Mormon Coffee

While reading the Book of Revelation I was struck by Jesus’ words regarding the final judgment of those whose names are not written in the Book of Life:

…the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. (21:8)

Jesus here draws a distinction between those who belong to Him — those who will “inherit all things,” who will forever enjoy Him as their God, who will be His sons and daughters — contrasted with those who will not receive blessings but will instead “have their part” in the lake of fire. These will not receive eternal life in God’s presence, but will receive the second death: eternal punishment.

The list of sinful behaviors and attitudes Jesus speaks of reminds me of another list, this one found in LDS scripture. Doctrine and Covenants says:

But [these] received not the gospel, neither the testimony of Jesus,… These are they who are liars, and sorcerers, and adulterers, and whoremongers, and whosoever loves and makes a lie. (76:101, 103)

Several items on the biblical list and the D&C list match:

• unbelieving/received not the gospel
• sexually immoral/adulterers-whoremongers
• sorcerers
• liars

It sounds like both passages are talking about the same group of people. But according to the Bible, Jesus says these people will be finally consigned to the “second death” in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, while Doctrine and Covenants says these people will inherit glory in the Telestial kingdom of God.

Some Mormon leaders, including 10th LDS President Joseph Fielding Smith, have suggested that sinners such as those listed above will spend limited time in the lake of fire and brimstone; they will be released as heirs of salvation after they have sufficiently suffered for their sins. However, Mr. Smith wrote:

Spiritual death is defined as a state of spiritual alienation from God — the eternal separation from the Supreme Being; condemnation to everlasting punishment is also called the second death. In other words, the second or spiritual death,…is the final judgment passed upon the wicked… (Doctrines of Salvation 2:217)

In Mormonism there seems to be some variance of opinion on exactly what “second death” is, who is deserving of it, and how long it lasts. But in Christianity — historically — the second death has been understood to be final, permanent, and hopeless. In Revelation Jesus contrasts the second death with eternal life. Those who have been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb receive the gift of eternal life, while those who have died in their sins receive their part — the consequence of being an enemy of God — which is eternal damnation.

But according to Mormonism, after the wicked dead come to their senses and repent, after they suffer for their sins for a sufficient time, they will receive an eternal home in glory. This glory, which they have earned by personally paying for their sins (see Doctrine and Covenants Student Manual Religion 325-325, 204), is described in LDS writings. The inhabitants of the Telestial kingdom will delight in an existence of far greater comfort and enjoyment than anything available on earth; a glory beyond mortal understanding. There will be no death, disease, infirmity, taxes, wars, bills or menial labor. The people will be free to socialize, travel and learn (Victor Ludlow, Principles and Practices of the Restored Gospel,240-241). In fact, Joseph Smith reportedly said,

The telestial kingdom is so great, if we knew what it was like we would kill ourselves to get there. (see Richard Neitzel Holzapfel,The Heavens Are Open, The 1992 Sperry Symposium of the Doctrine and Covenant and Church History, 155)

According to Mormonism, those deserving of the Telestial kingdom have lived their lives in open rebellion against God. They have hearts that are hard and cold when it comes to Christ. They are not just misguided people who have given in to the temptations of sin more often than not; they have “refused to worship the true and living God” (LDS Apostle Bruce McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, 778).

Even if it were possible for dead people to pay their own sin debt by suffering for a finite period of time (it is not), after their debt is paid they remain what they have always been at their core: enemies of God. This is something Mormonism misses. It’s not just about what we do, but about what we are.

Jesus did not come only to pay the penalty for our sins; He came to make us new creatures. He came to take away our guilt and bestow on us His righteousness. The Apostle Paul wrote,

• He made Him [Christ Jesus] who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (2 Corinthians 5:21)
• Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. (2 Corinthians 5:17)

Because of Christ’s righteousness, the sinner who places faith in Him becomes righteous before God.

Spending time in prison does not change a hardened criminal into a law-abiding citizen. During his prison sentence he works off his debt to society; he may even resolve to “go straight” in order to avoid future punishment. But he isn’t changed from the inside out — not unless God intervenes and makes him a new creature.

And being a new creature is what Jesus talks about in the Book of Revelation. He says,

Behold, I make all things new…It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son. But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. (21:5-8)

Seeing how Jesus puts it, it doesn’t sound to me like that second set of people are bound for eternal glory. He who has an ear to hear, let him hear.

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All the hustle and bustle of the anticipated Holiday
is quickly closing nigh,
And many frazzled shoppers can at last let out
a collective great big sigh,Their present-buying is done and all the
cards are finally addressed,
The children have been put to bed as it’s time
for them to get some rest.

