Line upon Line

It has been said that the only things that are absolutely certain in this life are death and taxes. For Latter-day Saints the list of certainties is considerably longer.

For instance, we can have every confidence that at sometime or another someone who does not share our faith will tell us that it is presumptuous, narrow-minded, bigoted, and unchristian, for us to suppose that there is but one “true” church and that we are that church.

Every missionary has had countless people tell him that it is not what you believe but how you believe that counts. Sincerity, it appears, far out weighs truth. Ironically, it is often the same people who have been so quick to disregard any possibility of our sincerity counting for anything in the courts of eternal justice and announce that Mormons are not Christians.

Latter-day Saints have often supposed that this represents some kind of misunderstanding. After all, we are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. When we go to church we sing hymns of praise to Christ, we pray in the name of Christ, we partake of the sacrament and thus renew our covenant to take upon us his name, we are taught the principles of his gospel, and are regularly scolded for not being as Christlike as we should or perhaps could be.

The issue has nothing to do with our faith in Christ or the fact that our system of worship is entirely Christ centered. The issue with those who declare that we are not Christian is that we do not embrace their creeds or in some instances we do not embrace their interpretation of the Bible.

No True Church — Just a False One

From what we are being told, it would appear that there is no one true church but there is a false one that is easily identified because it is the one that holds that there must be one true and living church. Now we are left to figure out why any particular church would oppose the idea that there ought to be but one true church.

It is at this point that the plot thickens. For Latter-day Saints the idea that there is but one true church traces itself back to the First Vision, when the Father and the Son appeared to Joseph Smith in response to his question as to which church he should join.

The idea did not come from Joseph Smith; it came from Christ. It is a little hard to suppose that a fourteen-year-old boy was thinking seriously about starting his own church and telling the whole world that they needed to join it.  

When we meet in some future day can you imagine telling Joseph Smith that he was not a Christian, when he is the first man since the writers of the Bible fell silent to whom Christ personally appeared?

Has earth ever known anyone more faithful and loyal to the testimony of Christ than Joseph Smith?  

Can you imagine telling the man chosen in the councils of heaven to bring forth a book of scripture that testifies of Christ as none other ever written has that he is not Christian?

Can you imagine telling Joseph Smith that you have a more perfect understanding of the canon of scriptures than he did when Adam, Enoch, Abraham, Noah, Moses, Elijah, John the Baptist, Peter, James, and John, among others from ancient times, all personally appeared to him and instructed him in the principles they taught during their mortal ministries?

Nor is this all, each of these men laid their hands on his head and blessed him with the power and authority that was theirs during their mortal ministries. What theological school can match that kind of experience or training?

Joseph Smith’s Advantage

The world can profess to know their Bible; Joseph Smith knew its authors. The world can profess to believe in Christ; Joseph Smith talked with Christ as one man talks with another. Ask any child if he would rather have a book about a father or a father. Joseph’s experience was first-hand.

As to the matter of whether there is one true church or many, it must be realized as President Packer pointed out to us that the very supposition that all churches are equal presupposes that the true church does not exist, that it cannot be found anywhere. It is to say that there are no truths of salvation and that truth is not a requisite of heaven.

It is to say that God does not care what you do or what you believe. To say that heaven is open to all is simply to say that there is no heaven and that if there is a God he either lacks the power or the wisdom to reward righteousness and punish wickedness.

The fact that the temporal world in which we live is governed by laws, laws that apply alike to all humankind, testifies that chaos does not and cannot rule in higher realms. Where there are no laws, there can be no existence. Only an organization that teaches obedience to the laws of heaven can enjoy the approbation of heaven.

Salvation cannot be found in both truth and error. Let us consider a few simple questions. Is there a law in the universe that governs all things? Do we have to obey the law to obtain the desired results in all fields of activity? In the field of mathematics is it possible for ten people to add the same column of figures and come up with ten different answers and all of them be correct?

Is Everything Equal?

To those who act offended that we would say there is but one true and living church, we might ask if these same people would, when sick, be willing to take any randomly selected combination of drugs to cure what ails them or administer the same to their children?  Would they substitute sand for flour when baking bread, arguing that as long as they were sincere, it could not possibly make any difference? Would they fill their gas tank with water, arguing that it too was a true liquid and was also a creation of God and that God loved all liquids the same?

