Help Us Please To "Come Out Of Mormonism!"

But come out of Mormonism and into WHAT?

They always say to 'come out of Mormonism" but into what? not ONE of my Christian brothers could agree on anything except for, "Just Not Mormon." (BY THE WAY, All credits to this piece goes to: D Lawrence Barksdale of the "Fair Mormon Apologetics Page" on Facebook)

This is an open invitation to our non-LDS friends, who are so eager to help us "come out of" Mormonism.

Here it is: "Witness to us." Really. We'd love to hear your witness, as long as it centers on what you DO believe, and not what you DON'T.

Speaking for myself, I'm ready to accept the Jesus of the Bible as my personal Savior and walk away from Mormonism forever..

But here's my deal...

1) Since you've told us (repeatedly) that we worship the "wrong" Jesus, you need to show us from the Bible where the 'homoousios' ("One-in-actual-substance-or-being") Jesus of the consubstantial Trinity is taught in the Bible. I'll need at least one passage that includes that all-important word, "homoousios," to be be acceptable. After all, it is the ONLY word in Koine Greek that means "one-in-actual-substance-or-being." I need the assurance that the Jesus YOU want me to believe in is the "right" Jesus.

2) Since you've told us that the "Bible Alone" is the ONLY source of spiritual truth, I need you to show me with irrefutable, incontrovertible evidence WHICH Bible I should accept... the one WITH the apocrypha, or the one WITHOUT. Which translation? They all differ. Which Codex? None of them agree. Then I need you to explain to me how a collection of books with over 350,000 textual variants is "infallible" and/or "inerrant."

3) Since the doctrine of salvation is so important, I need to be assured that you're not inviting me to believe in "another gospel" than what Paul taught. Therefore, you need to show me a) where Jesus taught Sola Fidianism, b) Where the NT teaches that obedience is not necessary, c) Why the Early Church Fathers never taught Sola Fidianism, and d) why NO ONE in Christianity taught Sola Fidianism until Martin Luther.

4) Since Jesus Himself established a very specific church organizational structure, complete with offices and authority, I need you to show me who your proposed church's prophets and apostles are. They are, after all, the very foundation of the church Christ established.

I have more, but these will suffice for now. I'm an open book. I'm ready to be "saved." The requests I have above are more than reasonable. The Bible teaches, if I'm not mistaken, to "give a good answer" to those who ask. Thanks in advance.

Message From Scott Gordon, President of FAIR LDS

MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT
-----------------------------------
When most members of the Church think of anti-Mormonism, they
immediately flash on sign-carrying protestors outside of Temple
Square, or they visualize a debate on whether faith or works leads
to salvation. The problem with those visualizations is that those
types of protests and discussions aren't the kind of anti-Mormonism
that has any real impact on members of the church. Some are lulled
into a false sense of security believing that their testimonies are
unshakable. It is with that attitude they venture onto the Internet
to read what others have to say about our beliefs. They may soon
discover that the Church and its history is often conveyed in a
fashion that is totally foreign to what they have learned.

Emails to FAIR have included phrases such as, "I recently became
aware of some things from church history I have never heard before,
"or "Joseph Smith doesn't appear to be the person I learned he was
in Primary."

There are things written in books and on the Internet that sound
very damaging to Joseph Smith and others in Church history. Some
members get very upset when they read it and realize they have not
heard it before. They sometimes come to believe that the items have
been hidden from them through some grand conspiracy of deception and
find their testimony shaken.

The truth is that many of the allegations are taken out of context,
are presented with a negative spin, come from less reliable sources,
or are simply false. While some feel they "should' know about it,
there really should be no expectation for the Church to teach things
about Joseph Smith that aren't true, simply so people are familiar
with those claims. False allegations remain false, even if they are
from a long time ago.

For example, perhaps you will read the common claim that there was
no record of the First Vision prior to 1870. The claim is usually
made with absolute certainty and bravado. The average reader doesn't
know that there are over 62 recorded instances of the First Vision
stretching from 1840 to 1870.

http://en.fairmormon.org/First_Vision/Seldom_mentioned_in_LDS_publications_before_1877_(long)

Perhaps you may read that Brigham Young said that he lives "above
the law." What the average reader doesn't know is that Brigham was
talking about living better than the law, not escaping from it.

http://en.fairmormon.org/Quote_mining/Journal_of_Discourses/JoD_1:361:Analysis

There are numerous other examples that can be cited. But, know that
the arguments and negative treatment put forward by the various
books and anti-Mormon websites have been examined and found to be
unconvincing and often dishonest. FAIR exists to continue to expose
those dishonest claims and to help members of the Church find
answers without having to become research specialists.

I hope that you continue to support us in our efforts by spreading
the word about FAIR and letting people know where they can find the
truth about disturbing claims they may hear.

--Scott Gordon
President of FAIR