Viewpoint on Mormonism, the program that examines the teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from a Biblical perspective. Viewpoint on Mormonism is sponsored by Mormonism Research Ministry. Since 1979, Mormonism Research Ministry has been dedicated to equipping the body of Christ with answers regarding the Christian faith in a manner that expresses gentleness and respect. And now your host for today's Viewpoint on Mormonism. So glad you could be with us for this edition of Viewpoint on Mormonism. I'm your host, Bill McKeever, founder and director of Mormonism Research Ministry.
With me today is Eric Johnson, my colleague at MRM. Yesterday we began looking at an article that was written by Peggy Fletcher Stack. She writes for the Salt Lake Tribune. This was an article that was posted on March 26, 2018. It was titled, Does Tithing Requirement for Entry into LDS Temples Amount to Mormons Buying Their Way to Heaven? And we should mention that MRM's own Sharon Lindblub did write an article on this and you can find it on the MRM.org website. Her title was, Is Mormonism's Promise of Eternal Life for Sale?
And this was posted in April of 2018. And if you want to check out Sharon's insights on this and by all means, we encourage you to do so. In yesterday's show, we brought out the very beginning of this article where Peggy Fletcher Stack makes the comment that money may be the root of all evil. And Eric, as you appropriately brought out, it doesn't really say that in the New Testament.
It says the love of money is the root of all evil. But she says for Mormons, it also provides a pathway to the highest heaven. That's because to gain access to the sacred spaces and saving rituals of a Mormon temple, LDS believers must, take notice of that word folks, must donate 10% of their income to the church. No payment, no entrance.
And that's basically true. The temple is very important for the Latter-day Saint if they hope to achieve celestial exaltation. Technically, as a Mormon, you cannot gain entrance into the celestial kingdom unless you have participated in the temple endowment ceremony. In order to participate in the temple endowment ceremony, you must have a temple recommend. And as we explained yesterday, temple recommend is an identification card that you must show at the temple recommend desk when you enter any particular Mormon temple. They must see that you are allowed to enter the temple, and this recommend is your validation for entrance into it. And as we mentioned yesterday, this is kind of a prized object for a Latter-day Saint to have. If you have a temple recommend, that means you're really kind of a cut above the rest, especially for those who do not have a temple recommend. You would be considered temple worthy. And as we also brought out in yesterday's show, that could also lead to a bit of pride on the part of the individual Latter-day Saint.
And I think it lends itself toward that because you have done something that God considers to be worthy of allowing you to go to his most sacred place, the temple. Before we get into Peggy Fletcher Stack's article, I just want to read a quote. I think it's a classic quote by LDS apostle Jeffrey Holland, who explained that paying tithing is the discharging of a debt to God, and he calls it like a payment of rental fees owed to him. This is what he says. Elder James E. Talmage, who was an apostle of the church, once described this as a contract between us and the Lord.
He imagined the Lord saying, That's a conference message from October of 2001, and it was printed in the November 2001 end sign, Like a Water Garden, page 34. I think it's abhorrent to say that the payment of a tithe is like a rental, like you're going to Red Box and checking out a video, and you're getting something for your payment. Again, there's that pride factor.
Well, not only is there a pride factor involved there, but I think there's a bit of selfishness involved too. This is why a Christian's works, a New Testament Christian's works cannot be placed in the same category as the works of a Latter-day Saint. As Christians, we don't do our works in order to gain something. In fact, we are told that if we are doing it for that, that kind of a work will be burned up.
It will amount to nothing. But in LDS theology, you most definitely are doing your works in order to get something from God. Therefore, it works towards your own selfishness. If you want something from God, you are going to make an exchange. In this case, it would be paying your tithes. You give your tithes, God exchanges your work of paying that tithe in order to give you something that you desire.
It's all based in selfishness. I don't know why it is, except the spiritual blindness that we read about in the New Testament, that Mormons don't see this. I don't look at my works, or I'm sure Eric, you don't look at your works as a means to gain something from God. That would just, as you said, be abhorrent to us as Christians. One of the things that we often talk about in this show is the idea of the difference between justification and sanctification. Because we certainly have Ephesians 2, 8, and 9, which says that we're saved by grace through faith.
It's not of ourselves. It is the gift of God, not by works. And yet verse 10 says that we are God's workmanship created by Christ Jesus to do good works. So the difference is, justification by faith alone, the rallying cry of the Protestant Reformation, certainly is all about the idea that we receive this gift not based on what we do, and yet we're called onto good works. Philippians 2, 12, work out your salvation with fear and trembling. Not work for your salvation, but work out. This is a major difference between Christianity and every other world religion out there, where Christianity is not talking about what we have to do for God in order to receive His gift, but rather what He has already done for us.
We're asking, what He's done for us, I want to do those good works. But in Mormonism, you have to pay your tithing in order to be able to get into that temple that's so important. And not only do I think the Mormon Church perverts the word salvation, they also pervert the word gift.