Most of the world now awaits Santa Claus,
he’s flying through the air,
He and his reindeer will deliver what all the
elves have made to share.

So as everyone’s heads hit the pillows on this
quiet Christmas Eve night,
Not a creature is stirring, and even the tiny mice
are sleeping out of sight.

Many people are merely dreaming about what
the Jolly Fat Man can lift,
Yet Someone more special is wanting to deliver
a different kind of gift.

What kind of gift, you might ask? It’s something
that can never get broken,
You would never have to wait in a return line,
it’s much more than a token.

While the presents under the tree last usually an hour
or two, maybe three,
What I am talking about goes on and on and actually
right into eternity.

But just like the fake Rolex on the corner many
charlatans want to imitate,
They will say this “gift” is what you work for,
hurry up before it’s too late.

What if I pull out my wallet when I get a gift,
what would the giver surmise?
No, we understand that a gift is a gift,
this should not be a great big surprise.

And this is the way it is with the Babe
who came to us in a smelly old stable,
Yet how unfortunate that so many consider this
to be just an annual fable.

Immanuel, given to us two thousand years ago
cannot be purchased in a mall,
This one–born, lived, and died before He was resurrected–
offers a Gift to all.

Truly if we open up our hearts and receive this Gift –
Jesus Christ to the earth,
There is nothing I consider more valuable
or anything that has a greater worth.

Without the Father’s grace, mercy, and love,
all of us share an eternally bad fate,
But receivers of the priceless Gift, it’s heaven we get,
how amazing we now rate!

So this Christmas Eve, when everything is finished
and you lay your heads down,
Remember the Gift given to those who believe,
this is what they call Paradise Found.

Of the Father’s Love Begotten
by Aurelius Clemens Prudentius (348-413 AD)

Of the Father’s love begotten,
Ere the worlds began to be,
He is Alpha and Omega,
He the Source, the Ending He,
Of the things that are, that have been,
And that future years shall see,
Evermore and Evermore!

O ye heights of heaven adore Him;
Angel hosts, His praises sing;
Powers, dominions, bow before Him,
And extol our God and King!
Let no tongue on earth be silent,
Every voice in concert ring,
Evermore and Evermore!

Christ, to Thee with God the Father,
And, O Holy Ghost, to Thee,
Hymn and chant and high thanksgiving
And unwearied praises be:
Honor, glory, and dominion,
And eternal victory,
Evermore and Evermore!

Larry Burkdall certainly understands the effectiveness of the World Wide Web. Burkdall, the president of the Latter-day Foundation for the Arts, Education and Humanity, recently made a plea on “The Collegiate Entrepreneurs’ Organization of BYU” blog site asking for assistance in the organization’s new effort to “drive down Church enemies from prominent search engine positions” and “teach the gospel of Jesus Christ via the Internet.” Burkdall concedes that the Internet has become a formidable opponent to the Mormon Church’s missionary efforts when he writes:

A missionary in England reported his “golden” contact excitedly consulting the Internet about Mormons after the first discussion. The investigator found a mountain of anti-Mormon material and immediately cancelled all future appointments with the missionaries…The LDS Church tracks about 6,500 anti-LDS Web sites in the English language, whose content dominates search results. Thousands more dominate search engine positions in other languages. Potential converts are abandoning the missionaries once they consult the Internet for more information. Only vast quantities of positive material, correctly optimized, can resolve this problem. We cannot drive the enemies of the Church off the Internet, but we can displace their prominent positions.

Now I admit I have a hard time believing that the LDS Church actually has personnel tracking 6,500 web sites. Perhaps they do. Regardless, I personally find this to be quite encouraging. However, if my mail is any indication, Burkdall’s concerns are not at all surprising. I regularly receive emails from angry Mormons who insist that people should not be getting their information on Mormonism from sites like mrm.org (regardless of the fact that much of what we quote is taken directly from LDS sources). For some reason, a lot of Mormons do not want people reading stuff published by their own church.

