A few years ago as I began to be exposed to the tidal wave of anti-Christian and more specifically anti-Mormon videos on Youtube, I remember thinking that I wanted to become a great apologist.
An apologist is someone who speaks or writes in defense of someone or something. I wanted to help defend these false claims because most of the issues are easily resolved. In fact, quite a few of them have been resolved decades ago and no scholarly criticizers use those hollow arguments anymore. But many of the internet criticizers don’t know that and keep digging up old issues, so we have to keep resolving the same issues over and over. For example, there is enough exposure and common knowledge in the world today that not very many people would believe, although I guarantee someone out there will argue this into the ground despite evidence to the contrary, that members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are baptized in the name of Joseph Smith. That, and a slew of others silly things are finally considered buried, so they move on to other silly things.
OK, not all of the points brought up are silly, some of them are quite good questions. The internet and computers are an absolute miracle for doing research today. You can research on dozens and dozens of points in the same time it would take to find one point the old fashioned, non-digitized way. The problem dealing with the barrage of attacks is that 20 seconds of false or misleading accusations can take hours and hours of time to organize and refute. The nitty gritty historic research can be painstaking, but luckily most of the research has already been done and is readily available. But even that can take hours to locate, read and understand well enough to refute just one argument. And what you’ll find is, most of these people’s prejudice is so set and immovable that they don’t even care about the resolution anyway.
But here is a great example of the promise that, “… all things wherewith you have been afflicted shall work together for your good, and to my name’s glory, saith the Lord (Doctrine & Covenants 98:3).” These false accusations have actually turned to the Latter-day Saints benefit, because it has resulted in some of the best and most extensive historic research that has uncovered more and more supportive historic information about Joseph Smith, the Book of Mormon and the restoration, that would have never been uncovered otherwise. The answers are there for those who want to find them, but this is where most people don’t want to put in the work. So here’s . What’s quicker and easier, building up or tearing down?
When I was at University I was taking a rainforest biology class and the professors told us that we needed to keep excellent notes because our final assignment was going to be a debate at the end of the semester where the small class would be split in half and we would debate on the side of rainforest conservation or rainforest exploitation. We spent all semester learning about the struggle between preserving the fragility of the natural rainforest resources against the oil companies and big corporations that would exploit them into extinction.
The day came for us to debate and my team won the coin toss, so we got to choose if we were pro-rainforest conservation or if we were the evil oil corporations. Through out the semester, we learned the pros and cons of both sides, but what side do you think the rainforest biology professors were on? Obviously the preservation of rainforests. And of all the students, I didn’t know anyone in the class that wasn’t convinced of the overwhelming evidence in support of preserving the rainforests and not letting them be exploited to annihilation. We won the toss. We wanted to win the debate, so what side did I suggest we take? The evil oil corporations of course.
My team mates were like, whaaat? The professors made it clear that we would be graded on the information that both sides use in real life situation and the team that had to take the side of the oil companies would not be penalized for it, we would be graded on how well we knew and disseminated the information. And remember, formal debates are for intellectual satisfaction, they are not a search for TRUTH. Formal debates are about defending your point of view and usually is regardless of truth, and is almost always accomplished by who is the most clever speaker.
I reminded my team mates that the oil companies have one major short term benefit, blindingly favorable to everyone, especially these poor regions of the world… money! This means we would not be on the defensive, they would. The other team would have to justify not taking advantage of the immediate gratification of exploitation while we sit back and criticize everything they say as altruistic. Flippantly casting doubt, intellectually condescending and philosophically tearing down truth is 10 times, nay, 100 times easier than truthfully building it up. My team mates were dumbfounded at my proposal since we all believed rainforest conservation was the right thing. I simply said, do you want to be the ones scurrying around doing all the work or do you want to sit back and make trite and quippy remarks while they do all the work?
To make a long story short, they reluctantly agreed with me to represent the evil oil companies, and we creamed the other side. My team mates were so surprised at how much easier it was to condescend what we thought was the truth. And even though we felt a little icky, the professors kept their word and we got a great grade. And that’s what it’s all about anyway isn’t it? Life lesson learned (wink). Little did I know at the time, that what I had stumbled on was what was once called the art of rhetoric. Fast talking, manipulative and so much easier to wield than real knowledge, yet Socrates condemns it as, “propagating a mock philosophy whose aim is not knowledge but the appearance of knowledge (Hugh Nibley, Rhetoric and Revelation).” The tobacco industry proved for so long, that there was no scientific evidence to support that cigarettes are harmful or addictive. They downplayed and confused the issue for decades and decades, claiming that they didn’t know if cigarettes were horrifically addictive or deadly, through the art of denying truth.
That was the first and last time I found myself in a position to defend something I didn’t believe was right, because I felt that it was too close to lying. That was just a formal school debate and someone had to be on the other side, but what if you adopted that kind of relativistic philosophy in your life? Where would it end? I do not envy lawyers. God asks us to make wise and righteous judgments with the Holy Ghost as a guide or compass. He wants us to know the difference between good and evil and learn to choose the good, through trial and error, even when it is not popular or immediately beneficial to us.
Isaiah saw in his day, the same thing he saw in our day. “And judgment is turned away backward.” The judgment here is ones ability to discern between good and bad and it has turned away and took off in the other direction. “… and justice standeth afar off, ” justice is no where close. “… for truth is fallen in the street,” this is the kind of fallen used when a soldier is fallen, truth is dead. “… and equity cannot enter,” equity or fairness isn’t even allowed in. “Yea, truth faileth,” again truth is dead. “… and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey,” meaning, those who repent and reject evil will be persecuted by evil or those who struggle for righteousness will be targeted. “… and the Lord saw it, and it displeased him that there was no judgment,” … no one is choosing the right. (Isaiah 59:14-15). Surrounded by those conditions, the God of heaven will do a marvelous work and a wonder to gather his people again, in the latter-days.
