General Conference, April 2013 Saturday Morning Review.

Hello all we have just had the weekend again where the Prophets and Apostles and other leaders within the Mormon Church bring teaching to the members in the movement. 

What we started doing last October and I think we have managed to do it again, is have a Christian watch each session of this and put some of their thoughts down. So starting from today we will hopefully be bringing up a review a day of the sessions in order of them happening. Some reviews will go through the whole session talk by talk, and some will just pull together some thoughts on the session as a whole. Which is more what I will be doing for this session. 

As ever please leave your thoughts and feel free to disagree with and challenge anything we say.

So the first talk of the session was from President Thomas S Monson, the current president of the LDS church opening with some remarks. As often happens he announced that two new temples were going to be opened. You could hear the gasps from the audience. I remember in October 2010 when I was at a session in the conference centre in Salt Lake City when Monson made a similar announcement. People were looking at each other in awe and amazement. For Mormons when they hear of new temples opening this is a sign of the Kingdom expanding, an opportunity for more members to be baptized for more people that have died. Joseph Smith said this:

“The greatest responsibility in this world that God has placed upon us is to seek after our dead” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 356).

It seems this still rings very true today. He also announced that there are now more than 65.000 Missionaries in active service, with plenty more to come since the age reduction for  teenagers to be able to go on a mission last year. Now males can go at 18 and females at 19. So expect to possibly see more missionaries wherever you are.

But anyway going back to the Joseph Smith quote, what really struck me in this whole session is two things. I will spend the rest of this review expanding on each one.

1, The Mormon Church has not backed off at all on its teachings about eternal progression.

2, That the Priesthood is the centre of Mormonism at the expense of the acknowledgement of the true greatness of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.

1, 

If you look at the older days of Mormon Conferences and teachings, you were left with no doubt that the Mormon Church teaches that God the Father was once a mortal man, and that we can become gods. This as mostly everyone knows is a key teaching of the Mormon Church.

5th President Lorenzo Snow
“We must advance through stages to godhood. As man now is, God once was—even the babe of Bethlehem, advancing to childhood—thence to boyhood, manhood, then to the Godhead. This, then, is the ‘mark of the prize of man’s high calling in Christ Jesus’” (The Teachings of Lorenzo Snow, p. 5. Italics in original).

“Now, we are not ashamed of the glorious doctrine of eternal progression, that man may attain the position of those to whom came the word of God, that is, gods” (Anthon H. Lund, Conference Reports, October 1902, p. 81).

Yet since those early bold statements we have seen a rise in those that seek to defend the authenticity and Christianity of the LDS Church try and back off from this, here is an example.

“The phrase ‘eternal progression’ is not found in the scriptures, nor do we find it in the sermons and writings of Joseph Smith. There are obvious difficulties in announcing as doctrine a concept that is without scriptural basis” (BYU Professor Emeritus Joseph Fielding McConkie, Answers: Straightforward Answers to Tough Gospel Questions, p. 112).

This is interesting as it seems to be a trend that Professors at BYU (Brigham Young University) are often trying to back off from the core teachings of the leaders of the Church, often in what seems to be an attempt to sound more Christian. Here is a quick video with Bill Mckeever from Mormonism Research Ministry talking about this.

So what I saw in this session was a few key hints that actually show that this teaching is very much alive in the Mormon Church.

In the talk given by Elaine S Dalton she started off by saying this:

Every week young women all over the world repeat the Young Women theme. No matter the language, each time I hear these words, “We are daughters of our Heavenly Father, who loves us, and we love Him,”¹ the Spirit affirms to my soul that they are true. It is not only an affirmation of our identity—who we are—but also an acknowledgment of whose we are. We are daughters of an exalted being!

We are daughters of an exalted being. Not the eternal most high God, but rather an exalted being. Because Heavenly Father went through His plan of salvation and was exalted.