Can a group of chemists set out to make a given substance all using different materials or using materials in different portions, and still arrive at the same results? Can we drop a weight from a high tower expecting a different result each time we drop it?

Knowing that laws govern all that we do in this temporal world, can we not suppose that laws in like manner govern all that happens in the eternal world? Can there be existence of any kind if there are no laws? And if such laws exist, can we suppose that we may lay claim to the blessings of heaven while we disregard the laws of heaven? If such laws declare that no unclean thing can enter the presence of God, can we justifiably suppose that we can enjoy his presence in a state of filthiness or rebellion?

It may be argued that we do not have the truth, that we do not possess the plan of salvation or the authority of the priesthood, but to argue that such a plan and the necessary priesthood does not exist anywhere is to argue against the existence of God. It is an argument of despair given birth in a dark corner of hell. It is to say that there are no laws by which we might obtain the blessings of heaven. It is to concede that there is no sure path that we can follow in an attempt to obtain the treasures of heaven. It is to liken the plan of salvation to a lottery.

To say that all churches are equally true is to say that all paths lead to the same place. It is to say there is no agency, no power of action, no right of choice. It is to say that inactivity is to be as valued as activity, that ignorance is to be as valued as intelligence, that good has no supremacy over evil, and that Christ is no better than the devil.

Let us consider why the “one true church” doctrine is so offensive to some. If we start with the premise, as the traditional Christian world does, that God is incomprehensible – that no one can know anything about him with certainty – then you can be tolerant with all manner of views about God irrespective of how ridiculous they may be. The only view that you could not tolerate would be one of certainty. That is someone coming along and saying the plan of salvation isn’t a matter of uncertainty or speculation, God can be known, he does speak, and there is a sure path that he has marked out for us to follow.

An Inconvenience for Many

To declare such a doctrine makes you the skunk at the picnic. If you are right, everyone must repent; everyone must conform their thinking, their faith, and their lives to accord with the will of God. Be assured that anyone not interested in so conforming, must of necessity act offended to the very idea of the existence of such a path.

When we say that we are the only “true and living church upon the face of the earth,” we are simply saying that we have been entrusted with the knowledge of those laws or truths by which salvation comes. We make no pretense to being better than any one else except as those laws make us better and that again is what we seek to share.

The doctrine of one true church is a difficult matter to address because it is an emotional one. People forget we are talking about organizations and not about some dear friend of theirs. In announcing this doctrine the Lord is fully aware that “there are many yet on the earth among all sects, parties, and denominations, who are blinded by the subtle craftiness of men, whereby they lie in wait to deceive, and who are only kept from the truth because they know not where to find it (D&C 123:12).”

That the world is full of good people is the very reason that we seek to take the gospel to those of every nation, kindred, and tongue. Whatever the goodness it will prove itself by preparing those of whom we speak to accept the gospel when it comes to them. Goodness is not a substitute or an excuse for not accepting the gospel; it is the blossom that foreshadows the fruit that is to come.

While the concept of one true church seems a tough doctrine, it is a good one. We simply do not argue that all doctors are the same, that all medicines are the same, that all exercise is the same, that all food is the same. No one takes offense at such announcements. How strange it is that we take offense at their spiritual counterparts.

Nothing, Lehi taught us, exists save it has its counterpart. There can be no good save there is that which is bad. There can be no righteousness save there is that which is evil. We can know no light save there is darkness. Success exists only were there is the possibility to fail. Courage exists only where there is the temptation to flee with the cowards. There can be truth only if there is that which is untrue. The two are not interchangeable; they do not and cannot bring forth the same fruits.

Joseph Smith taught us that the God of heaven ordained laws and brought order from chaos. His laws are irrevocable; they cannot be repealed nor do they change with the weather. They stand as he does forever the same. Only with the existence of such absolutes can any rational and intelligent being exercise faith in him.

A God who changes is no God at all and all truths that flow from him must like him be timeless and changeless. Only then can we have agency or the power of action. Only then can we be responsible for our own choices and our own destiny. Only then can good be rewarded and evil punished.

Thus the one true church concept becomes a sweet and assuring doctrine. It is simply an extension of the doctrine that God is a God of order, that there are laws in heaven. Those who argue against it argue against the existence of God and his Son. They argue against the reality of the atonement whereby Christ mends the broken law. Thus they argue against Christianity and become enemies of all truth.