14 And judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter.
15 Yea, truth faileth; and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey: and the Lord saw it, and it displeased him that there was no judgment.
Isaiah 59:14-15
So as the atheists or lawyers of religion splatter the wall with unmanageable amounts of mud, hoping that anything will stick, and accuse you of not knowing your own doctrine or twisting the truth till it’s unrecognizable, remember Secret number 2, the Latter-day Saints have the gift of the Holy Ghost that is more valuable than a cunning intellect and outshines the infinitesimal wisdom, philosophy and craftiness of mankind. You can know things that they cannot.
And know that we can’t answer everything for doubter, nor do they deserve everything answered at their mere whimsical demand. When Jesus was brought and accused before Herod, the Kingdom of Judah’s false king, the Master didn’t speak a word to him and denied him the least entertainment. So, after a reasonable point, it’s not up to you to give someone proof of every Godly thing. Is that how you gain knowledge? Or do you have to struggle sometimes through study, prayer and pondering, with patience? Because the formula for gaining a spiritual witness requires sincerity, a broken heart, that means without stubbornness. And a contrite spirit, that means with humility. So, it’s up to God to reveal the truth of things to whom he will, but the proud and the unteachable are not usually on the list. Moroni 10 So secret number 3 is your testimony. Your simple testimony that may be torn to shreds by the cleverness of the mockers or the crassness of the foul accusers, “Nevertheless, ye are blessed, for the testimony which ye have borne is recorded in heaven for the angels to look upon; and they rejoice over you… (Doctrine & Covenants 62:3)”
Secret number 4. You can be kept from truth. There are those who are too intelligent for this kind of thing, too wise and independent in thought to need such a crutch as God and his religion. And it is evident through the scriptures that not everyone that claims to be religious are on the strait and narrow path that the Lord has prescribed. The Master taught that, “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. (Matthew 7: 21)”
When Nephi sees our day in vision, he quotes Isaiah 29 as, “For behold, the Lord hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep. For behold, ye have closed your eyes, and ye have rejected the prophets; and your rulers, and the seers hath he covered because of your iniquity. (2 Nephi 27:5)”
The prophet Isaiah saw that the fall of the children of Israel would be a shadow of things to come for the Gentiles in the last days. “Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men: Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid (Isaiah 29:13-14 )” The marvellous work and a wonder is the restoration of the gospel and bringing to light the Book of Mormon, another testament of Jesus Christ, not through committees and councils of men, but through revelation from God himself.
Secret number 5. Remember that you can loose light and knowledge that you once had, so have patience and compassion for those that used to know but don’t know now. Those who fall away, think they know and have retained everything they once knew, but if they knew everything, they would be aware of and remember the principle of loosing that which they once had. The parable of the talent is where the master gives his servants money to invest and increase, the ones that did, were given more. But the one that hid his money and didn’t increase was considered a wicked servant and had that which he already had, taken away. That testimony and knowledge can be lost. Hence the saying, “…unto every one which hath shall be given; and from him that hath not, even that he hath shall be taken away from him (Luke 19:26)
The Book of Mormon prophet Alma explained it like this, “…he that will harden his heart, the same receiveth the lesser portion of the word; and he that will not harden his heart, to him is given the greater portion of the word, until it is given unto him to know the mysteries of God until he know them in full. And they that will harden their hearts, to them is given the lesser portion of the word until they know nothing concerning his mysteries… (Alma 12:10-11)”
Shortly after I determined that I wanted to be an apologist, I changed my mind. I’m not interested in formally debating truth ad nauseam. Ad nauseam is a Latin term for arguing or discussing something to the point of nausea. I despise philosophizing and vain arguments. If it’s just a contest of words, then I quickly loose interest. But if there is a real exchange of knowledge and sincere opinions, even if a person doesn’t believe my point of view, we can still have a productive conversation or even debate. I ask Catholics, Protestants, Jews and Muslims questions all the time to know what they believe and I answer their questions about what the Latter-day Saints believe.
Secret number 6, The Lord loves your efforts, so you don’t have to be afraid – You don’t have to know everything. Besides, it’s written that “the weak things of the world shall come forth and break down the mighty and strong ones… that mine everlasting covenant might be established… That the fulness of my gospel might be proclaimed by the weak and the simple unto the ends of the world (Doctrine & Covenants 1:19-23).” If you are nervous and feel inadequate, know you’re in good company, the missionaries at the time of the apostles are recorded in ancient history as being simple in speech, unpolished in the dialectic arts and definitely not from the schools of religion and philosophy. If you’re weak and simple, you are perfectly suited to the Lords work. God wants us to understand our limitations and He likes to accomplish great things with people that are clearly not capable of doing it by themselves.
A great example of this is when Gideon was going up against an innumerable army of Midanites and the Lord told him that his already little army of 32,000 men was too large. “And the Lord said unto Gideon, The people that are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me (Judges 7:2).” So the Lord had Gideon whittle his army down to 300 men against an innumerable army to impress upon them that it wasn’t by their strength that they overcame the Midianites. The Lord did the same thing by choosing the simple and unlearned farm boy, Joseph Smith as his restoration prophet. I love how bluntly unflattering the Lord is, “…for unto this end have I raised you up, that I might show forth my wisdom through the weak things of the earth (Doctrine & Covenants 124:1).”
If you open your mouth, sometimes you’ll risk sounding like a fool, but sometimes you’ll say something truly inspired and maybe touch someone. But if you don’t open your mouth at all, you may be like the slothful servant in Jesus’ parable of the talents, who kept his silver buried instead of risking investment, who then taken away that which he had. Oh thou good and faithful servant, take the risk and go be anxiously engaged!
