I started reading Corey Miller’s new book against “Mormonism,” and I had to give up after only a few pages. It is poorly researched, poorly argued, and it is not aimed at informed Latter-day Saints. Don’t take my word for it. Here are some excerpts that will make anyone laugh:
Most people don’t
join the Mormon Church for intellectual or doctrinal reasons—often they have
more emotional reasons, or the attraction of the security and community that
the church offers. (Corey Miller, Engaging with Mormons; Understanding their
world sharing good news [The Good Book Company, 2020], 13)
While there are many who join the Church
for emotional reasons, many do join it for doctrinal/intellectual reasons, more
than Millet wants you to think, myself included. Further, in light of the
Latter-day Saint belief in the spiritual witness of the Holy Ghost, it is not
mere emotion (his claims notwithstanding) but such would also be informed by
theology—God telling you of the truthfulness of The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints. That is pretty theological, don’t you think?
Furthermore, Miller, who himself embraced
Protestantism would have to admit if he were an intellectually honest
individual, that many people convert to Protestantism (of all flavours) due to
emotional reasons such as the (false)
promise of eternal security and being swayed by texts of the Bible being
wrenched out of context. For a full refutation of one such passage, see:
Full
Refutation of the Protestant Claim Romans 10:9-10 Teaches Sola Fide
Moreoever, many Protestant theologians and apologists admit that, ultimately, one knows the truthfulness of the Bible, not by evidences, but the inward working of the Holy Spirit. Note the following from Calvin in his 1547 response to the Council of Trent:
Writing in response to this in 1547, John Calvin explicitly taught the importance of a "spiritual witness" of one knowing they are among the elect and in a saved state:
But they affirm that it is impossible to know whom God has chosen except by special revelation. I admit it. And, accordingly, Paul says that we have not received the spirit of this world, but the Spirit which is of God, that we may know the things which are given us of God, that we may know the things which are given us of God. The gift he elsewhere interprets as meaning the adoption, by which we are classed among his children, and which he holds to be so certain that we may with loud voice glory in it. But I am not unaware of what they intend by special revelation. I, however, mean that which our Heavenly Father specially deigns to bestow on his own children. Nor is this any fancy of my own. The words of Paul are well know, “Those things which are hidden from human sense God hath revealed unto us by his Spirit, who also searcheth the deepest things of God.” And, “Who hath known the mind of God, or who hath been his counsellor? But we have the mind of Christ.”
On the whole then, we see that that the venerable Fathers call rash and damnable presumption, is nothing but that holy confidence in our adoption, revealed unto us by Christ, to which God everywhere encourages his people. (John Calvin, "Antidote to the Council of Trent," in Tracts, Volume 3 [trans. Henry Beveridge; Edinburgh: Calvin Translation Society, 1851], 136)
The Westminster Confession of Faith (1646)
further explicates this:
We may be moved and
induced by the testimony of the Church to an high and reverent esteem of the
Holy Scripture. And the heavenliness of the matter, the efficacy of the
doctrine, the majesty of the style, the consent of all the parts, the scope of
the whole (which is, to give all glory to God), the full discovery it makes of
the only way of man's salvation, the many other incomparable excellencies, and
the entire perfection thereof, are arguments whereby it does abundantly
evidence itself to be the Word of God: yet notwithstanding, our full
persuasion and assurance of the infallible truth and divine authority thereof,
is from the inward work of the Holy Spirit bearing witness by and with the Word
in our hearts. (WCF 1:5)
Writing in 1995, the late Norman Geisler
and Ralph MacKenzie further affirmed such:
Reformed theologians
also believe that the Spirit of God brings divine assurance that the Bible is
the Word of God. This is known as the witness of the Spirit. Only the God of
the word can bring full assurance that the Bible is the Word of God . . .
Further, Reformed theologians acknowledge that aid of the Holy Spirit in
understanding and applying the Scriptures to our lives. But he does not do this
contrary to the Bible or contrary to good rules of biblical interpretation.
(Norman Geisler and Ralph MacKenzie, Roman Catholics and Evangelicals:
Agreements and Differences [Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker, 1995], 179 n. 6)
For more, see:
Protestant Fideism: A Primer
and
Protestant Fideism Part 2: The "Testimonies" of Evangelical Anti-Mormons: Nothing but Subjective Feelings
Under “glossary of useful terms,” Miller
shows his ignorance of Latter-day Saint ecclesiology:
Apostle: One of the LDS Church’s
12 living apostles (Quorum of the Twelve Apostles) who govern the LDS Church
under the president. When an apostle dies, another man is called to replace
him. (Ibid., 14)
There are 15, not 12, living apostles. The
Quorum of the Twelve and all 3 members of the First Presidency. Such has
been the constant teaching of the Church. For example, Brigham Young explained
the differences between the titles "prophet," "apostle,"
and "president." In a conference address delivered April 6, 1853, he
said:
Perhaps it may make
some of you stumble, were I to ask you a question. Does a man's being a Prophet
in this Church prove that he shall be the President of it? I answer, No! A man
may be a Prophet, Seer, and Revelator, and it may have nothing to do with his
being the President of the Church. Suffice to say, that Joseph was the
President of the Church, as long as he lived; the people chose to have it so.
