Observações do Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

7/30/2019 Observaes do Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

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Observaes dolder Jeffrey R. Holland

para a

Escola de Direito de Harvard

SALT LAKE CITY -

Observaes para a

Escola de Direito de Harvard

"O mormonismo 101"

lder Jeffrey R. Holland20 maro de 2012

Estou honrado e emocionado pelo convite para estar com voc. Eu agradeo a

sua gentileza. Ns vos amei nosso dia e meio no campus. Um par de renncias:

Estou lutando por um buraco aqui, como eu comear. Eu no sou nem um

graduado de Harvard, nem um advogado. Eu no sei qual desses me diminui

mais em seus olhos, mas, contudo, que era conhecido quando fui convidado. E

um aviso segundo que eu tenho piadas sem Harvard e Yale ou piadas de

advogados, que deveriam fazer deste um breve e muito uma conversa

chata. Mas eu quero ir direto para a substncia. Isto chamado mormonismo

101. Como eu j pensei sobre o que eu preparei e pensei, pode ser tipo de

reparao Mormonismo 99 ou algo que eu estou realmente vai ser bem

bsico. Mas eu espero que esse o esprito no qual fui convidado e do esprito

em que voc vir.

Deixe-me dizer desde j que estou muito impressionado que voc se importa o

suficiente sobre qualquer f ou de qualquer questo religiosa para convidam a

entrar e dirigir a voc hoje e que voc viria em tais nmeros. Eu realmente estou

impressionado. Eu passei minha vida, de uma forma ou de outra, nos campi

universitrios, e voc renovar a minha f e sublinhado a minha f e esperana,

que eterna, na prxima gerao, a sua gerao. Ento, obrigado.


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Isto acontece por ser uma srie pequena, no s sobre f, mas sobre a minha

f. E eu sou grato por voc, sabendo que, se ainda optar por participar e estar

aqui.

Voltando s minhas razes acadmicas na Nova Inglaterra neste fim de semana

me lembrou hoje de e-eu fico com um clrigo Congregacional maravilhosa que

h um sculo teve uma pequena parquia em Springfield, sobre equidistante de

New Haven e Cambridge, o que parece apropriado hoje. E ele disse, mais de 100

anos atrs:

"A perda do respeito popular para religio a podrido seca das

instituies sociais. A idia de Deus como o Criador e Pai de toda ahumanidade est no mundo moral, o que a gravitao no natural, que

detm todos juntos e faz com que eles giram em torno de um centro

comum. Tirar isso, e os homens [e mulheres] cair alm, no h tal coisa

como humanidade coletiva, mas apenas separar molculas [de homens e

mulheres deriva no universo] sem mais coeso [e no mais significado]

do que gros de tantos de areia. "[i]

No mundo ocidental, a religio tem sido historicamente a base da sociedade civilcomo o conhecemos, e se no estou enganado, os homens e mulheres da lei

esto comprometidos com o melhor que a sociedade mais justa civil. Ento,

obrigado por levar a religio a srio. Voc no ser apenas melhores advogados,

mas voc vai estar mais perto da verdade em suas prprias vidas pessoais.

Agora, voc me convidou para falar por alguns minutos sobre A Igreja de Jesus

Cristo dos Santos dos ltimos Dias. Espero que eu possa dizer-lhe algo de que

eu acredito e por isso que eu entreguei minha vida e minha lealdade e tudo o

que me cara a essa crena.

