A Case for Latter-Day Christianity: Evidences for the Restoration of the New Testament’s “Mere” Christian Church

By Robert Starling

Can a Mormon be a Christian?
How does that work?
That’s the idea behind this personal book by Robert Starling, a lifelong member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who grew up in the heart of the Bible Belt. Some folks there (and elsewhere) believe that Mormons are members of a non-Christian “cult”. Robert’s purpose for this book is not to convert anyone, but to give his “strong reasons” to dispel that misconception.
As a child of converts to Mormonism whose uncle is a retired Methodist pastor, Robert has a unique perspective to share with Mormons and non-Mormons alike. He attended a Baptist vacation Bible school as a child (and so did his own children) and his best friend in college at Georgia Tech was the president of the Catholic student Newman Club.
Having resided in Utah for twenty years where he worked as a media producer for the LDS Church at its worldwide headquarters, Robert has lived “really inside Mormonism” for decades.
While Robert is not an official spokesman for the LDS Church, he has trained local church leaders in how to work with news media. He’s been active in defending his faith from critics (he’s been sued by them twice for a total of $30 million) and sharing his knowledge with anyone interested in learning what Mormons really believe. For instance:
Do Mormons believe in a “different” Jesus?
What do Mormons believe about the Trinity?
How are Mormons “saved”?
Do Mormons baptize dead people?
Is there only “one true church”?
What happens in Mormon temples?
Do Mormons wear “magic underwear”?
Do Mormons worship Joseph Smith?
Is the Bible God’s word for Mormons?
Do Mormons want to become like God?
What kind of evidences does Robert use to make his case?
Whether you’re a Mormon or not, you’ll be surprised.
Take a look inside and find out! (and be sure to read the introduction)

• Language: English
• Publisher: Balboa Press
• Release date: Aug 26, 2019
• ISBN: 9781982232023

Robert Starling

This is going to be a personal book about my faith. I’m a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of latter-day Saints (sometimes called “Mormons”), and I’m a Christian. If you are interested in how that works, I’m willing (and hopefully able) to “bring forth my strong reasons” for my beliefs and share them with you. I’ll use reason, scripture, the teachings of the early Church Fathers (some of the earliest Christians), and quotes from some of the most respected Catholic and Protestant scholars, pastors and theologians in history. I’m not a Baptist Christian nor a Methodist Christian nor a Presbyterian Christian nor a Lutheran Christian, nor do I claim to be. I’m not a Protestant Christian, an Evangelical Christian or a Catholic Christian. Therefore I am not a “traditional” or “historic” or “orthodox” or “reformed” Christian. But I AM a “Biblical” and a “New Testament” Christian. I often refer to myself as a “pre-Catholic” or a “pre-Nicene” or “latter-day” Christian. This book’s purpose is not to engage in contention or debate, nor to preach nor to proselytize, nor to convert people away from their own beliefs to join my church. Nor it is to be an official pronouncement of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. As I said, it is my personal confession of faith, and an attempt to “bring forth my strong reasons” (Isaiah 41:21) for my beliefs, and “to give an answer to every man... a reason for the hope that is in me.” (1 Peter 3:15) “Having a good conscience,” I feel a need to follow the Apostle Peter’s admonition to speak out and share my beliefs with any and all interested parties.

Book preview

Copyright © 2019 Robert Starling.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Balboa Press

A Division of Hay House

Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.balboapress.com

[phone]

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

The author of this book does not dispense medical advice or prescribe the use of any technique as a form of treatment for physical, emotional, or medical problems without the advice of a physician, either directly or indirectly. The intent of the author is only to offer information of a general nature to help you in your quest for emotional and spiritual well-being. In the event you use any of the information in this book for yourself, which is your constitutional right, the author and the publisher assume no responsibility for your actions.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

KJV: Scripture taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

ISBN: 978-1-9822-3204-7 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-9822-3202-3 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2019910354

Balboa Press rev. date: 08/23/2019

CONTENTS

Dedication

About The Author

Introduction

Evidence 1 JESUS CHRIST IS MY PERSONAL SAVIOR

Evidence 2 TRINITY OR GODHEAD?

Evidence 3 I AM SAVED BY GRACE

Evidence 4 ONE TRUE CHURCH?