He always filled that responsible station by the voice of the people. Can you
find any revelation appointing the President of the Church? The keys of the
Priesthood were committed to Joseph, to build up the Kingdom of God on the
earth, and were not to be taken from him in time or in eternity, but when he
was called to preside over the Church, it was by the voice of the people;
though he held the keys of the Priesthood, independent of their voice. (JOD
1:113)
To Brigham Young, being a prophet was
secondary to being an apostle and having keys from God. He explained the
difference in these words:
Many persons think if
they see a Prophet they see one possessing all the keys of the Kingdom of God
on the earth. This is not so; many persons have prophesied without having any
Priesthood on them at all . . . To be a prophet is simply to be a foreteller of
future events; but an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ has the keys of the Holy
Priesthood, and the power thereof is sealed upon his head, and by this he is
authorized to proclaim the truth to the people, and if they receive it, well;
if not, the sin be upon their own heads. (JOD 13:144| July 18, 1869).
And of course, in time-honoured fashion,
Miller, as with the majority of Protestant apologists, engages in a hack-job
treatment of sola scriptura:
The Bible is clear
God has revealed himself objectively through creation (Romans 1), the prophets
(Matthew 5 v 17-19), and supremely through the Lord Jesus (Hebrews 1 v 1-2),
and the Apostles who bore witness about him (Colossians 1 v 25). These gives
give us all the truth that we need to believe for salvation and to lie the
Christian life (2 Timothy 3 v 16). (Ibid., 24)
This is simply false. None of those texts
is speaking about the sufficiency of the “Bible.” Indeed, they were all written
during times of special revelation, a time when, even admitted by Protestant
apologists, sola scriptura could not be the sole, infallible rule of faith.
Furthermore, 2 Tim 3:16 and other texts, in reality, refute, not support, the
various Protestant understandings of Sola Scriptura. For a full-length
discussion, see:
Not
By Scripture Alone: A Latter-day Saint Refutation of Sola Scriptura
What is funny is that the Bible, when
exegeted in light of the historical-grammatical method, refutes, not supports,
the blasphemous theology Miller has now embraced since he became a Protestant.
For example, it does not support imputation and it clearly teaches baptismal regeneration,
but Miller affirms imputation and denies baptismal regeneration. See:
Response to a Recent Attempt to Defend Imputed Righteousness
Writing of the Book of Mormon, we read:
. . .we cannot
confirm any of its locations, figures, or people groups, despite the claim that
it describes an entire civilization. (Ibid., 34)
This is so wrong it only serves to prove
Miller has no clue about Latter-day Saint scholarship on the Book of Mormon. Some
Book of Mormon sites have been found. The River of Laman
and its Valley of Lemuel, the
burial site Nahom, and the garden spot
Bountiful in the Arabian Peninsula have all been found and verified. These
are all non-biblical sites, and in the case of the River of Laman and
Bountiful, continue to be mocked as impossible by many critics of the Book of
Mormon. In the case of Nahom, altars
have been found attesting to its name pre-dating the Book of Mormon (it is
referenced in the passive voice in 1 Nephi 16:34) as well as its function as a
burial spot. Furthermore, the seal of Mulek,
the son of Zedekiah has been recently discovered, too. While Miller is clearly
unaware of such, the evidence for Book of Mormon historicity continues to grow
in leaps and bounds. As for the New World, readers should pick up a copy of
John L. Sorenson’s volume, Mormon’s Codex: An Ancient American Books
(Deseret and the Neal A. Maxwell Institute, 2013) and Brant Gardner’s book
examining the text as history, Traditions of the Fathers: The Book of Mormon
as History (Greg Kofford Books, 2015). A good summary of the evidences from
various aspects of the book can be seen in Echoes and Evidences of the Book
of Mormon, ed. Parry et al (FARMS, 2002).
The volcanic eruption described in 3 Nephi 8-9, which took place around the time of Jesus’ crucifixion, has also been collaborated in Mesoamerica, as a great volcanic eruption took place around the same time and place according to recent geological research. For more, see:
Jerry Grover, Geology
of the Book of Mormon