Cento e oitenta e nove anos atrs, um anjo e se voc quiser nos conhecer, voc

tem que saber que cr nas manifestaes de Deus e os anjos e divino de todos os

tipos, um anjo apareceu a um garoto de 17 anos de idade e disse-lhe que "Deus

tinha um trabalho para [voc] para fazer, e que [seu] nome seria considerado

bom e mau entre todas as naes, tribos e lnguas. . . que deveria ser o bem eo

mal falado entre todos os povos "(Joseph Smith-Histria 1:33).
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Esta declarao angelical parece continuar a ser cumprido para o bem ou para o

mal, como foi profetizado, como vrios polticos, sociais e culturais, para no

dizer nada de religiosos de eventos giram em torno de A Igreja de Jesus Cristo

dos Santos dos ltimos Dias. Eu posso entender que um pouco chocante,

porque isso chocante para mim ter tido no um, mas dois candidatos Santosdos ltimos Dias disputam a indicao presidencial de seu partido, e eu

confesso que no acreditava que viveria para ver o dia em que txi txis em

Times Square estaria correndo com cerca de "toppers de txi", dizendo: "Veja o

Livro de Mrmon." Claro que a nossa resposta foi rpida: "Agora que voc j viu

o show, ler o livro." E assim vai. No muito de nada disso, a polmica

contempornea, ter significado para voc se voc no entender algumas das

coisas bsicas que nos tornam a religio que ns somos. Ento eu vou deixar

essa parte para as perguntas e responder e voltar um pouco mais cedo.

Em 1820, este jovem a quem me referi, chamado Joseph Smith, um nome mais

americano que no poderia ter desejado conhecer-se a igreja verdadeira,

original de Jesus Cristo estava na terra. Atuando em pura f em resposta a um

nico versculo bblico que convidava qualquer um que busque a orar e pedir a

Deus apenas a essas questes (ver Tiago 1:5), este ento garoto de 14 anos, rezou

em voz alta pela primeira vez em sua vida.

Em resposta a essa orao, que aconteceu a seguir , para os crentes como eu, o

mais importante evento revelador para os mortais ter testemunhado ou ter

ouvido falar, desde que pequeno grupo de discpulos reunidos perto de

Jerusalm para ver o Cristo ressurreto ascender corporalmente ao cu.Em uma

viso que o jovem Joseph Smith descreveu como sendo "acima do brilho do sol"

(Joseph Smith-Histria 1:16), Deus, o Pai Eterno, e que mesmo Jesus Cristo

ressuscitado apareceu, pelo menos em cumprimento parcial da promessa de o

livro de Atos em que dois anjos tinham dito que o grupo anterior, "Vares

galileus, por que estais olhando para o cu? Esse Jesus, que tomado de voc no

cu, assim vir do modo como como o vistes subir para o cu "(Atos 1:11).

Esse dia est intimamente ligado com este dia e qualquer significado da minha

visita a vocs neste campus possa ter. No h tempo para percorrer 190 anos de

histria de So recente dos ltimos dias desde que epifania, mas basta dizer que

a declarao do jovem Joseph Smith em 1820 a nossa declarao de hoje e

para sempre, que no havia uma igreja verdadeira, uma vez no meridiano de

tempo, em que Jesus Cristo era a pedra angular ea personificao de sua


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divindade, com os homens mortais chamados como profetas e apstolos para

formar uma base fundamental em torno dele. Estes apstolos, com outros

professores e padres, pastores e membros em geral constituem um edifcio

figurativa, uma igreja se quiserem, que Paulo descreve como sendo "bem

ajustado ... para o aperfeioamento dos santos, para a obra do ministrio, [ e]para a edificao do corpo de Cristo "(Efsios 2:21; 4:12). Esse o nosso

testemunho de primeiro Jesus Cristo como o Filho literal de Deus, do Evangelho

misericordioso e redentor Ele trouxe do Pai Terra para compartilhar

com todos os filhos de Deus e de Cristo igreja estabelecida para ser o veculo de

comunicao as verdades e as ordenanas.

Mas o nosso testemunho seguinte que depois da ascenso de Cristo e com a

morte desses primeiros apstolos da Igreja e sua sucesso divinamenteordenado da autoridade do sacerdcio foi perdida, tomadas, removido da face

da terra.

