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The Truth About Mormonism - O is for Only True Church

 


‘The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints does not see itself as one Christian denomination among many, but rather as God’s latter-day restoration of the fulness of Christian faith and practice. Thus from its earliest days LDS Christians sought to distinguish themselves from Christians of other traditions.’ (Encyclopaedia of Mormonism 1:270)

When LDS leader Brad Wilcox told the youth, and the assembled adults, that O is for Only True Church, I wonder what they thought?

Older Mormons perhaps felt like giving Brad a hearty ‘amen’, after all he was declaring the historical Mormon position that the LDS church is the only true church. What Brad said clearly lines up with the Mormon past, with Mormon doctrine and with the Mormon scriptures, but it doesn’t quite square with what I constantly hear from Missionaries.

Missionaries have often told me that I am a Christian, but I am missing some pieces of information, namely, the doctrines and gospel ordinances found only in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Aware that his young hearers have also been taught this, Brad seeks to lessen the blow of this uncomfortable Mormon truth:

‘We’re saying “We’re the only true Church” in a spirit of invitation.’

Here we find Brad trying to smooth the sharp edges of historic, scriptural Mormonism. He knows that Mormonism believes itself to be the only true church, but the current zeitgeist doesn’t allow him to press that, so he proceeds, by way of analogy, that the non-LDS Christians have some truth, but the LDS church has the whole truth:

‘President Boyd K. Packer used to say “Truth is like a piano keyboard; some churches play a few notes, some churches play several octaves, but we’re the only church that has a whole piano.” So when we are saying we’re the only true church, we’re just inviting people to come and see what we can add to the truths that already fill their lives. If they think they can play some pretty music now, then we want them to know that they can play like Jackson[1]. I mean, we want them to know that they can play with the whole piano.

And I don’t want to lose the whole piano. You walk away from the Church, say goodbye to the whole piano. Have fun playing Chopsticks the rest of your life. I don’t want to play Chopsticks the rest of my life. I want to play like Jackson. And to do that, you have to have the whole piano.’

Not too offensive Brad. According to this LDS leader, ‘other’ Christians are messing around playing ‘Chopsticks’, whilst the ‘true’ Christians are seemingly playing Beethoven’s Piano Concerto no.5.

Now, there are two reasons why I think we need be too insulted by what Brad said. Firstly, we know he is only being true to Mormon belief, and secondly, what he says is observable nonsense.  The melody that the Mormons play on their piano is completely out of tune with historic, biblical Christianity.

It’s not that the Mormons have all the right notes, but they are playing them in the wrong order, it is more like they have added so many false notes that the tune is completely unrecognisable.

Two Churches

To further understand the Mormon position, we now turn to the Book of Mormon:

‘Behold there are save two churches only; the one is the church of the Lamb of God, and the other is the church of the devil; wherefore, whoso belongeth not to the church of the Lamb of God belongeth to that great church, which is the mother of abominations and she is the whore of all the earth.’ (1 Nephi 14:10)

‘Contend against no church save it be the church of the devil’ (Doctrine and Covenants 18:20)

It should be no surprise to hear that the Mormons identify themselves as the church of the Lamb of God.

In a strictly historical sense, the church of the Lamb of God referred to in Nephi’s vision is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Multiple prophets and apostles have identified the modern Church as such.[2]

But who do they recognise as the ‘church of the devil’?

We might think that Mormonism would identify the ‘church of the devil’ as non-LDS denominations but, like everything in Mormonism, it’s not that clear-cut.

The Church of the devil

‘It is incorrect to think that any particular church or denomination is the ‘great and abominable church’ mentioned by Nephi. Any group of people that follows Satan’s ways are part of the kingdom of the devil and are enemies of Christ and His Church (see 2 Nephi 10:16)’[3]

Though they teach that the ‘church of the devil’ is not ‘any particular church or denomination’ they certainly believe that churches and denominations are included. Brad’s brother from another mother, Bruce R. McConkie makes sure we know this:

‘What is the church of the devil in our day, and where is the seat of her power? If we accept the angelic word, if we believe as Nephi believed, and if, the Lord willing, we saw what Nephi saw, then we shall accept without question the reality around us. The church of the devil is every evil and worldly organisation on earth. It is all of the systems, both Christian and non-Christian, that have perverted the pure and perfect gospel… It is communism; it is Islam; it is Buddhism; it is modern Christianity in all its parts.’[4]

As a non-Mormon, I get totally befuddled when I read quotes like this. Questions arise like: When declaring what they believe, do Mormons ever check what they have previously declared as truth? For example, the current LDS website speaks very positively about Islam.[5] A further question I would ask is ‘do they understand irony’?  When McConkie says that the ’church of the devil’ is any ‘that have perverted the pure and perfect gospel’, he clearly doesn’t realise he is implicating the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The Apostle Paul writing to the Galatians (and the Mormon Church) says:

I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.

But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.

 As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.  Galatians 1:6-9

Brad teaches that O is for Only True Church, but in reality O is Opposing the True Church, the true Church founded by our Lord Jesus Christ.  



[1] Jackson was the young man who played the piano before Brad spoke.

[2] The_Church_of_the_Lamb_of_God.pdf (byu.edu)

[3] Book of Mormon Seminary Student Study Guide, 2004, p.24)

[4] Bruce R. McConkie, The Millennial Messiah: The Second Coming of the Son of Man pp.54-55

[5] Muslims and Latter-day Saints: Beliefs, Values, and Lifestyles (churchofjesuschrist.org)


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