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Chapter Four:
Is There a True Church?
If so, ...Which one?
This investigation is a look at modern day Christianity and where it came from.
There are too many
Christian religions out there, all of which are teaching conflicting doctrine,
to say that all are true.
After all, how could the true Jesus Christ be the author of conflicting
doctrine? From the beginning
of time, man’s most basic desire has been to know more about the God that
created him. The problem
is, when we decide we want to know more about Him, when we decide we want to
know which way to believe, suddenly we are faced with the same dilemma that
Joseph Smith was faced with. That being; which of the many beliefs do we believe
in? That is an extremely significant question. Like getting in the car and
heading to a distant destination, what good does it do to take the wrong road?
Even if the wrong road will get you close to where you want to be?
Because close isn’t good enough,
everyone of us
knows that if you want to reach your destination,
sooner or later, you have to get on the right road.
The same is true with religion. Many can get
you close, but only one can get you there. Surely if there is a true Jesus
Christ, there would have to be a true church. So the question remains, which one
is true? All Christian religions teach good Christian principles! But beyond the
good Christian principles, everyone of them are different! ...Why?
“Every process of nature is orderly. Chance, disorder, chaos are ruled out of
the physical universe. The phenomena of nature are products of law. In man’s
search for truth, no exception to this process has been found.”
John A. Widtsoe
That’s a statement we can all agree on, except when it comes to religion. The
Christian world, with
it’s multi-different religions and their multi-different teachings, openly
accept the idea of disorder
and chaos. To a non-Christian, the God of modern Christianity is a God who isn’t
sure what to teach
the people. Yet, He doesn’t appear that way to a Christian! We just accept all
the conflicting
doctrines, taught from the same God. Think about that for a minute and think
about this.
Christians world wide, want to believe ...that they can believe as they want!
...Does that really make sense to you?
We have a friend whose name is Connie. When she was twelve years old, her family
lived in Amarillo,
Texas. One Sunday, their Pastor was calling the congregation to repentance. He
was warning them
that their behavior, their activity during the week, was unacceptable in the
sight of the Lord and that
they were expected to be Christians throughout the week, and not just on Sunday.
The Pastor’s
sermon had a great effect on Connie’s parents because they too believed in what
he was saying. But
the sermon had a rather negative effect on many of the members, and the Church
Deacons, had a
meeting during the week. Next Sunday, their Pastor was gone and a new one was in
his sted. The
new Pastor praised them and told the congregation how well they were doing. So
tell me, is modern
day Christianity being taught to please God? Or to please the people? Is there a
singular true church
or not? To anyone who investigates Christianity, it’s a total mass of confusion.
What you come up with after an in-depth investigation,
is that the only common denominator that all Christian religions have,
is their belief in Jesus Christ!
Some Christians believe that is enough. They believe that as long as you have
faith in Christ and
accept Him as your Savior, that is the end of it. That is the true Church of
Jesus Christ! Well, if that
is true, then how can anything beyond that belief be anything but nonsense and a
waste of our time?
Surely that would have to be a true statement, because beyond that belief, we
are obviously allowed
to believe what we want to believe! If that’s not true, then there would have to
be one true religion.
What other possibilities are there? So the big question is, which Church is
true?
If you want to understand Christianity, you have to start with where it came
from. It is rooted in the
Bible and yet the Bible is a religious history of the Jews. And even though
Judaism is older than
Christianity, today’s Judaism is about the same age as Christianity. How so?
Because it made many
changes after Christ. The God of The Old Testament is “Jehovah.” (Exodus 6:3)
But after Christ’s
time on earth, the Jews stopped calling God, Jehovah. “The original
pronunciation of this name has
probably been lost, as the Jews, in reading, never mentioned it, but substituted
one of the other names
of God, usually Adonai” (Bible Dictionary, KJV.) And though the words Christ or
Christianity are
not found in The Old Testament, (4000 years of religious history), I do not know
of a Bible
Dictionary or Christian religion that does not believe that Christ and Jehovah
are one in the same.
What we think of as Christianity began with the New Testament and it has a
Biblical history of about
70 years. The Jews believe that Judaism is the true religion. We Christians, who
believe in the Jewish
Bible, believe that Christianity is the true religion. So now what? Are there
two true religions? If two,
then why not ten or twenty? Obviously, some people think there are. But to the
logic minded thinker
that’s impossible. Either there is one true church, or they are all false. So
let’s begin this investigation
by looking at where Christianity came from. It begins with the Jews.
The Jews...
The Jews are the other branch of the olive tree. The Jews don’t believe in
Christ as a Savior. They
believe that He was the son of Joseph and Mary, brother of James, Joses, Simon
and Judas (Matthew
13:55-56 for Christ’s family reference) Some Jews believe Christ was a prophet
or a great teacher.
In Beth Moshe’s book, Judaism’s Truth Answers the Missionaries, p.117, she
writes in bold capital
letters, “Jesus seemed to believe he was the Messiah.” I’m not trying to bash
the Jews, they simply
don’t believe that Jesus was “The Christ,” and they don’t believe that He was
their Savior. In that
regard, they are really no different than the other non-Christian religions. The
Old Testament begins
with the prophet, Moses, about 1600 BC. In Exodus, the second book of the Old
Testament, Moses
received the Ten Commandments from God. This was the law by which the Jews were
to live and
govern themselves. For the most part, the Ten Commandments begin, “Thou shalt
not... Thou shalt
not...” When Christ began His ministry, He made some significant changes. Christ
introduced a higher
law. Instead of focusing so much on what you could not do, Christ introduced
what a person should
do. In regard to personal behavior, He exchanged mandatory compliance for
voluntary compliance.
Instead of following the law because you had to, Christ wanted people to follow
the law because they
chose to. But even though He exchanged mandatory compliance for voluntary
compliance, He did
not remove consequence for non-compliance. That’s an important point, because
most people
subconsciously at least, think He did.
The Sermon on the mount (Matt. 4&5) was one of Christ’s greatest instructional
sermons that was
recorded for us. In that sermon, Christ set in motion things like the
“Beatitudes” as described in
Matthew, “Blessed are they... Blessed are they...” See the difference? (See
Matthew 5:2-12) Because
Christ taught new things, He angered the Jews. He angered them further by
telling them He was the
Son of God. Not only did the Jews not believe Christ was the Son of God, they
did not believe He
was the Messiah. Their Messiah had to come with the power and glory of the God
in the Old
Testament. That’s why they had him crucified. (See Matthew 27:19-25)
“Have thou nothing to do with that just man:
for I have suffered many things this day in a dream because of him.”
Pilate’s wife, to Pilate
“Pilate saith unto them, What shall I do then with Jesus which is called Christ?
They all
say unto him, Let him be crucified. And the governor said, Why, what evil hath
he done?