Ento, o que se seguiu foi um milnio e meio de opor-esperana que Paulo

haveria uma "unidade da f, e [a] conhecimento do Filho de Deus", um pedido

de seu " que no sejamos mais crianas, atiradas para l e para c, e levados

ao redor por todo vento de doutrina, pela artimanha dos homens, e astcia,

que ficam espreita para enganar "(Efsios 4:13-14, grifo do autor). comumobservar que no mundo cristo vemos nada , mas "uma unidade da f" ou

qualquer coerncia crist que pudesse remotamente ser chamado de "o edifcio

bem ajustado" (Efsios 2:21). No parece haver nenhum que reafirmar "nico

Senhor, uma s f, um s batismo" (Efsios 4:5).

Assim foi nos dias de Joseph Smith. Este profeta jovem lamentou que sua regio

era "uma cena de grande confuso e mal-estar. . . sacerdote contendendo com

sacerdote e converso com converso;. . .de modo que [qualquer] bons

sentimentos. . . perderam-se inteiramente em um. . . guerra de palavras e

divergncia de opinies "(Joseph Smith-Histria 1:6, 10). Isso diz muito sobre

to ps-cristianismo do Novo Testamento.

Ento, o que me traz a voc hoje no uma mensagem de reforma , mas

de restaurao Restaurao-o de que Cristo igreja estabelecida por Sua mo no

meridiano dos tempos, e que Ele restabeleceu por Sua mo no tempo presente.

Nossa mensagem bsicas sobre Igreja restaurada de Cristo e sua doutrina no se

limita a, mas pode comear com, a verdade que:


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Todo homem, mulher e criana que j viveu, vive agora, ou que aindavivero tanto tempo como a terra durar um filho ou filha de um Pai

amoroso e Celestial divino. Ele o Deus em cuja imagem fomos criados, o

que no surpreendente que as crianas so sempre criados imagem de

seus pais. (Veja Gnesis 1:26-27). Como a descendncia espiritual deDeus somos "herdeiros, herdeiros de Deus e co-herdeiros com Cristo"

(Romanos 8:17).

A fim de obter um corpo mortal e crescimento experincia moraldisponvel em nenhuma outra maneira, um Ado e uma Eva verdadeira

verdadeira escolheu para deixar um paradisaco cenrio-Eden, se voc vai

para aprender tudo o que era necessrio para as crianas de Deus para

aprender, especialmente sobre a convivncia no amor e perceber que

Deus lhes daria a orientao a nica resposta para os problemas

pessoais e familiares, sociais e polticas, econmicas e filosficas.

Porque os erros seriam feitos no curso de que os mortais educao svezes os erros horrveis, erros dolorosos, global erros, foi providenciado

um Salvador em apenas um plano desse tipo, aquele que expiar no s

para Ado e transgresso inicial de Eva (um necessrio trazer a famlia

humana existncia), mas tambm para toda transgresso individual

feito por aqueles em que a famlia humana, os pecados e as tristezas, asdecepes e desespero, as lgrimas e as tragdias de cada homem, mulher

e criana que viveriam desde Ado at o fim do mundo.

Tal plano foi necessrio e Salvador tal foi necessria em porque a vida eterna. Nossas esperanas e sonhos importava antes de virmos para esta

terra, e eles iro certamente importa depois de deix-lo. Se o sentimento

seguinte foi bom o suficiente para um graduado de Harvard e professor,

bom o suficiente para mim. Isso uma concesso real pelo caminho:


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"Diga no a mim, em nmeros tristes,

A vida sonho, mas um vazio!

Porque a alma morto que dorme,

E as coisas no so o que parecem.

A vida real! A vida srio!

E o tmulo no o seu objetivo;

s p, com os retornos de poeira,

No foi falado da alma. "[ii]

O apstolo Paulo disse que ainda melhor: "Se s para esta vida que temos

esperana em Cristo, somos de todos os homens os mais miserveis" (1

Corntios 15:19).

