Ed Decker

John Edward Decker
Born 1935
United States
Occupation evangelist, writer
Known for Christian apologist; author
Religion Christianity

John Edward "Ed" Decker (born 1935) is an American counterculture apologist and evangelist known for his controversial studies, books, and public presentations of the perceived negative aspects of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) and Freemasonry. He is a former member of the LDS Church and prominent early member of a Christian group for ex-Mormons called Saints Alive in Jesus. His most well-known book is The God Makers: A Shocking Expose of What the Mormon Church Really Believes, co-authored by Dave Hunt.

Biography

Decker was born to a Jewish mother and Dutch father of the Reformed Christian faith (Calvinist) but raised an Episcopalian. While attending Utah State University, he married a Latter-day Saints student named Phyllis and converted to Mormonism. He met Phyllis Ray Danielson in "about 1952" during his junior year of highschool and had a reputation of being a "wild young man." They later married in "the Presbyterian Church on June 10, 1956." [1]

During their marriage, Ed Decker struggled to hold a job and his wife explained that "During the first ten years Ed and I were married, we moved twenty six times." [2] In the LDS Church, he served in roles such as Sunday School teacher, and was once the Sunday School President in a local ward. He has falsely claimed that he served as a bishop (or lay minister) in the Church.[3] Decker later divorced his first wife and blamed it on the LDS Church as mentioned in his pseudo-documentary, The God Makers: "I spent many years trying to reestablish those [Deckers family] relationships". The movie also states that he is a "victim" of the Mormon Church. However, his wife later said "I understand he often blames me and the Church for the breakup of our marriage in 1969. Nothing could be further from the truth... Ed had affairs for seven... years and I was continually advised by the LDS Church to forgive him. I... wanted more than anything to have a happy home." [ibid 9] The main complaint in the divorce papers read that the "Defendant has admitted to plaintiff that he had frequently and on numerous occasions had the company and companionship of other women." [4]

The DECREE IN DIVORCE also mentions Ed Decker's default. He was served personally as required by law, and when he failed to file an appearance or make an answer, the matter was "taken as confessed." Complaint eight, of the 12 complaints, reads that he has "been guilty of extreme and repeated mental cruelty toward the plaintiff, in that he on many occasions had the company and companionship of other women." The divorce was granted by the court under the grounds of "mental cruelty." Phyllis was asked whether "he [Ed Decker] admitted to you that he has frequently and on numerous occasions had the company and companionship of other women?" to which she answered "Yes." [5]

Decker was eventually excommunicated from the LDS Church. Prior to this, he accused the Church of attempting to assassinate him;[6] has asserted that "Reactivators" (what he describes as Mormon officials whose goal it is to either bring back members to the church or murder them) have pursued him;[7] and has prophesied that "the God of the Jews and Christians" was at war with "the god of the Mormons," and that the waters of the Great Salt Lake would soon rise to engulf both Salt Lake City and its temple, unless the Latter-day Saints relinquished Brigham Young University's Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies[8] He has reportedly claimed that the LDS Washington D.C. temple contains a full-scale replica of the White House built in anticipation of the day that, following a Mormon revolution, the president of the Church will issue his theocratic dictates from it to the conquered people of the United States.[9] He has also claimed that Mormons perform rituals in the temples that involve slitting their own wrists and writing the satanic number 666 on their foreheads, and also using the blood of "diamond back rattlers" and racks of human skulls that he says were stored in the Holy of Holies of the Salt Lake Temple.[10]

Counterculture apologetics

LDS Church

Decker has authored and co-authored books addressing the inner workings and purported negative aspects of the LDS Church. His book, The God Makers, was followed by The God Makers II.[11] He released a book in November 2007, titled My Kingdom Come: The Mormon Quest for Godhood.

Additional books written in this genre include Fast Facts on False Teachings, Decker's Complete Handbook on Mormonism, and Unmasking Mormonism. A fictional work by Decker entitled The Mormon Dilemma was added to Conversations With The Cults—The Harvest House series, entitled What You Need to Know About Mormons.

The God Makers, a book about the inner workings of the LDS Church, has been updated and expanded. Attempting to cut through the wholesome image projected by the church, the book purportedly reveals inconvenient aspects of the beliefs and practices of Mormonism. The God Makers aims to prepare evangelical Christians for witnessing to Mormons and makes the case that Mormon Christianity is a departure from what evangelical Christians consider to be "true" or "biblical" Christianity.

