All Things." The "Mormon Christ" "Was Created; Spirit Brother of Lucifer"
• Response to claim: The "Mormon Christ" is "Begotten Sexually, by God the Father"
• Response to claim: The "Traditional Christian Christ" is "Not Married."The "Mormon Christ" is "Married with Children"
• Response to claim: The "Traditional Christian Christ" is "Atoned for Sin by Death on the Cross." The "Mormon Christ" is "Atoned by Sweating Blood in Gethsemane"
• Response to claim: The "Traditional Christian Christ" "Justifies the Ungodly." The "Mormon Christ" "Requires Godliness before Justification"
• Response to claim: The "Traditional Christian Christ" is "Offers Full Salvation Unconditionally." The "Mormon Christ" "Offers Full Salvation Only on Conditions"

• Claims made in "Mormonism Overview" (Click here for full article)
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Claims made in "Basics of Mormonism: Falling Upward"

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• Response to claim: The authors ask, if "death is the wages of sin," and the fall of Adam and Eve "was not actually sin, then why did it introduce death into the world?"
• Response to claim: How did the transgression of Adam and Eve "introduce sin into the world?" How were mortality and a sinful world the result of a transgression rather than a sin?
• Response to claim: The authors claim that if the transgression of Adam and Eve were "such a blessing," then they would have not felt "guilty and afraid" when God approached them in the Garden of Eden after they committed their transgression?
• Response to claim: If the transgression of Adam and Eve resulted in physical and spiritual death, then why are we only subject to spiritual death for eternity if we do not repent?
• Response to claim: Why were Adam and Eve "not counted transgressors before eating the forbidden fruit, for failing to multiply?" The authors ask why this did not cause the Fall to happen

Claims made in "A Miracle for Mormons - Forgiveness of Sins"

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• Response to claim: Mormons counterfeit Christianity by teaching that the atonement of Christ is never enough by itself to save any person from his sin and win for him eternal life
• Response to claim: Mormons teach in D&C 14:7 and elsewhere that to receive eternal life one must not sin in any way or at least permanently stop sinning
• Response to claim: Mormons teach the impossible standard of “never failing to do anything He has commanded to be done” to be able to qualify for Gods’ grace
• Response to claim: Mormons teach that “A Mormon, having received the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost, has no excuse for any sin
• Response to claim: Mormons believe that in and of themselves, without the help of God, they “…have the means and power….to actually do whatever God commands

Claims made in "Changing the Book of Commandments"

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• Response to claim: Because the 1835 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants didn’t contain the identical revelations as its 1833 predecessor plus revelations which were theoretically given to Joseph Smith prior to 1833, the Church purposefully deceived its members

Claims made in "False Prophecy in the Doctrine and Covenants"

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• Response to claim: The true test of a prophet is that all his prophecies come to pass (Deut. 18:20-22), and “…the Bible never recommends prayer as a way of discerning true and false prophets”
• Response to claim: Joseph Smith predicted in 1835 that, "The coming of the Lord, which was nigh - even fifty-six years should wind up the scene"
• Response to claim: Two unfulfilled “close-dated unconditional prophecies” preserved in Doctrine and Covenants Section 84:3-5 (construction of a temple in MO) and Section 114 (David Patten serving a mission to all the world) prove that Joseph Smith was a false prophet

Claims made in "Joseph Smith and the Biblical Test of a Prophet"

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• Response to claim: Latter-day Saints claim that the truthfulness of "the LDS Church" and Joseph Smith can be tested using the promise in Moroni 10:4. This test is claimed to be too "subjective" to be valid
• Response to claim: The true test of a prophet is that all his prophecies come to pass (Deut. 18:20-22), and “…the Bible never recommends prayer as a way of discerning true and false prophets”
• Response to claim: Joseph Smith predicted in 1835 that, "The coming of the Lord, which was nigh - even fifty-six years should wind up the scene"
• Response to claim: The author claims that Doctrine and Covenants 37:1, which instructs Joseph to stop translating until he goes to Ohio, is a "self-fulfilling prophecy"
• Response to claim: Two unfulfilled “close-dated unconditional prophecies” preserved in Doctrine and Covenants Section 84:3-5 (construction of a temple in MO) and Section 114 (David Patten serving a mission to all the world) prove that Joseph Smith was a false prophet

Claims made in "The Bible: 1,002 - Book of Mormon: Zero"

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• Response to claim: “While there continues to be mounting evidence for the historicity of the biblical record, the Book of Mormon is still seeking that first authenticated scrap of evidence"
• Response to claim: Ambiguous statements and grandiose claims have appeared in numerous LDS and RLDS journals, but, to date, not a single claim has been substantiated

Claims made in "Testing the Book of Mormon by Moroni 10:4"

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• Moroni 10:4 directs one to ascertain truth and gain knowledge by a method and a standard nowhere recommended in the Bible
• Moroni 10:4 is not so much of a promise as it is a manipulative device
• There being no Biblical warrant for proceeding as Moroni 10:4 directs, one cannot do so without invalidating the sincerity upon which the answer depends
• Because the Book of Mormon cannot be proven by any test of its own devising (it must be tested by the Bible), Moroni 10:4 itself, weighed in the balance and found wanting, is sufficient evidence to prove the Book of Mormon false