" But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed.
As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed." - Galatians 1:8-9
A Prophet or a Liar?
A picture of a stained glass representation from 1913 of Joseph Smith's "First Vison" graced the cover of the October 17th issue of Newsweek. The magazine commemorated the anniversary of the birth of Joseph Smith, the founder of the Mormon church - or, as it is called, "the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints" - Which identifies it as being different from THE church of Jesus Christ, which is based on the the "faith which was once for all delivered to the saints." (Jude vs. 3)
Newsweek gives a brief biography of Joseph Smith's life:
"Turning to the family Bible, Smith came to a verse in James that struck him powerfully: "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God ... and it shall be given him." Inspired, Smith went into a grove of trees to pray. As he began, a dark force seized him—until, Smith said, God himself intervened. 'At this moment of great alarm," Smith recalled, "I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me." God and Jesus appeared and delivered a startling message: he shouldn't join any of the churches of the world, for they had long ago fallen away from Christ's true Gospel.'"
So Joseph Smith started his own church. Now that church is one of the fastest growing "denominations" in the world.
There have been many times in my life when I've wanted to do what Joseph Smith did. I've been frustrated with the hypocrisy of some of the churches and other religions that I've been a part of, and have questioned whether or not what I was hearing and seeing was the "true" church of God, or the "real" truth.
Is the Mormon church a return to the true gospel of Jesus Christ? How does one know?
Let me give a very quick response to the first part of the question - NO! My justification for such a strong denial will come from my answer to the second part of the question.
The Value of the Creed
Now, in all fairness to Joseph Smith and his followers - they suffered much personal persecution and condemnation under the abuses of the fundamentalist protestants of their time, and were probably not aware, as is also true of most Christians today, that long before Luther's reformation movement - long before the Roman Catholic church began their practices that drove Luther to rebel, there was a Church that stood undivided with a heritage of transmission of faith from Bishop to Bishop - passed down through the ages, directly from the Apostles that were its first Bishops and Leaders. That Church is today known as the Eastern Orthodox Church. In the formative ages of that first formal Church - there were many council meetings among the Bishops to try and define what the true teachings of the church were - so that they could develop a way of preserving the teachings from corruption and abuse, so that they would remain constant with that which was passed down from the Apostles from Jesus Himself. Out of these council meetings came the carefully worded "Creed" or "Symbol of the Faith."
The Nicene Creed
I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of Heaven and Earth and of all things visible and invisible.
And in the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the only-begotten, begotten of the Father before all ages. Light of light; true God of true God; begotten, not made; of one essence with the Father, by Whom all things were made; Who for us men and for our salvation came down from Heaven, and was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, and became man. And He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered, and was buried. And the third day He arose again, according to the Scriptures, and ascended into Heaven, and sits at the right hand of the Father; and He shall come again with glory to judge the living and the dead; Whose Kingdom shall have no end.
And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Giver of Life, Who proceeds from the Father; Who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified; Who spoke by the prophets.
In one Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins. I look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen.
Before I learned the history of the church - I had thought that the Creed was just a list of things that the church believed. Now I know that it is a very carefully worded validation of the true teachings of Jesus and the Apostles, formulated from the very words and teachings of the Bible and Church Fathers. It serves as a constant reminder of what Christianity teaches about the nature of God the Father, Jesus Christ the Son, and the Holy Spirit, as well as the nature of the Church. It is not just verses that are recited as an act of conformity - but the Creed also serves as protection and guidance against false doctrines and deceptions that can distort the truth and cause harm to those who follow them.
St. John the Apostle wrote letters of warning to the early churches about preserving orthodoxy. (1, 2 and 3, John) - the Creed is a manifestation of that preservation.
Counterfeit Detection
When FBI agents are trained to track down and identify counterfeit currency, one of the first activities is to spend many hours studying in detail the characteristics of real currency. It has been proven that the best way to spot a counterfeit bill is by knowing instinctively what a real one looks like. The same holds true in many other areas of life, not the least of which is in the matters of faith. If one knows what true Christianity "looks" like then one is not likely to be deceived by counterfeit Christianity.
Addendum: When you first looked at the "First Vision" picture above, did you find yourself thinking that God is the man on the right? Why? Is it because he looks like he's the oldest?? Think about that for a minute - !!!!
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