LDS Church Paints Itself into a Corner
by Tracy Tennant
Imagine the following scenarios;
Scenario 1: A neighbor approaches you and asks if you and your spouse are Christians. You reply, “We prefer not to be called Christians; that’s just a nickname. We prefer to be known as born-again members of the church of the firstborn disciples of the living Lord Jesus Christ.”
Scenario 2: You overhear a Jewish co-worker telling a joke in the break room; “What do you call a sleepwalking nun? ...A Roman Catholic! (Roamin’ Catholic) ha ha ha!” You tell him he is being mean-spirited, even though you told the same joke to your friends after Mass the previous Sunday.
Scenario 3: You’re doing some street-evangelism with a group from your church. A Buddhist comes up and asks, “Doesn’t your religion teach that if I don’t receive Jesus as my personal Savior I’m going to hell?” You immediately become offended, accuse him of attacking your faith, and call him a bigot.
Scenario 4: You’re taking a philosophy class at the college. A fellow student who is an atheist and knows you’re a Christian asks, “So you really believe that the earth is only about 6,000 years old and that Noah built an ark before a world-wide flood?” You respond with an emotional outcry, “Why are you persecuting me?”
Ridiculous? Of course! We love being identified as Christians, and those whose heritage is within a denomination are proud to state they are Lutheran, Wesleyan, or Baptist. We’re reasonable people who enjoy good-natured humor, regardless of whether it is coming out of the mouth of a churchgoer or a partygoer. Most Christians welcome questions about their faith and regard it as a great opportunity to share the gospel of Christ. It doesn’t matter if the person asking is friend or foe, sincere or mocking, fellow believer or not, because to talk of our great Lord and Savior and to boast in the Cross is what we live for, and in some parts of the world, die for.
As absurd as the above scenarios are, there are actually people who respond to questions about their faith in similar fashion. They are called Mormons. Of course, not all Mormons are irrational and unreasonable, but a great many do seem to become so when asked about their religion. Take a recent event for example, when Governor Mike Huckabee, a Baptist, asked Governor Mitt Romney, a Mormon, "Don't Mormons believe that Jesus and the devil are brothers?" A reasonable person would assume Romney would give a simple answer, such as “yes” or “no,” or even “I’m not sure.” But reason flies out the window when it comes to Mormonism. For an organization that claims to be the Only True Church on the face of the earth, it’s awfully vague about its doctrines. Okay, well, Romney is a politician and one could expect a politician to be non-committal. But a Church that won’t commit to its established doctrines is a little suspect. After insinuating that people who ask these kinds of questions have dastardly motives, Kim Farah, a spokeswoman for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints gave the following response;
"We believe, as other Christians believe and as Paul wrote, that God is the father of all. That means that all beings were created by God and are his spirit children. Christ, on the other hand, was the only begotten in the flesh and we worship him as the son of God and the savior of mankind. Satan is the exact opposite of who Christ is and what he stands for.”
Much verbiage, but little substance in regard to the question asked. What she fails to reveal is that according to official LDS doctrine, Satan and Jesus are indeed spirit brothers; not in a general sense, but in a familial sense. They both were born as spirit babies to a heavenly Father and Mother, along with the rest of the human race, thus, in Mormon belief, we are all literally siblings. In Gospel Principles, an official Sunday School publication of the Church, under the heading of, “Jesus, Our Chosen leader and Savior,” it says,
When the plan for our salvation was presented to us in the spirit world, we were so happy that we shouted for joy… We understood that we would have to leave our heavenly home for a time. We would not live in the presence of our heavenly parents. While we were away from them, all of us would sin and some of us would lose our way… We needed a Savior to pay for our sins and teach us how to return to our Heavenly Father. Our Father said, “Whom shall I send?” Two of our brothers offered to help. Our oldest brother, Jesus Christ, who was then called Jehovah, said, “Here am I, send me”…
Satan, who was called Lucifer, also came, saying, “Behold, here am I, send me, I will be thy son, and I will redeem all mankind, that one soul shall not be lost, and surely I will do it; wherefore give me thine honor.” …After hearing both sons speak, Heavenly Father said, “I will send the first.” (Emphasis mine)
And this;
God is not only our ruler and creator; he is also our Heavenly Father. “All men and women are … literally the sons and daughters of Deity. … Man, as a spirit, was begotten and born of heavenly parents, and reared to maturity in the eternal mansions of the Father, prior to coming upon the earth in a temporal [physical] body” (Joseph F. Smith, “The Origin of Man,” Improvement Era, Nov. 1909, pp. 78, 80).
