Chapter 13
Nephi sees in vision:
the church of the devil set up among the Gentiles; the discovery and colonizing
of America; the loss of many plain and precious parts of the Bible; the
resultant state of gentile apostasy; the restoration of the gospel, the coming
forth of Latter-day scripture, and the building up of Zion. About 600–592 B.C.
Having seen the destruction of his people, Nephi was shown
many nations and kingdoms. These, the
angel told him are the nations of the gentiles. Among the gentiles, Nephi saw the formation
of a church. The angel described this
church as being “most abominable above
all other churches” (1 Nephi 13:5).
The church tortures and kills the saints of god. They are bound with a yoke of iron that
brings them into captivity. Jacob would
tell the Nephites, “Wherefore, he that fighteth
against Zion, both Jew and Gentile, both bond and free, both male and female, shall
perish; for they are they who are the whore of all the earth; for they who are not
for me are against me, saith our God” (2 Nephi 10:16).
Nephi saw the great and abominable church and the devil was
its founder. “And another angel shall sound his trump, saying: That great church,
the mother of abominations, that made all nations drink of the wine of the
wrath of her fornication, that persecuteth the saints of God, that shed their
blood—she who sitteth upon many waters, and upon the islands of the sea—behold,
she is the tares of the earth; she is bound in bundles; her bands are made
strong, no man can loose them; therefore, she is ready to be burned. And he shall sound his trump both long and
loud, and all nations shall hear it.” (D&C 88:94).
What and who is the great and abominable church? Noel Reynolds examines a myth.
Myth 3: The Roman Catholic
Church specifically is the great and abominable church spoken of in Nephi's
vision.
Given the dependence of the early
LDS writers on Protestant historians, who were themselves often anti-Catholic
in orientation, it is not surprising that Latter-day Saints tended to interpret
Nephi's vision in this way. The Protestant focus on the corruption in
medieval Christianity naturally suggested the Catholic Church as the
"church of the devil" described by Nephi in his vision. But if we
look more closely at these scriptures, we will see that the church of the devil
arose centuries before the Catholic Church was established with Rome as its
acknowledged head, and we will see that it includes much more than just one
such organization. There is much more to it.[1]
The great and abominable church is made up of those who
oppose Christ. They (those who oppose
Christ) may claim to be believers or may reject the existence of God. What they share in common is their opposition
to the gospel and church of Christ. They
are fighting righteousness and serve their master, the devil.
These people have set their hearts on the things of the
world. They want riches and fine
clothing. They are struck with the
Nephite disease, pride. Mormon wrote to
us, seeing our day:
Behold,
I speak unto you as if ye were present, and yet ye are not. But behold, Jesus Christ hath shown you unto
me, and I know your doing.
And
I know that ye do walk in the pride of your hearts; and there are none save a
few only who do not lift themselves up in the pride of their hearts, unto the
wearing of very fine apparel, unto envying, and strifes, and malice, and
persecutions, and all manner of iniquities; and your churches, yea, even every
one, have become polluted because of the pride of your hearts.
For
behold, ye do love money, and your substance, and your fine apparel, and the
adorning of your churches, more than ye love the poor and the needy, the sick
and the afflicted.
O
ye pollutions, ye hypocrites, ye teachers, who sell yourselves for that which
will canker, why have ye polluted the holy church of God? Why are ye ashamed to take upon you the name
of Christ? Why do ye not think that
greater is the value of an endless happiness than that misery which never
dies—because of the praise of the world?
Why
do ye adorn yourselves with that which hath no life, and yet suffer the hungry,
and the needy, and the naked, and the sick and the afflicted to pass by you,
and notice them not?
Yea,
why do ye build up your secret abominations to get gain, and cause that widows
should mourn before the Lord, and also orphans to mourn before the Lord, and
also the blood of their fathers and their husbands to cry unto the Lord from
the ground, for vengeance upon your heads?
Behold,
the sword of vengeance hangeth over you; and the time soon cometh that he
avengeth the blood of the saints
Mormon 8:35 – 41
For the praise of the world, the great and abominable church
will “destroy the saints of God, and
bring them down into captivity” (1 Nephi 13:9).
And
they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped
the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast?
who is able to make war with him?
And
there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and
power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.
And
he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his
tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.
And
it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power
was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.
Revelation 13:4 – 7
[1] Introduction:
What Went Wrong for the Early Christians? Noel B. Reynolds, Provo,
Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed February 20, 2013.
No comments:
Post a Comment