Faith Over Reason – Paul M. Williams

Mark 5:25-34 Preached in the Sanctuary of Bethesda Shalom, England, Sunday 2nd November, 2025. 

Part 6 When a Christian is asked to explain why heaven will be heaven for him, it does not take him long to give his answer.  Heaven will be heaven because God is there!  Yet, when a Mormon is asked to explain the hope that they have in Christ, their whole concept of eternity is fashioned by the doctrine of Exaltation, namely the belief that man might one day become a god, possessing all power, glory, dominion, and knowledge. For the Bible believing Christian, the leap from man to God is an eternal gulf that can never be spanned.  Man will never be God for the simple reason that God is the creator and man is the created.  However, in an ever-evolving universe, Mormons believe that God the Father was once a man who, through specific actions, achieved exaltation himself.  If such a formidable feat were possible for God, then the Mormon hope is that it is also possible through Christ for them.  The purpose of this sixth teaching is to understand the Mormon position and examine such claims in light of Holy Scripture.   Download teaching notes (pdf) https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/bethesdashalom/6_The_Doctrine_of_Man_.pdf

Matthew 14:28-30 Preached in the Sanctuary of Bethesda Shalom, England, Sunday 25th October, 2025. 

Part 5 Of the many teachings contained in the Bible, there is one teaching that the Bible is unequivocal about and absolute in its declaration: there is but one true and living God.  Monotheism oozes out of every page of God's sacred record in both the Old and New Testaments.  Orthodoxy demands that the adherent of Christianity hold to the belief in the existence of only one God!!  Every prophet from Moses through to Jesus taught that there was but one God.  At first glance, it appears that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are on the same page.  However, as one begins to dig beneath the surface of its conventional publicity statements, one discovers layer after layer of heresy from the denial of the Trinity to the human anatomy of God the Father. If one is to understand the Mormon hope as it relates to eternity, one must first understand the particular God whom they serve.      Download teaching notes (pdf) https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/bethesdashalom/5_The_Doctrine_of_God.pdf

Proverbs 16:9 Preached in the Sanctuary of Bethesda Shalom, England, Sunday 19th October, 2025. A man's heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps. 

Part 4 The Mormon Church claim that over the centuries, the Bible has suffered the loss of many plain and precious parts.  They believe that the most reliable way to measure the accuracy of the biblical text is not by comparing the many translations available today, but by comparing the Bible with the Book of Mormon.  The Book of Mormon is the measuring stick for truth, and according to Joseph Smith, it is the most correct of any book on earth.  That is a very bold claim!   As we continue to examine the Book of Mormon, consideration shall be given to its historical reliability.  What artefacts (if any) have archaeologists unearthed to support the historicity of the Book of Mormon?  How does one explain the historical errors contained within it?  How did whole portions of the 1769 King James Bible make their way into the Book of Mormon if the gold plates from which the book claimed to be translated predate the King James Bible by more than a millennium?  These questions and more are answered in this fourth teaching on Mormonism.   Download teaching notes (pdf) https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/bethesdashalom/4_The_Book_of_Mormon_Pt_2.pdf

Genesis 6:9 Preached in the Sanctuary of Bethesda Shalom, Sunday 12th October, 2025. These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God. 

Part 3 The Book of Mormon is just under one and a half times larger than the New Testament. It comprises 15 books, which the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints say were written by Nephite prophets.  The LDS Church believes that whilst the Bible documents the events of God's chosen people, Israel in the Eastern Hemisphere, the Book of Mormon documents the lives of the Israelites inhabiting the Western Hemisphere, namely the ancient Americas.  Interestingly, much of what the LDS Church believes doctrinally is not actually found in the Book of Mormon but in the other writings of Joseph Smith: Doctrine and Covenants and Pearl of Great Price.  Despite this, Joseph Smith said of the Book of Mormon: "I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts than any other book." Joseph Smith was known for making bold statements, and the quote above is surely numbered among them.  As with any claim, it ought to be able to withstand scrutiny and examination.  In this teaching, the Book of Mormon will be held to the standard of modern science to see if indeed it is the most correct book on earth.    Download teaching notes (pdf) https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/bethesdashalom/3_The_Book_of_Mormon_Pt_1.pdf  

Revelation 2:24-25 Preached in the Sanctuary of Bethesda Shalom, Sunday 5th October, 2025. But unto you I say, and unto the rest in Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine, and which have not known the depths of Satan, as they speak; I will put upon you none other burden. But that which ye have already hold fast till I come. 

Matthew 28:1-10 And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came and held him by the feet, and worshipped him.