Anyway, Burkdall’s call for the Cavalry resulted in a serious backfire. The great majority of the comments posted on this blog were not encouraging at all. Instead, most of them were sharp rebukes, many from former Mormons who were BYU grads. Comments included:

• “For people investigating the LDS Church, the Internet is their best friend, not some naive 19 year old missionary. If the LDS Church is true then why is not the advent of the Internet increasing conversion rates rather than decreasing them? Cults can not stand the light of the noon day sun, thus the bright light of the Internet magnifies the bizarre nature of Mormonism and its sordid history. A few clicks Googling Mormonism and the wise person will flee for their spiritual life. I clicked a few times, woke up, smelled the Postum and officially resigned my Mormon membership shortly after the Internet was born. I am a BYU alumnus.”
• “I resisted posting when I was first referred to this site. But, given two of the posts above, perhaps it won’t be futile to add my ideas. I am also a BYU alumnus. I also have resigned my membership in the LDS church (after being a BIC member of over 60 years at the time of my resignation.) And, the Internet was instrumental in my disengagement and subsequent disaffiliation. It strikes me that your purpose, as noble as it may be, is oriented more toward “marketing” than it is toward ‘product.” As long as the missionary program, whether live or via the internet, relies upon marketing strategies and ignores the product, it is bound to fail. Unlike the LDS church, which has tens of thousands of representatives (missionaries) trying to sell its product, those who are “anti-Mormon” (your words, not mine) rely almost entirely on the internet, or the printed word. While you are stressing ‘marketing’, your opposition is concentrating almost entirely on ‘content.’ No ‘business plan’ in the world is going to succeed at making a ’sow’s ear’ appear to be a ’silk purse.’ All in my opinion, of course.”
• “This reminds me of when Joseph Smith led a mob to destroy a printing press that revealed his secretive practice of polygamy (which led to his imprisonment at Carthage). You can attack the sources of unconvenient facts, but it just makes you look more like a cult. In the end, your attempts to stop free intercourse of ideas will only lead to unintended consequences. As an M.B.A., I suggest you open up more by responding to the information that you view as false more openly, as opposed to trying to remove your opponent’s information. The latter makes you look like a cult. You can’t stop the dissemination of information, and you shouldn’t try.”
• “What does manipulating search engine results have to do with Arts, Education or Humanity. Sounds like you don’t want people to exercise their free agency by gathering information before committing time, money and their soul to a questionable multi-level marketing scheme…errr…’church’”
• “You are arranging deck chairs on the Titanic if you think this is going to be of any service in keeping people from finding out the truth about the Pearl of Great Price, the Kinderhook Plates, and Joseph Smith’s zeal in pursuing married women when their husbands where on missions. As a BYU alum, I would encourage you to put your talents to use in making a difference in the real world, rather than trying to get higher search results trying to prop up the Church’s sanitized view of history.”
• “I agree with the others who point out that the problem is not so much with anti-Mormons fighting the LDS Church. Instead it is the LDS Church’s failure to address its history in an adequate and honest manner that is the problem. If I were you I would invest some effort into that. What you suggest doing here is dishonorable. Destroying the Nauvoo Expositor was one of the two stupidest things Joseph Smith ever did. Don’t repeat his error in letter or in spirit. If you believe in something many people consider crazy, simply have the guts to own up to it. If you don’t believe it, don’t sell the edited list of your beliefs to others as though it were the whole story. I am sorry that the LDS Church cannot be clear about its position on history. I know it makes your life and their job that much more difficult.”
• “In my opinion, looking at a topic from varying points of view is healthy. It provides the researcher with a broad foundation of knowledge and when they reach a certain conclusion they ‘know’ they have solid information to back it up, in addition to whatever they ‘know’ in their heart. An acquaintance once said, ‘The truth should withstand scrutiny.’ What is the church afraid of? If the church were true, it wouldn’t be so worried about it. I’m a BYU grad, returned missionary, etc, and I left the church not because of anything I read online but because I didn’t like the temple ceremony and I read a book by a Mormon that gave me even more reasons not to like it.”
• “i like the plan. well actually, what i like is the fact that someone on an ‘anti-mormonism’ site linked me here.”
• “if there are instances where these sites are presenting false information, by all means, point them out. lets get the facts straight and lets remedy the misinformation with truths. but please, dont insult millions of internet users, mormons and search engine operators with your little gimmick of an attempt to game the system by sanitizing history and perpetuating the lies.”
• “Go for it! Then I’ll laugh when I read media articles documenting how you tried to game the system to hide sanitized history and all the science refuting the Book of Mormon. The more the publicity the better, as the LDS Church withers under the spotlight. I’m also BIC, RM, BYU B.S. and M.Ed. alum, temple married, and active, until I started researching the lies, and subsequently left.”
• “Barkdull is not willing to let the natural course of things play out but wishes to artificially manipulate the superficial appearances of search engines to deceitful ends — another example of what the church is underneath. It was fascinating to learn the “. . . Church tracks about 6,500 anti-LDS Web sites.” It’s so comforting to know Big Brother is watching. Perhaps it is tactics like this that is producing the backlash of members resigning enmasse and thousands of websites springing up to expose these nefarious deeds. It is perhaps asking for too much that rather than trying to cover up the church’s dark underbelly Barkdull instead demand the church open its dark history, and its financial secrets, and turn from being a heartless, paranoid corporation to actually being, perhaps for the first time, an actual Christ-centered church!”

