A CASE STUDY

IN ANTI-MORMON
ATTITUDES For without cause have they hid for me their net in a pit,
which without cause they have digged for my soul
Psalm 35:7
By Ronnie Bray

What follows is not offered as proof of persecution. Rather it is intended to

demonstrate that misinformation and distorted imagery are customarily and deliberately
employed to prepare the minds of some Christian congregations in order to manipulate
them into a state where they are prepared to hold and act upon the opinions they have
embraced simply by trusting the sources of these opinions without requiring themselves
to undertake independent objective study of the subject. That such misinformation is
insidiously, perhaps unconscious of its true nature, is disseminated, and is received in
good faith but unquestioned, will become evident. The most disturbing disclosure is that
intelligent and educated people will accept the most bizarre and nonsensical 'facts'
without question. This willingness is fundamental to the spread of lies and distortions in
a persecutory context.

An overseas student of the former Huddersfield Polytechnic College, now the

University of Huddersfield, attended an Anglican Church in his home country. He found
British Anglican worship too dreary and uninviting. However, he found a Huddersfield
Elim Pentecostal Church as lively and as fellowshipping as had been his former
congregation in Singapore. He reported conversations and meetings of groups at the
Church in which the notion that Mormons were not Christians was continually expressed.
Because of his personal knowledge of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints he
did not agree with his fellows, which caused him no small discomfort. He had
discovered a cultus which was basically hostile, and which held and disseminated false
ideas about Mormonism. Members of the congregation were encouraged to do the same
without serious independent inquiry.i

The primary proposition was developed that anti-Mormonism was a norm in that
Pentecostal Church and that this could be demonstrated by survey. Interviews were
conducted in order to establish a base line of Pentecostal beliefs practices and attitudes
and a questionnaire prepared that was intended to:
 a. Construct an average member profile.
b. Check for proximity to, or deviation, from Pentecostal orthodoxy.
c. Reveal the presence of anti-Mormon attitudes with opportunities for
respondents to express their reasons for holding such attitudes.

Only material which falls under 'c' will be dealt with here, since that alone
addresses the discussion of persecution through the construction and dissemination of
false imagery.

Four interviews were conducted. The first interview was with a Pentecostal
minister within Anglicanism.ii He provided information about the history and
development of the Pentecostal movement, suggested suitable reference books and other
information.

The second interview was with Pastor Peter Hannam of the Elim Pentecostal
Church which was surveyed. He furnished information regarding the history and growth
of the Pentecostal movement. He also supplied information concerning the congregation
(whose pastor he had been for past thirteen years) which helped to broaden the writer's
understanding of Pentecostalism. He suggested changes to the form of some questions
that were gratefully adopted.

The third interview was with Pastor Vincent R.M. Nelson of the Church of God
Fellowship, Huddersfield, who aided the writer to appreciate the variety of forms within
the Pentecostal movement.

The fourth interview was conducted on the telephone with a Pentecostal

respondent who had been kind enough to provide a telephone number and offer further
information if needed.

What is Pentecostalism?

The last quarter of the nineteenth century witnessed the rise of evangelism in the
established churches. This appears to have been an extension of the "Holiness
Movement" of Methodists who followed John Wesley's teaching on individual perfection.
In many quarters, particularly in Great Britain, the new enthusiasm was viewed with
grave suspicion, and many doubts were volubly and, at times vigorously, expressed as to
its appropriateness in the context of Christian worship. The result was that those who
sought the Pentecostal experience were isolated from the mainstream churches who were
often openly hostile to the new movement, many considering it heretical.

Many churches claim to be Pentecostal. The term itself has gained the meaning
that members of the congregations of various sects or denominations have received the
"Baptism of the Holy Spirit" (Acts 2:1-4). The act of conversion to Christ as Saviour
must be followed by the outpouring of the Holy Ghost which is proved by the recipient
speaking in unknown tongues.

