Which, if any, is the "true" Christian church?
The "true" church, according to some Mormons
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The "true" Christian church according to a group of Mormons:
A Mormon site 1 contains a list of 17 Bible references. The
anonymous author(s) believe that these passages define certain features of the true
church. All 17 seem to apply with remarkable accuracy to the LDS church. These points have
been critiqued by Bill McKeever. 2 We found the identical list
at Rapture Ready, a website that attempts to predict the timing of the rapture.
3The list is here attributed
to a group of 5 men at the California Institute of Technology who assembled the
list in the mid-1990's. This group was allegedly made up of an Atheist, Episcopalian,
Methodist, Presbyterian, and Roman Catholic. We include a critique of their 17
points.
[Author's note: A reader of this essay informed us that they had heard an audio tape about this
list perhaps as early as the mid 1970's. The tape was recorded by one of the
original Cal Tech 5.]
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Christ founded the church: Ephesians 4:11-14: "And
he [Jesus] gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some,
pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for
the edifying of the body of Christ...." This is not a useful indicator of the
true church, because every denomination can trace its history back through preceding
organizations to the 1st century. | |
The church's name includes Jesus Christ: Ephesians 5:23:
"For
the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is
the saviour of the body." The passage indicates that Jesus is the head of the
church; it does not state that Jesus' name forms part of the church's name. Again, this is
not a useful indicator of the true church, because every Christian denomination claims
that Jesus is their ultimate head and savior. | |
It must have a foundation of Apostles and Prophets: Ephesians 2:19-20:
"Now
therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints,
and of the household of God; And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and
prophets..." This passages can be interpreted to mean that the true church will
have an organization like that of the LDS Mormon, with official positions named
Apostles and Prophets. But the passage could also be interpreted as a simple comment
by St. Paul on the origins of the church at Ephesus. | |
It must have the same organization as Christ's Church: Ephesians 4:11-14:
(See quotation above)
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The LDS Church, alone among Christian denominations, meets a literal
interpretation of this passage. Their church hierarchy includes apostles
and prophets. Based upon a statement of their founder, Joseph Smith, the
LDS church considers, the office of Patriarch is as equivalent to the
position of Evangelist as referred to in Ephesians. Similarly, members
of the all-male Aaronic Priesthood are considered to be teachers and
pastors. |
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However, many liberal
interpreters 1 view the passage as not referring to
formal job titles within the early New Testament churches. In the time
of Paul, there was no precise church organizational structure that was
shared throughout the movement. Apostles and prophets were often
"ministers with a special vision;" evangelists were traveling
ministers; pastors / teachers were local pastors. |
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Still another belief is promoted by the Roman Catholic church: that
Jesus ordained the apostles who in turn ordained priests. Bishops were
selected from among the priesthood from the earliest days. The titles
mentioned in Ephesians were simply job descriptions for various types of
priests. |
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It must claim divine authority: Hebrews 5:4-10: "And no man
taketh this honour unto himself, but he that is called of God...Though he [Jesus] were a
Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; And being made perfect, he
became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him; Called of God an high
priest after the order of Melchisedec." Jesus was selected by God to be a priest
of the order Melchisedec, just as Mormon males are ordained into the Melchisedec
priesthood. This might be interpreted as giving special stature to the LDS church.
However, other theologians simply interpret the passage as referring to Jesus' selection
by God to be the high priest of all. | |
It must have no paid ministry: Isaiah 45:13: "I have raised
him up in righteousness, and I will direct all his ways: he shall build my city, and he
shall let go my captives, not for price nor reward, saith the LORD of hosts."
and 1 Peter 5:2: "The elders which are among you I exhort...Feed
the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but
willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind." Essentially every
Christian faith group, with the exception of cell churches,
house churches, and very few others, have paid staff.
If these passages were interpreted broadly to require all officials in a faith group too
be volunteers, then almost no denomination could be considered the "true
church." The Isaiah reference is to Cyrus the Persian, head of the Babylonian empire.
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It must baptize by immersion: Matthew 3:13-16: "Then cometh
Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him...And Jesus, when he was
baptized, went up straightway out of the water..." Jesus was baptized by full
immersion. So, apparently, was the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8:38-39. But
of the 32 references to baptism in the New Testament, none specified that new Christians
must be baptized by full immersion; none prohibit "sprinkling". In early
Christendom, both new members and their baptizers were naked during the ritual. No
Christian faith group performs naked baptisms today. If denominations can change the
clothing requirements of the participants, then it can be argued that they can change
other details of the ritual. | |
It must bestow the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands: Acts
8:14-17: "..the apostles...sent unto them Peter and John: Who...laid
they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost." Some faith groups
practice this; others do not. There are passages in the book of Acts which describe
Christians receiving the Holy Spirit without hands being laid upon them. (Acts
4:31; 10:44 & 11:15.). The practice appears to have been optional. | |
It practices divine healing: Matthew 3:14-15: This passage, which
describes Jesus' baptism by John does not seem to refer to divine healing.