Every person who was ever born on earth was our spirit brother or sister in heaven. The first spirit born to our heavenly parents was Jesus Christ (see D&C 93:21), so he is literally our elder brother (see Discourses of Brigham Young, p. 26). (Emphasis mine)
And finally, an excerpt from a children’s Sunday School manual;
Display the picture of Jesus Christ and tell the story of Jesus’ volunteering to be our Savior…Help the children understand the following ideas:
1. In the premortal life we were spirit children and lived with our heavenly parents...
2. Jesus was the firstborn spirit child of Heavenly Father (D&C 93:21) and is the older brother of our spirits.
3. Lucifer, who became Satan, was also a spirit child of Heavenly Father.
4. Heavenly Father called a meeting for all his spirit children. At this meeting he explained his plan for us to become like him…
5. …Heavenly Father needed someone to be the Savior, to suffer for our sins, and to die for us so that we could be resurrected.
6. Lucifer wanted Heavenly Father to change his plan. Lucifer said he would save everyone…
7. Because he loved us (John 15:13), Jesus volunteered to be our Savior…
8. Heavenly Father chose Jesus to be our Savior. Lucifer was angry and rebelled against Heavenly Father (Revelation 12:7–9; Moses 4:3–4).
9. Heavenly Father’s spirit children had to decide whether to follow Jesus or Lucifer. (Lesson 2: Jesus Christ Volunteered to Be Our Savior,” Primary 7: New Testament,5 (Emphasis mine)
You really can’t get much clearer than that. I am not writing a theological treatise. This is not a debate on whether or not the doctrines of Mormonism are biblically sound. That is a topic for another discussion. This is not an attack on the LDS belief that we are all literal spirit siblings, including Jesus and Satan. This is just a simple plea for LDS people to be honest about their beliefs. I was a True Believing Mormon for 26 years and during that time I never had problem discussing my faith with non-members.
With that in mind, since Mitt Romney and the Mormon Church refuse to answer an honest question, I’ll answer it. Yes, Mr. Huckabee, Mormons do believe Jesus and the devil are brothers, albeit as spirits. This question---and any other question about Mormon doctrine---deserves forthright answers. What is the problem with that? The answers are either yes or no. Either the Church teaches something or it doesn’t. Either something is doctrine or it is not. Either someone believes something or he does not. This is not rocket science. The major dilemma facing the Mormon Church stems from having “painted itself into a corner.” If the Church admits it really holds to certain doctrines, it potentially alienates prospective members who may find some of the teachings disturbing, thus resulting in fewer converts. If the Church denies that it teaches those doctrines, it could potentially lose faithful members who know the leadership is lying and become disillusioned. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has an extremely well-oiled and shrewd public relations department. Let me illustrate with this example.
Suppose a woman has reason to suspect her fiancé is stepping out on her. She confronts him and asks point blank if the rumors are true. The fact is, they are true, but instead of admitting or denying it, he musters up the most indignant, hurt tone of voice he can and exclaims, “How could you even accuse me of such a thing? I just can’t believe you would ask that!” Immediately the bride-to-be feels guilty and apologizes, never to bring it up again while her fiancé continues to see other women behind her back. This clever man has effectively put a stop to further questioning by simply diverting attention away from the issue at hand.
Likewise, LDS leaders have effectively been able to dodge uncomfortable questions by accusing people of bigotry or anti-Mormonism for asking them! Well, if the Mormon Church were really the One True Church with the only priesthood authorized to dispense salvation, as it claims to be, then why should they hesitate to proclaim the very doctrines Mormon pioneers died defending? One would think that people claiming to have the true gospel would be shouting it from the roof-tops! It doesn’t matter whether those asking questions are sincere or not. Truth deserves to be told. From the biblical viewpoint, It is both the duty and the privilege of a Christian to give the gospel message whether it is received or not. Heaven forbid if evangelicals were like Mormons in regard to their doctrines. Can you imagine refusing to warn someone they are bound for hell if they reject Christ just because we thought the person smirked when he asked about it? If so, we are contributing to his damnation should he die without receiving Christ. The apostle Paul, in the midst of persecution exclaimed,
And many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold to speak the word without fear. The one preach Christ of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds: But the other of love, knowing that I am set for the defence of the gospel. What then? notwithstanding, every way, whether in pretence, or in truth, Christ is preached; and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice (Phil. 1:14-18).
May I make a suggestion to Mitt Romney and other Mormons who are offended when someone asks a question about your beliefs or teachings? If the doctrines of your Church make you so uncomfortable that you have to be vague about them, perhaps you should consider resigning your membership. If the teachings of your church and its leaders, past or present, are so disturbing that you can’t give a straight answer, then maybe it is time to reconsider Mormonism in light of the biblical gospel.
As for myself, “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation” (Romans 1:16).
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