LDS Inclusion ~ LDS Exclusion

A straightforward reading of the Book of Mormon appears to endorse eternal punishment in hell for many people. A random example of this is found in 2 Nephi 28.15:
O the wise, and the learned, and the rich, that are puffed up in the pride of their hearts, and all those who preach false doctrines, and all those who commit whoredoms, and pervert the right way of the Lord, wo, wo, wo be unto them, saith the Lord God Almighty, for they shall be thrust down to hell!
Passages like that from the Book of Mormon (BOM) could be multiplied, but you get the picture. Now, if the BOM was allowed to stand alone as a text and govern the LDS church, things would look very different. But in essence, the book simply establishes the authority of Joseph Smith: “for the thing, which the Lord shall bring forth by his hand, by the power of the Lord shall bring my people unto salvation” (2 Nephi 3.15). Once Smith was established in his role of authority by the book he produced, he started improvising new theological viewpoints almost immediately.
In fact, a vision given to the false prophet in March, 1830 said that “Endless” is one of God’s names, therefore ‘endless’ punishment simply means ‘God’s punishment’ or punishment from God (Doctrine and Covenants 19). Mormon doctrine developed away from the Book of Mormon on many points and, by extension, away from the Bible. Mormon Professor James McLachlan writes:
With respect to life after death, the LDS church is a universalist religion. All beings have immortality through the atonement of Christ. Joseph Smith claimed that not only humans but animals and plants have eternal spirits (Moses 3:5, 19; 7:48-49; Abraham 3:18-19). Every creature is immortal, having everlasting life, but “eternal life” is interpreted as deification…all will attain immortality, but only those who learn to love perfectly will attain godhood, eternal life” (Musser and Paulsen, 2007).
Essentially almost everyone is ‘safe’ in the Mormon scheme of things – we’ll all end up in one of the three kingdoms. Craig Hazen has summarized things accurately:
Everyone in the next life (except for the small handful of “sons of perdition”) would ultimately enter (perhaps after a limited time in a purgatorial setting) one of the “three degrees of glory” of which even the lowest level (the telestial) has a glory that “surpasses all understanding” (D&C 76:89). [this revelation]…provided the answer to another important question that was probably being asked by early seekers: Why must I join the church if in the end all are going to be saved anyway? Answer: to have a shot at the highest state of glory” (Beckwith, Mosser, Owen 2002).
There is only one category of people in the LDS scheme of things that are in trouble: the sons of perdition. Who are the sons of perdition? Basically they are apostate Mormons: “Those in this life who gain a perfect knowledge of the divinity of the gospel cause, a knowledge that comes only by revelation from the Holy Ghost, and who then link themselves with Lucifer and come out in open rebellion, also become sons of perdition” (McConkie 1966).
The bottom line seems to be that you are better off living any way you choose than in joining the LDS church and then leaving it. All of mankind will experience some sort of enjoyable eternal life with the exception of those who betray the LDS church.

Wretched Radio: Brian McLaren and the Dangers of the Emergent Church

Thoughts on “Is Mormonism Christian?”

The current issue of First Things, which I subscribe to, contains an article with a topic very familiar to those of us who interact with the LDS Church: Is Mormonism Christian ? The authors are Bruce D. Porter from the First Quorum of the Seventy on the LDS side, and Gerald McDermott a Professor from Roanoke College from the (ahem) Christian side.

There is nothing ground-breaking in either man’s presentation if you are at all familiar with the history of these debates. Mr. Porter outlines LDS differences with the Nicene Creed and then goes on to outline the LDS version of the creation, birth, life, death, resurrection and the atonement of Jesus Christ. He summarizes his article with this:

Are Mormons Christian? By self-definition and self-identity, unquestionably so. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints affirms that it is a Christian-faith denomination, a body of believers who worship Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, and who witness that salvation is possible only by his atoning blood and grace. By the simple dictionary definition of a Christian as one who believes in or worships Jesus Christ, the case is compelling. To the title Christian a critic of Mormonism may add any modifiers he deems appropriate-unorthodox, heretical, non-Nicene, different-but blanket assertions that we are not Christian are a poor substitute for informed argument and dialogue.

Mr. McDermott counters with two major points of disagreement:first, “The Book of Mormon, which is Mormonism’s principal source for its claim to new revelation and a new prophet, lacks credibility.” Second, “…the Jesus proclaimed by Joseph Smith and his followers is different in significant ways from the Jesus of the New Testament.”

