Authority, Ordinances, and Preparation (Dallin H. Oaks) Part 1

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. Welcome to this edition of Viewpoint on Mormonism.

I'm your host, Bill McKeever, founder and director of Mormonism Research Ministry, and with me today is Eric Johnson, my colleague at MRM. President Dallin H. Oaks, he is a First Counselor in the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, had an article in the August 2021 edition of the Liahona Magazine. This is the magazine for adult members of the LDS Church.

It was titled Authority, Ordinances, and Preparation. The subtitle was, The Ordinances of Salvation and Exaltation are Fundamental in God's Great Plan for and Preparation of His Children. This article begins on page seven, and basically it is an article to encourage members of the LDS Church to make sure that they have everything in order should the Lord return very soon, which of course has been a theme from 17th President Russell M. Nelson. Wouldn't you agree, Eric, that Russell M. Nelson has probably spoken about the imminent return of Christ more than, well, at least any Latter-day Saint president that I can recall. I've never heard so many refer to the imminent return of Christ as someone like Russell M. Nelson.

It's not that the other presidents didn't believe in it. Nelson seems to talk about it much more, and I think maybe this article tends to tie in with what Nelson has said. Bill, for those who might not be that familiar with what Mormonism teaches, I think the subheading, we can dissect that a little bit and explain what it means when he says the ordinances of salvation and exaltation are fundamental in God's Great Plan for and Preparation of His Children. I don't think it was a mistake that the picture they decided to use on page six is a picture of an LDS temple, and so when a Latter-day Saint is talking about salvation and exaltation, the only place where that can be taken care of as far as the works required would be an LDS temple.

He's going to talk a little bit about that here. But in Mormonism, the idea of authority, the ordinances, and preparation are all vital if you hope to get to the celestial kingdom the very best that God has to offer, which is called exaltation, that you have the opportunity to be with your family forever. One of the things that really stuck out to me as I read this article, many Latter-day Saints get offended if they think that you don't think they're a Christian, but as this article shows, I think that in Mormonism, the only true Christians, if Mormonism is true, would be Latter-day Saints. We would not be the full kinds of Christians that they think they are.

And I think you're absolutely correct. Now, I would never say it to the individual Latter-day Saint that's speaking to me on this subject, of course, but I do tend to get insulted when they act as if, well, we're Christians just like you. They know that's not possibly true. I keep going back to that incident that you had down in the St. George temple. You were talking with a gentleman in St. George, and he made the statement that you would probably end up in the celestial kingdom, as critical as you are of the doctrines of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He was still implying that you would end up in the celestial kingdom. Now, you know that's not true. I know that's not true. And that's why I feel when a Latter-day Saint comes to me and tries to give this implication that we're not really that far off.

We're pretty close. We have a few differences. No folks, the differences are severe. If in fact, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, for instance, are believing in a God who was once a man, who became God at some point in time, was not always God. Well, right there, we are talking about a false God. The umbrella of Christianity does not cover idolatry, which is what that would be. You're believing in a false God.

It only covers it, if you will, if you repent of that. But of course, Latter-day Saints are not repenting of this, unless they're leaving the Church, hopefully. But they believe that what Joseph Smith told them about God is true, but yet what Joseph Smith said really qualifies him as a false prophet, according to Deuteronomy 13, because he introduces a false God. Bill, how many Latter-day Saints are not doing what they're supposed to do to be able to attain a celestial glory?

I mean, I'm looking at the temple. How many Latter-day Saints even have a temple recommend, which is a requirement? We're going to read this in this article, for them to be able to progress into godhood. How many of them are keeping all the commandments? How many are faithful Latter-day Saints who are even worthy enough to be able to go into the temple and to be able to practice those ordinances and prepare them for this time they call again the celestial glory? Well, I think you raise a good point, and I think even knowledgeable Latter-day Saints would agree and admit that a lot of Latter-day Saints are not doing what they're supposed to do. That's one of the jobs of missionaries that are sent to Utah. You might ask, well, why would they need to go to Utah? Well, I've talked to missionaries who have been sent to, let's say, the Salt Lake Valley, and I've asked them that very question. Why are you here since there are so many Latter-day Saints?

This is what I was told by one LDS missionary. He says our main function is to reactivate those members who are not active. Now, what does that mean? Because we don't normally use those kind of terms in Christianity. Well, what that means is they are a member of record. Their names are on the books, but they're not doing what they're supposed to be doing. In other words, they're not going to the temple, which means they're probably not paying their tithes. And of course, that is a huge issue in the LDS church. They're not baptizing on behalf of their dead.