Evidence 5 PRIESTHOOD AND AUTHORITY TO ACT FOR GOD

Evidence 6 GOD’S WORD

Evidence 7 THE BOOK OF MORMON

Evidence 8 PROPHETS AND REVELATION

Evidence 9 ETERNAL PROGRESSION

Evidence 10 TEMPLES OF THE MOST HIGH GOD

Evidence 11 MIRACLES AND SPIRITUAL GIFTS

Evidence 12 BY THEIR FRUITS YE SHALL KNOW THEM

Evidence 13 PECULIAR BELIEFS FOR A PECULIAR PEOPLE

Appendix 1 WHAT IS A CHRISTIAN?

Appendix 2 THE DOCTRINE OF THE TRINITY IS NOT FOUND IN THE BIBLE

Appendix 3 SOLA FIDE (FAITH ALONE) AND THE BIBLE

Appendix 4 A MORMON CHALLENGES THE GODMAKERS MOVIE

Appendix 5 The LDS Articles of Faith

Appendix 6 THE GIFT OF TONGUES AMONG THE LATTER-DAY SAINTS

Appendix 7 THE MORMONS, THE BLACKS, AND THE PRIESTHOOD

Appendix 8 A LETTER TO PASTOR ROBERT JEFFRESS OF DALLAS FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH

DEDICATION

For Wendy

— that you may know my heart

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Hi, I’m Robert Starling. Since we’ll be spending some time together in this book, let me tell you a little about myself. I hope we can become good friends.

I was born and raised in Columbus, Georgia, in the heart of the Bible Belt. As you might imagine, religion is a serious matter in that part of the world. You can’t drive down Georgia back roads for more and a mile without seeing one or more little country churches, usually of some Baptist variety.

My uncle Rudolph was a Methodist pastor, and I attended Baptist vacation bible school with my friends, but I was raised as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Lots of folks call us Mormons. My parents became members of that church when they were teenagers, so I was born into the faith.

All my life I’ve gotten along fine with people of other religions. I had lots of friends in high school and they even put me in the yearbook as the Most Representative student even though I was one of only seven Latter-day Saints in a school population of 2,500. I love to share my beliefs and to answer questions, and sometimes there are a lot of them. That’s one of the reasons I wrote this book.

After two years of studying Chemistry at Georgia Tech in Atlanta, I served as a Spanish-speaking missionary for another two years in California and Arizona. After that I attended Brigham Young University in Utah where I got a degree in Broadcasting. I’ve worked in film and television production for over 40 years as a writer, producer, and director. I wrote and helped produced one film called "In Search of Historic Jesus" that you might have seen on NBC or in theaters. There were others too, but that one is most pertinent to this book.

My wife, four kids and I spent 13 years in the Los Angeles area before we escaped the rat race there. I’ve lived for the last 25 years in Utah, where I worked for nine years as a producer in the media production department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The apostle Peter admonished every Christian to "be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you" (1 Peter 3:15). That’s what this book is all about. Ya’ll can read more about that in the Introduction. Don’t skip it, okay? Enjoy.

INTRODUCTION

This is going to be a personal book about my faith. I’m a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of latter-day Saints (sometimes called Mormons), and I’m a Christian. If you are interested in how that works, I’m willing (and hopefully able) to bring forth my strong reasons for my beliefs and share them with you. I’ll use reason, scripture, the teachings of the early Church Fathers (some of the earliest Christians), and quotes from some of the most respected Catholic and Protestant scholars, pastors and theologians in history.

I’m not a Baptist Christian nor a Methodist Christian nor a Presbyterian Christian nor a Lutheran Christian, nor do I claim to be. I’m not a Protestant Christian, an Evangelical Christian or a Catholic Christian. Therefore I am not a traditional or historic or orthodox or reformed Christian. But I AM a Biblical and a New Testament Christian.

I often refer to myself as a pre-Catholic or a pre-Nicene or latter-day Christian.

Why am I writing this? Perhaps this story will make it a bit clearer:

When the Mormon candidate announced his intention to run for the office of President of the United States, there were many who felt he was well qualified for the job. He was handsome, charismatic, a proven leader, and he had already been elected to a substantial political office.

However, despite his qualifications and the support of a large number of sympathetic voters in at least one western state, many political pundits felt his candidacy was doomed from the start because of the man’s affiliation with a religion that was considered strange and mysterious to many, and to some people even dangerous.

