Hello MH,
Thanks for visiting our website. And thanks for writing!
I think you have perfectly legitimate questions and concerns. So let me address
them.
1. Discovering the errors of the cult you were raised in can indeed be
devastating. I've attached Chapter 2 of my book, The Long Way Home: Moving
from a Pseudo-Christian Cult into Genuine Christianity for you to take a
look at. There I describe in great detail typical emotional and spiritual
reactions to the kinds of discoveries you've been engaged in. As you read
through this chapter, you'll see that you are far from being alone! In fact, you
are right in the mainstream. And you are right, Biblical Christianity has been
perverted down through the centuries by many charismatic leaders who have led
many others astray. Joseph Smith was hardly the first, and he certainly wasn't
the last. This has led you to wonder if even the Bible itself can be reliable.
This is why I have also attached chapter 7 of my same book. Entitled 'The
Bible,' in this chapter I explain that the Bible is indeed reliable, and is the
most thoroughly attested book in the history of the world. The wealth of
manuscript evidence — and their remarkable agreement — documents the absolute
reliability of the Bible. So there, you don't have to wonder any more — the
Bible is in fact reliable. And as the Apostle Paul told Timothy, "The
holy Scriptures, ... are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in
Christ Jesus" (2 Tim. 3:13). Let this now be said of you.
2. You say that many RLDS (Community of Christ) members now carry NIV Bibles to
church instead of Joseph Smith's Inspired Version. You also say that RLDS/CofC
leaders now openly admit many of Joseph Smith's sins, like polygamy and his
'stone in the hat' to produce the Book of Mormon. Indeed, these kinds of honest
admissions would have been unthinkable in the RLDS church only a few short years
ago. And so you wonder if all this may be leading them to be a genuine Christian
church. I think that is a wonderful question. And one that many people are
deeply confused about. But here is the simple reality: carrying an NIV Bible to
church does not make you a Christian. Neither does acknowledging Joseph Smith as
a false prophet. Nor does leaving a cult — like you have done — make you a
Christian. That is why I have also attached chapter 5 from my book for you to
read. It is entitled simply 'Salvation.' There I explain salvation, and what
makes you a genuine Christian. I explain it 3 different ways. Because it is
vitally important. Simply put, you only become a Christian by sincerely and
humbly acknowledging your helplessness, fallenness and sin before God, asking Him
and trusting Him for complete forgiveness, and then committing your life to
following and obeying the real Jesus of the real
Bible. And part of the sin you would seek forgiveness for is being deceived by
Joseph Smith, and participating in his heresy. This is big. Even though you may
have been sincere, you were sincerely wrong. And this is sin.
So in this process it is vitally important to distinguish between the Jesus of
Joseph Smith, and the Biblical Jesus. Joseph Smith created a Jesus of his own
imagination — one that does not exist in reality. And this counterfeit Jesus
established a counterfeit gospel which cannot save. I cannot
overstate this distinction. Many Latter Day Saints try to bring their
counterfeit Jesus with them. They simply do not understand that there is a
difference, which is a large part of their dilemma.
And what is true for you personally is true for the institutional RLDS/CofC
church as well. Merely distancing themselves from Joseph Smith does not make
them a Christian church. Nor does mimicking Christian vocabulary, or perhaps
even allowing the use of a different Bible. The fact is that the RLDS church has
been openly practicing and promoting blasphemous heresy for a very, very long
time. And they still are. They need to come clean — publicly — for
all of the skeletons in their closet. But instead of leading their church into a
deep state of contrition and repentance for these grievous sins, they make
matters even worse by adopting theological pluralism. Pluralism teaches that
there are no right or wrong religions, because God authored all religions and is
at work in all of them today. This includes not only Christianity, but Hinduism,
Buddhism, Islam and countless other lesser-known religions. According to
pluralism, our job as humans is therefore to respect and appreciate the rich
diversity God has authored. A most significant tenet of pluralism is that no one
religion can claim to be superior to the others, even Christianity, because
salvation can be found in all religions. That means that Jesus is no different —
and no better — than Buddha or Mohammed. But Jesus said, ‘I am the way and the
truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me’
(John 14:4). And so by promoting pluralism Community of Christ leadership make
an open mockery of Jesus. Such depravity!
No, my friend, today’s RLDS /CofC church is no closer to the real Jesus than
they were in 1830. In fact, they may be even farther away. Just like
individuals, cults have choices to make when discovering the depth of their sin.
And the Community of Christ has made all the wrong choices. Instead of
confessing their error as sin, repenting of it and then embracing the real Jesus of the real Bible, they have embraced
ultra-liberal humanist religion which has a very low view of the Bible, and an
even lower view of Jesus. This is all in stark contrast with another cult of our
time which did it the right way: The Worldwide Church of God. After their founder,
Herbert Armstrong, died, their leadership repented of their heretical errors and
did their best to bring the entire church into a saving relationship with the
Biblical Jesus. You can watch a DVD which chronicles their process. Titled
‘Called to be Free,’ you can get a copy of it our website http://www.help4rlds.com/DVDs.htm.
Our prayer for the so-called Community of Christ is that they would repent of
their sin and come to the Biblical Jesus in faith — in Spirit and in Truth. And
lead their members to do likewise, as did the Worldwide Church of God. Then, and
only then, can they be considered a genuine Christian church. We continue to
pray that they would do this very thing. We earnestly seek their salvation, not
their condemnation. But they have their own choices to make.
May the Lord bless you and bring you to a deep and abiding faith in
Himself.
Paul Trask
