The Islamofication of Christianity

I recently read an interesting blog post by Fr. Stephen Freeman, an Orthodox priest, entitled Has Your Bible Become a Quran? The premise of this post – one that I have not seen stated before in such clear terms – is that, at some point in its interaction with Islam in the Middle Ages, Christian tradition and belief became heavily influenced by Islam and actually adopted a number of its precepts, and many Christians today adhere to these Islamic ideas even while reviling Islam and denying any possible kind of connection to it. I agree with much of what Freeman says because I have seen it myself. For instance:

• Obsession with “The Book”: Freeman correctly asserts that Islam, from its earliest days, relied upon the Quran as the kernel or nucleus around which all Muslims united. While Muslims believe that the Quran does not contain all words spoken to Man by God, it is seen as the purest and most important relation of such communications. The concept of the church has never been a part of Islam, and Muslims actually tend to be annoyed by any suggestion that any Islamic group could be termed a church. In Christianity, on the other hand, the concept of the church has always been central to the faith. Jesus Christ clearly established an organization with various levels of authority during His ministry. While written scripture was certainly important to the early Christians, they had many works of scripture that “mainstream” Christianity has long disregarded or even lost completely, and the Bible as we know it did not exist until centuries after the deaths of the Apostles. If the Apostles were the authority of the Christian faith while they were alive and the Bible is the authority now that they are dead, what was the authority for the centuries in which there were neither Apostles nor a Bible? As Freeman explains, the modern tendency to appeal to the Bible as the ultimate authority of Christian doctrine and the unifying element of the Christian world is neither logical nor biblical nor Christian; it can actually be traced, in part, to ideas transferred to Christianity from Islam during the Middle Ages.
• Disavowal of the individual: Islam teaches that humans reach their greatest potential by submitting completely to the will of God. The very words “Islam” and “Muslim” come from a root that means “to submit”. It is actually common for Muslims to proudly refer to themselves as the “slaves of Allah”. A similar attitude can commonly be seen among many Christians today. That is, they ascribe to a brand of Christianity that heavily emphasizes a belief that holiness comes through submission, as the individual, without Christ, is nothing. While the technical veracity of this belief is a matter of debate, the attitude it often conveys is one of self-deprecation that is found nowhere in the Bible. As Freeman says, the Bible does not teach us to submit to Christ, but to unite with Christ. There is a fundamental difference in feeling there. While all are fallen and utterly hopeless without Christ, one of the key distinctions between Christianity and Islam is the Christian belief that all humans are the children of God. We would do well to remember this.

And yet, while Freeman does make many interesting points that I agree with, he does also make a few mistakes:

• Religion without revelation: Freeman correctly asserts that membership in the Church, and not knowledge of or belief in the Bible, is what characterizes one who has united with Christ. He is also correct to point out the fundamental fallacy that is being committed by those who essentially worship the Bible. However, he fails to address the concern that was the cause of this drift toward Bible-worship to begin with. For Muslims, the Quran immediately held the utmost importance to their faith because Muhammad was supposedly the “seal of the prophets”, or the last prophet. If there were not going to be any more prophets to lead God’s people, where could they look for guidance? Who would stand as God’s representative on Earth? If they did not have prophets, they at least had the words of Muhammad in book form. This book would take the place of a prophet. Christianity resisted this drift at first. Since no statement was ever made by the New Testament prophets and apostles that could in any way be construed as a statement that the time of prophets had ended, there remained for some time an assumption that more prophets would come. However, this belief eventually faded, and Christians too came to believe that the words of dead prophets could somehow make living prophets unnecessary. Freeman is right to criticize this shift from prophetic leadership to the veneration of a book. However, he fails to see the fact that the whole reason the people did this was because there were no authoritative representatives of God – prophets – leading them. Freeman correctly asserts that membership in Christ’s church rather than veneration of a book is the defining characteristic of a Christian, but he fails to see that a church without prophetic guidance is not Christ’s church. Those who turned away from the clergy and toward the Bible did so because they saw that the clergy were not prophets, but were giving guidance based on their own philosophies instead of revelation. Not having living prophets, the people sought to at least be led by dead prophets.
• Comparison of the Book of Mormon to the Quran: First and foremost, Freeman’s statement that the Book of Mormon “tells us much about the mind of 19th century Upstate New York, but nothing about God” is patently false. Anyone who has given the Book of Mormon an honest reading knows that this statement is false. I will not bother to go into why: read it and see. But there is something else worth pointing out about his comparison of these two books. As mentioned previously, the Quran became essential to Islam because, with Muhammad being the “seal of the prophets”, something needed to stand in Muhammad’s place as the ultimate arbiter of true doctrine for generations to come. However, the Book of Mormon actually serves the opposite function. Instead of standing as a statement that the heavens are closed and that there is no more prophetic guidance – as the Quran does and as many Christians (incorrectly) claim the Bible does – the primary purpose of the Book of Mormon is to stand as proof that prophetic leadership exists in modern times and that God will continue to commune with Man as He always has until the end of times – so long as Man is willing to listen.

As John Taylor once said, “religion without revelation is a mockery and a farce.” It is true that Christ established a real, functioning Church and that membership in said Church is what defines one as a true follower of Christ. However, when Christ did this, He did not pull out a copy of the KJV and say: “This is the standard English Protestant Bible, and upon this rock will I build my church.” He built His church upon a foundation of prophetic and revelatory authority. Clergymen such as Freeman acknowledge the concept of authority and church membership, but they deny the defining characteristic of said authority. After all, how can a man stand as an authoritative representative of God – leading the Church and dictating what is or is not correct doctrine – except by communing with God as the prophets of the Bible did? Without such revelation, no God-given authority exists. Without God-given authority, any church we may found is a church of Man rather than of God.