Decker participated in the documentary films, The God Makers, The Temple Of The God Makers, The Mormon Dilemma, and The God Makers II. His smaller projects include the booklets "And The Word Became Flesh", "To Moroni, With Love!", and "Understanding Islam", which are distributed by his nonprofit organization.

Decker states that My Kingdom Come: The Mormon Quest for Godhood is his final book to be presented on the subject of Mormonism. In this book, he dedicates an entire chapter to Mitt Romney and the Mormon beliefs about the future of the United States.

Freemasonry and others

Decker also speaks out against Freemasonry and has written What You Need To Know About Masons and The Dark Side of Freemasonry, and the booklet entitled "The Question of Freemasonry". Decker has also co-written a book with Ron Carlson called Fast facts on false teachings, which deals with what he believes to be various false systems of worship, including Roman Catholicism, Mormonism, and the Word of Faith movement.

Criticism

Decker's work has attracted criticism not only from Latter-day Saints,[12] but also from religious scholars of other faiths.[13] Jerald and Sandra Tanner, two prominent critics of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and of Mormonism in general, and Robert Passantino have said that Decker's writings grossly misrepresent Mormonism, and thereby dilute his message and offend Mormons without attracting them to evangelical Christianity. The Tanners have noted what they contend are inaccuracies and errors in some of Decker's works.[14]

One of Decker's associates offered to exorcise the Tanners' demons, and expressed great sadness when they refused.[15]

Works

Books
Movies
Leaflets

See also

References

  1. ↑ There are many sources to find these quotes. An exact copy of Phyllis' affidavit can be found in Robert L. & Rosemary Brown's book, They Lie in Wait to Deceive vol IVpg 9. Another online source can be found through this link
  2. ↑ ibid 9
  3. ↑ Brown, Robert L. and Rosemary Brown (1995) They Lie In Wait to Deceive, vol 4 Mesa: Brownsworth Publishing Co. Inc
  4. ↑ Brown and Brown 1995. pg 11
  5. ↑ Brown and Brown 1995, 11-22
  6. ↑ On Decker's accusations, see the exposé written by anti-Mormon crusader Wally Tope, "Poisoned" at Pizzaland: The Revealing Case of Ed Decker's "Arsenic Poisoning" (La Canada Flintridge, CA: Frontline Ministries, 1991); also Tanner and Tanner, Serious Charges against the Tanners, 32-47.
  7. ↑ See Saints Alive in Jesus Newsletter (September–October 1993): 2-3.
  8. ↑ For a discussion of this "prophecy," with references, see Tanner and Tanner, The Lucifer-God Doctrine [B], 16-17. Ironically, in his Saints Alive in Jesus Newsletter (May–June 1994): 1, Decker harshly criticizes several of his fellow Protestants for giving false prophecy (on an unrelated subject).
  9. ↑ Unfortunately, we were unable to locate this priceless allegation in print. However, at least three other dedicated Decker-watchers remember having seen or heard the claim. And a friend's July 1995 call to Decker headquarters in Washington State, though it failed to locate a specific written reference, did get a general, implicit repetition of the claim. In a 9 August 1995 telephone call with the same friend, Decker himself denied the notion of a "full-scale replica," but did confirm that Latter-day Saint leaders will rule the United States from the Washington D.C. Temple.
  10. ↑ See Tanner and Tanner, The Lucifer-God Doctrine [A], 2-3; Tanner and Tanner, The Lucifer-God Doctrine [A], 8-11
  11. ↑ Archived February 2, 2006, at the Wayback Machine.
  12. ↑ According to Michael Griffith, "Even as anti-Mormon books go, The God Makers is one of the worst, most inaccurate attacks on Mormonism ever written."Michael T. Griffith. "Another Look at The Godmakers". ourworld.cs.com. Retrieved 2006-09-24.
  13. ↑ Says Massimo Introvigne, "the second book and film are worse than the first: they include an explicit call to hatred and intolerance that has been denounced as such by a number of Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish organizations." Introvigne, Massimo (1994) "The Devil Makers: Contemporary Evangelical Fundamentalist Anti-Mormonism", Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, 27 (1), 154.
  14. ↑ Tanner, Jerald and Sandra (1993). Problems in The Godmakers II. Salt Lake City, Utah: UTLM.
  15. ↑ Introvigne, Massimo (1994) "The Devil Makers: Contemporary Evangelical Fundamentalist Anti-Mormonism", Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, 27 (1), 166–67.

External links

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