And so
they came one evening to invite us to read the Book of Mormon and then come
back at a later time perhaps to ask questions in order to clarify the bright
and shiny truth they had to offer. There were subtle droppings already of their
beliefs but they started by asking my husband and I if we read the bible and if
we know how Jesus was baptized. I said yes and narrated that he was baptized at
the river Jordan, the Holy Spirit came down upon him and that a voice said ‘This
is my beloved son, with whom I am well pleased. Listen to him.’ Sister Hudson
agreed and continued to explain how this was confirmation that there were three
beings belonging to a godhead, that god the father has a physical body, Jesus
came to atone for our sins and that the holy spirit explicitly tells us the
truth via what we feel. They left us the book and we set a date for our next
meeting. Meanwhile, I poured over all things Mormon to find out their belief
statutes and also watched a lot of conversion stories of ex-mormons so as to
gain insight. I also went over church history, browsed over the Catechism of
the Catholic Church and continued to pray and read the bible. I set up my
defence system as I awaited the day.
May 21, Thursday
I asked
friends and family to pray for us so that we may share the truth of the gospel
and defend the faith properly. I was ready. I prayed asking the Holy Spirit to
use me during this spiritual battle.
2:30
PM, there was a knock at the door. Heart pounding, I whispered “Lord help me”,
breathed deeply and finally opened for my guests. A few greetings and we dove
right in. Sister Guerero led us in prayer. I was reminding myself that I am
praying to the One, true God, and that although they maybe using similar terms,
they don’t mean the same thing. So she began by thanking Father God for the
day, asking the Holy Spirit to give guidance and ended in Jesus’ name –
seemingly Trinitarian right?
Sister Hudson then asked me if I prayed and read the Book of
Mormon. I said, “Of course, I prayed to the Holy Spirit and I read the
introduction to the book.”
Sister Hudson: “What did you find out?”
Me: “Well, that Joseph Smith dug up some golden plates
containing the ‘word of god’ and founded a new church”
“Right. You see Joseph Smith is the prophet of our times
appointed by god to restore the church Christ founded and that god loves us so
much and he has a great plan for us”
“See I have a few problems with this book (the book of
Mormon). But first I’d like to ask you ‘What is the bible to you?’”
“It is also the word of god”
“Do you believe that the bible is inspired? And that it is
true in its entirety?”
“Yes.”
“Ok. The book of Mormon says to “to ponder in their hearts
the message it contains, and then to ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name
of Christ to ask IF the book is true…” (Moroni 10:3-5) but the bible on the
other hand says that it is the truth just as what Jesus said. I have this book
(the bible) and have come to know to be true, so why should I believe this that
might be contrary to what the bible is saying? If it is true, why did you not
include it as part of your bible?”
“Well because a lot of people know the bible already but
many do not yet know that the message of the Book of Mormon and that it is also
from god. From the book it also says that you will gain a testimony from the
holy spirit.”
I maintained that it is doubtful for this book to be of God.
I read to her 2 Timothy 3:16
All Scripture is
inspired by God and is useful for teaching, refuting error, for correcting and
training in Christian life.
When
Paul was writing this, the ‘scripture’ he was referring to was what was only
available during their time; meaning the Old Testament. It is important to
consider the author’s intent and circumstance at the time these were written
and not pick and choose as if we can readily apply any text we see in the bible
as we please. We are only able to use this today as pertaining to both the old
and new testaments because the magisterium has already deemed which books are
truly inspired and as an official part of the scriptures. More on the topic of
divine inspiration and holy scripture at another time.
She continued, “…Because it comes from God through his
prophet Joseph Smith and it doesn’t contradict the bible. It is a companion to
the bible…you just have to read it to know if it’s true because it is another
testament of Jesus.”
“I don’t think that a new prophet is due because Jesus said
everything he has to say when he was here. In fact let me read to you Hebrews 1:1-2
God has spoken in the
past to our ancestors through the prophets, in many different ways, although
never completely; but in our times he has spoken definitively to us through his
Son. He is the one God appointed heir of all things, since through him he
unfolded the stages of the world.
“God continues to speak to us in these times through
prophets, such as Joseph Smith. This is so he could restore the church. Jesus
founded his church on earth through the apostles but when they died the spirit
of god left the earth and so it cannot continue and now there are a lot of
churches that teach different things and a lot of different translations of the
bible because the original teachings were lost.”
“Yes Jesus founded his church through Peter and it continues
to stand because we have the pope.”
“Who is the pope?”
“He is the vicar of Christ here on earth. We read in Matthew
16: 17-19
‘It is well for you,
Simon Barjona, for it is not flesh or blood that has revealed this to you, but
my Father in heaven. And now I say to you: You are Peter, and on this rock I
will build my Church; and never will the powers of death overcome it. I will
give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven: whatever you bind on earth shall be
bound in heaven, and whatever you unbind on earth shall be unbound in heaven.’
