Usually, when cornered with the overwhelming evidence for LDS teachings, critics sometimes show that they engage in projection by claiming Latter-day Saints are cultists by engaging in "arguments" that are, being blunt, reflective of starry-eyed, braindead cultism, to borrow from their nomenclature. Here are two examples:
The late Doug Harris:
Believing with the heart is far easier than trying to explain things away with the head.
I will not continue this fruitless mind explanation but pray that the Holy Spirit will reveal Himself to you in your heart that will bring you to rest now and give you assurance for the future.
Source: Email exchange between Robert Boylan and Revelation TV (on the topic of Alma 7:10 and the birthplace of Christ)
As I wrote in response to Harris, "Funny thing is this--if a Latter-day Saint said such, you would just use that as evidence they are in a false teaching group/cult and trying to engage in self-deception and the like. Oh well; you can take a horse to water, but cannot make him drink."
As I wrote in response to Harris, "Funny thing is this--if a Latter-day Saint said such, you would just use that as evidence they are in a false teaching group/cult and trying to engage in self-deception and the like. Oh well; you can take a horse to water, but cannot make him drink."
Dave Maxfield (ex-LDS turned Evangelical/Trinitarian)
In response to refuting his arguments against Latter-day Saint theology using the historical-grammatical method of exegesis:
Robert Boylan You are different. Most Mormons when confronted with difficult questions rely on their warm inner feeling and recite the testimony they have heard repeatedly every Sunday. However, since you consider yourself to be a highly educated intellectual, and have a problem with pride . . .
Source: How similar is Open Theism to Mormon Theology? (facebook discussion)
As my friend Mike Parker said in response, "Dave: So most Mormons "rely on their warm inner feeling," but Robert gave you concrete answers backed up by reputable scholarship, so he's full of pride. Heads you win; tails he loses."
I think the words of Paul in Rom 1:24 are rather a propos here:
Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the degrading of their bodies among themselves. (NRSV)
