Witnessing to Mormons

When I witness to mormons, in general I set up an appointment for them to come over and do their little presentation they usually leave a book of mormon and schedule a follow-up for the next week. When they come back over I get out my note-book with questions for them. The ones I ussually use are as follows...

1. Can you find me archeological and historical proof from non-Mormon sources that prove that the peoples and places named in the Book of Mormon are true?

2. Why does the Book of Mormon state that Jesus was born in Jerusalem (Alma 7:10) when history and the Bible state that he was born outside of Jerusalem, in Bethlehem?

3. I’ve read where Joseph Smith said that he translated the golden plates (from which he got the Book of Mormon) letter-by-letter, “by the power of God” and that it was “the most correct of any book on earth. If that’s true why has the Mormon Church had to make thousands of changes to the Book of Mormon that was originally published in 1830?

4. Why do the Bible verses quoted in the Book of Mormon contain the italicized words from the King James Version that were added into the KJV text by the translators in the 16th and 17th centuries? [Here’s an example: 3 Nephi 24:10 says: “...that there shall not be room enough to receive it...” This is an exact quote from Malachi 3:10 from the King James Version. What’s amazing is that seven of these words were not part of the original text. They were added by the KJV translators for clarity. How did those word end up in the Book of Mormon that was supposedly written over a thousand years before the King James Version of the Bible?]

5. Can you read for me Isaiah 43:10? How about Isaiah 44:6? In light of what is said here, how can worthy Mormon males become Gods in the afterlife when God already said that before him no God was formed, nor will there be any Gods formed after him (Isaiah 43:10)?

6. Why do Mormons say that Jesus and Lucifer are spirit brothers when both the first chapter of John 1:1-3 and Colossians 1:16 teach that Jesus is the Creator of all things, including Lucifer?

7. I read where Brigham Young, the second president of the LDS Church, taught that both the moon and the sun were inhabited by people (Journal of Discourses, 1870, v.13, p.271). Has the Mormon Church ever found scientific evidence of that to be true?

8. I read in Doctrine and Covenants 84:1-5 where Joseph Smith prophesied that the New Jerusalem and a temple would be built in Zion, Missouri in his generation. Does the Mormon Church still teach that Joseph Smith was a true prophet of God after he made a false prophecy?

9. I read where Brigham Young taught that Adam is “our Father and our God” (Journal of Discourses, Apr. 9, 1852, vol.1, p.50). How can that be true when both the Bible and the Book of Mormon (Mormon 9:12) say that Adam was a creation of God?

10. If Brigham Young was a true prophet, why would one of your later prophets overturn his declaration which stated that the black man could never hold the priesthood in the LDS Church until after the resurrection of all other races (Journal of Discourses, Dec. 12, 1854, 2:142-143)?

11. Can you read Deuteronomy 18:20-22 out loud? Since the Bible’s test to determine whether someone is a true prophet of God is 100% accuracy in all his prophecies has the LDS Church ever reconsidered its teaching that Joseph Smith and Brigham Young were true prophets?

12. In the last couple of years, Mormon scholars, and scientists have discovered powerful DNA evidence has proven that the American Indians are not descendants of the Jewish race (as the Book of Mormon claims in it’s introduction), but the Asian race. Have you seen any of the research on this? I have a short video that interviews Mormon scholars on this. Would you be interested in watching it?

13. Why did Joseph Smith condone polygamy as an ordinance from God (Doctrine and Covenants 132 [see v. 38-39]) when the Book of Mormon had already condemned the practice in the book Jacob 1:15 and 2:24?

Usually they don't have answers to ANY of these questions which gives me the oppurtunity for another follow-up; which they are totally willing to do because I've been polite, friendly, humble, kind, unargumentitive, and even more I'm a honest seeker with questions that need answers. When they come back over the third time (with answers...unsatifactory ones they got from some elders and you can see in their eyes they know that they are not logical answers) I ussually have no problem taking as much time as I need to present the true Gospel because I've given them all the time they need to present a false one.

I like the approach Ray Comfort uses on JW's and Mormons - QUICK! I have a knife in my back - I've got three minutes to live - What must I do to be saved?

That will target the real issue - salvation.

I saw a great movie 2 weeks ago called 'The Bible vs the book of Mormon'. Not only did it confirm the obvious falseness of the book of Mormon, but it also showed how reliable the Bible is.

Here's a link:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000BWFSMC/102-2999196-5990537?v=glance&n=130

The main point that stuck out to me is that today we can go to the places the Bible talks about and see proof of all that it talks about. Ie Jerusalem and all the other cities and lands, the slavery, wars, etc. Nobody knows where the lands the book of mormon talks about are because they don't exist.

Anyways, I wish all the mormons could see this so some of them might be saved. I wonder if the movie is copyrighted...

Well, I have no experience in dealing with Mormons, having never had a conversation with one, but I have read some good material about how to witness to a Mormon.

The church that I used to go to in the States shared part of their building with another ministry. This ministry is called Faith Defenders lead by Dr Bob Morey. They are REALYY, and I mean REALLY into apologetics. Their church service consist of defending one's faith. I happend to walk in the foyer before their Easter Sunday service and the loudest conversation in the room was an argument over the definition of the word "is."

Anyways they have some good teaching on defending one's faith against pretty much any religion, having converted Muslin leaders and Jehovah witnesses through debate I'm not mentioning this to promote their ministry, but just to say that they are good at what they do.

They gave me a book about how to witness to a Mormon. Sady I do not have it with me here in the Philippines, but in his book, Dr Morey said that they best way to refute them is to attack Joseph Smith himself. He said that you can argue for hours and hours about other issues and even if you prove them wrong their leaders will reassure their doctrine. Morey says that the real issue is Joseph Smith, meaning if you can shake their trust in him, all of their doctrines will fall.

He says that quoting scripure doesn't affect them much since they believe that we (you and I) are not qualified to do so, not having true understanding (or did he say that about the Jehovah's Witnesses). Anyways, in his book Morey says show them Deuteronomy 18:22, that says if a prophets propheseys falsely then it is not of God. Once you get them to agree with that, you then start attacking the prophecies of Joseph Smith. He says to let them read the prophecies themself and have them fine where i is wrong. The only thing, is that you need to have on hand coppies of Smith's prophecies. Morey explains that Mormons, though trained to handle debate in nearly every Mormon doctrin, are not trained in validating Joseph Smith's prophecies, while some Mormons dont even know that Joseph Smith had any prophecies.

Morey also uses this method them witnessing to Jehovah's Witnesses, by disproving the prophecies of the Watchtower Society.

Once again, this is just some info that I got out of a book on apologetics.