Blog

by Bill Seng

Reason 8) Authorship

“But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned! As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned!” – Galatians 1:8-9

The Bible does not claim to be written by an angel. Why is this significant? One of the Islamic traditions is that Muhammad was given the Quran by an angel. Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism, was directed to his book of golden plates by an angel. Despite the Apostle Paul’s warning against alternative Gospels, particularly those given by angels, these traditions supposedly received their revelations from angels. The first warning, however, is against receiving an alternative Gospel from human agents including those who were currently preaching the very Gospel message they had previously received! Jehovah’s Witnesses have committed the very sin that the Apostle Paul preached against in this passage. Paul warned against new messages and new messengers for a reason.

The real message being conveyed here is to beware of corrupt messages. The message of the Gospel, as expressed by the New Testament authors, is grace through the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. What do these later religions accomplish through their updated messages? Notice that Islam and Jehovah’s Witnesses both diminish the person of Jesus Christ. One says that he was merely a prophet; the other says that he is the earthly incarnation of the angel Michael. Both religions claim that the God of the Old Testament was a separate God from the person of Jesus. Mormonism sees Jesus in the sense that he is the Son of God and a God, but that he is no more of a son of God than Satan is except that Jesus’ plan of salvation, according to their beliefs, preserved the free will of mankind. Aside from this key doctrine, it is not until a deeper look is taken into each respective religion that the differences become more evident. Latter Day Saints (Mormons) and Jehovah’s Witnesses have what are considered authoritative works outside of the Bible. Mormonism even seems to embrace a works-based salvation as evidenced on their official web page: “Each of us will be resurrected and overcome physical death regardless of what we do in this life. But we have to do our part to overcome spiritual death. To be forgiven of our sins, we need to repent and increase our faith in Jesus Christ throughout our lives. We will not be saved simply because we get baptized or say we believe in Jesus Christ. It takes work, but the work we do doesn’t only prepare us for heaven, it blesses us in this life too” (https://www.lds.org/topics/plan-of-salvation/jesus-christ-is-the-way).

The message of salvation is tarnished when the person of Jesus Christ is misrepresented. He is not merely a prophet, an angel, or even a god; he is the Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace, Immanuel (Isaiah 9:6; Matthew 1:23). Trusting the original Gospel message through the Apostles’ original message is the way to salvation. Their warning against hearing an alternative Gospel message from anyone, including themselves, speaks to their truthfulness.