I am so thankful that you wrote to me and I will do my best to help you in this difficult time. First, I want to say that what you have done and are doing takes courage and demonstrates exceptional character on your part. You have been through a lot. It also takes courage to examine one’s faith to determine if it is based on truth and reality.
You are right to feel hesitant about allowing your daughter to be baptized into Mormonism. It is important that you don’t let ward members push you into doing that. There are a couple reasons;
1) If Mormonism is not true (which is a conclusion that many have come to based on the evidence, but that is something you will have to learn for yourself), at best you will be putting her through a meaningless ritual, at worst, it could result in spiritual bondage to a false belief system.
2) Baptism is symbolic of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is also public confession of faith in the Son of God, demonstrating outwardly what one has experienced inwardly; namely, that the person has received Jesus as her/his personal Savior is has trusted Him for her/his salvation. The Mormon Church requires and expects baptism at age 8 from its members as a “rite of passage.” In LDS theology it is the doorway to the celestial Kingdom. That is non-Biblical. Although rituals do not save us, baptism as a public demonstration of one’s faith is both important and appropriate. Does your daughter at this time understand the significance of baptism and why it is a demonstration of faith?
You spoke wisely when you wrote “if we truly can’t be saved in ignorance, then I need to know.” It sounds like you are a truth-seeker---that the love of truth is in you. That is a precious thing. Like I realized as I began questioning Mormonism, my eternal destiny and that of my children hung in the balance. I was loyal to truth, not to an organization.
I am encouraged that you believe in Christ, although it is of utmost importance that you are trusting in the right Christ, for there is no salvation in false christs or false gospels. I took the liberty of having a friend of mine send you a wonderful tape set on John’s gospel. It doesn’t cost anything, so don’t worry about that. When I left Mormonism I, understood that I’d been taught the wrong things concerning God and Who He is. These study tapes, along with reading the New Testament, helped me immensely as I began trying to piece together what exactly the truth was.
You said that you’ve been to several web sites, one of which was www.hismin.com . I suggest you write to Rauni (rhymes with brownie) Higley at that web site. She helped me so much in my search for truth. Her and her husband’s personal library is full of LDS books, both old and new. She is a good resource for seeing first-hand the many doctrinal changes and contradictions the LDS Church has gone through over the years. She also helped me understand the real gospel (a message about a Person) and why knowing God of the Bible had eternal implications. I sometimes say, seriously but lovingly, that Rauni literally scared the “hell” out me! Gladly enough, I now have the personal assurance that I am heaven-bound. I encourage you to write her... for assistance in your search for truth.
A couple other excellent sites are www.irr.org/mit and www.utlm.org Of course, there are others as well, but the three I mentioned are good places to start and will give you a wealth of information on which to make a decision. I strongly encourage you to begin reading the New Testament. My recommendation is that you ditch the King James and get an Amplified Bible. The amplified version gives the full meaning of the Hebrew and Greek text so as to aid in your understanding of scripture.
There is nothing wrong with the King James, but I would set it aside for now because all the LDS interpretations will come to mind as you study and the archaic language will hinder you from understanding the richness of the text that is more easily understood in modern English. Start with the gospel of John, then Romans, and Colossians. This will give you a foundation of knowing what the Bible reveals about God and what exactly the gospel is. What the gospel is NOT is a set of rules, regulations, and rituals to follow.
I can understand your cynicism of paid ministries, especially given the LDS conditioning that paid ministers are evil at worst and misguided at best. Remember, the church that lied to you about its doctrines and history, lied to you about Christianity and Christian leadership. Unfortunately, there have been too many “televangelists” and others in the Christian Church who have fleeced the flock, so to speak. Just realize that those kinds of people constitute a very small percentage of Christian leadership. Consider that there are thousands and thousands of pastors and ministers of all Christian denominations across North America who are honest and upright in their dealings and teaching.