From Hill to Hill, Part 3: The Barbaric Other

But before the great day of the Lord shall come, Jacob shall flourish in the wilderness, and the Lamanites shall blossom as the rose. (D&C 49:24)

This post is Part 3 in a series regarding the message and the challenge that the Restored Gospel raises against the contemporary political establishment of the United States of America.

The story of the Book of Mormon largely revolves around centuries of conflict between two peoples – the Nephites and the Lamanites. Consisting of the descendants of Nephi and those who followed him, the Nephites were a fair-skinned people who are initially characterized by a belief in the Christian God, an agrarian lifestyle, and an appreciation for written language and astronomy. After a few generations in the New World, they even abolished monarchical rule and established a republic. The Lamanites consisted collectively of the dark-skinned descendants of Nephi’s brother Laman and those who followed him, Nephite dissenters, and, most likely, transplants from other nations and peoples. They outnumbered the Nephites, and this fact led to much fear: the danger of a possible Lamanite invasion is a hammer constantly hanging over the Nephite people for much of the record. However, despite a few instances in which the Lamanites managed to pillage, enslave, and kill groups of Nephites, for centuries, the Nephite people remained largely free of Lamanite influence thanks to a stronger source of motivation, superior weapons and tactics, and the grace of God. Indeed, with two Nephite dissenters at one point rising to become successive kings over the Lamanites, it is clear that, despite their smaller numbers, the Nephites had more cultural influence over the Lamanites than the Lamanites had over the Nephites.

Some read synopses of the Book of Mormon and immediately pass judgment upon it as a racist book, as it supposedly suggests that dark-skinned people are inferior to light-skinned people. However, a more careful reading of the text shows that this is not the case. Indeed, it does not take long for the prophets among the Nephites to point out instances in which the Lamanites were actually more righteous than the Lamanites. Jacob, brother of Nephi, said that the Lamanites had stronger families than the Nephites (Jacob 3:5-7). When a large body of Lamanites – called the Ammonites – converted to Christianity and had to flee Lamanite lands to live with the Nephites, they were clearly identified as being more righteous than the Nephites. Helaman, leading their young men into battle, said that they were more courageous than any Nephites (Alma 56:45). Eventually, the Lamanites as a whole became more righteous than the Nephites (Helaman 6:1). When the Gadiantons, an organization of outlaws and manipulative conspirators, grew to become a great threat to both the Lamanites and the Nephites, the Lamanites were able to destroy the organization by either convincing them to change their ways or killing them, but the Nephites were not so successful due to their tendency to partake in the corruption of the Gadiantons (Helaman 36:37-38). While it is true that the Nephites are clearly described as being more cultured and technological in the early part of the record, one would miss the message of the Book of Mormon entirely by taking this as a suggestion that light-skinned people are superior to dark-skinned people. The true gauge of superiority is not technology or culture, but righteousness.

At a time when the conflict and ethnic strife between the Nephites and Lamanites was at its height, the sons of King Mosiah, having experienced a great change of heart due to an angelic encounter, decided to go forth among the Lamanites to preach the Gospel. Hearing of this intent, their Nephite friends tried to dissuade them. Ammon, one of the sons of Mosiah, later recounted these warnings:

For they said unto us: Do ye suppose that ye can bring the Lamanites to the knowledge of the truth? Do ye suppose that ye can convince the Lamanites of the incorrectness of the traditions of their fathers, as stiffnecked a people as they are; whose hearts delight in the shedding of blood; whose days have been spent in the grossest iniquity; whose ways have been the ways of a transgressor from the beginning? Now my brethren, ye remember that this was their language. (Alma 26:24)

Such concerns were not unfounded. The Lamanites hated the Nephites, having frequently expressed this hatred through countless attacks and raids. How could Ammon and his brothers have expected to receive anything but animus and abuse from a people who hated his people so much? And yet, they went. They preached, and they did suffer persecution, but by the time they were done preaching, an entire province of Lamanites – the aforementioned Ammonites – had converted to Christianity and had become the friends of the Nephites.

As the Lamanites came to learn the Gospel and grew in their understanding of the things of God, prophets began to arise from among them. Just as Nephite prophets had called Lamanites to repentance years before, these Lamanite prophets crossed over to preach to the Nephites, who had grown haughty, prideful, decadent, and vain. The most memorable of these was a prophet named Samuel. Traveling to the Nephite capital of Zarahemla, Samuel scaled the wall of the city and began to cry repentance to the people. Certainly, seeing his dark skin and his clothing, many of the people were immediately incensed at the audacity of this Lamanite. Who did he think he was? The Gospel had gone from the Nephites to the Lamanites, after all. The Nephites had heard it already. This Lamanite needed to go back and preach to his own people. And then, revulsion turned into anger as they heard a Lamanite catalog their many sins. Some were not angry, but immediately sought out their religious leaders, seeking reconciliation with God. Others decided that this arrogant Lamanite must die. Taking up their bows and slings, they shot arrows and rocks at him. By the grace and power of God, however, none of these projectiles could hit him. He continued to stand upon the wall and deliver his message. Seeing the miracle in this, even more of those hearing Samuel’s words decided to repent and seek reconciliation with God. However, there were many who still resisted Samuel’s words and resented him for speaking them. Since their arrows and stones had missed, they took up their melee weapons and went up the wall after him. At this point, he finished speaking and finally fled.

