The author, Mike Thomas of “Mormonism, A Gold Plated Religion”, posted on his blog site his article of why he believes Mormons are misunderstood. After reading it, I was disappointed, expecting more, but I was not surprised. He gave only one reason as to why Mormons are misunderstood. That reason proved to be a personal and biased one and it failed to address the real cause as to why Mormons are misunderstood. His rationale to his personal reason came out halfway down his article, where it began with a question, “So why are Mormons so misunderstood?”. Mr. Thomas first referred to an official Mormon News Service of June 5, 2007 ( http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/commentary/the-centrality-of-christ ), where he quoted from the article,
“What is it that people find so difficult in accepting Mormons as Christians? – While others have their opinions, ‘in our terms,’ President Hinckley said, ‘we worship Christ.’”
I attended and read the LDS news article. I found that Mr. Thomas focused on one small part of the LDS news article, selecting only one quote, in an attempt to discount what he calls “The Mormon View” of why other Christians have difficulty in accepting Mormons. Before I comment on Thomas’s claims, allow me to provide more from the same LDS news article.
In the LDS news article, Apostle Jeffrey R. Holland, said,
“The thing that defines me is my … Christianity. And for people to tell me that I am not a Christian is wrenching.”
The news article continued to say,
“Elder Holland explained how the Church’s doctrines are grounded in New Testament Christianity and yet stand apart from other Christian denominations. He addressed doctrines of the Godhead and priesthood authority, a correct understanding of the role of Joseph Smith and what he learned about the nature of God, and the necessity for all Christian people to refrain from quarrelling over doctrinal points and to accept each other as fellow believers.”
Taking all of this into review, I found Mike Thomas’s article spoke purely of his misunderstanding of Mormons and showed why he has issue with them. Why do I say Mike Thomas misunderstands Mormons? He said in his article,
There is your answer, in those three words, “in our terms”. When they complain about being misunderstood they are effectively demanding that we call it as they insist we see it, in their terms. But we call it as we see it, in our terms
It is commonsense to know that if we are to understand a group of people or a set of doctrines or beliefs, we ask those who proclaim them. Understanding another has nothing to do with judging them, it has to do with simply to “understand”. Yet, Mr. Thomas did not relate anything in his article about understanding Mormons, what he focused on was his adversity toward a “Mormon view”. To Mr. Thomas, Mormons believe their (Mormon) view is sufficient evidence of their Christian credentials. To denounce or discredit the Mormon view, Mike Thomas claimed, in his article, that other Christians (non-Mormons) as himself, have their “own terms” by which to determine the credentials of Christian-hood and with that, judge others by it, because “their terms” are not Mormon. He further attempted to qualify his personal terms as saying they are “Biblical” stating,
“It is on those terms, on biblical terms, that Christians view Mormonism and regard Mormons as not Christians and it is unreasonable that Mormons should try and dictate terms.”
To further himself, Mr. Thomas tried to snuggle his logic in a John Ruskin quote, saying,
“We see Mormonism and tell what we see “in our terms”, and if it isn’t the greatest thing we do we try and tell it plainly and, according to Ruskin, no human being can do more.”
So it stands, according to Mike Thomas, the matter of why Mormons are misunderstood is because, according to him Mormons dictate the terms by which they are judged and to offset this, Mike Thomas declared his personal opinion as a sufficient authority to judge Mormons, just because John Ruskin’s logic supports it. Interesting to note, God’s word in the Bible was not used in his article, but the word of John Ruskin was.
Mr. Thomas’s logic is obtuse and sorely presumptuous. Mike Thomas self-qualifies his “own terms” by which Mormons are judged, but fails to understand how judgement works. According to the Bible, in Romans 2:1, the Lord God warned us about judging others, least we shall be judged the same way. The Lord added that those who judge, do the same things they have judged. This addresses the shortcoming of human (mortal) judgement, the one that comes from “their own terms” because mortals cannot judge righteously. So it is with Mike Thomas.
We look at what John Ruskin had said, as given by Mike Thomas and by that, personal views and opinions are validated to tell things plainly. Then, by that same logic, “Mormons” are equally capable and equally in their rights to expressing their own terms, plainly. Therefore, Ruskin’s logic is equal for Mormons as it is for Mike Thomas. For Mike Thomas to remove the right of having “our own terms” and replace it within his, is dictatorial, saying that Mormons cannot express to others as plainly. Instead, such a determination apparently has to come from the likes of Mike Thomas. The arrogance of his line of thought is daunting.
