“I know this church is true.” Many Latter-day Saints rely on this anchor phrase when bearing testimony, but what do the words really mean? In Episode 136, Cynthia and Susan discuss the implications—good and less so—of believing an organization carries the divine stamp of approval. Could devotion to a label like ‘The One True Church’ come with a shadow side?
Notes & Quotes:
The benefits of shadow work and how to use it in your journey, by Maggie Wooll, BetterUp blog, 6/13/22
Shadow Work Archives, Center for Action and Contemplation
Peacemakers Needed, by Pres. Russell M. Nelson, 4/2023
Everything Belongs: The Gift of Contemplative Prayer, by Richard Rohr
“The shadow includes all those things about ourselves that we don’t want to see, are not yet ready to see, and don’t want others to see. We try to hide or deny this shadow, most especially from ourselves. […] The more we are attached to any persona, bad or good, any chosen and preferred self-image, the more shadow self we will have.” — Richard Rohr, CAC
“As disciples of Jesus Christ, we are to be examples of how to interact with others—especially when we have differences of opinion. One of the easiest ways to identify a true follower of Jesus Christ is how compassionately that person treats other people.” — Pres. Russell M. Nelson
“I also hope that you will look deeply into your heart to see if there are shards of pride or jealousy that prevent you from becoming a peacemaker.” — Pres. Russell M. Nelson
“When you talk this way to people, they often shrink from the experience. They say, ‘I’m a Catholic (or a Protestant or a Muslim or a Jew); I don’t want to learn another way to look at things.’ They act as though they have God all figured out. These people betray a need for control at all costs; unfortunately the cost is high indeed.
Jesus talks frequently about metanoia: turning around, or changing your mind. I remember having problems with that myself. I thought, ‘What am I supposed to turn around? I’m baptized, I’m confirmed, I’ve gone to the Eucharist, and I’m even ordained. I’m right. I’ve got the truth and the education to prove it.’ How foolish. That’s precisely the blindness Jesus is talking about. That’s why some people in high religious positions can be the blindest of all. People, the most obedient to commandment and church formulas, can very often be the hardest to convert. They’ve taken the symbol for the substance. They’ve taken the ritual for the reality. They’ve taken the means for the end and become inoculated from the experience of the real thing.
That’s called idolatry, when we worship and protect the means. It actually keeps us from the journey to the end. Religions should be understood as only the fingers that point to the moon, not the moon itself. But much of institutional religion seems to give people just enough ‘God talk’ to enable them to forever avoid any direct and frightening religious experience.” — Richard Rohr, Everything Belongs, p. 50-51
Curtis Howe
I did enjoy listening to this episode. It was fun to view your perspectives on this idea. I enjoy learning from other people’s perspective. I do think the challenge about the idea of the LDS Church being the only true church is one that many people mistake. Many people think this means the LDS church is the only one with truth and all other church’s/religions do not have any truth. This is very false and can not be found anywhere in the scriptures.
Truth is something that exists outside of everything else and can exist everywhere.
The other concern people have on this idea comes down to Authority to act in the name of God and this is the part that makes this phrase true. Authority is the thing that makes the difference here. Anyone can believe in God but it takes authority to perform the ordinances of the gospel like baptism which the scriptures tell us are necessary to enter in to the Kingdom of God.
To understand this one the best place to go is to God himself. This is the whole point of missionaries talking to people about the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith. It’s not about whether Joseph is someone special but that the Authority to act in the name of God was restored through him. If he did restore the authority and the BOM is true then the church Joseph established is the true church since it would have the true authority.
This is different than understanding the church has all the truth and no other church has truth. Having truth and being the church with authority to act in the name of God are two different issues many people tend to lump together under this umbrella of being the only true church and the members need to delineate these out.
When we look at the Plan of Salvation we need to realize that without Christ none of the 3 degrees of Glory are possible. It is only through Christ that any of them are possible. So even those who commit murders and other sins will end up in a place that is within the glory of God and is a better place than where we live now. Granted they will have to pay the price for their sins to an extent which will not be fun but they still get a place outside of outer darkness. This is what King David talked about when he said that God will not leave his soul in hell.
Now the Gospel of Jesus Christ is focused on us going to the celestial kingdom and god wants us to focus on that one. We don’t know much about the others for a reason.
So, in theory, there is room for a definition of hell being outside the Celestial kingdom that does exist in the scriptures and in LDS theology. I thin this is what a lot of people refer to when they think of their family members leaving the church. It’s not hell like outer darkness, its hell as in outside the ultimate blessings of God (CEL) but still well within the love and glory of God.
God loves all of his children and why would he create a plan that would not save 100% of them? The degree of glory does matter but it is all within the Glory of God and better than this world. The only ones who go to outer darkness chose it over being with God.
I hope that all makes sense. We all need to realize that there is more going on than we realize and God will balance Justice and Mercy properly to help us out. Im sure we will want justice on ourselves and he will give us more mercy than we think we deserve. So we should treat everyone else the same and give them mercy.
Perla Rivera
There is this statement from a talk “The Only True and Living Church” by Elder Oaks in the Liahona on August 2011 that recites that even when we know this True, God’s intentions are not for us to feel that we are superior to other people. I love to share this over and over again when the members in my ward start talking crap about other religions. I attend a Spanish speaking ward. Even when we don’t have pretty heavy stuff due to be “new” in the gospel. Most of us are converts or only 2 generations maximum, there’s still some traditions we are carrying that need to be taken care of.
Alison
If you haven’t already, check out the books Planted, and, Restoration: God’s Call to the 21st Century World, both by Patrick Mason. I LOVE his farm analogy about the various religions of the world being responsible for different parts of the Lord’s vineyard/farm and that each has an area of “expertise” that can be offered to humanity to bring them back to God. They are beautiful books about reconciling the “only true church” with the truth that we are ALL God’s children and he has room for ALL of us.