The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints boldy declares itself as the only true and living church. Furthermore, Joseph Smith boldly states that God the Father and Jesus Christ declared that the christian churches only had a portion of the truth and that he should join none of them. Therefore, The Church of Jesus Christ (Mormon) declares that it’s baptism and confirmation is the only valid one in order to receive exhaltation.
Obviously, a member of the LDS church isn’t following their religion if they judge someone for joining another religion as it states in the Articles of Faith to let everyone worship whatever or whoever they want to.
However, in this article it discusses the droves of people that join other churches and many other churches and faiths claim the Holy Spirit told them to start their specific denomonation or join their religion.
As stated in Bruce Nielson’s blog, some may argue about the definition of what a “church” really is. However, I think whether a church is a congregation, or an actual building it is irrelevant.
I believe that God answers prayers of people of all faiths and leads them closer to Him if they ask in faith. However, if they are recieving answers to their prayers and feel led by God to join a certain faith, how is it that God can lead someone to something that he told Joseph Smith was wrong?
My theory is that God loves all truth no matter where it is and will lead all of us according to what we are willing to receive and that God has revealed much truth in forms of religion, science, and other means as well. I also believe He has much more to reveal as soon as we are ready to receive it. What are your thoughts?
Grace for Grace 
17 comments
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February 28, 2008 at 3:50 pm
Howard
Yes, God leads people to other churches. I was lead by the Spirit to a Christian church before being lead by the Spirit to the LDS church. Why? Probably because He knew I wasn’t ready for Mormon doctrine, but I needed Jesus Christ in my life.
Other churches are preparatory to the fullness of the gospel. Old Testament > New Testament > Book of Mormon. Abraham > Jesus Christ > Joseph Smith.
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February 28, 2008 at 4:08 pm
Bryce Haymond
I believe you are right. All truth comes from God, and there is much truth in other faiths. As President Hinckley used to say, bring all the truth you have, and let us add to it. If a faith is drawing one closer to believe in God, to trust in Him, and to continually seek for greater light and knowledge, then I think it is a good thing.
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February 28, 2008 at 4:13 pm
ama49
Howard,
Thank you for your comments. I would like to hear your story of how you were led to another church and if you don’t mind telling us which church it was (I’m just curious).
Also, what was it that led you to the LDS church after you had already felt the Spirit lead you to the first church?
I think your comments on this would be very beneficial for many readers.
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February 28, 2008 at 4:50 pm
Doc
So if someone just can’t reconcile themselves to a personified God, but still feels an aching in their soul, does God leave them hanging? Or might he lead them to Buddhism where they can learn many profound truths about happiness and spirituality. Perhaps they have a profound faith in the potential goodness of mankind itself, then might God not lead them to Secular Humanism.
If someone cannot accept the difficult teaching that a great teacher at the meridian of time is actually more than that, the literal Son of God, does God cast them out, or does he lead them to Islam, or Judaism, where they can learn of his dealings with man throughout time, and about becoming God’s covenant people?
If someone can feel a burning truth about the divinity of the Savior and is okay the idea of prophets as long as they don’t have to deal with them interpersonally, where it gets much trickier, does God cast them off, or does he lead them to Creedal Christianity? Was God responsible for the splintering into groups or was Man? If man, it seems to me people naturally rally around the pieces of the gospel they “know” and resonates with them, excluding the other.
If someone has faith in Christ and feels he organized and lead an actual Church with priesthood, but cannot comprehend the idea of a falling away, does God cast them off, or might he lead them to be Catholic?
If someone believes in Christ, prophecy, gifts of the spirit, and yet cannot reconcile themselves the idea of becoming as God, does God cast them off, or does he lead them to the Community or Christ, or to perhaps Pentacostalism.
If someone can’t buy the idea that God would organize a religion but feel something profound in nature and creation, are those feelings divine or not?
If someone believes with their heart and soul that God loves all his children, but cannot reconcile this idea with the idea of one organized true religion, does God cast them off or does he lead them to Unitarian Universalism or Quakers.
