General Conference

If you've been reading this blog much, you've probably heard us raving about how great it is to have a modern-day living prophet. We think it's pretty cool. It's the connection to God that sets our religion apart.

You too can learn what all the hullabaloo is about: this weekend is the semiannual, world-wide broadcast of the General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Over the course of two days, our beloved prophet, Thomas S. Monson (along with his two counselors and the twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ) will gives us the guidance that the Lord wants us to receive about issues that matter to us, today.

Sad that you missed Moses' great sermons? Disappointed that the preaching days of Peter, James, and John are through? Those eras are past and gone, but there is revelation now and you can take advantage of this opportunity this Saturday and Sunday!

If you live near Utah, tune your TV or radio to KSL. Satellite and cable stations generally carry the BYU channel, and you can always watch live online in streaming video. (Streaming audio is also available in just about any language you like). If you're in Salt Lake City on either day, you can also try to get tickets to the conference center. They are always free, so you'll need to act fast to find some. Contact your local missionaries, or the sisters on temple square.

The schedule is as follows (Mountain Daylight Time):
Saturday October 4, 2008
10 am - noon ~ First session
2 pm - 4 pm ~ Second session

Sunday October 5, 2008
10 am - noon ~ Third session
2 pm - 4 pm ~ Fourth session

And please, share with us what you thought of it.

What Do Mormons Believe? - Question Box: Joseph Smith and Authority

Q. What Kind of a God would go through all the trouble of Salvation, teach his apostles so many things, and wait until 1820 to give Joseph Smith authority? That, my friends, does not make sense. I am really worried about you guys and I will truly pray for you. You know nothing of Church history or the teachings of Christ who by the way wanted his apostles to spread his good news. Why would he then wait for Joseph Smith?

I am glad that you asked this question. It is apparent that there has been misunderstanding of what we believe. God didn’t wait to give his authority to Joseph Smith. The original 12 apostles had the authority, but it was not passed on after their deaths. We believe that God restored his authority through Joseph Smith.

In answering this question, I first need to define apostasy. According to Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, apostasy is “An abandonment of what one has voluntarily professed; a total desertion or departure from one's faith, principles, or party.” Evidence that there was apostasy happening at the time of the apostles (Acts 20:29-31, 1 Cor. 11:18, Galatians 1:6-7, 2 Tim. 1:15, 2 Tim. 2:16-18, 1 John 2:18-19) and that the pure Gospel of Jesus Christ would be lost over time (2 Thess. 2:1-3, 1 Tim. 4:1, 2 Tim 4:3-4, Amos 8:11-12) is evident from study of the New and Old Testaments.

The priesthood, or the God-given authority to act in His name, is a crucial part of the foundation upon which the Church of Jesus Christ must be built. For instance, In Matthew 16:18-19 we discover that Christ gave unto Peter the “keys of the kingdom of heaven.” In other verses of the New Testament we read that conferral of authority to another was marked by the laying on of hands of him who held the authority to do so (1 Tim. 4:14, 2 Tim. 1:6, Heb. 6:2). Furthermore, in Hebrews we read “No man taketh this honor unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron” (Heb. 5:4). Thus, it is clear from the Bible that there are several things that the early church had: God-given authority to act in God’s name, this authority gave those men who held it the right to administer the ordinances of the church and it was passed from the prophet/apostles to other men by the laying on of hands.

After Christ’s death the apostles did what they were commissioned to do: spread the Gospel to all of the earth. However, as a consequence of martyrdom and geographical separation, the priesthood keys were not passed on. The early bishops of the church did not have the apostolic authority that Peter, James and John did, or else they would have been called apostles. For example, Linus the first bishop of Rome (often assumed to be the head of the church after Peter's death), according to Eusebius of Caesarea, was a bishop (i.e. a local congregation’s minister), not an apostle (Church History, Book III, Chapter II). Eusebius, while he calls these early bishops successors of the apostles, he speaks of these bishops as men who were called to lead that particular group of people under the direction and guidance of the apostles (Church History, Book III, Chapter IV). Now, I am not saying that Linus or any of the other bishops were bad men, but what I am trying to say is that with the apostles and the keys of the kingdom gone, there was no clear direction from God on how to run the church. I am sure they did the best that they could, but eventually there began to be major disagreements in the church. This is evident by the Council of Nicaea, which met in part to discuss the Arian controversy. The disagreement was centered on the relationship between the Father and the Son. This issue would have been resolved very quickly had there been a prophet who could receive divine revelation and held the authority to determine church doctrine. As it was, Constantine, the Emperor with no ecclesiastical authority took the lead in the council and made them come to a decision.

Take the example of Peter making doctrinal decisions from Acts chapter 11; it is clear that Peter held the keys to decide such matters. He received a revelation that the Gospel was to go to the Gentiles as well as the Jews. Those present at the meeting accepted Peter’s statement, because they recognized that he held the authority to institute practices and doctrine for the entire church. The process was simple, and it was not a matter of politics. This pattern was repeated in Acts 15. Had there been a prophet on the earth in the fourth century, there would have been no need for the Council of Nicaea. How could something so fundamental as the character of God and his Son come into question by the leaders of Christ’s church? This alone is evidence enough that the leaders of the church at that time did not have the authority to receive revelation from God for the church, nor did they have the authority to act in his name.

Christ didn’t waste his time, nor did the apostles. Rather, there was an apostasy. This pattern has been repeated numerous times through history. We see it with Adam, Abraham, Noah, Moses and so on. God calls a prophet to teach the people and gives him authority. Some people accept what the prophet has taught, but eventually the people turn from the truth. No one had the authority to speak in God’s name nor did they have the authority to administer the ordinances necessary for salvation after the original twelve apostles were killed. True, there were many men who tried to reform what they thought was the truth, but these men were not called of God as the ancient prophets were.