Mike Thomas used to be a member of the LDS Church and quit because he could not resolve his faith with Church doctrine and practices. Since, he affiliated himself with Anti-Mormon groups and launched himself as a self-assigned critic of the LDS Church and faith, believing, however puffed up in his pride, that his “own terms” are without question and better than what he calls and labels, “Mormon terms”. Mike Thomas freely admitted on his blog that he has personal issues with Mormons and the LDS Church. It is his personal issues and differences that drives his “own terms”, making them wrought with personal biases and bigotry. To pay mind to one’s own shortcomings is not what Mike Thomas wants. He enjoys nestling his personal logic into someone else’s worldly and personal philosophies, but at the same time, fails to take into account other common-sense philosophies known to the world as “seeing through tinted glasses”. In addition, his use of John Ruskin’s quote is shortsighted.
While I read some of Ruskin’s words, I find he had said,
“…in order that a man may be happy, it is necessary that he should not only be capable of his work, but a good judge of his work.”
As Mike Thomas leans over Mormons to judge them, he fails to see that John Ruskin has also said things to support who judges Mormons as Christians, and that right belongs to… “Mormons”. Just as it is equally right for Mike Thomas to judge himself of the same thing. Is that not what Elder Holland said above about accepting each other as “fellow Christians”?
On the other hand, the question that rises in this is whether John Ruskin offers to be a good source by which to understand Mormons and judge if they are Christian? I do not believe so. John Ruskin became popular in the 1800′s with his critical and extreme views on art and worldly social thought and associated himself with other extreme beliefs as Christian Socialism. To the world, in the 1800′s, John Ruskin may have been a favourite, but spiritually speaking, in terms of God’s word, Ruskin’s philosophies are not qualified to discern whether a group of people are Christian or not. This leaves Mike Thomas in a lurch.
So why are Mormons misunderstood? – Let us get to the crux of that problem.
Misunderstanding Mormons stems from two main elements. The first comes from the world in accordance to “their own terms”. These are personal opinions that are based on biases, misunderstanding, falsehoods and a general lack of spiritual intelligence. Personal terms have no qualification in and of themselves to provide any sensible, spiritual and intelligent means by which good spiritual and religious judgments are made. This exists because of the second element, which is the lack of spiritual understanding of God’s principles and gospel.
Paul the Apostle, of the New Testament, said that the natural man (also means the worldly man) has no understanding of God’s word, because the natural man will think it foolishness and will not know them. The natural man (also means people set in the views and philosophies of the world) do not have the spiritual wisdom that the Holy Ghost teaches and says that God’s word is spiritually discerned (see 1 Corinthians 2:13–14 / King James Version).
This is what sets Mike Thomas, and others like him, apart. Neither he or other people like him believe the Holy Ghost continues to give revelation and this denial of revelation and the Holy Ghost clearly rejects the words of Paul the Apostle. This means they will not abide in the wisdom of the Holy Spirit and instead have to seek the wisdom of zealots of the world. A very bad trade-off, spiritually speaking. Then, to sit within their own personal philosophies drawn from the world, would find they are disqualified from being able to “spiritually discern” the true doctrines, practices and beliefs of God. This creates a problem for such people who try to judge Mormons because they are not able to “spiritually discern” the Bible, let alone Mormon doctrines.
Simply put, it is not a “worldly terms to spiritual terms” comparison, it is a “spiritual terms to spiritual terms” comparison that must be made (see 1 Corinthians 2:13). This says that to determine if a person or church is Christian, a spiritual comparison by way of spiritual discernment must be made. The only means by which a person can achieve “spiritually discernment”, is by and through the Holy Ghost. This means, any person that reads and studies the scriptures on their own, will not gain, by their own power, true spiritual discernment because of what Apostle Peter addressed as “private interpretations” (see 2 Peter 1:20), Simply and plainly put, “our (personal) terms”, do not work. It is only through the involvement of the Holy Ghost, called “inspiration” or “revelation”, can a person gain the needed skills, wisdom, knowledge and experience necessary for spiritually discerning others and himself if he is a true Christian. Therefore, the plainly stated personal terms of John Ruskin and Mike Thomas fall grossly short of what God requires as said by God’s Apostle, Paul.
Another way to tell it plainly, is that “personal terms” do not qualify any person, Mormon or not, to be a true Christian. It is “God’s terms”, that each person must abide in that makes him/her a true Christian, along with all that the Holy Ghost teaches to anyone directly. It is that which affords such a person to be able to discern Christian-hood and Christian discipleship. For someone like Mike Thomas to believe that his own (personal) terms, no matter how plainly he speaks them, are sufficient qualification, in God’s eyes, that he is a Christian and we are not, has fallen to the oldest falsehood perpetrated by Satan, – pride.
Spiritual discernment demands faith in God and to abide in his precepts. We are not to abide in John Ruskin’s personal philosophies, especially when Ruskin’s philosophies contradicts God’s precepts. So it sits, as it has since the early 1800′s, the advent of the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ is what signifies a true Christian Church. It is then, the terms set out by Christ himself is what denotes a believer and follower as Christian and it is that which Mormons believe has happened.
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