Another Roman Catholic Hack-Job Treatment of the Restored Gospel

I have been studying Catholicism for a number of years now. As many now, I am a former Roman Catholic and studied theology (including a number of courses in Catholic systematic theology) for 5 years in a Catholic institution in Ireland. One thing one will realise is that much of popular-level Catholic apologetics is nothing more than chest-beating, hearing the constant refrain “we are the two-thousand-year-old Church!” Notwithstanding this bravado, when one examines Catholic theology in light of Scripture and history, one will realise that Rome has proclaimed, as dogmas, beliefs that are not apostolic at all. I have written much on such topics, such as Mariology, the Mass, and the veneration of images. For articles (and a book) addressing such topics, see:

Behold the Mother of My Lord: Towards a Mormon Mariology (2017); cf. Answering Tim Staples on Patristic Mariology and the Immaculate Conception

Responses to Robert Sungenis, Not By Bread Alone (2000/2009)

Answering Fundamentalist Protestants and Roman Catholic/Eastern Orthodox on Images/Icons

The same applies for Catholic critiques of "Mormonism" including the following from a popular RC blog:

TRULY understanding Mormonism - Is it nobodies business?

Nick, who, to be fair has produced a lot of great work on justification and baptism, sadly continues the common hack job treatment of the Restored Gospel other Roman Catholic apologists have engaged in, such as Patrick Madrid, Trent Horn, and others.

To briefly answer some of the questions:

No, LDS theology does not teach that one must have a body (read: enter into mortality, die, and be resurrected) to be God/god. Jesus, prior to entering into mortality, was the God of the Old Testament in our theology. Notwithstanding, Jesus, as a result of his obedience, did not simply return to his glory he had in pre-existence; instead, he was super-exalted (ὑπερυψόω--used in Phil 2:9). In our theology, there is no “upper limit” to Godhead—Joseph Smith likened it to climbing the steps on a ladder. In this light, the Holy Spirit is indeed divine/God, but if/when he were to enter into mortality, he would, like Christ, be super exalted (for more on this, see Latter-day Saints have Chosen the True, Biblical Jesus)

As for everyone pre-existing and the problems Nick sees in this, he is being disingenuous. Firstly, as I have argued in the article The Christological Necessity of Universal Pre-Existence , LDS theology allows one to hold to both the personal pre-existence of Jesus as well as his complete humanity. Secondly, what he sees problems in our theology also would be problematic for his Christology—after all, for him, Jesus was a divine person who took on humanity (per the Hypostatic Union) and yet, in his humanity, died, and yet, took up his physical body again 3 days later (and, during the 3 days, his spirit and divinity were still, in some way, enjoined to his humanity, per Aquinas et al). Does that mean that Jesus also had multiple incarnations/reincarnations? If he were consistent, he would argue ‘yes.’ However, his argument is bogus.

On the LDS conception of God, it is biblical. If Nick (or any other Catholic) wishes to know the actual case in favour of LDS theology, here is a listing of articles on the topic and the LDS understanding of creation (which is tied intimately into the LDS vs. Trinity debate):

On the number and nature of God, creation out of nothing, and related topics


Blake T. Ostler, Out of Nothing: A History of Creation ex Nihilo in Early Christian Thought
Daniel O. McClellan, James Patrick Holding refuted on Creation Ex Nihilo

Lynn Wilder vs. Latter-day Saint (and Biblical) Theology on Divine Embodiment

D. Charles Pyle on Hosea 11:9 (cf. Numbers 23:19)
Does Jeremiah 23:24 pose problems for LDS theology?

Psalm 139:7 and Latter-day Saint Theology
Refuting Jeff Durbin on "Mormonism" (exegetes Isa 43:10; 44:6, 8 and other relevant texts; cf. C.J. Labuschagne on the language of "incomparability" in the Old Testament and Literature of Surrounding Cultures)

Latter-day Saints have Chosen the True, Biblical Jesus

A Triad of Early Christians Against the Trinity Being an Apostolic Belief

Christology and Colossians 2:9 (cf. The soteriology of Colossians 2:9-15

Resources for "We Agree with Moroni 8:18" day (18 August)

Refuting Christina Darlington on John 1:18 and the First Vision

The Christological Necessity of Universal Pre-Existence

The LDS Doctrine of Pre-existence and Genesis 2:7
Is Latter-day Saint Christology “Arian”?
Kevin L. Barney, On Preexistence in the Bible

Books: Blake T. Ostler, Exploring Mormon Thought, Volume 3: Of God and Gods

D. Charles Pyle, I Have Said Ye are Gods: Concepts Conducive to the Early Christian Doctrine of Deification in Patristic Literature and the Underlying Strata of the Greek New Testament (Revised and Supplemented) 

Nick, as a Roman Catholic, can continue to beat his chest and engage in lame arguments about LDS theology. However, (1) if he wishes to be taken seriously, he clearly needs to engage with informed Latter-day Saint authors on theology and (2) may have to rethink his own theology--as it stands, at the moment, he has the consolation prize of a false gospel that promotes idolatry in this life and condemnation in the hereafter. Not exactly attractive to any Latter-day Saint who, like myself, is informed about both Latter-day Saint and Roman Catholic theologies.