Joseph Smith Boast

[Guest]

From my perspective, the "prayer standard" of determining the right church has a major flaw in that the church uses a sort of circular logic to justify it. If you pray about the truthfulness of the LDS church, you'll get one of two answer, its true to its not. If you get the former answer, the church will claim its from God, and if you get the latter answer, it'll claim that its from either Satan or yourself.

The church makes no such claims. The article of faith is clear on that - you find good anywhere it exists. What it does claim is that it is the true church and as such - as long as one is constantly seeking honestly, humbly, and diligently for truth with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, one will eventually find it. Line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little, there a little, even if you go through the Catholic Church or pass through death before you get there.

The LDS Church do not claim that other churches or even those without a church are devoid of truth. They simply claim that they have the whole truth as it has been revealed. If a Baptist proclaims that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, his being a Baptist doesn't make the proclamation false. Therefore, it is possible that one can be guided to other churches until they are ready for another line or another precept.

Edited March 26, 2014 by anatess

[RMGuy]

The church makes no such claims. The article of faith is clear on that - you find good anywhere it exists. What it does claim is that it is the true church and as such - as long as one is constantly seeking honestly, humbly, and diligently for truth with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, one will eventually find it. Line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little, there a little, even if you go through the Catholic Church or pass through death before you get there.

The LDS Church do not claim that other churches or even those without a church are devoid of truth. They simply claim that they have the whole truth as it has been revealed. If a Baptist proclaims that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, his being a Baptist doesn't make the proclamation false. Therefore, it is possible that one can be guided to other churches until they are ready for another line or another precept.

I think what he is referring to is that if an investigator prays about the church and gets no answer or an answers that it is not true, the general response is for them to a) keep trying, a la Martin Harris, or that b) the answer that it is not true didn't come from God. I believe what the author was saying, is that if you want to rely on an answer to prayer to individuals as your standard of truth, then you live and die by that standard. Many times leaders want to play heads I'm right and tails your wrong. That isn't internally consistent. At least I think that's what the major premise is.