Mark
16:18 does: "They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly
thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover."
But this passages appears to be a forgery, added by an unknown
author after Mark was completed. Some faith groups do practice healing. Many others
regarded such miracles as a function of the very early Christian church and not present
today. |
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It teaches that God and Jesus Christ are separate and distinct
individuals: John 17:11: "And now I am no more in the world, but these
are in the world, and I come to thee..." Here, Jesus talks about coming to God.
That might imply that Jesus and God were separate entities. But the verse continues:
"Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they
may be one, as we are." The latter appears to
indicate that Jesus and God are one. also John 20:17: "...Jesus
saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my
brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and
your God." This verse seems to imply that Jesus must travel to get to God, and
that the Father is God of both Mary Magdalene's and Jesus. Certain passages in the Bible
appear to support the unity of God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit; others
appear to support the concept that Jesus and God are separate. The Christian
church argued and
debated for centuries over this point, and finally settled on the Trinity concept: that
the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are unique persons, within the unity of the Godhead. |
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It must teach that God and Jesus Christ have bodies of flesh and bone:
e.g. Luke 24:36-39: "...And he [Jesus] said unto them, Why are ye
troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts? Behold my hands and my feet, that it
is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have."
This passages describes Jesus visiting with the disciples after his
execution
and resurrection, during which he shows that he has a normal body. In other passages,
he is described as having a spirit body, being able to pass through walls. Also, the Bible
teaches in various places both that God is a spirit and that God has body parts. So, the
Bible can find support for just about any belief system concerning the physicality of the
Father and Son. |
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Its officers must be called by God: (Hebrews 5:4, Exodus 28:1, &
Exodus 40:13-16): All faith groups believe that their clergy is called by God. |
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It must claim revelation from God: Amos 3:7: All faith groups
claim revelations from God. Some believe that this is a direct instruction, e.g. orders
from God to the head of the LDS church, as when the LDS received instructions to
eliminate polygyny and later, racism from the church. Other faith groups rely on
individual and group prayer to ascertain God's will. |
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It must be a missionary church: Matthew 28:19-20:
"Go
ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them..." Many faith groups engage
in major missionary activity. Others believe that this instruction was applicable only to
the early Christian church, when Christians formed a very small minority. |
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It must be a restored church: Acts 3:19-21: "Repent ye
therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of
refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; And he shall send Jesus Christ, which
before was preached unto you: Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution
of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world
began." Mormons and others believe that this passage refers to the true church
having been lost and later restored. Others interpret it as referring to continuing
refreshment that the believer receives from God, and that "restitution of all
things" refers to Jesus' healing of "every disorder and divisions
caused by the fall of man" 4 at the time of his
second coming. The passages can clearly be interpreted in many ways. |
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It must practice baptism for the dead: e.g. 1 Corinthians 15:29:
"Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at
all? why are they then baptized for the dead?" Some Christians interpret this
passage as requiring baptism of the dead. But Paul uses "they" to refer to the
baptizers; he apparently did not do it himself. Baptism of the dead was generally unknown
in the Christian movements, except for Corinth. It would appear that baptism for the
dead is an optional practice, neither condemned nor practiced by St. Paul. |
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It will be known by its behavior: Matthew 7:20: "Wherefore
by their fruits ye shall know them." Studying the present and past behavior of
various faith groups (Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, Southern Baptists,
Presbyterian, Methodists, Islam, Hinduism, etc.), one would see many instances of behavior
that actively discriminated against people: racism; support of
slavery; polygyny; sexism; homophobia; denial of childhood
inoculation; suppression of birth control information; campaigns against racially mixed
marriage, racial integration; etc. Of course, only a sub-set of these forms
of discrimination are to be found in any one given religious group -- and then
often only in the past. The full evil of these policies often was not
recognized for many decades afterwards. The immoral nature of some of the
faith group's
"fruits" has been so widespread, that it is debatable whether many denomination
would qualify even to be considered as the "true church." If they are to be
judged by their behavior, then it could be argued that the true church would be one which has consistently fought
for human rights against the rest of Christendom. The European Free
Church family of denominations (e.g. Mennonites, Quakers) and liberal denominations like
the United Church of Christ come to mind. To this list may be added the
Unitarian
Universalist Association, except that only about 10% of their membership consider themselves to be Christian. |
References:
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"Points of the True Church," at:
http://www.lds-mormon.com/
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W. McKeever, "Examining the '17 points of the true church'," at: http://www.mrm.org/
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[email protected], "Mail I have Received,
" Rapture Ready, at: http://www.novia.net/~todd/rap37.html
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J.D.Douglas, Ed., "New Commentary on the Whole Bible, New Testament
Volume" Tyndale House, (1990)
Copyright © 1999 to 2007 by Ontario Consultants on Religious
Tolerance
Originally written: 1999-JAN-13
Latest update: 2007-JUL-27
Author: B.A. Robinson
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