Wednesday, May 19, 2004

It is always interesting to read the text of talks by Gordon Hinckley and other mormon leaders, you have to dig past the facade a little bit to get the real message. The best talks are those aimed strictly at a mormon audience, they kind of let their grey hair down a bit and talk more openly about what their church really believes.

Hinckley and Boyd Packer, one of the mormon "apostles", spoke at a 175th anniversary celebration of the restoration of the mormon priesthood. Some of the terminology they used is telling...

>>>"This authority can only be exercised in righteousness," <<<

>>>"Let the world do what it will. You have something the world does not."<<<

>>>He urged priesthood holders to keep the Word of Wisdom, which prohibits consumption of alcohol, coffee, tea and illicit drugs. "They will rob you of self-mastery," he said.<<<

>>>He said the restoration of the priesthood has created a "Kingdom of Priests." Priesthood holders are just ordinary men but are given power by the priesthood to proclaim the gospel to the world.<<<

There was lots of talk of "worthiness" and "righteousness". Christians know that none are worthy, none are righteous except Jesus Christ, which is why He and only He could serve as a sacrifice for our sins. The arrogance of mormonism says that I an worthy, I am righteous, I can enter the temple because I am more worthy than non-mormons because I don't drink coffee. Forget what the Bible says very clearly about legalism and dietary restrictions, we have a living prophet!

We see one of the telltale signs of a cult, the idea that they are more special than the rest of the world, they possess special knowledge, and that exclusivity helps to control them.

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