ERIC JOHNSON AND RANDY SWEET Summary
Those who attempt to distribute Christian tracts and free information about Mormonism at public events often get rebuffed. But what if material written by an LDS General Authority is offered? While it may puzzle the Mormon, offering free copies of The Miracle of Forgiveness can be an effective method for Christians who want to engage in conversations on the topic of salvation.
Introduction
Individual Mormons are encouraged to have personal testimonies. However, they are specifically taught that they should not believe doctrines that contradict the leaders of their church, who are called General Authorities. These leaders are crucial for this “restored” church because Mormons believe they are divinely ordained by God Himself. As Apostle L. Tom Perry told an October 2003 General Conference audience, “It is contrary to the economy of God for any member of the Church, or any one, to receive instruction for those in authority, higher than themselves.”1 James E. Faust, a member of the First Presidency, stated in that same General Conference, “Revelations from the prophets of God are not like offerings at the cafeteria, some to be selected and others disregarded.”2
If the Mormon leaders are placed on the earth to reveal the mind of God, what they say ought to be taken seriously by all Latter-day Saints. While some members may not personally agree with their teachings, these men are supposed to be empowered by God to give authoritative teachings, not mere theories or opinions. Understanding where the power originates with this church provides a backbone to the approach described in this chapter.
A Book of Debate
During late summer of 2014, we decided to try something new at the Ogden temple open house event. On the first day of the outreach, we had brought along eight copies of The Miracle of Forgiveness, a book that was originally penned in 1969 by then-Apostle Spencer W. Kimball. A few years after it was published, Kimball became the church’s twelfth president.
Some background to the book is necessary for anyone wanting to try this approach. According to Edward Kimball, Spencer W. Kimball’s son, there had been 1.6 million copies of The Miracle of Forgiveness printed in 17 languages as of 1998.3 While very popular, the book has also bristled many followers who disagree with Kimball’s hardline stance on the necessity of keeping all of God’s commandments to have any hope to be exalted in the celestial kingdom as gods and goddesses. One online petition from 2013 argued,
The Miracle of Forgiveness contains nondoctrinal and incorrect information that is not taught by or practiced by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints…As with the cessation of publishing of Mormon Doctrine (1958), we, the undersigned, ask that you cease publishing this book.4
Perhaps it was criticism like this that finally caused the Mormon publisher, Deseret Book, to stop printing the book in hard-copy format in July 2015 after 47 years of continuous publishing!5 Still, church leaders and official publications have praised this work. In the April 1995 General Conference, Apostle Richard G. Scott taught, “In The Miracle of Forgiveness, Spencer W. Kimball gives a superb guide to forgiveness through repentance. It has helped many find their way back.”6 A decade later, Scott hadn’t changed his opinion, stating in the October 2004 General Conference:
When needed, full repentance will require action on your part. If you are not familiar with the classic steps to repentance, such as confession and abandonment of sin, restitution, obedience, and seeking forgiveness, talk to a bishop or study a source such as President Spencer W. Kimball’s masterly work The Miracle of Forgiveness.7
Compliments for the book come from other church leaders as well, including Seventy Bruce C. Hafen:
Some of us make repentance too easy, and others make it too hard. Those who make it too easy don’t see any big sins in their lives, or they believe that breezy apologies alone are enough. These people should read President Spencer W. Kimball’s The Miracle of Forgiveness, which reviews many sins of both commission and omission. And while forgiveness is a miracle, it is not won without penitent and strenuous effort.8
If the book cannot be considered reliable, as its critics advocate, the LDS Church had the perfect opportunity to distance itself from it in a 2006 church manual that all members were supposed to read in 2007. Titled Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Spencer W. Kimball, the editors for this manual referenced The Miracle of Forgiveness in the historical summary and cited the book 22 times in chapter 4, which was titled “The Miracle of Forgiveness.”9 In the church manual’s endnotes, The Miracle of Forgiveness is quoted 69 times, which makes up an incredible 12 percent of all citations found in the manual! In addition, a copy of the book sits directly below Kimball’s portrait in the Church History Museum, which is located across the street from Temple Square in downtown Salt Lake City.
Giving Away the Book
Holding up a copy of the book as people walked by us on the corner of a public street near the temple, I (Eric) proclaimed, “A free copy of Spencer W. Kimball’s The Miracle of Forgiveness to anyone who will read it.” We found that most Mormons—especially those who were born before 1980—owned the book or at least had seen it. The offer of a complimentary book written by an LDS prophet had given us a platform from which to engage those walking by.
