i agree with your assessment that there are many thing we do not know; a large (and often overlooked part) of theology is mystery – God is invisible, Jesus was here only for 30 years some 2000 years ago, and the Spirit is, well, spirit. if the whole 3 persons / 1 being doesn’t mystify us, then we clearly are not understanding what is being said. and if mystery is a large part of our religion and practice, it makes the parts that we do know all the more important.

i’m unfamiliar with the reference you are making to King Solomon and predestination – could you point me to the verse?

i am more than happy that God has set you free from your addictions, and more than upset that you received judgment from anyone. Christ came for this very purpose – to set the captives free, to destroy the works of sin and no longer make sin inevitable. i know that there is no greater joy in heaven than when one repents and seeks God.

what is at stake here is not the work that Mormons do, but the Jesus that they proclaim.

make no mistake, i will not mince words, dilute my claim, or hedge my bets: i believe the Jesus the Mormons worship to be wholly dissimilar from the One i do. it is not a matter of numbers, as if the billions of Christians throughout two millennia automatically justify my claim. nor is it a matter of institution, doctrine, or rhetoric – it is a matter of definition. outside of claiming either Jesus to be true or real, we – Christians and Mormons – are describing two different people.

Mormons contend that such a definition is not a deal-breaker, but I disagree – there is no synthesis to be had, no compromise of identity. Jesus is either fully human and fully divine, or He is nothing; He either died on the cross in shame for the full weight of our sins or He was a fairy tale.

this comes down to what you said – they believe in God. belief in God itself is not a litmus test, a proof of any sort: even the demons believe (James 2:19). to further drive home this point, in Mark 1:24 (as well as Mk. 3:11 and Mk. 5:7) Jesus performs an exorcism and the demon acknowledges that Jesus is God.

God the Father, in some limited sense, is one-third of the equation. The Lord our God, the Lord is one – and anything less is someone else.

so you see, maryland, we are trying to reach those people who do not know God.