But they cried out the more, saying, Let him be crucified. When Pilate saw that
he could
prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took water, and washed
his hands
before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person:
see ye to it.
Then answered all the people, and said, his Blood be on us, and on our
children.”
Jesus Christ was and is the Messiah the Jews were looking for. The book of
Isaiah is the twenty-third
book in the Bible. Isaiah lived about 750 years before Christ. Isaiah’s writings
(especially chapter
fifty-three) were studied and read in Jewish synagogues before Christ’s mission
on earth. (Were being
the key word) In Isaiah chapter fifty-three, there are thirty-three prophecies
about the Jewish Messiah.
Thirty-three prophecies that were fulfilled with Christ. ...Count them.
After Christ’s crucifixion in 33 AD, the Jews lived under Roman rule until about
66 AD, where they
tried to overthrow their Roman rulers. The Roman government became so outraged
that in 70AD,
they totally destroyed Jerusalem, leaving only the west wall of the temple
(which is now called the
Wailing Wall). The Jews scattered from Jerusalem, seemingly never to have a
country again that they
could call their own. Small amounts of Jews, from time to time, tried to
reestablish Jerusalem, but
with no lasting success. When Joseph Smith received his first visit from Moroni
on September 21,
1823, Moroni quoted part of the eleventh chapter of Isaiah to him.
“And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again
the
second time to recover the remnant of his people...and gather together the
dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.” Isaiah 11:11-13
In 1832, Joseph Smith gave Orson Hyde a blessing. Orson Hyde was a descendant of
the Tribe of
Judah. This is part of that blessing:
“In due time thou shalt go to Jerusalem, the land of thy fathers, and be a
watchman
unto the house of Israel; and by thy hand shall the Most High do a work, which
shall
prepare the way and greatly facilitate the gathering together of that people.”
In 1840, Orson Hyde, under the direction of the Lord, was sent by Joseph Smith
to the land that was
once called Israel to dedicate and set apart the land for the literal gathering
of Israel. It took place on
Sunday morning, the 24th of October, 1841. Orson Hyde sat on the Mount of
Olives, pondering and
praying about the things he should say, writing them down as they came to him.
This is part of his
prayer:
“Grant therefore, O Lord, in the name of thy well-beloved Son, Jesus Christ,
to remove the barrenness and sterility of this land, and let springs of living
water
break forth to water it’s thirsty soil...Incline them to gather in upon this
land according to
thy word. Let them come down like clouds and like doves to their windows. Let
the large
ships of the nations bring them from the distant isles; and let kings become
their nursing
fathers, and queens with motherly fondness wipe the tear of sorrow from their
eye.”
The land that had been little more than a worthless dust-bowl, had now been
dedicated for the literal
gathering place of Israel. (HC V1 p43-46) Did it work?
“Only two decades ago there were not more than fifteen or twenty thousand Jews
in
Jerusalem. At that time no houses were to be found outside the city. Since then
many
changes have taken place and the Hebrew population, mainly on account of the
increase
of the Jewish immigration from Russia, now stands at between sixty and seventy
thousand. Whole
streets of houses have been built outside the walls on the site of the ancient
suburban districts, which for hundreds of years have remained deserted.”
The St. Louis Globe-Democrat, 1896
But like all things for the Lord, it did not go unchallenged by the adversary.
The Jews had gone
through terrible times at the hands of the Christians during the crusades and
during the Spanish
Inquisition which lasted into the 1800's. But then things began changing for the
Jews. Europe began
to enter the industrial age. Modernization began to take over. Life for the Jews
began to take a
different course. Many Jews had now become comfortable and successful in Europe
and were no
longer a despised and hated people as they were in the past. They began to
prosper in Europe as well
as in America. There arose a “New age of Reason.” A new “Reform of Judaism.”
Jews began to pull
away in droves from the idea that they were to return to the land once called
Israel. In 1818 in
Hamburg, Germany, a much shorter Jewish prayer book was written. It was called
the Hamburg
Temple Prayer Book. In it, almost all the references to the long-awaited
restoration of Zion were
gone. In 1824, reformers in Charleston, South Carolina, made similar changes in
the synagogue ritual.
The new prayer book seemed to cast the fate for the literal gathering of Israel.
(Encyclopedia
Britannica V22 p424-425 and Encyclopedia Judaica. V14 p23-24)
“Reform did not achieve it’s greatest success until it was imported into the
United
States along with the massive German-Jewish immigration of the 1840's and
coalesced
with earlier American trends toward reform...By 1880 almost all of the 200
synagogues in
the United States had become Reform...In 1885 the Reform philosophy was given
it’s most
comprehensive formulation in the so-called ‘Pittsburgh Platform,’ drawn up by a
conference
of Reform rabbis...Talmud was to be considered merely as religious literature,
and not as legislation.” (Encyclopedia Britannica, V22 p425)
The Pittsburgh Platform, 1895
“We recognize in the Mosaic legislation a system of training the Jewish people
for it’s mission during
it’s national life in Palestine, and today we accept as binding only it’s moral
laws, and maintain only
such ceremonies as elevate to the views and habits of modern civilization...We
consider ourselves no
longer a nation, but a religious community, and therefore expect neither a
return to Palestine, nor a
sacrificial worship under the sons of Aaron, nor the restoration of any of the
laws of any concerning
the Jewish state...” (Encyclopedia Judaica, v14 p26) “Reform Judaism introduced
confirmation for
boys and girls in place of the traditional Bar Mitzvah, gave up belief in a
personal Messiah, and
insisted that the lands of Jewish residence, not the land of Israel, were home.”
(Encyclopedia
Americana V16 p197)
The Lord’s great work will not be frustrated. In the Book of Mormon it states
that the Jews, “Shall
be gathered in from their long dispersion, from the isles of the sea, and from
the four parts of the
earth.” (2nd Nephi 10:8) Orson Hyde dedicated the land once called Jerusalem for
the literal
gathering of the Jews in 1841. Over the next few years, the British and French
were slowly getting
tired of having to send their ships around the tip of Africa to get to the
Orient. They began looking
at a narrow strip of land just south of old Israel where they could cut a
channel and save almost 8000
sea miles to the Orient. The Turks wouldn’t let them have the land but did let
them build a canal
through it. In 1859, during the time the United States was beginning “America’s
bloodiest war,” the
Civil War, the French began construction on the Suez Canal. They completed it in
1869. Now the British and French had a vested interest in the Holy Land.
In early 1900, a few “Traditional” or “Orthodox Jews” began migrating to
Jerusalem. The land
belonged to the Turks of the Ottoman Empire at the time. The little Jewish
communities were called
Kabutsons. Over the next twelve years the Turks began a series of raids against
the small
communities. The raids ended at the outbreak of WWI as the Turks now found
themselves too busy
to concern themselves with the Jews on their far western border. At the outbreak
of the war, Turkey
made a very costly decision. ...They joined the side of the Germans!
