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The Fabrication of Jesus Christ by Christopher Hitchens

The True Core Of The Jesus Myth – Christopher Hitchens @ FreedomFest (Part 1). Mirror of youtu.be — Please subscribe to Science & Reason: • www.youtube.com • www.youtube.com • www.youtube.com • www.youtube.com — Dinesh D’Souza and Christopher Hitchens go at it again at the 2008 Freedom Fest as the “Main Event”. FreedomFest is an annual festival where “free minds meet” to celebrate “great books, great ideas, and great thinkers” in an open-minded society. It is independent, non-partisan, and not affiliated with any organization or think tank. Founded and produced by Mark Skousen, since 2002, FreedomFest invites the “best and the brightest” from around the world to talk, strategize, socialize, and celebrate liberty. FreedomFest is open to all and is purely egalitarian, where speakers, attendees, and exhibitors are treated as equals. www.freedomfest.com Christopher Hitchens (born 1949) is an author, journalist and literary critic. Currently living in Washington, DC, he has been a columnist at Vanity Fair, The Atlantic, World Affairs, The Nation, Slate, Free Inquiry, and a variety of other media outlets. Hitchens is also a political observer, whose books — the latest being “God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything” — have made him a staple of talk shows and lecture circuits. In 2009 Hitchens was listed by Forbes magazine as one of the “25 most influential liberals in US media.” The same article noted, though, that he would “likely be aghast to find himself on this …

Geert Wilders shares his unconventional view of Islam at the May 8 2011 International Free Press Society Signature Series event in London Ontario. www.ifpscanada.com Presented in 720p HD courtesy of Jeff Parkinson – http
Video Rating: 4 / 5

Posted on February 8, 2012 by , 50 comments

The Benefits of Kingdom Citizenship Freedom In Christ Continued Pt2

Posted on April 17, 2011 by , Reply

Fundamentalist Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter Day Saints

Today

The exact number of members of the FLDS Church is unknown due to the relatively closed nature of the organization; however, its population has been estimated at between 6,000 to 10,000 in the twin communities of Colorado City, Arizona and Hildale, Utah.

The historic location of the church was in the twin communities of Colorado City, Arizona and Hildale, Utah. The church also has a long-standing colony in Bountiful, British Columbia.

Since the purchase of land now called the Yearning for Zion Ranch 6 miles (9.7 km) northeast of Eldorado, Texas, there appears to be a shift in the headquarters of the church, along with a large exodus of the “most faithful” church members. Other newer church settlements are 15 miles (24 km) southwest of Pringle, South Dakota and 6 miles (9.7 km) north of Mancos, Colorado.

Members of the FLDS Church have owned machine shops that have sold airplane components to the United States government. From 1998 to 2007, the receipts of these airplane components totaled more than .7 million.

History

Origins

See also: Mormon fundamentalism

The residents in the area of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Arizona, have a long history of practicing plural marriage, dating to the mid-19th century. Brigham Young, then President of the LDS Church, once visited the area stating, “This will someday be the head and not the tail of the church.” The twin cities were once known as Short Creek, officially founded in 1913 as a ranching community.

The FLDS traces its claim to spiritual authority to accounts, starting with a statement published in 1912 by Lorin C. Woolley, of a purported 1886 divine revelation to thenDS Church President John Taylor. They see this 1886 revelation as precluding validity of the 1890 Manifesto against new plural marriages by church members, issued by Wilford Woodruff, whom the LDS Church recognizes as Taylor’s successor. After the formal abandonment of plural marriage by the LDS Church, many members around Short Creek and elsewhere continued, and even solemnized, plural marriages. In 1904, the LDS Church issued the Second Manifesto and eventually excommunicated those who continued to solemnize or enter into new plural marriages.

Short Creek soon became a gathering place for polygamist members of the LDS Church. In 1935, the LDS Church excommunicated the Mormon residents of Short Creek who refused to sign an oath renouncing polygamy. Following this event, John Y. Barlow began to lead a group of Mormon fundamentalists who were dedicated to preserving the practice of plural marriage.[citation needed] The location on the Utahrizona border was thought to be ideal for the group because it allowed them to avoid state raids by moving across the state line.

Some of the locally prominent men in Short Creek, after being excommunicated by the LDS Church, later became leaders of the Mormon fundamentalist movement, including Lorin C. Woolley, J. Leslie Broadbent, John Y. Barlow, Charles Zitting, Joseph White Musser, LeGrand Wooley, and Louis A. Kelsch. In 1932, these leaders created the organization known as the Council of Friends, a group of seven high priests that was said to be the governing priesthood body on Earth. The Council of Friends became the governing ecclesiastical body over the Mormon fundamentalists at Short Creek.

The early years of the movement were contentious and saw many differing interpretations and opinions among leaders as to how plural marriage should be practiced. These contentions eventually led to the subsequent schisms that created the multiple Mormon fundamentalist organizations that now exist, including the FLDS Church, the Apostolic United Brethren, and the Latter-day Church of Christ or Kingston group. It is commonly believed by all of these sects that the early leaders of the fundamentalist movement received revelations from God commanding that plural marriage should not cease.

FLDS splinter groups

In 1984, a schism formed within the FLDS Church just before the death of Leroy S. Johnson. A small group of FLDS took issue with the “one-man rule” doctrine that altered the leadership structure of the church and that was implemented fully when Rulon Jeffs assumed his position as sole leader of the organization. These followers took up residence just south of Colorado City, in Centennial Park, Arizona, calling themselves “The Work of Jesus Christ,” or “The Work” for short.

Also in 2002, after Warren Jeffs assumed leadership, Winston Blackmore, who had been serving in Canada as the Bishop of Bountiful for the FLDS Church, was excommunicated by Jeffs in an apparent power struggle. This led to a split within the community in Bountiful, British Columbia, with an estimated 700 FLDS members leaving the church to follow Blackmore.

Leaders

The FLDS Church has been led by a succession of prophets, who believe themselves to have been called by God to lead. The first leader of the FLDS Church was John Y. Barlow, who led the community of Short Creek until his death on December 29, 1949. He was succeeded by Joseph White Musser, who was the church’s leader during a government crackdown on polygamy known as the Short Creek raid, in 1953, in which all the FLDS Church members of Short Creek were arrested, including 236 children.

Musser led the community until a contentious appointment of Rulon Allred to a high position of authority in 1951 angered some members of the Short Creek community. Musser had appointed Allred to be his successor, but Allred was not accepted as his successor by the Short Creek community. This led to a schism, with many followers breaking off and joining Allred; this offshoot became known as the Apostolic United Brethren. The core group in the Short Creek area instead followed Charles Zitting as its leader.

Zitting died in 1954 and Leroy S. Johnson was chosen to lead the church in Short Creek. Johnson led the FLDS Church until his death in 1986. He was succeeded by Rulon Jeffs, who assumed the position of prophet, a title his predecessor refused to use. In Jeffs’ later years, his poor health led to his son Warren serving as leader of the church in his stead, and upon Rulon’s death in September 2002, Warren Jeffs became leader of the FLDS Church. However, immediately after the state of Utah convicted him of being an accomplice to rape, it was widely reported in the press that Warren Jeffs resigned his leadership of the FLDS Church, though the statement made by his attorneys only addresses Jeffs’ resignation from his fiduciary post as “President of the Corporation of the President of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Inc.”

Since no public statements have been made by officials of the church indicating a successor to Jeffs, it is not known who may be leading the FLDS Church, though it is quite probable that Warren Jeffs remains at the church’s helm.

Leroy S. Johnson (died aged 98), 19541986

Rulon T. Jeffs (died aged 93), 19862002

Warren S. Jeffs (living), 2002resent? (jailed in 2007)

William E. Jessop, 20072010 (suspected leader)

Merril Jessop, 20072010 (de-facto leader)

Wendell L. Nielsen, 2010resent (President of the church’s corporate entity)

Legal trouble and leadership struggles

The home of former FLDS leader Warren Jeffs in Colorado City

In 2003, the church received increased attention from the state of Utah when police officer Rodney Holm, a member of the church, was convicted of unlawful sexual conduct with a 16- or 17-year-old and one count of bigamy for his marriage to and impregnation of plural wife Ruth Stubbs. The conviction was the first legal action against a member of the FLDS Church since the Short Creek raid.

