Letters to CAPRO

Below are letters from our readers, along with the responses in red, that we at CAPRO believe are worth sharing. Thanks to those who have taken the time to write.

Hello Dr. Derengowski,

I wanted to thank you for the enlightenment shared in your aforementioned
paper. It was just what I needed to understand the freemason way of
thinking, the history behind it, how it relates (or rather doesn't) to
Christianity, Salvation and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

My sister's son is currently involved in a freemason group, and every single
thing you said explains his actions as of late. He is a grown man, 31 years
old, but since his involvement with this group, he has made some strange
decisions and only gives the elusive answers given to "cowans" when he is
asked what the group believes.

I have forwarded your paper to my sister to help her understand freemasonry
and that it has no place in a Christian's life. Her son professes to be a
believer and was raised in a Christian home. She had hoped to better
understand what this group is about so she can discuss with him why she
feels it is wrong. He is very defensive, so we pray for his willingness to
listen. Beyond prayer, little else can be done by her or his father.

He recently separated from his very beautiful, but materialistic wife. The
details didn't make much sense, but having read how the freemason way of
thinking involves completely releasing yourself from any material things, I
now wonder if that had something to do with the pending divorce. I do not
see her as being able to rationalize or accept the freemason school of
thought. But I cannot intrude into their personal business with my
suspicions.

Again, thank you for the information which was presented so well.

Sincerely,

Betty

Dear Betty,

Thank you for your kind remarks. My thoughts and prayers go out to your nephew in hopes that he will be open to the truth about Freemasonary, accept the truth, and then flee from the Lodge. If there is anything else I can do to assist you, please feel free to ask.

Blessings to you and yours,

Paul

I was curious about your article that talks about baptism for the dead. I
have a Mormon friend that explained to me that this is important for those
that never had the chance to accept Jesus while they lived on the earth.
What can you tell me that I might be able to answer his belief. I really
don't know what happens to those that don't get that chance here on earth.
It doesn't seem like God would be just if those that never heard of Jesus
should be condemned. Nor does it seem fair that they get a free pass
either.

Thanks!

Mike

Hi Mike,

I'm not sure which article you're referring to. Perhaps you could be more specific?

As for an answer to your friend, first of all, salvation is not based on chance, but design. Second, for those who die apart from spiritual regeneration, they are destined for hell. Third, the whole idea of fairness among those in the cults of frequently predicated on the faulty notion that God is somehow at the mercy of the sinner, when the exact opposite is true. The sinner is at the mercy of God. Therefore, since man is already in a state of sin and rebellion against God, for God to selectively intervene on the part of anyone to bear them into His kingdom is not only "fair," it is extremely merciful and gracious. And for those things we ought to be thankful, rather than subjectively critical because we feel that God didn't do things the cultist's lost way, as Mormons ultimately and falsely assume via their doctrine rooted in paganism, otherwise known as "free agency."

Thanks for writing.

Paul

Dear Paul,

Good day to you sir. Its nice to see your site and feel glad of the things I've learned from your page..They are impressive but I notice something wrong. These are the passages or the information you get from other sources in regards to the Mormon faith. well, I'm a Mormon sir. And I have understood the doctrine of Godhead in our Church. Honestly, I'm very comfortable with the doctrine of Trinity because in the Mormon Church we believe this doctrine. We believe that Jesus Christ is the second God in the Godhead. We emphasize in our Church that in-order to get salvation we need to know Jesus Christ and our Father in Heaven. In our First Article of faith it is stated and I quote " We believe in God the Eternal Father and His son Jesus Christ and in the Holy Ghost." end of quote. We love them! We adore them, we worship them and want to know about them its because this is life eternal. We believe that Jesus Christ is the God of Abraham the God of Moses and so on...in our standard works a passage revealed to the prophet Joseph Smith that Jesus Christ is the Jehovah during his pre- earth life. I mean "not correct that we believe in Oneness or Unitarian or the Arius arguments."