For the rest of the afternoon, we further developed our spiel that went something like this:
Free copy of The Miracle of Forgiveness. President Kimball wrote this book as an apostle, the same position of authority as Peter and Paul. He then became the twelfth president of the church who maintained the accuracy of the book, and it has been recommended several times at General Conference.
We noticed that passersby would listen and were often intrigued. That day we gave away three or four copies, a small investment for the dozen or more conversations that took place with those who were curious about this strategy.
As we drove home, we stopped by several Deseret Industries (DI) thrift stores—owned and operated by the LDS Church—and bought a half dozen more copies. Since then, it has not been unusual to walk into any DI store in Utah and Idaho and find three or four copies costing no more than two dollars each. We estimate that, between 2014–2017, we have purchased a total of more than five hundred copies and handed these out at a variety of LDS events.
For example, with huge crowds passing by us as they walk to the biannual General Conference outside Temple Square, we typically give away 40 or more copies in just a few hours! Each copy has our favorite sections highlighted and includes a copy of an 8.5 × 11-inch back-to-back tract that we wrote.10 Also included is a “million-dollar bill” with Kimball’s portrait on the front.11 In 2015, we purchased the URL www.TheMiracleofForgiveness.com and posted additional information on this site.
Meanwhile, the number of conversations that happen because we offer a free LDS book makes this strategy invaluable. It has become our personal favorite tactic in public evangelism at Mormon events.
Conversations on the Street
As mentioned in the introduction to this section of the book, in deep-sea fishing, chumming is taking bits of broken fish or anchovies and throwing them into the water to attract sport fish. The bits of food attract the fish, making them want to bite anything in the area in a way they otherwise would not. In spiritual terms, giving away a free book is spiritual chum.
Over the next few outings, we expanded our approach. For instance, we produced a two-sided, handheld poster featuring a picture of the book on both sides while advertising “Free Book!” Holding up this sign allows those approaching from a distance to see what we’re offering. As we invite people to receive a copy as they pass by, we get three common reactions:
1. They ignore the offer: This happens about 85 percent of the time. Still, many are listening. Can you imagine the conversations that occur after families get out of our earshot? “Mom, why are they giving away a copy of our leader’s book?” Or, “Honey, don’t we have a copy of that at home? Maybe we should read it.”
2. They request a free copy: This happens about 1-2 percent of the time. Before handing a copy to a Mormon, we explain that we are evangelical Christians who think every Latter-day Saint should have the opportunity to read this important book. All we ask is that they read it.
3. They tell us they already own the book: This happens the rest of the time and is our favorite response. When they say they have read it, without missing a beat, we say, “Wonderful. Are you doing what Kimball said you should do?” There are three typical responses:
• About 50 percent ignore this question.
• About 40 percent say no or of course not.
• About 10 percent say yes.
Of course, there’s not much we can say to those who ignore the question. For those who say that they are not following Kimball’s teaching, we usually compliment the respondent and say out loud for everyone to hear, “It appears he/she really has read it!” It is a confirmation that nobody can do what Kimball said must be done: keep all the commandments all the time. Meanwhile, those who reply to the question in the affirmative usually do so in a joking manner, as it’s not uncommon for the claimant to flex his/her muscles. We then remind the person how Kimball responds to the question “Doesn’t that take a superman?” He writes on page 286 that “We are commanded to be superman” before quoting Matthew 5:48 (“Be ye therefore perfect…”).12
Matthew 5:48 is also cited on pages 208-209 under the subtitle “Repentant Life Seeks Perfection”:
Eternal life hangs in the balance awaiting the works of men. This progress toward eternal life is a matter of achieving perfection. Living all the commandments guarantees total forgiveness of sins and assures one of exaltation through that perfection which comes by complying with the formula the Lord gave us. In his Sermon on the Mount he made the command to all men: “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect” (Matt. 5:48). Being perfect means to triumph over sin. This is a mandate from the Lord. He is just and wise and kind. He would never require anything from his children which was not for their benefit and which was not attainable. Perfection therefore is an achievable goal.
Almost all Latter-day Saints who respond admit that they are not keeping all the commandments. With that, they often give one of the three following excuses to deflect the problem.
“I’m trying.”
The most popular comeback is “I’m trying” or “I’m doing my best.” However, the commands given by God are doable, as Kimball says on page 164 of his book. He relates a fictional conversation between an army officer and a soldier. The officer orders the soldier to take a message to another officer. Three times the soldier promises he will “try,” “do the best” he can, and “do it or die.” Each time the officer reprimands him, concluding, “Now, the request is a reasonable one; the message is important; the distance is not far; you are able-bodied; you can do what I have ordered. Now get out of here and accomplish your mission.” Kimball explains on pages 164-165:
Trying Is Not Sufficient. Nor is repentance complete when one merely tries to abandon sin…To try is weak. To “do the best I can” is not strong. We must always do better than we can. This is true in every walk of life.
