Thomas S. Monson's Conference Address April 2012

“The Race of Life” by Thomas S. Monson

“Where did we come from?  Why are we here?  Where do we go after this life? 

No longer need these universal questions remain unanswered.”

Compared to the Bible by Connie Raddon

Color Key:

Quotes from the LDS Ensign in blue.

Quotes from the Bible in red.

All my own words are black.

The May issue of the Ensign contains all of the talks given by the leadership of the LDS Church during April’s General Conference.  This talk was given by the president of the Church, Thomas S. Monson.  It is found on pg. 90-93.

Mr. Monson explains that the LDS Church provides answers to three questions:

1.      Where did we come from?  LDS Answer:  A previous existence as literal spirit children of God.

2.      Why are we here?  LDS Answer:  To be tested to see if we will qualify for the blessings of heaven.

3.      Where do we go after this life?  LDS Answer: We want to earn a celestial glory to be in the presence of God.

For this article, I want to focus on the second question, “Why are we here?”  Monson repeats the concept many times that we are here to become worthy for what God holds for us in the next life.  He doesn’t always say the word “worthy”, but he uses terms and phrases that mean the same thing such as “qualify”, “become perfect”, “successfully cross the finish line”,  and “earn”.

“How grateful we should be that a wise Creator fashioned an earth and placed us here, with a veil of forgetfulness of our previous existence so that we might experience a time of testing, an opportunity to prove ourselves in order to qualify for all that God has prepared for us to receive.”

First, our Creator actually “CREATED” the earth.  To say He “fashioned” the earth implies that He merely molded it, or gave shape to it. 

The Bible says, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”  Gen 1:1

Second, there was no “veil of forgetfulness” because we did NOT exist previous to our earthly existence.

Third, and on the topic of Monson’s “worthiness”, our purpose here is not for a “time of testing” or to “prove ourselves”.  If that is the case, then everyone has failed.  Absolutely no one will qualify for presence in God’s glory. 

“There is none righteous, no, not one; There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God.”  Romans 6:10-11

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”  Romans 6:23

“By obedience to God’s commandments, we can qualify for that “house” spoken of by Jesus when He declared:  ‘In my Father’s house are many mansions’.”

We cannot “qualify” by keeping God’s commandments.  We get into that “house” spoken of by Jesus by grace alone – being justified through our faith alone.

“knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ…for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.”  Galatians 2:16

(“Justified” means to be declared free of blame – in other words, God declares us blameless.)

“…for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.”  Galatians 2:21

Monson also says, “God, our Father, and Jesus Christ, our Lord, have marked the way to perfection.  They beckon us to follow eternal verities and to become perfect, as They are perfect.”

Mr. Monson misquotes the Bible here when he says “become perfect”.  The Bible says, “BE perfect”, not “become”.  This is not a process, but a command to be perfect right now.  How do we do that?  Not by our own works, that’s for sure.  Jesus is the only person who lived perfectly.  When we are born again, not only are we forgiven of all sin through Christ’s atonement, but his righteousness is applied to us so God can look at us and count us as perfect.  Right now.  When God “justifies” us, it is like declaring us to be perfect.  Keep that in mind when reading these verses:

“Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”  Romans 5:1

See how this says we have already been justified?  We are already seen as perfect… we don’t have to “become” perfect, or “become” justified.

“Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.”  Galatians 3:24

Monson continues, “…and I do not overlook the holy scriptures, which contain the word of the Lord and the words of the prophets – provided to us to help us successfully cross the finish line.”

In 1 John chapter 5 is God’s witness to us that if we believe in the Son, we have eternal life.  God does not witness to us that he will provide help for us to achieve eternal life, He says that those who believe HAVE IT now. 

“It is the celestial glory which we seek.  It is in in the presence of God we desire to dwell.  It is a forever family in which we want membership.  Such blessings are earned through a lifetime of striving, seeking, repenting, and finally succeeding.”

When the Bible speaks of “eternal life” or being “saved”, it is referring to living in the presence of God, with all the blessings of heaven.  The Bible says these blessings cannot “be earned” like Monson says.

“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”  Ephesians 2:8-9

The teachings in the May 2012 issue of the Ensign

are NOT Biblical, and therefore,

NOT consistent with Christian beliefs.

Brigham Young issued a challenge on May 18, 1873 (as recorded in the Journal of Discourses, Vol. 16 p. 46):  “Take up the Bible, compare the religion of the Latter Day Saints with it, and see if it will stand the test.”

