Monday, May 25, 2009

Do Mormons Really Worship the Saviour Jesus Christ?

The following was first posted by yours truly as a Topic in the Facebook group, "Mormons Are Christians: We believe in and worship the Savior Jesus Christ".

Hmmm....whom should I believe? Sincere Mormon laymen? Or a Mormon Apostle?

'I shall express the views of the Brethren, of the prophets and apostles of old, and of all those who understand and are in tune with the Holy Spirit.... Everyone who is sound spiritually and who has the guidance of the Holy Spirit will believe my words and follow my counsel.... We worship the Father and him only and no one else. We do not worship the Son and we do not worship the Holy Ghost. I know perfectly well what the Scriptures say about worshipping Christ and Jehovah, but they are speaking in an entirely different sense -the sense of standing in awe and being reverentially grateful to him who has redeemed us. Worship in the true and saving sense is reserved for God the first, the Creator' (Bruce McConkie, "Our Relationship with the Lord," 2 March 1982)

The fact that Gospel Principles tells us the Father alone is only to be prayed to, and not Jesus Christ, shows exactly where Mormon theology regards the 'worship' of Christ. Let's just be frank for a second: Who's kidding who? We all know Mormonism does not allow worship given to Jesus or the Holy Spirit, that is, not the same worship that is given to the Father, as the Mormon church would have us think. After all, the Brethren made that quite clear. "Worship" has a wide meaning in the English language. Two words are used to express the "worship" given to the Holy Trinity and to the Saints. Adoration is given to God alone: this worship is called Latria. To the saints, our honor to them is called Dulia. There is a fundamental difference. We give Dulia to people all the time when we honor them for doing a good deed, or for achieving a specific goal, etc. But in Christendom, we approach Christ, as in we pray to Him in our worship, to Him directly, just as we do to the Father and Holy Spirit.

So again: Who's kidding who? Mormons do not worship Jesus Christ as the LDS Church would have us assume.

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