Brigham Young 2nd Mormon President and Prophet said:

“It appears ridiculous to the world, under their darkened and erroneous traditions, that God has been once a finite being; and yet we are not in such close communion with him as many have supposed” (Brigham Young, October 8, 1859, Journal of Discourses 7:333).

Later in the session we heard from Henry B Eyring First Councillor to the President. Interestingly in the text for his opening words it says this:

I am grateful to be with you in this conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This is His Church. We take His name upon us as we enter His kingdom. He is God, the Creator, and perfect.

But if you listen to what he says, he says this:

I am grateful to be with you in this conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This is His Church. We take His name upon us as we enter His kingdom. He is a God, the Creator, and perfect.

What he said, rather than what was transcribed is very consistent with the teachings of Mormonism. Again Brigham Young said this:

“How many Gods there are, I do not know, But there never was a time when there were not Gods and worlds, and when men were not passing through the same ordeals that we are passing through. That course has been from all eternity, and it is and will be so to all eternity” (Brigham Young, October 8,1859, Journal of Discourses 7:333).

In Mormonism Heavenly Father is a god. One of many millions, billions, if not infinite gods. Its just that he is ours. Was Eyrings wording here an error or was he being more upfront with the Mormon view than the correlation department wanted him to be?

And finally on this point. Russell Ballard in his talk said this:

Brothers and sisters, as the literal spirit children of our loving Heavenly Father, we have unlimited, divine potential. But if we are not careful, we can become like the wilted tomato plant. We can drift away from the true doctrine and gospel of Christ and become spiritually undernourished and wilted, having removed ourselves from the divine light and living waters of the Savior’s eternal love and priesthood power.

We are the literal children of our Heavenly Mother and Father, and our potential is unlimited. Unlimited means what it says unlimited, this means that everything that God is, is open to us to have one day for ourselves. Unless unlimited means something else. This is classic Mormon teaching on eternal progression. As Lorenzo Snow said “As man now is God once was, as God is man may become.” Mormonism has not changed in this regard, we just do not get it spelt out  any more at general conference.

2,

When I listened to the Priesthood session I think in April last year and when I listened to this session it amazes me just how central this idea of Priesthood power is in Mormonism.

Here are a few quotes from Elder Russell Ballards talk. one of the 12 Apostles.

Brothers and sisters, the power by which the heavens and earth were and are created is the priesthood. Those of us who are members of the Church know that the source of this priesthood power is God Almighty and His Son, Jesus Christ. Not only is the priesthood the power by which the heavens and the earth were created, but it is also the power the Savior used in His mortal ministry to perform miracles, to bless and heal the sick, to bring the dead to life, and, as our Father’s Only Begotten Son, to endure the unbearable pain of Gethsemane and Calvary—thus fulfilling the laws of justice with mercy and providing an infinite Atonement and overcoming physical death through the Resurrection.

The power of the priesthood is a sacred and essential gift of God. It is different from priesthood authority, which is the authorization to act in God’s name. The authorization or ordination is given by the laying on of hands. The power of the priesthood comes only when those who exercise it are worthy and acting in accordance with God’s will. As President Spencer W. Kimball declared, “The Lord has given to all of us, as holders of the priesthood, certain of his authority, but we can only tap the powers of heaven on the basis of our personal righteousness” (“Boys Need Heroes Close By,” Ensign, May 1976, 45).

According to Joseph Smith, this applied to Jesus too.

“If a man gets a fulness of the priesthood of God, he has to get it in the same way that Jesus Christ obtained it, and that was by keeping all the commandments and obeying all the ordinances of the house of the Lord” (Joseph Smith, History of the Church 5:424).

Also Ballard Said:

It is by these keys, this authority, and this power that the Church of Jesus Christ is organized today, with Christ at the head directing His living prophet, Thomas S. Monson, and assisted by duly called and ordained Apostles.

