Why I’m a Latter-day Saint again!

 I know this comes as a shock to many of my Protestant friends. A Latter-day Saint aka “Mormon” is The LAST THING I ever thought I'd be again. It was as shocking to me as it is to some of you who are reading this now. It is the result of a long year and a half spiritual journey in which I had no idea where it was ultimately going to lead me.The very last thing I wanted to be when I realized I would have to become a Latter-day Saint was a Latter-day Saint. I was a senior pastor of a wonderful and loving congregation of people. I was doing what I loved to do. It was my dream vocation that I had for many years. I thought I would be a Baptist pastor till my life expired. I had been pastoring for over 11 years! I enjoyed teaching and preaching with a fiery passion. I would rather die than not preach and if I had to I would pay to preach. I truly never intended or saw my self being anything else than a fundamental KJVO Bible preacher and pastor. But I’ve always been concerned with seeking truth and following the Lord as he showed me His truth. Little did I know that it would come at a great sacrifice for me personally.

My spiritual journey back to becoming a Latter-Day Saint again started with some conversations I was having with my twin brother. I had been struggling with some personal  issues I was having with pragmatism in relation to the local church in which I was pastoring. Some of the initial conversations that me and my brother were having that launched this new spiritual journey were centered around what is known as the Great commission and it’s passage’s one being Matthew 28:18-20. The conclusion that we came to is that not all churches could be right and guided by God which seems obvious but a truth which has several implications. Jesus said I will build MY CHURCH. Not every church can be His with the multitude of differences in doctrines and practices! We knew that the one true church doctrine in which the Lord was guiding and building was true. The implications of the Great commission passage were that the Lord’s church had to be universal, visible, hierarchical, and organizational. I look forward to unpacking this truth in coming days. But for now I’ll leave some comments below by my twin in regards to the Great Commission.

“There has to be one true church of Jesus Christ on earth. When Jesus walked this earth he started a church with him being the cornerstone and his 12 living apostles as the foundation of his church. This church was to be united under the leadership of Christ and his authorized and ordained apostles. These apostles had the authority of Christ to act in his name after he left this earth and they made decisions that were binding on his church. Acts 15 is a perfect example of this. The great commission of Matthew 28:18-20 could never happen unless his church is visible, universal, united, and apostolic. The doctrine of the autonomy of the local church is not taught in scripture. There are local churches but they should not function independently from the body much like all the members of our physical body doesn’t . That does not lead to the fulfilling of the great commission as it was given. The great commission is a universal endeavor and commission not a local one and hence can’t be fulfilled by just a bunch of local churches acting independently because that never would  lead to the nations being discipled after the same commandments and teaching.”

As I got further into this spiritual journey I did not want to change for several reasons. I struggled with the realization that converting to Catholicism or back to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints would mean leaving behind my present church community, livelihood, reputation, and even friendships. However, my commitment to truth outweighed my fears. Once I seen some things I could not unsee them. In my search I found that I was an unlearned Protestant or how I like to describe myself, an ignorant Protestant. 

The number one doctrine after much study that led me to leave Protestantism and to become a Latter-day Saint was the doctrine of sola scriptura.  Initially the rejection of sola scriptura was leading me to consider Catholicism. But through researching apologetics from a Latter-day Saint perspective, one being the blog of Scriptural  Mormonism found here http://scripturalmormonism.blogspot.com/by my now good friend Robert Boylan I began to see the problems of Catholic claims in regards to their particular dogmas in light of historicity which helped me decide to not become a Catholic. Concerning Robert Boylan and his work, he is the most singular person that led me to take the theology of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and its claims seriously. He is a theological beast and a book eating monster! He is truly one of a kind! He helped me see sound exegetical evidence for Latter-day Saint theology. Understanding the falsehood of the doctrine of sola scriptura and its unbiblical basis opens the door to Divine revelation found outside of just the 66 books of the Protestant canon. There will be much more in the future on this blog in regards to the problems connected to the formal doctrine of Protestantism known as sola scriptura. Below are some of the best resources and links giving a refutation of the doctrine of sola scriptura.