In November 2003, church member David Allred purchased “as a hunting retreat” the 1,371-acre (5.55 km2) Isaacs Ranch 4 miles (6.4 km) northeast of Eldorado, Texas, on Schleicher County Road 300 and sent 30 to 40 construction workers from Colorado Cityildale to begin work on the property. Improvements soon included three 3-story houses, each 8,000 to 10,000 square feet (930 m2), a concrete plant, and a plowed field. After seeing high-profile FLDS Church critic Flora Jessop on the ABC television program Primetime Live on March 4, 2004, concerned Eldorado residents contacted Jessop. She investigated, and on March 25, 2004, Jessop held a press conference in Eldorado confirming that the new neighbors were FLDS Church adherents. On May 18, 2004, Schleicher County Sheriff David Doran and his Chief Deputy visited Colorado City, and the FLDS Church officially acknowledged that the Schleicher County property would be a new base for the church. It has been reported in the media that the church has built a temple at the YFZ Ranch, which is supported by evidence, including aerial photographs of a large stone structure (approximately 88 feet (27 m) wide) in a state of relative completion. A local newspaper, the Eldorado Success, reported that the temple foundation was dedicated January 1, 2005 by Warren Jeffs.

On January 10, 2004, Dan Barlow (the mayor of Colorado City) and about 20 other men were excommunicated from the church and stripped of their wives and children (who would be reassigned to other men), and the right to live in the town. The same day two teenage girls reportedly fled the towns with the aid of activist Flora Jessop, who advocates plural wives’ escape from polygamy. The two girls, Fawn Broadbent and Fawn Holm, soon found themselves in a highly publicized dispute over their freedom and custody. After the allegations against their parents were proven false, Flora helped them flee state custody together on February 15, and they ended up in Salt Lake City at Fawn Holm’s brother Carl’s house.

In October 2004, Flora Jessop reported that David Allred purchased a 60-acre parcel of land near Mancos, Colorado, (midway between Cortez and Durango) about the same time he bought the Schleicher County property.[citation needed] Allred told authorities the parcel is to be used as a hunting retreat.[citation needed]

In July 2005, eight men of the church were indicted for sexual contact with minors.[citation needed] All of them turned themselves in to police in Kingman, Arizona, within days.[citation needed]

On July 29, 2005, Brent Jeffs filed suit accusing three of his uncles, including Warren Jeffs, of sexually assaulting him when he was a child. The suit also named the FLDS Church as a defendant. On August 10, former FLDS Church member Shem Fischer, Dan Fischer’s brother, added the church and Warren Jeffs as defendants to a 2002 lawsuit claiming he was illegally fired because he no longer adhered to the faith. Fischer, who was a salesman for a wooden cabinetry business in Hildale, claimed church officials interfered with his relationship with his employer and blacklisted him. The claim against the company was thrown out because he was not fired from his job, but quit instead.[citation needed]

In July 2005, six young adult lost boys who claimed they were cast out of their homes on the Utahrizona border to reduce competition for wives, filed suit against the FLDS Church. “The [boys] have been excommunicated pursuant to that policy and practice and have been cut off from family, friends, benefits, business and employment relationships, and purportedly condemned to eternal damnation,” their suit says. “They have become ‘lost boys’ in the world outside the FLDS community.”[citation needed]

On May 7, 2006, the FBI named Warren Jeffs to its Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list on charges of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution.

On August 28, 2006, Warren Jeffs was captured on Interstate 15 just north of Las Vegas, Nevada, after a routine traffic stop. Jeffs was tried in St. George, Utah, and a jury found him guilty of two counts of being an accomplice to rape.

The mayor of Colorado City, Terrill C. Johnson, was arrested on May 26, 2006, for eight fraudulent vehicle registration charges for registering his vehicles in a different state than he lived, which is a felony. He was booked in to Purgatory Correctional Facility in Hurricane, Utah, and was released after paying the ,000 bail in cash.

Short Creek raid

Main article: Short Creek raid

In the morning of July 26, 1953, 102 Arizona state police officers and National Guard soldiers invaded the fundamentalist Mormon community of Short Creek, Arizona. They arrested the entire populace, including 236 children. Of those 236 children, 150 were not allowed to return to their parents for more than two years. Other parents never regained custody of their children.

The Short Creek raid was the largest mass arrest of polygamists in American history, and it received a great deal of press coverage. After the raid, polygamists continued to live there; in 1960, Short Creek was renamed Colorado City.

April 2008 raid

Main article: YFZ Ranch

In April, 2008, Texas Child Protective Services, acting on what would later turn out to be a questionable tip from a person alleging systematic child abuse on the FLDS Church’s Texas compound, took custody of all 439 children under age 18 from the church’s YFZ Ranch, assisted by a large force of Texas Rangers who took control of the compound from April 3 to April 10. The raid generated intense press coverage in the U.S., especially in the Southwest, and also garnered international attention. On May 29, the Texas Supreme Court affirmed an appeals court ruling that Texas CPS was not justified in removing every child from the ranch and ordered the children to be returned to their parents.

The tip that prompted the raid is now believed to be a false report, instigated by Rozita Swinton. Rozita Swinton was later to face criminal charges based upon this false report and is believed to have filed similar false reports in the past.

Birth defects

The Colorado City/Hildale area has the world’s highest incidence of fumarase deficiency, an extremely rare genetic condition. Geneticists attribute this to the prevalence of cousin marriage between descendants of two of the town’s founders, Joseph Smith Jessop and John Yeates Barlow. It causes encephalopathy, severe mental retardation, unusual facial features, brain malformation, and epileptic seizures.

Distinctive doctrines

Plural marriage and placement marriage

See also: Exchange of women

The FLDS Church teaches the doctrine of plural marriage, which states that a man having multiple wives is ordained by God; the doctrine requires it in order for a man to receive the highest form of salvation. It is generally believed in the church that a man should have a minimum of three wives to fulfill this requirement. Connected with this doctrine is patriarchal doctrine, the belief that wives are required to be subordinate to their husbands.

The church currently practices placement marriage, whereby a young woman of marriageable age is assigned a husband by revelation from God to the leader of the church, who is regarded as a prophet. The prophet elects to take and give wives to and from men according to their worthiness. This is also called the law of placing.

Dress

In general, women do not cut their hair short or wear makeup, pants, or any skirt above the knees. Men wear plain clothing, usually a long-sleeved collared shirt and full-length pants. Men and women are forbidden to have any tattoos or body piercings. Women and girls usually wear monochromatic homemade long-sleeved “prairie dresses,” with hems between ankle and mid-calf, along with long stockings or trousers underneath, usually keeping their hair coiffed.

Property ownership

The land and houses occupied by the FLDS Church on the Utah/Arizona border are owned by the United Effort Plan (UEP), which was once a subsidiary organization of the church. The UEP also owns most of the property of the businesses that are controlled by FLDS Church members in that area. The church views this “United Order” as a means of living the traditional Latter Day Saint doctrine of the “Law of Consecration.” The Attorney General of Utah filed a lawsuit and seized the holdings of the UEP for the current residents of Colorado City and Hildale. The Attorney General is seeking to distribute the assets of the UEP to the FLDS Church members and ex-members who contributed to the UEP. In 2005, a court order froze the UEP pending a resolution of the lawsuit. At the time of the court order, the UEP was worth 0 million.

Home schooling

In 2000, the Colorado City Unified School District had more than 1200 students. When Jeffs ordered FLDS Church members to pull their children out of public schools, the number declined to around 250.

Temple worship

The FLDS Church is the sixth Latter Day Saint denomination to have built a temple.

Criticisms of the church

See also: Criticism of Mormonism and Criticism of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Plural marriage

A view of the FLDS ranch in Eldorado, Texas

At the time of his death, church leader Rulon Jeffs was confirmed to have married 22 women and fathered more than 60 children. Current estimates state that Warren Jeffs may have upwards of 60 wives. As the type of polygamy practiced is polygyny, critics of this lifestyle claim that its practice inevitably leads to bride shortages and likely to child marriages, incest, and child abuse.

Critics assert that members of the church are violating laws when they participate in polygamy. Critics claim that incest and sexual abuse of children are prevalent among church members.

Lost Boys

Main article: Lost boys (polygamy)

It has been reported by former members that the FLDS Church has excommunicated more than 400 teenage boys for offenses such as dating or listening to rock music. Antagonistic former members claim that the real reason for these excommunications is that there are not enough women for each male to receive three or more wives. Six young adult men, ages 18 to 22, filed a conspiracy lawsuit against Jeffs and Sam Barlow, a former Mohave County deputy sheriff and close associate of Jeffs, for a “systematic excommunication” of young men to reduce competition for wives.