Por ltimo, este plano, este curso divina delineou para ns, incluindo aqueda sorte no den ea redeno do Getsmani e do Calvrio, este

universalmente inclusiva. Todos so filhos do mesmo Deus, e todos esto

includos em Seu amor e Sua graa. "Pois como em Ado todos morrem,

assim em Cristo todos sero vivificados" (1 Corntios 15:22). Todo mundo

est abrangido, mas continua a ser visto se todo mundo se preocupa. Mas

se h uma falta de resposta, no vai ser porque Deus no tentar e Cristono veio. Esse o cerne do que eu tenho vindo a introduzir a voc como o

evangelho restaurado.

Agora, luz do que eu considero o bem simples teologia do Novo Testamento

que acabamos de referir, pode-se perguntar-por que esses Mrmons despertar

tais emoes nas pessoas e por que no esto considerados "cristo" por

alguns? Permitam-me concluir com apenas alguns pensamentos sobre isso.

No so considerados "cristo" por alguns, eu suponho, porque no somos

cristos do quarto sculo, no somos cristos Athanasian, no somos cristos

credo da marca que surgiu h centenas de anos depois de Cristo. No, quando

falamos de "restaurado o cristianismo" falamos da Igreja, como era, no como

ficou quando grandes conselhos foram chamados ao debate e angstia sobre o

que era aquilo que eles realmente acreditavam. Ento, se um grego significa de

influncia, conselho-convocao, o cristianismo filosofia com sabor de tempos

ps-apostlicos, ento estamos no que tipo de cristo. Peter sabemos, e Paul


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sabemos, mas Constantino e Atansio, Atenas e Alexandria, geralmente no

sabemos. (Na verdade, ns os conhecemos, ns apenas no segui-los.)

Assim, ns ensinamos que:

Deus Pai e de Seu Filho, Jesus Cristo, so seres separados e distintos comcorpos glorificados de carne e osso. Como tal, estamos com a posio

histrica de que "a doutrina formal da Trindade, como foi definido pelos

conclios grandes dos sculos IV e V no ser encontrado no [Novo

Testamento]. "[iii]Tomamos literalmente em Sua Palavra que Cristo

"desceu do cu no para fazer a [sua] prpria vontade, mas a vontade

daquele que o enviou [ele]" (Joo 6:38). Seus antagonistas Jesus disse,

eles "odiaram a mim ea meu Pai" (Joo 15:24). E junto com dezenas de

outras referncias, incluindo Suas oraes suplicantes, Jesus

repetidamente subordinado a seu pai, dizendo regularmente, de uma

forma ou de outra, "Meu Pai maior do que eu" (Joo 14:28). No entanto,

tendo feito o ponto da sua natureza separada e distinta fsico, declarar

inequivocamente que eles realmente eram e so "um" em todos os

concebvel outra forma na mente e ao, na vontade e desejo e espero,

com f, o propsito ea inteno e amor. Eles so mais seguramente muito

mais parecidos do que eles so diferentes de todas as maneiras que eu

acabei de dizer, mas eles so seres separados e distintos, como todos os

pais e filhos so. Nesta questo, diferem do cristianismo doutrinriotradicional, mas ns sentimos que concorda com o Novo Testamento.

Ns tambm diferem com o cristianismo do sculo quarto e quinto,declarando que o cnon das Escrituras no fechado, que os

cus esto abertos com experincia reveladora, e que Deus quis dizer o

que ele disse quando prometeu a Moiss: "Minhas obras no tm fim,

e. . . minhas palavras. . . nunca cessa "(Moiss 1:4). Cremos que Deus ama

todos os Seus filhos e que Ele nunca iria deix-los por muito tempo sem a

instrumentalidade dos profetas e apstolos, agentes autorizados de Suaorientao e direo. O Livro de Mrmon e outras escrituras canonizadas,

bem como o papel de viver orculos, testemunhas do fato de que Deus

continua a falar. Ns concordamos com entusiasmo, com o estudioso

protestante perspicaz que perguntou: "Com que fundamentos bblicos ou

histricos, tem a inspirao de Deus foi limitado aos documentos escritos

que a igreja agora chama a sua Bblia. . . Se o Esprito inspirou somente

os documentos escritos do primeiro sculo, isso significa que o mesmo

Esprito no fala hoje. . . sobre assuntos que so de preocupao


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significativa? "[iv]

