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Robertson' Lies or
"Attacking the Messenger?"

In a recent round of correspondence with the people at Concerned Christians, Inc., it was pointed out that in some lectures given by Jim Robertson, he lied on a number of issues in regards to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  Rather than dealing with the issues, Mr. Robertson's stated, "Someday they will stop attacking the messenger and start dealing with the message."  It is clear from the table below, with one exception, every point deals with the issues, and not the messenger.  The one exception was brought up by Mr. Robertson himself, in the lecture.  We believe this is just one more evidence that Concerned Christians (of Mesa, AZ), Inc. is more interested in its agenda than the truth.

The questions in the left column of the table were tape recorded by Craig Ray who attended both lectures.  The right column contains our edited version of Craig's responses.

Remarks delivered by Jim Robertson to the 
Central Christian Church,
Mesa, AZ 
January 24th, 1994 		Responses
1.  Joseph Smith joined the Methodist Church.  It's in the Pearl of Great Price. Joseph was "partial" to the Methodist Church (Joseph Smith's History, Pearl of Great Price, 1:8), but to date no critic has presented evidence that he joined that Church.  We challenge Mr. Robertson or Mr. Burns to produce the reference.
2.  Joseph and Hyrum went over at night and burned the Nauvoo Expositor. Patently untrue.  The Nauvoo Expositor was ordered destroyed by the Nauvoo City Council and the order was carried out in broad daylight by the City Marshal (see History of the Church 6:432)
3.  A question was asked by someone in the congregation:  How can a Mormon accept these teachings?  Jim Robertson said: I was a Bishop, and I accepted it. Robertson was NEVER a bishop in the LDS Church. See our response to this issue by clicking here.  Since LDS Bishops are issued a ministerial certificate, we challenge Robertson to produce his and place a copy on his web site.   As a pre-emptive strike, we suggest that he has made a big deal about this and repeated this lie over many years.  Therefore, it must be a big deal to him, hence we will not buy an additional lie that he has lost or destroyed his certificate.
4.  The Mormon Church says that you are not officially married unless you are married in the Temple. Untrue.  Mr. Robertson, please provide an official citation.
5.  If the Jews are not Mormons, they are considered Gentiles. Untrue.  Mr. Robertson please provide an official citation.
6.  The Mormon Church was to try to prove one lie in the film (The God Makers) and to sue us and make us stop showing the film.  They have not found one. We challenge Mr. Robertson to produce any official LDS Church statement to the effect that they would sue, but were unable to find "one lie."  The film has been shown to be full of lies.  See for example, Gilbert W. Scharffs, The Truth About "The God Makers," Robert & Rosemary Brown, They Lie In Wait To Deceive, Vol. IV, and Robert Starling, A MORMON CHALLENGES "THE GODMAKERS" MOVIE (Rev. 1995)
Lecture by Jim Robertson on January 31, 1994 at same location. Responses
1.  Baptism is for membership in the Church, not for taking away sins. Untrue.  See Article of Faith # 4
2.  After Joseph was told not to join any church, 2 years later he joined the Methodist Church. Untrue.  See response to #1 in the first lecture above.
3.  Two thirds of the Book of Mormon came from View of the Hebrews by Ethan Smith. A statement often advocated by certain of the anti-Mormon community.   However, it is patently untrue and has been shown as such in: John W. Welch, "An Unparallel: Ethan Smith and the Book of Mormon," FARMS paper:1985.
4.  Brigham Young had 87 wives, Joseph Smith had 46, I think it was. "I think it was?"  C'mon Mr. Robertson, pulling numbers out of the air is hardly truthful.
5.  A Mormon can't drink hot chocolate, it is against the Word of Wisdom. Hot chocolate is not prohibited by the Word of Wisdom (Doctrine & Covenants, Sec. 89).  See also Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, 845.
6.  In 1854, the name was changed to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Untrue.  That name was given by revelation in 1838.  See Doctrine and Covenants 115:3-4.
7.  There was a raid on Joseph City because of polygamy. Actually, at the time it was named Short Creek and later renamed Colorado City.  Joseph City had nothing to do with it and isn't even close in locale.  Besides, what has this to do with the LDS Church?  Those folks were excommunicated many, many years ago for practicing polygamy contrary to the rule of the Church.
8.  Polygamy is still okay today.  All you have to do is go to a different Temple to get married to another wife.....(a member of the congregation said:  The state of Arizona would not allow it.  Jim replied:  You just go to a different state.) An incredibly untrue statement.  The only truth in this statement is that "the State of Arizona would not allow it."  The rest of Mr. Robertson's comments are untrue; and we feel that Mr. Robertson has enough intelligence to know better.