Not by Scripture Alone: A Catholic Critique of the Protestant Doctrine of Sola Scriptura, ed. Robert A. Sungenis

Yves Congar, Tradition and Traditions

Idem, The Meaning of Tradition

Dave Armstrong, Pillars of Sola Scriptura: Replies to Whitaker, Goode, and Biblical "proofs" for"Bible Alone"

Idem, 501 Biblical Arguments Against Sola Scriptura: Is the Bible the Only Infallible Authority?

Idem, 100 Biblical Arguments Against Sola Scriptura

Gerard Loughlin, Telling God's Story: Bible, Church, and Narrative Theology

Christian Smith, The Bible Made Impossible: Why Biblicism is Not a Truly Evangelical Reading of Scripture

John Whiteford, Sola Scriptura: An Orthodox Analysis of the Cornerstone of Reformation Theology

Mark Aziz, Sola Scriptura or Sola Traditione?: The Orthodox Theology of Tradition as a Solution to the Reformation Debate about Theological Authority

Patrick Madrid, Scripture and Tradition

John Breck, Scripture in Tradition: The Bible and Its Interpretation in the Orthodox Church

Geoge H. Tavard, Holy Writ or Holy Church. The crisis of the Protestant Reformation

Joel Peters, Scripture Alone? 21 Reasons to Reject Sola Scriptura

Mark P. Shea, By What Authority?

George Agius, Tradition and the Church

John Salza, The Biblical Basis for Tradition

Devin Rose, The Protestant's Dilemma

Casey J Chalk, The Obscurity of Scripture: Disputing Sola Scriptura and the Protestant Notion of Biblical Perspicuity 

Joel Peters, Sola Scriptura Doesn’t Work- 25 Practical Reasons to Reject the Doctrine of ‘Bible Alone’

The Bible Alone? Is The Bible Alone Sufficient? Edited by Marcus Grodi

http://scripturalmormonism.blogspot.com/2017/03/not-by-scripture-alone-latter-day-saint.html

https://youtube.com/shorts/8C52_azXQ2E?si=9_KuTye1ZxkuxSWc

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1HYW8yjFNm/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Another doctrine that resulted in me becoming a Latter-Day Saint again was the biblical teaching of baptismal regeneration in light of Protestantism’s material principle of sola fide. Sola fide is the doctrine of justification by faith alone. Sola scriptura ( Bible Alone) and sola fide (Faith Alone) are the two foundational principles of the Protestant reformation. Below is one of the best resources refuting sola fide.

https://www.amazon.com/Not-Faith-Alone-Biblical-Justification/dp/1579180086 

If these two pillars fall then Protestantism falls also. So many more helpful resources could be given for refuting Sola Scriptura and Sola Fide as Biblical doctrines. 

But Below are just a few great links that discuss baptismal regeneration from the Biblical texts themselves! 

http://matt1618.freeyellow.com/baptreg.html

http://matt1618.freeyellow.com/bapreg.html

https://www.stlukesmanhattan.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Baptism-Texts-the-Earliest-Christians.pdf

https://youtu.be/F1TlulFc-aU

http://scripturalmormonism.blogspot.com/2021/01/resources-defending-baptismal.html

The below are a few great books on the topic:https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0899003362/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0 This one above is A STUDY OF THE BIBLICAL TEXTS ON BAPTISM. The water of baptism which God meant to unite us has become the water that divides us. But the topic of baptism does not have to divide us—it can be one of the Bible doctrines that submerges us in a common relationship with our Lord Jesus.

In thirteen chapters, Dr. Cottrell discusses twelve major texts on baptism in the New Testament by examining the meaning of the original words, the historical background, and the comparative references.