The "Pentecostal experience" has surfaced in the traditional historic churches

from time to time, but orthodox hostility to the growth and establishment of the
Pentecostal Movement has moved this "experience" out of the historic churches
sectarianising, even cultifying it into a new "Church.” The separation and hostility
encouraged Pentecostalists to look upon themselves as the "chosen" - specially
recognised by God through the endowment of the Holy Ghost - specifically "set apart"
from other Christians. This "uniqueness" led them to adopt an attitude towards historic
Christianity which still forms part of the Pentecostal mind-set and views traditional
churches as not having the sign of God's approval and seal of salvation, which is Baptism
of the Holy Spirit.

Pentecostals have long been criticised for being "over-emotional"; iii a reference to
the behaviour of some of those as the Holy Ghost fell upon them. Donald Gee, who was
a leading Pentecostal minister and chronicler, admits that many mistakes were made in
the early days of British Pentecostalism, and that there were "scenes of indisputable
fanaticism" which led to an adverse press.iv Gee describes the persecution:

It may well cause surprise that a Revival which seemed to possess so many scriptural
features, and to be the answer to so many prayers, should have rapidly become the object
of the most violent attacks from some of the most spiritual sections and leaders of the
Christian Church. The less spiritual ones either heard nothing of it, or treated it with
disdain and held aloof...Fear was inculcated through garbled reports of what actually
transpired in Pentecostal meetings. The press naturally concentrated on anything
spectacular or unusual, and this gave to those whose only impressions were gained by
reading the newspapers, a very twisted idea of the actual facts. Unfortunately those
religious agencies that unreservedly lent themselves to opposition to the Movement v lost
no opportunity of exploiting anything that could promote fear or dislike...Among more
select circles of spiritual Christians there began to be much talk of "counterfeits" until
there were those who bitterly condemned the whole Movement as satanic.vi

Harper glosses over the hatred and persecution saying instead that Christians
"largely ignored or rejected" the movement.vii Nevertheless, there were major forces at
work, which underscore Harper's somewhat less than full attention. It is from the
hostility that was directed towards those involved in Pentecostalism that what had begun
as a phenomenon within the historic churches moved outside those churches, with many
of their members following and organising themselves in a distinct manner. The
drawing-away of members from other churches was regarded as "sheep-stealing.” The
Pentecostal response to these charges was often framed in intemperate and inflammatory
language which helped polarise the antagonists further.viii

Initially the only pre-requisite for Pentecostalism was that its adherents must
experience a powerful spiritual experience. The distinctive Pentecostal doctrine owes
much to the fundamentalist movement which was an outgrowth of the Methodist
Holiness Movement. The common springboard which propelled many into the
Pentecostal movement was an increased acceptance of Modernism by Protestants,
particularly by those were rising in wealth, which bought higher education, the
handmaiden of the brand of Modernism promulgated by such as the Anglican
Churchmen's Union. This settled for a scientific explanation of the universe rather than
the Biblical one. The poor were denied access to the new thought through their lack of
education and were uncomfortable with the obvious division between themselves and
their rich and educated fellow churchgoers. Their lack of education kept them faithful to
modes of religious thought rooted in a traditional conservative interpretation of the Bible.
They felt rather than thought their way through religion, (which still holds true for
modern Pentecostalists). They held fast to the principles described by the 1895 Niagara
Conferences which were restated in the 1910 publication of "THE FUNDAMENTALS:
A TESTIMONY TO THE TRUTH". Fundamentalism purposed to reinforce Biblical
explanations of the natural world against the onslaught of Modernism. It summarised its
position by the "five points of fundamentalism,” which are:

a. That the Bible is without error of any kind.

b. That Jesus was born uniquely of a virgin.

c. That the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross was to redeem men from their sins

d. That the Resurrection was physical historic event.

e. That the Second Coming of Christ would be an historic event.

In course of time, the historic Protestant churches have given ground on each of
these points. One result of this has been to highlight the tensions generated between
liberal Protestant denominations and conservative Fundamentalists.

The Pentecostal Movement is largely a reflexive action against cold Protestant

services on one side, and Christian opposition to baptism in the Holy Spirit and general
condemnation of 'enthusiasm' on the other.

