Posted on 07/05/2007 3:00:33 AM PDT by Gamecock
The following draws from the book Is the Mormon My Brother by apologist James White. Earlier this year, Paul Kaiser reprinted a Worldview article titled 10 Mormonism Facts which generated a myriad of responses from visitors who stated that Mormons were being misrepresented and are simply our brothers & sisters in the Body of Christ. Let’s look at what Dr. White presents using LDS resources:
The First Vision
Without question the key revelation in Mormon Scripture regarding the nature of God is to be found in what is known as the First Vision of Joseph Smith. The vision itself is fundamental to all of LDS theology. Mormon Apostle Bruce R. McConkie described the vision:
That glorious theophany which took place in the spring of 1820 and which marked the opening of the dispensation of the fullness of times is called the First Vision. It is rated as first both from the standpoint of time and of pre-eminent importance. In it Joseph Smith saw and conversed with the Father and the Son, both of which exalted personages were personally present before him as he lay enwrapped in the Spirit and overshadowed by the Holy Ghost.
This transcendent vision was the beginning of latter day revelation; it marked the opening of the heavens after the long night of apostate darkness; with it was ushered in the great era of restoration, the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began. (Acts 3:21.) Through it the creeds of Christendom were shattered to smithereens, and because of it the truth about those Beings whom it is life eternal to know began again to be taught among men. (John 17:3.) With this vision came the call of that Prophet who, save Jesus only, was destined to do more for the salvation of men in this world, than any other man that ever lived in it. (D. & C. 135:3.) This vision was the most important event that had taken place in all world history from the day of Christ’s ministry to the glorious hour when it occurred.(1)
And Mormon Prophet Ezra Taft Benson said,
Joseph Smith, a prophet of God, restored the knowledge of God. Joseph’s first vision clearly revealed that the Father and Son are separate personages, having bodies as tangible as mans. Later it was also revealed that the Holy Ghost is a personage of Spirit, separate and distinct from the personalities of the Father and the Son. (See D&C 130:22.) This all-important truth shocked the world even though sustained by the Bible. (2)
How is it that the creeds of Christendom were shattered to smithereens and the knowledge of God was restored by this one vision? While the story is as familiar to Mormons as John 3:16 is to Christians, we present Joseph Smith’s own recounting of the story in full, taken from the LDS Scriptures (and hence carrying canonical authority). However, we note that the account that appears in the LDS Scriptures was written in 1838, eighteen years after the events described:
14 So, in accordance with this, my determination to ask of God, I retired to the woods to make the attempt. It was on the morning of a beautiful, clear day, early in the spring of eighteen hundred and twenty. It was the first time in my life that I had made such an attempt, for amidst all my anxieties I had never as yet made the attempt to pray vocally.
15 After I had retired to the place where I had previously designed to go, having looked around me, and finding myself alone, I kneeled down and began to offer up the desires of my heart to God. I had scarcely done so, when immediately I was seized upon bysome power which entirely overcame me, and had such an astonishing influence over me as to bind my tongue so that I could not speak. Thick darkness gathered around me, and it seemed to me for a time as if I were doomed to sudden destruction.
16 But, exerting all my powers to call upon God to deliver me out of the power of this enemy which had seized upon me, and at the very moment when I was ready to sink into despair and abandon myself to destruction—not to an imaginary ruin, but to the power of some actual being from the unseen world, who had such marvelous power as I had never before felt in any being just at this moment of great alarm, I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me.
17 It no sooner appeared than I found myself delivered from the enemy which held me bound. When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!
18 My object in going to inquire of the Lord was to know which of all the sects was right, that I might know which to join. No sooner, therefore, did I get possession of myself, so as to be able to speak, than I asked the Personages who stood above me in the light, which of all the sects was right (for at this time it had never entered into my heart that all were wrong)–and which I should join.
19 I was answered that I must join none of them, for they were all wrong;(3) and the Personage who addressed me said that all their creeds were an abomination in his sight; that those professors were all corrupt; that: they draw near to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me, they teach for doctrines the commandments of men, having a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof.
