Episode #7
I looked around the world of Christendom, asking the question "Who has dealt with the question of Authority in relation to understanding and interpreting scripture?"
Protestantism, in its many forms and sects, essentially held the view that the Bible itself was that authority. If you want to know the truth from God, you need only to look it up in the Bible, and it will reveal the truth from God. In other words, the Bible interprets itself. The W.T. essentially held this same view, except that they would line up all these doctrines, and then quote all these scriptures using their own interpretations of them, and then say "See, this is what the Bible says, and so all the other churches are wrong because they are not teaching these same truths from the Bible. What a ludicrous and circular argument that is! The fallacy of this "Bible only" theory is that there are just too many Protestant religions and sects teaching different interpretations on the same scriptures, even to the point of breaking away from their parent organizations, only to form yet another Church. The main Protestant groups maintain that "we may disagree on a lot of the smaller points, but when it comes to the primary tenets of Christianity, we are all in basic agreement with one another." Yet, when you examine this more closely, you discover there are some very real and significant differences that continue to keep them apart rather than unite them. This is reminiscent of the "Chaos of the Cults" one religous writer once wrote a book about. They cannot all be right together. So to me, the "Bible only" as a way to accurately interpret the scriptures therein is simply a notion that cannot and does not successfully hold up in fact and in truth.
The next thing I looked at was the Catholic Church. They claimed that theirs was the one true Church of Christ on the earth. Here's why:
Matthew 16:13-19 (KJV)
vs.13 When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?
vs.14 And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some Elias: and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.
vs.15 He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?
vs.16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.
vs.17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed are thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven
vs.18 And I say also unto thee, That thou are Peter ("Petros" or Rock- Greek- masculine), and on this rock ("Petra"- Greek feminine) I will build my church, and the gates of hell ("hades") shall not prevail against it.
vs.19 And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."
The Catholic Church interprets Matthew 16:18 that Peter was the Rock upon which Jesus Christ would build his church. That was why Jesus changed Simon's name to Peter (Petros- the Rock) and it was on this Rock (Petra) that Jesus would build his church. Protestants have argued that this can't mean Peter, because Petros was a maculine form of Rock, whereas Petra was the feminine form of Rock. Catholics, however, say Jesus had to use Petros the masculine form for Peter since he was a man. On the other hand, Petra, the feminine form had the meaning of a rock that was immovable, firmly embedded, whereas Petros meant a rock that was hewn out of a mountain, implying unstable. So the change in gender does not discount the interpretation that Peter was the Rock upon which Jesus built his church.
Now from this doctrine came the teaching of Apostolic Succession. In other words, there would be 12 apostles who would stand at the head of the Church, and Peter had the first or leading position amongt them. He was their head, and thus he was referred to as the First Bishop or "Pope". Peter was the first Pope at the head of Christ's Church on earth. And someone must always be in that position, because if there wasn't this succession and continuity then "the gates of hell" would prevail against Jesus' Church, and that would make Christ's promise a lie. To illustrate this succession, they quote Acts 1:26 "And they gave forth their lots, and the lot fell upon Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles" (KJV) (Lots were like small stones or pebbles, which were typically used to ascertain God's will. It would be like "rolling the dice" and watching the outcome.) So when one apostle died, another person would take his place. This "Apostolic Succession" operated in the "Council of the Cardinals" down thru the centuries to this very day. In the end, Catholics argue that they are the oldest church that has been around since the time of Christ, and have continued on without interruption until today, and so the gates of hell have not prevailed against Christs Church.
There have been good Popes and there have been bad Popes. Do bad Popes prove that this is NOT the true church? Let's look at the following parable of Jesus at Luke 13:47-49 (KJV):
vs.47 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind.
vs.48 which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away.
vs.49 So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just.
