Tony Brown is the author of the book, Sharing the Gospel with a Mormon (Leyland, England: 10Publishing, 2023) (see Refuting Tony Brown on 1 Corinthians 15:29 and Baptism for the Dead for an example of the eisegesis that permeates the book). He has presented lectures against "Mormonism" which are also online, and portrays himself as a "missionary to Mormons," so is obviously a public figure when it comes to opposing The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Due to this, I contacted Tony to see if he would be interested in debating an informed Latter-day Saint on (1) Sola Scriptura and (2) baptismal regeneration. I even offered to have a Protestant host and moderate the debates.
As you will see from this exchange, Tony Brown is a coward who will not engage with a knowledgeable opponent.
N.B: If you want to see these debates take place, you can email Tony Brown at tony@reachouttrust.org and tell him to accept the challenge.
Also note: If Tony wants backup, he can bring on Mike Thomas, the current director of Reachout Trust. I do not mind it being 2 vs. 1 as long as the time is split 50-50 between the two sides.
Email #1
From: Robert Boylan
To: Tony Brown
Subject: Querying Interest in Debates on Baptismal Regeneration and Sola Scriptura
Date: May 11, 2023
Hi Tony,
Let me first briefly introduce myself: I am Robert Boylan, originally from Ireland, and the proprietor of the Scriptural Mormonism blog and a senior research analyst for the B. H. Roberts Foundation in Holladay, Utah. I am a graduate of theology and anthropology from the Pontifical University of Ireland, Maynooth, and am pretty well-read in historic Protestant works (e.g., Calvin; Turretin; Charles Hodge).
I recently read your book Sharing the Gospel with a Mormon, deciding to order it after watching a brief intro to the book here. As you say that you try to speak with Mormons as often as opportunity allows, I am querying if you would be willing to engage in a debate or two (moderated, neutral moderator [maybe Jeremiah Nortier, a friend who is also a Reformed Baptist or someone else], etc) with someone who is informed about Latter-day Saint and Protestant theologies.
One debate I think would be worthwhile would be a debate on baptismal regeneration (me affirming; you denying) as it would also touch upon a number of topics you implicitly or explicitly refer to in your book (e.g., imputed righteousness; forensic justification; forensic model of atonement)
I would also be interested in debating the issue of biblical sufficiency and related topics related to your use of passages such as Acts 17:11, i.e., Sola Scriptura, the formal doctrine of Protestantism, and whether it is biblical (you affirming, me denying, naturally).
There is a 7-hour time difference between us, but I am willing to have these debates early on a Saturday or whatever day suits. We do not have them straight away; we can aim for July/August or whenever suits.
In terms of proposed structure:
25 mins opening statements each
10 mins rebuttals each
15 mins cross ex each
7 mins concluding statements
Robert Boylan
ScripturalMormonism.blogspot.com
Email #2
From: Robert Boylan
To: Tony Brown
Subject: Querying Interest in Debates on Baptismal Regeneration and Sola Scriptura
Date: May 19, 2023
Hi Tony,
I am just emailing you again to let you know that Jeremiah Nortier (a Reformed Baptist) said he would happily moderate the proposed debates.
I have not heard from you re. the challenge Sola Scriptura and baptismal regeneration; as someone who says in presentations on youtube and elsewhere that you try to speak with Latter-day Saints as often as possible, I am sure you are more than willing to engage with an informed Latter-day Saint, and not simply 18-20 year old missionaries who know very little if anything about theology and non-LDS faiths, including Protestant theologies, being a self-described missionary to Mormons on your Instagram account
Email #3
From: Tony Brown
To: Robert Boylan
Subject: Debate
Date: May 23, 2023
Hi Robert
Apologies for the delay in getting back to you.
It is not everyday I get a message from someone I don't know, suggesting topics of their choosing, and challenging me to a debate (with a moderator already in place) lol.
As you don't know me, and I don't know you, it would have been good to have a little 'let's get to know each other' session, before jumping into the 'let's debate' mode.