20 He again forbade me to join with any of them; and many other things did he say unto me, which I cannot write at this time. When I came to myself again, I found myself lying on my back, looking up into heaven. When the light had departed, I had no strength; but soon recovering in some degree, I went home. And as I leaned up to the fireplace, mother inquired what the matter was. I replied, Never mind, all is well I am well enough off. I then said to my mother, I have learned for myself that Presbyterianism is not true. It seems as though the adversary was aware, at a very early period of my life, that I was destined to prove a disturber and an annoyer of his kingdom; else why should the powers of darkness combine against me? Why the opposition and persecution that arose against me, almost in my infancy? (Joseph Smith History 1:14-20).
What does this vision, recorded in LDS Scripture, teach concerning God? First and foremost, it presents to us the concept of a plurality of gods. This arises from the fact that God the Father is a separate and distinct physical entity from Jesus Christ, His Son. God the Father is possessed of a physical body, as is the Son. This is why McConkie can claim the creeds of Christendom were smashed to smithereens, for the vision has always been interpreted by the LDS leadership to teach that God the Father is a separate and distinct person and being from the Son. The unity of Being that is central to Christian theology is completely denied by Joseph Smith in the First Vision. Hence, you have one God, the Father, directing Smith to another God, the Son.
While it is not our intention to critique these teachings at this point, it should be noted that there are a number of problems with the First Vision, and with the entire development of the LDS concept of God as well. As we noted, this version of the First Vision was not written until 1838. Previous versions, however, differed in substantial details from this final and official account. Most significantly, the presence of both the Father and the Son as separate and distinct gods is not a part of the earlier accounts.(4)
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(1) Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine,2nd ed., rev. (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1966), pp. 284-285, LDSCL.
(2) Ezra Taft Benson, Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1988), p. 4, LDSCL. On page 101 of the same book, we read this strong statement:
The first vision of the Prophet Joseph Smith is bedrock theology to the Church. The adversary knows this and has attacked Joseph Smith’s credibility from the day he announced the visitation of the Father and the Son. You should always bear testimony to thetruth of the First Vision. Joseph Smith did see the Father and the Son. They conversed with him as he said they did. Any leader who, without reservation, cannot declare his testimony that God and Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph Smith can never be a true leader, a true shepherd. If we do not accept this truth if we have not received a witness about this great revelationwe cannot inspire faith in those whom we lead.
(3) One of Mormonism’s leading scholars, James Talmage (and a General Authority), said the following in the General Conference of April, 1920:
This Church, therefore, from its beginning, has been unique, for the organization of the Church was forecasted in this declaration that at the time of Joseph Smiths first vision there was no Church of Jesus Christ upon the earth; and I do not see why people should take issue with us for making that statement (CR1920Apr:103).
(4) I noted a number of the historical problems with Mormonism in Letters to a Mormon Elder, pp. 88-106. For a fuller treatment of this issue, see H. Michael Marquardt and Wesley P. Walters, Inventing Mormonism (Salt Lake: Smith Research Associates, 1994), pp.1-41, and Jerald and Sandra Tanner, Mormonism: Shadow or Reality? (Salt Lake City: Utah Lighthouse Ministry, 1982), pp. 143-162.
City folks!! (Hey! I am too.)
I'd read a story by the MOAB search & rescue folks who told about a couple who lost their canoe in the CO river and waited a couple of days for rescue.
The girl was delirious and the guy DEAD when help showed up. They would NOT drink the CO river water for fear of GYARDIA! (sp?)
Now, THAT'S funny! I don't care who you are!
Hey! I got maps like that!
Sometimes I feel like a nut!
See post 844. It wouldn’t be accurate, would it?
Oh No, Not Q!!! Didn’t he get zapped in the end?
I think you are anti-Christian, just as you think I am anti-Mormon, and so I will be calling you that. But only you CUH it will be special for you. Let’s see how you like it.
Very pretty!...one of yours, I presume?
