"Bible Study": neo-tracting and sneaky Trojan horse?

[Dr Moore]

Early in 2021, the site formerly known as Mormon.org (now "www.churchofjesuschrist.org/comeuntochrist") introduced an interesting option, featured prominently as the top left option in the "Grow Closer to God" section of its front page.

This option is:
Study the Holy Bible with us
Request a Bible Study

bible.jpg (101.47 KiB) Viewed 671 times

Well, now. That sure looks mainstream Christian, right?

Clicking that section takes you to the following link:
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/com ... ible-study

Then, the surfer is given a list of reasons for the Bible Study request, submits their name and email, address, phone number, and then confirms that "missionaries will visit me to read and study the Holy Bible."

I guess this makes sense to generate leads, given the pandemic has rendered tracting a dead art. But you have to wonder, how much a Trojan Horse is this approach? I mean, it's missionaries who show up after all. Missionaries are called to preach the Mormon gospel, not spend their time doing bland Bible study with people who need a hug, a prayer, or a Christian message about grace. However, if such visits are to be made out of genuine love for people, who else but missionaries could do it? We couldn't trust regular chapel Mormons to conduct a Bible Study with non-members, now could we? That would be a disaster, and would only expose how very little Mormons know about the Bible.

And to be clear, it seems missionaries are instructed to do nothing that would make someone feel "tricked" by this Bible Study. Such as, giving them a Book of Mormon or taking the conversation down a non-Biblical path.

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/com ... rist/teach

Follow through with each request for a Bible study by contacting the person. Text is usually best! Be prepared to discuss the topic they requested.

If someone requests a Bible, don't give them a Book of Mormon. Avoid any approach in the visit that might leave the person feeling tricked. You may, however, discuss additional topics and scriptures as needed to clarify your message or answer other questions.

Neo-tracting? Are Mormon missionaries capable of conducting a platonic Bible Study? I certainly was not - having been fully indoctrinated to "know" that certain Biblical passages meant something entirely different than what scholarship has found, or the mainstream Christian understanding. Classic Mormon prooftexts such as "Other Sheep," "Else why are they baptized for the dead," "Stick of Joseph," and Amos 3:7 (the Latter-day Prophet prooftext).

But one thing I was trained to do was to make innocent, genuine door approaches 100s of times a week. "We'd like to share a message about Jesus Christ" or "We're sharing a message about families, would you like to hear it?" Low success rate, but we had a few.

I really wonder what the reviews are like for these so-called "Bible Studies" and if they're genuinely offered as a non-denominational service, or just another innocent-sounding missionary Trojan Horse to gain access and eventually forces the receiver to choose to investigate Mormonism or risk a lesser afterlife.

[MetaProf]

We couldn't trust regular chapel Mormons to conduct a Bible Study with non-members, now could we? That would be a disaster, and would only expose how very little Mormons know about the Bible.

I think it would be a disaster even for missionaries. How much do 18-year olds with an incidental brush with the Bible really know about it? Seems like such a bad idea, even (or especially) if they stick to a platonic Bible session.

I really wonder what the reviews are like for these so-called "Bible Studies" and if they're genuinely offered as a non-denominational service, or just another innocent-sounding missionary Trojan Horse to gain access and eventually forces the receiver to choose to investigate Mormonism or risk a lesser afterlife.

totally trojan horse. and it's a setup for reverse trojan horse sessions - avid evangelical Bible bashers inviting the Mormon kids over to convert them away from Mormonism to true christianity. seems like a bad idea all around.

[Kishkumen]

Yeah, have to agree with MetaProf. The Biblical literacy of your average or even above average LDS person is deficient to the point that sending them out to do Bible study would be as valuable as pulling some rando off the street to read the Bible with.

[Philo Sofee]

I think the instruction don't let them feel like they have been tricked gives the entire church program away. It has always been an agenda, a hidden reason to get with people, in order to trick them into becoming Mormon. I agree with the tenor of this thread as well. The Bible is simply the last thing the church has ever emphasized for the last 60 years (my lifetime). They have Mormonized everything and that was one of my major complaints while at FAIR. Scholarly article such as Millet or McConkie Jr always only ever used the Book of Mormon and D&C to expound the Bible, never, ever, ever any detail from the Hebrew or Greek, or other Christian exegetes.

[Kishkumen]

I should add that I don't really care all that much about study of the Bible per se. In other words, I do not hold the Bible as the object of veneration that most Protestants see it as. The Bible is used and abused in all kinds of ways, and it really serves as more of an oracular text than it is read on its own terms as a collection of texts written by different authors with quite different views and agendas. Every time I hear of the Bible spoken of as a singular thing, I suspect right away that the conversation will not be very fruitful, since the way it is being treated is really no different from Tarot cards or the daily horoscope. The only difference is that you have some church telling you how to interpret things, and usually incorrectly.

[dastardly stem]

I think it sounds great. Get them to read the Bible, I mean Mormons and non-Mormons. Everyone be like, "wait a sec? why is this work so highly regarded?" Maybe they can form book clubs and move on to real books. Might turn into something productive.