Like the inhabitants of Zarahemla listening to Samuel, when it comes to hearing the words of prophets, we can all be divided into three groups. The first group hears, immediately feels the truth of what is said, and seeks reconciliation with God. The second group hears and immediately starts firing back with objections and arguments. Upon seeing that none of these objections or arguments manage to hit the mark, though, we realize our folly and seek reconciliation with God. The third group, undeterred by failure to hit the mark with objections, simply takes resistance to the next level.

As I have mentioned in previous posts, I completely believe that, while the events in the Book of Mormon actually happened, the narrative has also been structured in such a way that clear parallels are meant to be drawn with the events and concerns of our time. Like the Nephite Republic, the United States of America has stood as a paragon of innovation, prosperity, faith, and freedom. However, like the Nephites in the time of Samuel the Lamanite, we have become top-heavy, destabilized by our arrogance. We think that our philosophy of government makes us superior, though it is increasingly becoming a thing of theory rather than practice. We think that our freedom makes us superior, though we waste it on addictions and trivialities. We think that our heritage makes us superior, though we have largely betrayed it. We think that our past victories make us superior, though we continue to hollow out the strength that made said victories possible. Some of us even think that our racial identity makes us superior, even while the demographic gaps in prosperity throughout the world are rapidly closing. Most Americans would not know it, but Qatar, Singapore, and Brunei all have a higher per-capita GDP (PPP) than the United States. By 2050, Taiwan and South Korea both will have passed us up. As for China, not only will it have passed us up as the world’s largest economy (based on PPP rather than nominal currency value) by the end of the year, but it is also catching up in STEM education. China is even well on its way to having more Christians than any other country in the world. Therefore, even while I talk about my country’s inspired origins, I cannot bring myself to identify with my more jingoistic peers in the political arena. Even if this country is not on the decline in and of itself, its prominence or primacy relative to other countries is quite clearly on the decline.

The Restored Gospel’s message to the United States on this wise, then, is the same message that was delivered by Samuel the Lamanite: Repent. There is nothing intrinsically superior about us, and in various ways, the peoples whom many of us view as being backward and reactionary actually exhibit many virtues that we would do well to emulate. This is not to say that Islamic extremists in Arab countries are right and we are wrong. Rather, it is to say that, so long as we continue on our present course, our period of primacy as a society will soon come to an end. If we are to be saved, it will only be by espousing the correct principles of the Gospel of Jesus Christ – principles that are beginning to flourish in the hearts of other nations, even while they shrink and decay in our own.

For none of these iniquities come of the Lord; for he doeth that which is good among the children of men; and he doeth nothing save it be plain unto the children of men; and he inviteth them all to come unto him and partake of his goodness; and he denieth none that come unto him, black and white, bond and free, male and female; and he remembereth the heathen; and all are alike unto God, both Jew and Gentile. (2 Nephi 26:33)

The Gospel is going forth in Latin America. It is going forth in Southeast Asia and India. It is going forth in Africa. It will soon go forth in the nations that are now closed to it. It is blessing the lives of people throughout the world. Meanwhile, it has stalled in North America and Europe. As our families deteriorate, as we finance our retirements on the backs of those not yet born, as we institutionalize inverted morality, and as everything that gave us any excuse to think that we are any better than the rest of the world continues to evaporate, we can expect to see more and more instances of the supposed “backwards”, “barbarian”, “heathen”, and “heretic” populations of the world becoming stronger as we become weaker. As the blessings of God begin to pour out upon them, we will begin to see a stifling in the flow of such blessings to us. We just may live to see massive amounts of missionaries flowing from Shanghai, Mexico City, and Cairo to preach the Gospel to the heathens in Los Angeles, Houston, and London. When that day comes, the message from God will be the same as it has always been: Repent.

Christians, Mormons, and Saints

When I was in high school, my mother became the school nurse. As she is considerably more social and talkative than I am, she quickly became more well-known among the student body than I was. At one point, one of the students who frequently visited her heard her say that she was a Mormon. This student was caught by surprise. “What?” she said. “I thought you were Christian!” My mother nodded. “That’s right. I am.” She then had to give the usual explanation of how we believe in Jesus Christ and the Atonement, etc., which most people tend to accept at that point unless they are feeling particularly ornery.

Despite the hatred and misinformation surrounding the claim that Mormons are not Christians, I can certainly understand the reasons for this common dichotomy, however false it may be. I remember how, as I child, I used to lie on the living room carpet on weekends and flip through the channels. It was common to stumble across them. Some would shout angrily as they pounded their cross-shaped pulpits. Others would welcome the crowd onto the stage one at a time, at which point they would touch them on the forehead and cause them to become overwhelmed by an otherworldly power that made them fall neatly backward into the arms of…well…bouncers. Others just half-spoke-half-sang their sermons while they swayed back and forth. Others would try to build and maintain energy in their congregations by demanding that everyone say “Amen!” after every sentence. If the “Amen!” was not energetic enough, they would say, in kind of a passive-aggressive way: “Can I get a better AMEN?!” Then there was the vocabulary I had never before encountered, with words such as “Jesus-aaah!” Maybe this is an unfair depiction of Protestant worship on the whole, but it is the honest truth of how I perceived it as a child. Anyway, they had their different styles, but they all had one thing in common: They were all professional performers. At the age of six, I could see that clearly, and it repulsed me. Where was the sincerity I had come to expect from church? At my church, everyone took turns speaking, and though they were sometimes awkward, the sermons came from the heart. We had leaders, but they did not act like that. I thought Christians were silly. They and I were very different.