“That’s why we have repentance.”
Kimball references Doctrine and Covenants 58:43, which says, “By this ye may know if a man repenteth of his sins—behold, he will confess them and forsake them” (emphasis added). Saying that repentance is efficacious only when the sin is not repeated, he teaches on pages 324-325:
Your Heavenly Father has promised forgiveness upon total repentance and meeting all the requirements, but that forgiveness is not granted merely for the asking. There must be works—many works—and an all-out, total surrender, with a great humility and “a broken heart and a contrite spirit.” It depends upon you whether or not you are forgiven, and when. It could be weeks, it could be years, it could be centuries before that happy day when you have the positive assurance that the Lord has forgiven you. That depends on your humility, your sincerity, your works, your attitudes.
Toward the end of the 369-page book, Kimball references Alma 13:11-12 and explains on pages 354-55 that
repentance which merits forgiveness…is that the former transgressor must have reached a “point of no return” to sin wherein there is not merely a renunciation but also a deep abhorrence of the sin—where the sin becomes most distasteful to him and where the desire or urge to sin is cleared out of his life.
An LDS Church manual uses a citation by Kimball to explain how repentance means not doing the sin again:
But President Kimball warned: “Even though forgiveness is so abundantly promised there is no promise nor indication of forgiveness to any soul who does not totally repent.…We can hardly be too forceful in reminding people that they cannot sin and be forgiven and then sin again and again and expect repeated forgiveness” (The Miracle of Forgiveness, 353, 360). Those who receive forgiveness and repeat the sin are held accountable for their former sins (see D&C 82:7; Ether 2:15).13
While an attitude of not wanting to sin again is an admirable goal, it is not realistic. Even the apostle Paul struggled with sin, writing in Romans 7:15, “I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.”
“I can do it later.”
Many Mormons assume there will be a chance to repent after death. Kimball disagreed. He quotes Alma 34:32, which says, “This life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors.” Writing on page 10 of his book, Kimball explains how “the time to act is now, in this mortal life. One cannot with impunity delay his compliance with God’s commandments.” On page 210 he proclaims, “As I have indicated previously, the time to do this is now, in mortality.” Referring to a quote from Joseph Smith, Kimball explains on page 248, “While in this probation and in this life certainly mean the period of our mortal lives.” On page 249, he speaks of those who “procrastinated the day of their preparation” by saying,
The Lord’s program is unchangeable. His laws are immutable. They will not be modified. Your opinion or mine does not alter the laws. Many in the world, and even some in the Church, seem to think that eventually the Lord will be merciful and give them the unearned blessing. But the Lord cannot be merciful at the expense of justice.
Kimball lays out an impossible goal.14
Conclusion
How well does this strategy work? One Latter-day Saint who read the book we provided says that it caused him to leave Mormonism. We know others who have been greatly troubled by what they read in this classic work. The tactic does not require you to give the book away. Instead, the Christian could read a copy and highlight important quotes.15 Then tell your Latter-day Saint friends that you have some questions about Kimball’s book. Go to TheMiracleofForgiveness.com for more ideas.
If the Mormon disagrees with Kimball’s words, ask, “Wasn’t Kimball a prophet, seer, and revelator? If this book can’t be trusted, what else did Kimball say that should no longer be considered true?” These questions put the Latter-day Saint in a precarious position, especially since many passages found in the LDS scriptures as well as citations from Mormon leaders seem to support Kimball’s message.16 Shouldn’t that be even more bothersome to Latter-day Saints?
Eric Johnson (Sandy, Utah) ministers full time with Mormonism Research Ministry (www.mrm.org). He has coauthored Answering Mormons’ Questions (Kregel, 2012) and Mormonism 101 (Baker, 2015) with Bill McKeever. He has also penned Mormonism 101 for Teens (MRM, 2016). Eric received his master’s of divinity from Bethel Seminary San Diego in 1991 and spent nearly two decades in secondary and college education.
Randy Sweet (Sandy, Utah) volunteers at Mormonism Research Ministry. He regularly evangelizes at a number of outreaches, including LDS summer pageants around the United States as well as at Temple Square, the biannual General Conferences in Salt Lake City, Utah, and various temple open house events. His wife, Carol, is in charge of the MRM prayer ministry.