Por fim, para hoje, somos nicos no mundo cristo moderno a respeito deum assunto que um profeta e presidente de A Igreja de Jesus Cristo dos

Santos dos ltimos Dias chamado "recurso de nossa maismarcante."[v]Ou seja, a autoridade do sacerdcio divino para

proporcionar a economia de sacramentos, as ordenanas do evangelho de

Jesus Cristo. O sacerdcio santo, que foi restaurado na Terra por aqueles

que a antigamente, sinaliza o retorno da autorizao divina. diferente de

todas as outras feitas pelo homem poderes e as autoridades sobre a face

da terra.Sem ela, no poderia ser uma igreja apenas no nome, e seria uma

igreja com falta de autoridade para administrar as coisas de Deus. Esta

restaurao da autoridade do sacerdcio facilita sculos de dvidas e

angstias entre aqueles que conheciam certas ordenanas e sacramentos

eram essenciais, mas viveu com a dvida sobre quem tinha o direito de

administr-los.Quebrando eclesiasticamente com seu irmo mais famoso

John sobre a deciso deste ltimo de ordenar sem autoridade divina para

faz-lo, Charles Wesley escreveu:

"Como so facilmente feitos bispos

Pelo homem ou por capricho da mulher:

Wesley suas mos sobre a Coca-Cola tem posto,Mas quem lhe ps as mos? "[vi]

Na Igreja de Jesus Cristo dos Santos dos ltimos Dias tentamos responder

honestamente pergunta de "quem imps as mos sobre ele" todo o caminho de

volta para Cristo. O retorno de tal autoridade verdadeiramente, creio eu, a

nossa "caracterstica mais marcante" em nossa f.
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[I]Adaptao da citao original emDicionrio de Pensamentos , Tryon

Edwards, ed. (1891), 478.

[Ii]Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, "Um Salmo da Vida" (1838), emAs Obras

Completas de Longfellow Poticos (1922), 3.[Iii]Dicionrio Harper da Bblia , Paul F. Achtemeier, ed. (1985), 1099, grifo do

autor.

[Iv]Lee M. McDonald,A Formao do Cnon cristo bblico, rev. ed. (1995),

255-56.

[V]Em Conference Report, abril de 1937, 121.

[Vi]Citado em C. Beaufort Moss,As Divises da cristandade: uma

retrospectiva (nd), 22.
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10/17

Remarks to the Harvard Law School

Mormonism 101

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

20 March 2012

I am honored and thrilled for the invitation to be with you. I thank you for your

courtesy. We have loved our day and a half on campus. A couple of disclaimers:

I am fighting out of a hole here as I begin. I am neither a Harvard graduate nor

an attorney. I dont know which of those diminishes me more in your eyes, but

nevertheless that was known when I was invited. And a second disclaimer is Ihave no Harvard and Yale jokes or attorney jokes, which should make this a

very brief and quite a boring talk. But I want to get right to the substance. This is

called Mormonism 101. As I have thought about what I have prepared and

thought about, it may be kind of remedial Mormonism 99 or somethingI am

really going to be pretty basic. But I hope that is the spirit in which I have been

invited and the spirit in which you come.

Let me just say at the outset that I am very impressed that you would care

enough about any faith or any religious issue to invite one to come and addressyou today and that you would turn out in such numbers. I really am impressed. I

have spent my life, one way or another, on college campuses, and you renew my

faith and underscore my faith and hope, which is eternal, in the next generation,

your generation. So thank you.

This happens to be a little series not only about faith but about my faith. And I

am grateful that you, knowing that, would still choose to attend and be here.