I think I was eight years old when I made some comment about what I perceived to be the silly worship practices of Christians, at which point my brother corrected me. “We are Christians,” he said. The obvious etymology of the word “Christian” then dawned upon me. A Christian is one who worships Jesus Christ. I worship Jesus Christ. I am a Christian. Begrudgingly, I had to admit that the weirdos I had seen on television were somehow part of some larger group to which I belonged. However, I did also realize that most of my friends from school belonged to this group as well, and I was fine with that. Pretty soon, I found myself correcting my friends when they said that I was not a Christian. I was a Christian. I worshiped Jesus Christ. At the age of nine, I started reading the Book of Mormon on my own, and I sometimes brought it with me to school. I would point to the subtitle of that book: Another Testament of Jesus Christ. We were different, but we had important similarities. I made peace with that idea.

My church has often been accused of trying desperately to be accepted by “mainstream Christianity”, whatever that is. One interesting note about that accusation is that many of those who make it, while agreeing to disenfranchise “the Mormons”, will also refuse to accept each other much of the time. Methodists and Baptists may accept each other as Christians, but what about Catholics? Now, that is a matter of debate. Adventists? Now we are getting really controversial. The truth is that we Latter-day Saints just want to be seen as what we are. We are not Catholic, Protestant, or Orthodox, but we are Christian. (The most correct subset name would be “Restorationist”.) We do not want to be labeled as “mainstream”, but we do not mind at all cooperating with “mainstream” churches when it makes sense to do so.

It is true that the leadership of our church has sought to make it clear that we are Christians, and most of our members seek to do so as well. However, not all do. One New York Times contributor, an active Latter-day Saint, once actually argued that, just as the truth of Christianity grew beyond Judaism centuries ago, so has our faith grown beyond Christianity now. Citing the issues we have always had with “mainstream” Christianity, he makes it clear that he is not in the same group as Baptists, Lutherans, Catholics, and Episcopalians – and does not want to be. While I certainly sympathized with him to some degree when I read this, I could not help but feel that his arguments were still a bit ill-founded, as, while I was not a Jew and therefore could not be termed Jewish, I was a follower of Christ, and was still therefore a Christian. Also, while the term “Mormon” does not actually make etymological sense when used in this way, the term “Christian” does.

Another issue that bothered me about said New York Times article was the author’s readiness to be called a “Mormon” after having rejected the title “Christian”. After all, “Mormon” is not the correct term for members of my church. Some people seem to think that the Book of Mormon gets its name from the name of our religion, but this is not actually true. Mormon was an ancient prophet who, with the help of his son Moroni, compiled the sacred records of his people into a single work. When Moroni finished his father’s work, he gave it his father’s name. Those who initially used the word “Mormon” to refer to people of my faith were our detractors and persecutors. We simply have not fought the term “Mormon” much because, while inaccurate, it is not offensive in any way. The correct term for someone who belongs to my faith, however, is Latter-day Saint.

But here is where this discussion of terms and labels really gets interesting: You see, just as the term “Mormon” was imposed on those of my faith by those who hate us, the term “Christian” actually has a similar origin. As is related in Acts 11:26:

And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.

The word “Christian” was coined as a derisive term for those who followed the teachings of Jesus and who believed that He was the Christ, and this seems to have happened after Jesus’ death and resurrection. There is no record of Jesus using the term “Christian” during His ministry. In fact, other than this statement about the word’s origin, there is only one other instance of its use in the Bible (1 Peter 4:16).

So what did the followers of Christ call themselves? In the Acts 11:16 reference mentioned above, they are referred to as “the disciples”. However, this is a non-specific term, as there were certainly many religious and philosophical leaders at that time, all of them with their own disciples. So what did they call themselves?

The epistle to the Romans is addressed “To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints.” The epistle to the Corinthians is addressed “to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints.” Ephesians? “[T]o the saints which are at Ephesus”. Philippians? “[T]o all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi”. Colossians? “To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ which are at Colosse”.

Who were these “saints”? The Catholics have come to convince us that a saint is some sort of super-Christian, but I do not think that this is accurate. I think it is clear that these epistles were not written for the benefit of an elite cadre of especially holy people who stood separate from the main body of believers. Rather, these epistles are quite clearly directed at the Church in general, making no distinction between “elite” believers and “normal” believers. So why are they addressed to the “saints”? This is because a saint, in the biblical sense, is someone who has been “sanctified in Christ Jesus”. That is all. There is no distinction between Christians and super-Christians. There are only those who have accepted Christ’s Atonement and those who have not. The true term for someone who believes in and lives by the Old and New Testaments should therefore be “Saint”.

So, when it is all said and done, I have to say that I think the whole discussion about whether or not Mormons are Christians is technically unimportant, as both of these terms are essentially nicknames given to their respective groups by outside – even belligerent – parties. The real question, then, is this: Are the Latter-day Saints truly the modern version of the saints of biblical times, as their name implies?

From Hill to Hill, Part 1: The Title of Liberty

Neither man nor nation can exist without a sublime idea.

-Fyodor Dostoevsky

Let us raise a standard to which the wise and honest can repair. The rest is in the hands of God.

-George Washington

This post is Part 1 in a series regarding the message and the challenge that the Restored Gospel raises against the contemporary political establishment of the United States of America.

In 1820, an uneducated and seemingly unremarkable youth in rural New York by the name of Joseph Smith had a miraculous vision in which he beheld God the Father and Jesus Christ. In the years following that vision, he received a number of heavenly manifestations. He was led by an angel to recover an ancient record and commissioned and empowered by God to translate the same. In 1830, by the power of the priesthood bestowed upon him and Oliver Cowdery by angelic messengers, he oversaw the restoration of the Church of Jesus Christ to the world.

