Mormon Church Leaders Visit Rome

15 March

Recently the leaders of the Mormon Church visited Rome to dedicate one of their newest temples. This is a big deal for the Church because as you know this city is the heart of the Catholic Church.

As a Mormon, I can remember the feelings my fellow Mormons had towards Biblical Christianity and Catholics not being very friendly. So I can only imagine the thoughts these Mormon leaders were thinking as they spent time in Rome.

From the very beginning of the Mormon Church, the church members were taught how they should view Christian religions. Joseph Smith told anyone who would listen to his so-called vision he had of  Jesus and God the Father visiting him and telling him all the churches were corrupt and an abomination in their sight (Joseph Smith History 1:18-20).

His feelings of animosity toward the body of Christ and the Catholic church continued as shown in his future writings, along with the writings of other Mormon leaders. In many church publications and “scriptures” these churches are condemned and called the “whore of Babylon”, or the great abominable church.

Orson Pratt said –

“Both Catholics and Protestants are nothing less than the “whore of Babylon” whom the Lord denounces… as having corrupted all the earth by their fornications and wickedness.” The Seer, Vol.2, No.4, p.255

In the Book of Mormon 1 Nephi 14:10 reads 

“Behold there are save two churches only; the one is the Church of the Lamb of God and the other is the church of the devil; wherefore whoso belongeth not to the church of the lamb of God belongeth to that great church; which is the mother of abominations; and she is the whore of all the earth.”

Although Bruce McConkie didn’t go as far as to call all other churches a whore, he did however still condemn them saying –

“Doctrine…True doctrines are always found in the Lord’s true Church because the channel of communication between God and his people is open. False doctrines abound in churches which deny contemporary revelation and consequently have no sure way of checking various views and concepts to see if they conform to the mind and will of Deity. There is, of course, much truth in all churches, but those churches which do not have the fulness of the gospel, have much error and falsehood intermingled with such truths as they happen to have. And the fulness of salvation can come to those only who believe and conform to the fulness of the Lord’s revealed doctrines.” Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, 147.

The meeting inspired Russell M. Nelson to post a picture of himself along with his counselors and his twelve apostles on Twitter with the comment

“The Lord stands at the head of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,” “As modern-day apostles of Jesus Christ, the message we share today is the same that apostles shared long ago — that God lives, that Jesus is the Christ, that this is his church.”

The picture is of a statue of Jesus Christ, and his apostles, with the Mormon leaders standing in front of them. The arrogance of these men never ceases to amaze me. As I look at the picture and consider his comment, I found myself wondering, is he comparing himself to Jesus Christ? He’s certainly comparing the Mormon apostles to those of Jesus Christ.

The gospel Jesus taught his apostles to share with the world is nothing like the gospel of Mormonism. It sickens me every time I hear Mormons refer to their Church as “the only true church”, ie their church being “his church”. I find it to be very deceptive. Jesus didn’t come to earth to establish a church, he came to save souls, and to pay the price of our sins so we won’t have to pay for them ourselves.

They continue to perpetuate the lie that we still need prophets and apostles to guide us. The true prophets pointed the people to Jesus Christ, declared his coming and what that would mean for the people. The apostles of Jesus Christ shared his gospel with everyone. This wasn’t the gospel taught by Mormons today.

It had nothing to do with being baptized in the Mormon Church, or holding the priesthood, nothing to do with temple works and attending it regularly, or with baptisms for the dead.

Jesus said nothing about avoiding tea and coffee, of following a prophet and obeying his words. You won’t find anything about paying a tithe of 10% or doing your family ancestry so you can perform salvational works for the dead either in what Jesus taught. I could go on and on, but I think you get my point.

The gospel Jesus taught is very simple, you are to repent of your sins, and know you are forgiven, choose to follow him, love God and your neighbor. We are to look to the cross for our salvation and know it’s because of what occurred there that we have eternal life. Mormons abhor the cross, I learned this the first Sunday I attended a meeting.

I remember receiving many stares and being told I shouldn’t wear a cross necklace by more than one person. I was told I shouldn’t be focused on the cross because (and I quote) “we (Mormons) don’t worship the Christ who died there, we worship the living Christ.”

This is just one reason I can point to among many, of why the Mormon Church will never be “his church”. They have no regard for what he endured for us on the cross. Instead, they look to the works they perform in the temple as a means for their salvation and exaltation into godhood.

They look to their works, and what they can do to make themselves worthy of this honor. They laugh at the belief that we are saved my grace because they have been taught they are “saved after all they can do.” It’s hard for them to comprehend not having to do something for their salvation.

It’s a religion that is man-centered, according to their doctrines, they are the ones who receive the glory and honor in the end. In Christianity, Jesus is the one who receives the glory and honor for the “good works” we do.

As 1 Corinthians 10:31 reads, everything we do, we do for his glory. God’s word tells us about the different crowns/rewards believers can receive in heaven, and how we will cast these crowns/rewards at the feet of Jesus because only he is truly worthy of them. However, in Mormonism, we see a different picture, one where the individual is holding all those rewards in their arms and walking away from Jesus, as they go off to be exalted to godhood.

The Mormon leaders have hidden nothing when it comes to how they view churches other than their own. Their goal has, and will always be to convert the world to Mormonism, even those in Rome.

In Christ,
Melissa Grimes

Reference-

Deseret News – Mormon leaders in Rome

Joseph Smith History 1:18-20

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