So in the first quote Ballard said that this power comes from God Almighty and His Son. We see from Joseph Smith that actually the Son obtained it by His personal worthiness. However when you think about it there is a massive chance that the Father will have had to do this too. If he is an exalted being, that is a part of a system of salvation that has gods and worlds without end, then at some point down the line our Heavenly Father must have obtained His priesthood from His Heavenly Father. Consider this quote.

“There is no exaltation in the kingdom of God without the fulness of the priesthood. …Every man who is faithful and will receive these ordinances and blessings obtains a fulness of the priesthood, and the Lord has said that ‘he makes them equal in power, and in might, and in dominion’” (Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation 3:132. Ellipses mine).

This comes from the 10th Prophet of the Mormon Church. So if we saw in this first session that Our God is an exalted being and if we see here that exaltation comes from the Priesthood which comes from God. It seems to me that our Heavenly Father obtained His power from the receiving of this priesthood power from somewhere else. Some Mormons will agree with this thinking, some won’t, but I hope you can see where this is coming from.

At the great Commission Jesus said “All authority has been given to me therefore go.”

12th Mormon Prophet Spencer W Kimball said:

“Presumptuous and blasphemous are they who purport to baptize, bless, marry, or perform other sacraments in the name of the Lord while in fact lacking his specific authorization” (Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, p. 494).

Its clear that this will be talking about other Churches that do not hold this Priesthood that are being talked about here. Yet Jesus said All authority has been given to ME therefore go.

We see in Hebrews 1:3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

in John 11:43 here is how Jesus raises the dead.  When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.”

Jesus calms a storm, then here is the discussion after: And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” (Mark 4:41)

Didn’t Jesus and these guys get the memo, it was the Priesthood authority that Jesus earned that makes these things so isn’t it? And why is Jesus saying all authority is His therefore go? Shouldn’t he be saying “The Melchizedek priesthood has been given to you therefore go, and make sure you stay worthy!”

He didn’t, for good reason. As the Biblical God does not have some handed down authority, that He in turn hands down. John 5:26 says: ²⁶ For just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself; The Father did not get created by His Father God like we did by ours, rather He exists by necessity of His own nature, of being the only true God.

The real God speaks by the word of His power, creates by the word of His power, and heals by the word of His power. There are no priesthood blessings in the New Testament, but rather Healing and Miracles done in the Name of Jesus. 

What does this mean for the Christian Church? It means that if you are in Christ, then you have all of the authority you need to Baptize, preach the gospel, raise the dead, heal the sick not because you have authority, but because He has authority and He has told you to go, and do these things.

Teachings of the prophet Lorenzo Snow, Chapter 6, Becoming Perfect

In this chapter of Lorenzo Snow we come to a favourite theme, how Mormons are to become perfect. At first it is a rather helpful and encouraging message designed to spur readers on to persevere.

The first two pages are taken up by a heart-warming account of his encouraging a group of young elders (now there’s an oxymoron) to persevere in their public speaking and other endeavours by telling of his own first nerve-jangling experiences in this area.

Telling them they had opportunities to become great he urged them to learn from his example. A good positive thinking message, one that colours every page of this chapter.

Scripture Twisting

It is the application that is troubling for Christians because Snow wants readers to understand that it is by means of this striving to improve they can, indeed must become perfect. This is a deep-rooted theme in Mormon thinking.

As you might expect, the idea of self-perfection is rooted in a selective use of Scripture that is twisted from its original intent to serve a humanistic message of man becoming god. Bobby wrote about this in the previous post of this series. Snow puts it in these terms:

“Let this same mind be in you,” says the Apostle Paul, “which was also in Christ Jesus: who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God.” [See Philippians 2:5–6.] Now every man that has this object before him will purify himself as God is pure, and try to walk perfectly before him.

