In his (as of writing) most recent episode of the Dividing Line, James White addresses the topic of "Mormonism":
Pope Francis' Inclusivism, Mormonism's Prophets and Priests
White makes some comments about God in LDS theology being "Gendered." On this, see:
Lynn Wilder vs. Latter-day Saint (and Biblical) Theology on Divine Embodiment (cf. Refuting Jeff Durbin on "Mormonism" and Blake T. Ostler, Out of Nothing: A History of Creation ex Nihilo in Early Christian Thought)
White continues to assume Sola Scriptura, and uses this against LDS theology and practices and even appeals to Luke 16:16 to negate LDS claims of authority. For a fuller discussion, see:
Not By Scripture Alone: A Latter-day Saint Refutation of Sola Scriptura
On the priesthood (which White says is "one of the weakest issues of Mormon theology"), including a discussion of the Aaronic Priesthood and Heb 7:24-25 and the use of απαραβατος, etc., see:
It should be noted that White, in his claim that the Aaronic Priesthood was only for the family Aaron is only true for the Old Testament period. In the above book, I have a discussion of many Old Testament passages prophesying Gentiles being ordained to the Levitical Priesthood. Note one:
For I know their
works and their thoughts: it shall come, that I will gather all nations and
tongues; and they shall come, and see my glory. And I will set a sign among
them, and I will send those that escape of them unto the nations, to Tarshish,
Pul, and Lud, that draw the bow, to Tubal, and Javan, to the isles afar off,
that have not heard my fame, neither have seen my glory; and they shall declare
my glory among the Gentiles. And they shall bring all your brethren for an
offering unto the Lord out of all nations upon horses, and in chariots, and in
litters, and upon mules, and upon swift beasts, to my holy mountain Jerusalem,
saith the Lord, as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel
into the house of the Lord. And I will also take of them for priests and for
Levites, saith the Lord.
Shalom Paul, commenting on v. 21, noted the following:
Then cometh the end
(τελος), when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father,
when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power. (1 Cor 15:24)
These are they who are cast down to hell and suffer the wrath of Almighty God, until the fulness of times, when Christ shall have subdued all enemies under his feet, and shall have perfected his work; when he shall deliver up the kingdom, and present it unto the Father, spotless, saying: I have overcome and have trodden the wine-press alone, even the wine-press of the fierceness of the wrath of Almighty God. (D&C 76:106-7 [on vv. 104-7, see 1 Corinthians 3:15: A very un-Protestant Biblical Verse])
White should already know this, as it was pointed out in a lengthy review of his Letters to a Mormon Elder which he plugged when he started his discussion of the topics. See Russell C. McGregor and Kerry A. Shirts, Review of Letters to a Mormon Elder: Eye-Opening Information for Mormons and the Christians Who Talke with Them (1993), by James R. White
Finally, in an attempt to refute the Great
Apostasy, White quotes Eph 3:20-21:
Now to Him who is
able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to
the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ
Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen. (NASB)
For two discussions of this text where White
was being directly refuted on this “proof-text,” consider:
Evangelical anti-Mormon
James White sees this passage as strong evidence against the apostasy:
It seems quite plain that
Paul believed that the Father would be glorified "in the church and in
Christ Jesus throughout all generations."
If the Church failed in its mission, and ceased to exist for 1700 years,
it is difficult to understand how the Father would be glorified in the church
throughout all generations. (White James, "Hugh Nibley, The Universal
Apostasy, And the Gates of Hades." In PROS APOLOGIAN, Spring 1993, p. 10)
Taking White's strictly
literal interpretation of Paul's words to its logical conclusion, one would
have to believe that the church has always existed, or else the Father, using
White's reasoning, could not be glorified in it "throughout all
generations." Surely White and his fellow evangelical critics would not
accept such a suggestion. Furthermore,
to carry White's exegesis further, one would also have to believe that the
church as Paul knew it was to continue into eternity, a proposition which is
clearly rejected elsewhere in the New Testament.
White's interpretation
assumes that verse 21 applies exclusively to the earthly church. But is this
necessarily the case? It is just as plausible, if not more so, to suggest that
Paul was referring to the members of the church, or to the church in the spirit
world, and not to the earthly branch of the church. Viewed in this manner, the
verse does not constitute a promise of the earthly church's survival. Moreover,
this understanding of the verse does not contradict the abundant historical
evidence that the New Testament church did not survive.
Additionally, there is
some question as to the wording of verse 21. The NIV reading quoted above is
viewed by most scholars as the "preferred variant reading." However,
a number of New Testament manuscripts omit the "and" between
"the church" and "Christ," suggesting the reading "in
the church through Christ" (Barth, Markus.
EPHESIANS 1-3. The Anchor Bible.
Garden City, New York:
Doubleday and Company, Inc., 1974, 375). The Vulgate inserts a comma after
"the church," which, says Markus Barth, "perhaps intends to
indicate that temporal praise is given to God 'in the church,' while eternal
praise is offered 'in Christ'" (375).
Finally, it is doubtful
that Paul intended his words in verse 21 to be taken as a statement about the
church's future on the earth. He was
closing the third chapter of Ephesians by offering praise to God; he was not
providing a doctrinal statement about the future of the earthly church. Elsewhere in his epistles Paul did
specifically address the earthly church's fate, and he made it clear that it
was not going to survive. (Michael T. Griffth, One Lord, One Faith: Ancient
Christian Evidence of the Restoration)
Another passage, Ephesians
3:21, “Unto him [the person who glorifies God; see verses 19-20 for the
context] be glory in the church by Jesus Christ throughout all ages, world
without end. Amen.” What Paul appears to be saying here is that those followers
who “do exceedingly abundantly above all we ask,” (verse 20) will have infinite
glory, without time or spatial constraints (“throughout all ages, world without
end”). Paul is explaining the wonderful state of this glory, not the survival
of the Church. It is this glory that is the subject, and not the church. In
dealing with anti-Mormons, one must be careful about such subtle changes of
subject. (Alan Denison and D.L. Barksdale, Guess Who Wants to Have you for
Lunch? A Missionary Guide to Anti-Mormon Tactics & Strategies and How to
Deal with those Who Have Been Influenced by Them [Foundation for Apologetic
Information & Research, 2002], 30)
On
Griffith's argument that Paul could be referencing the heavenly, not merely
earthly church, is not as far-fetched as some might think. Such an
understanding of "church" was seen in the writings of some early
Christians, such as Origen:
“The hypothesis that prior
to the creation of the material universe God, in his eternal activity as
creator, had created a universe of rational beings who were in harmonious
contemplation of the divine Being is foundational to all of Origen’s
theological thought (Princ. 1.4.3–5; 2.1.1). This body of rational beings in
contemplation of God constituted the pre-existent Church. . . .
“Origen was not the first
to expound the doctrine of the pre-existent Church. Socrates states that
Pamphilus and Eusebius proved in their joint defense of Origen that he was only
the ‘expositor of the mystical tradition of the church’ in this doctrine.”
(Ronald E. Heine, Oxford
Early Christian Studies 11:48-49,51 [my thanks to Errol Amey for this reference])