Those in the Holiness and Pentecostal movements see themselves as the

restoration of the Apostolic Church of Christ effected by their redefinition of and their
commitment to Primitive practice, and in their self-appointed role as the sole recipients of
spiritual truth, they see themselves as those upon whom God has uniquely placed the
mark of his approval - Holy Spirit Baptism.

George Jeffreys formed the "Evangelistic Band" and the "Elim Pentecostal
Alliance.” From its origins as a movement despised by traditional Christian Churches,
the Elim movement has outgrown the derision with which Christians once regarded it and
has developed into a respectable denomination with around 400 congregations in the
British Isles. Its ministry is firmly male dominated but the questionnaire responses
indicate that this position is under substantial pressure from congregations that
increasingly reflect current societal pressures for equality of the sexes.

In spite of what must now be considered a respectable pedigree of Christian

orientation, and having made a significant contribution in leading people to Christ, it is
remarkable that many Christian commentators and historians omit reference to
Pentecostalism. It may be that Pentecostals' estimation of increasing understanding
between their own denominations and the historic churches are premature and over-
sanguine.

A hundred and thirty questionnaires were delivered to the Huddersfield Elim

Pentecostal church. A hundred and twelve were taken up and twenty-seven completed
and returned. The returned sample represents 21% of the membership. Each Sunday
around three hundred persons attend one or other of the services. The member to non-
member ratio of returned forms is 23:4, which represents 19.8% of members whether
attending services or not, and 2.2% of weekly attending non-members. It is felt that this
is a reasonable sample. Nineteen of the respondents have above average educational
qualifications.

Nine of the respondents either have bachelor degrees or were undergraduates in

an institute of higher education at the time of the survey. Two respondents hold non-
graduate teaching qualifications. Therefore, 40.7% of respondents have degree-level
education which is an unusually high percentage of persons having taken higher
education in a congregation.

Only those questions from the questionnaire which bear upon our immediate
subject are considered here. It may be that information from other questions is included
in the discussions inasmuch as it is pertinent to the subject.

QUESTION 15. DO YOU KNOW ANY MORMONS?

This is the first of the questions which are intended to demonstrate attitudes to
Mormonism. It is intended to reveal familiarity or unfamiliarity with members of The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

2 did not answer 7.4%

10 answered "Yes" 37.0%
15 answered "No" 55.5%

The evidence is that slightly more than one third of the respondents knew
members of the Latter-day Saint Church. The question does not explore the level of that
relationship, but subsequent answers demonstrate that they are all superficial.

QUESTION 16. HOW MUCH DO YOU KNOW ABOUT MORMONS?

3 answered "enough" (which is not capable of calibration but shows evidence either of
some knowledge, unless it was meant sarcastically.)

3 "enough" 11.1%
8 "nothing" 29.6%
10 "a little" 37.0%
2 "a fair amount" 7.4%
2 "a lot" 7.4%
1 "an expert amount" 3.7%

The responses indicate that 77.7% have little or no knowledge about Mormonism
and that only 11.1% claim either to know a lot or have an expert amount of knowledge,
although their depth of knowledge has not been scientifically calibrated and may,
therefore, only be considered to have the value of self-estimates containing both
quantitative and qualitative errors.

These indicators of the knowledge of Mormonism have value when we consider

the attitudes held by the respondents, for they will show whether their understanding of
Mormonism is based on knowledge or prejudice. It is unrealistic to expect to 'know'
anything substantial about a religion when one is unacquainted with any of the
practitioners of that system.

QUESTION 17. ARE MORMONS CHRISTIANS?

1 answered "Yes" 3.7%

23 answered "No" 85.1%
3 answered that it depended on the personal beliefs of
the individual Mormon 11.1%

This shows that whilst 29.6% admitted knowing "nothing" about Mormonism, it
did not prevent them from denying it Christian status. This is an early indicator of
negative prejudice.

QUESTION 18. HOW CAN A MORMON BE SAVED?