In an attempt to alleviate some of the misunderstandings about his faith, the candidate wrote a letter to a major publisher that was considered a well-formed position paper, explaining the salient points of his beliefs and those of other members of his church.

Unfortunately the major media did not help to publicize the explanation of the candidate’s beliefs, and tragic miscarriages of justice arose. Even government entities violated numerous Constitutional rights of the candidate and his followers. At one point an official order was given to exterminate them if they did not leave the state where their majority population resided.

Eventually corrupt local officials arrested the candidate on trumped-up charges and placed him in a jail where a terroristic mob of thugs broke in and assassinated him and his brother.

Denied government protection from roving mobs of armed men, tens of thousands of members of this Presidential candidate’s faith were dragged from their beautiful homes at gunpoint. Their lands and businesses were confiscated and they were forced to leave the boundaries of the United States to find a place where they eventually could live their religion in peace.

Does this sound like a fantastic fictional story? In point of fact it is actually horribly true. It happened in the land of the free and the home of the brave. The year was 1844. The candidate was Joseph Smith, the first president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, commonly known as the Mormons.

The purpose of this book is to try to illuminate (and hopefully eliminate) some of the kinds of misunderstandings that led to those tragic events of a century and a half ago. Sadly, many of those misconceptions about members of the LDS church are still in evidence today.

As an example: A volunteer campaign worker for Senator John McCain said during the run-up to the 2008 Presidential campaign that Mormons gave money to Hamas terrorists and treat women like the Taliban. ¹

I’M NOT TRYING TO CONVERT ANYONE

This book’s purpose is not to engage in contention or debate, nor to preach nor to proselytize, nor to convert people away from their own beliefs to join my church. Nor it is to be an official pronouncement of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. As I said, it is my personal confession of faith, and an attempt to bring forth my strong reasons (Isaiah 41:21) for my beliefs, and to give an answer to every man… a reason for the hope that is in me. (1 Peter 3:15) Having a good conscience, I feel a need to follow the Apostle Peter’s admonition to speak out and share my beliefs with any and all interested parties.

Before I go too far down this road, let me admit up front that I don’t have a string of letters like Ph.D. or Th.D. or L.L.D., or Doctor of Divinity after my name. (Although I have an uncle who does — he’s retired now after a long and happy career as a United Methodist pastor.) I’m just a good ol’ boy from Georgia, but I can read Scripture just like anyone else, and there are some things that seem to be pretty self-evident to me. I’ll leave it to you to decide if it makes sense to you.

WHY DO I CALL MY BOOK A CASE FOR LATTER-DAY CHRISTIANITY?

My first edition of this book was published under the title Really Inside Mormonism. I had not orignally planned to include Really in the title, but I found that a Catholic priest named Isaiah Bennett had renounced Catholicism and was baptized into the LDS church, then he left Mormonism after a year or two. Both he and his wife (yes, he got married) participated in that alleged conversion/de-conversion experience. He then wrote a book called "Inside Mormonism: What Mormons Really Believe." So I needed to make my title different.

I happened to get a chance to hear Brother Bennett speak to an LDS audience during the time he claimed to be a Latter-day Saint, and I thought he gave a pretty convincing talk about how he became a member of my faith. I’m not going to accuse him of a conversion of convenience so that he could write an expose’ book, but I can see where some folks might think his situation looks kinda fishy.

He was only a Mormon for a few years, whereas I’ve been a member of the Church of Jesus Christ all my life (65 years in 2019, since my baptism at age eight). My father served on the first High Council in the first LDS stake (regional organization) organized in Georgia. I served two years as a full-time Spanish-speaking missionary in California and Arizona. I received my BA from Brigham Young University where I attended college for three years.

I’ve held almost every Church office at the local level except Bishop, and I’ve had several Stake and Area callings including Stake Mission President. I worked professionally at LDS Church Headquarters in Salt Lake City as a writer/producer/ director for nine years in the media production department. For the last 25 years I’ve lived in the Salt Lake Valley, in the epicenter of Mormondom. So I’ve really been inside Mormonism for a lifetime. That’s where the really in the original title cames from. Really.

