When a Mormon Meets Jesus: A Study in Spiritual Paradigm Shift

1. When a Mormon Meets Jesus: A Study in Spiritual Paradigm Shift Dean Helland

2. Introduction • Mormon’s consider themselves to be the chosen people of God. • They claim to believe in Jesus Christ. • The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints of Salt Lake City is the best known Mormon group. – There are 100+ other groups, some polygamous. • They all believe the Book of Mormon to be “Another Testament of Jesus Christ” and Joseph Smith to be a true prophet of God.

3. The Problem • The Bible warns against those who say they believe in a different Jesus Christ than the one the Bible presents. • The Jesus of Mormonism is a product of Joseph Smith’s brand of occultism and is quite different from the Jesus of the Bible. • “The traditional Christ of whom they speak is not the Christ of whom I speak.” Gordon B. Hinkley, Mormon Prophet and President

4. The Problem • Bible-believing Christians base their faith on the Bible. • The history, the cultures, lands, and people of the Bible exist today, but no trace can be found of those referred to in the Book of Mormon. • Mormons believe that the Bible has been tampered with, that Christians have therefore been blinded by Satan. • Christians must lay aside their blind adherence to the Bible (which is verifiable) and accept Joseph Smith’s revelations (which were based on fantasy) to become exalted to be polygamous gods over their own planets. • The highest Mormon heaven resembles more the Muslim paradise of sexual pleasure than the Bible’s Heaven where marriage is non-existent.

5. The Problem • The faith of the Mormon people is misplaced. • They must be redirected to the pure teachings of the Bible and the Jesus of the New Testament if they are to be saved.

6. My Experiences with Ex-Mormons for Jesus • It took five years from the time I actually accepted the real Jesus to leave Mormonism (1961-1966). No one tried to help me see my error. • After my deliverance from Mormonism, I got a Masters in Divinity degree from ORU (1966-1969) and served as an evangelist, pastor, and then missionary to Chile (1969-1990). -- At ORU, I wondered why there were not more ex-Mormon students like me. I was ashamed to reveal my Mormon past. • In Chile, with the help of Ed Decker of “Ex-Mormons for Jesus,” I held a nation-wide information campaign on Mormonism and saw many Mormons converted and to become active in Bible-believing churches.

7. My Experience with Ex-Mormons for Jesus • It was amazing for me to see those people experience such a sudden spiritual paradigm shift while it had taken me five years.

8. My Doctoral Studies • The remainder of this presentation is based on a questionnaire that was filled out by 56 ex-Mormons who had made that transition. • I circulated it in the years 1988-1989 while doing research for my doctoral project to be entitled: “The Rehabilitation of ex-Mormons”.

9. Who filled it out? • These 56 ex-Mormons had become active in Bible-believing churches. • 51 were from the USA. • 5 were from Chile. • 51 had belonged to the LDS (Utah). • 5 to the RLDS (Independence, Missouri).

10. Who filled it out? • 23 men • 33 women • The average person was: • 45 years old • had two years of college • had been a Mormon for 25 years.

11. How these former Mormons found their new church home • 45% - By invitation from family, relatives, or friends. • 21% - By outreaches of the local church. • 14% - They visited around, looking for a church home. • 12% - They started going to the church nearest their home.

12. Decisive Factors in Their Leaving Mormonism • The lives of Christian friends 43% • Books they read. The most mentioned: • The Bible (They saw the Gospel in it.) 16% • The Book of Mormon (They saw its errors.) 13% • Mormonism, Shadow or Reality (ditto) 13% • The Godmakers (They saw its errors.) 11% • Books that influenced my own break with Mormonism: • The Bible, the Book of Mormon, No man Knows my History

13. “How long after leaving Mormonism was it before you became active in a Bible-believing Church?” • While still a Mormon 5% • Immediately after 34% • Months later 18% • From one-to-twenty years later 34% • No response 7%

14. “What denominations?” • Nondenominational 18% • Baptist 18% • Assemblies of God 18% • Foursquare 11% • Other 26% • Not a member 4% • No longer active 2%

15. “Why did you join it?” • “It was a good, solid, on-fire church with outstanding teaching from God’s Word.” • “It had a bold witness in the community and a good youth program.” • “It is Christ-centered and involved in witnessing.” • “I distrusted all churches at first. After I was saved, it took about a year to join.”

16. “How do you describe your departure from Mormonism?” • Gradual 48% • Sudden 16% • Bitter 20% • Christ-centered 41% Comments: --“I was angry at the Mormons for deceiving me.” --“Searching for truth, I found the answers in the Bible” --“It took a lot of Bible-based research and prayer. My sister and her family left after I did”

17. Conclusion • I realized that Mormons who sit under Bible teaching getdeprogrammed, and don’t need “rehabilitation.” • The Body of Christ is now reaching out to Mormons and ex-Mormons in ways that it did not do in the 60’s, when I had left Mormonism. • At that time, only 1 in 40 ex-Mormons ended up in Bible-believing churches. That has changed significantly now in a positive sense. • For help in dealing with Mormons, check out my website: www.deanhelland.com.