WWI began with the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife on
June 28th, 1914, in
the town of Sarajevo, Bosnia. On November 11th, 1918, Germany surrendered and on
June 28th,
1919, the combatants of the “War to end all wars”, came the “Treaty of
Versailles” at Versailles,
France. At Versailles, new countries out of old empires were created. Besides
some border changes
on old countries, nine new countries appeared on the European map. But for our
concerns here, the
most important was the Ottoman Empire. From that break up and it’s surrounding
area came Iran,
Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, and Hejaz. The Suez Canal had already
fallen under the control
of the British. Most important of all, was the loss of Palestine by the Turks.
It became a British
mandate and received the protection of the Crown. (History of the 20th Century,
p.60-129)
The land once known as Israel,
was now in the possession of the British Government.
In the “Balfour Declaration” of 1917, the British pledged to facilitate the
“establishment in Palestine
of a national home for the Jewish People.” (The Volume Library, V2 p1547)
Britain allowed the Jews
to immigrate to Palestine, a land that the Jews referred to as Israel, but only
in limited amounts so as
to appease the Arab countries. Twenty years later, in 1937, the more traditional
believing Jews
presented to the world a statement known as the Columbus Platform.
The Columbus Platform, 1937
“The Torah, both written and oral, enshrines Israel’s ever growing consciousness
of God and
of the moral law...It defined Judaism as the ‘soul of which Israel is the
body,’and recognized ‘in
the group-loyalty of the Jews who have become estranged from our religious
tradition a bond
which still unites them with us’ and affirmed the ‘obligation of all Jewry to
aid in Palestine’s up
building as a Jewish homeland by endeavoring to make it not only a haven of
refuge for the
oppressed but also a center of Jewish culture and spiritual life.” (Encycl.
Judaica, V14 p26)
But the Zionist movement was still weak and not supported by the majority of the
Jewish people.
Two years after the Columbus Platform, on September 1st, 1939, Hitler invaded
Poland and WWII
began. On May 7th, 1945 Germany surrendered. During the war, over six million
Jews died horrible
deaths at the hands of the German soldiers.
“Without screaming or weeping these people undressed, stood around in family
groups,
kissed each other, and said farewells... An old woman with snow-white hair was
holding
a one-year-old child in her arms and singing to it and tickling it. The child
was
cooing with delight. The parents were looking on with tears in their eyes.”
German engineer Herman Graebe, describing
the scene at an execution pit in the Ukraine.
Millions more died horrible deaths at the hands of the Russians. At the end of
WWII, the Jews took
such a beating, such a loss of life, that the Reform Judaism movement subsided
and the traditional
Judaism beliefs came forward. The yearning for a homeland, as it had never been
before, suddenly
became the focus of the Jewish people. Suddenly it was ...Jerusalem! Jerusalem!
“Palestine needs a people, Israel needs a country.
Give the country without a people to the people without a country.”
Israel Zangwill
The British had control of Jerusalem since the Treaty of Versailles. Out of
frustration, the Jewish
citizens and soldiers, spear-headed by David Ben-Gurion and Golda Meir, turned
their anger toward
Britain. Unable to suppress the assaults against the British Army and unable to
stop the massive flow
of Jews into Jerusalem, Britian conceded and on May 15th 1948, less than three
years after WWII
ended, Israel became a country once again for the first time since 70 AD. Since
that time there has
never been in the history of the world, the unstoppable fervor of the Jewish
people worldwide, to
move to, send money to, or to build up Jerusalem as there is now.
Oh Jerusalem, Oh Jerusalem! The homeland of our Lord and Savior!
Where the British left off in helping Israel, the Americans took over. The
Middle East countries who
hate Israel and who would drive the Israelis into the Mediterranean Sea, if they
just had the chance,
is a combined land area equaling the continental United States minus California,
Oregon and the State
of Washington. I live in Maricopa County. With a land mass of 7,848 square
miles, the country of
Israel is about 1500 square miles smaller than Maricopa County. If it were not
for the British who
took Israel away from the Turks after WWI and the United States taking over the
guardianship of
the land of Israel after WWII, fulfilling the pleas of Orson Hyde’s dedicatory
prayer, Israel as we
know it today, would have never appeared on the map in 1948. If it were not for
the United States
today, still fulfilling Orson Hyde’s prayer of 1841, Israel would not be able to
survive!
The Israelis are fierce. They bark, they growl, they even bite!
But they are still just a Chihuahua in a big dog world!
Orson Hyde asked the Lord to, “Let Kings become their nursing fathers.”
If America wasn’t the big dog standing behind the little dog,
baring it’s teeth and keeping all the other dogs at bay,
...the little dog would cease to exist.
Was the holocaust in Germany integral in driving the Jewish people back to the
idea of a homeland
called Jerusalem? I think it was! Was it necessary? I don’t know! It’s anyone’s
guess! But I do know
that the fervor to rebuild Jerusalem came after the holocaust. Not before. I
also know that the Lord’s
plan will not be frustrated and the prophesies of the prophets will come true.
“And I will bring you out from the people, and will gather you out of the
countries wherein ye are scattered, with a mighty hand, and with
a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out.” Ezekiel, 20:34
And someday, “...That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.”
Isaiah, 45:23
And in that day, “...one shall say unto him, what are these wounds in thine
hands? Then he shall
answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.” Zechariah
13:6
The Early Christians...
Authors Note:
Because I do not wish to offend any of the great and wonderful members of other
religions; because I have many dear friends who are extremely valiant in their
service to the Lord and to His sheep, I have edited this section one more time.
I did that 3 times before publishing this book, I am doing it again now;
here on the site, after this book was published. There are lots of really
great people of all faiths who love the Lord every bit as much as I do and serve
Him as much as I do and maybe more. So much of the commentary was taken
out but the quotes and the facts were left in for you to draw your own
conclusion.
Thank you for understanding. sj
Phase one of this investigation about modern day Christianity begins with the
Holy Scriptures that
comprise our modern day Old Testament. They constitute the religious history of
God’s dealings with
the Jews. Therefore, the logical first step in our investigation would have to
begin with the Jews.
Phase two of this investigation begins with Christ’s birth, His teachings to us
and His mission on earth
which comprise the New Testament. Therefore, the next logical step in our
investigation would be
the world history of the Christianity that brought us to where we are today.
Like the historical background information given about the Jews, this
investigation deals with the first
1500 hundred years of the church that rose up after Christ’s death.
