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Can All Churches Be Right? |
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McConkie, Bruce R. Mormon Doctrine. 2d ed. Salt Lake City, Utah: Bookcraft, 1966.
Order
547
See HARMONY, LAW, OBEDIENCE. In the eternal economy of
Deity all things are done in wisdom and in order; everything
is arranged harmoniously, systematically, as part of
a perfect pattern. The heavenly bodies, in all their infinite numbers, roll in
perfect unity and harmony through boundless less
immensity. (D. & C. 88:42-45.) Earths are created and pass on to their
eternal states on the appointed split second of
eternal time.
548
It is the will of the Lord that man, in his sphere,
should walk in the same orderly and harmonious way that the Gods walk,
without confusion, contention, or irregularity of
conduct. (3 Ne. 6:4; Acts 21:24; D. & C. 129:7.) "Behold, mine house
is a
house of order, saith the Lord God, and not a house
of confusion." (D. & C. 132:8.) "All things must be done in
order."
(Mosiah 4:27; D. & C. 20:68; 28:13; 58:55;
107:84.) Men are specifically commanded to set their houses and families in
order
so that peace and conformity to the Divine will
shall result. (D. & C. 90:18; 93:43-44, 50) The temple itself, according to
the
Lord's standard, is a "house of order" (D.
& C. 88:119; 109:8), so perfectly and properly should all things be done
therein.
Truth
810
See CHRIST, GOSPEL, HOLY GHOST, INTELLIGENCE,
KNOWLEDGE, LIGHT, MORMONISM, REVELATION,
SPIRIT OF TRUTH, TESTIMONY. 1. Christ is the Truth,
meaning that he is the perfect embodiment of all truth. "I am the
way, the truth, and the life" (John 14:6; Ether
4:12); "I am the Spirit of truth." (D. & C. 93:26.) He is the
champion of truth, the
revealer of truth, the advocate of truth. His word
is truth and all his works conform thereto. "He is full of grace and
truth" (2 Ne.
2:6; John 1:11, 17; D. & C. 93:11), and he came
into the world to "bear witness unto the truth." (John 18:37.)
810
2. To Pilate's query, "What is truth?"
(John 18:38), there is no recorded answer. But explicit scriptural definitions
are found
elsewhere. Truth is an attribute of Deity, of the
"Lord God of truth." (Ps. 31:5.) He is "longsuffering, and
abundant in goodness
and truth" (Ex. 34:6), "a God of truth and
without iniquity, just and right is he." (Deut. 32:4; D. & C. 84:102;
109:77; Alma
5:48; 9:26; 13:9.)
810
The Lord's law is the truth" (Ps. 119:142), all
his "commandments are truth" Ps. 119:151), all his "works are
truth" (Dan. 4:37),
his scriptures are truth (Dan. 10:21), and his
"word is truth." (John 17:17.) The word of the Lord is truth, and
whatsoever is
truth is light, and whatsoever is light is Spirit,
even the Spirit of Jesus Christ." (D. & C. 84:45.) The Book of Mormon
is an
illustration of the truth, for, "as your Lord
and your God liveth it is true." (D. & C. 17:6; Moses 7:62; Ps. 85:11;
D. & C.
128:19.) "Truth is knowledge of things as they
are, and as they were, and as they are to come." (D. & C. 93:24.)
Truth thus
conforms to reality, is centered in God, and is as
enduring as Deity himself.
810
Truth is absolute and eternal; it endureth forever.
(D. & C. 1:39; 88:66; Ps. 100:5; 117:2.) It never varies; what is true in
one
age is true in every age. The theories of men
(scientific or otherwise) vary from discovery to discovery and are in a
continuing
state of flux, unless they chance on a particular
point to reach ultimate truth. Then there is no more change, and the truth
discovered is in complete harmony with every other
truth in every other field. Truth never conflicts with truth.
811
Truth is not relative; it is absolute. What is true
in one eternity is true in the next. The knowledge men have of the truth may be
great at one time and slight in another, or the
reverse, but the quantity of ultimate truth is neither added to nor diminished
from
by revelations received or discoveries made. For
instance: Jesus Christ is the Son of God and salvation is based on his atoning
sacrifice. Accountable persons can be saved only on
conditions of faith, repentance, baptism, receipt of the gift of the Holy
Ghost, and enduring in righteousness to the end.