Returning to my academic roots in New England this weekend has reminded me

today ofand I stand witha marvelous Congregational cleric who a century

ago had a little parish in Springfield, about equidistant from New Haven and

Cambridge, which seems appropriate today. And he said, more than 100 years

ago:

The loss of popular respect for religion is the dry rot of social

institutions. The idea of God as the Creator and Father of all mankind is

in the moral world, what gravitation is in the natural; it holds all together

and causes them to revolve around a common center. Take this away, andmen [and women] drop apart; there is no such thing as collective


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humanity, but only separate molecules [of men and women drifting in

the universe] with no more cohesion [and no more meaning] than so

manygrains of sand.[i]

In the Western world, religion has historically been the basis of civil society as

we have known it, and if I am not mistaken, men and women of the law arecommitted to the bestthat is the most justcivil society. So thank you for

taking religion seriously. You will not only be better attorneys, but you will be

closer to the truth in your own personal lives.

Now, you have invited me to speak for a few minutes about The Church of Jesus

Christ of Latter-day Saints. I hope I can tell you something of what I believe and

why I have committed my life and my loyalty and everything that I hold dear to

that belief.

One hundred and eighty-nine years ago an angeland if you want to know us,

you have to know we believe in God and angels and divine manifestations of all

kindsan angel appeared to a 17-year-old boy and told him that God had a

work for [you] to do; and that [your] name should be had for good and evil

among all nations, kindreds, and tongues, . . . that it should be both good and

evil spoken of among all people (Joseph SmithHistory 1:33).

That angelic declaration seems to continue to be fulfilled for good or ill, as was

prophesied, as various political, social, and culturalto say nothing of

religiousevents swirl around The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I

can understand that its a little shocking because its shocking to me to have had

not one but two Latter-day Saint candidates vying for the presidential

nomination of their party, and I confess I did not believe I would live to see the

day that taxi cabs in Times Square would be scurrying about with taxi toppers

saying, See the Book of Mormon. Of course our quick rejoinder has been,

Now you have seen the show, read the book. And so it goes. Not much of any

of this, the contemporary hoopla, will have meaning for you if you dont

understand some of the basic things that make us the religion that we are. So

Im going to leave that part to the questions and answer and go back a little

earlier.

In 1820, this young man to whom I have referred, named Joseph Smitha more

American name you could not havedesired to know if the true, original church

of Jesus Christ was on the earth. Acting on pure faith in response to a single

biblical verse which invited any seeker to pray and ask God just such questions


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(see James 1:5), this then 14-year-old boy prayed vocally for the first time in his

life.

In response to that prayer, what happened next is, to believers like me, the most

important revelatory event for mortals to have witnessedor to have heardaboutsince that little band of disciples gathered near Jerusalem to see the

resurrected Christ ascend bodily into heaven. In a vision which the young

Joseph Smith described as being above the brightness of the sun (Joseph

SmithHistory 1:16), God the Eternal Father and that same resurrected Jesus

Christ appeared, in at least partial fulfillment of the promise in the book of Acts

to which two angels had said to that earlier group, Ye men of Galilee, why stand

ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into

heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven (Acts

1:11).

That day is inextricably linked with this day and any meaning my visit to you on

this campus may have. There is not time to walk through 190 years of recent

Latter-day Saint history since that epiphany, but suffice it to say that young

Joseph Smiths declaration in 1820 is our declaration today and foreverthat

there was a true church once in the meridian of time, in which Jesus Christ was

the chief cornerstone and the personification of its divinity, with mortal men

called as prophets and apostles to form a foundational footing around Him.These apostles, with other teachers and priests, pastors and members in general

constitute a figurative building, a church if you will, which Paul described as

being fitly framed together for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the

ministry, [and] for the edifying of the body of Christ (Ephesians 2:21; 4:12).

That is our first testimonyof Jesus Christ as the literal Son of God, of the

merciful and redeeming gospel He brought from the Father to the earth to share

with all of Gods children, and of the church Christ established to be the vehicle

for communicating those truths and those ordinances.But our next testimony is that after Christs ascension and with the death of

those early apostles the Church and its divinely ordained succession of

priesthood authority was lost, taken, removed from the face of the earth.