Why? Because to
understand modern day Christianity, you have to know something of the roots of
modern day
Christianity. It begins with Christ when the Bible makes a transition into
Christianity. There is very little
history about Christianity between 70AD and 325AD, which was when the Roman
Government made
it a state religion. So keep in mind that this back-ground investigation is far
more than a look at the
new Christianity Constantine started, it is a look at the ancestry of all
Christianity prior to 1830.
Because until 1830, every new Christian religion could trace their roots to this
new Church.
Therefore, this is the next logical step in our investigation; our trail of
evidence to modern day
Christianity. Please remember I have no intent to insult any religion or
anyone’s religious beliefs. But
in an investigation, arriving at the truth has to be paramount.
In our search for Christ's church, it is a fair and accurate
statement to say that that
church would have certain earmarks. Certain procedures, policies and behaviors.
And what but the evidence itself,
could prove whether or not a church fell in that category?
As you read through this, please keep in mind that there is no one alive today
who is responsible for
the actions of the members of their church of yesteryear. That is a very
significant point. My intent
in doing this background investigation, is to find those earmarks. If an
investigation of Christianity were to begin, it would have to begin with the
oldest Christian religion.
Regardless of the name the oldest Christian church bore, it couldn’t start
anywhere else.
Early in my career, I responded to a suicide call near Arizona Ave. and
Guadalupe, with a deputy by
the name of Keith. The male victim had taken a six inch .357 magnum revolver and
parted his skull
with it. Keith, a salty veteran, was the primary investigator. I was his back
up. When Keith and I
arrived, we were met by the victim’s wife. She pointed down the hall and said,
“He’s down there.”
As Keith and I walked into the bedroom, the man was lying on the floor, face
down. The revolver
was near his right hand. It looked like an open and shut suicide to me. However,
not saying anything
to me, Keith looked around the room for a few minutes and then he walked over to
a chair and just
sat down and studied the scene in his head. He wouldn’t talk to me as he
thought. He just sat there,
for what seemed like a long time and re-created the scene in his mind, making
sure all the evidence
coincided with the conclusion. By looking at the wound on the man’s head, Keith
even determined
where the bullet should be and then located it in the wall.
To make a long story short, he never let his emotions get involved with his
investigation of the facts.
Nor did he let what the victim’s wife told us influence his investigation. He
remained objective and
let the facts tell their own tale as to what happened. Facts in themselves,
don’t and won’t, convert
anyone. But facts are essential in an impartial investigation and they are
necessary to the person such
as myself, who is ruled as much by facts as he is by his emotions. So please
remember the point of
this story as we continue. Be objective and let the facts tell their own tale.
...Okay? ...Let’s begin.
The oldest Christian religion is the Catholic religion. The Church
began forming shortly
after Christ and the Apostles were killed. They believe that the Apostle Peter
became the first Bishop
of Rome. The Romans began to persecute the Church until the year 313 when Roman
Emperor
Constantine made Christianity the state religion. It became the official
Catholic Church in probably
about 325 AD at the Council of Nicaea.
It is a fair and accurate statement to say that the teachings of any Christian
religion are their own
evidence as to whether or not that Christian religion teaches what Christ
taught. It’s also a fair and
accurate statement to say that if a Christian religion teaches something other
than what Christ taught,
then one of the following seven things has occurred.
One: That church is wrong in it’s teachings.
Two: Christ changed His original teachings and came up with new teachings and
methods.
Three: Man changed Christ’s original teachings and came up with new teachings
and
methods.
Four: The true teachings were lost along the way and throughout the years.
Five: Those precepts and teachings are missing or were left out of the Bible.
Six: Christ did not fully restore His teachings during His time here on earth
and is
continuing to reveal more to us through revelation.
Seven: A combination of the above has occurred.
What other possibilities could there be? So think about those seven
possibilities as we continue our
investigation.
In investigating the new Church, the Christians at the Council of Nicaea
introduced some unique
teachings. Unique prior to the 325AD, that is.
“I have saved more souls from Hell than St. Peter
has converted to Christianity by his preaching.”
John Tetzel, seller of indulgences
“The world forsaking the lively power of God’s spiritual Word, was altogether
led and blinded
with outward ceremonies and human traditions; in these was all hope of obtaining
salvation fully
fixed; insomuch that scarcely any other thing was seen in the temples or
churches, taught or
spoken of in sermons, or finally intended or gone about in their life, but only
heaping up of certain
shadowy ceremonies upon ceremonies; neither was there any end of this their
heaping.”
John Foxe
These are just a few examples of the differences.
“Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart
from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
Speaking
lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; Forbidding to
marry,
and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with
thanksgiving
of them which believe and know the truth.” I Tim. 4:1-3
Please understand that when I investigate, I lay my feelings aside and try to be
logical.
“...Therefore shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave unto
his wife: and they shall be one flesh.”Genesis 2:18 & 24
One of the things I found most interesting of all was that the new Church
decided to restrict the
reading of scriptures by the individual!
“A severe and intolerable law was enacted...the Church of
Rome persisted
obstinately in affirming...that the scriptures were not composed for the use of
the multitude, but only
for that of the spiritual teachers, and so, ordered these divine records to be
taken from the people in
all places.” (The Great Apostasy by James E. Talmage and Mosheim, Eccl. History
ch. 1.)
“The simple and unlearned people, being far from all knowledge
of the holy scripture, thought it quite enough for them to know
only those things which were delivered them by their pastors.”
John Foxe
The Roman Arena...
In July of ‘96, I was watching a program on the History Channel called,
The
Truth About the Roman
Arena. It was narrated by Roger Mudd. “The game” of watching people killing each
other began
about 50 BC. The last game was in 459 AD. Constantine organized the new
Christian religion in 313
AD. It became official in about 325 AD. Per Roger Mudd, for the History Channel
program, “The
list of crimes punishable by death in the Arena (Circus Maximus) increased under
Christian leadership.
As many as 5000 gladiators (prisoners forced to fight in the Arena) would fight
and die per day, for
the amusement of the Roman people.”
The History Channel program went on to point out that the reason the games ended
in 459 AD was
that the Roman government was beginning to fall apart and was having trouble
getting the quantity
of animals they needed to make the games more and more fascinating for the
viewing public. As many
as 5000 animals, people or a combination of both were killed on “game” days. I
found it interesting
that the games were ended because the Roman Government was beginning to fall
apart and they were
having difficulty in acquiring enough animals and people to make it more
exciting and not because
the Church had them stopped!
The fall of the Roman Empire brought an end to the events in the Roman Arena.
But it did not bring
an end to the work of death. These type of events continued from the Diaspora in
70 AD (dispersion
of the Jews) through the birth of the new Church through the Roman Arena, the
Spanish Inquisition
and through the Crusades totaling about a 1700 year period.
After the fall of the Roman empire, the Jews slowly became the focus of
“Christian” hatred. As the
influence of the clergy widened, the Church gained power. Persecutions became
common. Sermons
often impelled the citizens of a community to burn down synagogues and homes.