23 answered that Mormons should accept Jesus Christ. 85.1%

(1 of the above added that they should then fellowship
with a Pentecostal Church).
3 did not respond to this question. 11.1%
1 answered that belief in Jesus Christ as Saviour as
taught in the Mormon Church was sufficient 3. 7%

The answers showed very little variation from the major themes of "repenting"
and "accepting Jesus Christ", demonstrating that 85.1% of respondents believe that
Mormons do not accept Jesus Christ as the divine Son of God and Saviour.
QUESTION 19. WHAT ARE THE SOURCES OF YOUR INFORMATION ABOUT
MORMONS?

4 no source 14.8%
4 Mormon missionaries 14.8%
4 the Mormon Church 14.8%
7 official LDS literature 25.9%
3 members of the LDS Church 11.1%
4 ex-Mormons 14.8%
7 the Pentecostal Church 25.9%
11 anti-Mormon literature 40.7%
1 other anti-Mormon material 3.7%

Some respondents claimed more than one source of information. However, their
information was not tested or quantified, so that the extent of the information is not
known. Based upon responses to related questions it would not appear to be extensive in
the majority of cases.

QUESTION 20. HAVE YOU READ THE BOOK OF MORMON?

6 "Yes" 22.2%
21 "No" 77.7%

QUESTION 21. WHAT IS YOUR OPINION OF IT? [The Book of Mormon]

The opinions of those who have read it:

• "Rubbish"
• "Re-cycled biblical material"
• "Mixed-up"
• "Misquoted truth"
• "Valuable and Christian"
• "Biblical plagiarism, imaginative writing"
• "interesting but unreliable"

The opinions of those who have not read it:

• "Revelation 22:18"
• "Untrue"
• "Counterfeit"
• "Of the Devil"

QUESTION 22. HOW DO YOU REGARD JOSEPH SMITH?

Nineteen respondents answered this question (70.3%). The responses are:

• "Misled"
• "Incorrect"
• "False prophet (7)"
• "Deceived"
• "Misguided"
• "Deluded"
• "Sincere but wrong"
• "Deceived"
• "A fraud and a cheat"
• "Bastard - an agent of deceit used by the Devil"
• "Mentally ill"
• "Phoney"
• "Misguided philosopher"
• "Deluded by visitations from fallen angels"

8 did not respond 29.6%

7 a false prophet 25.9%
2 fraudulent or deceitful 7.4%
10 passively wrong or deceived 37.0%

QUESTION 23. HOW CAN A MORMON ENTER HEAVEN?

(24 Responded 88.8%)

1 Mormons can not enter heaven. 3.7%

1 only by becoming Pentecostalists. 3.7%
1 by continuing in their faith. 3.7%
21 by becoming Christians. 77.7%

Leaving aside the 3.7% who accepted that Mormons were heaven-bound
Christians, the response shows that 85.1% believe that Mormons are not heaven-bound
Christians. This is a significant percentage, especially when so little knowledge about the
Latter-day Saint Church and its members is claimed by so many.

QUESTION 31. SHOULD CHRISTIANS DIRECT MINISTRY AGAINST

CHURCHES THEY DON'T AGREE WITH?

(6 did not answer this question. 22.2%)

2 depends on circumstances. 7.8%
10 "yes" 37%
9 "no" 33.3%
Some respondees qualified their answers.

Qualified "yes":

• "Inform the churches they don't agree with, then leave the Holy Spirit to do his work"
• "Show them their errors - that they worship Satan"
• "If we feel that a ministry is contrary to the Word of God"
• "If that body of people don't know Jesus Christ and sets itself up against the
knowledge of God"
• "But not so much confrontationally as in loving, polite conversational sharing of the
Word of God"
• "See Ephesians 4:1-16"
• "If other churches are inflicting major suffering on people or are blatantly dishonest
or immoral"
• "To tell the truth"
• "Other religions should be aware of errors in their teaching"
• "I don’t want them to perish"
• "Ezekiel 33:1-9"

Qualified "no":

• "As long as they are Christian!"