Loosing and binding means having authority to decide on
matters. Now let me explain to you what the ‘keys’ mean. In ancient times, as
in the Old Testament, kings who’d go to battle would leave the keys of the
kingdom to the prime minister. The key is actually very big and is literally
the keys to the gates of the kingdom, so anyone who has the key is in charge
while the king is away. When this person dies, a successor is appointed in
order that the authority is not lost as long as the king isn’t around yet. That
is the same with the papacy, successors were appointed to take over ‘the seat’.
This is the oldest office around today; it has lasted almost 2000 years of
unbroken succession. To say that it was lost after the last apostle died is not
true.
AND Jesus said that the gates of hell shall not prevail
against it. If Jesus’ founded his church, of course he would also sustain it.
He promised that. If apostasy happened and everything just crumbled away early
on, then you are suggesting that Jesus lied and he started something so flimsy
that it could only be there for just a short time. I cannot accept that Jesus,
who is God, founds a church and does not follow through with it. Then he would
have suffered and died for nothing if no one can continue on telling the good
news…only to have it restored after 1800 years!? He promised ‘to be with you
until the end of time’ that’s why he sent the Holy Spirit.
“Yes he died to save us from our sins. God has a better plan
for us, for families to be together forever. The people after the apostles didn’t
have the spirit anymore. They were lost because they had no one to guide them.”
“That is why there is apostolic succession. To ensure that
there be authority to tell what conforms to what Jesus taught when he was with
them. That is done by the laying of the hands to the person by the ones who
have received it earlier (the other apostles and disciples)”
She
then showed me a picture depicting Peter, James and John laying hands on Joseph
Smith, restoring the priesthood that Christ bequeathed to his apostles during
his time. And went on to say that this priesthood is the true authority in
which the church must follow. This had to happen because of the great apostasy
that happened, she claimed. And that as a result of this, no one knew the truth
anymore.
I then contended
that if Jesus were to restore anything needing restoration, most especially
because we are speaking of the authority he gave, then he would do it
himself…him being the one who established it. It just might as well be the
second coming, I joked. To which she said that Jesus could not do that yet
because he is already in heaven. Uh and where did she think Peter, James and
John came from? These were all rhetorical of course. Let us not forget that God’s
plan is already put into motion and we await Jesus’ second coming whether we
are ready for it or not.
SH: “God had already known that apostasy would happen. It
says so in the bible”
And she read from Amos 8: 11-12
‘Yahweh says, ”Days
are coming when I will send famine upon the land, not hunger for bread or
thirst for water, but for hearing the word of Yahweh. Men will stagger from sea
to sea, wander to and fro, from north to east, searching for the word of
Yahweh, but they will not find it.’
At that time, I haven’t read the book of Amos yet and did
not know the background for Amos’ prophecies but still, one cannot just get a
bible verse and take it to be a prophecy for the apostasy or to relate it to
suit your liking. Knowing when and why it is written is vital so that we do not
fall into fundamentalism. While it is true that bible passages shed light to
our current situation and enthuse us to follow Jesus, they should not be taken
out of context.
I was amused at how these people are truly sincere about
their faith, but know very little about the BIG picture. Kidding, I said, “You
know, if there is any apostasy happening, it is in the modern world today. All
around us is materialism and a lot of atheists.”
“How could there be apostasy today when the true church is
already restored?” she questioned. I was beginning to think they did not really
understand what apostasy is.
“If this great apostasy happened, when did it happen in
history? Since you are talking about the same church which we both agree that
was founded by Jesus… if it was so great, why do I not know it?”
“I do not know exactly, but as I said, it was when all the
apostles had died.”
“Do you know the history of the bible?”
“No, I’m not really familiar with that.”
“Well it was the Catholic church who made the canon of the
bible and identified which scriptures are true to Jesus’ teachings. If you
claim that apostasy happened when the last apostle died about let’s say
100AD…but the bible wasn’t put together by the Catholic church until the 4th
century; the same one that you use…then wouldn’t that be a result of an
apostate church? This could then be the spawn of satan that you believe to be
the word of god.”
“But we use the King James Version.” She retorted as if that
would justify anything.
“Ah but do you know that the King James Version is the
English translation of Luther’s German translation of the original Latin text.
And that was just in the 1600’s.” Sister Hudson’s expression changed to a
puzzled look as if asking ‘How do you know all these?’ It seemed to her, I
guess, that this version of the bible with the fancy old English writing is the
oldest account. And so I continued to explain…
“We actually have seven more books than the other versions including
the King James Version because Luther, who was one of the reformers of the
church, took out the books that didn’t conform to his ideas. He, together with
Calvin went on and broke away from the church because they questioned the very
authority tasked to protect Christ’s teachings.”
“Yeah, but the bible survived the apostasy so it is still
true and we can trust it.”
“Okay, and who do you think protected it so that it could
‘survive’ through that? The church of course; the followers of Jesus and his
apostles.”