Greetings Tuakara,

Thanks for taking the time to read through some of the articles at CAPRO.info, particularly those on Mormonism. Since your opening comments are somewhat disjointed, I’ll only address specifics point briefly. First, Mormonism has never actually taught an orthodox view of the Trinity, much less has it embraced the doctrine as stated in the Bible. Instead, it substitutes a polytheistic/tritheistic view of God, which sees three individual gods in the godhead, rather than one God manifest in three persons. In fact, those three gods are a part of a pantheon of gods and goddesses that Mormonism propagates, with new gods and goddesses added to the list as faithful Mormons attempt to work their way to the upper echelon of the Celestial abode. All of that is completely contrary to biblical teaching, which tells us that there is only one true God (Jn. 17:3), that God knows of no other gods that exist alongside Him (Is. 43:10; 44:8; 45:5-6), and that Jesus and the Holy Spirit can only be God if they possess the same essential constitution as God (Jn. 1:1-3; Acts (2 Cor. 3:17 cf. Eph. 4:5).

Second, what Mormonism stresses as far as salvation is concerned really has nothing to do with believing in Jesus. In fact, belief in Jesus is more of mirage than a reality due to the legalistic works structure that Mormonism promotes as the ultimate means to attain “true salvation,” which is exaltation unto godhood. Again, such a notion is completely contrary to what the Bible teaches, which sees belief as a gift provided by God after He has already spiritually redeemed and pronounced the sinner forgiven and justified according to His grace. Mormons often love to misquote James in this respect, when he writes “faith without works is dead,” assuming that James is talking about the necessity of demonstrating one’s worthiness via one’s works. However, upon closer inspection of what James is saying, he is not arguing that one can work one’s way to eternal glory, but that those who are already redeemed, apart from works, demonstrate their already established salvation by performing deeds commensurate with that salvation. So, in that respect, Mormonism is clearly promoting a salvation that is non-biblical, as well as non-attainable.

Finally, Mormons may believe in a Jesus, or a God, or a Holy Spirit, but none of them are as the Bible describes them. Each of them is reminiscent of either ancient pagan deities (Hinduism has the Trimurti or “trinity” of individual deities—Brahma, Shiva, and Vishnu) or simply heretical reconstructions that are seen in movements like One Pentecostalism (Modalism) or Arianism (denial of Jesus’ deity). So, preach, teach, and love the demi-gods you think are Jesus, God, and the Holy Spirit, but in the final analysis, none of them are the persons found in the Bible.

We understood also that Jesus Christ is the Begotten Son because his Father is our Father in Heaven which is immortal and his mother is mortal. This is the reason why he is begotten son. No other humankind was and will born like Jesus Christ. Because of this qualities Jesus Christ has power over death. which is necessary for the atonement. He has power to lay his life and he also has power to take it again....I knew this truth even before I read your thesis about Trinity sir. That's why I'm so happy that others faith believe on this truth also.

Once again, your misstating several doctrines here, all of which see biblical beliefs through a tainted Mormon lens. For when the Bible speaks of Jesus’ begottenness, it is not talking about God having either Celestial sex with a Heavenly Mother or the natural sexual relation between two human beings (and what makes the latter worse, is that depending on which Mormon one is talking to, will depend on whether or not that sexual union took place between God and his daughter Mary). Instead, when Jesus was begotten by God, the Bible merely means that Jesus’ conception, whereby he took on a human nature to go along with his divine nature, was unique. No one in human history ever did such a thing, and no one in the future will do it either. Jesus became the God-man. Mormonism completely denies who Jesus was prior to coming to earth, and then perverts who Jesus truly was while walking the earth. It was only after he had died that he became God. Therefore, his atonement (which Mormonism also perverts) meant nothing to mankind, since he was in need of atonement himself! Hence, if the Mormon tale about Jesus is true, then we’re all still in our sins, in need of a savior, which ultimately becomes each individual sinner, since, as already noted, believing in Jesus is really meaningless under the Mormon scheme, since “true salvation” is accomplished only through legalistic effort, not by the propitious grace of God.