One of the reasons for which it took so long to restore Christ’s Church was because the world was simply not ready for it. When the nation of the United States of America was established, there was finally a climate of institutionally protected religious freedom. This made the Restoration possible, as the powers of hell would certainly combine to attempt to drive the Church into the “wilderness” (Rev. 12:6) as had occurred previously. Indeed, the powers of hell did combine against Joseph Smith and the Church: despite the Constitution of the United States of America, detractors printed libel against it while mobs assembled to violently persecute the Saints, with multiple state governments passively and actively supporting said persecution. When Joseph Smith met face-to-face with President Van Buren to plead for help from the federal government, the President responded: “Your cause is just, but I can do nothing for you; if I take up for you I shall lose the vote of Missouri.” Such persecution led directly to the martyrdom of Joseph Smith and many others. One can only imagine what would have happened if Joseph Smith had been living in a country that did not value religious liberty. Even so, the strength of the message was not lost, and the Church has managed to thrive to this day, becoming a worldwide organization with over 15 million members.

It is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favors.

-George Washington

While neither the message nor the Church of Jesus Christ are particularly American in nature, we believe that the Constitution of the United States of America – despite its flaws – was drafted by inspired men, and that the underlying values found in that document and in the U.S. Declaration of Independence are fundamental values in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Indeed, we believe that the Lord helped to orchestrate the establishment of the United States of America expressly for the purpose of preparing the way for the Restoration of the Gospel, knowing that the resulting religious freedom would allow the Church to take root, and that the Church would also be able to take root in various other countries that would follow the example of the United States by ensuring religious freedom. The inspired nature of the founding of the United States is expressed in no uncertain terms in the revelations published by Joseph Smith and those who came after him.

For this reason, it is exceedingly puzzling to me when some of my faith’s detractors promulgate silly conspiracy theories in which they claim that we want to overthrow the Constitution. Our culture, our political tendencies, and our doctrines clearly show that there is little that is of more concern to us than the protection of the Constitution of the United States and the liberties it affords. Anyone who would study our doctrine would see that fact with the utmost clarity. One of the works that most clearly testifies of this fact is the Book of Mormon, the work of scripture translated by Joseph Smith. This text – compiled, preserved, and brought forth specifically for our time – offers both seminal sermons and stories full of dilemmas and figures that may sometimes appear all too familiar. In the Book of Mormon, we see with remarkable clarity that, as Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin said, “Resistance to tyranny is obedience to God.” In no figure is this message more clear than in the figure of Captain Moroni (“mor-OH-nai”).

Moroni (not to be confused with the man by the same name who helped his father Mormon to compile the records of their people) arises in the Book of Mormon’s narrative at a time of great distress. Established by King Mosiah when all four of his sons chose ministry over the throne, the Nephite Republic was still young. This state, coming into existence somewhere in the Americas while Julius Caesar was beginning his ascent to power in the Old World, stood as a rare early example of liberal, representative governance. As the Greek republics once stood boldly against certain subjugation at the hands of the Persian Empire with its vast armies, so did the people of the fledgling Nephite Republic stand against various groups – collectively referred to as Lamanites – who sought to rob, enslave, and kill them.

When Moroni arose to take command of the Nephite armies at the age of 25, the young republic faced twin threats – one external, and the other internal. At their borders, the Lamanites were again clamoring to cross into Nephite lands and spill their blood. In the Nephite cities and villages, a rising reactionary movement, presumably led by the former nobility, sought to once again establish a monarchical government. It is unclear why Moroni arose to prominence at such a young age. Apparently, his people saw something extraordinary in him – and they were right. As the prophet Alma later wrote of Moroni:

Yea, verily, verily I say unto you, if all men had been, and were, and ever would be, like unto Moroni, behold, the very powers of hell would have been shaken forever; yea, the devil would never have power over the hearts of the children of men. (Alma 48:17)

Both Moroni’s strength of resolve and his righteousness become evident from the beginning of the Book of Mormon’s account of his time as a military leader. Soon after Moroni arose to take command of the Nephite armies, the Lamanite commander Zerahemnah led an army against the Nephites. As this army approached Nephite lands, Moroni made preparations among his warriors, giving them armor to cover their heads, torsos, and arms. Archaeological evidence shows that these items were probably made of a combination of bronze, leather, and other materials. This was a new thing for this part of the world: when the Lamanite and Nephite armies met in the land of Jershon, despite their numerical advantage, the Lamanites were deterred by the very sight of the Nephites, and they shortly retreated. However, realizing that the Lamanites would surely still be looking for blood, he sent spies to keep an eye on them and see which way they were going. Then, he did something that modern military men might find very peculiar:

Moroni, also, knowing of the prophecies of Alma, sent certain men unto him, desiring him that he should inquire of the Lord whither the armies of the Nephites should go to defend themselves against the Lamanites. (Alma 43:23)

That is correct: Moroni made military decisions based upon the prophetic guidance of a religious leader. This certainly would have been ridiculed by the “division of church and state” advocates of today, but Moroni’s faith proved well-founded: Alma correctly predicted the point at which the Lamanites would emerge from the wilderness and again enter Nephite lands. Marching swiftly to that point, Moroni was able to ambush them at a river crossing and rout them. The Lamanites who survived the battle undertook a vow to never take up arms against the Nephites again and were allowed to return to their homes in peace.

Despite the Nephite victory over Zerahemnah’s army, this was anything but the end of strife between the Lamanites and the Nephites. The old hatred remained, and this defeat only contributed to it. The Lamanites remained a constant threat just beyond the border.

Shortly after Moroni defeated Zerahemnah, the monarchist movement among the Nephites gained its full strength. A man named Amalickiah arose with the intent to reinstate a monarchical government, with himself as the king. While the majority of the people were seemingly in favor of the new republican model, they were not organized as part of a specific political movement. Amalickiah, on the other hand, was quite organized, and his efforts were fueled by a full measure of ambition, pride, and intellect.

