Do Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons Pray to the Same God as Us? (Special Podcast Highlight)

The Patrick Madrid Show

Relevant Radio

Christianity, Religion & Spirituality

4.8 • 588 Ratings

🗓️ 7 February 2024

⏱️ 4 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In a thought-provoking segment of The Patrick Madrid Show, Patrick talks with Dave from New Brunswick, Canada. He asks if those who are Mormon and Jehovah's Witnesses are praying to the same God as Catholics.

Here's Patrick's explanation:

Jehovah's Witnesses: Unpacking Their Monotheistic View

Jehovah's Witnesses follow a pretty strict monotheism, denying the Trinity's concept by rejecting the divine nature of Jesus and the existence of the Holy Spirit. They recognize a singular God but do not accept His triune essence as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, which is different from Catholic teaching.

Mormons: A Distinct Perspective on the Divine

Mormons, on the other hand, accept a form of the Godhead, yet their understanding is also far from traditional Christianity. They view God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost as three separate beings, each a distinct god. This belief system includes the idea of "eternal progression," suggesting that God was once a mortal man who achieved divinity. This is in no way close to Catholic teaching.

Addressing the Core Question: Are They Praying to the Same God?

Patrick argues that while Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons might aim their prayers towards "God," their conceptualizations of God differ a lot from the Catholic understanding. The Mormon belief in a god who was once a man and evolved into divinity stands in stark contrast to the Catholic view of God as eternal, transcendent, and unchanging.

Salvation and the Catholic Church:

Patrick reiterates the Catholic Church's stance: salvation is through Jesus Christ and the Church. However, he explains the Church's teaching on invincible ignorance, which suggests that those unaware of the Church's truth through no fault of their own may still be offered salvation by God's mercy, a matter known only to God.

If you know the truth is found in the Catholic Church, how could you ever walk away from it? Let's pray for those who aren't Catholic to experience the fullness of faith.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Let's start with Dave in New Brunswick, Canada.
0:02.4	Good morning, Dave.
0:04.2	Yes, good morning, Patrick.
0:06.0	Do Jehovah Witnesses and Mormons, do they pray to the same God that we do since they don't believe in the Trinity?
0:15.3	Well, it's true.
0:16.4	Both groups deny the Trinity, but in different ways, Jehovah's Witnesses deny the Trinity outright.
0:22.6	They say there is one God, that's true, but they deny that he's triune.
0:27.4	So as part of this denial of the Trinity, one God and three persons, they explicitly deny the divinity of Jesus.
0:35.5	They believe he's like a superhuman creature, but he's still a creature.
0:39.4	They deny the existence of the Holy Spirit. So that's the way in which they deny the triune nature of God.
0:47.1	Mormons, on the other hand, they will acknowledge the godhead. They will talk about even, they wouldn't say the trinity typically but they would talk
0:56.2	about father son and holy ghost they believe that god is a distinct god and jesus is a distinct god
1:04.0	and the holy ghost is a distinct god three gods in accordance and agreement but three separate
1:09.6	beings is how they look at it.
1:11.9	But their understanding is radically different in that they believe that heavenly father,
1:17.7	God the Father, is an evolved man who was once a mortal man on a planet near a star called Kolop,
1:24.5	or at least that's what Joseph Smith said, the founder of Mormonism.
1:28.2	And so they believe that God evolved, you might say. It's called eternal progression.
1:34.0	And he became a God. And that's also part of the Mormon gospel, that you too can become a God.
1:39.5	You can reach exaltation the way Heavenly Father did if you follow the plan of salvation. So when you ask the
1:47.3	question, are they praying to the same God? Well, I would say no. The Mormons believe in a God who is a
1:55.8	natural creature. He's not above and outside of nature. He's part of it because he was a man on a planet
	...

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