Looking back as a missionary I always wondered why everyone thought the Bible was so great and the Book of Mormon sucked. I was like, "what do you mean? They both kinda suck? mostly for the same damn reasons."

"Get out the chains...this Mormon kid just said something questionable about the Bible."

"Don't worry. I love Jesus and all the crap" I'd say, "but I'm just saying these folks from so long ago didn't know what they were dealing with, it seems to me. We can only eek out a few hints and try and force that to mean something beautiful to our modern ears. NOt much more we can do with these old writings."

If I was more courageous I'd have probably taken the discussions in that direction.

[Kishkumen]

I think it sounds great. Get them to read the Bible, I mean Mormons and non-Mormons. Everyone be like, "wait a sec? why is this work so highly regarded?" Maybe they can form book clubs and move on to real books. Might turn into something productive.

Looking back as a missionary I always wondered why everyone thought the Bible was so great and the Book of Mormon sucked. I was like, "what do you mean? They both kinda suck? mostly for the same damn reasons."

"Get out the chains...this Mormon kid just said something questionable about the Bible."

"Don't worry. I love Jesus and all the crap" I'd say, "but I'm just saying these folks from so long ago didn't know what they were dealing with, it seems to me. We can only eek out a few hints and try and force that to mean something beautiful to our modern ears. NOt much more we can do with these old writings."

If I was more courageous I'd have probably taken the discussions in that direction.

At the very least, I would say that the Bible has a historical importance and depth that far surpasses the Book of Mormon. You simply cannot consider yourself a literate person in the Western world without knowing a fair amount about the Bible. Its influence on the Western tradition is incredibly profound. Book of Mormon? Meh. Not that important or influential. Certainly interesting in its own right.

[dastardly stem]

I think it sounds great. Get them to read the Bible, I mean Mormons and non-Mormons. Everyone be like, "wait a sec? why is this work so highly regarded?" Maybe they can form book clubs and move on to real books. Might turn into something productive.

Looking back as a missionary I always wondered why everyone thought the Bible was so great and the Book of Mormon sucked. I was like, "what do you mean? They both kinda suck? mostly for the same damn reasons."

"Get out the chains...this Mormon kid just said something questionable about the Bible."

"Don't worry. I love Jesus and all the crap" I'd say, "but I'm just saying these folks from so long ago didn't know what they were dealing with, it seems to me. We can only eek out a few hints and try and force that to mean something beautiful to our modern ears. NOt much more we can do with these old writings."

If I was more courageous I'd have probably taken the discussions in that direction.

At the very least, I would say that the Bible has a historical importance and depth that far surpasses the Book of Mormon. You simply cannot consider yourself a literate person in the Western world without knowing a fair amount about the Bible. Its influence on the Western tradition is incredibly profound. Book of Mormon? Meh. Not that important or influential. Certainly interesting in its own right.

Most definitely. I'm liking the idea. Kinda glad the church is doing this. I also agree that it sounds kinda sneaky in a way and perhaps a bit of a misrepresentation....but maybe it'll catch on a stick.

[huckelberry]

I think it sounds great. Get them to read the Bible, I mean Mormons and non-Mormons. Everyone be like, "wait a sec? why is this work so highly regarded?" Maybe they can form book clubs and move on to real books. Might turn into something productive.

Looking back as a missionary I always wondered why everyone thought the Bible was so great and the Book of Mormon sucked. I was like, "what do you mean? They both kinda suck? mostly for the same damn reasons."

"Get out the chains...this Mormon kid just said something questionable about the Bible."

"Don't worry. I love Jesus and all the crap" I'd say, "but I'm just saying these folks from so long ago didn't know what they were dealing with, it seems to me. We can only eek out a few hints and try and force that to mean something beautiful to our modern ears. NOt much more we can do with these old writings."

If I was more courageous I'd have probably taken the discussions in that direction.

Stem, To my view it would be terribly limiting to confine ones reading to the Bible, or that plus lDS scripture and some religious books. There is a wide interesting and important world of books out there.

What sort of thing do you have in mind as real books? I am unsure what books might form ongoing groups. Perhaps some books place themselves in important places in ones understanding of the world. Or perhaps are questions that persist. I find I read literature only from time to time but a few such books are well lodged into my mind for better or worse.

I am not looking for contest of who read the most fancy books just wondering what book or books is important enough to be real and why.

[slskipper]

I got a lot out of studying the Bible. I learned that The Torah was not written by Moses, that Isaiah was the first Bible book written and that Isaiah and his cohort never even heard of Adam and Eve. I learned that there were at least three Isaiahs. I learned that the authors of the Gospels never knew Jesus. I learned that only about half of the Epistles of Paul were written by Paul. I learned that the four Gospels were chosen out of a large set because they supported the institutional church at the expense of individual spiritual growth. So yes, I whole-heartedly approve of Bible study.