Transition2Hope Albert D Spalding

Debate between Albert D. Spalding, JD, PhD [Associate Professor Emeritus] and Mark R. Satta, JD, PhD [Assistant Professor, Philosophy and Linguistics]. Held on March 27, 2024 at Wayne State University. Sponsored by the WSU Dean of Students Office and the Ratio Christi campus apologetics alliance.

Professor Mark Satta is an assistant professor in the Philosophy Department at Wayne State University. Dr. Satta began teaching at Wayne State in the fall of 2020, and as a result taught many of his classes online. He is glad that we are now able to have classes in person again. Dr. Satta holds a PhD in Philosophy as well as a law degree. He enjoys thinking about philosophical issues related to knowledge, language, law, and religion among other topics. One of the favorite parts of his job is to help students to think about these issues, too. His LinkedIn profile can be found at www.linkedin.com/in/mark-satta-277272131  

Albert Spalding is an associate professor emeritus at Wayne State, where he taught in the Mike Ilitch School of Business for 38 years. His LinkedIn profile can be found at www.linkedin.com/in/aspalding   NOTE: There were some technical glitches that prevented a high quality audio recording. We sincerely apologize for the distorted audio but we hope you are able to follow the basic arguments and comments of the debate participants.

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In this episode of Transition to Hope, we get to interview Dr. Ross Anderson. Pastor Anderson is one of the authors of the recently published book, Responding to the Mormon Missionary Message: Asking Questions.

Ross Anderson, DMin, was born in Utah and was raised LDS. After leaving Mormonism as a young adult, he earned a Master of Divinity degree and a Doctor of Ministry degree. Anderson has served as a church planter and pastor in Utah for four decades. He taught at Salt Lake Theological Seminary and served as a denominational church planting director for the region. Ross is currently a teaching pastor at Alpine Church. He is the executive director of Utah Advance Ministries and founder of the Faith after Mormonism project and the Culture-Wise podcast. Ross is author of Understanding the Book of Mormon, Understanding Your Mormon Neighbor, and Jesus without Joseph – a study guide for former Mormons. He and his wife, Sally, are parents to five adult children.

Transition 2 Hope offers brief discussions of questions on the shelves of thinking members and former members of the Latter-day Saints (LDS) Church, as well as interviews of thinkers who interact respectfully with LDS members and former members.

Questions are addressed from the perspective of a questioning LDS Church members, and also from the perspective of the bishop, stake president, Relief Society officers, CES teacher or leader or other mid-level leader charged with stemming the flow of people leaving the church. Most people who leave the LDS church become agnostics or atheists. We focus on why people believe what they believe at various points on their faith journey or faith crisis. Our theme: "Don't give up on God."

Should Bible-believing Christians spend time with missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, allowing the LDS missionaries to walk through their “Preach My Gospel” lesson plans aimed at converting non-Mormons?


Many New Testament Christians would emphatically say, No.


Citing New Testament passages like 2 John 1:7 and Romans 16:17, many Christians would choose to turn away LDS missionaries who come knocking on their door.
Other Christians might prayerfully take another tack. They might invite the LDS missionaries into their homes, and listen attentively (not just politely) to the lesson plans. Not necessarily with the intent to forcibly argue with every point of doctrine or Biblica interpretation, but, instead, to ask good questions. Knowledgeable, well-placed questions that can often lead to the opportunity to explore the truth claims of Jesus Christ and the Bible. Questions that might help the LDS missionaries sort out the LDS truth claims when they eventually (inevitably?) begin to experience their own faith crisis.


For those Christians who consider the arrival of LDS missionaries to be an opportunity to provide answers for the true hope within us (1 Peter 3:15), knowledgeable, well-placed questions might seem difficult to construct or articulate.


Not to worry. The book Responding to the Mormon Missionary Message: Confident Conversations with Mormon Missionaries (and Other Latter-day Saints) serves as an invaluable resource for Christians who want to have friendly-but-firm conversations with the young men or women who have left their homes to bring their message to your door. Everything the LDS missionaries will try to teach is provided … along with excellent suggestions for insightful questions that can lead to Christ-honoring conversations.
Corey Miller is an editor and one of the lead authors of Responding to the Mormon Missionary Message.

It is our privilege to have a short conversation with Dr. Miller in this Transition to Hope interview.

Is Mormonism "Christian" in the same sense that biblically-based New Testament Christianity is "Christian"? Many members (including many leaders) of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints seem to think so.

Actually, the doctrines, beliefs and teachings of the LDS Church are very much at odds with biblical Christianity.

We saw this during our seven "fireside" discussions (available on YouTube or at our website, www.transition2hope.org). During those firesides, we walked through the main points of Eric Johnson's book, Introducing Christianity to Mormons: A Practical and Comparative Guide to What the Bible Teaches.

We had a chance to discuss this book with the author, Eric Johnson. The interview is in three parts, and is available on YouTube and on our website: www.transition2hope.org

Eric is a frequent podcaster at the "Viewpoint on Mormonism" podcast and radio show, available at www.mrm.org He has authored, co-authored or edited several other books on the subject of Mormonism (also available at www.mrm.org ... along with many informative articles).

Is Mormonism "Christian" in the same sense that biblically-based New Testament Christianity is "Christian"? Many members (including many leaders) of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints seem to think so.

Actually, the doctrines, beliefs and teachings of the LDS Church are very much at odds with biblical Christianity.

We saw this during our seven "fireside" discussions (available on YouTube or at our website, www.transition2hope.org). During those firesides, we walked through the main points of Eric Johnson's book, Introducing Christianity to Mormons: A Practical and Comparative Guide to What the Bible Teaches.

We had a chance to discuss this book with the author, Eric Johnson. The interview is in three parts, and is available on YouTube and on our website: www.transition2hope.org

Eric is a frequent podcaster at the "Viewpoint on Mormonism" podcast and radio show, available at www.mrm.org He has authored, co-authored or edited several other books on the subject of Mormonism (also available at www.mrm.org ... along with many informative articles).

Is Mormonism "Christian" in the same sense that biblically-based New Testament Christianity is "Christian"?
Many members (including many leaders) of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints seem to think so.


Actually, the doctrines, beliefs and teachings of the LDS Church are very much at odds with biblical
Christianity.


We saw this during our seven "fireside" discussions (available on YouTube or at our website,
https://www.transition2hope.org/). During those firesides, we walked through the main points of Eric Johnson's
book, Introducing Christianity to Mormons: A Practical and Comparative Guide to What the Bible Teaches.


We had a chance to discuss this book with the author, Eric Johnson. The interview is in three parts, and is
available on YouTube and on our website: https://www.transition2hope.org/


Eric is a frequent podcaster at the "Viewpoint on Mormonism" podcast and radio show, available at
https://www.mrm.org/ He has authored, co-authored or edited several other books on the subject of
Mormonism (also available at mrm.org ... along with many informative articles).