“It became an
annual custom in Beziers, in the week between Palm Sunday and Easter Monday,
when the priests
described the sufferings of Jesus, to pelt the Jews with mud and stones whenever
they appeared. In
Toulouse the Count in the city had the right to slap the face of the Jewish
leader on Good Friday...at
the beginning of the twelfth century...the practice was commuted for a heavy
money-payment.” (A
History of The Jews, p186-187 by Abram L. Sachar Ph.D and President of Brandeis
University)
Throughout the eleventh century, hatred continued to rise and the church leaders
and the state itself,
aided in the persecution toward the Jews. When Hilderbrand became Pope Gregory
VII, in 1078, he
issued a law “forbidding Christian kingdoms to employ Jews in any public
capacity.”
“We admonish Your Highness that you must cease to suffer the Jews to rule
over the Christians and exercise authority over them. For to allow the
Christians to
be subordinated to the Jews, and to subject them to their judgement, is the same
as oppressing God’s Church and exalting Satan’s Synagogue. To wish to
please Christ’s enemies means to treat Christ himself with contumely.”
Pope Gregory the VII
To Alphonso the X
The Spanish Inquisition...
Before the Spanish Inquisition started, the Vatican started an “Anti-Jewish”
legislation which
prohibited Jews from holding any positions in the state where they would be
higher than the
Christians. Jews were forbidden to shave their beards or wear anything but the
coarsest clothing. Jews
were not allowed to own real estate and they had to live in certain areas and
the Jews were forbidden
to bear arms. (The Spanish Inquisition, by Henry Kamen, p19)
“They forced strange clothing upon us. They kept us from trade, farming and the
crafts.
They compelled us to grow our beards and our hair long. Instead of silken
apparel, we were
obligated to wear wretched cloths which drew contempt upon us. Unshaved,
we appeared like mourners. Starvation stared everyone in the face.”
Unknown. (Quoted in Neuman, II, 264)
Though used against the Moors too, the Inquisition was a weapon used by the new
Church to impose
their ideology on primarily Jewish people. On July 18th, 1290, by order of King
Edward I, there
passed an expulsion order expelling the Jews from England. Later on March 31st,
1492, an expulsion
order was issued by the Church monarchs in Granada, expelling all Jews from
Spain. As time went
on, the expulsion was expanded throughout Europe. (Henry Kamen, p7)
Before and after the expulsion order of 1492, many Spanish Jews suffered
greatly. On March 5th,
1391, Archbishop Ferran Martinez led his congregation, on Ash Wednesday, to the
Jewish Quarter
of the city. There, the Christian congregation, led by Archbishop Martinez,
raped, murdered and stole
from the Jews. So successful was Martinez that on June 6th, 1391, he led another
angry mob into the
Jewish quarter and killed thousands. This trend continued from city to city.
After a few months, not
a single professing Jew was left alive in Barcelona. Entire communities of Jews
were killed. An
estimated 50,000. (Cecil Roth, The Spanish Inquisition, p22.)
Faced with the alternatives of apostasy or death, a large number of Jews chose
to apostatize. Many
Jews were baptized with knives held to their throats. Those who would not accept
the new Christian
faith were killed. “In Barcelona alone, thousands of Jews saved their lives by
accepting baptism.” The
Jews became so terrified of the Christians that sometimes whole congregations
led by their Rabbi
came to be baptized. In Aragon and Castile over 200,000 Jews were baptized. On
March 18, 1478,
the inquisition moved into high gear. It was learned that Jews who were being
baptized were still
practicing Judaism in the privacy of their homes. An “Edict of Grace” was
issued, demanding Jews
turn themselves in. All their property was confiscated, their families were
turned out into the street
and the prisoner was taken to the dungeons. Trials were set, but often the
person had to wait three
to four years in the dungeon until his court date. His family was charged money
for the time their
loved one spent in prison. There is an account of a woman who was released from
prison in
1703. Her heirs were still paying off their debt to the Church for her
imprisonment 169 years later.
One man was found innocent after being held in chains in the dungeon for
fourteen years.
“It is now a year since I have been in this prison, and in all this time
you have not deigned to publish the names of witnesses in my case,
nor have I been given any opportunity of a full defense.”
Luis de Leon, March 7th, 1573 to the prison inquisitor.
Imprisoned: four years, eight months, nineteen days.
Those who had to be interviewed before their trial, were taken to the torture
chambers. In 1496, Pope
Alexander VI wrote to his head Inquisitor Thomas De Torquemada and said that, he
“...cherished
him in the very bowels of affection for his immense labors in the exaltation of
the faith.”
The Inquisition began to spread further. The Holy Office soon extended their
range to include
Lutherans and Protestants. In the spring of 1558 Pope Paul IV was informed of a
group of
Protestants and he issued a brief, instructing the Inquisitor General to spare
no efforts, “But to
exterminate the evil forthwith.” Then the Pope, fearful of losing yet another
kingdom, ordered that
the suspects be given “capital punishment,” even after their confession.
The Inquisition began spreading even further to anyone believing anything other
than the new
Christian faith. In the Netherlands, the Church condemned 3,000,000 to death.
(18,600 were actually
killed.) In the Netherlands the Church burned men alive, buried women alive and
were successful in
driving another 60,000 into exile. In the Arab countries, many times Arabs were
forced to turn over
their children between the ages of 3 to 15 years, so that they could be raised
in the new faith. The
Church began holding huge entertainment events out of the executions. They
invited Kings and
Queens to witness the burnings and said the “event was in their honor.” The
Spanish Inquisition
started in 1478 and ended in 1834, by order of the King, not the Pope. (All this
information and more
can be found in the two books titled, The Spanish Inquisition. One by Roth, one
by Kamen.)
“Peoples to come, nations who will one day enter the bosom of the Church,
future generations--will you in time believe that there once existed in the
Catholic Church a tribunal called the Holy Inquisition?”
Ruiz Padron, in the Cortes of Cadiz, 1813
Many Christians will agree that the Spanish Inquisition was a terrible thing,
but they don’t give it
much more thought than that. I don’t know why! Because there are two obvious
question here.
“Would the leaders of the true church of Jesus Christ have had anything to do
with the ‘Spanish
Inquisition?” And secondly, “Would the true church of Jesus Christ be involved
with anything like
the ‘Spanish Inquisition?” Many Christians, perhaps even most, don’t consider
history when they are
looking for the truth or when they are looking for a religion to believe in.
Most feel the Inquisition
was just an isolated incident. Well, you decide for yourself. It lasted for 356
years and involved 43
popes in a row.
Authors Note:
Please Remember: this is not me saying these things, ...everything you have read
and will read is from world history. I got from reading books by credible
historians at the Public Library. My own commentary has been removed.