• "It's futile"
• "They may minister to people needs or oppose non-Christian Churches but not attack
other Christians in a negative way"
• "Christians should witness to all unbelievers, although I suppose the Holy Spirit could
give you a burden for one group especially"
• "Ministry should be from the Bible not against anything, however we should be
warned of non-Biblical preaching etc."
• "Just be positive in preaching truth"
• "Ministry should positively proclaim Christian truth"
• "The Christian ministry should aim to preach about Christ and not knock other
churches"
• "We don't want to attack them, just love and pray for them"
• "It depends what you mean by a Church. I cannot envisage that it would be right for
any Church to direct ministry against another Christian Church but it may be essential
to warn people against gatherings which call themselves a church yet are not
Christian (Etc.)"

QUESTION 43: IS THE MORMON CHURCH A CHRISTIAN CHURCH?

2 did not respond. 7.4%)

1 "yes" 3.7%
2 "don't know" 7.4%
22 "no" 81.4%

CONCLUSIONS

66.6% of responding members had attended the church for at least one year. The
cumulative length of respondent membership is 229 years, which indicates a high factor
of reliability of their answers as a measure of attitudes within the particular congregation.

Responses to general questions demonstrate the divisions still markedly evident

between members of the responding Church and the more traditional Christian churches.
Slightly less than half, 48.1%, replied that the Holy Spirit was in the Pentecostal churches
but that it was not in non-Pentecostal churches. However, responses to another question
showed that 74% of respondents regarded the differences between themselves and the
historic churches as insignificant. These contradictions perhaps reflect the state of flux of
a congregation responding to pressures from œcumenism which are felt by many of the
Christian denominations from which the sample church has drawn the majority of its
members.ix

The responses to questions about Roman Catholics show that they are largely still
regarded as non-Christians. Almost 90% regarded them as not knowing Jesus Christ as
their Saviour. This is consistent with post-Reformation Protestant thinking, but whereas
the Protestant churches fully admit Catholics as fellow-Christians, Pentecostal
respondents deny to the Roman Catholic Church the ascription "Christian.” However,
59.2% believed that if anyone came to know Christ within Catholicism they would not
have to leave the Roman Catholic Church.

Some responses display deep ambiguities. These may be explained by

understanding that whilst accepting that Pentecostalism has a special mission in a wicked,
Satan-inspired world, and perceiving other Christian churches and movements as
essentially less, even "other", from themselves both in their Christianity and in their
quantitative and qualitative "Truth", there is an increasing recognition of the value of
humanistic principles exercised in a Godly way.

Societal concerns with global human and environmental problems are obviously
not capable of being ignored and are making inroads into Pentecostal consciousness thus
generating some tensions in those whose theological position has traditionally been to
separate themselves from the "World". Even the traditional male domination of the
Church's ministry has been given notice by the responses to question 30 in which a
majority are either for or not against, women ministers.

The primary proposition of this study is that "Anti-Mormon Attitudes Are Part Of
The Religio-Cultural Norm Of The Huddersfield Elim Church.” Questions 15-23 and 43
were assigned to test this proposition.
 Of the respondents, 66.7% do not know any Latter-day Saints. One third of
respondents knew at least one Latter-day Saint. How well they know them was not tested
but the subsequent responses indicate that in the case of those who did know one or more
Mormons the associations were superficial with the exception of the respondent who had
been a member of the Latter-day Saint Church for one and a half years. This respondent
is the only one who understands what Mormons believe in several important areas,
whereas other respondents claiming some knowledge about them show that their
information is unreliable. Almost one third of respondents admitted to knowing
"nothing" about Mormonism. This admitted ignorance is not reflected in the responses
question 17 which asks "ARE MORMONS CHRISTIAN?” for 81.4% answer "no". If
only 70.3% have any knowledge about Mormons but 81.4% say they're not Christians,
how have the 11.1% overhang arrived at their conclusion? If we take only those who
claimed to know more than "a little", who are 22.2% of respondents the overhang leaps to
59.2%. What is the source of their knowledge that enables them to reach the important
judgement concerning the Christian status of Mormons?