So, according to the parable, the kingdom of God on earth (as represented by his Church) is like a net of good and bad fishes. (This means bad members of the Church, even bad Popes). When the net is full, the fishermend go ashore, and separate the good fish from the bad fish, or keep the good ones and throw away the bad. At the time of the "end of the world" the angels will come and separate the good from the bad. It is God who will do the judging and the separating, Not Man.
Now when the head of the Church stands in his official capacity as the Chief Bishop or Pope (like Peter was the head in his day) and pronounces the will of God, or interprets the scriptures, he is given the divine protection and guidance of the the Holy Spirit. Therefore, he cannot err, or make mistakes. He is "infallibly correct" precisely because of the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Hence arose the doctrine of Papal Infallibility. It does not mean the Pope has to be perfect, or can't make mistakes. So many people do not understand this Catholic teaching. The word "Catholic" by the way, simply means "Universal"- the "Universal Church of Jesus Christ" for all mankind. Why then, do so many people say the words "Catholic Church" like it leaves a bad taste in their mouths?
Protestants, of course, will not accept the Catholic interpretation of Matthew 16:18. The Church of Christ does not rest its foundation on a mere man. They regard the Rock as "the faith which Peter confessed" or that the "Spiritual Rock" is actually Jesus Christ himself, and after his death and resurrection "the gates of hell shall not prevail against it (the Christ)."
When verse 19 speaks of giving unto Peter "the keys of the kingdom of heaven" the Catholic Church sees this as being given the "authority to act in the name of the Lord thru his Church.....And whatsoever they shall bind on earth shall also be bound in heaven. This authority gives them the right and the power to bind and loose. Protestants, of course, reject this. They see the keys of the kingdom as being doctrine and discipline, which are to be found in God's word, the Bible.
Feeling that I was on the right track, I began to study the teachings of the Catholic Church in earnest. I ordered some 75 booklets from the Knights of Columbus, which dealt with just about everything concerning their doctrines and teachings. In addition, there were about another 30 books on Catholic teachings that covered things in much more depth. Now there was no way I was going to do all this at home. I was still a practicing J.W. and my wife and her family were very active with meetings and field service, and it was expected that I would carry on as per normal. They did not yet know the "Crisis of Faith" I had now entered into. That was why I had the books shipped to the law offices in Brooks where I worked. As for studying, this was done during lunch hours, coffee breaks and "overtime periods". It was a race against time. And in the process I was discovering that the W.T. had written a lot of things about the Catholic teachings that were simply not true, which made my struggle to believe what they said even harder to believe or accept. They had lost all credibility with me.
After a few months, we received a letter in the mail from John C., the Mormon family we had studied with in Calgary, but who were now living in Penticton, British Columbia, over 800 miles away. His wife was in the hospital, about to have a baby. John C. gave us a progress report on what they were doing, and wondered what we were up to. At the same time, I was becoming pretty convinced the Catholic Church was true. I had also reached the point where I could NOT continue to live and function as an active J.W. I confessed to my wife and family, and they were pretty shocked. How could I believe in such a wicked and evil and corrupt church? Look at its history, its Inquisitions, its Crusades, all the wars they were involved with, etc., etc. "The kingom of God is like a net with both Good and Bad fishes." It was the Authority to act in the name of God that was the key, and the only way we could possibly solve the problem of Biblical interpretation. I brought all the Catholic publications home and continued to study them openly, much to their chagrine.
They put a lot of pressure on me to reconsider. They talked about the consequences that would follow if I became a Catholic- the disfellowshiping, the losing of my family and so on. I relented, and gave in and gave up. They told me that if I was sincere and not going to become Catholic, then I should burn all their books. I told them that burning all their books was no different than what the Catholic Church did from time to time- burn all the books to protect everyone from so-called heresies and heretics. This is the kind of thing the W.T. publications had complained about respecting the Catholic Church, and also that they tell their members not to read any literature from outside their church, a kind of censureship. So, it's not O.K. for them to do this, but it is O.K. for J.W.'s to do this. They told me that we are all free to read anything, but in my case, since it was shipwrecking my faith, I should burn them as a protection for my faith. I relented, and gave in, and gave up once more, because I did not want to lose my family. So on Saturday morning we went outside in the farmyard to the pit where previous fires had been lit, and I piled all the Catholic books and publications there and lit a match. I stood there watching them burn, ostensibly to make sure the fire didn't spread, but with tears secretly rolling down my cheeks. This was all so very wrong!