Having made Paul’s words here mean that we must aspire to godhood by striving for perfection he then decontextualizes another verse, this time from Matthew’s gospel, to insist we are commanded to make ourselves perfect:

“Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect” [Matthew 5:48]…

He makes it very clear that blessings are predicated on our obedience to this call to perfection:

“The Lord proposes to confer the highest blessings upon the Latter-day Saints; but, like Abraham, we must prepare ourselves for them, and to do this the same law that was given to him of the Lord has been given to us for our observance. We also are required to arrive at a state of perfection before the Lord;…”

A Christian might be forgiven for thinking he is talking here about justification and sanctification, the work of the Cross applied to the sinner and the work of the Spirit in the life of the sinner to make that person acceptable to God. This is as far from that idea as possible and we will discover that Snow’s definition of justification is quite different to how a Christian would understand it. His teaching chimes more with a Mormon text that predicates blessing on strict obedience:

“There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated—And when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated.” [Doctrine & Covenants 130:20-21]

Snow uses the example of Abraham to teach us this principle of “perfecting ourselves.”

“And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me and be thou perfect.” [Genesis 17:1]

So the argument goes:

1. Abraham was commanded to be perfect [Genesis 17:1]
2. We are commanded to be perfect [Mt.5:48]
3. All blessings are predicated on law, obedience being a prerequisite [D&C 130:20-21]
4. The highest blessings fall on the most obedient [teachings of Lorenzo Snow]

Abraham

What is made of Abraham’s example? Snow explains,

“When the Lord made this requirement of Abraham (to be perfect), He gave him the means by which he could become qualified to obey that law and come up fully to the requirement. He had the privilege of the Holy Spirit, as we are told the gospel was preached to Abraham, and through that gospel he could obtain that divine aid which would enable him to understand the things of God, and without it no man could do so; without it no man could arrive at a state of perfection before the Lord.” [pp 95/6]

For a moment it sounds like a Christian message, one in which God qualifies us for heaven. But it quickly becomes clear that what qualifies Abraham is the revelation of God’s requirements, “that divine aid which would enable him to understand the things of God, and without it no man could do so; without it no man could arrive at a state of perfection before the Lord.”

Later Snow asks where Abraham obtained a state of mind that urged him on to obedience to God. Not from his pagan parents, he insists; he acquired it from God [p.113]. It is here that Snow invents a new definition for the biblical word justification:

“And while [Abraham] was leaving his father’s house, while he was subjecting himself to this trial he was doing that which his own conscience and the Spirit of God justified him in doing, and nobody could have done better, providing he was doing no wrong when he was performing this labor.”

In other words, Abraham obtained knowledge and understanding in the things of God and thereafter set his mind to obeying what he had learned. His justification was simply the knowledge that he was doing right. In the same way:

“The Lord designs to bring us up into the celestial kingdom. He has made known through direct revelation that we are His offspring, begotten in the eternal worlds, that we have come to this earth for the special purpose of preparing ourselves to receive a fulness (sic) of our Father’s glory when we shall return into His presence. Therefore, we must seek the ability to keep this law to sanctify our motives, desires, feelings and affections that they may be pure and holy and our will in all things be subservient to the will of God, and have no will of our own except to do the will of our Father. Such a man in his sphere is perfect, and commands the blessing of God in all that he does and wherever he goes.” [p.111]

The Mormon message, therefore, is that we are literally offspring of God come to earth to perfect ourselves by obedience to the laws and requirements revealed to us so we may return to God’s presence. On learning this we, like Abraham, achieve a state of mind that urges us to obedience. It is that knowledge and striving to obey that perfects us and qualifies us for heaven.

This chimes with another key Mormon teaching from Doctrine and Covenants:

“Whatever principle of intelligence we attain unto in this life, it will rise with us in the resurrection. And if a person gains more knowledge and intelligence in this life through his diligence and obedience than another, he will have so much the advantage in the world to come.” [D&C 130:18-19]

As we saw in the article How to Read the Ensign Magazine this is a picture of salvation not by acknowledging our sin and turning to the Saviour, a theology of the cross, but of finding the right path by acknowledging our ignorance, embracing and obeying the right doctrines; salvation by knowledge (gnosis) and works. This principle of intelligence explains why Mormonism is a bookish religion. We come to know, we strive to obey, we achieve our goal.