Question 19 probes the respondents' sources of information about Mormons. The

figures show that the majority of respondents relied for their knowledge of Mormonism
upon sources traditionally hostile to Mormonism, and this must raise a warning about the
reliability of that information. Some claimed more than one source. The percentage of
individual respondents relying on unsympathetic material for their knowledge of
Mormonism is 77.7% (21 respondents) which is a highly significant factor pointing to an
anti-Mormon norm. The inescapable conclusion is that anti-Mormonism is part of the
inventory of Pentecostalism as far as this congregation is concerned, and that it is based
on ignorance and prejudice rather than on reason and knowledge.

Ex-members of any church are sometimes disgruntled, but few will deliberately
lie about the doctrine and practices of the church they have left. Most of those who claim
to be Christian are honest. Those who produce anti-Mormon literature, which was a
source of knowledge about the Latter-day Saints for 40.7% of respondents, have their
own reasons for treating Mormonism in the same way that the press and Christian leaders
once treated the Pentecostal movement. With this in mind it might be expected that
Pentecostalists familiar with their own history would be more circumspect and wary
before accepting opinions from hostile materials merely because the missiles are aimed
away from themselves.

More than a quarter of respondents (25.9%) claimed that official Mormon

literature was the source of their information. One Latter-day Saint study guide says:

The first principle of the gospel is faith in Jesus Christ. When we have
faith, we firmly believe he is the Saviour of the world. We accept his
atonement and do all he has asked us to do. We will desire with all our
hearts to keep his commandments. We centre our hearts on him and
follow his perfect example.x

It would be hard for a Christian of whatever denomination to find fault with the
official Mormon position. 25.9% claimed that they had learned about Latter-day Saints
at the responding church. This clearly demonstrates that ideas about Mormons not being
Christian are current in that congregation, which supports the primary proposition. While
29.6% claim their information came from Mormon missionaries or from the Mormon
Church itself, brief visits by Latter-day Saint missionaries are unlikely to provide
sufficient depth of understanding for anyone to make a sound judgement about the nature
of Mormonism. An isolated visit to a Mormon Church is likewise unlikely to provide
sufficient information to lead to a balanced judgement of these major issues.

Questions 20 and 21 deal with the Book of Mormon. The first asks whether the
respondent has read the book, and the second asks for an opinion of it. 22.2% had read it
and 77.7% had not. Ten respondents offered opinions including four people who had not
read it. Clearly their opinion about a book they had not read had to come from another
source, and since all four gave negative opinions it can only be concluded that their
opinions arise from a negative source, and that they have permitted their judgement to be
coloured without questioning the information they have absorbed. Of those who had read
it, six offered their opinions. Five were negative and only one positive. The positive
opinion stated that it was "valuable and Christian" and was held by a former member of
the Latter-day Saint Church who was probably the only one familiar with the Book of
Mormon and its contents who had not read it prejudicially.

Question 22 dealt with opinions about Joseph Smith, the Mormon prophet. 70.3%
responded with at least one opinion.

7 a false prophet. 25.9%

10 passively wrong. 34.0%
2 fraudulent or deceitful. 7.4%

Again, the level of negative responses prompts one to enquire as to the source of
knowledge. With 37%, little over a third, knowing any Latter-day Saints, and that
acquaintance at best superficial, according to the available evidence; and with only 18.5%
claiming to know more than "a little"; and with 85.1% out of a total of 166.5% (some had
more than one source), admitting a hostile source for their information, it is hardly
surprising that they do not hold better opinions of Mormons and Mormonism. It is
probable that those who have either no knowledge or a little knowledge of Joseph Smith
believe him to be a false prophet for no other reason than because he must be!