The texts covered:

• Matthew 28:18-20
• Mark 16:15-16
• John 3:3-5
• Acts 2:38-39
• Acts 22:16
• Romans 6:3-4
• 1 Corinthians 12:13
• Galatians 3:26-27
• Ephesians 5:25-27
• Colossians 2:11-13
• Titus 3:5
• 1 Peter 3:21

A thorough and landmark study, this book should be in the library of every serious Bible student.

https://www.amazon.com/Baptism-Early-Church-Theology-Centuries/

https://www.amazon.com/Born-Water-Spirit-Baptismal-Regeneration

Another doctrine that led me back to embracing the Latter-day Saint faith is the false doctrine of local church autonomy when it comes to Church government. The disunity within Protestantism for the past 500+ years on fundamental issues such as Baptism and other issues relating to salvation and issues involving how or what it means to truly love Jesus show the importance of having an authoritative church and the importance of a high ecclesiology view! Again much more is planned in the future on this topic! This topic ties directly into the false teachings surrounding the priesthood of the believer. 

In conclusion for now below are the top reasons I’m a Latter-day Saint again:

1. Because of the Book of Mormon- Involved with this is the falsehood of the Bible Alone being the exhaustive complete revelation of God. 
2. Because of Baptism issues including Baptismal regeneration - Involved with this is the falsehood of sola fide. 
3. Because of Authority and Ecclesiastical issues - Involved with this is a high ecclesiology view of the Church instead of the falsehood of local church autonomy alone in Church government. 
4. Because of the Great Apostasy - This is the conclusion of the massive mixture of false doctrines found in Catholicism and Protestantism. This involves canon issues and doctrinal divisions including false doctrines that were accretions not found in the Lord’s original Church and teachings. This was the topic that kept me between Catholicism and “Mormonism”. Below is a quote that exactly described the dilemma I was in when deciding between crossing the Susquehanna River or the Tiber River.

“Elder Orson F. Whitney, an apostle of the restored Church, once told of a learned Catholic theologian who spoke to him as follows: You Mormons are all ignoramuses. You don't even know the strength of your own position. It is so strong that there is only one other tenable in the whole Christian world, and that is the position of the Catholic Church. The issue is between Catholicism and Mormonism. If we are right, you are wrong; if you are right, we are wrong; and that's all there is to it. The Protestants haven't a leg to stand on. For, if we are wrong, they are wrong with us, since they were a part of us and went out from us; while if we are right, they are apostates whom we cut off long ago. If we have the apostolic succession from St. Peter, as we claim, there is no need of Joseph Smith and Mormonism; but if we have not that succession, then such a man as Joseph Smith was necessary, and Mormonism's attitude is the only consistent one. It is either the perpetuation of the gospel from ancient times, or the restoration of the gospel in latter days.7 That, indeed, is the issue: Did Christ's Church continue uninterrupted for two thousand years since the meridian of time, or was there a cessation of that church followed by a restoration?” (Tad Callister in The Inevitable Apostasy and the Promised Restoration location 176 Kindle Ed.). 

After my research I decided to cross the Susquehanna River!

Below are some great resources on the Great Apostasy issue from an LDS perspective.

Tad Callister, https://www.amazon.com/Inevitable-Apostasy-Promised-Restoration. 

Noel B. Reynolds, ed. Early Christians in Disarray: Contemporary LDS Perspectives on the Christian Apostasy

Barry R. Bickmore, Restoring the Ancient Church: Joseph Smith and Early Christianity (2d ed.)

Scott R. Peterson, Do the Mormons have a Leg to Stand on? A Critical Look at LDS Doctrines in Light of the Bible and the Teachings of the Early Christian Church

Idem. Where have all the Prophets Gone? Revelation and Rebellion in the Old Testament and the Christian World

Miranda Wilcox and John D. Young, ed. Standing Apart: Mormon Historical Consciousness and the Concept of Apostasy

So much more could be said and WILL be said but sufficient is the above for my first blog post as a Latter-day Saint.