The Crusades...
The crusades were a series of wars that were fought between the end of the
1000's and into the
middle of the 1400's. They were instigated by the Christians of Western Europe
in an effort to gain
control of the Holy Land. The majority and intensity of the crusades took place
from 1095 to 1291.
But Christian instigated battles against the Muslims continued for another 150
years. “It was not until
1453, when Constantinople (Istanbul Turkey) was captured by the Ottoman Turks,
that it became
clear that the Christians could make no further effective effort against Islam.”
However, in an attempt
to further the Christian cause, the monks of the Moissac Abbey in southern
France, used the aid of
a forged document, purported to have come from Pope Sergius IV. At the time of
the document by
the monks, the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem had been rebuilt but that known fact
had been purposely
left out.
“Let all Christians know that news has come from the east to the seat of the
apostles that the
church of the Holy Sepulcher has been destroyed from roof to foundations at the
impious hands
of the pagans...Therefore let this Christian intention be known...with the
Lord’s help we intend to
kill all these enemies and to restore the Redeemer’s Holy Sepulcher.”
(Jerusalem, the Eternal
City. P.295. By David Galbraith, Kelly Ogden and Andrew Skinner.)
“...we visited France and strongly urged the princes and people of that land
to work for the liberation of the Eastern Church. At the council of Auvergne,
we enjoined on them this undertaking for the remission of all their sins...”
Pope Urban
Probably one of the most powerful popes of medieval times was Pope Urban II. He
came up with the
idea of an armed crusade to the holy land. He gave a rallying public address
that encouraged all
listeners, all Christian listeners to march to the holy land and to take it from
the Turks.
“Come forward to the defense of Christ, O ye who have carried on feuds, come to
the war against the infidels. O ye who have been thieves, become soldiers. Fight
a just
war...Set forth, then upon the way to the holy Sepulcher; wrest that land from
the evil race,
and keep it for yourself. That land which floweth with milk and honey,
Jerusalem.”
Pope Urban II
“During all this time of Pope John XXIII there were three Popes reigning
together...by
reason whereof a General Council was holden at Constance in AD 1414, being
called by
Sigismund the Emperor, and Pope John XXIII. These three Popes were John, whom
the Italians
set up; Gregory, whom the Frenchmen set up; Benedict, whom the Spaniards placed.
In this schismatical ambitious conflict everyone defended his Pope.”
John Foxe
Toward the end of 1095, Urban II went before the large council of clergy and
Nobels that were at
Clermont, France and urged them that Christians everywhere unite and begin a
military campaign to
attack, conquer, and take the Holy Land from the Muslims. “At that time Peter
the Hermit, who was
also known as Peter of Amiens, returned from the East and told of the hardships
endured by the
Christians of Jerusalem. Urban II welcomed him and made him a ‘leader of
propaganda.” The
movement was designed to encourage Christians to take part in the holy war
against the Muslims.
(The Volume Library V1 p762) The Crusaders arrived at Jerusalem on June 7th,
1099.
“The buildings of the holy city are of stone, and you will find nowhere finer or
more
solid construction. In Jerusalem are all manner of learned men and doctors, and
for this
reason the heart of every man of intelligence yearns toward her.”
Al-Maqdisi. Moslem geographer
and native to Jerusalem at the time
About a year before the Crusaders arrived in Jerusalem, the city of Jerusalem
had fallen under the
power of the Egyptian Fatimid Caliphate and was now defended by a large, well
trained Egyptian
army. The rumors of the Crusaders arrived in Jerusalem long before the Crusaders
themselves. The
news of the soon approaching Crusaders caused the Egyptians to heavily fortify.
Equipment, supplies,
men and arms were stockpiled within the city. The outlaying communities
abandoned their homes and
gathered within the city walls. The estimated population of the city of
Jerusalem was over 40,000.
The Crusader’s numbered 40,000 as well. There were over 12,000 infantry and
1,500 mounted
knights. After five days of preparation, on June 12th they began their attack.
On July 14th, 1099, the
Crusaders managed to break through the wall. One by one, all the strongholds of
the Muslims fell and
the Crusaders burst into the city.
“The Crusaders, drunk with victory, conducted a massacre in the city such as has
seldom been paralleled in the history of war; the troops ran amok through the
streets,
stabbing and slaying everyone they encountered. It is said that rivers of blood
flowed through
the narrow lanes, covering the horses’ hocks. The Jewish community, gathered in
the
central synagogue, were shut in by the Crusaders and burnt alive.”
(The Crusaders in the Holy Land, p36-40 by Meron Benvenisti)
“It was impossible to look upon the vast numbers of slain without horror;
everywhere lay fragments of human bodies, and the very ground was covered with
the blood of the slain. It was not alone the spectacle of the headless bodies
and mutilated
limbs strewn in all directions that roused horror in all who looked upon them.
Still more
dreadful it was to gaze upon the victors themselves, dripping with blood from
head
to foot, an ominous sight which brought terror to all who met them.”
William of Tyre
In 1208 Pope Innocent III proclaimed the Albigensian Crusade. In 1212 was The
Children’s Crusade
where thousands of French children who sought ships to take them to the Holy
Land, were eventually
sold into slavery. Thousands died of exposure, disease and hunger and few ever
reached their homes. (The Volume Library, V1 p762-763)
“The Church did fall into all kinds of extreme tyranny; whereas the poverty and
simplicity of Christ were changed into cruelty and abomination of life.”
John Foxe
“I do not know if it was because of a judgement of God or because of some
delusion
in their minds, but the pilgrims rose in a spirit of cruelty against the
Jews...They inflicted
a most cruel slaughter on them...Count Emich was the enemy of all the Jews, may
his bones
be crushed to pieces in millstones of iron. He was known as a man who had no
mercy on
the old, or on young women, who took not pity on babies or sucklings or the
sick,
who pulverized God’s people like the dust in threshing, who slew their
young men with the sword and cut open their pregnant women.”
Albert of Aachen, German chronicler, about 1100
It wasn’t until Martin Luther, a German monk and priest, was sent on a mission
to Rome in 1510 and
returned “indignant at the worldliness of the Church” did the
reformation begin.
Martin Luther’s greatest objection was “the sale of indulgences.” Thus began the
Protestant
reformation (1517). Martin Luther was excommunicated in 1520 by Pope Leo X for
his “95 Theses”
(objections to prevailing church practices). He nailed them to the church door
in Wittenburg. (The
Volume Library, V2 p1705 and p1932)
The activity of our Christian predecessors continues...