If someone believes entirely in Christ, the resoration, modern day prophets, but cannot see how God could be so inefficient as to have his church in dissarray for over a thousand years, have it go out and be accepting by a fraction of one percent of the world’s population, that he would be inefficient, do they leave the church, are they heretics, should they be cast out or might they have a point that God could well lead people to other churches?
Was Martin Luther King, jr inspired of God in his teachings, his peaceful action for meaningful social change, even though by our doctrine he could not hold the priesthood?
Was Ghandi inspired of God in taking up nonviolent protest to lead his people away from British oppression, even though he was Hindu? Even though he derided people for the thought of converting anyone to their religion rather than just helping those you meet better live their own religion?
Will there ever come a time in the next life when having ordinances done by “Mormon” authority might be seen merely as having to be done by God’s Authority, with sectarianist silliness and offense all done away with, thus openning the way for good people everywhere to accept such out of love for the divine being they got to know through the lens of their religion?
These are the questions that lead me to think of all this the way I do.
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February 28, 2008 at 5:21 pm
ama49
Hi Doc,
I have thought a lot about the questions you bring up. Hence my post “Does Mormonism Cover Truths found in all Religions?” (https://graceforgrace.com/2008/02/15/does-mormonism-cover-truths-from-all-religions/)
You pose many questions and at the end you say these questions “lead you to think the way you do.”
What is the way you think? What are your answers to these questions?
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February 28, 2008 at 5:27 pm
Doc
Pretty much that I agree entirely with your post. God doesn’t leave people hanging, he gives us what we can bear, and that isn’t everything, as we learn more, perspectives change, it may superficially appear that God contradicts himself, but in the end, all truth can be circumscribed into one great whole. None of us have that whole, because even in the Church we teach that God will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the kingdom of God. So I see God’s guiding hand over the spirituality of the entire human family.
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February 28, 2008 at 6:10 pm
ama49
Amen brother!
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February 29, 2008 at 5:47 am
Howard
ama49,
I was raised as a Mormon but fell away in my early twenties. After I left my testimony dwindled to something less than Christian and I simply had no interest in spirituality or religion for many years.
About 3 years ago I had an intense spontaneous encounter with the Spirit, similar to what JS talks about in D&C 85:6. Since then I have enjoyed rich and frequent personal revelation. I was prompted “if you follow me I will lead you to Jesus Christ”. I agreed and for the next few months my sins were brought into my memory, over and over. I began righting my wrongs and slowly began to feel better about myself. Then I came to some sins that were not so easily fixed, how do you make things right with someone who has died? I pondered this dilemma for a long time before realizing that the atonement solves this problem and that the Spirit lead me to Jesus by simply confronting me with my own sins.
After finding Christ I was lead to Saddleback Church http://saddleback.com/flash/ in southern California and encouraged by the Spirit to be baptized there. It was a very spiritual day for me.
Later through personal revelation I was shown truths about the next life that I recognized as Mormon doctrine and I was encouraged to do genealogy. I was stunned. I left all of that long ago and had no desire to return, but return I did. My testimony now includes the phrase “I know”.
God smiles on all serious forms of worship.
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February 29, 2008 at 6:15 am
ama49
Howard,
Thanks for sharing this post. I think that it is very commendable that you followed your heart through the whole process and were honest with yourself. As I read what you posted I felt the love of the Savior. You are right. God does smile on all serious forms of worship. I’ve felt His love in many ways inside the lds church as well as in other churches and religions too.
Thank you for your great testimony.
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February 29, 2008 at 4:58 pm
Jeffrey Needle
This is an interesting thread. I suppose we all believe that God has led us to our individual fellowships. But, if the LDS church is the *only* true church, why wouldn’t God want us all in that body?
One poster suggested that some may not be ready for Mormon doctrine. I disagree. Frankly, there isn’t much Mormon doctrine taught at the ward level these days, IMO. It’s all pretty plain vanilla. Why would it take some special readiness to accept these teachings?
Just my thoughts.