So what ensued was a millennium and a half of opposing Pauls hopethat there

would be a unity of the faith, and [a] knowledge of the Son of God, his plea

that we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about

with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness,

whereby they lie in wait to deceive(Ephesians 4:13-14; emphasis added). It iscommonplace to note that in the Christian world we see anything buta unity of


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the faith or any Christian cohesiveness that could remotely be called the

building fitly framed together (Ephesians 2:21). There seems to be none that

would reaffirm one Lord, one faith, one baptism (Ephesians 4:5).

So it was in Joseph Smiths day. This young boy prophet lamented that his

region was a scene of great confusion and bad feeling . . . priest contending

against priest, and convert against convert; . . . so that [any] good feelings . . .

were entirely lost in a . . . war of words and tumult of opinions (Joseph Smith

History 1:6, 10). That says so very much about post-New Testament

Christianity.

So what brings me to you today is not a message ofreformationbut

ofrestorationthe Restoration of that church Christ established by His hand in

the meridian of time, and which He has reestablished by His hand in the present

time.

Our basic message about Christs restored Church and its doctrine is not limited

to, but might begin with, the truth that:

Every man, woman and child who has ever lived, now lives, or will yet live solong as the earth shall last is a son or daughter of a loving and divine Heavenly

Father. He is the God in whose image we were created, which is not surprising in

that children are always created in the image of their parents. (See Genesis 1:26-

27.) As the spiritual offspring of God we are heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirswith Christ (Romans 8:17).

In order to gain a mortal body and experience moral growth available in noother way, a real Adam and a real Eve chose to leave a paradisiacal setting

Eden, if you willto learn all that was necessary for children of God to learn,

especially about living together in love and realizing that the guidance God

would give them is the only answer to personal and familial, social and political,

economic and philosophical problems.

Because mistakes would be made in the course of that mortal educationsometimes horrible mistakes, wrenching mistakes, global mistakesa Savior

was provided in just such a plan, one who would atone not only for Adam and

Eves initial transgression (one necessary to bring the human family into

existence) but also for every individual transgression made by those in that

human familythe sins and sorrows, the disappointments and despair, the tears

and tragedies of every man, woman, and child who would ever live from Adam


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to the end of the world.

Such a plan was necessary and such a Savior was required in it because life iseternal. Our hopes and dreams mattered before we came to this earth, and they

will most certainly matter after we leave it. If the following sentiment was good

enough for a Harvard graduate and professor, it is good enough for me. Thats a

real concession by the way:

Tell me not, in mournful numbers,

Life is but an empty dream!

For the soul is dead that slumbers,

And things are not what they seem.

Life is real! Life is earnest!

And the grave is not its goal;

Dust thou art, to dust returns,

Was not spoken of the soul.[ii]The Apostle Paul said it even better: If in this life only we have hope in Christ,

we are of all men most miserable (1 Corinthians 15:19).

Lastly, this plan, this divine course outlined for usincluding the fortunate Fallin Eden and the redemption of Gethsemane and Calvarythis is universally

inclusive. All are children of the same God, and all are included in His love and

His grace. For as in Adam all die,even so in Christ shall all be made alive (1

Corinthians 15:22). Everyone is covered, though it remains to be seen whether

everyone cares. But if there is a failure to respond, it wont be because Goddidnt try and Christ didnt come. That is at the heart of what I have been

introducing to you as the restored gospel.

Now, in light of what I consider the pretty straight-forward New Testament

theology weve just noted, one may wonderwhy do these Mormons stir up

such emotions in people and why are they not considered Christian by some?

Let me conclude with just a few thoughts about that.