THE CASE FOR CHRIST – AND FOR LATTER-DAY CHRISTIANITY

So why did I change the title for this second edition? First, the President of our church requested that we avoid the term Mormon whenever possible in favor of the complete name of the church. Second, I was impressed with investigative reporter Lee Strobel’s book (and movie) The Case for Christ. Third, I was also impressed with Tad Callister’s book A Case for the Book of Mormon. I liked those titles so I wanted to echo them in mine. (I recommend those books too.) As I bring forth my strong reasons or evidences, I think I can make a case that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is indeed a latter-day restoration of the Biblical Christian church.

WHAT IS A MERE CHRISTIAN?

Since I began writing this book I’ve also revised my original working title to include the word mere. I did this after reading C.S. Lewis’s Mere Christianity and I did it in homage to the great wisdom and eloquence of that wonderful Christian writer and apologist. C. S. Lewis has become one of my heroes. He defined mere disciples or Christians as "those who accepted the teachings of the apostles (Acts 11:26). He said that if we once allow people to start spiritualizing and refining or as they might say ‘deepening’ the word Christian, it … will speedily become a useless word."

He described mere Christianity as being like a large hallway in a building, out of which doors open into several rooms (or denominations). His goal was simply to bring people into the hall, not to convince them which door to open. He said,

Even in the hall you must begin trying to obey the rules which are common to the whole house. And above all you must be asking which door is the true one; not which one pleases you best by its paint and paneling. He says the mere Christian must ask of a door he might plan to enter; Are these doctrines true? Is holiness here? Does my conscience move me towards this? Then finally he adds, When you have reached your own room, be kind to those who have chosen different doors and to those who are still in the hall. If they are wrong they need your prayers all the more; and if they are your enemies, then you are under orders to pray for them. That is one of the rules common to the whole house.

After reading Lewis’s book I believe that in the eyes of my Christian brothers and sisters I should at least be considered a mere Christian, for I do indeed accept the teachings and essential beliefs of the apostles as found in the New Testament. The founder of my own chosen room Joseph Smith once said, "The fundamental principles of our religion are the testimony of the Apostles and Prophets, concerning Jesus Christ, that He died, was buried, and rose again the third day, and ascended into heaven: and all other things which pertain to our religion are only appendages to it. "²

Even the most ardent critics of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints seem to focus mostly on the appendages of our faith to find differences from their own beliefs, since our fundamental principles of Christ, his death and resurrection are nearly identical with those of other mere Christians.

I believe in a Christianity that was established by Jesus himself hundreds of years before the religion that became historic or traditional Christianity existed. This original Christianity was lost after the deaths of the original apostles, but it was restored to the earth in these latter days in its fullness as part of the restitution of all things the Bible says must take place before the Second Coming of Christ (Acts 3:21). Therefore I also call myself a latter-day Christian.

This restitution or restoration was necessary because of the falling away from the original teachings of Christ and His apostles that Paul lamented in his second letter to the Thessalonians (chapter 2 verse 3). The falling away or apostasy became even more pronounced during the centuries of the dark ages of human history that have been well-documented and that were foreseen by the prophet Amos as a time when there would be a famine of the word of God and men would "run to and fro, seeking the word of the Lord, but shall not find it." (Amos 8:11-12)

The great Reformers like Martin Luther and others recognized that the faith once delivered to the saints had been corrupted almost beyond recognition by the time they were born. Luther wrote: "I simply say that Christianity has ceased to exist among those who should have preserved it – the bishops and scholars."³

Although he and other brave men did their best to reform the Christian faith as they knew it, our Savior said that new wine in old bottles or new patches on old clothes were not enough. The Protestant Reformation did however bring about some measure of religious freedom that paved the way eventually for the restitution of all things — the restoration of Christ’s original New Testament church to the earth.

THE TERM LATTER-DAY SAINTS

I am a follower of Jesus Christ. My predecessors in New Testament times called themselves saints. Outsiders used the term Christian to describe them with derision. That name stuck and gradually became a generic term, synonymous with that of Saint. In a return to Biblical practice and combined with the recognition that we’re living in what the scriptures refer to as the last days, or the latter times, I and fellow members of my faith call ourselves Latter-day Saints. Like our spiritual forefathers who were first called Christians at Antioch, we too are known by a term coined and used initially with disrespect by outsiders. We’re often called Mormons. And like the former-day Saints of the New Testament Church, we too have acquiesced to the terminology and have (at least passively) accepted the name Mormons.