It appears evident that the members of this church have fallen into the trap of
believing what "an enemy hath done". Their fault, if it is a fault, is believing what issues
from those ministries who call themselves Christian but whose methods are redolent of
less savoury propagandists. Whilst there are differences between Mormons and
Pentecostalists, as the Pentecostalists have differences with mainstream churches, and
whilst these are readily admitted, it should not be necessary either to believe distortions
or misrepresentations, nor to disseminate them either deliberately or carelessly. There is
no evidence available from the questionnaire responses which proves other than that the
majority of negative opinions held by the respondees are sincerely held. They are, as one
respondent said of Joseph Smith, "sincere, but wrong.”
 The question of whether a Mormon can be saved was answered by all who
responded to the question, 88.8%, in terms which indicated that Mormons would have to
believe in Jesus Christ as the divine Son of God and turn from Mormonism. Responses
to question 23 supports this, for 77.7% said that to enter heaven a Mormon would have to
"become" a Christian. We referred earlier to the respondent who supplied a telephone
number and an invitation to call for further information. The respondent who knows an
inactive member of the Church had written that Mormons were not Christian, adding that
the "basics" (of Christian belief) were:

1. Jesus Christ [is] God's Son [divinity].

2. That he came to earth as a man [Incarnation].
3. That he died on the cross as a sacrifice for man's sin [Atonement].
4. That Christ was sinless.
5. That he rose to heaven [Ascension].
6. That he guides people through the mission of the Holy Spirit.

The respondent was asked that since Mormons believe all these "basics," did that
make them Christian? The reply was that it didn't because they also believed that men
could be exalted to Godhood. Since only further information was sought and there was
no intention to convince the respondent, the extreme position which the respondent
adopted in the face of evidence which controverted the original position was not
defended.

The respondent then said that it was understood that the reasons Mormons did not
practice the imposition of hands on female members was because they thought that to do
so would make the sister pregnant. This is an incongruous interpretation of a statement
made by Brigham Young in a discussion on whether the Holy Ghost was the father of
Jesus. His rather facetious argument against this was to the effect that if receiving the
Holy Ghost was capable of making a sister pregnant, the elders would be afraid to do lay
hands on them in the ordinance of confirmation. It was not his position that this would in
fact happen, but an argument against the possibility.

A well educated person who is considered a good Christian delivered this

information. It demonstrates how even the educated believer can be deceived into
thinking that the most bizarre nonsense is true, and from one who claims to have enjoyed
"wisdom" and "knowledge" as gifts of the Holy Spirit it raises interesting questions.

The historical insular nature of the Pentecostal movement has required it to

develop a siege mentality in order to vindicate the belief that it alone has the "Truth".
The image of the persecuted Church as the sole repository of salvic truth, sent to save
those who will be saved out of a Devil-ruled wicked world is not exclusive to
Pentecostalism. Nevertheless, these attitudes represent the majority of its members
according to the evidence. 70.3% responded to question 37, "WHAT DISTINGUISHES
A PENTECOSTAL CHURCH FROM A NON-PENTECOSTAL ONE?” in ways that
bear this out.
 Another contradiction becomes evident when responses to questions 15 - 21 and
43 are compared to responses to question 10, "What are the basic values [of your
religion]?" 81.4% of respondents included terms such as "love neighbour", or "love
others", or other terms which indicate treating non-Pentecostals in ways which are fair,
kind, tolerant and just. However, the "Good Samaritan" principle is not extended to
Mormons by 81.4% of respondents who deny Christian status to Mormonism - a
remarkable parallel. The evidence is that whilst believing in fairness and justice and love
of neighbour, these admirable Christian virtues are withheld from Mormons and
Mormonism because of blind prejudice.

Attempting to account for the value placed upon anti-Mormon materials and
attitudes by those who once complained about "garbled reports", "very twisted ideas of
the actual facts", "exploiting anything that could promote fear and dislike", and being
called "counterfeit" and "satanic", by their enemies, when they disseminate the same
terminology against a denomination they themselves do not understand, is difficult even
under the best circumstances.