We are not confused also why Jesus Christ need to be baptized by John the baptist. It is written in The Book of Mormon which was published 1830. Very long time since your thesis is available in the web. He needs to get baptized to fulfill all righteousness. Though he is perfect but still showed unto the Father his obedience to the law. Baptism is for remission of sins, it is a requirement that each of us (but except Jesus Christ) should performed (to those who has proper authority) to enter the Kingdom of Heaven as Nicodemus asked the Lord recorded in the Gospel of John. And maybe last of any reason is that to show us the example on how should we be doing the baptism. Jesus Christ is our perfect example. He said "come follow Me". If he did just say that then the impact of the ordinance is not so powerful as he demonstrated to us with John the Baptist. Action speaks louder than words....Mormons, love Jesus Christ more than anyone. Our Church is called The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Mormon baptism, whether for the living or the dead, has nothing to do with biblical reason anyone is baptized, which is for symbolism. For biblical baptism merely symbolizes what has already occurred in a person’s life, and that is spiritual regeneration with the future expectation of being resurrected to a fully new life in the person of Jesus and to live with him eternally. Mormon baptism, on the other hand, is another in a long list of legalistic works, and once again, living by the letter of the law will avail no one anything, other than a one-way trip to hell.

One note on the name of the Mormon Church: it is irrelevant whether a religious organization includes or excludes the name of Jesus in its title, as a part of signaling to the rest of the world that it is Christian. What matters is whether or not that organization’s doctrines are aligned with those of the Bible. Mormonism’s doctrines are clearly outside the pale of biblical teaching on every major doctrine that the Bible expounds upon or the historic Christian church has subscribed to for the past two thousand years. So, adding Jesus to one’s title no more makes the religious entity Christian than does adding Grape Nuts to the outside of a cereal box make the contents a combination of the fruit of the vine and pecans or almonds.

Sir, I am only ordinary member of the Mormon Church who love to learned the good news of Jesus Christ the second God in the Godhead. I'm not authorized to speak in behalf of the Mormon Church but I'm writing as a pupil of yours to give correct information because our credibility will not be questioned much if our testimony is true. Waiting for your positive response. Thank you sir Paul.

As much as I appreciate your willingness to write, let me say that Mormonism has led you astray, even to the point where you assume that you cannot speak for God unless the Mormon hierarchy grants you permission. In cult studies, that is known as mind control. The Mormon Church so controls your mind, in other words, that you repeat the party line which says, “I’m not authorized to speak…” Well, if you’re not authorized, much less to speak, then what was the point of writing in the first place? Clearly you must have thought you were authorized, otherwise you would have simply let things go, with the hope of someone who is authorized to contact me. That said, however, you’re not my student, as much as I would love to sit down and undo the mess that the Mormon authorities have spun about in your mind. Perhaps one day that will occur, but until then, you’re a student of whatever the Mormon elite decide it “authorized” to fill your mind with, none of which have anything to do with orthodox biblical teaching and everything to do with steering you clear of it. Therefore, I pray for the release of your soul and mind one day, whereby you’ll see the error of Mormonism and embrace the biblical Jesus.

Your brother in Christ,

Tuakura

With all due respect, you’re not my brother, much less can you be “in Christ,” simply because the Mormon belief system will not allow either. To be brothers in Christ requires that we both be spiritual regenerate by God’s grace, apart from anything we can do. As noted above, Mormonism does not teach such a thing, but actually teaches doctrines which compete against it. Perhaps one day you will be spiritually regenerated and adopted into God’s family, but right now it is clear that that has not happened. Again, my prayer is that you will be spiritually released from the sinful bondage that stems not only from being a part of Adamic race, but from the false teaching which Mormonism promotes. Then, and only then, can we be brothers in Christ.

Hello Mr. Derengowski,

I came across your website...I liked your article on Yoga very much.

This statement of yours is brilliant,

"Hence, perhaps the ultimate reason why God hates an idol is that it vainly promotes the creature to the same status as God, or to put it more bluntly, it propagates the same lie told by the serpent in the Garden of Eden, that if man would act independently of God by disobeying Him, man could become a god himself (Gen. 3:5)."