But to be a bit more precise as I begin this book I’ve decided also to call myself a Latter-day Christian to clearly emphasize my faith as a follower of Jesus Christ. As I attempt to bring forth my strong reasons for thus believing, I invite the curious reader to come along on a journey that I guarantee will be enlightening and definitely NOT boring.

CAN YOU HANDLE THIS BOOK?

Maybe it comes from my Southern roots in Georgia, but I guess I’m a bit of what some might call a Christian Rebel. Not that I rebel against Christ. I love and adore Him as my Lord and my Savior. But I do like to stir things up a bit among my fellow Christians. Especially the ones Amy Grant refers to in her song Fat Baby. You know… the ones who love their bottle of Christian milk, but whose comfort zone doesn’t extend much farther than that. Amy says they’ve "sampled solid food once or twice, but doctrine leaves them cold as ice."⁴

Paul expressed the same concerns about some Christians in his day when he said:

ye have need that one teach you again … the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. (Heb. 5:12-14) Getting back to those Fat Baby Christians: Amy sings, "I know a man, maybe you know him, too.

You never can tell, he might even be you…."

These are the folks I’m reminded of by a scene in the movie A Few Good Men, when Tom Cruise tells Jack Nicholson, I want the truth!, and Jack yells back, You can’t handle the truth!

Well, buckle your seat belts and get out your forks and steak knives, brothers and sisters. It’s time to try a little high protein diet! You can handle the truth, right?

ENDNOTES FOR INTRODUCTION

1 Boston Globe, June 21, 2007

2 Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 121

3 Tyler, John Murray. Martin Luther, a Biographical Study, Westminster, MD: Newman Press, 1964

4 Amy Grant Fat Baby, album Age to Age, Universal Music - Brentwood Benson Publ.

EVIDENCE 1

Jesus Christ is my personal Savior

(If you haven’t read my Introduction, it would be good to go back and do that now so that this will make more sense.)

MY PERSONAL FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST

The Bible says that before the Final Judgment, every knee shall bow… and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.¹ I consider myself no exception, so let me begin by gladly confessing my own witness that Jesus is indeed the Christ, the divine Son of God. From the time I was a small child I have loved and honored him, worshiped him, sung his praises, and prayed to my Heavenly Father in his holy name.

Jesus is my friend, my Savior, my King, my Lord, and my God. He is my advocate with the Father, and under the Father’s direction Christ created this earth and the other planets, moons and stars – the entire physical universe as we know it. (John 1:1-3)

Although he is God, Jesus took upon himself a physical body and came into mortality as a babe in Bethlehem so that he might experience all things and set the ideal example for me to follow. He endured all things and ultimately suffered and died for me. He suffered both in Gethsemane and on the cross of Calvary. Then after three days he overcame death and hell and was resurrected in a glorified physical body. Today He lives and reigns in the heavens at the right hand of the Father in that same glorious physical body of flesh and bone that he showed to Thomas and the other apostles in the Upper Room. (John 20: 19-28)

As a follower of Jesus Christ and as his adopted child, my greatest desire is to someday be able to kneel before him and wash his feet with my tears of love and gratitude for all he has done for me. I long to have him lift me up, call my name, and clasp me to his bosom in his embracing arms. I have no greater wish or desire for my life than this.

Obviously anyone’s testimony of the importance of Christ in his or her life is intensely personal. I know that for me there is nothing I consider more sacred. So in sharing my confession of faith with you the reader, I’m extending to you my friendship, and my trust. A novelist named Dinah Maria Craik wrote in 1859:

But oh! the blessing it is to have a friend to whom one can speak fearlessly on any subject; with whom one’s deepest as well as one’s most foolish thoughts come out simply and safely.

Oh, the comfort — the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person — having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words, but pouring them all right out, just as they are, chaff and grain together; certain that a faithful hand will take and sift them, keep what is worth keeping, and then with the breath of kindness blow the rest away. ²

In that respect, at least, I hope you can be my friend. And I hope that you can feel in your heart the truth of what I’m going to share with you.

As with any Christian, it’s hard for me to find the right words to fully express what Jesus Christ really means to me in my life. And like many cradle Christians I find it hard to pinpoint a specific time in my life when I came to know the Lord as my personal Savior. Suffice it to say that it was at an early age. It seems as though a simple faith was always there. When I was a small boy attending Primary in the little Mormon chapel in Columbus, Georgia I sang with child-like simplicity the old Protestant song:

"Jesus loves me, this I know,

for the Bible tells me so,

Little ones to him belong,

we are weak but he is strong.