Racism

In its Spring 2005 “Intelligence Report,” the Southern Poverty Law Center named the FLDS Church to its “hate group” listing because of the church’s teachings on race, which include a fierce condemnation of interracial relationships. Warren Jeffs has said, “the black race is the people through which the devil has always been able to bring evil unto the earth.”

Blood atonement

Former FLDS Church member Robert Richter reported to the Phoenix New Times that Warren Jeffs has repeatedly alluded to the 19th-century teaching of “blood atonement” in church sermons. Under the doctrine of blood atonement, certain serious sins, such as murder, can only be atoned for by the sinner’s death.

See also

Caliente, Nevada: FLDS controversy

Escape (Carolyn Jessop and Laura Palmer book)

Former FLDS members

Lost boys (polygamy)

Under the Banner of Heaven

Polygamy: What Love Is This?

Notes

^ a b Krakauer, Jon. Under the Banner of Heaven. New York: Random House, 2003. ISBN 1400032806

^ The church has an estimated 8000 members Ben Winslow (2007-08-01). “37,000 ‘Fundamentalists’ Counted in and Near Utah”. Deseret Morning News (reprinted at rickross.com). http://www.rickross.com/reference/polygamy/polygamy684.html. 

^ Principle Voices – Polygamist Census: LDS Splinter Groups Growing[dead link]

^ “The Primer” – Helping Victims of Domestic Violence and Child Abuse in Polygamous Communities. A joint report from the offices of the Attorney Generals of Arizona and Utah.

^ YFZ Ranch – A trip through time, The Eldorado Success

^ a b Nancy Perkins (2007-12-05). “Warren Jeffs resigns as leader of the FLDS Church”. Deseret Morning News. http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,695233512,00.html. 

^ Brooke Adams (2007-11-30). “What Warren said to William”. Salt Lake Tribune. http://blogs.sltrib.com/plurallife/labels/William E. Jessop.htm. 

^ Brooke Adams and Mark Havnes (2007-11-07). “Records say FLDS boss tried suicide”. Salt Lake Tribune (reprinted at WorldWide Religious News). http://www.wwrn.org/article.php?idd=26801&con=4&sec=26. 

^ “Judge Orders FLDS Nursing Mothers to Foster Care With Infants”. CNN. 2008-04-23. http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0804/23/ng.01.html. 

^ “Raid shines light on secretive polygamous sect”. CNN. 2008-04-08. http://edition.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/04/08/texas.ranch.ap/index.html. 

^ Katherine Wojtecki (2008-04-15). “At the green gate, and then a glimpse of the polygamist life”. CNN. http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2008/04/15/at-the-green-gate-and-then-a-glimpse-of-the-polygamists-life/. 

^ a b c d e Hilary Hylton, “A New Prophet for the Polygamists?”, Time, 2008-07-18.

^ Ben Winslow (2007-08-29). “Honors for ex-polygamous wife”. Deseret Morning News (reprinted at rickross.com). http://www.rickross.com/reference/polygamy/polygamy692.html. 

^ Jennifer, Dobner (15 Feb 2010). “Polygamous church in Utah names new president”. Salt Lake City, UT: Associated Press. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100215/ap_on_re_us/us_polygamist_leader_church. Retrieved 2 Feb 2010. 

^ http://bycommonconsent.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/wendellnielsen.jpg Certificate

^ Winslow, Ben (27 March 2007). “A prophet no more? Jeffs called himself a ‘sinner’ in jailhouse conversation”. Deseret News. http://www.deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,660206525,00.html. Retrieved 17 February 2010. 

^ Adams, Brooke (02 February 2010). “Polygamous sect has new president, but is Jeffs still FLDS prophet?”. The Salt Lake Tribune (Hildale, UT). http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_14348960. Retrieved 17 February 2010. 

^ “HAVE YOU SEEN THIS MAN? FBI Announces New Top Tenner, FBI Headline Archives”. Press release. 2006-05-06.. http://www.fbi.gov/page2/may06/jeffs050606.htm. Retrieved 2008-04-09. 

^ “Jeffs guilty on both counts”. The Salt Lake Tribune. 2007-09-25. http://www.sltrib.com/ci_6995147. Retrieved 2007-09-25. [dead link]

^ “Leader of Utah Polygamist Sect Guilty in Rape Case”. The Associated Press. 2007-09-25. http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Polygamist-Leader.html. Retrieved 2007-09-25. 

^ “Polygamist ‘prophet’ to serve at least 10 years in prison”. CNN. 2007-11-20. http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/law/11/20/jeffs.sentence/index.html. 

^ http://www.census.gov/popest/cities/tables/SUB-EST2005-04-04.csv

^ http://www.census.gov/popest/cities/tables/SUB-EST2006-04-49.csv

^ “Polygyny in Bountiful, British Columbia, Canada”. Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance (ReligiousTolerance.org). http://www.religioustolerance.org/lds_poly1.htm. 

^ “The Black Hills of South Dakota”. The HOPE Organization (childbrides.org). http://www.childbrides.org/dakota.html. 

^ Jon Krakauer (2004-10-28). “New FLDS Compound Discovered in Colorado”. The Eldorado Success (reprinted at childbrides.org). http://www.childbrides.org/colorado_YFZ_exclusive_by_Krakauer.html. 

^ Randi Kaye (2008-04-18). “Pentagon paid .7 million to firms of polygamy bosses”. CNN. http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/04/17/polygamy.pentagon/index.html. 

^ Driggs, Ken. “‘This Will Someday Be the Head and Not the Tail of the Church’: A History of the Mormon Fundamentalists at Short Creek.” Journal of Church and State 43 (Winter 2001): 49-80. Baylor University.

^ J. Max Anderson. “The Polygamy Story: Fiction and Fact, (c) 1979”. SHIELDS (Scholarly & Historical Information Exchange for Latter-Day Saints). http://www.shields-research.org/Books/Polygamy_Story/LDS-Funde_Polygamy_Story.htm. 

^ a b c John Dougherty (2003-03-13). “Polygamy’s Odyssey: A brief history of the Mormon tenet”. Phoenix New Times (reprinted at childbrides.org). http://www.childbrides.org/history_pnt_plig_odyssey.html. 

^ “The Council of Friends”. mormonfundamentalism.com. http://www.mormonfundamentalism.com/ChartLinks/CouncilofFriends.htm. 

^ a b Elaine Jarvik and Carrie Moore (2006-09-09). “Most polygamists trace lineage to 1929 group”. Deseret Morning News (reprinted at childbrides.org). http://www.childbrides.org/history_des_most_polygs_trace_lineage_to_1929_group.html. 

^ Text by Brooke Adams, graphic by Todd Adams. “Polygamy leadership tree: Religious ideal grows, branches out” (PDF). The Salt Lake Tribune (reprinted by childbrides.org). http://childbrides.org/PolygamyLeaders.pdf. 

^ “Centennial Park Action Committee”. The HOPE Organization (childbrides.org). http://www.childbrides.org/cpac.html. 

^ “Centennial Park”. Life After Ministries, “Leading Mormons to the REAL Jesus” (lifeafter.org). http://www.lifeafter.org/centennialpark.asp. 

^ Daphne Bramham (2006-05-12). “Winston Blackmore: Polygamist group leader expects to be charged soon”. The Vancouver Sun (reprinted at religionnewsblog.com). http://www.religionnewsblog.com/14626/winston-blackmore-polygamist-groups-leader-expects-to-be-charged-soon. 

^ “Utah-based polygamous church led by jailed Warren Jeffs names new president”. fox13now (Salt Lake City, Utah: KSTU-TV). February 15, 2010. http://www.fox13now.com/news/sns-ap-us–polygamistleader-church,0,3470355.story. Retrieved 2010-02-15. 

^ “FLDS church names new president”. KSL-TV. February 15, 2010. http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=9692182. Retrieved 2010-02-15. 

^ “Jeffs dedicates FLDS temple site at YFZ Ranch”. The Eldorado Success. 2005-01-11. http://www.myeldorado.net/YFZ Pages/YFZ010605.html. Retrieved 2008-04-24. 

^ “FLDS town’s mayor arrested”. The Salt Lake Tribune. 2006-05-27. http://www.sltrib.com/utah/ci_3871335. Retrieved 2007-04-24. [dead link]

^ Ken Driggs, “Who Shall Raise the Children? Vera Black and the Rights of Polygamous Utah Parents”, Utah Historical Quarterly 60:27 (1992).

^ http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,351969,00.html |Texas Polygamy Case: Based on a Hoax?

^ http://www.dreamindemon.com/2008/04/20/rozita-swinton-flds/

^ Dougherty, John (2005-12-29). “Forbidden Fruit”. Phoenix New Times. http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/2005-12-29/news/forbidden-fruit/. 