The frustrating thing about this exchange to me is the failure to define terms – granted there is a necessity for brevity in the magazine format. Porter at least puts forward a reductionist definition of Christian in his closing statement: “one who believes in or worships Jesus Christ.” My dictionary defines Christian as “a person who has received Christian baptism or is a believer in Jesus Christ and his teachings” but that is neither here nor there. McDermott does not even define what Christian means, he simply illustrates some areas where he thinks the two faiths contrast.

In some ways fighting over this term is unproductive and doesn’t get us anywhere, but on the other hand, we should be able to define what the word means from inside the Church itself. If we can’t define what Christian means, who can? But it is a vexing question – what is a Christian? If we say that it is one who has been born again then many thousands if not millions of Latter Day Saints will agree that they have been born again and are Christians. If we say that it is believing in the Bible, they would again concur, generally speaking. We could try Trinitarian baptism which gets close to the heart of the matter as the Vatican has noted. Mormons use the formula of the Trinitarian Name, but the meaning implied by their Father, Son and Holy Ghost is not the same as that of orthodox Christianity.

If we include Nicene orthodoxy as defined by the first 4 to 7 councils of the ecumenical church, we are getting somewhere. But this standard might rule out millions of folks whom we would be loathe to remove the Christian label from. And can we really expect the average person in the pew to be able to define Nicene Christology correctly?

I have argued before that the Trinity is the defining doctrine that separates a Christian from a non-Christian. I believe that the decisions of the councils, viewed through the lens of Scripture, are defining as boundary markers for what a Christian is. This doesn’t mean a believer has to know them and be able to talk about them. They don’t get tacked on to the end or our Bibles. But they function in an authoritative way in explaining the outlines of our faith. This is a high view of church authority, one that believes that the Holy Spirit did not vanish at the end of Revelation and cease guiding the church. I believe that our conflicts with Mormons and other heretics necessitates this view. The early Anglican theologians provided this view of the authority of the church:

The Church has power to decree Rites or Ceremonies, and authority in Controversies of Faith: and yet it is not lawful for the Church to ordain any thing that is contrary to God’s Word written, neither may it so expound one place of Scripture, that it be repugnant to another. Wherefore, although the Church be a witness and a keeper of Holy Writ, yet, as it ought not to decree any thing against the same, so besides the same ought it not to enforce any thing to be believed for necessity of Salvation.

Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Remedy for Declining Membership = Gay, Fornicating, Adulterous Clergy

The PCUSA church has suffered recent decline in membership (http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2008-06-25-presbyterian-decline_N.htm). So what do they do in response to this decline?

The denomination’s General Assembly, meeting in San Jose, Calif., voted 54% to 46% Friday to drop the requirement that would-be ministers, deacons and elders live in “fidelity within the covenant of marriage between and a man and a woman, or chastity in singleness” (http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2008-06-30-presbyterians-gay_N.htm).

By dropping such a requirement with the intent of allowing gay clergy, they also shoot themselves in the foot by not demanding any sort of sexual standard whatsoever for glergy. Clergy need not neccesarily live in “fidelity”, nor be “chaste in singleness”. How then can the church discipline any clergy for sexual misconduct is their is no binding standard for sexuality? That is my question.

My Field Trip to Cumorah Hill…filled with LDS propaganda that grieved my soul, like a Statue of Jesus Holding the Bible in one Hand and the Book of Mormon in the Other

A replica of the dead sea scrolls was on display at the Cumorah Hill LDS visitor’s center in Palmyra and I decided to drop in and take a peek. At the same time, I feared LDS propaganda but thought that such would be minimal considering that they were displaying the Dead Sea Scrolls, which I thought would have little relation to the Mormon faith.

Well, I guess I could say that the good Mormons found a way to appeal to their one true church, even through the display of the Dead Sea Scrolls replicas. They urged me to view a very brief film to prepare me for the viewing of the DSS (Dead Sea Scrolls). The films was basically a PR piece for the LDS church…touting how LDS scholars were involved in the translation of the DSS…as if that gives credence to their actual beliefs. It also touted that they value the preservation of scrolls because, after all, their faith is based upon revelation from golden plates brought from the angel Moroni and revealed to Joseph Smith, conveniently taken back up to heaven where no man can now examine and verify.

Anyhow, later on in the display, a replica was actually on display of the golden plates containing the book of Mormon. I honestly chuckled inside because it was displayed as if the plates were somehow preserved and have undergone the same sort of examination that the DSS have undergone.

Lastly, the display then contained a table with the book of Mormon in various languages with a statue of Jesus in glowing white holding forth the book of Mormon in one hand and the Bible in the other…as if stating that both are equal and holding forth the book of Mormon for the visitor to receive. It really was intentional PR to have Jesus holding out the book of Mormon as part of this display of the DSS.

