That Strange Mormon Doctrine

I would like to write about why Mormons believe the things they do. Why do they believe in the Father, Son and Holy Ghost as three individual and physically separate beings? Why do they believe they should abstain from alcohol, tobacco, tea, and coffee? Why the hard line on sexual abstinence until marriage? Where do these religious ideas come from and why do they become doctrine?

I believe that the establishment of doctrine, or religious ideology, in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is unique among the Christian churches.

For example, let's suppose you were to speak with a Mormon friend about the nature of the Godhead. Carrying a very traditional Trinitarian view, you show your Mormon friend a series of very convincing New Testament references to prove that the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are one inseparable physical being. Let's suppose that your Mormon friend's mastery of the New Testament pales in comparison to yours and he or she is only able to provide a couple of references backing up LDS church doctrine. Odds are that despite what you may consider overwhelming evidence to the contrary, your Mormon friend has full confidence in his or her beliefs without being able to prove them scripturally to your satisfaction.

LDS doctrine is not dependent on scholarly interpretation of ancient scripture. Mormons truly believe in the Bible as the word of God, but they do not depend solely on it to determine the nature of God or His will for us at this time. Many interpretations can be made of each scripture and Mormons generally will interpret scripture in light of established LDS doctrine. Attempts to dissuade Mormons from the doctrine by use of the scriptures will generally be unsuccessful because Mormons interpret the scriptures through the viewpoint of established doctrine.

Now, let's suppose you were to speak with your Mormon friend about early Christian traditions and historical Christian declarations and creeds. You could speak quite extensively to your Mormon friend about the Nicene creed and its declarations on the nature of the Godhead and point out that they speak perfectly clearly about the inseparable nature of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Even if you showed evidence of a unanimous opinion on the nature of God by early Christian councils, your Mormon friend would still hold to his or her beliefs with complete confidence.

LDS doctrine is not a result of the historical evolution of Christian belief. Your LDS friend cares little for the teachings of fourth century scholars. He or she will find the history interesting, but not of doctrinal significance. How then is LDS doctrine determined? If it does not come from earnest scholarship of the Bible or from an integrity to Christian tradition, where is the doctrine coming from?

Suppose you perceive your Mormon friend is unchanged after your convincing arguments and you wonder why they believe in the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost as three separate and distinct beings. Your friend might answer by telling you of the experience of Joseph Smith, who in response to prayer was visited by God the Father and the Savior Jesus Christ. He spoke with them, face to face. Your friend might tell you of other experiences and teachings of modern prophets that make clear the nature of the Godhead. He or she might then point out a couple of scriptures that illustrate the same point.

LDS doctrine is established by modern prophets. Mormons believe these men are called of God as was Moses, Abraham, Isaiah, and the ancient apostles. They believe that through modern prophets, the true and original gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored. They take to heart to statement of Amos of the Bible (Amos 3:7), that "Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets." They believe that the Lord speaks to mankind in this time through prophets, just as he did in Biblical times. They believe that guidance from the Lord is just as important in our difficult time as it was in the difficult times of the ancient Israelites.

As was recently stated by Dieter Uchtdorf, counselor to the current prophet and president of the church:

"This gospel does not come from man. The doctrine of the Church is not someone's best guess as to the meaning of ancient scripture. It is the truth of heaven revealed by God Himself. I testify that Joseph Smith saw what he said he saw. He truly looked into the heavens and communed with God the Father and the Son, and with angels.

I bear witness that Heavenly Father speaks to those who seek Him in spirit and in truth. I have witnessed with my own eyes and joyfully testify that in our day, God speaks through His prophet, seer, and revelator, even Thomas S. Monson."

This belief in modern prophets may strike some as a dangerous fanaticism. There have been acccusations of "blindly following" our prophets. But it is difficult to find an adult practicing Mormon who blindly believes. We hold these men to be prophets because after earnest prayer and inquiry of the Lord, we feel He has confirmed to us that they really are His prophets. And so we believe, not blindly, but because we have been shown.

Your Mormon Friend