I have accepted that challenge from Brigham Young.

In the May 2012 issue of the Ensign, the LDS religion FAILS this test.

Resources used for this article:

The Word of God (The Bible)

The LDS magazine, “The Ensign”

Family

Color Key:

Quotes from the Ensign article in blue.

Quotes from the Bible in red.

All my own words are black.

Family

By Connie Raddon

Each Ensign Magazine has a section entitled, “What We Believe”.  In the August 2011 Ensign, this section has an article called “God Sends Us To Earth As a Member of a Family”.  This is an official message from the leadership of the LDS Church. 

For references, the article cites

1.      LDS teaching manual, “Gospel Principles 2009” pg 207-11

2.      M. Russell Ballard, ‘What Matters Most is What Lasts Longest’  Ensign Nov. 2005 pg 41-44

The article begins by saying, “Our Father in Heaven has a plan for us, and sending us to earth as members of a family is part of that plan… God wants His spirit children to receive a physical body.  When parents bring children into this world, they are helping our Heavenly Father carry out His plan of salvation.  They welcome into their family each new child as a child of God.”

The Bible does not teach that families are a part of God’s plan of salvation.  God’s plan for our salvation was “…that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” John 3:16   No family required – only belief.

The Bible does not teach that God had spirit children that needed to come to earth to get a physical body. 

The Bible does not teach that we need to “help” Heavenly Father carry out His plan of salvation.

All the work required for salvation was completed by Jesus on the cross.  “Therefore, when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, ‘It is finished!’  and He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.” John 19:30

Notice how Jesus didn’t say, “It is almost finished… now everyone just needs a family.”  That’s how ridiculous it sounds to say that we can do anything to “help” Heavenly Father carry out his plan of salvation.

The Bible teaches that we are NOT born as children of God, but BECOME children of God when we believe in Jesus Christ.  “…but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, ‘Abba! Father!  The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God,”  Romans 8:15-16

“But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name.”  John 1:12

The next paragraph says, “Our Heavenly Father knew that being a member of a family provides each of us the best opportunity to be loved and cared for while on earth.”

The Bible does not say anything like this. 

This statement comes from a myopic view that assumes children born into families are also born into a loving and caring environment.  Some children are much better off being born and placed immediately into an orphanage than they would be in a home that was full of addiction or abuse.

“As family members give encouragement and praise to one another, feelings of confidence and love grow.”

This statement teaches three things that are against Biblical truth:

1.       It teaches that love is a feeling.  Love might bring feelings with it, but it alone is NOT a feeling.  In Titus 2:4, we read that older women are to help younger women to love their husbands.  “so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands…”  Young women already have that “feeling” of being in love.  They must be taught, encouraged, and helped so that they can learn how to CHOOSE real love – as a behavior, not a feeling. 

2.      It teaches that we can expect our confidence and love to be built up by other people.  This is an “outside-in” perspective.  God changes us from the inside out.  All our trust and confidence should be in Him – not our families. 

3.      It teaches that our “feelings” matter.  We are commanded to love – not to feel love.  We are commanded to love no matter what other people may do.  Ephesians 5:2  “and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you…”  Christ loves us even when we don’t love Him back.  That kind of love is a choice about how to behave – not a feeling that can come and go based on the weather, our hormones, our schedules, and thousands of other factors.

The article also says, “Successful families show hope and persistence in sustaining each family member in individual needs and in helping each other learn and work together in love.  Their goal is to become a joyful, eternal family unit.”

This is an impossible standard for families.  I think it’s not only unfair, but unkind for the LDS leaders to suggest to their members what their family should be doing in order to be a successful family.  In other words, if your family does not help each individual member meet their needs, and help each other learn and work together in love, your family is not successful.  And what do you call an unsuccessful family (other than normal)?  UNSUCCESSFUL.   By this LDS created standard, I do not know one single family that  is “successful”. 

After I was divorced and re-married, I was part of a blended family. Some days it was all we could do to tolerate each other and the constant rotation of living arrangements.  His kids at our house sometimes, my daughter at her dad’s house sometimes, everyone at our house sometimes, no one at our house sometimes…   

Every Sunday it seemed like at least one thing was mentioned about eternal families.  It was like rubbing salt in my wound over and over and over.  My family was broken and “UNSUCCESSFUL”… with absolutely no hope for healing.  I didn’t even know what family I would be a part of if I made it to the Celestial Kingdom.  I felt like a failure and a disappointment to God because the LDS Church had always taught me that the FAMILY was the center of God’s plan of salvation.  