While my faith was pretty shaky, even destroyed, as a J.W., we continued to attend meetings and go out in field service as a family. But underneath it all, my heart was just not in it. In spite of all this, I was still thinking seriously about joining the Catholic Church. (I must admit, however, there were things about Catholic history that really bothered me.)
As I stated earlier, we received a letter from John C. I decided to write him back, which I did from work. I told him that I was thinking about joining the Catholic Church, and told him why as per above. He wrote back, saying that when he read my letter he nearly "fell out of his truck". Anyway, he offered to correspond in the mail where the challenge would be the question of Authority, but this time it would be the Catholic Church vs. the Mormon Church. I wrote back, agreeing with him, since I also thought this would become a very good testing grounds for my belief that the Catholic Church had the authority to act in the name of God.
Shortly thereafter I received some pamphlets in the mail (at the office) along with the Book of Mormon. There was also a pamphlet that talked about the strength of the Mormon position, which I am now going to share with you here, as copied from the internet:
The Strength of the Mormon Position
Author: the late Elder Orsen F. Whitney, of the Council of the 12 Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
The author related the following incident under the heading "A Catholic Utterance"
Many years ago a learned man, a member of the Roman Catholic Church, came to Utah and spoke from the stand of the Salt Lake Tabernacle. I became well-acquainted with him, and we conversed freely and frankly. A great scholar, with perhaps a dozen languages at this tongue's end, he seemed to know all about theology, law, literature, science and philosophy. One day he said to me "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 got 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."
So there it was- the great question: Who has the Authority? With this in mind, I launched into a serious study of the Mormon Church. I felt that I had by this time, arrived at a fairly good understanding of the teachings of the Catholic Church, so now I needed to get a good insight on the teachings of the Mormon Church. The pamphlets were ones that the Mormon missionaries used in their door-to-door work, where interested parties would get into discussions and studies with these missionaries.
We reviewed the Soul doctrine, and by this time I had no problem that we have a spirit that lives on after death. As a J.W., I had to agree with the Mormons that there were not 3 gods in one God- a triune Deity. It was one of the doctrines that concerned me with the Catholic Church. But remember, if the Catholic Church truly did have that Authority, then I would be assured that their teachings were divinely inspired and preserved. You do not find the true Church by studying doctrines. You find which Church has the true authority, and then you know what is the correct interpretation of scripture, because the true Church would be inspired of God to teach the Truth. Mormons taught that there was God the Father, God the Son who is Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit who is a personage without a body.
The Mormons taught that there was no fiery hell where we would be tortured and tormented forever because of our sins. The Bible was speaking figuratively about hell and hell-fire, not literally. Eternal Hell was separation from God and living in "outer darkness". (J.W.'s taught that hell is the common grave of mankind.) On the other hand, this Mormon concept of hell was diametrically opposite to Catholic teachings, which tell of a literal fiery hell where you burn for all eternity. The Mormon doctrine states that we existed before we came to earth in this life (i.e. the Pre-existence of Souls) A number of scriptures in the Old and New Testaments allude to this. The Mormons practiced what they call the Word of Wisdom, which means no smoking, and no drinking tea, coffee or alcohlic beverages. There certainly is nothing wrong with living like that! Mormons tithed, and so did the Catholic Church (but J.W.'s relied on voluntary donations). Mormons taught a Plan of Salvation, where we were with our Father in Heaven before we came to earth. Then we came to earth to experience Mortality, and to get a physical body. This life was a learning experience, and but one more step towards our eternal progression. Mormons taught that "As man is, God once was; as God is, man may become". We were the spiritual offspring of our Heavenly Father, and in eternity, we would have the opportunity to become like Him, gods in our own rites, who would be able to go off and create worlds of our own. It is the power of the keys of the Priesthood by which this is done. Thru the Priesthood, we could go on to inherit the highest degree in the Celestial Kingdom in the hereafter. This Priesthood is the Authority to act in the name of God. There is the lesser Priesthood, after the Order of Aaron, and which is referred to as the Aaronic Priesthood. Then there is the higher Priesthood, after the Order of Melchizedek, which is referred to as the Melchizedek Priesthood. These Priesthoods can be passed on to other eligible males thru the "laying on of hands" where they are conferred upon any worthy candidate by someone who has that Priesthood authority already.