Mormon leaders have likened the plan of salvation to educational achievement, with elementary education happening in the local church, and the temple the equivalent of a University education. The most recent Ensign magazine has a quote from Mormon apostle Boyd K Packer on the inside front cover that reinforces this idea: “We are not obedient because we are blind, we are obedient because we can see.”

Justification and Sanctification

Among Christians it is popular to think of our redemption in two phases. Justification means we are declared righteous and acceptable before God by simply trusting in the finished work of Christ on the cross. Sanctification then means a progression, a growing in the things of God as the Spirit works in our daily lives making us more like Christ. Christians might be forgiven for confusing what this Mormon prophet is saying with this idea of Sanctification as a process, but nothing could be further from the truth. (There is a really helpful article on Sanctification in the latest Briefing magazine)

In the Bible to be justified is to be brought into right relationship with a person. It can be used both of man to man, and man to God. While man might have ample opportunity to put himself right with his fellows there is nothing man can do to put himself right with God. Ps.143:2 declares, Do not bring your servant into judgement, for no-one living is righteous before you.”

To those who think by their effort and diligence they can be right before God, God says, “I will expose your righteousness and your works, and they will not benefit you.” (Is.57:12) Isaiah cries out to God, “Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains would tremble before you,” and goes on to declare, “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are as filthy rags,” (Is.64:1&6)

Paul reminds us that, “no one will be declared righteous in [God’s] sight by observing the law, through the law we become conscious of sin.” (Ro.3:20) To those who realise their sinful plight Paul offers this hope, “through Jesus the forgiveness of sin is proclaimed to you. Through him everyone who believes is justified from everything you could not be justified from by the law of Moses.” Acts 13:39) And to the Galatians Paul wrote, “a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ.” (Gal.2:16)

Justification is a reconciliation between sinful man and a holy God, a putting right of that relationship, and this is an act of grace on God’s part in which we participate through faith (trust) in his Son (John 3:16) Because of this relationship a person is, “created in Christ Jesus for good works.” (Eph. 2:10)

Holiness – Now and Not Yet

To Sanctify means to be made sanctus or holy. In Scripture only God is holy (Ps.99) and if anything else is called holy it is a derived holiness, because of its relationship to God. The ark is holy (2 Chr.35:3) and the vessels (1 Kings 8:4) and those who minister those things (2 Chr.35:3) Sabbaths are holy (Ex.20:8,11) but their holiness is not intrinsic but derived. To be holy is to be set apart by God for service to him. This idea is going to be alien to a philosophy that insists man can become a god. If God is a man, as Snow teaches, his holiness must, by definition, have a derived holiness.

Man does not naturally possess the quality of holiness, we cannot work it up, nor can we achieve it, rather it is something that is conferred on those brought into right relationship with God, those who are justified.

In the New Testament the word Sanctification is used in two senses. In one sense it is already achieved, a fait accompli; in another it is yet to be achieved. But these two senses are not incompatible. Christ “loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy…” (Eph.5:26) Sanctification (holiness) has already been accomplished, imparted by Christ. Paul writes to Christians in Corinth, “you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” (1 Cor.6:11) In this sense the race is not yet to be run, but is already won.

On the other hand, sanctification is a goal to be achieved. The Corinthians are exhorted to “purify [themselves] from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.” (2 Cor7:1, c.f. 1 Thess.4:3; 2 Tim.2:21; Rom.6:19)

The proper understanding of sanctification, then, is that it is God alone who has un-derived holiness and all else that is holy is made holy (sanctified) by God. We do not achieve sanctification, rather, we are sanctified and are urged in Scripture to live out what we already are.

Thus Peter, reflecting back on Exodus 19:6, can write, “you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” (1 Pet.2:9). So Paul can refer to Christians in Corinth as, “sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy…” (1 Cor.1:2) Later he was able to assure them, “you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ…” (1 Cor.6:11, c.f. 1:30; Heb.10:10)

That is why we say sanctification is not so much an activity as a status. A difficulty we face in refuting some Mormon ideas is we can sound as if we are refuting obedience in the Christian life. Mormons will often quote James 2, pressing the biblical principle that “faith without works is dead.”