^ Hollenhorst, John (2006-02-08). “Birth defect is plaguing children in FLDS towns”. Deseret Morning News. http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,635182923,00.html. 

^ “Doctor: Birth defects increase in inbred polygamy community”. Daily Herald. 2006-02-09. http://www.heraldextra.com/content/view/165069/. 

^ Szep, Jason (2007-06-14). “Polygamist community faces rare genetic disorder”. Reuters. http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN0727298120070614. 

^ Bayley JP, Launonen V, Tomlinson IP (2008). “The FH mutation database: an online database of fumarate hydratase mutations involved in the MCUL (HLRCC) tumor syndrome and congenital fumarase deficiency”. BMC Med. Genet. 9 (1): 20. doi:10.1186/1471-2350-9-20. PMID 18366737. PMC 2322961. http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2350/9/20. 

^ Kerrigan JF, Aleck KA, Tarby TJ, Bird CR, Heidenreich RA (2000). “Fumaric aciduria: clinical and imaging features”. Ann. Neurol. 47 (5): 5838. doi:10.1002/1531-8249(200005)47:5<583::AID-ANA5>3.0.CO;2-Y. PMID 10805328. 

^ “Three wives will guarantee you a place in paradise. The Taliban? No: welcome to the rebel Mormons”. The Daily Telegraph. 2003-10-19. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/1444578/Three-wives-will-guarantee-you-a-place-in-paradise.-The-Taliban-No-welcome-to-the-rebel-Mormons.html. 

^ Bonnie Ricks. “Review: The Sixth of Seven Wives: Escape from Modern Day Polygamy”. The Institute for Religious Research (irr.org). http://www.irr.org/mit/sixth-of-seven-wives-br.html. 

^ Rick Ross (2002-04-06). “The polygamist women of Colorado City”. rickross.com (self-published). http://www.rickross.com/reference/polygamy/polygamy10.html. 

^ Shaffer, Mark (2005-06-23). “Polygamist sect loses grip on towns”. The Arizona Republic. http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/0623polygamy23.html. Retrieved 2008-06-13. 

^ “Bust-up in Bountiful: Timeline: History of Polygamy”. CBC News. 2008-04-12. http://www.cbc.ca/fifth/bustupinbountiful/timeline.html. Retrieved 2008-05-24. 

^ Howard Fischer (2005-08-11). “State officials prepare to seize control of Colorado City school district”. Arizona Daily Star. http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/hourlyupdate/88285.php. 

^ The other five are the Church of Christ, the LDS Church, the Community of Christ, the Apostolic United Brethren and the Righteous Branch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

^ Wade Goodwyn, Howard Berkes and Amy Walters (2005-05-03). “Warren Jeffs and the FLDS”. NPR. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4629320. Retrieved 2007-04-24. 

^ Dnofrio, Eve (2005). “Child Brides, Inegalitarianism, and the Fundamentalist Polygamous Family in the United States”. International Journal of Law, Policy and the Family 19 (3): 373394. doi:10.1093/lawfam/ebi028. http://lawfam.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/19/3/373. 

^ Tracy, Kathleen (2001). The Secret Story of Polygamy. Sourcebooks. ISBN 1570717230. 

^ Llewellyn, John R. (2006). Polygamy’s Rape of Rachael Strong: Protected Environment for Predators. Agreka Books. ISBN 0977707210. 

^ Daniels, April (1993). Paperdolls: A True Story of Childhood Sexual Abuse in Mormon Neighborhoods. Recovery Publications. ISBN 0941405273. 

^ Moore-Emmett, Andrea (2004). God’s Brothel: The Extortion of Sex for Salvation in Contemporary Mormon and Christian Fundamentalist Polygamy and the Stories of 18. Pince-Nez Press. ISBN 1930074131. 

^ Ted McDonough (2004-09-23). “Lost Boys Found”. Salt Lake City Weekly (reprinted at rickross.com). http://www.rickross.com/reference/polygamy/polygamy250.html. 

^ Nancy Perkins (2004-08-28). “FLDS Church, leaders sued by 6 ‘lost boys'”. Deseret Morning News (reprinted at findarticles.com). http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4188/is_20040828/ai_n11472255. 

^ David Kelly (Los Angeles Times) (2005-06-19). “Polygamy’s ‘Lost Boys’ expelled from only life they knew”. The Boston Globe. http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2005/06/19/polygamys_lost_boys_expelled_from_only_life_they_knew/. 

^ “Hate Groups Map: Utah”. Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLCenter.org). http://www.splcenter.org/intel/map/hate.jsp?S=UT&m=5. 

^ “In His Own Words”. Intelligence Report (Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLCenter.org)). Spring 2005. http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?sid=342. 

Further reading/viewing

Bistline, Ben The Polygamists: A History of Colorado City, Arizona

Bradley, Martha Sontag Kidnapped from That Land: The Government Raids on the Short Creek Polygamists

Watson, Marianne T., “FLDS Placement Marriages”

Hales, Brian C. (2007). Modern Polygamy and Mormon Fundamentalism: The Generations After the Manifesto. Greg Kofford Books. ISBN 1-58958-035-4. .

Quinn, D. Michael (1998), “Plural marriage and Mormon fundamentalism”, Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 31 (2): 168, http://content.lib.utah.edu/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/dialogue&CISOPTR=10335&REC=20 .

Krakauer, Jon: Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith (July 15, 2003)

Carolyn Jessop and Laura Palmer. Escape. Broadway Books, October 16, 2007

Van Wagoner, Richard S. Mormon Polygamy: A History

“The Primer” – Helping Victims of Domestic Violence and Child Abuse in Polygamous Communities. A joint report from the offices of the Attorney Generals of Arizona and Utah.

Van Wagoner, Richard S. (1999). Mormon Polygamy: A History. UK: Prometheus Books. ISBN -10: 0941214796. 

Wall, Elissa (2008). Stolen Innocence. New York: Harper Collins. 

Main Street Church. Lifting the Veil of Polygamy (2007). A documentary film on the history and modern-day expressions of Mormon polygamy, including numerous testimonials.

Hoffman, Claire (June 2008). “Satan’s Accountant”. Cond Nast Portfolio Magazine. http://www.portfolio.com/news-markets/national-news/portfolio/2008/05/12/Profile-of-Polygamist-Sects-Lawyer. – An article about Bruce Wisan who was brought in to try and return property to the members of the FLDS group at Short Creek, and was met with great resistance. As featured on This American Life.

External links

Wikinews has related news: 401 children from Texas sect compound taken into custody

Official sites

Information about the FLDS Faith

Media

“Audio clips reveal FLDS leader’s teachings”, The Eldorado Success (text and audio)

Damned to heaven : A critical documentary about Colorado City and FLDS Church

FLDS El Dorado, Texas Current and archived aerial photographs of the community and new temple

Banking on Heaven Has accusations against the FLDS

Lifting the Veil of Polygamy Includes interviews and testimonials of former FLDS members

“FLDS 101”

Legal

and : Information on Utah Attorney General’s Lawsuit against the United Effort Plan

Commentary

“Polygamy and Me: Seven months have passed since the polygamist raid in Eldorado, but for one mainstream Mormon, the effects linger,”

by the Dallas Observer’s Jesse Hyde

The main branches of the Latter Day Saint movement

William Bickerton: The Church of Jesus Christ

Sidney Rigdon: “Rigdonites”

Granville Hedrick: Church of Christ (Temple Lot)

Joseph Smith III: Community of Christ

James Strang:

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Brigham Young

Fundamentalist Church of

Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

Joseph Smith

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The Latter Day Saint movement

Fundamental ideas

Mormonism  Latter Day Saint  Mormonism and Christianity  Mormon Fundamentalism  Latter Day Saint denominations

History

Church of Christ  Succession crisis  History of the LDS Church  Community of Christ history  History of The Church of Jesus Christ (Bickertonite)

Sacred texts

Bible  Book of Mormon  Doctrine & Covenants (Book of Commandments)  Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible  Pearl of Great Price

Founders & leaders

Joseph Smith, Jr.  Oliver Cowdery  Sidney Rigdon  Brigham Young  Joseph Smith III  James Strang  William Bickerton  Granville Hedrick

Doctrines & practices

Views on Godhead  Views on Jesus  Priesthood  Articles of Faith  Restoration  Mormonism and Judaism  Temples

Controversies

Criticism  Joseph Smith, Jr. and polygamy  Blacks and the Latter Day Saint movement  Oath of vengeance  Mountain Meadows massacre  Historicity of the Book of Mormon

See also Latter Day Saints Portal Category Mormonism

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Posted on January 11, 2011 by , 4 comments

Whatever Happened to the Church Christ Built?