Well… not mine, apparently.

The article ends with, “marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God… The family is central to the Creator’s plan for the eternal destiny of His children.” 

The Bible says that the central plan for God’s creating us in the first place is for His own good pleasure and glory.

God will not share His glory with anyone or anything.  Isaiah 42:8 “I am the Lord, that is My name; I will not give My glory to another…”

Isaiah 48:11 “…And My glory I will not give to another.”

Making the family “central” to God’s plan is replacing God with the family unit.  It is giving God less glory, and giving the family unit more.  The family unit doesn’t deserve ANY glory – and to hold it up where God should be is blasphemy.    

   

On May 18, 1873 (as recorded in the Journal of Discourses, Vol. 16 p. 46), Brigham Young issued a challenge:  “Take up the Bible, compare the religion of the Latter Day Saints with it, and see if it will stand the test.”

I have accepted that challenge from Brigham Young.

In the August 2011 issue of the Ensign, the LDS religion FAILS this test.

I sincerely thank my research partner, Art Haglund. 

For Unto Us A Child Is Born…

The December 2010 issue of the “Ensign” has heretical teachings on these three very important issues:

1.      Who God is

2.      Who WE are

3.      How we gain Salvation

God is Eternal

The Bible teaches that one of the characteristics of God is that He is Eternal, Forever, and Everlasting.  He always was, and always will be.  This remains true, even if we have a hard time understanding it. 

Gen 21:33 “Abraham… called on the name of the Lord, the Everlasting God”

Psalm 90:2 “… Even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.”

Is God Everlasting?  YES.

Is Jesus God?  The Bible demonstrates that He is.

Isaiah 9:6 “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: …and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.”

Who does “child” and “son” refer to?

Jesus.

Among the names He shall be called are “the mighty GOD”, and “The EVERLASTING Father”. 

If Jesus is the mighty God, and He is everlasting, then his divinity (or “Godhood”) could not have been given to him at a particular moment in time – because He has been God forever.

There is a section of the Ensign called “What We Believe”.  In this issue on pg 8, it contains a two page article entitled, “Jesus Christ is the Only Begotten Son of God”

The article begins: “Jesus was the only person to be born of a mortal mother, Mary, and an immortal father, God the Father.  That is why Jesus is called the Only Begotten Son of God.  From His Father, He inherited divine powers (see John 10:17-18).  From His mother, he inherited mortality…”.

If Jesus was the mighty and everlasting God, He already had divine powers, and didn’t need to “inherit” them.  If He inherits His divinity, it means He is a created God, and He is not everlasting.

By teaching this idea, the leadership of the LDS church minimizes Christ.  The Bible says that Jesus was God – and that He became flesh. 

John 1:1;14 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.”

I know that this is an impossible concept for us as humans to completely understand.  But when we don’t understand it, we don’t have the right to twist it to fit our understanding.  This is what the LDS leaders have done, and are doing.

A Virgin Birth?

LDS leaders have taught that God the Father,with a literal, physical body, had literal, physical intercourse with Mary, making Jesus the literal and physical son of God the Father.  This was taught by Brigham Young, Orson Pratt,  Joseph F. Smith, Joseph Fielding Smith, Ezra Taft Benson, George Q Cannon, Heber C Kimball, James E. Talmage, Melvin J. Ballard, and Bruce R. McConkie.

“I am bold to say to you, … Jesus Christ is the Son of God in the most literal sense. The body in which He performed His mission in the flesh was sired by that same Holy Being we worship as God, our Eternal Father. He was not the son of Joseph, nor was He begotten by the Holy Ghost. He is the Son of the Eternal Father!”  Ezra Taft Benson, "Five Marks of the Divinity of Jesus Christ", Ensign, Dec. 2001

(This same quote was printed in the Church News in 2004.)

The Bible does NOT support this idea. If God had physical relations with Mary, then Mary was not a virgin any more.  In fact, if this idea is true, then Jesus Christ is NOT the Messiah.  The prophecy is:  “Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel” Isaiah 7:14 (The meaning of the name, “Immanuel” is “God With Us”.  In other words, Jesus is God.)

So let’s take another look at the most current teachings from the leaders of the LDS church: (the December 2010 Ensign)…

“Jesus was the only person to be born of a mortal mother, Mary, and in immortal father, God the Father.  That is why Jesus is called the Only Begotten Son of God.”