We are not considered Christian by some, I suppose, because we are notfourth-century Christians, we are not Athanasian Christians, we are not creedal


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Christians of the brand that arose hundreds of years after Christ. No, when we

speak of restored Christianity we speak of the Church as it was, not as it

became when great councils were called to debate and anguish over what it was

they really believed. So if one means Greek-influenced, council-convening,

philosophy-flavored Christianity of post-apostolic times, then werenotthatkind of Christian. Peter we know, and Paul we know, but Constantine and

Athanasius, Athens and Alexandria generally we do not know. (Actually, we

know them, we just dont follow them.)

Thus, we teach that:

God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, are separate and distinct beings withglorified bodies of flesh and bone. As such we stand with the historical position

that the formal doctrine of the Trinity as it was defined by the great church

councils of the fourth and fifth centuries is notto be found in the [New

Testament].[iii]We take literally at His word that Christ came down from

heaven, not to do [His] own will, but the will of him that sent [him] (John

6:38). Of His antagonists Jesus said, they have hated both me and my Father

(John 15:24). And along with scores of other references, including His pleading

prayers, Jesus repeatedly subordinated Himself to His Father, saying regularly

in one way or another, My father is greater than I (John 14:28). However,

having made the point of Their separate and distinct physical nature, we declare

unequivocally that They were indeed and are one in every other conceivablewayin mind and deed, in will and wish and hope, in faith and purpose and

intent and love. They are most assuredly much more alike than They are

different in all the ways that I have just said, but theyare separate and distinct

beings as all fathers and sons are. In this matter we differ from traditional

creedal Christianity, but we do feel we agree with the New Testament.

We also differ with fourth and fifth century Christianity by declaring that thescriptural canon is not closed, that the heavens are open with revelatory

experience, and that God meant what He said when he promised Moses, My

works are without end, and . . . my words . . . never cease (Moses 1:4). We

believe that God loves all His children and that He would never leave them for

long without the instrumentality of prophets and apostles, authorized agents of

His guidance and direction. The Book of Mormon and other canonized

scripture, as well as the role of living oracles, witnesses to the fact that God

continues to speak. We agree enthusiastically with the insightful Protestant

scholar who inquired, On what biblical or historical grounds has the inspiration

of God been limited to the written documents that the church now calls its Bible

. . . If the Spirit inspired only the written documents of the first century, does


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that mean that the same Spirit does not speak today . . . about matters that are

of significant concern?[iv]

Lastly, for today, we are unique in the modern Christian world regarding onematter which a prophet and president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints called our most distinguishing feature.[v]That is, divine priesthood

authority to provide the saving sacramentsthe ordinancesof the gospel of

Jesus Christ. The holy priesthood, which has been restored to the earth by those

who held it anciently, signals the return of divine authorization. It is different

from all other man-made powers and authorities on the face of the earth.

Without it there could be a church in name only, and it would be a church

lacking in authority to administer in the things of God. This restoration of

priesthood authority eases centuries of questions and anguish among those who

knew certain ordinances and sacraments were essential but lived with the doubt

as to who had the right to administer them. Breaking ecclesiastically with his

more famous brother John over the latters decision to ordain without any

divine authority to do so, Charles Wesley wrote:

How easily are bishops made

Byman or womans whim:

Wesley his hands on Coke hath laid,

But who laid hands on him?[vi]

In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints we attempt to answer

honestly the question of who laid hands on him all the way back to Christ. The

return of such authority is truly, I believe, our most distinguishing feature in

our faith.

[i]Adaptation of original quote inA Dictionary of Thoughts, Tryon Edwards,

ed. (1891), 478.

[ii]HenryWadsworth Longfellow, A Psalm of Life (1838), inThe Complete

Poetical Works of Longfellow (1922), 3.

[iii]Harpers Bible Dictionary, Paul F. Achtemeier, ed. (1985), 1099; emphasis

added.

[iv]Lee M. McDonald, The Formation of the Christian Biblical Canon, rev. ed.

(1995), 25556.
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[v]In Conference Report, Apr. 1937, 121.

[vi]Quoted in C. Beaufort Moss, The Divisions of Christendom: A

Retrospect(n.d.), 22.
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Observações do Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

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