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Which church is true?Only one true church? According to teachings by Joseph Smith and a Book of Mormon prophet called Nephi, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the only true church of Jesus Christ on the earth today. All the other churches (and one may include all other religions) are classified as the "church of the devil." Doctrine and Covenants 115:4 says, "For thus shall my church be called in the last
days, even The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints."
Doctrine and Covenants 1:30 says, "And also those to whom these commandments were
given, might have power to lay the foundation of this church, and to bring it forth out of
obscurity and out of darkness, the only true and living church upon the face of the whole
earth, with which I, the Lord, am well pleased, speaking unto the church collectively and
not individually." Joseph Smith taught that the house for the work of the Presidency (and one may assume
Mormon Temples too) were not to have any unclean thing (sinful being) enter therein.
For if any unclean thing did so, the glory of God and His presence would not come
into it (Doctrine and Covenants 94:9)
It would appear that some Mormons agree with what their church teaches while other members do not. "But so far as the Latter-day Saints are concerned, the majority of them will not turn from the faith of their fathers" (Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, volume 1, page 244). "We are laboring in the direction of eternal life and progression. There is no variance among the teachers in Israel concerning the principles of the gospel. We are united concerning these things. There is no division among the authorities, and there need be no division among the the people" (ibid, pages 245-246). But when we carefully examine Mormon teachings, we find there is some great division - even among Presidents of the LDS Church both past and present.
According to a Mormon booklet called, "The Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ," The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is said to be a restored church and not a reformation movement. In the definition statement, it writes, "Restoration differs from reformation in that to reform means to modify an existing organization or practice in an effort to return it to its original state, while to restore means to reestablish or renew the original organization or practice in its entirety" (p. 19). When you study the original church in the Bible as it was growing, you will see a mention of 12 Apostles. But when you read a sermon called "Looking Back and Moving Forward" (178th General Conference held in April 2008), it writes, "On Saturday, February 2, 2008, funeral services for President Hinckley were held in this magnificent Conference Center - a building which will ever stand as a monument to his foresight and vision. During the funeral, beautiful and loving tributes were paid to this man of God. The following day, all 14 ordained Apostles living on the earth assembled in an upper room of the Salt Lake Temple." Did you notice that? On February 2 there were 14 living Apostles. When Mr. Hinckley was alive he was another living Apostle, thus making a total of 15. This is a clear example showing that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is not a restored church of the original. You may even want to look into the Book of Mormon. There is no mention of there being more than 12 Apostles. Also, there is no office of the Seventy in the church that Jesus is said to have established somewhere in the Americas according to those believe in the Book of Mormon. There is some thinking that Apostles were very special witnesses of Christ who had physically seen Him and that when they died, no others were chosen as replacements. One thing that Latter-day Saints have in common with Roman Catholics is that they believe Peter is the head of the church based on him receiving the keys to bind and loose in Matthew 16:19. What they fail to realize is that all the disciples received the keys of binding and loosing - see Matthew 18:1-3,18. This is a common error by some religious groups - but not one that you would expect from someone who does a careful study of the Bible. Oddly enough, the keys of binding and loosing are not even mentioned in the churches of the Book of Mormon.
When you dig deeper into LDS theology, you actually discover 3 main churches. The first (general) church is, as was discussed above, called The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The second church is the church of the devil (1 Nephi 14:10). The third church is called "the church of the Firstborn." The LDS Church believes that this other church is made up of the gods and goddesses who dwell in the presence of the Mormon Heavenly Father as kings, queens, priests and priestesses (Doctrine and Covenants 76:54,56,62,66,71). Mormons who do not reach exaltation will not be a part of this church. Brigham Young University has a more in-depth study about this in the Encyclopedia of Mormonism:
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