The Nephite Republic had a much simpler structure than the three-branch model with which we are familiar. Virtually all political power was given to judges, whose authority was organized in a pyramid structure, with the chief judge at the top of that pyramid. Judges were elected to their positions by the voice of the people, and they could be deposed in like manner. A ruling or decree made by a judge carried the force of law unless it was overturned by a higher judge or by a group of lower judges. It was a simple model, but it was one of the first instances in which an entire nation was ruled by a central government in which no one commanded absolute power, and in which the voice of even the lowliest citizen was taken into account.

In his quest to be king, Amalickiah networked with many of the lower judges in the land, promising them higher positions in the new kingdom if they would use their influence to help him. He also flattered various Christian priests with similar promises, convincing them, for the sake of power, not only to abandon their republican and egalitarian ideals, but to abandon their very religion. In this way, a movement that should never have been taken seriously in a nation of representative governance quickly gained momentum. With this new support from the political establishment, Amalickiah and his ilk went about proclaiming the benefits of monarchism to the people. Noting that such a large portion of the educated leaders in their society were part of this movement, it becomes a little easier to understand how Amalickiah managed to convince many of the people to agree to surrender their rights.

Seeing the direction things were going, Moroni realized that something had to be done. He knew that Amalickiah was a petty and power-hungry man, and that he would rule as a tyrant. Moroni also knew that many of the rights that were at that time enjoyed by the Nephites would be abrogated. As a result, he tore off a piece of his clothing and wrote the following passage upon it: “In memory of our God, our religion, and freedom, and our peace, our wives, and our children.” Calling this banner the Title of Liberty, he fastened it to a pole and went out among the people, dressed for battle.

…he went forth among the people, waving the rent part of his garment in the air, that all might see the writing which he had written upon the rent part, and crying with a loud voice, saying:

Behold, whosoever will maintain this title upon the land, let them come forth in the strength of the Lord, and enter into a covenant that they will maintain their rights, and their religion, that the Lord God may bless them.

And it came to pass that when Moroni had proclaimed these words, behold, the people came running together with their armor girded about their loins, rending their garments in token, or as a covenant, that they would not forsake the Lord their God; or, in other words, if they should transgress the commandments of God, or fall into transgression, and be ashamed to take upon them the name of Christ, the Lord should rend them even as they had rent their garments.

…

And now it came to pass that when Moroni had said these words he went forth, and also sent forth in all the parts of the land where there were dissensions, and gathered together all the people who were desirous to maintain their liberty, to stand against Amalickiah and those who had dissented, who were called Amalickiahites.(Alma 46:19-21, 28)

Answering Moroni’s call, the Nephites came together to resist the powers of tyranny. Seeing that they were outnumbered, and knowing that their cause was not just, most of the people of Amalickiah either surrendered or fled. Those who sought to overthrow the liberties of the people had always been in the minority. Their strength had come from their positions of influence rather than from their numbers, and once the people realized their own strength, the power of Amalickiah evaporated. This was not an end to the young republic’s troubles, however: Amalickiah and some of his followers managed to escape into the lands of the Lamanites, where he was eventually successful in seizing the title of king. Seeking vengeance, he then turned the armies of the Lamanites against his own people. However, with the inner vessel cleansed, the Nephite Republic now had the integrity to withstand this onslaught.

I seek not for power, but to pull it down. I seek not for honor of the world, but for the glory of my God, and the freedom and welfare of my country.

-Moroni (Alma 60:36)

The parallels between this story and the story of our own time are all too clear. There are forces similarly pushing for the overthrow of a free society and the consolidation of power among a relatively small group of individuals – using position, fame, and riches to achieve this end. This is not to say that there is a single conspiracy behind all of our problems. In truth, that is most probably not the case: there are, instead, many small conspiracies working toward this end. Sometimes they work together, and sometimes they cancel each other out, but the general direction of the trend makes it something to fear. Those embodying this force cannot be clearly defined as members of a particular political party, organization, religion, or social group – indeed, it is often embodied by various groups that can sometimes be rivals – but the force exists nonetheless.

Some, reading Moroni’s story, would argue that he was actually an overbearing leader – a fascist, even. He did, for instance, put people to death for refusing to take up arms and fight against the Lamanites. However, he only did so after they had already shown themselves to be traitors who had contributed to efforts to subject their country to tyrannical rule. In the case of the Ammonites – former Lamanites who had joined the Nephites and could not take up arms for religious reasons – he made no such demands. (However, the Ammonites did support the Nephites who defended them in every way they could.) Thus, the story of Moroni and the young Nephite Republic is neither an argument for anarchy nor a case of hypocritical statism: the Nephites had a government, and that government did exercise a certain level of authority over the people, but, unlike tyranny in its many forms, the government of the Nephite Republic was strong, consistent, specifically limited, and pragmatically lenient. Conversely, it is certain that the arguments used by Amalickiah and his ilk were similar to those made by statists and cronyists today: You should not trust your neighbor, but you should trust politicians. Give me power, and I will give some of it back to you. You have been marginalized, and it is time for revenge. Your decisions are not the problem: the system is the problem. Others use their power selfishly, so you should give their power to us. Other rulers have been draconian, but we will be considerate. We promise. They invoke a collection of gods with their mantras – Fairness, Stability, Security, Prosperity, etc. – but the core of their dark gospel remains the same: You can only be happy if I rule you.

I believe that Moroni was a real person who actually did these things, and I believe that God saw to it that this story would come forth in our era specifically for our benefit. The message that the story of Moroni and the Title of Liberty is intended to convey is this: It is the duty of the citizens of every nation – especially this one – to stand against the forces of tyranny, and if they have the will to fight and the character to do so with unity and compassion, they will win.