Church doctrine

We run across the word “church” 114 times in the New Testament. So what can we learn from the scriptures about the original church (the church we read about in the New Testament)? Here are the essentials:

Jesus established the church. (Matthew 16:13-18)

Jesus purchased the church with his own blood. (Acts 20:28)

Jesus is the head of the church. (Ephesians 1:22-23) (Ephesians 5:23)

Jesus is the foundation of the church. (1 Corinthians 3:11)

The church was a part of God’s eternal plan before creation. (Ephesians 3:9-10)

The purpose of the church was to: “display [God’s] wisdom in its rich variety to all the unseen rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 3:9-10)

The church is not a building but saved people. “And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.” (Acts 2:47)

The church is not a denomination. (1 Corinthians 1:12-13)

The Gospel and teachings of Christ (church doctrine) are not subject to change. (Galatians 1:8-11) (2 John 1:9-11)

Scriptural names of the church:

the body of Christ (Colossians 1:24) (Ephesians 1:22-23)

church of the living God (1 Timothy 3:15)

church of God (Acts 20:28) (1 Corinthians 1:2) (1 Corinthians 10:32) (1 Corinthians 11:22) (1 Corinthians 15:9) (2 Corinthians 1:1) (Galatians 1:13) (1 Timothy 3:5)

churches of God (1 Corinthians 11:16) (1 Thessalonians 2:14) (2 Thessalonians 1:4)

churches of the saints (1 Corinthians 14:33)

church of the first-born (Hebrews 12:23)

churches of Christ (Romans 16:16)

Scriptural names for members of the church:

Members of Christ (1 Corinthians 6:15)

Disciples (Acts 6:1,7) (Acts 11:26)

Believers (2 Corinthians 6:15)

Saints (Acts 9:13) (Romans 1:7) (Philippians 1:1)

Priests (Revelation 1:6)

Children of God (Galatians 3:26-27) (1 John 3:1-2)

Christians (Acts 11:26) (Acts 26:28) (1 Peter 4:16)

How to become a member of the original church:

Hear the Gospel, “for faith comes by hearing the word of God.” (Romans 10:17 NKJV)

Believe in Jesus Christ, “for without faith it is impossible to please God.” (Hebrews 11:6); Also see: (Acts 16:31) (Romans 1:15-17) (1 John 5:1-6)

Repent of your sins, “for [God] commands all people everywhere to repent.” (Acts 17:30); Also see: (Luke: 15:10) (2 Peter 3:9)

Confess Jesus as Lord, for he said, “Whoever confesses me before men, him I will also confess before my Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 10:32 NKJV) Also see: (Romans 10:9)

Be baptized for the forgiveness of sins, for Peter said: “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.” (Acts 2:38) Also see: (Mark 16:16) (Romans 6:3-4)

Church organization:

Elders

Elders (also called presbyters, bishops, overseers, pastors, or shepherds, without distinction of office or rank) were men (always men) chosen from the members to oversee and set an example for the congregation. Also they are to encourage the congregation with sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it. (1 Peter 5:1-4) (1 Titus 1:9) For the requirements for this position see: 1 Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1:5-9.

Deacons

Deacons were men chosen to serve the congregation (overlook the daily distribution of food or wait on tables.) (Acts 6:1-7) For requirements for both the deacon and his wife, see: 1 Timothy 3:8-13. Paul also mentions deacons in his address to the church at Philippi. (Philippians 1:1) At least two men, Stephen and Philip, chosen as deacons in the Jerusalem church also preached or evangelized.

Evangelists

Evangelists (preachers, ministers) are preachers of the Gospel. (Ephesians 4:11) (1 Timothy 4:13-16) (2 Timothy 4:1-5)

Those three positions were the only ones created for Christ’s church. Notice that no singular person was placed in charge of any congregation. And there was no higher organization than the local congregation. Synods, Councils, Conventions, Popes, Ecclesiastical Legislative Bodies, Associations or Conferences with delegates from different congregations are nowhere to be found in the Bible. They didn’t exist in the church you read about in the New Testament.

Church worship:

Over the past two thousand years, Christians have worshipped God in various ceremonies and rituals including: baptism, the Lord’s Supper, fasting, foot washing, prayers, reading scriptures, reciting creeds, singing, miraculous powers, prophecies, healings, and speaking in tongues. You may wonder what lies behind these traditions. Are they merely customs of the church? Or is there something more to it?

Let’s start with a definition of church. Our English word “church” is based on the Greek word “ekklesia” which means an assembly. Sometimes “church” refers to a local congregation; at other times the word is used in a universal sense including all believers in Christ. Christ is the chief cornerstone (Ephesians 2:20), foundation (1 Corinthians 3:11), and head of the church. (Ephesians 1:22-23) (Ephesians 5:23)

But Jesus himself had very little to say about the church. In Mark, Luke and John, Jesus never utters the word “church.” Matthew, and Matthew alone, gives us our only two quotes. In one passage, Jesus says the church should resolve disputes between its members. (Matthew 18:15-17) In the other reference, Jesus says: “I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.” (Matthew 16:18)

Outside of Revelation, these are the only two instances where Jesus directly refers to his church. Even so, he did introduce the two sacraments of the church — baptism and the Lord’s Supper.

Baptism

We have mentioned it before, but it bears repeating. The resurrected Jesus ordered his apostles to make disciples in every nation “baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” (Matthew 28:19)

Jesus says baptism is essential for salvation. (Mark 16:16) And Peter says it is required for the forgiveness of sins. (Acts 2:38)

The book of Acts records much of what we know about the history of the early church. Here we find a series of sermons, teachings, and baptisms. Who was baptized? Simon the sorcerer (Acts 8:13), the Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8:38), Saul, who was later called Paul (Acts 9:18), Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth (Acts 16:14-15), the Philippian jailer (Acts 16:33), Crispus, the synagogue ruler (Acts 18:8) (1 Corinthians 1:14), twelve disciples at Ephesus (Acts 19:1-5), and men and women at city in Samaria. (Acts 8:5-12)

What did all of these people have in common? They were all believing adults. Were children also baptized? Some claim there were, and they cite these passages to support their position. Acts 16:15 states that “[Lydia] and members of her household were baptized.” Acts 16:33 reads: “[The jailer] and all of his family were baptized.” And Acts 18:8 says that Crispus and “his entire household” were baptized.

The question is: Does “members of her household,” “all of his family,” and “his entire household” imply that children and infants were also baptized? Probably not. Notice that the jailer “and his whole family” had come to believe in God. (Acts 16:34) Similarly, Crispus “and his entire household believed in the Lord.” (Acts 18:8)

In both instances, all believed, and all were baptized. Clearly we are not speaking of infants or very small children in this context. Those who were baptized were mature enough to believe in Christ.

How were these believing “adults” baptized? Romans 6:3-4 speaks of baptism as a symbolic burial with Christ. And in Acts 8:38 Philip took the Ethiopian eunuch “down into the water” to baptize him. Baptism was and is emersion. Throughout the first century baptism and emersion were synonymous.

Lord’s Supper; The Eucharist; The Holy Communion

In Matthew we read: “While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples saying, ‘Take and eat; this is my body.’

“Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.'” (Matthew 26:26-28)

In the Gospel according to John, the significance of this act becomes clear. Jesus: “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” (John 6:51)

He repeated and emphasized his words: “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.” (John 6:53-54)

Paul, in his first letter to the Corinthians, explained where this custom originated. He says: “The tradition which I handed on to you came from the Lord himself: that on the night of his arrest the Lord Jesus took bread and after giving thanks to God broke it and said: ‘This is my body, which is for you; do this in memory of me.’

In the same way he took the cup after supper, and said: ‘This cup is the new covenant sealed by my blood. Whenever you drink it, do this in memory of me.’ For every time you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord, until he comes.'” (1 Corinthians 11:23-26 REB)

Paul informs us that the early church carried on this tradition and tells us when they did it. “On the first day of the week we came together to break bread. Paul spoke to the people and, because he intended to leave the next day, kept on talking until midnight.” (Acts 20:7)

The apostle again speaks of the Lord’s Supper when he warned the Corinthians: “A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself.” (1 Corinthians 11:28-29)

Such respected historians as Eusebius of Caesarea and Johann August Wilhelm Neander tell us that Christians in the early centuries of the church took the Lord’s Supper every Sunday.