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February 29, 2008 at 10:48 pm
ama49
Hi Jeffrey,
Thanks for your post. Can you clarify what you mean by “not much Mormon Doctrine being taught at the ward level” and “plain vanilla?”
thanks
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February 29, 2008 at 11:20 pm
Dan
line upon line, and precept upon precept.
I firmly believe that the Lord is saving me just as fast as I let Him. He is infinitely patient. When I wake up in the morning, I don’t have a huge “post it note” from the Lord letting me know what I need to be working on. For starters, my door wouldn’t be big enough for it.
I find as I approach the Lord in humility, that He’ll show me one or two things on the post it note, and then waits. He’ll help me along as I choose to follow the light that I have.
It makes perfect sense to me then, that the Lord would guide people into greater truth, as they are ready to receive it. It’s possible that they’re ready to receive truth from Buddhism today, but nor Mormonism. After they’ve received truth from Buddhism, and the missionaries knock on their door, perhaps they’ll see that we actually share some common beliefs, like doing good, and living an honest and ethical life. If the person is ready to receive more truth, the Lord will bless him/her with it, just like He blesses me.
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March 1, 2008 at 2:28 am
Stephen M (Ethesis)
One of my favorite readings of Paul when he talks of parts of the body has the “body” as the Church of Christ and the “parts” as various congregations that each fill the needs of different people.
I think God is patient and enduring with us, as we should be with each other.
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March 1, 2008 at 2:45 pm
Bruce Nielson
Excellent post, ama49. I believe you are correct and I whole heartedly agree with you.
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March 1, 2008 at 2:45 pm
Bruce Nielson
Oh, and thanks for the link. 🙂
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March 1, 2008 at 6:14 pm
Jeffrey Needle
Responding to post #11:
One need only peek into the early history and doctrine of the church to know that today’s presentations are very much watered down from what they used to be. Correlation is likely to blame, but there is also a frank acknowledgment that there are an increasing number of newer members who may not be ready for the full treatment.
There are so many deeply meaningful parts of Mormon doctrine. Whether you accept the early teachings or not, you must admit that they constitute an amazingly interesting body of teaching that is largely ignored today. How much discussion do you year, for example, about the King Follett discourse? How much time to you think most Mormons spend reading history and early doctrine?
Departing from the printed materials is frowned upon. Most Sunday School teachers, for example, would not spend a great deal of time going beyond the boundaries of the printed lesson. “Beyond this are dragons.” But isn’t there a wealth of material to be learned, much more than is offered on Sunday morning?
I treasure organizations like Sunstone because they help fill in the gap. They speak boldly where others keep silent. By the same token, I treasure FARMS and other apologetic organizations. Each serves a purpose, an important purpose.
I guess my comment reflects my dissatisfaction with what is available to the pew-attending Mormon from Sunday to Sunday. It isn’t much. The LDS presses have not been quiet — there’s lots out there for the student to learn and absorb. I just fear that, beyond the busy-ness of being LDS (and, for the record, I’m not a member), there isn’t much time left for serious, in-depth study.
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March 2, 2008 at 7:00 am
ama49
Hi Jeffrey,
I think you hit on some good points and I appreciate you for sharing them with us.
First, I agree with you. Until I started blogging and having discussions online I felt that many things in church were a bit watered down and I had questions regarding church history and doctrine that were simply not being addressed. I had felt the Spirit confirm to me truths found in the scriptures, as I served in callings, prayer, etc. But I had questions and concerns I felt I couldn’t talk about in church. Both FARMS and some of the Sunstone articles really helped me out and I feel my testimony has significantly grown.
That being said, it goes right along with this post in the sense that God leads people to truth in many ways and through many means. For those seeking knowledge, there is a lot of good stuff online and in various means and organizations throughout the world.
Now, regarding your comments on the LDS church going away from how it was originally, maybe you’re right. Maybe we’re not ready for that. I’m positive there are many, many things God has in store for us that we’re not ready for. Maybe when we start loving our neighbor and having charity, etc. He’ll reveal more truths to us.
Last question I have is it sounds like you’ve done quite a bit of research on the LDS church for not being a member. Are you investigating the LDS church?
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