When Jesus asked Peter "But whom say ye that I am?" and Peter answered "Thou are the Christ, the Son of the living God" (Matthew 16:15,16). Jesus said to him "Blessed art thou, Simone Barjona, for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven." (Matthew 16:17) So Peter knew that Jesus was the Christ by REVELATION from God. "And I say also unto thee, "That thou art Peter (the Rock) and on this Rock I will build my Church." (Matthew 16:18. What is that Rock? It is the Rock of Revelation whereby God directly reveals His truth thru a Prophet of God. This continuing revelation is what Jesus Christ would use to build his Church.
Both the Mormon Church and the Catholic Church teach that there would be an Apostasy from the Church, a falling away. 2 Thessalonian 2:3 (KJW) tells us:
"Let no man deceive you by any means; for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition."
The Catholics say there was a falling away from the Church.The Mormons taught there was a Great Apostasy, a falling away from the Church AND of the Church. As a result, the Priesthood was removed from the earth, to be restored on the earth in the last days, or latter days. Then they teach that heavenly beings visited the young boy Joseph Smith, and restored and conferred the Priesthood upon Joseph Smith and his companion at the time, Oliver Cowdery. Also, an angel named Moroni visited Joseph Smith and showed him where some plates had been deposited that contained a record of certain peoples on this continent, and the fulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This book was supposed to be a companion to the Bible, and both would testify that Jesus was the Christ. Joseph Smith later translated these plates by the power of the Urim and Thummin that were deposited with the plates. In short, the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the authority of the Priesthood was restored to the earth in these latter days. Each of these points were discussed at great length, and I became satisfied that they made sense, and that the Gospel had indeed, been restored to the earth. At the same time, however, I was told to read the Book of Mormon and to pray about it, and ask God if it is true. I did that, and something happened inside me that told me this was true! It was as though the Holy Spirit was witnessing to my soul that this was true, and I felt a kind of "burning of the bosom". I can remember a similar "feeling" years earlier, when I was having Bible studies with Grandma Fisher from the farm. I asked her why it was that after I left the Bible study to go back to school, why did I have this tremendous feeling of warmth and elation and love and peace inside. "Don't you know?" she asked. "No!" I said. "It is Jehovah,s Holy Spirit," she explained.
But now I had the same problem I did with the Catholic Church. What to do? I knew I had found the Church with true Authority from God, but I would have to be prepared to lose my family over it. Around this time, I took a week off work, and June and I went on holidays. Just before we left, my boss, the owner of his own Law Practice, had been served with papers from the Law Society, for failure to provide them with a Certificate from the Auditors that his Trust Ledger was up-to-date and in order. These represended funds that the lawyer was holding on behalf of all his clients, and must be fully accounted for and treated responsibly. Lawyers are not allowed to dip into these funds, and use them for personal reasons or personal gains. As the accountant, I had to post s $5,000 Trust Cheque issued to a furniture company to buy personal furniture that was moved into their new residence they had just built in town. But there were no funds on hand, against which this cheque could be charged. In other words, I had to open up a new Trust Ledger Sheet in the name of my boss, post the cheque, which then showed a "$5,000 balance" "in the red." When I approached my boss with the question "Where should I post this cheque." He replied that he had arranged a loan with the Credit Union, and that the funds had not yet been released, and so that deficit account will be covered when the Loan funds come in. In the meantime, the Auditors saw the negative balance, and refused to issue the Certificate, unless and until, he covered the overdraft in that trust account. That was what prompted the Law Society to serve him with papers, and he had something like 2 days to provide them with the necessary Certificate. So when I went on holidays, I was very restless over what my boss was going to do in my absence.