Even if you cannot accept Moroni’s story as fact, I ask you to accept it as truth. I ask this because we need another Moroni. We need another Title of Liberty. We need a people who value liberty so much that they are all willing to pledge their life and wealth to its protection. We need a people who will come running together, whether armed with weapons or with words, upon realizing the precarious situation in which American liberty now stands. We are not yet to the point of violence, and I look to that day with a healthy level of fear and distaste, hoping that I will never need to see it. We have, however, reached the point of action, and believe it or not, the heroes we need are among the people you know.

LDS Beliefs

Lds beliefs from Ronald Kimmons

A Few Stories of Faith

In relating how or why they believe, people sometimes recount stories of God’s direct intervention in their lives. Perhaps they witnessed a miraculous healing. Perhaps they saw a light and heard a voice. I have never experienced any such things, as my testimony of God and Jesus Christ has come through more subtle and gradual experiences. However, I have been a first-hand witness to other people’s sudden conversions a number of times. These are very sacred memories for me, and I would like to share a few of them here.

Joe

In February 2004, I reported to the MTC (Missionary Training Center) in Provo, Utah to prepare for my mission to Taiwan. The MTC campus is similar to that of a small college, with the offices, dormitories, and classrooms that you might expect. While many missionaries stay there for three weeks or less, because I needed to learn Mandarin, I was there for 11 weeks.

In addition to the time we spent in classrooms learning the language and studying Gospel topics, we also frequently went to a call center to talk to people responding to various media campaigns the Church runs. Some of the people calling in were members of the Church, but most were not. Some had some idea of what the Church was all about, while some did not. Some called in to argue, while others just desperately needed someone to talk to.

Joe’s Northeastern accent was apparent immediately. He related to me the story of his experiences with religion from childhood. Raised a Catholic, he had become somewhat disaffected with the faith as a young man. This had sent him looking for truth in a number of different places, from “high-church” Protestant denominations to more obscure and unorthodox groups, including bona fide snake handlers. He explained how, while his relationship with God was important to him, and while his search for truth had been enlightening, he was still in a state of struggle and doubt. Not finding what he had been looking for in Protestantism, he had recently been considering a return to Catholicism. He was even thinking of becoming a priest, but he still had significant doubts.

Unexpectedly, life had taken him away from the Northeast to Nevada. Soon after Joe arrived there, a girl outside Walmart had given him a pass-along card. Intrigued, he had called the number on the card and gotten me. “So, I never heard of Mormons before I came to Nevada,” he said. “What’s this all about?” I gave him a brief rundown of the Restoration of the Gospel through Joseph Smith. As it had been a Book of Mormon pass-along card that had initiated this discussion, I explained what the Book of Mormon was.

“Now,” I asked, “if the Book of Mormon is what it claims to be, don’t you think that would be important?”

“Oh, yeah, definitely,” he replied. “If there’s another book out there like the Bible…yeah, that would be really important to know.”

“Well, it is. And you can know that it is by reading it and asking God.”

I entered his information so the local missionaries could go see him, and I was about to end the call.

“Hey,” he said, “could you pray for me?”

“Of course!” Pause. “What, now?”

“Yeah, right now.”

So I did. We prayed together over the telephone. I do not remember what I said in any detail; I only remember that I could feel him listening intently, and I remember asking God to guide him in his search for truth.

When I said “Amen,” there was a long pause. And then, suddenly, I heard this:

“WOOOOOO-HOOOOOOOO!”

His neighbors probably heard it too.

“What is this FEELING? I feel like I just got out of the shower!”

“That’s the Holy Spirit,” I said.

“I love Jesus! I love Jesus!”

He had searched for years and attended many different churches, but he had never really felt the influence of the Holy Spirit until that day. I do not know what happened to him after that, but I imagine that he is doing well.

Ami

Months later, I was riding around on my bicycle in the Hengchun/Kending area, at the southern tip of Taiwan. Outside of the city, rice paddies were common, and we would ride the roads that cut through them to talk to people in the small groups of houses that dotted the countryside.

As Taiwan’s economy is considerably stronger than those of most East Asian countries, it is quite common to find people who have gone there from the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, mainland China, and other places to find work. Many of the Filipinos I met were actually university graduates who had come to Taiwan to work as domestic servants because that still paid better than any opportunities they had back home.

In one of the small hamlets outside of Hengchun, we met a disabled grandmother and the Filipina who took care of her. This young woman’s name was Ami. She spent all of her time with the old woman, paying her constant attention. As we began to talk, she told me of how her mother had basically forced her to come to Taiwan in an attempt to separate her from her husband – and how her husband, not quite heartbroken, had already moved on and found another woman. Unlike most people I met in Taiwan, people from the Philippines generally had a solid grounding in Christian doctrine. Such was the case with Ami: her religious belief was very real to her, such that she glowed at any mention of Jesus Christ and became visibly uncomfortable at any mention of the Devil.

Months before, I had made a flipchart of images important to our message. As most Taiwanese people did not grasp the gravity of our claim that modern-day prophets exist, I rarely showed anyone my picture of Gordon B. Hinckley on first encounter. However, I almost immediately showed Ami my painting of Joseph Smith’s First Vision, followed by President Hinckley and a statement of my belief that this man was a prophet of God like Moses.

Her eyes became wide.

“A prophet like Moses?” she asked.

“Yes,” I said. “If that’s true, don’t you think it’s important?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Ami, how can we know whether or not this man really is a prophet?”

“Pray to God and ask Him,” she said.

“Are you willing to do that?” I asked.

“Yes,” she said.

We returned several days later, and Ami greeted us with a smile.

