"He's a wrong prophet, not a false prophet."
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Boundary maintenance enables genuine interfaith dialogue.
"But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God's word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God."
β 2 Corinthians 4:2
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On the topic of a timeless God creating a temporal creation, I claimed that God βacts atemporally with temporal effects."
A Mormon then objected, "You donβt see the incoherence?"
No. But I do see the mystery. If someone pretended like they understood this, I would say that they need to keep thinking and reading and praying until they feel overwhelmed by the inscrutable depth and "otherness" of it.
The same goes for:
β How an omnipotent, infinite cause (Creator) can have a finite effect (creation).
β How the Son can be eternally begotten of the Father in a way that results in no division or inferiority or multiplicity of being.
β How God the Son remains unchanged when assuming a mutable human nature. God became a baby! The Author of life was authored.
β How the two natures of the Son can be united in a single divine person.
β How humanity is corporately united in Adam, and all of the Church corporately united in the person of Christ.
β How a human being can be united to Christ, thus being counted with his perfect righteousness.
The mysteries only go deeper:
βHe by whom all things were made was made one of all things. The Son of God by the Father without a mother became the Son of man by a mother without a father. The Word Who is God before all time became flesh at the appointed time. The maker of the sun was made under the sun. He Who fills the world lay in a manger, great in the form of God but tiny in the form of a servant; this was in such a way that neither was His greatness diminished by His tininess, nor was His tininess overcome by His greatness.β
β Augustine:
None of these mysteries are rightly understood when thought to be grasped or rationalized. They are understood by faith and humility in the posture of receiving from God's gracious and accommodating self-disclosure.
The proper response to the gospel isn't, "Ah, makes total sense."
It is, "What is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?" (Proverbs 8:4)
And, "Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!" (Romans 11:33)
And, "Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory."
Glory!
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James vs. modern LDS apologists:
"Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom... The wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere." (James 3:13,17)
Which way, modern Mormons? The way of wisdom, or the way of domineering rhetorical aggression?
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"We aim that they share our joy and that we share theirs, so that both joys are larger because of being shared." (John Piper, "What Jesus Demands of the World", p. 282)