Speaking of a debate on the topics - you decided - I have no interest whatsoever in debating you on these topics. There are many others out there who debate these topics, and they would be far more experienced and knowledgeable than I. If that's your thing, why not try James White or the like?
I, as an evangelist, am more concerned about people's eternal destiny. I love Mormons but, knowing that Mormonism preaches a different Gospel, with a different Jesus and a different Spirit, I am compelled to share truth with those young Missionaries who you say, 'know little of theology and other non-LDS faiths'. Seems strange that the church you are part of would send out vulnerable and ill-equipped young people out to represent them.
My prayer is that God would use me and many other born-again bible believing Christians, to share the truth in love with those caught in falsehood.
I would be interested to hear your journey into Mormonism if you are willing to share it. In the meantime, here is a video of someone you may have heard of, it is a good watch.
(8) Mormon Missionary Meets Jesus - Powerful Testimony - YouTube
Kind Regards
Tony
Email #4
From: Robert Boylan
To: Tony Brown
Subject: Debate
Date: May 24, 2023
Hi Tony,
Thanks for responding.
Let us be honest here: you have written a book critiquing Latter-day Saint theology, present lectures against the LDS faith in favour of your flavour of Protestantism, and portray yourself as a missionary to Mormons online. You are more than a public figure critiquing “Mormonism” and so should have the courage of your convictions to interact with informed members of the other side. I, for one, have written much against Roman Catholic theology, and will be debating Peter Doumit (a lay Catholic apologist and Catechist who lives in here in Utah) on the Immaculate Conception later this year and whether it is apostolic in origin and, hopefully when his schedule clears up, Trent Horn of Catholic Answers on creation ex materia vs. ex nihilo.
I do not think us getting to know one another would actually help in any way; but if you are interested in my character, I am on good terms/friend with Bobby Gilpin, someone who I believe you did ministry work with when he was a Reformed Baptist, and someone who I have had friendly disagreements with over the years.
As for having a moderator in place, I asked Jeremiah Nortier, who has participated in debates before, if he would moderate/host it if you agreed to debate; Jeremiah is also a Reformed Baptist, so one would not claim I was picking a friend but someone who would be impartial (and actually one who, in terms of theology, would be much closer to you on these and other issues).
As for the topics, I don’t know why you think they are not worthy to debate: Sola Scriptura is the formal doctrine of Protestantism and something you simply assume in your book and other presentations on youtube that I have watched, and baptismal regeneration is a topic that encompasses many other topics, such as the question of free-will, the nature of justification and righteousness, and other topics.
As for James White, I have reached out to him and so have others—just radio silence from his end. He knows who I am, and he and Jeff Durbin were lambasted, even by Protestants, for their lame response to my Refuting Jeff Durbin on “Mormonism” paper. The same with Micah and Lynn Wilder who has said that debate is not “Christ-honoring.” BTW, you might want to be careful about plugging anything from Micah Wilder—if you read his book, he engages in a number of Christological heresies, even by creedal Trinitarian standards.
You say that you “love Mormons” and the whole false Jesus argument, but if that is the case, you would engage informed opponents of your view, not 18-20 year olds. “Coward” is a term that comes to mind. And it is all fine that you think “Mormonism” is a false gospel; I think Protestantism is a Satanic counterfeit, one that teaches God lies in the act of justification and other heresies, which in Protestantism is an act of legal fiction. And unlike you, I am willing to defend and substantiate my assertions. See, for e.g.
Response to a Recent Attempt to Defend Imputed Righteousness (review of John Kauer, “Are You Considered as Good as Jesus? The Imputation Approach” in Sharing the Good News with Mormons, ed. Eric Johnson and Sean McDowell (Eugene, Oreg.: Harvest House Publishers, 2018), 273-81, 339)
and
Refuting Christina Darlington on the Nature of "Justification"
It is not Latter-day Saints but Protestants like you who fall under the anathema of Gal 1:6-9.
If you ever change your mind, let me know.