Friday, January 31, 2020

Is the Bible Project a Gateway to Mormonism?



A Bible Project Discussion: Is the Bible Project a Gateway to LDS Theology?

Too busy to read? Listen to the  10-minute audio here.

Q. Is the Bible Project LDS? A: Absolutely not.

Q. Is the Bible Project a gateway to LDS theology? A: Absolutely yes.

Here are just a few reasons from a long list explaining why we say yes.

Gateway # 1. A common view on agency in the “divine council.”  Most folks are aware that Mormons focus on providing bodies for spirit babies sired by their non-orthodox father god Elohim and one of his many wives. These babies then await their respective opportunities to experience free agency in a human body on earth. This doctrine of absolute free agency[1] is the cornerstone of LDS theology and was the supposed source of contention between Jesus and his supposed brother Lucifer (Jesus being the LDS advocate of free agency.) While that scenario by itself should be enough to put off any casual observer of LDS doctrine, LDS roots run far more deeply into errors that often go unnoticed by evangelicals.


We have just cause to be chagrined as we compare the LDS “divine council” with the BP “divine council.”  Both are hosted by a less than all-powerful elohim who remands his decision-making authority to his team of fellow elohim, thus diminishing the sovereignty of our true Yahweh. Both histories argue that a council convened and then divided over the issue of absolute free agency, and both share the same commitment to this doctrine. Both the LDS and the Bible Project fabricated their views and then sought to impose them on obscure scriptures which make no such contentions.


As we dig even deeper, we notice other common ground between Mormons and Gnostics which spills over into our discussion. Mormonism (thanks, as much to Brigham Young as to Joseph Smith), is a variant gnostic expression of a pagan worldview that was progressively embedded into a pseudo Christian worldview. Those views are significant. Far from being simplistic, both pagans and Gnostics had articulate systems, which are now rapidly re-emerging in our postmodern, ephemeral age. Mormonism is well postured for postmodernism. All three false systems (LDS, paganism and Gnosticism) see an eternal, self-originating, self-perpetuating initial creation which functions on inherent laws. In Young’s own words in the Journal of Discourses, “matter is eternal.”[2] Their differences are unified by their mutual commitment to absolute free agency and are separated only by their theodicies or explanations for evil. It should occur that, unlike biblical Christianity, the Bible tells us that the mystery of iniquity is not static, it is in flux, and it is melding (2 Thessalonians 2:7).


Here’s the wrap: We have three world views under consideration, pagan ancient near east religion (ANR), the Bible Project, and Mormonism. In two worldviews, ANR and the Bible Project, heaven and earth were one entity that was subsequently divided, although their theodicies certainly vary[3].

  • In all three worldviews, (ANR, LDS, and BP) divine councils were in play. 
  • In all three, divine councils are made up of “gods” or divine beings. 
  • In all three, absolute free agency is in play. None of these fabrications can be substantiated in the Bible. All require extra-biblical sourcing.

Incidentally, these views are not entirely alien from postmodern theoretical physics in at least one respect.

We are coming full circle. Just as pagan religion accommodates the idea of a single, self-originating, universal point of origin in one’s “theory of everything,” so do postmodern scientists who are even now beginning to allow for the existence of a spiritual realm in spite of protests from the vestigial materialistic scientists of the last century.


The Bible Project is blending and blurring these historically separate and unique worldviews which originate from an imagined divine council. As our engagement in spiritual warfare expands, we can anticipate an even greater assault from Hollywood and other forces that would blur the lines of spirituality and try to connect us with the demon world. It is this very fact that requires us to be crystal clear about our starting points. We must be relentlessly definitive regarding our stand on the supposed divine council or our warfare will be neutralized.


Gateway # 2. Will the real elohim please stand up? So, where would the views of the LDS and the Bible Project (BP) best interface? Is there a gateway? We must look at the first principles of Mormonism. In the LDS world, their Elohim is one of many such gods. He is simply the LDS father-god who pertains to our world. Once a mere created man, he evolved or progressed to his present position as creator and maintainer of our universe, a privilege reserved for gods only. In the BP world, there are also many “divine elohim.” In their words, our Elohim is unique from the other subordinate gods in that He created them.


It is important for the Bible believer to understand that heaven and earth were created uniquely and were not one entity, or even overlapping entities, as the Bible Project insists. Further, they will not be reunited back into one entity, though they will be recreated.

But here is the critical point. The BP is a gateway to Mormonism in this respect. Both groups teach (without biblical justification, the existence of many divine elohim with their own Elohim being unique. This parallel teaching narrows the gap between our disparate views.