I know this may sound harsh, but I believe that the LDS church essentially prostituted the DSS in an effort to persuade the visitor to think that the book of Mormon, which Jesus himself is holding out no less, has undergone the same rigorous examination from numerous scholars. Anyhow…this was my field trip to the LDS visitor center at the Cumorah Hill.

P.S. The staffers at the exhibit were very kind and I had a very nice conversation with them. I love Mormons and grieve over the intentional deception that the Church has undertaken throughout the years to falsely persuade the “faithful”.

“Cumorah Hill, Mormonism, Joseph Smith” (All in my backyard)

A picture of the Cumorah Hill, where legend has it that Joseph Smith befriended an Angel named Moroni, who entrusted him with golden plates full of Egyptian Hieroglyphics, containing the Book of Mormon. Anyhow, this is located right near me in Palmyra, New York (where I happen to get Chinese food quite a bit by the way). The hill also is a perfect sledding hill in the winter. Also, this serves as the site of a yearly pageant that includes a huge cast and special effects, quite a show I hear. It is also frequented by a professing group of Christians whom I have heard dress up like Joseph Smith and Satan, depicting Satan having his way with the tormented Smith… I, however, object to such a drama and would probably much prefer the Heretical pageant for purely entertainment purposes…but don’t deny the truth that Smith may in fact be suffering such a horrible fate. I have yet to meet a Mormon who has cited this expedition as wooing them to the Evangelical faith….can you figure why not? I think Paul said something about truth in love, right? Anyhow, this concludes the longest picture caption you have seen in your life.

 

 

 

Growing up, I befriended quite a few Mormons and actually considered a couple to be my closest friends for a time. I was welcomed by their families into their homes and was even asked to lead a devotion and prayer before dinner on one occasion. I would engage in numerous theological discussions and found myself doing more research than the typical high school student. One thing became painfully clear in my research: the LDS Church was no church of Jesus Christ. I attended their services, their Sunday school, and conversed with the local bishop (who was my friend’s father) and realized that their theology was not Biblical. We were both convinced in our beliefs and thought the other was in error, which prompted a loving disposition of winning the other over.

 

I am well aware of the accounts of Joseph Smith obtaining the gold plates on the Cumorah Hill in Palmyra and was very interested in visiting the hill when Bob Young (elder at my church) was giving me a tour of the area in my first visit to the Church. I continue to be astounded a hill in Palmyra is the source for the faith of millions in one of the fastest growing religious sects in the world. It all comes down to whether or not Joseph Smith received plates on that hill, and I am convinced not. It is interesting to note that when Joseph Smith was a young adolescent, a traveling magician and diviner came through Palmyra and drew the curiosity of the young Smith. This diviner carried along with him magic stones that he said would allow him to find buried treasure. He would offer his services to the locals at $3 a day to search their property. No treasure was found, but the young Smith remained intrigued by the thoughts of magical stones and became a clone of sorts. He offered his own services and once traveled to Damascus, New York to find treasure that he said was buried by the Spaniards. Many joined in the excavation work and no treasure came up…Smith said to keep digging because an enchantment lowered it deeper. At this, people labeled Smith a charlatan and ceased their digging. By the way, Smith was getting paid quite well from this venture.

 

Smith later details how magical rocks aided him in his translation of the words found upon the gold plates that he received from the angel Moroni on the Cumorah Hill. I wish not to assault Joseph Smith and his now many followers, but rather point out the great danger that exists in fascination with the occult. The young Smith was fascinated by the itinerant diviner that came through Palmyra and it birthed within him an ongoing search for the mysterious and hidden. This venture was unfruitful for the young Smith, so he went on to create a fable that would lend credence to his professed abilities and in doing so, founded a religious movement that has so recklessly banked their faith upon Smith’s credibility and reliability.

 

Whether Smith’s story is a mere fabrication or his occult fascination invited the adversary as an angel of light to actually encounter him and lead him in his findings…we can clearly say that Satan was at work, as he is both the author of all lies and the one whose presence is found in occult pursuits. It was not surprising to hear, after moving here, that Palmyra has a history of occult incidents and Satanic worship. It has also been brought to my attention that the Wayne County region has a whole has given place to occult practices and falsity (including the Fox sisters and the rise of Spiritualism). It is my prayer that God would bless Palmyra and rid it of all occult fascination and bring forth the light of His Son, who is the eternal truth. May Wayne County behold the truth in Christ and turn from the darkness that would seek to bind her. May we prove faithful in our defense of the one true gospel and call our Mormon friends back to the church of the one and true Jesus Christ.