However, I appeal to you to have an open mind and open heart towards Islam.

If you believe that Jeus is God or that Jesus is literally divine as a literal Son of God, then you will be greatly harming yourself in the hereafter.

With love and respect, I ask you to reconsider Islam. Your description of Islam is false. Please see http://www.leveltruth.com/ which has very logical and accurate information on Chrisitiantity and Islam.

But please note that if you read the Qur'an or anything which to some extent may be contrary to your current beliefs...it will be completely useless if you read it with a clsoed mind and closed heart....

I am not asking you to let go of your beliefs all at once but only to consider that since you do not have infinite knowledge....perhaps.....just perhaps you may be mistaken in think that Pauline Christianity is true and you may be mistaken to believe in the additional dogma that Jesus is God (even though what Paul taught is true, he did not think that Jesus is God but he did wrongly think that Jesus died for us...a very unjust concept).

I am sorry if I offended you....I cringe at the idea of informing a person who holds his beliefs dearly that he is mistaken...i cringe because I know that it is very discomforting to quesiton one's beliefs....but I know that the punsihment of God for blasphemy if far, far more painful and far, far longer if not of an eternal duration...so I send this with compassion and care and respect.

I am in part sending this because I want to pay yo back for reading that brilliant staatement you wrote on idolatry taht I referenced above.

Peace,

Umar

Dear Umar,

Thanks for taking the time to scope out a few of my articles and then writing.

As for your request for me to reconsider Islam, I'll simply say that you have not provided anything of substance that would cause me to change my mind. And to charge me with some kind of inaccuracy or unfair judgment, when I've provided page after page of documented historical and doctrinal comparisons between Islam and biblical Christianity is short-sighted and unfair in itself.

Moreover, to threaten me with some kind of dastardly eternal punishment for objectively proving my case that (1) Jesus was the Son of God, as well as God incarnate himself, and that (2) Islam is a false religion, a cult if you will, is hardly persuasive either. For God does not send people to hell for doing what He commanded, and that is to defend the faith once for all delivered to the saints by exposing the imposters for what they are. He sends people to hell for remaining in a spiritually degenerate state brought on by being a part of the human race related to Adam; a state that Islam has no answer or remedy, because it has rejected the biblical message of God's redemption through the shed blood of His Son, Jesus, on the cross.

So, once again, thanks for writing, but the Bible makes it perfectly clear who Jesus is, as well as what true and false doctrine is comprised, and what to look out for when it comes to imposters. Muhammad was an imposter, he offered, or did, nothing original to supersede what Jesus and his apostles did and taught, and the Quran is not what the Muslims claim that it is.

Praying for you,

Paul

"I read your articles and visited your site. All I have to say is what Jesus said "by their fruits ye shall know them". You really don't truly understand Mormonism, I am sorry. Because you have separated yourself from them to protect yourself from evil, you have missed the whole thing really. Jesus was wise enough to socialize with "heathens" and was not afraid of getting deceived, and he was our example in all things. If you were to really investigate Mormonism from the inside out, you would find a truly dedicated group of bible thumping, honest and virtuous people who are willing to sacrifice everything to take the gospel of Jesus Christ to all the world. Go to Mormon.org and read thousands of personal stories of how Mormonism has increased their faith in God and Christ and has made them a better father, mother and Christian in every way. I really think you have investigated Mormonism completely wrong. The Jews accused Christ of being a deceiver and he countered them by his works. They did not believe his doctrine until that witnessed his works. If the Mormons are so following Satan, how do you explain away their goodness so quickly. Has protecting the diluted form of Christianity that you espouse so blinded you as the scribes and pharisees were blinded by the new doctrines taught by Christ? They denied his works to protect their views and traditions. Aren't you doing the same. Think about it. If you really want to understand Mormonism or better said the doctrines and commandments of The hurch of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, do as Christ taught. If any man will "do my will, he shall know the doctrine". Go attend their meetings, go to General Conference, meet the people on the front lines of the faith. See for yourself how they live their lives and worship in the name of Christ. Those who truly seek with an open mind to live the lifestyle taught by modern day prophets and apostles of Jesus Christ are able to testify to it's powerful fruits which are good. I testify that it is good and sweet and pure beyond anything that mainstream Christianity has ever imagined, having investigated both sides fairly and with an open mind. A man can say he believes in God and Christ all he wants but the faith that leads you to actually live those teachings has the power of God in it ...not Satan. Satan turns people evil and dark and turns their hearts away from all that is good."—Home Star

