If you reject the BOM does that mean you are not a true Christian?


Luke
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In Mormon 7:9 Mormon states, "if ye believe that [The Bible] ye will believe this [The Book of Mormon] also"

Does this mean that anyone who was presented The Book of Mormon and rejects it, does not actually believe The Bible and is not a true Christian?

Is this an absolute, infallible litmus test of the claim of someone to be Christian?

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2 hours ago, Luke said:

Does this mean that anyone who was presented The Book of Mormon and rejects it, does not actually believe The Bible and is not a true Christian? 

Is this an absolute, infallible litmus test of the claim of someone to be Christian?

Yes it is, but man cannot grade the test (so to speak), nor even understand what test has been administered.  Mortal man simply doesn't have the capacity to judge the necessary details to make an absolute determination.  God will do that and we should leave it to him.

2 hours ago, Luke said:

In Mormon 7:9 Mormon states, "if ye believe that [The Bible] ye will believe this [The Book of Mormon] also"

IMO, Mormon's statement cannot be used in the past tense - to judge those who we perceive believe one and reject the other.  Rather, the statement is predictive - it describes what will be for one who follows the invitation to honestly consider the content of the Book of Mormon alongside the content of the Bible.  A lot of people who say they "believe the Bible" don't actually know or understand its content - it wouldn't surprise me if many such people have never read it, let alone deeply considered its meaning and prayed about it.  Rather, they trust in what various other people have said about it (and if they have read it, they read it in that context, unable or unwilling to set aside those interpretations to consider the content without them).  And similar things could be said of those invited to read the Book of Mormon - many just don't (whether they "believe" it or not); of those who do, many don't give it honest consideration - they're half-hearted or even read looking for reasons not to believe.

In the end, one way or another, all will have the chance to honestly consider the truth.  In the meantime, leave judgement of disbelief to God.

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2 hours ago, Luke said:

In Mormon 7:9 Mormon states, "if ye believe that [The Bible] ye will believe this [The Book of Mormon] also"

Does this mean that anyone who was presented The Book of Mormon and rejects it, does not actually believe The Bible and is not a true Christian?

Is this an absolute, infallible litmus test of the claim of someone to be Christian?

Legally speaking the only "christians" are those who've been baptized, and the only church with the authority to baptize is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It has nothing to do with the Book of Mormon.

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3 hours ago, Luke said:

In Mormon 7:9 Mormon states, "if ye believe that [The Bible] ye will believe this [The Book of Mormon] also"

Does this mean that anyone who was presented The Book of Mormon and rejects it, does not actually believe The Bible and is not a true Christian?

Is this an absolute, infallible litmus test of the claim of someone to be Christian?

Great answers above, I’ll add my two cents.

Assuming all things in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is 100% true (which I wholly believe), that would mean all doctrines in the Bible and Book of Mormon are perfectly in harmony and both inspired by the same God.

With that logic, how could someone who believes the Bible disbelieve the Book of Mormon? 

Accepting the Bible and not the Book of Mormon is like accepting the Gospel of Matthew but rejecting the Book of Acts. Any Christian would scoff at such a claim. The only difference is that the Book of Mormon took place in a separate continent and its contents take on a different title.

What is happening, however, is that people aren’t reading the Book of Mormon, they are picking it apart and trying to find things in it that don’t meld with their beliefs. And their beliefs don’t come from the Bible, they come from the cultural Christianity that exists today (Philosophy of men mingled with scripture).

Examples of why people reject the Book of Mormon:

1) I’ll ask “Will you pray and ask God if the Book of Mormon is true?” And be met with “Oh no! I don’t question God! Your church can’t be true if your asking me to question God!” (I got this response probably a dozen times on my mission... no idea where it came from).

2) Someone will say “Nephi murdered Laban! How can you believe this Book!?!?” They fail to recognize that at that time and under the circumstances that lead up to his death, Jewish law would have pardoned Nephi 100% (many members and non-members don’t realize this).

3) “There are so many wars in the Book of Mormon! Why would God have such a violent book written??” They completely reject or are ignorant of all the genocidal tendencies of the early Israelites and the wars that constantly ravaged the Old Testament. 

4) “The Bible is the final word! The end of the Book of Revelations says that man cannot add or take away from this Book or they will be punished!” But reject the origin of how the Bible came about, the fact that other biblical writing were written after the book of revelation, like the gospel of John.

5) Many will reject the Book of Mormon simply because of historical things that have happened. All of which have their biblical counter parts.

So people can call themselves Christians all they want, but having had read both the Bible and the Book of Mormon, I find that both testify of the same God. To accept one and not the other is nothing more than a matter of pride, loyalty to their church, or ignorance. 

Edited by Fether
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I tend to believe scripture rather than the interpretation of men in these cases. The scripture in connection to this would be Nephi's words, who said the following, "hearken unto these words and believe in Christ; and if ye believe not in these words believe in Christ. And if ye shall believe in Christ ye will believe in these words, for they are the words of Christ, and he hath given them unto me; and they teach all men that they should do good. And if they are not the words of Christ, judge ye—for Christ will show unto you, with power and great glory, that they are his words, at the last day; and you and I shall stand face to face before his bar; and ye shall know that I have been commanded of him to write these things, notwithstanding my weakness." (2 Nephi 33: 10-11)

A question I think we would have to consider in correlation with these verses and the ones you have shared, "Would a 'true Christian' reject any words from Christ"? For me I think the answer is obvious; however, @zil provided an excellent thought regarding who would make the judgement according to this when she said, "but man cannot grade the test (so to speak), nor even understand what test has been administered.  Mortal man simply doesn't have the capacity to judge the necessary details to make an absolute determination.  God will do that and we should leave it to him." I parrot the statement as it is accurate.