Gateway # 3.  Reproduction versus creation. LDS theology logically has not done well explaining the origin of their original god. Something, somewhere, originated and then learned how to create and reproduce. Their immediate Elohim is the result of such reproduction. He’s just ahead of us in the line of exaltation. But, who is his father and the father of his father, and so on? Why would Mormons not worship the ultimate Creator?  In contrast to the LDS, so far as we can determine, the BP does teach the eternal existence of our creator God. But here’s a question this author has yet to see the BP address:


While the Bible declares (Matthew 22:30) that neither angels nor resurrected believers marry that does not dismiss the issue whether the BP gods can reproduce, and if they can do so with humans, as the BP claims in its treatment of the Nephilim. We know that the sons of God cohabited with the daughters of men (Genesis 6) and that is all that we know. We do not know who these sons are.  We have no biblical authority to open speculative doors and begin declaring biblical teachings and history which simply are not there. Were these nephilim demonic hybrids, and were they capable or incapable of reproduction? Be careful, now! The Bible does not go there, and neither should we. According to the BP, these hybrid Nephilim were also divine elohim (albeit rebellious ones). This paints the whole pagan discussion of gods cohabiting with men in a different light and opens the door for some serious intrusion of pagan mythology into biblical theology. As tantalizing as that is it opens a Pandora’s box:


When humans reproduce physically, we are also the products of God’s immediate creation (Psalm 139). God created us uniquely as mankind and individually as persons, regardless of our creationist versus traducianist persuasions[4]. In any case, we cannot separate the issue of reproduction from the issue of creation. God’s creatures are certainly creative, but none are creators. So, exactly, who is doing the reproduction in the BP world? Can those BP elohim (apart from Yahweh) create new, everlasting divine beings through reproduction? Neither pagans nor Gnostics would contest this. This is merely the first of many gaps in BP teaching which opens the floodgates to paganism.

We only raise this point to underscore our contention. The bizarre teachings of the BP are narrowing the gap between biblical considerations and pagan, as well as the quasi pagan LDS tenets. They are opening dangerous options and closing the gap between biblical Christianity and paganism.


Gateway #4. The LDS and the BP views with respect to God. Clearly, Mormonism is polytheistic. Clearly, the Bible Project is trinitarian, at least to date. However, the lines are being blurred when it comes to the question of what constitutes a person of the godhead. In all fairness we have every right to say that the BP has not fully matured its views and pictures the trinity in a manner far removed from orthodox explanations. We are seeing an emergent view surfacing which intimates that the persons of the godhood (Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit in particular) are the personalized attributes of God – a discussion that goes far beyond this treatment but is well documented in their videos and our video reviews. The BP treatment of the godhood is far more palpable and far less offensive to the Mormon mind than anything which has been expressed inside orthodox Christianity. Those who wish to investigate this further are urged to watch our Bible Project God video overview here: https://www.internetbiblefellowship.com/expose.html.


Conclusion. The Bible Project is a gateway to LDS heresy. Its divine council parallels the Mormon council in that it features absolute free agency as its cornerstone and portrays a God who remands (rather than relegates) authority to his created beings. It allows for a panoply of gods who can and do cohabit with men in a fashion not unlike pagan mythology. While not LDS, it blurs the essence of the personhood of respective members of the trinity.

For our associated Bible Project expose's visit Jim at StandingTrue.com



[1]  Absolute free agency is not identical with the so-called Calvinist/Arminian debate over free will. It implies that God has surrendered His sovereign authority over his creatures and is working with them through whatever means to regain it. This is what often separates dominionism from typical millennial theology.
[2] Keep in mind that if matter is eternal it is God. What we call the attributes of God subsequently flow from the creation and ultimately are personified as God. Some Mormons have gone to great ends to obfuscate Young’s views on this matter. The Bible Project views on the personalization of attributes is terrifyingly close to the LDS paradigm.
[3] A theodicy is an explanation for the existence of evil. In most false religion, sin, when and if acknowledged at all, is a subset of the discussion of evil. As an aside, Bible Project observers will notice that its vocabulary stresses evil heavily while treating sin much in the same way as false systems do. Sin is mentioned in BP videos, but only in a minuscule way in contrast with its treatment of evil.
[4] Did God create us and place us all in Adam or does He place our spirits in us at conception, or when we take our first breath? This teacher holds to the first. Mormons and even many evangelicals hold to the third view. By adopting the third view, many absolve themselves from the moral issue associated with abortion on demand.

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