Check out THIS ‘dark’ area: Black Mesa State Park.
It’s the highest point and the farthest west you can get in OK.
And, watch out for the snacks!!
Oh yeah; you can be in three places at once! Like GOD in time, I guess.
Maybe not, but you CAN legislate legality!
She’s my DIL. She’s very pretty, I love her! My son is one blessed guy. She just graduated from UofU. God has blessed me in so many ways. I don’t deserve any of it.
If Anti-Mormon is correct then Anti-Othrodox Christian would be correct. To shorten it to anti-Christian or anti-Christ would be disingenuous and only used to further your own opinion.
For example could I call you anti-patriot because you opposed the P.a.t.r.i.o.t bill?
So to call a Mormon an anti-Christ is bad form. They have repeatedly stated they are not against Christ, just against your interpretation.
Ummm...are those popcorn snacks?
I have no regrets for those the Cross has offended!
Well, I don’t think anti-mormon is “correct”! And CC doesn’t either. Wanna call THAT bad form?
But... who would know it BETTER than someone who's found their way out of the maze?
That particular thought experiment is called “Pascal’s Wager.”
It goes something like this: “What are the consequences if you are right and I am wrong; and what are the consequences if I am right and you are wrong?”
If we limit the gedankenexperiment using standard caveats to only apply to a contrast between Mormonism and other forms of Christianity (milieu to only Christianity, assume the traditional definition of God is correct [omnipotent, omnibenevolent, rewards honest seekers, punishes the evil and those with feigned faith], God rewards the members who believe and follow their church’s teachings); we arrive at the following:
1) If Mormonism is true, righteous adherents are exalted in the Celestial Kingdom (become gods by grace). Righteous non-Mormon Christians go to heaven in the Terrestial Kingdom.
2A) If Mormonism is false, righteous Mormons go to hell for all eternity. Righteous non-Mormon Christians who belong to the true church go to heaven.
2B) If Mormonism is false, righteous Mormons go to HEAVEN for all eternity TOGETHER WITH righteous non-Mormon Christians BECAUSE what is important is a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, where one accepts him as Lord and Savior, not membership in a particular church.
Thus, anti-Mormons need to be careful with their own theology since they CANNOT consistently claim a personal relationship with Christ is all that’s needed for salvation and not membership in a particular church if they say with the same breath membership in the LDS church automatically sends people to hell.
That is illogical. Both Mormons and other Christians worship and think of the same person when considering Jesus Christ. We both think of the person born of the Virgin Mary in Bethlehem 2000 years ago who took upon himself the sins of the world and died so we may live. We both think of him as the Only Begotten Son of God and of being God incarnate. Thus, if a personal relationship with Christ is all that’s needed for salvation; Mormons are then saved since we ALL have that relationship. Christ is the center of our lives and being.
Consequently, 1) if Mormonism is true, the righteous non-Mormon Christian will receive eternal bliss in the Terrestial Kingdom (the conventional imagery of what heaven looks like) while the righteous Mormon becomes a God by Grace, in perfect union with the Godhead.
2A) If Mormonism is false and membership in the true church is necessary for salvation (like what the Roman Catholic church taught for centuries); Mormons are then going to hell.
2B) If Mormonism is false and membership in the true church is NOT necessary for salvation, only a personal relationship with Christ (like what nearly all Protestants teach); Mormons are then going to heaven together with the other righteous Christians.
Which side has the greatest chance of being correct? Of course I believe #1 since it takes into consideration the fact there are different kinds of people in the world, the vast majority of whom lived and died without ever hearing about Christ.
You would rightly call me anti-mormonISM, without the shortening right? Because my Mother, brother,husband and inlaws are Mormon and I am not opposed to THEM, but only their religion. Then by TM’s definition you must call me anti-mormonism.
Isn’t that right Truth Miner?
Your definition of the Telestial Kingdom in which Christians would find themselves eternally separated from God and Jesus would be a definition of Christian Hell and Jewish Gehanna.
On that basis alone, your argument fails.
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