Yes Jesus loves me, yes Jesus loves me,

Yes Jesus loves me, for the Bible tells me so."

(1862, public domain)

(I sang the same song when I attended summer Vacation Bible School with childhood friends at Northside Baptist Church in Columbus, so I’m sure it’s familiar to most of my readers.)

Jesus Christ IS my Lord, and he IS the king of my life. I know that it is only through his name and through his precious blood that I am saved. I love him with all my heart. I have no greater desire in life than to serve him and strive to keep his commandments. And I know there is nothing I can ever do that can even begin to repay what he’s done for me. There is one of our LDS hymns I often sing that comes pretty close to explaining my feelings about the Lord. May I share a part of it with you? It may also be familiar to you, as other Christians use it also:

"I stand all amazed at the love Jesus offers me,

Confused at the grace that so fully He proffers me.

I tremble to know that for me He was crucified,

That for me, a sinner, He suffered, he bled, and died.

Oh it is wonderful, that He should care for me, enough to die for me!

Oh it is wonderful, wonderful to me!"³

MY EARLY YEARS AS A LATTER-DAY SAINT

Like the prophet Nephi in The Book of Mormon, I was born of goodly parents. Both my mother and my father were converted to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in their youth, so I was born and reared in a Latter-day Saint home.

Thus from my earliest years I was taught in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who Jesus was. I was taught that He was indeed my Savior and Redeemer - that He died for my sins and was bodily resurrected. I learned that he is the Only Begotten Son of God. His deity and his Lordship were so much a part of the fabric of my life that it was simply taken for granted.

MY PERSONAL CONVERSION TO CHRIST

But like all Christians, (even cradle Christians!) there came a time when my faith was tested, and I had to find out for myself whether the beliefs I’d been taught all my life were true. For me, the conversion experience came in 1967 when I was serving in the fourth month of my two years as a Spanish-speaking LDS missionary in Phoenix, Arizona. I’d been concerned for some time that my intellect-based testimony of Christ wasn’t enough. I had been teaching people that God would answer their prayers and give them a witness of the truth through the Holy Spirit, and I felt like a hypocrite because I didn’t feel that I had had that kind of experience myself.

During a period of fasting and intense prayer I was in a church meeting one day when the speaker began to talk about a particular appearance of the resurrected Savior in modern times. It was the description found in the Doctrine and Covenants, where Jesus was seen in vision by Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery in the Kirtland (Ohio) LDS Temple on April 3, 1836:

The veil was taken from our minds, and the eyes of our understanding were opened. We saw the Lord standing upon the breastwork of the pulpit, before us; and under his feet was a paved work of pure gold, in color like amber. His eyes were as a flame of fire; the hair of his head was white like the pure snow; his countenance shone above the brightness of the sun; and his voice was as the rushing of great waters, even the voice of Jehovah, saying: I am the first and the last; I am he who liveth, I am he who was slain; I am your advocate with the Father.

—(D&C 110:1-4)

As I listened to this account, suddenly I was pricked in the heart as were those who heard Peter preach on the day of Pentecost about the risen Savior (Acts 2:37). Like John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist church writing in his journal of his own conversion, "I felt my heart strangely warmed". With a rush, the Holy Spirit enveloped me and I knew without a doubt that Jesus was real, and that he is my Lord and Savior. With tears in my eyes as I sat in that little chapel in Arizona I silently thanked my Heavenly Father for that sweet answer to prayer. I had gained a personal witness of the Lordship of Christ and of his divinity. —And my life has never been the same.

The funny thing is … I then realized that I had felt this testimony of the Holy Spirit to my soul many times before, but I had not recognized what it was. I wonder if perhaps you have also had a similar experience? Have you sought for and received a sweet personal witness of the Spirit that Jesus is indeed our Lord and Savior? If not, I invite you to do so. Your life too will never be the same.

INSIDE LATTER-DAY CHRISTIANITY

Now you know how I feel about Jesus. But what do other Latter-day Saints think of Christ? As a born-again Christian, do I feel at home as a member of my church? Yes, very much so.