Let’s take a look at the LDS ministry. It is only the “lay ministry”---those individuals “called” to serve on the ward and stake levels---who are unpaid. General Authorities get a living expense, the “apostles” get an annual income from the coffers of the church, and President Hinckley (as well as prior church presidents) currently lives in a 4.5 million dollar condo in down-town Salt Lake City. It was formerly a large suite on the top floor of the Hotel Utah. Hotel Utah was demolished, I think, a few years back and the living quarters for the LDS prophets were moved to the top floor of some other prestigious building down-town. The Church teaches its members to disdain and not trust a paid clergy, yet its own hierarchy receives a generous yearly income. This income is NOT from “book sales” when a GA authors one.
LDS Institute teachers are paid. Seminary teachers receive a small income. CES (Church Education System) speakers get paid travel expenses. There is nothing wrong with that in itself. It’s wrong for the LDS Church to promote itself as a selfless, unpaid, organization based on volunteerism, when in fact, it is not. If you went through the temple prior to 1990 (as I did) there was a scathing portrayal of a Christian minister being a hireling of Satan. That was just another technique used by the Mormon Church to keep members from trusting Christianity.
In Old Testament times the Levites were supported by the other tribes of Israel so that they could carry out their ministerial duties. This was God’s directive that their sustenance should be provided for. In the New Testament Paul
"insisted that those who labor spiritually should be supported materially by those with whom they work. He pointed to five familiar examples to support his position [see 1 Corinthians 9:7-13]:
"· Roman soldiers drew pay for their services
"· Vintners enjoyed the fruits of their vineyards
"· Shepherds received foods from their flocks
"· The Old Testament Law affirmed the right of laborers to receive fair compensation
"· The Law also allowed temple priests and attendants to live off of the sacrifices that the people brought
"Paul also explained that the Lord Himself allowed those who preach the gospel to make their living from that occupation. Elsewhere the apostle wrote that church elders who rule well are worthy of “double honor” (1 Timothy 5:17-18). The context shows that Paul had payment in mind. In short, effective vocational Christian workers should be paid fairly for their labor.” (“What Does the Bible Say About…” 2001, Thomas Nelson Publishers, page 265)
Pastors are accountable to their congregations, and any honest ministry makes its books available for the asking. Many churches publish a year-end break-down of where all the tithes and offerings have gone---something the LDS Church refuses to do.
You related to me how shocked and surprised you were when taking out your endowments last year. The ceremony you witnessed is the least offensive of the temple ceremonies which have evolved dramatically over the years. When I went through the temple in 1981, the endowment ceremony was different than it is now. I remember the changes that took place in 1990 very well, as I had attended the temple fairly regularly over my years in the church. Prior to the changes of 1990, patrons would have to lift their hands “to the square” and take an oath to not reveal the signs and tokens. We would have to place our right thumb under our left ear and quickly draw it across our throats at the appropriate time while saying out loud, “I covenant not to reveal the first token of the Aaronic priesthood with all its signs and penalties. Rather than do so, I would suffer my life to be taken.” The portrayals of the “penalties” got more graphic throughout the endowment; such as feigning the slashing open of our bowels to have our intestines gush out should we reveal what went on in the temple to anyone.
It is my understanding that in a previous generation, such as the endowment of the 1930’s era, temple patrons actually said the words aloud, like, “I would suffer my throat to be slashed from ear to ear and my tongue torn out by its roots…” Does that sound like something the Real God would require of His children? John 18:20 tells us, “‘I have spoken openly to the world,’ Jesus replied, I always taught at synagogues or at the temple, where all the Jews come together. I said nothing in secret.’”
If you look in a Bible concordance (such as Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance) at all the times the word secret has been used in the Bible, you find a pattern of God REVEALING secrets, not requiring people to MAKE secret oaths.
I encourage you to not give up hope, because Truth DOES exist. It exists in the Person of Jesus Christ. I highly recommend the book “The Case for Christ” by Lee Strobel. He shows us by fact, logic, and other infallible truths that Jesus IS the Messiah and that the Bible can be trusted. The author was an investigative reporter for the Chicago tribune and an atheist. His wife of ten years became a Christian. He set out to prove her wrong and came out of his investigation a true believer! The book is an excellent resource.
Please keep in touch! My prayers are with you! Remember, I am only a mouse-click away and I will continue to help you as much as I can.
God bless,
Tracy