Fasting

Jesus to John the Baptist’s disciples: “How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast.” (Matthew 9:15)

And Jesus issued instructions on fasting. Don’t put on a show when you fast like hypocrites do. Let your fasting be a secret between you and God. He knows, and he will reward you. (Matthew 6:16-18)

Luke speaks of the Antioch church worshiping the Lord and fasting. “While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, ‘Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.'” (Acts 13:2) In the next chapter we read, “Paul and Barnabas appointed elders in each church [in Lystra, Iconium and Antioch] and, with prayer and fasting, committed them to the Lord.” (Acts 14:23)

We find no command in the New Testament to fast. However, in Acts chapters 13 and 14 we discover instances in which the early church did fast.

Foot Washing

“[Jesus] got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.” (John 13:4-5)

“When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. ‘Do you understand what I have done for you?’ he asked them. ‘You call me “Teacher” and “Lord,” and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.” (John 13:12-15)

“Washing the feet of the saints” is also one of good deed qualifications Paul lists for widows seeking support from the church. (1 Timothy 5:9-10)

Even so, washing feet is nowhere declared a part of the church’s worship service.

Prayer

Prayer is our way of communicating with God. Jesus offers us an example. “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” (Matthew 6:9-13)

Notice that the Lord’s prayer is simple, short, and to the point. It asks for daily help, guidance, and forgiveness.

He tells us to pray for those who persecute us; (Matthew 5:44) pray to God privately, don’t make a spectacle out of it; and don’t babble on. God already knows what you need. He’s not impressed by the length of your prayer. (Matthew 6:5-8)

So what are we to pray? Paul tells us to give thanks in all circumstances; (1 Thessalonians 5:18) for God’s help; (1 Timothy 5:5) for each other; (James 5:16) for whatever we want to request; (Philippians 4:6) for rulers, officials, and everyone. (1 Timothy 2:1-2)

James says we don’t get what we want because we don’t pray for it. Or if we do pray for it, our request is denied because of our wrong motives. (James 4:2-3) Pray whenever you are sick or in trouble, advises James. (James 5:14)

Prayer was a part of the New Testament church’s worship. (Acts 2:42) (1 Timothy 2:1-2)

Giving

Paul tells us of the collection taken for God’s people in the Galatian and Corinthian churches. “On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made.” (1 Corinthians 16:2)

Reading Scriptures

By the early part of the first century, Jews had established the tradition of reading the Law and Prophets in their synagogue services. Paul told Timothy to devote himself to the “public reading of scriptures, preaching and teaching.” (1 Timothy 4:13) Thus the Jewish custom was carried over into church worship.

In Colossians we find Paul instructing the Colossians and the Laodiceans to exchange letters he had written and read both. (Colossians 4:16) And in Thessalonians, he tells the church to read his letter to all the brothers. (1 Thessalonians 5:27) Thereby, what was to become portions of the New Testament was already being read in the church along with the Law and Prophets of the Old Testament.

Reciting Creeds

A creed is a compact statement of faith recited by the congregation during the worship service. Creeds, however, are nowhere to be found in the New Testament. No common human creed, no catechism, no confession of faith are authorized in the scriptures. They were all added later.

It’s true, the Lord’s Prayer is frequently quoted word for word. Did Jesus intend for that prayer to become a creed? Evidently, he did not. Jesus introduced his prayer saying, “Pray, then, in this way.” (Matthew 6:9 NRSV) That sounds very much like general guidance – “Do it in this fashion” rather than, “I want you to repeat every word of this verbatim.”

Singing

Here are all the New Testament references to hymns, songs, and spiritual songs.

After Jesus and the apostles’ Passover meal, “they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.” (Matthew 26:30 NKJV)

“About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.” (Acts 16:25)

Paul: “Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord.” (Ephesians 5:19)

Paul: “I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my mind.” (1 Corinthians 14:15)

Paul: “What then shall we say, brothers? When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation.” (1 Corinthians 14:26)

Paul encourages us to: “admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.” (Colossians 3:16)

James: “Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise.” (James 5:13)

Notice musical instruments, choirs, and solos were not mentioned in church worship. Like human creeds, they were later additions not authorized by the scriptures. Historically, the first appearance of instrumental music in church worship was not until the sixth century A.D., and it was not widely accepted until the eighth century. A number of religious leaders including: John Calvin, John Wesley, and Charles Spurgeon strongly opposed the use of instrumental music in worship because of its absence in the New Testament.

Miraculous Powers, Prophecies, Healings, Speaking in Tongues

Jesus preformed miracles; the apostles preformed miracles; members of the early church performed miracles.

In 1 Corinthians, Paul lists nine spiritual gifts of the infant church: “To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues.” (1 Corinthians 12:8-10)

What was the purpose of these miracles? Jesus confirmed his deity with his miracles. “When John heard in prison what Christ was doing, he sent his disciples to ask him, ‘Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?’

“Jesus replied, ‘Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.'” (Matthew 11:2-5)

Likewise, Jesus gave his apostles the power to perform miracles to confirm their message. “In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.”

“After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God. Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it.” (Mark 16:17-20)

Those gifts to the early church Paul lists: wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing miracles, prophecy, discerning spirits, different tongues and interpretation of tongues were all necessary for the revelation and the confirmation of the unwritten gospel message. When the gospel was completely revealed and confirmed, the purpose for miracles, tongues, healings, and prophecies ceased.

In 1 Corinthians, Paul provides us with this explanation: “As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away.” (1 Corinthians 13:8-10)

In the original Greek, “perfect” in this verse means “completeness” or “fulfillment.” So, those miraculous gifts ended in the early church when the revelation of God’s word was complete or fulfilled. That is why you don’t see authentic miraculous events in churches today.

Permit me to conclude this church worship section by mentioning three practices found in some modern churches which are nowhere to be found in the early church: alter calls, pleas to “just accept Jesus into your heart,” and repeating “the sinner’s prayer.” Those are all man-made traditions, not supported by scriptures.

Questions to Consider:

1. Since Jesus established his church, and the New Testament describes his church, do you think it might be a good idea to follow the biblical example: in church name? in what we call our church members? in the requirements to enter the church? in church organization? in doctrine? in church worship? in baptism? in the Lord’s Supper? in prayer? in reading scriptures? in preaching? in singing?

2. Why would Luke, Paul, Peter, James, and John provide us with such extensive details of the original church, if they did not intend for us to follow this pattern?

Quote of the Day: “The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and left untried.” G. K. Chesterton (1874 -1936) English author

Note: All Scripture References are taken from the New International Version unless otherwise stated.

NKJV – New King James Version

NRSV – New Revised Standard Version

REB – Revised English Bible

Jerry Boone, Gatlinburg, Tennessee, United States webmaster@merechristianity.us Mr. Boone is a sailor, author, and webmaster of http://merechristianity.us His works include: Mere Christianity.us and SAFETY LINE – EVIDENCE OF THINGS NOT SEEN, an apologetic study published 1998.

Posted on August 18, 2010 by , Reply

Interview: Senior Minister Of United Church Of Christ Congregation Talks About Gay Marriage & Same Sex Blessings By Peter Menkin

Interview: Senior Minister of United Church of Christ congregation talks about Gay Marriage & Same Sex Blessings

By Peter Menkin

 Senior Minister, Reverend Matt Broadbent of Los Altos, California Foothill Congregational Church, United Church of Christ, spoke with this writer by phone and webcam via Skype in February, 2010 about Same Sex Marriage & Same Sex Blessings. This is the first of a series of interviews with different clergy denomination members on the subject. Two other upcoming interviews are with The Rt. Reverend Marc Andrus of The Episcopal Church, USA (San Francisco Bay Area known as Diocese of California), and Rabbi Stephen Pearce of Reform Temple El Emanuel, San Francisco. This writer hopes to find two other people willing to talk from their denominations, making this a five part series.