Let me explain why…

First of all, many people overlook the fact that the very name of the so-called Mormon church is actually The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. And the subtitle to the Book of Mormon is Another Testament of Jesus Christ. It’s hard to see how Jesus could be more central to our faith.

THE PLACE OF JESUS CHRIST IN OUR CHURCH

As I mentioned in my introduction to this book, Joseph Smith, the first President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints summed it up this way:

The fundamental principles of our religion are the testimony of the Apostles and Prophets concerning Jesus Christ, that He died, was buried, and rose again the third day and ascended into heaven: and all other things which pertain to our religion are only appendages to it. ⁴

The Latter-day Saints believe quite literally what the Bible says about Jesus, his life and his mission. And if I may be permitted, let me share with you also some pertinent statements from our own LDS scriptures, and from the writings and sermons of our church leaders: In The Book of Mormon we read:

And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins.

– (2 Nephi 25:26)

Joseph Smith wrote:

And now, after the many testimonies which have been given of him, this is the testimony, last of all, which we give of him: That he Lives! For we saw him, even on the right hand of God; and we hear the voice bearing record that he is the Only Begotten of the Father— That by him, and through him and of him, the worlds are and were created, and the inhabitants thereof are begotten sons and daughters unto God.

—(Joseph Smith in Doctrine and Covenants 76:22-24)

Some of our modern-day Apostles have said:

I am one of [Jesus Christ’s] witnesses, and in a coming day I shall feel the nail marks in his hands and in his feet and shall wet his feet with my tears. But I shall not know any better then than I know now that he is God’s Almighty Son, that he is our Savior and Redeemer, and that salvation comes in and through his atoning blood and in no other way.

— LDS Apostle Bruce R. McConkie, Ensign, May 1985, p 9

"Jesus Christ was and is the Lord God Omnipotent. He was chosen before he was born. He was the all-powerful Creator of the heavens and the earth. He is the source of life and light to all things. His word is the law by which all things are governed in the universe. All things created and made by Him are subject to His infinite power."

— Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson (An LDS Apostle and church President)

With this great love for the Lord so evident among the Latter-day Saints, can you see why it’s like a dagger piercing my heart when a dear Christian brother or sister wants to put me in a pigeonhole and label me a non-Christian cultist? How would you feel?

OUTSIDE LATTER-DAY CHRISTIANITY - - A DIFFERENT JESUS?

I know that there are critics outside my faith (I’ve had personal contact with many of them) who say that as a Latter-day Saint I worship a different Jesus. In doing this they quote 2nd Corinthians 3:5. Here’s one example of the criticisms so often made of my faith:

The Christ of Mormonism is not the same Christ of the Bible. 2 Cor.11:3-5 tells us that there will be those who would teach a different Christ. Paul says of them, "For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, masquerading as apostles of Christ". So there is a Biblical warning about those who would bring the doctrine of another Jesus…

—Ed Decker, President, Saints Alive in Jesus

There was one anti-Mormon article which went so far as to describe a man on a hippie commune in New Mexico who called himself Jesus Christ, and then the writer compared the LDS belief in the Savior to the followers of that different Jesus. For the record, I believe in Jesus of Nazareth as my Lord, not the so-called Jesus of New Mexico or any other Jesus! And no, I don’t have a different Jesus from the Bible.

But if I seem to have a different Jesus from that of some other Christians, I hope they will read the rest of Paul’s admonition in 2nd Corinthians (we’ll talk about Bible context later) He says:

Would to God ye could bear with me a little in my folly: and indeed bear with me.

I hope they’ll accept Paul’s admonition and bear with me a bit until we can reason together

—(Isaiah 1:18).

A DIFFERENT JESUS FOR EVERYONE?

I guess in some respects everyone worships a different Jesus from the person next to them in the pew. Each person’s mental picture of the Savior is a little different. In a way, it’s kind of like this: I used to work at the Osmond TV Studio in Orem, Utah right across the hall from Donny Osmond’s office. I didn’t know Donny very well, but I knew him better than the average person on the street, so I guess in one sense I was acquainted with a different Donny Osmond from those fans who knew him only from what they read in the pulp magazines. Not that there was anything different about the Donny I knew, but there was a difference in perception.

ESSENTIAL VS. NON-ESSENTIAL DIFFERENCES

This different Jesus topic can be taken to the extreme. For instance some predominately black churches have