Ouch! Needless to say the page has now been taken down and replaced with a sermon by the late Mormon Apostle Neil Maxwell on the subject of repentance. Repentance? Do you think there is some irony here? Who should be repenting? The people who are trying to make it easier to hear both sides of the issue? Or the ones wanting to make it more difficult?

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by Sharon

Here it is again. The LDS Church has once again been confronted with concerns from the Jewish community over the Church’s inclusion of Holocaust victims and survivors in the LDS International Genealogical Index.

On Monday, as reported by the Los Angeles Times, the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles demanded the LDS Church remove the name of late Jewish leader Simon Wiesenthal from the Index. The name was only recently discovered in the Church’s database, which is used for tracking vicarious LDS temple ordinances performed by Church members in order to enable deceased persons to become Mormons in the afterlife.

The LA Times reports:

“We are astounded and dismayed that after assurances and promises by the Mormon Church that Mr. Wiesenthal’s life and memory, along with so many other Jews, would be trampled and disregarded,” Rabbi Marvin Hier, the Wiesenthal Center’s founder and dean, said in a statement.

“Simon Wiesenthal was one of the great Jews in the post-Holocaust period. He proudly lived as a Jew, died as a Jew, demanded justice for the millions of the victims of the Holocaust and at his request was buried in the state of Israel. It is sacrilegious for the Mormon faith to desecrate his memory by suggesting that Jews on their own are not worthy enough to receive God’s eternal blessing,” Hier added.

The “assurances and promises” to which Rabbi Hier referred are those made (and allegedly broken) by the LDS Church over the last eleven years. In 1995 Jewish leaders and LDS Church representatives met and signed an agreement which sought to prevent the names of Holocaust victims being included in the Church’s genealogical index. In 2002 that agreement was reaffirmed by both parties. In 2003 Jews accused the Church of not honoring the agreement. In 2004 this accusation was restated. In 2005 Jewish leaders met with LDS representatives to express their dismay that the Church had broken the agreement; which the Church denied. In May of 2006 the Jewish community raised the issue again; and now, in December 2006, the name of Simon Wiesenthal is found in the Index. No wonder Rabbi Hier is upset. (For more information on the history of this issue see Mormons Should Try Walking in Jewish Shoes.)

KSL TV out of Salt Lake City, Utah reports:

An official statement from the LDS church says: “In response to a request by the Simon Wiesenthal Center and in accordance with the commitments the Church made in 1995, no Church ordinance was performed for Simon Wiesenthal and his name was immediately removed from the International Genealogical Index.”

There are hundreds of readers’ comments about this story posted on the KSL web site. Many people seem to think the whole story is just persecution against the LDS Church. They think the Jewish community is over-reacting and should get over it rather than give the media something else to criticize involving the LDS Church. One person on the KSL web site remarked to someone with a differing opinion, “What was a positive story for the Church, you are turning into a negative story…” So the LDS Church accidentally baptizes in behalf of Jewish Holocaust victims — “Who cares?” they ask.

The Jewish community cares. Rabbi Heir is quoted in the KSL report:

“We do not charge this was done maliciously.” “But their good intentions is considered by others insulting because to people in our community, it sort of says, ‘We’re the gatekeepers of heaven.’”

According to second LDS President Brigham Young, the “gatekeepers of heaven” are angels who stand as sentinels, requiring “key words” and “signs and tokens” from any who wish to pass by them to gain eternal life (Journal of Discourses 2:31). The only place one can learn the required key words, signs and tokens is in a Mormon temple. And the only people admitted to Mormon temples are worthy Mormons.

Furthermore, Brigham Young taught,

“…no man or woman in this dispensation will ever enter into the celestial kingdom of God without the consent of Joseph Smith. From the day that the Priesthood was taken from the earth to the winding-up scene of all things, every man and woman must have the certificate of Joseph Smith, junior, as passport to their entrance into the mansion where God and Christ are…” (Journal of Discourses 7:289).

So Rabbi Heir is right. The LDS Church does seem to believe it is the gatekeeper of heaven.