Upon returning from holidays, I immediately discovered that my boss had a copy of that Certificate on his desk, and that he had met the requirements of the Law Society. I was greatly relieved. A couple of days later, I was working on the Trust Ledger, and in the mail was a trust cheque from the bank that was returned for the reason "Estate funds not yet cleared". The amount was $4,850, and the cheque was in the name of an Estate of a deceased person being administered by a Trust company. But there was no ledger sheet that matched the name on the returned cheque. I approached my boss and asked him about this, and he said "The account should be in there somewhere." "O.K. I'll try to find it." I told him. I looked and looked. I noticed the date stamped on the back of the cheque by the bank, and it was the day after I left for holidays. Then I noticed he had written a cheque from his personal General Ledger which he had a cheque for $150 payable to his Trust Bank account, and the stamp on the back had the same date as the other Estate cheque. Then I looked at the Bank Deposit book for that date, and here it showed a $5,000 deposit with his own name notated there. It was obvious he had used the $4,850 estate cheque along with his $150 General account cheque to make the $5,000 deposit to his Trust account. I knew that if I posted this in the Ledger, that would mean I had knowledge of what was going on, and so would be implicated in the whole matter. Since my boss would not admit to any wrong-doing, I immediately went to the Auditors and showed them what I had seen. They groaned, because they were personal friends of my boss. Professionaly however, they had to report this to the Law Society. Within 24 hours the Law Society's Auditors walked in the front door and shut everything down, and seized control of the ledgers and the bank accounts, and proceeded to audit his entire Client files. This resulted in my boss getting disbarred, and me being laid off with no job, and no means of support.
I then visited my home town of Medicine Hat and looked for work. Luckily I was immediately hired as an accountant for the Alberta Linseed Oil Company. Essentially, they would purchase truckloads of flaxseed from farmers at daily street prices, then crush the seeds to extract the oil to make Linseeed Oil for paint. The seed pulp was mixed with supplemental vitamins and minerals, and then was moulded into feed blocks for cattle, and sold back to the farmers. So we moved back to the Hat, and settled in. I later heard that my boss back in Brooks had been sentenced to 18 months and was serving his time.
After about three months at my new job, we went back to Brooks to visit the wife's family on the farm. We stayed an extra day, so that when I returned to work, the boss had taken offence at my absence, and told me I was fired. I apologized, but it was too late.
Back to Brooks we went. I found an opening at the E.I.D. (Eastern Irrigation District) and they hired me to work on a Survey crew, and the District would provide us with an E.I.D. house to live in. That was exciting, because it felt good to be back, and I wanted to try working outdoors for a change, instead of being in an office all day every day.
At this time our first daughter was born. I was able to go to the operating room and watch the birth. It was an awesome experience, and it felt strange and good to be a daddy. I felt thankful for my beautiful family, and was happy where we lived, and with my new outdoor job.
Now, in our move to Medicine Hat, I wrote to John C. a letter explaining what had happened, and asked him to send me another Book of Mormon, as the first one was lost back in Brooks. He wrote back, saying that he would not send me a Book of Mormon, because if I had already recognized it as the truth, then I still had it, but if I didn't recognize it, I probably never would. A day later he sent me the book, telling me he changed his mind. I opened up the book and started to read. That same spirit that hit me back in Brooks came over me again, and it was very powerful. I knew I had to act! But then I got caught up in the move back to Brooks, and so again, I put things on hold, while sorting out our new circumstances, a new job, a new house and a new daughter. There was so much going on.