 

1.      This two part question has to do with the Church’s mission: (1) Is it mission for United Church of Christ and your congregation to proclaim and normalize the practice of Gay Marriage & Same Sex Blessings? (2) Is this a peace and justice issue, and would you comment on the remark made by the Publisher of Pilgrim Press, The Reverend Timothy G. Staveteig. I asked a similar question on whether the matter is mission for UCC and the Church Publishers remarked in an email response:

  a.      “From our first printing of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Measure of a Man in 1957, The Pilgrim Press has developed books and resources that have often addressed difficult and complex social justice issues. Through our historic publishing operation (since 1640), which is a gift of the United Church of Christ, The Pilgrim Press has sought out voices marginalized by a dominant culture and seeks to build fully inclusive communities.”   I’m responding as a Pastor, not so much as a scholar.   No. Not our Mission. Mission is to be a Christian Church and embody God for all people.   It is a peace and justice issue. It is more a fairness issue, and we look at those who are marginalized. My Church is an upper middle class community, in the midst of Silicon Valley. For most of the people it is not a huge issue for them; there is a small group that is opposed.   We like to date as the Pilgrim Church, 1620. They were the separatist’s movement of the Puritans who sought to purify the church. These were mainly shop owners and tradesmen, part of the rising Middle Class in England who wanted to remove themselves from The Church of England. Rev. John Robinson sent the Pilgrims off to the New World with the admonition, “The Lord hath yet more truth and light to break forth from God’s holy word.” The Presbyterian churches that seek to be open to the LGBT community call themselves the “More Light” churches. They pick up from this Robinson’s quote. The UCC has sought to be faithful to this search for God’s continuing “light and truth,” and in so doing we have experienced a lot of “first” in American religious life. We were one of the first Church groups to opposed slavery. We were the first to ordain the first to ordain an African-American pastor, and the first to ordain a woman in the 19th Century. In the 20th century we were the first to ordain an openly Gay minister, Rev. William Johnson in San Carlos, UCC…   We have a long tradition of pushing the edges on the peace and social justice issues. I like to say, we are convicted by our principles, continually asking the question: How does God continually open the Church to all people? It seems natural for us to say: “Shouldn’t we be celebrating Same Sex Marriages?”  

Where are you on the United Church of Christ religious spectrum? Progressive, Liberal, Conservative? What does this mean to you?

  Senior Minister, Reverend Matt Broadbent: I guess I am somewhere in that range of the Progressive Liberal, but my style is traditional. I tease my congregation that I am more conservative than they are. They are trying to be up to date, whereas I’m still singing plainchant. I like the tradition.  

Where is the San Francisco Bay Area United Church of Christ going with Same Sex Blessings and Gay marriage? Has a national statement been formulated on the subject?

  Senior Minister, Reverend Matt Broadbent: The simple answer is Yes. We have formed a national statement. This is not a hierarchical Church, so the national organization has made a statement. It is a recommendation to local churches. It gets down to the local church. Each local church must decide how they handle the recommendation. On July 4, 2005 at the General Synod 25, the national gathering, they voted for an Equal Marriage Rights for All recommendation. Recommendation is my word, and that’s what it means, to consider support of Equal Marriage Rights for all.  

If there is a key Bible vision that supports Gay Marriage & Same Sex Blessing; please give a Biblical example and explain something of your vision on interpretation? Who else shares this sensibility and understanding we might know or recognize?

  Senior Minister, Reverend Matt Broadbent:  My point is, if you ask the question of what is Jesus response to Gay Marriage, or same gender loving relationships. Nothing. He doesn’t speak of it at all. What has happened in this discussion is people have picked up some statements by Paul, and a few from the Old Testament. All have something to do with oppression, not loving relationships. The scripture passages that guide me are: 1st John: 4, where he says simply, God is Love. And those who Love, Love God. 1st Corinthians 13 is the Love passage of Paul, holding up this Love relationship between people is the highest value. For me the core of the Gospel text is the Great Commandment in Matthew, Mark & Luke. And it is the Jewish restatement of tradition that you are to love God and Love neighbor. That is the core of it, that is what Jesus says is the core of faith. Marriage, as such, is a social arrangement, or does these help to love God and Love neighbor. And I tell people, I am in the business of encouraging long term relationships. This is a healthy way in the world. If it is same gender loving relationships, then that is what I need to do. I would even say that in those passages that our more conservative pick out, all is about where a person is taking advantage of someone else. When he talks about men sleeping with men, or women with women, he is talking about Temple Prostitution. He is talking about relationships that are unequal, and essentially unjust. WHat Jesus calls for always is Justice and Equality in the Kingdom of God.  

What book do you recommend reader’s read that leads to an understanding of your stance and your statements supporting Gay Marriage & Same Sex Blessing?

  Also when people ask me, I direct them to the website, www.UCC.org .  

Have you performed a Same Sex Blessing, and if so, will you tell us some of the words you used? Where did you do this?

  Senior Minister, Reverend Matt Broadbent: I have, both in Santa Cruz where I was for 17 years, and here in Los Altos just a couple of months ago. I wish I could have said I’ve done more. In Santa Cruz–it was with two women fairly early in my ministry. I led that Church into an Open and Affirming relationship. We did the wedding in their home, not in the sanctuary. The reason they did it was one was an artist and the other was teaching at the University. I asked them when asked about doing the marriage, “What date were you thinking of?”    The other wedding was done in Los Altos at Foothills Congregational Church UCC. The couple was legally married in Vermont. What we did at the Church is a blessing of their Civil Vows,   We have a same gender, non-biased wedding ceremony. We worked with the couple, and the ceremony was pretty traditional. They said, “We want to be married, not be in a show.” What they wanted to receive was a sense of God’s blessing on their choice, their relationship. We’re speaking of the one in Los Altos. They went with the blessing, because they’d already been married.  

Who are other significantly well-known and respected Church clergy leaders of other denominations, mainly in the San Francisco Bay Area, who join you in your viewpoint? Do you know their denomination? Is there one with whom you’ve spoken who has influenced you most?

  Senior Minister, Reverend Matt Broadbent: In our own denomination, it is all of the leaders of the United Church of Christ in the Bay Area. I know of a couple of ministers who would have problems with it. I really don’t know of anyone else in our denomination that has a problem with Gay Marriage. There is always The Reverend Doctor Mary Susan Gast. She is the conference minister in the Northern California – Nevada region.  

If there are words you’d recommend for Performing a Same Sex Blessing, will you tell us them. Where in the Bible is this supported, and if you see these as part of the Social Gospel, please tell us something of your sense of the Social Gospel that leads you to support this? Do you recommend certain Bible readings to Gay couples (man and man, woman and woman), and in their either civil union relationship, or in Gay Marriage, are there other readings or meditations on Biblical text you recommend?

  Senior Minister, Reverend Matt Broadbent: In the two I have done, we had all of the Bible open for interpretation. The one in Santa Cruz, Clearly we are not going to use the one where, A woman will leave her family and cling to her husband. But the other couple in Los Altossaid [regarding the Paul statement], We can make that work. One of us will take on the role of being the husband. The Bible for them was not a problem. They looked at the issue of love and commitment and caring for one another. We looked at the argument in the Apocrypha of Tobit’s wife taking on a goat. In most of the discussion I’ve had with people, most of the material has been open to mainstream, regular passages. There has not been a big to-do over special readings for Gay people. The whole thing is moving into the main stream. Hey there, we have similar needs, similar desires.  

At what point in your life, did you begin to support the subject of this interview? Has it been since being a UCC ordained minister? Is there anyone you respect in specific who does not agree with your stance?

  Senior Minister, Reverend Matt Broadbent:  My father was a minister, and he met my mother in seminary. He was United Church of Christ. We had always been a part of a liberal and progressive way of worshiping. He had a problem with Gay marriage as an issue, but intellectually overcame that. My father grew up in an era where he did not show a lot of affection. It was something that I missed. It was a resentment on my part that he didn’t tell me he loved me. I think I was 50 years old that he first told me he loved me. He was afraid if he showed too much affection for me and his brother he was afraid we would become Gay. I’ve not known a time when I really had a problem with the issue of Gay Marriage. It is a matter of being in committed, covenanted relationships. My problem is the same as with heterosexual relationships. When it becomes a sexual relationship solely, it becomes about satisfying our own hunger, not about a caring relationship.  

Though we have not talked about Proposition 8 in California, how do you characterize the results of the vote which said Yes to deny Gay Marriage in the State? Is there a kind of guilt to this position in the moral or spiritual sense?

  I think that people who have been so opposed with Prop 8, seem to suggest that somehow their marriage is going to be devalued by same sex marriages; my first reaction is How insecure are you. The point is when a relationship is based on mutuality and trust and caring for one another, this can only enhance our society.    

At what point in the faith and concern of the United Church of Christ (nationally and in your congregation) did the tide turn towards Gay Marriage & Same Sex Blessing? Will you tell us something of your personal experience in faith and concern regarding the faith issue? Was it a teaching of Jesus Christ, a meditation on the Bible?

