Mormons: Biblical Basis for Their Beliefs

I want to thank Mary Guthrie and her team for the well-researched article with respect to the Mormon Church (“Mission of Diversity,” Aug. 18). As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, it is good to see conscientious attempts to cover all sides of a story. Members of the church acknowledge the difficulties of objective reporting of religious issues, but this article shows it can be done.

Unfortunately, the reported comments by Father Gregory Coiro, who is identified as a spokesman for the Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles, mischaracterize the doctrines of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and then suggest that persons who join the church are not “well grounded” in Christianity. It is a shame that the Catholic Church, which has long experience in being mischaracterized, would engage in such tactics.

The fact is that members of the Mormon Church do not believe that they will “become God.” The question for Mormons is whether Jesus Christ has the power to change people or to “make over” souls, into his own image. For Mormons, the answer to this question is a resounding “yes.” Mormons do not believe that this is a process which is completed before death, but that it is part of a process of eternal progression.

One would hope that those who do not believe Jesus Christ has the power to infuse believers with his character, would at least acknowledge the reasonableness of other Christians in so believing. As Mormons believe and the Bible confirms, Jesus Christ sought the intimate unity of believers, “as thou, Father art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us” (John 17:21). Believers, eventually, thus “shall be like Him” (I John 3:2) and the ultimate goal of the Christian journey is to come unto the “measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13).

Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints thus respectfully proclaim the power of Jesus Christ to change lives and to change people to become, in eternity, like Him. Over the years, I have discussed these issues with Catholic thinkers and clergymen, many of whom have expressed similar beliefs as their own. Although members of the archdiocese may believe differently, we would hope that they would at least acknowledge, as “well-grounded,” doctrines different from theirs, but which proclaim the atoning power of Jesus Christ whom we worship together.

D.M. RAWLINGS

Palos Verdes Estates