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7 hours ago, Luke said:

In Mormon 7:9 Mormon states, "if ye believe that [The Bible] ye will believe this [The Book of Mormon] also"

Does this mean that anyone who was presented The Book of Mormon and rejects it, does not actually believe The Bible and is not a true Christian?

Is this an absolute, infallible litmus test of the claim of someone to be Christian?

Ultimately (as in post-Second Coming, Final Judgement time scale) a full-fledge disciple of Christ is going to accept all testimonies of Him (old scripture, new revelation, etc).  This is declared by Christ. 

But as to the here and now: I would NOT use ANY type of outside test for us to pretend we're God and declare the state of someone else's heart.  This is a folly of some other Christian groups, and we would be wise to avoid that trap.  

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8 hours ago, LePeel said:

Legally speaking the only "christians" are those who've been baptized, and the only church with the authority to baptize is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It has nothing to do with the Book of Mormon.

Good point! 

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12 hours ago, Luke said:

In Mormon 7:9 Mormon states, "if ye believe that [The Bible] ye will believe this [The Book of Mormon] also"

Does this mean that anyone who was presented The Book of Mormon and rejects it, does not actually believe The Bible and is not a true Christian?

Is this an absolute, infallible litmus test of the claim of someone to be Christian?

Depends on how you define "Christian"  If you believe in Christ, you are a Christian.  But, you are not of his fold until you covenant with him through baptism, from those with the proper authority, and that is only found in His restored church.  The Book of Mormon simply helps you find His flock.

Edited by bytebear
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Guest MormonGator
9 hours ago, LePeel said:

Legally speaking the only "christians" are those who've been baptized, and the only church with the authority to baptize is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It has nothing to do with the Book of Mormon.

When you think about it, it's either us or the Catholics who have authorized authority. 

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3 minutes ago, MormonGator said:

When you think about it, it's either us or the Catholics who have authorized authority. 

Yep, and I'm betting against the Catholics. If we're talking about the Protestants, since they don't seem to believe in authority, their baptisms are the equivalent of a 3x5 card with the words "drivers license" written on it.

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Guest MormonGator
16 minutes ago, LePeel said:

Yep, and I'm betting against the Catholics. If we're talking about the Protestants, since they don't seem to believe in authority, their baptisms are the equivalent of a 3x5 card with the words "drivers license" written on it.

I agree, though I wouldn't put it so rudely. I've never understood baptizing someone without the authority of the priesthood. It doesn't make sense to me.  

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1 hour ago, MormonGator said:

I agree, though I wouldn't put it so rudely. I've never understood baptizing someone without the authority of the priesthood. It doesn't make sense to me.  

Perhaps a less rude way to say it would be "a baptism without authority is the equivalent of a 3x5 card with the words 'driver's license' written on it."

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Guest MormonGator
22 minutes ago, LePeel said:

Perhaps a less rude way to say it would be "a baptism without authority is the equivalent of a 3x5 card with the words 'driver's license' written on it."

Cute. 

Just a note-when you act rudely to other religions, you give up your right to ever complain about someone acting rudely to yours. 

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14 hours ago, Luke said:

In Mormon 7:9 Mormon states, "if ye believe that [The Bible] ye will believe this [The Book of Mormon] also"

Does this mean that anyone who was presented The Book of Mormon and rejects it, does not actually believe The Bible and is not a true Christian?

Is this an absolute, infallible litmus test of the claim of someone to be Christian?

What exactly do they believe? The philosphies of men "mingled"with biblical verses cherry picked to support a man-made philosophy? Or do they actually believe what the Bible truly says?

I believe if a person truly listens to the Spirit as they study the Bible for what the Lord intended, then they will also listen to the Spirit as they read the Book of Mormon.  That is the meaning of the verse you quoted.

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12 minutes ago, MormonGator said:

Cute. 

Just a note-when you act rudely to other religions, you give up your right to ever complain about someone acting rudely to yours. 

Not cute, I'm being serious. A lot of people don't understand why it's important to have authority in a baptism or any other religious ordinance. But people understand the difference between an actual driver's license and a piece of paper that someone wrote on, and why the real driver's license is valid while the paper is not. To make it less rude I didn't specifically pick on the Protestants.

Edited by LePeel
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15 hours ago, Luke said:

In Mormon 7:9 Mormon states, "if ye believe that [The Bible] ye will believe this [The Book of Mormon] also"

Does this mean that anyone who was presented The Book of Mormon and rejects it, does not actually believe The Bible and is not a true Christian?

Is this an absolute, infallible litmus test of the claim of someone to be Christian?

"If ye love me, keep my commandments"  Wouldn't that also be a true litmus test of being a true Christian?  How many of us keep all of God's commandments?  I know I am not there yet.  

Will is a future tense.  If you are a true Christian, you will believe it.  But you don't have to believe it at this point in time.

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20 hours ago, Midwest LDS said:

No. All should accept the light and knowledge found in the Book of Mormon, but being a Christian only requires you to worship our Lord Jesus Christ. I'm not comfortable denying others the faith that so many have tried to deny me.

Yet, it is not theirs to deny.  God determines who is a true Christian and it appears this is one of His tests for determining.

I would be uncomfortable if the "Christian" world did whole heartedly accept us....and it would probably mean we were doing something wrong (sort of like RLDS complete apostasy and transition to Community of Christ).

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