But Christians are obedient, self evidently so. However, the obedience of those who have been justified is not an activity designed to achieve what has already been accomplished by Jesus, rather it is an exercising of, a working out of what we have already become in Christ. So Paul was able to urge Christians to, “continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling,” – not to work for your salvation. (Philip.2:12) There is a “now and not yet” quality to the Christian life.

The idea, clearly, is that once we have laid hold of sanctification through faith in Christ it will issue in works and conduct that reflect our new status. Sanctification stands at the beginning of the Christian moral life, not at its end, and characterises the continuing Christian life. If we progress, we progress in sanctification, not towards it.

Imagine someone restored from physical death to life. That person would progress and grow in health not in order to become alive but because he is alive. In the same way those born again in Christ Jesus (John 3:3) have already entered into new life and progress in the good of the life they already have because of him.

Be Perfect?

So if God does not demand we perfect ourselves what are we to make of Abraham’s example, of Jesus’ clear command in Matthew 5:48 and John’s injunction that Christians should “purify themselves” [1 John 3:2-6]

John is not asserting sinless perfection but describing the believer’s life as characterised  not by sin but by doing what is right. He is building on what we have already seen the Scripture say of our working out in our lives what has already been done for us. John describes practically what this life looks like (see 1:8-10) but also recognises that in this process of working out our salvation we are not perfectly sinless (2:1) reminding us that God has made ample provision in Christ for the humble and repentant.

Let’s look again at Paul’s letter to Philippi:

“Let this same mind be in you,” says the Apostle Paul, “which was also in Christ Jesus: who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God.” [Philippians 2:5–6.]

Are Christians being urged here to perfection, to aspire to be gods? Are we to consider it not robbery to be equal with God? Look at the larger context:

“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.

Let this same mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus: who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.” [See Philippians 2:3–7.]

It is Christ here for whom it would not be robbery to be equal to God the Father, because he is God the Son (John 1:1-5, 14) The message is not that we should strive for godhood but since Christ, who is God, became a servant for our sake, we should be prepared to serve. It is an injunction to humility not exaltation.

Abraham had already proved less than whole-hearted in his devotion to God, as we see in the story of Hagar and Ishmael. In demanding Abraham be perfect God was insisting on his trusting wholeheartedly in him, to be blameless in the sense of giving all his energies to living in light of what God had done and promised to do. James helps us understand this when he writes of trials making us mature in our faith, “that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” (James,1:4) There is the application of the word translated “perfect.”

Jesus’ words in Matthew’s gospel are spoken in the context of our relationship with people around us. The scribes and Pharisees found myriad ways to dodge around the law, notably when one asked Jesus, “who is my neighbour?” (Lk 10:29) His injunction to be perfect is a call to be wholehearted in our obedience to the law of love, not seeking a get out clause at every turn. Jesus certainly knew that sinless perfection was not possible in this life, teaching us to pray, “forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us…” (Mt.6:12)

Good News

There is a can-do thrust to what Lorenzo Snow is teaching here that is the product of his age, time and culture. The gospel – good news – is not that you can do but that you can’t, but God has, in Christ, done it for you if you come in repentance and put your trust in the one who alone saves sinners. The status of the true Christian is no better described than in Jude’s doxology at the end of his brief but inspiring letter:

“To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy – to the only God our Saviour be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and evermore! Amen.”

May he keep you from falling and finally present you before the Father’s glorious presence without fault and with great joy because of your faith in him.

 

Mike Thomas was a Mormon for 14 years, became a Christian in 1986 and for many years worked with Reachout Trust speaking and writing about Mormonism. He still researches Mormonism and occasionally posts his thoughts on Mormon issues The Mormon Chapbook