Fact: two of my favorite gospel subjects are equality and repentance. I really like any scripture stories that focus on Christ's concern for all people regardless of their past (the calling of Matthew the Publican; Christ's forgiveness of the woman who washes His feet with her hair) or ethnic background (the woman at the well) or gender (ibid). I have noticed that stories about these two subjects often seem few and far between in the Bible, which is a pity, particularly because I would theorize the biblical lack of such stories is quite possibly what leads so many Christians to see God as unfeeling and overly revenge-driven.
Nephi lays out two potential fates for the Gentiles in this chapter. One, that when Christ manifests Himself to them and removes their "stumbling blocks" (I'm not sure if he is referring to anything specific or just to stumbling blocks in general) that they will accept Him and be blessed, free and awesome. Alternative: that they will harden their hearts against Christ and be thrown into the PITS OF HELL! Which were dug (tense?), naturally, by the Great and Abominable Church, the Whore of All the Earth. The way the angel spirit guide puts it, this is one of the incredible acts of the universe: that everyone will have the opportunity to choose good and be happy, or choose evil and be miserable. They make it sound so easy. Maybe it is .... or will be once one is more spiritually mature? Scratch that. When I am more spiritually mature.
Not sure yet. I'll let you know.
Here's another thing I'm curious about, which I mentioned before. I truly, honestly believe that the line between the wicked and the righteous is not so much a matter of church membership as loyalty/obedience/compassion/other assorted virtues. However, these verses would seem to make a case against this notion:
10 And he said unto me: Behold there are save atwo churches only; the one is the church of the Lamb of God, and the bother is the church of the cdevil; wherefore, dwhoso belongeth not to the church of the Lamb of God belongeth to that great church, which is the mother of abominations; and she is the ewhore of all the earth.
12 And it came to pass that I beheld the church of the Lamb of God, and its numbers were afew, because of the wickedness and abominations of the whore who sat upon many waters; nevertheless, I beheld that the church of the Lamb, who were the saints of God, were also upon ball the face of the earth; and their dominions upon the face of the earth were small, because of the wickedness of the great whore whom I saw.
This DOES seem to be referring to two specific churches, doesn't it? However, it is possible that once again the "churches" are just metaphors for the wicked and the righteous. I'm really not sure. I plan to stick to my interpretation unless I find more evidence against it, though.
Finally, we have a reference to John the Beloved, the man behind Revelation, which apparently used to be easy to understand. What I wouldn't do to get my hands on of those editions. Unfortunately, I will probably have to die in order to do so. I can wait! I can wait!
This DOES seem to be referring to two specific churches, doesn't it? However, it is possible that once again the "churches" are just metaphors for the wicked and the righteous. I'm really not sure. I plan to stick to my interpretation unless I find more evidence against it, though.
Finally, we have a reference to John the Beloved, the man behind Revelation, which apparently used to be easy to understand. What I wouldn't do to get my hands on of those editions. Unfortunately, I will probably have to die in order to do so. I can wait! I can wait!
2 comments:
On verse 10: Endorsements of absolutism are rare in the social circles I navigate. Many of my friends deplore black-and-white thinking. What in this world is wholly good or wholly evil anyway? Wouldn't rejecting all evil require us to reject everything? Even the scriptures have inspired evil deeds. This verse is embarrassing in its naivete and extremism.
On the other hand, this is an angel speaking in a very important vision, so we might owe him the benefit of the doubt. Are we wrong, or are we misinterpreting his meaning? Moroni 7:24 says that all good things come from Christ. So does Moroni 10:18. And Moroni 7:16, which adds that good things invite to do good and come unto Christ. Moroni 7:17 says that bad things come from the devil. If everything that invites us to come unto Christ is good and comes from him, then surely the valiant missionary efforts of many churches are from Christ as well. Of course, some things claim to invite people to come to Christ but really don't. There are wolves in sheeps clothing. But I don't think anyone who's heard the non-Mormons quoted in General Conference or had close dealings with enough members of other Churches can doubt that there is much good to be found among them. According to Mormon and Moroni, that good is from Christ. So it would be premature to condemn all non-Mormons on the basis of this verse.
But then what does this verse mean? Should we suppose that the Church of the Lamb of God is greater than the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints? That's plausible, but odd. Why use the word “church” if what you're going for is not actually an organization?
Another possibility is to say that LDS Church = the Church of the Lamb of God, but that being a member of the church of the devil doesn't condemn you. Just as you (Elisa) earlier pointed out, although the abominable church was responsible for the lost clarity of the scriptures, the members who were directly responsible might have been innocent. Perhaps they made mistakes, weren't aware what was going on, etc. Just because they were part of a bad movement doesn't mean that they were bad. So perhaps we can say that those who aren't part of God's church are all participating to some degree in the devil's work. They may do it unintentionally, innocently, but they are nevertheless part of it.
Right now that's the interpretation that makes the most sense to me. It does, however, have a few problems. For one, it's a stretch to say that all non-Mormons are part of one big organization of which Mormons are not part. You could probably say that non-Mormons are all being drawn into the global political economy. But how are Mormons exempt from that great and abominable church? Lately Mormons have embraced it, if anything. We certainly occupy high positions in it. You could say that it's a certain value system that the world is adopting, which is becoming more and more true, but that seems wrong because we aren't alone in rejecting worldly values, nor are we the most immune from their influence.
But enough musing about how to interpret the churches; the real question is what benefit there is in seeing the world this way. How does seeing the world as two conflicting works illuminate my life? It's easy for me to see the benefit of viewing the Church of the Lamb as an organized movement for good. Identifying with a group of good people gets me excited. Seeing my life as a quest to achieve unity with Zion gives me motivation and direction in life. Besides that, I think the idea of a kingdom of God is actually an essential part of understanding the plan of salvation, the atonement, and the Gospel in general.
The tough question is, why a church of the devil? Why not just call it darkness or confusion? Won't thinking of it as organized evil just make us unduly frightened of it? Won't it make people prone to ignore, dislike, or suspect their non-Mormon neighbors? Is this the way that Christ thinks of them?
Those are real dangers, and that sort of behavior is not rare. We're a bit too parochial as a people if you ask me. But the dangers are not inherent in the metaphor. As we noted earlier, there's no reason that the other people have to be willing members of the abominable church. Most are unwittingly participating in Satan's work. So any suspicion or dislike of them is misplaced. Hate the abominable church, not the member.
The benefit I can see in viewing others as members of an evil church is it helps us watch out for organized attacks on righteousness. So, for example, whereas we might otherwise just think of sweatshops as sad things that happen in the world, by seeing them as part of the work of Satan's economy, we see them as concerted evil, something we need to fight systematically.
I'll be honest, although I think it's very dangerous, there's something I really like about the warrior spirit. It doesn't work for everyone. Some people just hate war. But I loved The Lord of the Rings when I was growing up because evil was something outside of you that you could fight. I loved how the conflict was external, how the quests were laid out before them and all they needed to do was seize the opportunity. That's no how life is, and it's important to realize that, but distinguishing the good from the evil lets me summon up a certain warrior spirit that gives me the energy to make changes and chase away my demons. As long as you're cautious about discerning:
“Wherefore, take heed, my beloved brethren, that ye do not judge that which is evil to be of God, or that which is good and of God to be of the devil.” ~Moroni 7:14
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