The Present-Day Saint
The Present-Day Saint
Aaron Marshall
The Present-Day Saint is a podcast featuring the musings of Aaron Marshall on theology, apologetics, ministry and doing life as an evangelical Christian in the state of Utah. Aaron is the Director of Chapter Formation and HR for Ratio Christi, a Christian apologetics ministry on college campuses all across the world. Aaron and his family moved to Utah from North Carolina to start the Ratio chapter at the University of Utah. Aaron is married to Jessalyn and they have five kids.
Summer Review - Trip to Israel and Conversations and a Plug for Summit Ministries
0073 - In this episode I talk about what I have been doing the last two months since I have recorded an episode. In June I was able to help lead a trip to Israel with my buddy David who lives there. It was amazing!! I discuss some of the things we did and the places we went. I also discuss some of the conversations that we had and why I think they are more productive than many Christians who go there to evangelize. I also talk about my daughter going to Summit Ministries two week summer camp (after she came on the Israel trip) and why we think that is such a great ministry to get your high school and college students to attend. All that in more in this episode!!! If you want to learn more about Summit go to - www.summit.org
Aug 3, 2023
46 min
Does God Exist - Apologetics Series #8
0072 - In this episode in our "Apologetics Series" we take a look at one major argument for God's existence - the Kalam Cosmological Argument. We talk about the two premises in the argument and the evidence for them both scientifically and philosophically. We also take a look at how some atheists respond to this argument. Finally, we briefly touch on the young earth - old earth discussion and how General Revelation and Special Revelation will always match up if Christianity is true. Lots of good information in this episode. I hope you enjoy!!
May 24, 2023
47 min
Loving Your LDS Neighbor - Part 7 - The Transmission of the New Testament Documents
0071 - In this episode of our "Loving Your LDS Neighbor" series we discuss the transmission of the New Testament documents. One of the claims of the LDS church is that the New Testament has not been translated correctly. That usually means that they think certain New Testament teachings were lost during the transmission of the text over all the years. In this episode we touch on some basic Textual Criticism and show how the New Testament has actually been almost perfectly accurately preserved. We show that we can trust that we have what the authors wrote in the New Testament and thus we can be confident that what the New Testament teaches is the accurate teachings of the Apostles.
May 18, 2023
38 min
Loving Your LDS Neighbor - Part 6 - Nature of God and Jesus
0070 - In this episode of our "Loving Your LDS Neighbor" series we take a look at the Biblical and LDS view of God and Jesus. We first look at God and discuss two arguments for God's existence that help us understand God's nature. We then compare this view of God with the LDS view to show the impossibility of the LDS view of God. We then look at how Jesus is viewed by the LDS and compare and contrast that with the Biblical view of Jesus. Your view of God and your view of Jesus has eternal implications so we better make sure that our views are correct (or at least in line with what the Bible teaches). 
May 18, 2023
56 min
Loving Your LDS Neighbor - Part 4 - What is the Gospel?
0068 - In this episode we turn to the issue of what must a person do to enter God's family? The Biblical view is that we simply trust in Jesus (have faith) and what he has done for us in his death and resurrection. The LDS view is that we start with faith but then we have to do all kinds of things to obtain eternal life. In this episode we look at what the Bible says on this subject and how the Evangelical view differs from the LDS view on eternal life. We also talk about our identity in Christ and why that is so important. I think this is a really important episode for Evangelicals to listen to and make sure that they are believing and walking in the true Gospel.  
May 10, 2023
45 min
Loving Your LDS Neighbor - Part 5 - What about Faith and Works (and Baptism)?
0069 - In this episode of our "Loving Your LDS Neighbor" series we tackle some questions that always come up in regards to the Biblical gospel in our conversations with our LDS friends. In our last episode we presented the Biblical gospel. In those conversations with the LDS two topics will almost always emerge - baptism and faith and works. In this episode we show that the verses that seem to imply baptism is required to enter God's family (have eternal life) don't actually mean that. We also show that James and Paul are hitting at two very different points in their discussion of justification in Romans 3-4 and James 2.  We show how good interpretation of these verses can reconcile apparent contradictions in the text. This is a long but important episode!!
May 10, 2023
55 min
Loving Your LDS Neighbor - Part 3 - Tactics in our Evangelistic Conversations
0067 - In this episode we continue in our "Loving Your LDS Neighbor" series with a discussion on Tactics in your evangelistic conversations. Most Christians don't evangelize. Why not? I think it is because they try it once and it doesn't go well (or they never even try in the first place because they are scared) and so they just never try again. In this episode we will talk about the book "Tactics" by Greg Koukl and how you can apply the techniques that he discusses in his book to have productive conversations with your LDS friends (or anyone).  
Apr 12, 2023
47 min
Loving Your LDS Neighbor - Part 1 - Do We Believe the Same Thing?
0065 - In this episode we begin a series called "Loving Your LDS Neighbor." This series was something that I developed for my church back in the Fall. In this series we will go through some of the ways that I have learned to have better conversations with my LDS friends. If you are LDS I really hope you will listen to the series and get a better understanding of where we are coming from. In this episode we will introduce the series by talking about truth. We will discuss the fact that Christians and Mormons believe very different things about reality and thus these are two different religions. We will show that LDS and Evangelicals have a very different view of truth, God, Jesus, Scripture and the Gospel, and thus that is why we say these are two different religions. I hope that you will find this helpful. 
Apr 4, 2023
52 min
Loving Your LDS Neighbor - Part 2 - Appropriate Conversation Topics For Different People
0066 - In this episode of our "Loving Your LDS Neighbor" series we take a look at what conversations would be appropriate for someone depending on where they are in their faith journey. We walk through different stages that LDS go through on their journey to grace. At each stage we discuss what good conversation topics would be for a person in that stage. The goal is to make our conversations as fruitful as possible. The techniques discussed in this episode would also have broad application in conversations with all non-Christians.  I hope you enjoy!!
Apr 4, 2023
48 min
What Does God Want (Part 2) - The Gospel & Discipleship
0064 - In this episode we continue our journey through Michael Heiser's book "What Does God Want?"  In this episode we review the second half of the book. We first discuss what the Gospel is and what it isn't. If what God wants is you (to have a human family), then the question becomes how we enter that family? This is done simply by believing the gospel. Once we are members of God's family then he wants us to follow Him (trust him). This is where discipleship comes in.  We talk about what Discipleship is and what it isn't. We then discuss some of the main ways that we can become more like Jesus. Hope you enjoy!!!
Feb 21, 2023
38 min
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