Because most people, when you hear the word gift, don't think that something has to be done in exchange for the gift. But in Mormonism, most certainly that is the case. Now, perhaps not when it comes to general salvation, and again, I think that's a perversion of the word salvation. General salvation has been described as salvation by grace. In other words, everyone is going to be resurrected from the dead, doesn't matter what you believe, doesn't matter what you did in this life, everybody gets resurrected. Now Mormons might call that a salvation, but as we've mentioned often on this show, when Jesus says there's a resurrection unto damnation, I don't see how that is a gift at all that I would want to have. But yet Mormonism, because they perverted the word salvation, they pervert the word gift, certainly doesn't take on the same meaning as we understand it when we read those words in context in the New Testament. But let's get back to what Peggy Fletcher Stack wrote here, because in the next paragraph she cites Marion G. Romney, who in a June 1980 ensign is quoted as making this statement in an article that is printed in the June 1980 ensign, titled, Concerning Tithing.
This is what Marion G. Romney said. You can earn, and then in brackets, a place in the presence of our Father in heaven, end bracket, by observing faithfully, day by day and year by year, the law of tithing and the other requirements of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And that goes back to what I said earlier in this series, that just because you have a temple recommend does not guarantee you a place in the celestial kingdom.
That's only a part of the whole. But when he says you can earn, right there as a New Testament Christian, I find problems with that. You can earn. That is not normally how New Testament Christians understand how they receive their salvation. So when a Mormon leader such as Marion G. Romney, who was a part of the First Presidency before he passed away, says that you can earn, and as you said, in brackets, a place in the presence of our Father in heaven, by observing faithfully, day by day and year by year, the law of tithing, of course, and other requirements, but the law of tithing is absolutely essential. And even Marion G. Romney looks at this as being something that the individual Mormon earns. If you earn it, can it rightfully be called at the same time a gift?
We would say no. But clearly, Marion G. Romney is using that word earn. And it was Thomas S. Monson who did the same thing when he talked about the celestial kingdom. We are hoping to get to the celestial kingdom. It's something that we have to earn in order to get there. So when you hear Mormons talk about their salvation or exaltation as being a gift, you need to remember they are defining that word probably very differently than the way you would define that word. Bill, you just reminded me when you talk about this idea of earning, because it's the law of tithing, what does Paul have to say about law? In Galatians chapter 3, he says, For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, as it is written.
Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the book of the law. If that's just one of the many laws that are part of Mormonism, and people, admittedly, when you talk to Latter-day Saints, they're not doing everything they're supposed to do, it's condemnation. Peggy Fletcher Stack goes on in her article and writes, Should Mormons' place in the afterlife, though, be determined, at least in part, by the dollars they give here and now? Should blessings of the temple be withheld from those who can't or won't pay?
Mormon leaders reject the notion that the process to gain a recommend for entrance to an LDS temple is a form of salvation blackmail. Tithing, they argue, is repaying a debt owed to God or showing obedience. It's about faith, not finances. Is that really about faith? If you look at it as a debt that you owe to God and that you must show obedience, where's the faith involved in that process?
I don't get that. When she asks the question, Should Mormons' place in the afterlife, though, be determined, at least in part, by the dollars they give here and now? Should blessings of the temple be withheld from those who can't or won't pay?
Now, in reading that, if I put on my LDS thinking cap, I would think that most Mormons would probably say, Well, absolutely, if that's the requirement, they should be held accountable. But then I would think that some would probably look at the situation and say, Well, wait a minute. Maybe I've never gone through a hard time in my life where I didn't have the finances to meet the needs of my family.
And so I had to withhold some of that which I probably would have given to the church in order to pay for groceries or the electric bill or whatever. They could probably sympathize. Well, in that case, they can't. Maybe they should get a pass if they're sincere in that. Let's say that that was a real sincere need and they weren't also at the same time putting the down payment on a Mercedes Benz, which makes you wonder that maybe they're just not using wisdom in this case. But when they say they won't pay it, I could see most Mormons go, Well, if they won't pay it, then certainly they must be held accountable.
I would almost tend to agree with that kind of thinking. But at the same time, if the requirement is set at a certain amount, whether or not they can, then you have the Mormons kicking in these stories, yes. But look at all those who were blessed by striving to pay that. And you gave the story in yesterday's show of that woman who tells the story about how she was going to sell her wedding ring in order to get caught up on her tithes and such. And I commend her for her faithfulness. I think her faithfulness is misguided, but certainly she is living within the context of Mormonism.
And that's what it expects of their people. Tomorrow, we're going to continue looking at this article. This tithing requirement for entry into the LDS temples amount to Mormons buying their way into heaven. Thank you for listening. If you would like more information regarding Mormonism Research Ministry, we encourage you to visit our website at www.mrm.org, where you can request our free newsletter, Mormonism Researched. We hope you will join us again as we look at another viewpoint on Mormonism.
Whisper: medium.en / 2024-01-07 20:57:02 / 2024-01-07 21:02:31 / 5