The leaders continue to deceive the members of the their church.  For clarity, maybe they could change the name to "Church of Jesus Christ-(not born of a virgin)-of Latter Day Saints".

WHO WE ARE

On page 12, in the section of “Our Homes, Our Families”, there is an article about parenting written by Marcos Fernando dos Santos.  He says “…our children are also the spirit children of our Heavenly Father.”

This is a false idea.  The pre-mortal existence with God is false.  It is not found anywhere in the Bible.  Yet the entire Mormon gospel – “the Plan of Salvation” is built upon this premise.

HOW WE GAIN SALVATION

Eph 2:8-9 tells us how we are saved:  “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:  Not of works, lest any man should boast.”

This issue of the Ensign is filled with statements that contradict Eph 2:8-9.  Look how much is said about what we have to do, what we need to do, and the blessings that will come from obedience.  (All these are ways of earning the grace of God).

Pg 7 – “Our Responsibility to Participate in Temple and Family History Work” by Julie B. Beck, Relief Society General President:

 “There are personal blessings you receive as a result of participation in temple and family history work.”

“…Another is that you are able to qualify for a temple recommend, which signifies your worthiness before the Lord.”

“I testify that the Atonement is real and that sins can be forgiven upon proper repentance.”

“The prophet Joseph Smith said, ‘The greatest responsibility in this world that God has laid upon us is to seek after our dead’. (History of the Church, 6:313)”

Pg 9 – “Modern-Day Fiery Serpents” by David R. Smith

“… we may have His Spirit to be with us IF we always remember Him (see D&C 20:79)” (italics added by me.)

“I am trying to lift my thoughts to Jesus Christ, knowing that IF I will always remember Him, particularly His sacrifice and Atonement for me AND KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS, I may have His Spirit to be with me.”

Pg 12-13 “Helping Children Exercise Their Agency” by Marcos Fernando dos Santos

“…blessings that come through living the gospel.”

“As we keep these principles in mind, we will be blessed, to be filled more abundantly with the pure love of Christ and will have greater success as parents.”

Pg 20-21 “Commandments, Calamities, and the Second Coming” by Elder James J. Hamula

“Jesus Christ gave Joseph doctrines, covenants, and commandments to ‘prepare [all people] for that which is to come’ (D&C 1:12).  Only by receiving such doctrines and covenants, and commandments can the world be properly prepared for the Lord’s coming and everything leading up to that event.”

“There is no more essential preparation for the great day of the Lord than heeding His call to repent and be sanctified, which we cannot accomplish without baptism, and the gift of the Holy Ghost.”

“It is important that we not only leave Babylon, but also that we remain worthy of the companionship of the Holy Ghost.”  … To ensure the continued companionship of the Holy Ghost, the faithful must ‘stand in holy places’ (D&C 101:22)… The holy places where the faithful should stand are in the temples of the Lord.  It is in such places that the power to overcome the world is delivered to them.”

“They who have received the truth, and have taken the Holy Spirit for their guide, and have not been deceived – verily I say unto you, they shall not be hews down and cast in the fire, but shall abide the day (D&C 45:57).  Such persons will have sanctified themselves through receipt of the saving ordinances and obedience to the covenants associated with such ordinances, understanding that when the veil is rent and all men shall see Him, ‘he that is not purified shall not abide the day’ (D&C 38:8).  Such persons will be those who have availed themselves of the blessings of the temple and made such blessings available to their kindred dead.”

Pg 30-35 “A Gift Worthy of Added Care” by Elder Neil L. Anderson

“Jesus stressed the incalculable value of baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost: ‘Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God’ (John 3:5)”

“This gift of the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost is available only to those who have been baptized and confirmed members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  The Holy Ghost can influence at times all seekers of truth, but the gift of the Holy Ghost is reserved in its fullness for those who have taken upon themselves the covenants of the restored gospel.”

“The Holy Ghost… is promised to all of us IF we diligently seek our way back to our heavenly home.”

“None of us can survive in the world of today, much less in what it soon will become, without personal inspiration.”

“If you want greater clarity in understanding and believing the still, small voice, there is no better medicine than greater obedience.”

On May 18, 1873 (as recorded in the Journal of Discourses, Vol. 16 p. 46), Brigham Young issued a challenge:  “Take up the Bible, compare the religion of the Latter Day Saints with it, and see if it will stand the test.”

I have accepted that challenge from Brigham Young.

In the December 2010 issue of the Ensign, the LDS religion fails this test.