History tells us that the Spanish soldiers that came over to America under the
leadership of Cortes
(Cortez) and others, bore the sword and banner of their Spanish
government and their
European form Christianity. At the time Dr. Jack D. Forbes wrote his book called
Apache, Navaho,
(Navajo) and Spaniard, he was a Professor of Native American Studies at the
University of
California. On page 39, Forbes says, “Since the Pope had given the King of Spain
almost complete
control over the Catholic Church in the Americas and all tithes were collected
and all expenses met
by the Crown, the missions were definitely a royal institution.”
“You must explain to the natives of the land that there is only one
God in heaven, and the emperor on earth to rule and govern it,
whose subjects they must all become and whom they must serve.”
Orders of Viceroy Antonio de Mendoza
to Fray Marcos, November, 1538
Some historians feel the Spaniards may have killed, or were responsible for the
deaths of more
American Indians than Hitler killed Jews in World War II.
“Inasmuch as we have declared war on them without quarter, you will punish those
of fighting
age as you deem best, as a warning to everyone in this kingdom. All of those you
execute you will
expose to public view...If you should want to show lenience after they have been
arrested, you
should seek all possible means to make the Indians believe that you are doing so
at the request of
the friar with your forces. In this manner they will recognize the friars as
their benefactors and
protectors and come to love and esteem them, and to fear us.”
Orders of, Juan de Onate, to
Vicente de Zaldivar. January, 1599
In the 90's Christians were involved in crises like the one that
took place in
Bosnia, where the
“Christians Serbs” were attacking the “Ethnic Albanian Muslims.” That crisis
was NOT a church function of any religion but a fair
question to ask is; who were
those Christians involved in that “ethnic cleansing” ...and why?
By now, you may be thinking,
“What is the writer’s intent in telling me these
things?” My intent is
simple. I am an investigator and I am looking for the evidence of Christ's
church. That church would
have certain earmarks, past and present, that would readily identify it as being
consistent or
inconsistent with the way Christ would have done things. Yes, they were just
humans and all humans
make mistakes. Even Moses made mistakes. And although no church is responsible
for the actions
of it’s members, every church is responsible for the actions of it’s leaders.
And if it is the true church,
then it’s leaders would be in direct communiqué with Christ and therefore, would
do things consistent
with the way Christ would have done them. This is an extremely significant
evidentiary fact that
cannot be overlooked or explained away.
Think about this... A police officer will work several hit and run accidents in
his career. I worked one
a few years ago that occurred in the 2600 block of E. University late at night.
The victim vehicle had
been damaged to the point it could not move. The suspect vehicle had fled the
scene. In the roadway
was an array of pieces and parts from both cars. The first thing I had to do was
to try and separate
those parts into groups. Those belonging to the victim vehicle and those
belonging to the suspect
vehicle. I then took height measurements of impact points from the suspect
vehicle onto the victim
vehicle and I collected paint transfers from the suspect vehicle. My victim
vehicle was red. The paint
transfers from the suspect vehicle told me the suspect vehicle was dark blue.
After I did all this I
figured the suspect vehicle was too badly damaged to have gotten very far.
During a cruise through
the adjoining neighborhood I found another vehicle part in the road. Soon I
found another and
another. Like the story of Hansel and Gretel, I followed the trail of parts to a
smashed up blue vehicle
in a driveway. At the scene I had collected about a half dozen parts or so. Even
though the color
seemed the same to the eye, I collected paint samples of the suspect vehicle to
be analyzed in the lab
for positive identification to my paint transfers I collected from the red
vehicle. I then matched the
parts I had collected at the scene to the vehicle. One by one, the pieces were
held into place and
photographed where they fit into the suspect vehicle. All perfect matches. When
I was done, I had
a bullet proof case for court. No matter what anybody said in court, I could
prove beyond a shadow
of a doubt, that this was the one in a million cars out there that hit my victim
that night.
The point is this... Each crime, each contact, incident or occurrence, each
failed part in a truck, piece
of equipment, airplane or space shuttle, etc., leaves behind trace evidence.
Items of evidentiary value
that will lead the detective or investigator back to it’s source. Just like the
parts I fit into the blue hit
and run vehicle. Either the parts I collected will fit the vehicle I’m looking
for or they won’t. Those
parts I collected will either prove that the vehicle I found was in fact that
one in a million vehicle or
they will prove that it was not. There is absolutely no middle ground on that
issue.
Christ’s church would be the same.
Either the teachings of a religion would match His teachings or they wouldn’t.
Mashing some parts to make them fit, doesn’t count. The parts have to fit.
If they don’t fit, then regardless what the people say; ...well...
The Breaking Away and the Rising of Multiple Religions
The investigator has to look at all the evidence and all the evidence has to be
compatible to the
hypothesis formed by the investigator. Unexplainable evidence is not evidence
that you disregard
because it does not fit your hypothesis. Unexplainable evidence is evidence that
you have the wrong
hypothesis. Or, it’s evidence that you do not have the whole picture yet. But
the more evidence you
can match up to your hypothesis, the more your evidence proves you are on the
right track. The less
the evidence matches up with your hypothesis, the more proof you have that you
are on the wrong
track. ...It’s really that simple.
With the Reformation, more Christian
Religions began to appear.
Church of England 1534 Calvinism 1536
Lutheranism 1517 Radical Sects circa 1520
Presbyterian 1560 Lutherans 1526
Anabaptists 1521 Quakers 1647
Mennonites 1683 Baptists 1609
Church of the Brethren 1719 Methodist Episcopal 1784
Methodism 1739 Protestant Episcopal 1789
Methodist Protestant, U.S. 1830 Free Will Baptist 1727
Methodist Church 1939 Disciples of Christ 1810
Christian Reformed 1857 United Presbyterian 1858
Lutheran Syn. Con. Of Am 1878 Southern Baptist 1845
Northern Baptist 1845 Adventist Movement 1833
Unitarian 1825 Seventh Day Adventist 1863
Presbyterian in U.S. 1869 Christian Reformed . 1857
Methodist Episcopal of S. 1844 Col. Methodist Epis. U.S. 1870
Methodist Church U.S. 1939 Evangelical United Brethren 1944
United Lutheran in Am. 1918 Church of Christ 1906
National Baptist Con. USA 1915 Cong., Christian 1931
(Christian Religions, A Comparative Chart. V2, by Rex Bennett)
People say, “I can’t believe in a religion that is so new! The Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day
Saints has only been around since 1830!” Well, look at these starting dates. Anti-Mormons argue, “There is no
evidence that there
was a religious fervor going on during Joseph Smith’s day as Joseph Smith
claimed!” Look again at
those starting dates.
In
the book, Eerdmans
Handbook to Christianity In America, by Mark A. Noll, Nathan O. Hatch, George M. Marsden,
David F. Wells, and John D. Woodbridge, they have devoted three chapters in
their book that discuss,
in part, the religious excitement of the day in early America. Those three
chapters being: The Church
in an Age of Revolution, The Swelling Tide of Revivalism, and An Age of
Experiment and Reform.