She diverted back to the topic she was only supposed to
share at that time. I had this feeling that they were only saying things
according the plan or methodology they have been taught, so that they were
really in shock at what I was telling them and that they weren’t really
prepared to handle it.
“The Book of Mormon was written in 600BC all the way up to
400AD, it was just kept only to be rediscovered by Joseph Smith. When he was
very young there were a lot of churches already teaching all sorts of things.
He prayed and when he was in the woods, he saw a bright image of two persons.
Who do you think these were?”
“God,” I answered.
“Yes, God the father and Jesus,” she said, gaining back her
confidence. “They told him not to join any of the churches because they were
not true, and led him to find the plates containing god’s message to us.”
“Again, my point exactly… who can attest that this is true?
I can just dig up some gold plates today and claim that it is from God. Or if
indeed God reveals himself to me, first thing I’d do is go to the pope and ask
if this is from God or is the evil one just playing tricks on me.
You say it was written until 400 AD, so it was still during
the time of the apostles and the early churches. Why did they not confer with
the apostles, who had the capacity to decide then? Even Paul, had to go up to
Peter and the others to confirm or at least let them know that yes, this is the
same Jesus Christ who was with you and he has revealed himself to me also. And
by doing that, they knew that they were united in Christ, that even if they had
different experiences, that they were proclaiming the SAME good news.
There can be private revelations, I know. But what you’re
claiming is a public revelation…something adding to what is already there. So
it has to be authenticated by the right people. And these revelations cannot
improve or complete what Jesus’ has already revealed to us. For example, the
visions of the Virgin Mary at Fatima, this had to be reported and convened upon
by the pope and the bishops so that they are recognized as something
extraordinary and not just a hoax. And again, they cannot in any way contradict
the deposit of faith given to the apostles.”
“I’d encourage you to read the Book of Mormon first so that
you can see for yourself. Pray to the holy spirit so that you will know. You’ll
know by the feeling…” She quoted from the Book of Mormon something about the sensation
the holy spirit gives you so that you know if you’re on the right track and she
described it to be a kind of light burning within the heart – a good feeling of
course. So she continued to ask, as if probing if the real Holy Spirit is with
me. “How do you feel when you pray or when you read the bible?”
“I feel good. I wouldn’t exactly call it like a burning
inside, but somewhat light and exciting.”
“That’s how we feel with this book, and we know that it is
from god.”
“You know, I think we shouldn't base everything on feelings. I
think we idolize our feelings too much. We might confuse things because of our
feelings. God appeals to our reason also because he is the author of reason.
Faith is not a feeling.”
“Yes, faith is action.”
“But more than that, faith is certainty. It’s like when
you’re in love. Have you ever been in love? You just know that you love that
person even though feelings sometimes change. It’s not always romantic and
sweet moments. Like with Peter, sometimes I don’t feel like kissing him or
what, but I know for sure that I love him and that I’d do anything for him.”
A bit of awkward silence and shy smiles but we carried on.
“I’m not saying that I am an expert in the bible or have
read it all. But if you take time to read and ponder it, you will see that
there is no need for ‘another testament’ and I trust what the church says. May
I read one more passage from the bible?”
“Go ahead.”
2 Timothy 2: 22 – 26
“So shun the passions
of youth and seek righteousness, faith, love and peace, together with those who
call upon the Lord with a pure heart. Avoid stupid and senseless discussions,
since such are the cause of misunderstanding. God’s servant must not be
quarrelsome, but kind to all, always teaching and patient with those who do not
understand, gently correcting opponents; perhaps God may grant them to repent
and discover the truth, withdrawing them from the snare of the devil who held
them captive to his own will.”
They were startled for a moment but kind of gave of the look
as to who among us is within the snare of the devil. But I assured them that we
were both seeking the truth, and that in itself is good. But as with regards to
our respective churches, both cannot be true… so that I should do more research
regarding the Book of Mormon in order to show some diplomacy because I have
been at it since they arrived. The sisters agreed that I do that and gave me
the “proper” websites for that. I too, encouraged them to do their own research
of the bible so that they might come to know the truth, but alas, they do not
use computers during their mission.
In
closing I said, “I’m glad that we shared our faith with each other and that we
did it without having to argue or have that debate atmosphere. I would still
encourage you to read the bible more. And maybe next time, I might show you how
God is more than one purpose, but three persons in one.”
“Yes, we will. And you should continue to pray too so that
in time you may come to read the Book of Mormon. You really mean we can come
again next time? If so, can we bring with us an elder?”
I
agreed to meet with them again a week after. And so they asked me to lead a kneeling
prayer before they leave, and I readily accepted. I slowly began as I made the
sign of the cross:
“In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
Spirit. Lord God, we praise and glorify you for giving us this day to
experience your love once again. For this opportunity you gave us to share our
faith. Please send us your Holy Spirit, the spirit of truth and love, that he
may guide us and lead us to discover the truth. We ask this in Jesus’ name.
Amen.”
We shook hands and bid goodbye. ‘Til next Thurday.
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