To whom it may concern,

You did lots of rambling, but never proved your case. You say that I
don't understand Mormonism, but never actually pointed out where any
misunderstanding occurred. You merely assert as much, but making
assertions is not proving anything. Therefore, the only conclusion I can
come to is that you haven't done as you claim, and that is that you
actually read the articles. Because if you did, then you would have
pointed to something specific. Yet, as mentioned above, all you did was
ramble and throw out accusations, which in end mean absolutely nothing.

Thanks for writing.

"I do not understand how you can get on the web and persecute Mormons saying that they are a cult and that they do not believe the Bible when you deny that Christ has an immortal resurrected body and say He is a spirit without body, parts or passions. Do you think that true Christians can deny the resurrection, the central point of the Gospel of Christ? You persecute true Christians like the Paul of old and do not believe what Paul saw or taught."—Mavin

First, no one is persecuting the Mormons, at least on my behalf.
Persecution involves a whole lot more than mere objective criticism.
Mormonism is a cult, of which I have written extensively, and you would
have taken the time to actually read what I wrote.
http://capro.info/Cults/Cultism/What_is_a_Cult.html

Second, Mormon do not believe the Bible, otherwise they would not longer
be members of Mormonism. That is just how far removed Mormonism is from
biblical teaching. Mormons, rather, abuse the Bible, by picking and
choosing and distorting what is in the Bible to suit their particular
presuppositions to show favor towards their Mormonism. A classic example
of this is seen in the James 1:5 verse, which, once again, I've written a
fairly lengthy piece on which shows how it has been perverted to support a
pretext that Joseph Smith was some how a prophet of God.

Third, where did I ever deny that Jesus has a immoral resurrected body?
If you can show me that, then I'll correct the statement, but I think
you'll be hard-pressed to find anything, anywhere that I've made such a
statement. What I think you've done is confuse my view on Jesus with God
the Father, which is common with those who either do not understand the
Trinity. Nevertheless, I'll wait your response before proceeding further
on that comment.

Fourth, no, I do not think that any Bible-believing Christian can deny the
resurrection. Conversely, there are those claiming to be Christian that
can distort the resurrection to mean "General Salvation," like the Mormons
have.

Fifth, repeating a charge of persecution is meaningless in light of the
facts. Nevertheless, Mormons playing the persecution card is typical,
given the lack of substance in their religion and their arguments. Sadly,
though, such a play is a logical fallacy, despite that fact that it makes
the Mormon feel better about himself, regardless of the additional fact
that feeling good does not necessitate that one is actually promoting the
truth.

Thanks for writing Mavin. Hopefully you'll have the courage to answer my questions, now that I've answered yours.

I responded to the blog yesterday regarding Glenn Beck. Keep up the good work of preaching the truth. I am Marsha’s daughter. I know so many Mormons don’t want to hear the truth. I heard Charlie Campbell speak on Mormonism once. He is at Always Be Ready. He had really good questions that has helped me ask the right ones. Not that you seem to need more!—Karie

Hello Karie,

Thank you for your kind words and encouragement. You're right, though:
the Mormons don't really want to hear the truth. But that should not
prohibit us from preaching it and making a stand, which I'm honored to
know that you are doing.

If there is anything I can do to assist you, or if there is anything you
would like to pass along as we continue to sharpen each others swords,
then please feel free to contact me anytime. Until then, my thoughts and
prayers are with you and your daughter.

Welcome to CAPRO

Letters to CAPRO