“...but these were merely the foretaste of the extensive revivals after 1800
that Americans would
come to call ‘the Second Great Awakening” (Christianity In America, p173)
Think about this. Sometimes, the best way to understand how a crime was
committed, is to figure
out how you would commit the crime. If you were Satan, would you try and convince the children of man that Christ does not exist? That
certainly would be
your ultimate goal, but that attempt alone would be foolish. It would have only
limited success as only
a few of the would be followers would accept that teaching. With not a high
probability of success
with that tactic, the only other real way to derail Christ would be to mislead
the children of man,
therefore, leading them away from the true teachings of Christ. How better to do
that, than to create
confusion? How better to create confusion than to introduce multiple beliefs,
coupled with the belief
that Christ has no true church?
What do we have today? Confusion? Multiple beliefs?
What is the given answer for the confusion and multiple beliefs?
Christ has no true church!
People sometimes ask, “Well, if there is one true church and if this is it, then
why did God wait so
long to restore it? Why didn’t he restore it sooner?” Like when? There was no
such thing as religious
freedom until the early 1800's. Not even in America! Karen Zeinert wrote a book
called, “The Salem
Witchcraft Trials.” On p.29 she says, “Once a government was established, [in
the new America] the
Puritan leaders concentrated on keeping settlers faithful...those disagreeing
with this way of life
including Quakers...were not welcome.” Their bazaar beliefs and wild accusations
resulted in nineteen
people being killed in the Salem witch hunts of 1692. Similar incidents occurred
in other early
American communities. All in the name of Christianity! Plain and simply put,
there was much religious
intolerance. Many communities broke up and friends became enemies over religion.
America didn’t
even become a country until 1782. Even then, it wasn’t fully recognized by other
countries until after
the battle of 1812, where we defeated the British at sea. Until then, European
countries pirated our
ships and looked at us as land that could be taken by the serious taker. It was
only after the battle of
1812, (1815) that we gained world status as a real country.
Joseph Smith was born in 1805. He received his first vision in 1820, just five
years after the end of
the Battle of 1812, five years after our world recognition as a real country. It
was only ten years after
that, that the Church was restored. And if you will remember, there was not much
religious tolerance
then either. A lot of early members of the Church were killed, burned out of
their homes and driven
across several different states, finally to settle in Salt Lake City, Utah in
1847.
So, you tell me! When could have the Lord restored His Church earlier
and the followers have had a chance to survive?
If you study history, you will see that there simply wasn’t a better time to
place the true church back
on the earth. It came at a time when many new churches with many new beliefs
were started. It came
at a time when the idea of religious tolerance began to become more accepted.
Blaine and Brenton Yorgason wrote a fictional book about a true story. The book
is called, The
Greatest Quest. It’s about five friends who start on a quest to find the true
church of Jesus Christ.
In searching through the Bible, they developed a list of teachings, ordinances,
beliefs and practices
the true church would have. Time separates them but they all continue their
search. One by one, and
all on their own, all but one who was killed in war, found their way to one
particular church and
joined it. The Church? ...The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
“If you were to look at a set of blueprints for a building, it would identify
all the details of
one specific structure...There may be others that are very similar, but because
of the individual
detail required for a particular location, a specific set of plans will fit only
one building...Down
through the ages, Christ’s words have been interpreted many different ways by
many different
people. As a result, hundreds of churches have been started, to teach the
different interpretations
of Christ’s Gospel...Just as an architect’s plans for a building are specific,
and are exactly right for
only one structure, so also are God’s plans for His true church...a careful
reading of
the Bible will clearly identify specific characteristics of Christ’s true
church.”
Henry L. Whiffen
At the end of Yorgason’s book, he has:
10 pages that list:
42 points or precepts that the Bible shows God taught.
182 Bible scriptural references that shows God taught those 42 precepts.
The big question is, “Guess which church teaches all 42 precepts?” ...There is
one. The Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Some Christian religions believe in baptism
by sprinkling, some by
immersion, some do not believe it’s needed at all. Some baptize infants. Some
won’t and on and on
go the differences. ...Think, ...Could Christ really be the author of all this
confusion?
How can one’s mind accept the fact that Christ is so organized
and precise throughout the world, the solar system, the universe
and yet is so unorganized in His teachings to us?
Think about it! Unless Christ was wrong the first time, His church today would
have to have the same
beliefs and structure as it did before. And, it would have to profess to the
world to be the true Church
of Jesus Christ. One that does not profess that, is saying by it’s very
omission, that it’s not the true
church of Jesus Christ! ...How could that not be true?
From Martin Luther on, more and more new Christian religions sprang up. They
were all started by a man, or group of men, who admittedly took issue with the
current teachings of the day. Therefore they decided to break away from the old
church and began teaching religion the way they believed it should be taught.
Only a few claimed they were directed by God to do so. Every new Christian
religion started that way ...except one. There is only one church in the entire
world, one religion of any kind, that the founder said it began with a vision
from God The Father and His Son Jesus Christ. A church where the founder said he
saw and talked with Jesus Christ and His angels. A founder who said he was given
the keys of the kingdom and that he did as he was directed to do. A founder who
brought the world the Book of Mormon, a second testament of the divinity of
Jesus Christ. There is no other church in the world that can say that. Not one,
except The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. That in itself is a most
interesting phenomena not easily explained.
The Teachings of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints
We believe that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is the true
church of Jesus Christ. Listen as I explain why. I think you’ll find it most
interesting! First I need to tell you that we do not use the term "saints" as
the rest of the Christian world does. We do not believe that we are "saints" as
in "saints of sainthood." The word "saints" was used in the Bible to indicate
the followers and believers of Christ. So we use it in the same manner. We are
the members of "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints." Or in other
words, the members of The Church of Jesus Christ of latter-day Followers and
Believers. Each week we attend Church. We are taught from lesson manuals that
are compiled by our leaders in Salt Lake City, Utah, the headquarters for our
Church. Let me give you some examples from our "Gospel Principles" manual. Just
pieces from a few lessons. As you read, listen with your mind and with your
heart.
NOTE: Some of the following information is from the LDS,
Gospel Principles Manual. The
fact that I quoted from this manual is not to say that the LDS Church agrees or
disagrees with any of the opinions of this writer. My sole intent in quoting
from this manual is to show you exactly what we are being taught. The
paragraphs are short excerpts of the subject matter of that lesson. "The
Best Evidence Rule" in court says, "Supply the document for trial!" Like
the other things quoted in this book, these things are quoted for their
evidentiary value only. If I tell you what we are taught, if I tell you what we
believe, then there can be doubt. You could accuse me of lying. But if I show
you what we are taught, if I show you what we believe, then there can be no
doubt.
Thank You For Reviewing the First Half of
Chapter Four
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