In addition to the above evidences of apostasy, Peter taught that at some future time there will be a restoration or ‘restitution of all things’ (Acts 3:21). In order for a restoration to occur, there had to be a loss. Thus, according to the scriptures and prophets, there would be an apostasy and then there would be a restoration of not only the truth, but of all things (Ephesians 1:10).

In 1820, God the Father and Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph Smith and called him to the work. He was given the priesthood authority—that is, he was given the keys of the kingdom. Through Joseph Smith, Christ’s church has once again been established on earth. The keys of the kingdom that Joseph Smith held have been passed in an unbroken chain down to the current prophet, seer, revelator and president of the church. His name is Thomas S. Monson; we have a quorum of twelve apostles who spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ all over the world. They are called of God and set apart by the laying on of hands by those who have the authority to pass the priesthood on.

We have a massive missionary force, almost 53,000-strong, who are in nearly every country in the world. They all proclaim that God has once again spoken to his people through a prophet and that the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which was lost through apostasy, is once again upon the earth. We proclaim that Jesus lives and that he is the Savior of all mankind and that all can partake of salvation through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, repentance, baptism by immersion for the remission of sins and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands (by someone holding priesthood authority).

I hope this answers your question and clears up your confusion. Think about what I have written. God knows if it’s true. Ask Him about it in prayer. I invite you to contact the missionaries who are in your area by going to this website and entering your information. A pair of young men or young women will come to your door to teach you further about what we believe. Thanks for your inquiry.

Why Mormons?

Question: Why Mormons?

Answer: Can you please be a little more specific?

Question: Yes, of course. What makes the Mormon Church any different from any other church; why are you Mormons always trying to share your beliefs with me?

Answer: Great question. Let me answer it for myself: the Church is special to me and I love to share its teachings with others because I know it to be the true church. I believe that other religions and faiths have teachings that are true and I am forever grateful for the work that they do to make people better but I also believe that they are missing important truths. To use a familiar phrase, I believe that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the only church that can honestly claim to tell “the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.”

With this, I believe that this church is the only church with authority from God to perform saving ordinances such as baptism.

Authority given to man by God to act in His name is called the priesthood. Throughout time, God has called special individuals to be prophets. Prophets are given the priesthood authority by God and are instructed to teach the people about the gospel of Jesus Christ. Thus men like Noah, Abraham, and Moses had this authority to act in God’s name. But, because we men are silly, these prophets were consistently rejected. When a prophet was rejected, this priesthood authority was lost from the Earth for a time (known as a time of apostasy) until God saw fit to once again call a new prophet to restore what was lost.

This cycle of “have a prophet, kill the prophet, don’t have a prophet, eventually have a new prophet” continued up until Christ was sent to the earth. While here, Christ acted as the prophet and organized His Church, which organization included the calling of twelve Apostles. But (silly humans) even Christ was rejected and killed. When Christ was killed Peter, having the proper authority, assumed the role as head of the Church. And yet the persecution didn’t stop. Christian heads were rolling left and right and the Apostles were killed off until, yet again, a new era of apostasy began. Authority was yet again lost from the earth because of the wickedness of men.

The Roman Catholic Church believes that that authority was never lost. The Protestant reformers (a la Martin Luther, John Calvin, William Tyndale, etc), pointing to the widespread corruption in the church of their times, heartily disagreed and broke off in attempts to organize churches that were more like the original Church that Christ had established. But most of these reformers realized that they didn’t have authority from God—they didn’t claim themselves to be prophets called by God. Roger Williams, co-founder of Rhode Island and the Baptist church in America, recognized this lack of authority in his church and soon left saying,

“There is no regularly constituted church of Christ on earth, nor any person qualified to administer any church ordinances; nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the Great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seeking. (Picturesque America, p. 502.)

So mankind needed to wait until God saw fit to call a new prophet. The wait lasted until 1820. In spring of that year God and Jesus Christ personally appeared to Joseph Smith to call him as a new prophet – a prophet to restore what had been lost, a prophet specifically given the priesthood authority necessary to once again establish Christ’s Church here on the earth.

And thus it is that Christ’s Church was restored (not reformed) and is now on the earth again with a prophet, with apostles, and with the priesthood authority necessary to perform baptisms. The Heavens are still open, God talks to His children in our day.

These things I know to be true.

That’s why Mormons.

Thanks for listening.

(Oh, and I dare you to watch this. Or this.)

Come Hear the Voice of a Real Prophet

Today and tomorrow are what is known to Mormons worldwide as "General Conference Weekend." It happens twice a year -- the first weekend of April and of October. It's a broadcast service in which the living Prophet and the twelve Apostles speak to all the world. Usually, Mormons are the bulk of the audience, but the messages are for all people, regardless of religion, and I would like to invite you to tune in.

If you live anywhere near Utah, you'll likely find the station on broadcast TV and radio. Satellite carries the BYU channel throughout the world. I believe some cable companies also carry it. If all else fails, the Church offers live streaming video on their website, along with LOTS of options for streaming audio in whichever language you prefer.

The schedule is as follows (Mountain DST):
Saturday April 5, 2008
10:00am - noon ~ First session
2:00pm - 4:00 pm ~ Second session

Sunday April 6, 2008
10:00am - noon ~ Third session
2:00pm - 4:00 pm ~ Fourth session

And please, share with us what you thought of it.

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ADDENDUM:
The weekend is over and there were some terrific talks. I particularly liked Elder Dallin H. Oaks' sermon on testimony. How can we know things? There is more knowledge than can be gained by the scientific method, and a lot of it is more important.

Since there is no longer live streaming video, check out the Church's online audio and video archives to catch the talks you might have missed.