After things had settled down into a kind of routine, I began to revisit my battle with Faith, and what to do about it. I decided it was time to join the Mormon Church. I drove to the home of Noel C. who I had met a few years ago as a J.W. and he had challenged me to prove I had the authority to preach. Now I had to tell him I wanted to join the Mormon Church. He brought in another young Mormon who lived in the area, and also did Missionary work. They had the Missionary discussions with me, which were the same ones I had by mail with John C. They realized that I had already covered all this, and I had accepted everything, so they set things up for me to get baptized in their Church at the Town of Duchess. I told them I wanted to be baptized by John C., the Elder who had been with me from the very beginning. Noel C. offered to conduct the services, and on a Saturday I attended that Church and was baptized.
I told my wife I was going to do this, and they all tried to get me to change my mind. But there was no turning back, and I knww this was the Truth. John C. and his family drove down to Brooks to our home and visited with us. June was very friendly towards them. After all, she was the one who had first met them, and introduced me to them. But in the midst of her being a sociable host, I knew her heart was heavy as she agonized over what I was about to do- join the Mormon Church. After the baptism, John and his family drove home again.
Getting baptized meant that I was now considered an Apostate from the Jehovah's Witnesses. Disfellowshipment was inevitable. I was served with a double-registered letter from the presiding "Elders" of the Brooks Kingdom Hall, informing me of the meeting where I would be disfellowshipped, and they encouraged me to attend on my own behalf. One of the three on the Disfellowshiping Committee was my own father-in-law, which made this especially painful. I wrote a letter to this Committee, citing many scriptures I knew the Society regarded as to what it meant to be a Christian, and that even though I had joined the Mormon Church, I was still in harmony with, and accepted those scriptures. Therefore, by their own definitions, I was still a Christian. I gave this letter to my father-in-law, while he strongly kept insisting again and again and again that I attend that disfellowshipping hearing. I respectfully declined, saying that everything I had to say was already in that letter. A few days later I received another letter from them advising that I had been disfellowshipped. This then, set up a real backlash from the family. They came to town to pick up my wife and our baby in her arms, to take her to the farm to stay there for a period of time. The mother scolded me saying, "This is our daughter, and we gave her to you, and now look what you've done!" As they all left, one of the brothers who was the last one out the door, turned to me and said "I feel sorry for you Rodney!" That was the last we spoke to each other for an awfully long time.
So there I was, alone in our living room, thinking about everything that had happened, and I was in agony, and felt heart-sick. Yet I knew I had joined the True Church. Surely God will guide me thru all this mess. After all, "I did the right thing, didn't I?" And as I sat there, I began to hear funny noises coming from the kitchen. I got up and went into the kitchen to see what was causing the noise. Nothing! I went back and sat down in the living room. Suddenly, there was that strange noise again. Again I went and checked the kitchen. Nothing! Funny ideas went thru my head. You know how the J.W.'s keep talking about Satan the Devil and his demons. Was this noise his doing? Had I been deceived? Am I in real danger here? Then, that noise again. A chill went up my spine, and I approached the kitchen cautiously. I stopped just in the landing, while hiding my body around the corner, still in the living room, but peeked my head out to peer into the kitchen. Nothing! I waited and watched, and watched and waited. I didn't move, and I didn't make a sound. Suddenly, I saw a little mouse run across the floor. After a sigh of relief, and a nervous chuckle ovre how silly I had behaved with these wild imaginings, I began to scold myself for being so stupid and superstitious about it all. I caught the mouse, and released him outside. Then I resolved not to fall for this kind of thing ever again. And I never looked back.
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In my next Episode #8, I want to share with you what it was like to live in a religiously divided home, and alss what was going on in my life as a Mormon. I promise you, it will be a real humdinger, with many twists and turns and ups and downs.
Rod P.