The conclusion that a prejudiced anti-Mormon attitude is part of the norm of

belief, and will remain so unless there is a determined effort to establish the position of
Mormonism within the framework of Christian belief by the ministers and congregation
of this particular Huddersfield Pentecostal church is hard to avoid.
SUBJECT INDEX
angels...................................................................8
Anglican..........................................................1, 4
Anglican Churchmen's Union.............................4
Anglicanism........................................................2
anti-Mormon.......................................2, 7, 11, 14
Anti-Mormon..............................................10, 16
baptism................................................................4
Baptism of the Holy Spirit..................................3
Bible................................................................4, 9
Book of Mormon...........................................7, 12
British..........................................................1, 3, 4
Christ...........................1, 2, 4, 6, 9, 10, 11, 13, 16
Christianity....................................................3, 10
Christians.................................1, 3, 4, 8, 9, 10, 11
Church of God Fellowship..................................2
context.............................................................1, 2
contradictions....................................................10
counterfeit......................................................3, 14
Devil..........................................................7, 8, 13
distorted imagery.................................................1
doctrine..........................................................3, 11
ecumenism.........................................................10
Elim Pentecostal Alliance...................................4
endowment..........................................................3
enemy................................................................12
error.................................................................4, 9
evangelism...........................................................2
Evangelistic Band................................................4
ex-Mormons........................................................7
false imagery.......................................................2
fear.......................................................................3
five points of fundamentalism.............................4
garbled reports.....................................................3
Gee, Donald.........................................................3
God....................................................3, 4, 6, 9, 13
Hannam, Pastor Peter..........................................2
hatred...................................................................3
heretical...............................................................2
Holiness Movement............................................2
Holiness Movement............................................3
hostile..................................................1, 2, 11, 12
hostility................................................................3
ideas.........................................................1, 12, 14
ignorance...........................................................11
image.................................................................13
Jesus................................1, 4, 6, 9, 10, 11, 13, 16
NOTES:
language..............................................................3
lie.......................................................................11
lies.......................................................................1
love................................................................9, 14
membership...................................................5, 10
Methodist.............................................................3
Methodists...........................................................2
ministers......................................................10, 14
misinformation....................................................1
missionaries...................................................7, 12
mistakes...............................................................3
Modernism......................................................3, 4
Mormon.........................................6, 7, 11, 12, 13
Mormon Church................................................12
Mormonism.........................1, 5, 6, 11, 12, 13, 14
Mormons.............................1, 6, 8, 11, 12, 13, 14
Nelson, Pastor Vincent RM.................................2
Niagara Conference.............................................4
non-Christian.......................................................9
orthodox..............................................................3
orthodoxy............................................................2
other churches.................................................3, 9
Pentecostal...........1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 13, 14
persecution..................................................1, 2, 3
plagiarism............................................................7
prejudice..................................................6, 11, 14
prophet...........................................................8, 12
Protestant.......................................................4, 10
Resurrection........................................................4
Roman Catholics...............................................10
Saints.......................................................1, 11, 12
salvation..............................................................3
Satan..............................................................9, 10
Satanic...........................................................3, 14
Saviour................................................2, 6, 10, 11
scenes of undisputable fanaticism.......................3
sheep-stealers......................................................3
Singapore.............................................................1
Smith, Joseph....................................................12
speaking in unknown tongues.............................3
suspicion..............................................................2
traditional churches.............................................3
Wesley, John.......................................................2
women...............................................................10
Young, Brigham................................................13
i
Mr Chandrasekaran ‘Chandra’ Karupiah in conversation with the author.
ii
. The Reverend Jeremy Pemberton.
iii
Gee, The Wind And The Flame, p. 17.
iv
Ibid. p. 18.
v
The burgeoning Pentecostal Movement
vi
Ibid. pp. 16-18.
vii
Harper, As At The Beginning, p. 13.
viii
Gee, Op. Cit., pp. 18-19.
ix
Bray, "A Survey of Anti-Mormon Attitudes in the Huddersfield Elim Church".
x
LDS Church, Study Guide No 2, "The Gospel of Jesus Christ." p. 3.