Our dilemma today is an e-mail that came in via our other
website and our reply to the Mormon gentleman who wrote it. His comment was made in response to a quote he saw on the site and obviously disagreed with. You can read the exchange below and on our site as well.
In all things we want to glorify the Lord. My heart goes to Jesus first, even if it must be at the expense of disagreeing with someone else’s interpretation of scripture. Personally, it kills me that Mormons are lied to and believe the outlandish whims of their leaders. How I wish I could erase all of Mormon theology like writing on a chalkboard and replace it with His word…
Let’s begin shall we?!
Promptings of the Spirit, pg. 96; “…in D&C 9:9 the Lord says that if a wrong thought is being pursued, there will be no feeling of rightness, but instead, a stupor of thought, and that the stupor of thought “shall cause you to forget the thing which is wrong.” Actually it is the Spirit which causes the stupor of thought and the forgetting. That means that the Spirit really is present, but works within us like ebbs and flows, presenting and subtracting feelings and thoughts. Thus, stupor of thought is not a true condition of the Spirit being absent.” – Errol Fish
2 Corinthians 10:5; “Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.”
We are discouraged in the Bible from trusting our own feelings so everything Mr. Fish said here is a lie.
“Hi – I normally don’t comment at websites, but I feel that your interpretation of 2nd Cor 10:5 is wayyyyy of base. Nothing in that verse indicates that we shouldn’t trust our own feelings. If anything, it says that we need to master our own thoughts. I can’t think of a single place in the Bible where we are instructed not to trust our feelings. Did Paul not listen to his own feelings during his conversion? What about Luther? Why would God give us the capacity to feel if we are to just ignore it?” – David
First of all, in response to Mr. Fish’s book noted above, God doesn’t control our feelings. Feelings are a self-generated response to information our brain takes in.
Secondly, the Lord discusses this issue of feelings repeatedly throughout His word. We’re to use these warnings as guidance so we won’t be tripped up by the whims of societal events going on around us. Man’s feelings are totally subjective, and must be brought under the control of Jesus, not us.
Thirdly, responding to events around us like Paul or Luther did is a result of an outside influence, which in both cases, was God. Like the Bereans who studied the word to see if what they heard was true, they made their decisions based on demonstrative evidences and facts, not feelings. Acts 17:11
Finally as mentioned above, the Bible is replete with warnings from the Lord that a man’s heart is deceitful. Therefore by default, trusting our own heart is an unreliable tool for evaluating extraneous information our brains receive. If our own judgment is clouded, why would you want to trust it?
The author of this book should have known better being a psychologist and all. The dichotomy in this situation is a reflection of what’s wrong with mankind. Mr. Fish was apparently an extremely well educated individual, but allowed himself to be swooned by the evil one. Ephesians 6:11-12 is another fitting example of why we should always make decisions based on fact, not feelings.
“Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”
Listed below are numerous biblical examples that man’s heart isn’t always forthright and how God is the only One who knows what’s lurking in the darkness therein. We’re praying Mormons will be intellectually honest with themselves and God – after all, their very souls depend on it! James 1:5
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