These are eternal, absolute truths. They apply to every living person from
Adam to the last man. There is nothing relative
about them. Similarly: Joseph Smith was the anointed of the Lord in the
restoration of the gospel in latter-days. The Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the Lords kingdom on earth and the
only place where salvation may he found. Again these
are absolute, eternal, ultimate truths.
811
The only field in which men have the assurance that
there is any measurable knowledge of ultimate truth is in the field of revealed
religion. Certainly there are many scientific
discoveries which are pure truth, but there are also many scientific theories
in which
fact and hypothesis are intermingled. There are also
many truths in all churches, but the measure of truth required to assure
salvation is found only in the Church were God has
placed it according to his own will. Mormonism, so-called, is thus a
synonym for truth. "Have the Presbyterians any
truth?" the Prophet asked. "Yes. Have the Baptists, Methodists, etc.,
any truth?
Yes. They all have a little truth mixed with error.
We should gather all the good and true principles in the world and treasure
them up, or we shall not come out true
Mormons." (Teachings, p. 316.)
811
Men are saved if they believe the truth, but damned
if they believe not the truth. (2 Thess. 2:11-13.) To gain salvation they must
worship, "in spirit and in truth, the true and
the living God." (Alma 43:10; John 4:23-24.) Apostasy results when men
reject the
truth (1 Tim. 6:3-5; 2 Tim. 4:3-4; 2 Pet. 2:1-2; 1
John 1:8), and one of the signs of the times is that men "in the last
days" are
"Ever learning, and never able to come to the
knowledge of the truth." (2 Tim. 3:1-7.)
811
"The Holy Ghost is a revelator."
(Teachings, p. 328.) One of his great missions is to reveal truth. (Jac. 4:13;
D. & C. 79:2;
91:4-6.) "When he, the Spirit of truth, is
come, he will guide you into all truth," our Lord said. (John 16:13.) A
testimony of the
gospel comes by revelation from the Holy Ghost; the
truth of the Book of Mormon is known by this same means; "And by the
power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all
things." (Moro. 10:3-5.)
812
Finally, those who gain exaltation will receive
"a fulness of truth, yea, even of all truth," even as Christ did.
"And no man
receiveth a fulness unless he keepeth his commandments.
He that keepeth his commandments receiveth truth and light, until he is
glorified in truth and knoweth all things." (D.
& C. 93:26-28.)
Church
133
See CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS,
CHURCH OF THE DEVIL, CHURCH OF THE
FIRSTBORN, DISPENSATIONS, GOSPEL, KINGDOM OF GOD,
MORMONISM. Our Lord's true Church is the
formal, official organization of believers who have
taken upon themselves the name of Christ by baptism, thus covenanting to
serve God and keep his commandments. (D. & C.
10:67-69; 18:20-25.) It is literally the kingdom of God on earth (D. & C.
65; 84:34; 136:41), and as such its affairs are
administered by apostles, prophets, and other legal administrators appointed by
Christ the King. (1 Cor. 12:27-29.) It is the
congregation or assembly of saints who have forsaken he world by accepting the
gospel, formal society of converted persons and not
the unorganized spiritual vagary termed the Christian church by
sectarianism.
133
The church was first organized on earth in the days
of Adam, with that great patriarch standing as its first president, the
presiding
high priest over God's earthly kingdom. The common
sectarian notion that the day of Pentecost is the birthday of the Christian
Church is a false heresy. Whenever the gospel has
been on earth, it has been taught and administered in and through Christ's
church. The Church or kingdom as organized in the
meridian of time by our Lord and his apostolic ministers was a restored
Church.
133
With the coming of the great apostasy the primitive
Church was lost, and the various churches or societies which have since
grown up bear no particular similarity to the
original. This reality is frankly accepted by impartial theologians whether in
the
Church or out of it. One eminent author has written:
"As God permits men to mar the perfection of his designs in their behalf,
and as men have both corrupted the doctrines and
broken the unity of the Church, we must not expect to see the Church of
Holy Scripture actually existing in its perfection
on earth. It is not to be found, thus perfect, either in the collected
fragments of
Christendom, or still less in any one of these
fragments; though it is possible that one of those fragments more than another
may
approach the scriptural and apostolic ideal which
existed only until sin, heresy, and schism, had time sufficiently to develop
themselves to do their work." (Smith's Bible
Dictionary, vol. 1, p. 458.)
Truth is truth. There is,
and never can be any confusion or misunderstanding in matters of divine
intervention. There is one
God, one truth, one way. That way is the Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
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