  Senior Minister, Reverend Matt Broadbent: It’s been a turbulent time, when the United Church of Christ decided to include the Rights of Marriage recommendation; they were other conferences that withdrew from the United Church of Christ. Puerto Rico withdrew from UCC, Pennsylvania (Western Pennsylvania) withdrew from the UCC (several associations did this). I think there were associations in Indiana who did the same thing. In our area.   Senior Minister, Reverend Matt Broadbent: My personal experience: When I cam to the Church in Los Altos 10 years ago, I was asked will this be one of your major issues? I said, No. But they needed to understand that I was an open and affirming minister, and this is the way I would administer the Church. When lay people from within the Church itself said to me and everyone else, We need to move ahead and become an open and affirming Church, I would be there to support them. There were people on that committee who thought, that’s okay. We can probably counter him, block this if we need to. Over the ten years we have practiced this, and in the past three years we have become an open and affirming Church. We lost a few members, but we gained a number of young families. All of them said they wanted to become part of a Church that was this; they wanted their children to be brought up in this kind of Church. I was asked also, will you do a same sex marriage. I said, Yes, I would. If I were asked. Before I would have taken that request to the Deacon (they are one of the ruling body of the Church, they are the lay leaders of Foothills Congregational Church UCC). I’m pretty sure they would have said Yes, but after we became an open and affirming Church, we were able to do it. I turned to a founding member of the fifty year old Church, did you ever imagine we would have a same sex wedding at Foothills. Never in my wildest dreams. Wasn’t it just perfect, she said.  

Have you given a sermon on the subject, and may we see text of a key excerpt?

  Senior Minister, Reverend Matt Broadbent: I tend not to beat these things into the ground. I’m more of a Biblical teacher, but I have used the issue as a reflection or illustration in a sermon. Several times I’ve used it: This is why Gay or Lesbian or Transgender people are so upset over this issue. Rather than preach on social hot topics, I try to interweave our concerns with the Biblical texts. I’m trying to create a way in which we can all talk to one another.  

What is your sense of community of believers, in part in its congregational sense and as a dimension of your leadership of a congregation? How is your sense of Community extended beyond your denomination to the greater world, and again will you give us some Biblical instruction, maybe from the Old Testament as it relates to the New, on this topic of Gay Marriage & Same Sex Blessing?

 

I suppose we’ve covered the subject, but to rephrase the previous question as I think it important to our topic, and you do not need to speak directly to the topic in your reply to the previous question or this one, what does Church mean to you as senior minister? What is your vision, as one might say?

  Senior Minister, Reverend Matt Broadbent: What I believe the Church to be, is the body of Christ. We are called to incarnate the spirit of Christ in the world, and that we carry that Christ life within us into the world. All of us are one body; here we are all included in this. My vision of the Church is that includes my Evangelical brothers, Catholics and Orthodox, all of the Church. What we’re called to is not to identify ourselves as an exclusive club in the world, but to manifest the church as the Kingdom of God to the world. It is a very inclusive vision. How can I be inclusive? How can God be in the world, not just in the Church, but in the creation? One of the key words is transforming the word kingdom to Kingdom. I think that is what Jesus was talking about; we’ve go it confused, as if Jesus is all powerful and going to judge us. He talks about how all of us are gathered into this kin to one another, that Jesus is opening an invitation to be kin to one another. It is so broad it is beyond religious identity. If God is love, then God is love absolutely.  

In my email correspondence with The Reverend Michael D. Schuenemeyer we discussed a series of issues and contemporary issue topics regarding Gay Marriage & Same Sex Blessings. I asked him if San Francisco and California is in the forefront of the Church’s missionary activity in this area, and if it as secular society is in the forefront. Do you agree with his answer, and will you comment on his remarks? He says and I asked:

 

 What area is leading in their receptivity of the matter; is it San Francisco?

 

 For the UCC, this effort is not unique to California and so it is difficult to say where the leading edge of this movement is in our denomination. There are churches, pastors and layperson engage on both the civil and religious in many places around the country, especially in those states that have been successful achieving marriage equality, including Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire and Iowa. The congregations that tend to be most involved are those which have done an educational process called the Open and Affirming process. This process usually leads a local church to publicly declare their welcome and inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender person in the full life and ministry of the church.

 

 There has also been strong engagement where marriage equality has not yet been realized either on the ballot or in the courts, or where states have adopted anti-gay marriage statutes. UCC leaders, clergy and lay, have ensured that their progressive religion is heard and have supported organizing efforts that have been successful in building a movement that despite recent setbacks will ultimately be successful. 

 

 The energy tends to be strongest in the areas where there is a high level of legislative, ballot or legal activity. This fall, Maine is going to be very active and there will be many UCC churches and leaders involved in the effort to defeat their ballot initiative to repeal marriage equality there. There is a lot of activity in Iowa in the effort to protect the court decision. California will also continue to be a place of activity with efforts to repeal Prop 8 as early as 2010 or 2012

  This is a personal reaction by Senior Minister, Reverend Matt Broadbent : He [Reverend Michael] is mentioning states you wouldn’t think would open up to same sex marriage. I grew up in New Hampshire. I came to California in the winter of 1979; I experienced California as everybody generally liberal in their social behavior. But the religious atmosphere was fairly conservative in its nature, especially in the valley and other areas. People were socially conservative in New Hampshire and were generally religiously liberal. As a general kind of environment. So I can understand why those New England States agreed to Same Sex Marriages. I know their expectation was they were going to act in an appropriate way. In California people don’t always act in an appropriate way, but religiously they are very closed over. I find this an odd paradox. It doesn’t surprise that in California they defeated this idea of same sex marriage. Even though California is seen as a left coast kind of life. It is one of the paradoxes of life. For me personally, I struggle, and have struggled with the idea of separation of Church and State. Especially in Anglo American churches. We are not as defined as Black Churches who really get involved and take a stance. They are socially liberal, but really very much conservative. What I try to do in the UCC is try to preach values, stay with understanding the core values of the Gospel, then encourage actions by people in the community. I personally try to lead. For example, when we became an open and affirming Church, everyone knew where I stood.  

Further in my email conversation with The Reverend Michael, I asked this question that follows with his response. Will you comment on the blessing service he notes and tell us if you use it or know of others in the area that uses it?

 

 Have you a standard service for either or both, and may I see the text? 
Yes. It is a gender neutral version of the Order of Marriage in our book of worship.
Link: Order for Marriage – an inclusive version [PDF]

                                              i.    The Reverend Michael D. Schuenemeyer is Executive for Health and Wholeness Advocacy Wider Church Ministries   Senior Minister, Reverend Matt Broadbent: This format of his is kind of the template we operate from. And we are free to change and adjust it as we want. We are really bottoms up Church…to the independent of thinking, and the decisions are made by the congregations themselves.  

Thank you for this interview via email questions and answers. Is there anything else you’d like to add or say?

  Senior Minister, Reverend Matt Broadbent: Not at this point. I think I’m about talked out.

 

         Addendum:   The Publisher Pilgrim Press (United Church of Christ) recommends these book titles on Gay Marriage:  

Same Sex Marriage?: Extending the right to marry to same-sex couples is front-page news, and hotly contested in both church and society. This critical book is written by a gay man and progressive Christian ethicist who places justice making at the heart of contemporary spirituality.  In dialogue with both legal scholars and theologians, the author examines the strengths and weaknesses of how marriage traditionalists, advocates of same-sex marriage, and LBGT (lesbian/bisexual/gay/transgender) critics of marriage analyze the issues and frame their arguments. This book offers constructive proposals for revitalizing Christian sexual ethics and moving the debate forward, regardless of whether the right to marry is won or lost.  

 

Exile or Embrace: This book is a helpful guide for pastors and congregations asking such questions as:
How will we as a congregation be in covenant with our gay members?
How will we respond to homosexuals outside the church? Part One tells the story of Siler’s congregation’s struggle and growth as it pondered whether to become openly welcoming of gay and lesbian Christians.
Part Two assists congregational leaders in discerning how and when to engage in this congregational conversation.
Part Three is a study guide outlining seven sessions to shape the congregational conversation and discernment.

 

God Comes Out:
“Readers will welcome this book, not only for its wisdom and compassion, but also for its practical suggestions about how to initiate liberating conversation about sexual differences. Pastors especially will gain deep insight into how preaching a fully inclusive gospel can draw our communities into a more faithful realization of the reign of God. Hinnant demonstrates again and again how preaching is above all a theological act, a giving witness to the justice and compassion of God.” ~Thomas H. Troeger, Yale Divinity School and Institute of Sacred Music.    

Image: (1) Portrait The Reverend Matt Broadbent.

Peter Menkin, an aspiring poet, lives in Mill Valley, CA USA (north of San Francisco). My blog: http://www.petermenkin.blogspot.com

Posted on June 2, 2010 by , Reply