Open letter
Dear sir,
Thirty five years ago, I met with a number of men on a top floor of the tower and we discussed your desire to be integrated into mainstream Christianity. Sandblasting Masonic symbols off the temple, and changing the ceremonies was an indicator of your desire, but were insufficient. The proposed Stage One of your transformation was to come clean with your history. You have done that.
Stage Two was adopting a truly Christian theology. This is a bit more problematic since you have no guide. As you have examined the theologies of mainline churches, and those descended from the Catholic Church, you have discovered that they have no test for truth. They have become a modern Aeropagus, accepting each other’s doctrines as ‘close enough’ as long as they don’t offend each other. Over the last few decades, they have engaged in the doctrine of Balaam (compromising with the flesh) and have become a collection of organizations that are not desirable to be associated with.
You now have an opportunity to become the de facto leader of Christendom.
Church leaders are human
All church denominations have had issues with human leaders. The organizations all have found ways to work around them. Your own theologians can document the frailties of these leaders. (I suggest they do so for when you invite the other churches to join you). Many have claimed to be prophets, have fallen into sexual sin, were enamored with political power or riches, and have had issues with being overbearing. Protestants murdered heretics. Churches take each other to court. As you make the transformation, you have an opportunity, not only to break from the past, but to call all churches to repentance.
But, you must have a compelling truth; a reason for doing so. You must capitalize on a unique aspect of Mormonism while at the same time breaking from it.
Joseph observed that all the churches were “teaching for doctrines the commandments of men”. They could do nothing else because they had no standard of truth. When the Greeks took over the church from the Hebrews and chased them all out, they were left with Greek philosophy, rhetoric, logic and debate. These do not produce truth. Proponents of an idea are left to debate and fight and gather followers to themselves to show they are more clever than the next.
The Schism, Reformation, Restoration, Joseph, nor Brigham could fix it because they were left with the same tools. We all have the same Greek hermeneutics. 2Ti 3:7 Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. …