They're not doing all the things that I think Dallin Oaks is encouraging members to do and what he's going to try and bring out in this article. So let's look at what he says about this very issue because he uses the word preparation, and there's a subheading here that says preparing to meet God. We are living in the prophesied time, quote, when peace shall be taken from the earth, end quote, and that's from Doctrine and Covenants, section one, verse 35. When, quote, all things shall be in commotion and men's hearts shall fail them, end quote, and that comes from Doctrine and Covenants, section 88, verse 91. Let me stop you there, Eric, because even though he is citing the Doctrine and Covenants, which is of course scripture unique only to the LDS church, what those two pieces of Mormon scripture are saying are really not all that unique. I mean, Jesus talks about wars and rumors of war in Matthew chapter 24, and then when it talks about in D&C 8891 where it talks about men's hearts shall fail them, well, we find that in Luke 21, 26.

So it's not unique. It's like you have said many times, Smith loves to crib off of Jesus, and then the Latter-day Saint will always attribute it to Joseph Smith, even though Smith got it from Jesus in the first place. But somehow by quoting the Doctrine and Covenants, I'm sure what Dallin Oaks is trying to do here is to imply this proves Joseph Smith's credentials as a true prophet because of the things that we are seeing around us. He goes on and writes, we are surrounded by challenges on all sides, but with faith in God, we trust in the blessings he has promised those who keep his commandments and prepare.

Did you notice that, folks? We trust in the blessings he has promised those who keep his commandments and prepare. And of course, keeping the commandments is a huge part of preparing, of course. So if you're not keeping his commandments, and this is written to Latter-day Saint audiences because it's in a LDS magazine, he's basically encouraging or perhaps even chiding those who are members of the church who are not keeping the commandments.

Commandment keeping is absolutely essential if a member hopes to be prepared for celestial exaltation in the next life. And that's really the context that he's talking about. He's not talking about general resurrection being raised from the dead.

That's not what he's referring to in this article. He's referring to being prepared for celestial exaltation. Oaks continues and says, as part of our preparation to meet him, the Lord has commanded, quote, stand ye in holy places and be not moved until the day of the Lord come, for behold, it cometh quickly, end quote, Doctrine and Covenants 87, verse 8. What are those holy places? Surely they include the temple attended by those who keep their covenants faithfully. Surely they include places of service by faithful missionaries and others by priesthood authority. As we stand in holy places, we exercise and are subject to priesthood authority, and we seek the ordinances required for exaltation and eternal life.

And that supports the premise that I just made. He's not talking about general salvation or resurrection from the dead. He is encouraging members to do what they need to do if they hope to receive exaltation and eternal life. In Mormonism, eternal life is equivalent to exaltation or godhood.

It's not defined the same way that we would define it. But here's another thing that he brings out. He says, what are those holy places? Surely they include the temple. And as you noted, Eric, you brought up the fact that there's a picture of a temple right across from this article, a full page picture of one of the many Latter-day Saint temples attended by those who keep their covenants faithfully. Already, we've got a second reference to works, keeping commandments, keeping covenants, absolutely essential for exaltation. Let's not forget, Bill, that the LDS Church has spent a lot of time emphasizing the temple.

In fact, we have talked about that with previous articles in the Liahona magazine. But remember, in April of 2021, the Church announced the most temples ever, 20 new temples. I mean, we're talking about having over 250 temples in the next six years.

It's an amazing growth rate. Why is the Church, during this time of stagnant growth, putting so many resources into the temples? Possibly, we've talked about this before, that they're trying to encourage their people to stick with the faith and get temple-worthy by having a temple in their community so that they might be able to do the work necessary, which includes paying tithes. Dallin Oaks will actually bring that up, that there's a reason behind the building of so many temples. Of course, temple participation is tied to being with your family throughout eternity. If you don't go to the temple, you're not going to be with your family. And as we've said many times on this show, you ask any Latter-day Saint, what's the number one thing they're looking forward to after this life? It's not usually to be with Jesus, folks. It's all about being with their family. And the only way that's going to happen is if they are doing what is required. They are keeping their covenants faithfully, as Dallin Oaks says here, and they are seeking the ordinances that are required for exaltation and eternal life, because you are not going to be with your family if you do not achieve eternal life. And that goes for every member of your family, which personally, I would find that to be troubling, because if you have a son or a daughter or even a spouse who is not living up to these standards, is not keeping their covenants faithfully, is not performing the ordinances required for exaltation and eternal life, you have no promise of them being with you throughout eternity. And if your hope is being with your loved ones, and they're not there, you can imagine what a disappointment your eternal life could be.