“I prayed like you said, and I know he is a prophet. I want to join your church.”

I did not get to see Ami get baptized because she was not allowed to leave the old woman’s side even for a short time. However, she was heading back to the Philippines soon, and I am confident that she did get baptized there.

Joyce

My last area in Taiwan was called Guiren, a suburb of Tainan. There, I met a cheerful and energetic woman named Joyce. She was in her thirties, and she was living with her parents, which is quite normal in Taiwan. At the time I came into the area, Joyce was the kind of person who missionaries often refer to as an “eternal investigator”. This is someone who remains happy and willing to continue talking to the missionaries, but who, for whatever reason, does not join the Church. Part of the reason for her indecisiveness was her father’s disapproval of the Church, but he had gradually warmed up to the missionaries in recent months. As for her personally, there was definitely something that she liked about the Church, but she described her experiences of actually attending Sunday meetings as dull and boring. She was still willing to pray and read scriptures, though, so we continued talking to her and her family.

And then, Taiwan was hit by a typhoon. Our mission office called us and told us that we should stay at home throughout the typhoon unless we had someone to visit nearby. Since Joyce’s house was just down the street, we called her and set up a time to come over. A little while later, with the storm blowing outside, we were sitting down in the living room with Joyce, her father, her brother, and her brother’s wife. Her brother was particularly talkative, asking many questions about what we believed. Opening the Book of Mormon, we read the story of Alma the Younger’s miraculous conversion – of how he, while going about persecuting the Lord’s people, beheld an angel, who chastised him and his companions.

And it came to pass that as I was thus racked with torment, while I was harrowed up by the memory of my many sins, behold, I remembered also to have heard my father prophesy unto the people concerning the coming of one Jesus Christ, a Son of God, to atone for the sins of the world.

Now, as my mind caught hold upon this thought, I cried within my heart: O Jesus, thou Son of God, have mercy on me, who am in the gall of bitterness, and am encircled about by the everlasting chains of death. (Alma 36:17-18)

As we read this story and discussed it, Joyce’s family continued to talk with us, but Joyce was uncharacteristically silent.

After we arrived home that night, Joyce called us.

“Do you know why I was acting like a good little child and listening intently the whole time? It’s because God was in the room.”

“Well yes, Joyce,” I said, “I think God was in the room too.”

“No, no,” she said. “I know where he was standing. Can you guess where?”

Pause. “Um…where was He standing?”

“He was standing between the two of you.” I absorbed that for a moment. “I couldn’t exactly see Him, but I knew He was there.”

Joyce was soon baptized. After her baptism, she emphatically told us how much she loved coming to church meetings. She said that she now felt a sense of cleanliness, purity, and joy that she had never felt before. She told us that, every day, merely waking up to look upon the world had become a thing of immense gladness. She is still an active member of the Church.

Jodi

I used to be a member of a Facebook group called “Ask a Mormon”. It was created for the purpose of facilitating communication between members of the Church and those who are curious about our faith. Between posts made by the token “haters” who were only there to stir up trouble and obsess over semantics and obscurities, I saw a post made by someone named Jodi who had some sincere, poignant questions. I did my best to answer her questions, and this led to more in-depth discussions online.

Coming from a Christian background, Jodi had been exposed to a number of Protestant faiths. Her cultural connections had also exposed her to Buddhism, though she never really believed in it. At the time we started talking, she was studying law and attending a Methodist church in her community, in which she was a member of the choir. Jodi had come in contact with our church because her ex-boyfriend and dance partner was a member. (And, to a small degree, because her school’s dance team was regularly trounced by BYU’s.)

A student of law at the time, Jodi had an insightful and exacting mind. While she ardently sought for truth, she resisted any desire to simply accept things as truth out of convenience. After we had talked for a few weeks, she told me of how she had been driving home the day before and had felt this sudden need to get out – to go somewhere. She had looked online for weekend deals for a flight, a hotel, and a rental car, and the only city that was within her budget and to which she had never gone was Salt Lake City.

“So I’m coming to see you,” she said.

We saw some of the sights, and we went to watch Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration in the Legacy Theater on Temple Square. The movie had intrigued her, but the numerous arguments people make against Joseph Smith’s prophetic calling were still swimming around in her mind. We had enjoyed the weekend, but no earth-shattering developments had occurred in her search for truth.

And then, weeks later, she called me again. She had been reading the Book of Mormon and praying about it. One night, while she was praying alone in her room, a light had appeared. It was a brilliant light without a discernible source, and it filled the place. Being someone with a very critical mind, Jodi immediately thought: “Am I hallucinating?” If so, it was the only time she had ever hallucinated. No, she knew this was real.

A few weeks later, I had the privilege to go on a road trip with one of the missionaries who had taught her previously to see her baptized. Not long after that, she and her ex-boyfriend got back together. I then had the privilege to go on a road trip with the same guy to attend their wedding.

……………..

I spent much of my free time as a high school student on the Internet refuting the arguments people make against my church, against the idea of modern revelation and prophecy, and against Joseph Smith in particular. I got pretty good at it, but I am by no means a scripture scholar, and I certainly do not have easy answers for absolutely every concern. But that does not concern me much. I find that people obsess over obscurities of doctrine and history only because they are unwilling to go to the source of truth and settle the matter once-and-for-all. I do not claim to know a lot, but I do know that God exists and that He loves us. Because of this, I know that the heavens are open – and that revelation comes to those who seek it in humility. Even when we have authoritative revelation from ancient and modern sources, the blessings connected to such revelation can only come into our lives so far as we are willing to seek revelation on a personal level, from the God who created us and who has promised never to forsake us.

Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. (Isaiah 49:15)