Question
Gramps,
I admire what the Mormon Church stands for and the principles that is promotes in our society. I believe in an intelligent supreme power or force. What I cannot comprehend is the Mormon church saying that it is the only completely true church. I am very familiar with the origin of the church and many of its gospel doctrines. I have a son that is serving a mission in the Philippines. What gives the Mormon Church its claim on being the only true church? Thanks.
Murray
Answer
Dear Murray,
That is a very good question that is on the minds of many people. However, there are some very clear and definitive answers to it. To be able to accept the fact that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the only true and living church, one must examine its origins. As you may well know, when the Prophet Joseph Smith was a boy of but fourteen years of age, and himself wondering which one of all the churches were true and which he should join, he went to a grove of trees near his home, knelt down and asked God that very question. In response to his prayer both God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ appeared before him. The Father introduced His Son with these words, This is my beloved son, hear him! Joseph reported that in answer to the question of which church he should join he was told by the Lord that he should join none of them, that they were all wrong and that their creeds were an abomination in the sight of the Lord. He was told, they draw near me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me, they teach for doctrines the commandments of men, having a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof.
The Lord subsequently restored to the earth through the prophet Joseph Smith His church and kingdom, revealing again to man the true and pure doctrines of salvation and restoring to earth again the requisite priesthood authority to preach the gospel and administer in the ordinances thereof. From the days of Joseph Smith to the present the Church has been presided over by a prophet who has been called of God to act in His name in directing the affairs of His kingdom. The Church remains a vital, vibrant, living organization, providing the means of salvation to all who will listen, and who will accept and adopt the principles and practices upon which salvation depends.
Now, let’s take a minute to examine the plethora of churches with some rationality. If two churches preach two different doctrines that are at variance with one another, it would seem that at most only one of them could be true. For instance, either baptism is essential to salvation or it is not. If it is not essential, those who preach that it is are wrong, and could not be considered to be God’s church. On the other hand, if baptism is essential to salvation, those who preach that baptism may be beneficial but not essential to salvation are wrong. Two conflicting doctrines cannot both be true. Thus it seems logical to conclude that there can never be more than one true church. Either only one church is true or none are.
To know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the true church of God, one must first ask God, as did Joseph Smith; then one must put into practice the principles of salvation that have been revealed to God’s prophets. When one is in compliance with the principles of salvation, the Holy Ghost will witness to the person that the church is indeed true. Thus, the knowledge that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the kingdom of God on earth is given as a personal revelation to all those who live its principles and appeal to Deity for that sacred knowledge.
Gramps
