- C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
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| The Christus statue at Temple Square in Salt Lake City |
My thoughts over the past few days have returned again and again to the debate going on in the media about Latter-Day Saints.
Whether we are cultists.
Whether we are Christians.
This always just makes me want to shake my head and sigh.
What exactly do Latter-Day Saints believe?
The full name of our church is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
We profess to be a restoration of the original church founded by the Savior himself.
Not a reformation, a restoration.
For that reason, we do not share some of the same doctrine that evolved over time in the centuries following the death of Christ and His apostles.
We are Christians.
Each and every Sunday that we attend church we make a solemn covenant to take upon us the name of Christ when we partake of the sacrament (communion).
We pray in His sacred, holy name.
We accept Him as our Savior, our Redeemer, our Friend.
We are partakers of His amazing and infinite grace.
To use a phrase from a modern prophet, "He is the Lamb of God to whom [we] bow."
To listen to President Gordon B. Hinckley's beautiful testimony of Jesus Christ, please enjoy the following video clip:
I believe much of the curiosity and concern from the rest of the Christian community comes from our belief in additional revelation and scripture. That we believe a prophet again lives on the earth.
But we do not see how this invalidates our status as Christians.
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, of our faith's Quorum of the Twelve had this to say on the matter, and since he is infinitely more eloquent than I, he is quoted here at length:
Some Christians, in large measure because of their genuine love for the Bible, have declared that there can be no more authorized scripture beyond the Bible. In thus pronouncing the canon of revelation closed, our friends in some other faiths shut the door on divine expression that we in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints hold dear: the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, the Pearl of Great Price, and the ongoing guidance received by God’s anointed prophets and apostles. Imputing no ill will to those who take such a position, nevertheless we respectfully but resolutely reject such an unscriptural characterization of true Christianity.
One Protestant scholar has inquired tellingly into the erroneous doctrine of a closed canon. He writes: “On what biblical or historical grounds has the inspiration of God been limited to the written documents that the church now calls its Bible? … If the Spirit inspired only the written documents of the first century, does that mean that the same Spirit does not speak today in the church about matters that are of significant concern?”
We humbly ask those same questions.
Continuing revelation does not demean or discredit existing revelation. The Old Testament does not lose its value in our eyes when we are introduced to the New Testament, and the New Testament is only enhanced when we read the Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ. In considering the additional scripture accepted by Latter-day Saints, we might ask: Were those early Christians who for decades had access only to the primitive Gospel of Mark (generally considered the first of the New Testament Gospels to be written)—were they offended to receive the more detailed accounts set forth later by Matthew and Luke, to say nothing of the unprecedented passages and revelatory emphasis offered later yet by John? Surely they must have rejoiced that ever more convincing evidence of the divinity of Christ kept coming. And so do we rejoice.
(Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, "My Words... Never Cease", April 2008 General Conference)
The Book of Mormon stands as a second witness alongside the Bible of the divinity of Christ. It does not supplant the teachings of the Old and New Testaments-- to the contrary, it compliments, clarifies, and confirms them:
Wherefore, redemption cometh in and through the Holy Messiah; for he is full of grace and truth.
Behold, he offereth himself a sacrifice for sin, to answer the ends of the law, unto all those who have a broken heart and a contrite spirit; and unto none else can the ends of the law be answered.
Wherefore, how great the importance to make these things known unto the inhabitants of the earth, that they may know that there is no flesh that can dwell in the presence of God, save it be through the merits, and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah, who layeth down his life according to the flesh, and taketh it again by the power of the Spirit, that he may bring to pass the resurrection of the dead, being the first that should rise.
(2 Ne. 2:6-9)
I stand all amazed at the love Jesus offers me.
He is my Rock, my Foundation, my God.
I love him with all of my heart.
And though I walk imperfectly in this life, I do my utmost each day to follow Him.
I am a Christian.
• • •
If your curiosity is piqued, and you would like to have a free copy of the Book of Mormon of your own, without any expectations or strings attached, please let me know and I will personally mail a copy to you.
(Of course, if you want to have a couple of cute 19-year-olds hand deliver it to your door and answer any questions you may have, I am happy to arrange that too! But that isn't necessary.)
You can leave me a comment, message me on Facebook or email me at tiffanatee(at)gmail(dot)com, and I would be sincerely thrilled to do that for you.
To learn more about the Book of Mormon, please visit this website.
This post is part of a series hosted by the Book of Mormon Forum!
I totally agree with your well thought out comments. I can't understand why anyone would not think we are Christian when our church is so centered on Christ Himself. A visit to most LDS visitor centers have the Cristus on display. We talk of Christ and His atonement at every meeting. Every prayer uttered in public and in private by Mormons is done so in the name of Christ. So how are we not Christians when we so obviously teach, praise, honor, and evoke Christ in all that we do? To claim that we are not Christian is to know nothing about us at all.
ReplyDeleteIt is out of ignorance, plain and simple that people say we are anything but Christian. Even Wikipedia (hey, it's on the internet so it must be true) lists us under Restorative Christian churches.
I find it interesting that this Pastor belongs to a church (more like a group of individual churches called conventions) that have not yet agreed among themselves what exactly they believe. Even which translation of the Bible they use and what it means is up for dispute and each Pastor's interpretation.
Even more interesting is that the LDS and Baptist faiths share the believe of baptism by immersion and that it represents the life, death, and resurrection of Christ. LDS members further believe that we take upon ourselves the name of Christ. The one difference between our faiths concerning baptism is that the LDS believe that being baptized and taking on the name of Christ is a mandatory saving ordinance while most Baptists do not. Who seems more Christian to you?
Many sects that claim Christianity have a hard time even explaining who Christ is or what he is like. Ask any LDS member and the answer is quickly given based on the Bible and other modern day revealed truths. Our first Prophet gives a description of Christ as a result of the First Vision. Thus we see that the LDS have had a firm testimony of Christ from day one.
So call us what you will but our believe is in Christ and the marvelous truths he taught and the wondrous miracle of the Atonement. My believe is in Christ and I love Him. And yes I'm a Mormon.
Really really wonderful, well-thoughtout and well-stated. Love this post! I'm going to share it on my FB page.
ReplyDeleteAs always, a very well written heartfelt post. I love reading your blog. I am going to share this with friends on FB.
ReplyDeleteThanks, everyone! Your kind words really mean a lot to me! ♥
ReplyDeleteI love CS Lewis, he's a wonderful writer, and his thoughts on Christianity are often so profound.
ReplyDeleteThis was a great post. I love that C.S Lewis quote. It is so true.
ReplyDeleteYou are doing a great job, Tiffany, sharing your testimony. I reread Elder Clayton's talk from GC tonight (next week's Meditation Mondays post)--I was reminded of the importance of rooting our testimonies and teachings in Jesus Christ. I think your post is why--if we constantly testify that Christ is our Savior, that we are saved even by grace even after all we can do, perhaps then we can begin to become the light on the hill that He needs us to be.
ReplyDeleteWonderful post. I've been thinking a lot about "Mere Christianity" too, and Lewis' thoughts on the definition of the word "Christian." I think any time you combine C.S. Lewis and Elder Holland, you've got a pretty strong argument! ;)
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