But read and understand the wholly trustworthy assurances and promises of Jesus:

“I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep… I am the gate; whoever enters through Me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture. …I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” (John 10:7-9)

An article posted today on the American Spectator’s web site suggests that the LDS Church is worried about the publicity Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign may bring to the Church. “Mormonism in the Spotlight” says,

The Salt Lake City-based Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is growing increasingly concerned about the public-perception hit the presidential candidacy of Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney may have on the Mormon Church.That’s one reason the church is looking at what is being called a “public education” campaign that could reach a budget in the tens of millions in media buys for TV, radio and print.

“There is an expectation that some of the church’s more archaic traditions and obscure points of history will become more widely publicized by Governor Romney’s opponents in an effort to embarrass him and raise doubts about his faith in the minds of the public,” says a New York-based media consultant who has heard buzz of the potential campaign.

Already, the Mormon Church runs a series of radio ads about family issues that are branded as messages from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. There is also a small TV campaign that runs occasionally highlighting the church and some of its faith-based publications.

But the current campaign is of a different sort, one that would be high profile in as much as the church would be openly discussing and clarifying points of the Mormon faith that have long been either misunderstood or misreported.

I, for one, would love it if the LDS Church would “openly discuss” and truthfully clarify points of Mormon doctrine in a public forum. Whether or not the Church really will launch such a campaign remains to be seen, but it’s evident that this strategy is not yet in place.

An article appearing last Sunday at GoUpstate.com (The Spartanburg [SC] Herald-Journal) reports:

One obstacle Romney may face is that while Mormons consider themselves Christians, not all Christians consider Mormons the same way…Benoit Duquette, a stake president in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, hopes that public interest in Romney’s campaign will spur interest in learning more about the church as a whole, and about its beliefs. Duquette oversees seven Mormon congregations in the Upstate, including those in Greenville, Spartanburg, Boiling Springs, Gaffney and Union.

“Once we know that Jesus is the Christ is central, the rest is just an appendage to that knowledge. Everything else revolves around that truth,” Duquette said.

Mr. Duquette, in his remarks as an official representative of the LDS Church, hasn’t helped to clarify Mormon doctrine at all. Instead, he continues promotion of a misunderstanding of Mormon doctrine by stating “Jesus is the Christ” without further explanation.

It’s the same approach Mitt Romney takes when answering questions about his faith. The December 25, 2006 - January 1, 2007 issue of Newsweek begins an article about Governor Romney recounting an October meeting between this presidential-hopeful and evangelical leaders who were gathered together to discuss Governor Romney’s Mormonism.

Richard Lee, a Baptist minister from Cumming, Ga., got to the heart of the matter. What did Romney really believe about Jesus Christ? Romney didn’t hesitate. “When I say Jesus Christ is my Lord and savior, I realize that means something different to you than it does to me,” he admitted. But he urged them to remember their shared beliefs: the faith that Christ was born of a virgin, was crucified and rose after three days. The ministers were pleased.

I’m guessing that if these evangelical ministers understood what LDS leaders have taught about the Virgin Birth they would not be pleased.

Here’s the thing. In follow-up to a BYU student’s earlier letter to the BYU NewsNet Readers’ Forum, this letter appeared in the same Forum on Friday:

In response to the poor confused author of “Not a Christian?” (Dec. 13) who didn’t know if he was Christian, allow me to clear a few things up for this poor guy. Christianity as defined by non-members means that a person believes in doctrines such as the trinity and transubstantiation (the sacrament literally becoming the blood and body of Christ upon consumption).If you were to tell a “Christian” that you were a Christian, you would be wrong, since their definition is different from yours. In the LDS Church, we use the word Christian to define a follower of the gospel of Christ. So, by the Latter-day Saint definition, you are a Christian. But, according to the non-member definition, you are not a “Christian.”

Leslie Kuykendall
Bakersfield, Calif.

That’s the point. Historically, certain Christian terms have been defined and understood in specific and accepted ways. Mormonism came along almost 2,000 years later and chose to incorporate some of these same Christian terms, but define them differently — and not tell the public that they have done so.

So if the LDS Church launches a multi-million-dollar public relations campaign that clarifies what is actually meant when a Church representative says Mormonism proclaims, “Christ was born of a virgin” or “Jesus is the Christ,” I will be happy. I want people to know what official Mormonism is, in order that they may make informed decisions about their potential involvement with that religion. Therefore, until the day the LDS Church is willing to make full disclosure of the teachings of their prophets and apostles and the resulting official doctrines, you’ll find me continuing an honest effort to do it for them.

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