Pondering Pastor

Mormon Articles of Faith #3

We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel.

Augsburg Confession Chief Article of Faith #3 - Concerning the Son of God

Likewise [the churches among us] teach that the Word, that is, the Son of God, took upon himself human nature in the womb of the blessed Virgin Mary so that there might be two natures, divine and human, inseparably conjoined in the unity of one person, one Christ, truly God and truly a human being “born of the Virgin Mary,” who truly “suffered, was crucified, died, and was buried” that he might reconcile the Father to us and be a sacrifice not only for original guilt but also for all actual sins of human beings. He also “descended into hell, and on the third day he was” truly “resurrected.” Thereafter, “he ascended into heaven” in order to “sit at the right hand of the Father,” and he will reign forever and have dominion over all creatures. He will sanctify those who believe in him by sending into their hearts the Holy Spirit, who will rule, console, and make them alive and defend them against the devil and the power of sin. The same Christ will publicly “return to judge the living and the dead …,” according to the Apostles’ Creed.

Augsburg Confession Chief Article of Faith #4 - Concerning Justification

Likewise [the churches among us] teach that human beings cannot be justified before God by their own powers, merits, or works. But they are justified as a gift on account of Christ through faith when they believe that they are received into grace and that their sins are forgiven on account of Christ, who by his death made satisfaction for our sins. God reckons this faith as righteousness (Romans 3 and 4).

Commentary

The numbering of the two Articles of Faith diverge a bit here, but that is to be expected. There is no evidence I know about that suggests that Smith used Luther in the formulation of the Mormon Articles of Faith.

Much of the Augsburg Confession Article 3 relates better to Article 1 of the Mormon Articles of Faith, but admittedly, even that requires considerable additional reading to understand what Mormons claim about Jesus. The Augsburg Confession there quotes liberally from the Apostles’ Creed. I’ll not spend any more time here looking at this particular comparison. See installment #1 of this series for more detail.

The Mormon Article of Faith uses the term “Atonement of Christ”, but then immediately discounts what Lutherans (and most Christians) understand “atonement” to mean. As a theological term, atonement means “the doctrine concerning the reconciliation of God and humankind, esp. as accomplished through the life, suffering, and death of Christ.” In the Mormon Article of Faith, there is nothing explicitly stated that is accomplished by Christ. There was already salvation through adherence to the law before Christ. If salvation depends upon what we do to follow the law, then what is different in the means of salvation pre-Jesus to post-Jesus? What results in reconciliation of God and humankind for Mormons is “obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel”, made possible through Christ. It is not until the next Mormon Article of Faith that we even get to what those “laws and ordinances of the Gospel” are thought to be. The Mormon Article of Faith could have left off the “atonement of Christ” and nothing would have been changed because what follows negates the first part of the statement. (I’ll be blasted on that one, but I see nothing in the Articles of faith that would suggest that for Mormons Christ is either necessary or sufficient.)

Notice that the Augsburg Confession clearly indicates that “human beings cannot be justified before God by their own powers, merits, or works.” This would include obedience to any “laws and ordinances” that might be described in the Gospels. The term “grace” in the Augsburg Confession in fact signals that the forgiveness of sins is undeserved by humans and is “on account of Christ”. This is the appropriate understanding of “atonement of Christ”. Mormon Article of Faith #3 misses the mark in that the atonement of Christ is not sufficient in itself … it requires obedience. For Lutherans, even faith is considered a gift of the Holy Spirit, therefore there is no ability to lay claim to an accomplished reconciliation.

It is true that various Christian denominations differ on the understanding of human participation in salvation through obedience. Lutherans are careful to emphasize grace and God’s action as opposed to human action. Many claim we go to far. Obedience is a response to salvation. For Lutherans, it is not a condition required for salvation. Lutherans do not have a once “forgiven always forgiven” understanding as will be seen in future installments.

Pondering Pastor

Click here for part 1 of this series

Click here for part 2 of this series

Mormon Article of Faith #2

We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam’s transgression.

Augsburg Confession Chief Article of Faith #2 - Original Sin

Likewise, [the churches among us] teach that since the fall of Adam all human beings who are propagated according to nature are born with sin, that is, without fear of God, without trust in God, and with concupiscence. And [the churches among us] teach that this disease or original fault is truly sin, which even now damns and brings eternal death to those who are not born again through baptism and the Holy Spirit. [The churches among us] condemn the Pelagians and others who deny that the original fault is sin and who, in order to diminish the glory of Christ’s merits and benefits, argue that human beings can be justified before God by their own powers of reason (free will).

Commentary

Certainly, the concept of original sin is not popular today, and I find myself in frequent discussions about it. In some ways, these two articles of faith agree. Nowhere does the Augsburg Confession suggest that we are punished for the sins of others, but rather says that human beings are in a “fallen state”. We are contaminated by sin. Part of one of our liturgies reads “We confess that we are in bondage to sin and cannot free ourselves.” The problem with the Mormon Article of Faith above is that it invites the possibility that human beings can act their ways into God’s favor through their decisions and actions. Unstained by “original sin”, we have the ability, they say, to obey God. We will even see that in some of the other Articles of Faith.

Part of the problem ignored by the Mormon Article of Faith is that scripture says something different than they do. Consider, for instance, Exodus 20:5-6 (which is part of the 10 Commandments). “You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me, but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.” Likewise, 1 Samuel 3:13: “For I have told him that I am about to punish his house forever, for the iniquity that he knew, because his sons were blaspheming God, and he did not restrain them.” Granted, this is not “Adam’s Transgression” but likewise it is not punishment only for one’s own sins.

Concupiscence? From the dictionary: 1. sexual desire; lust. 2. ardent, usually sensuous longing. Remember, the church in the middle ages (and certainly at other times) had some trouble with human sexuality, especially sexual desire. The Evangelical Lutheran Church is presently discussing a draft Social Statement on Human Sexuality which in part states “We are all sexual creatures. The Bible makes clear that our sexual nature is both a blessing and a source of vulnerability.)

One of the important elements of classic Christian teaching (witnessed in the Augsburg Confession) about original sin is that if we are so thoroughly stained by sin, then we cannot accomplish our own “cleansing”. Even our good efforts are “contaminated”. We will see that the Mormon teaching lacks this significant element.

Pondering Pastor

Click here for Part 1 of this series

I’ve found myself drawn into a conversation elsewhere about the Articles of Faith written by Joseph Smith. In my conversations, I’ve attempted to provide a Christian perspective to the Articles of Faith of the Mormon church. In a series of posts here, I intend to provide “side by side comparisons” of the Morman Articles of Faith and Lutheran teaching from our historical documents (primarily the Augsburg Confession of 1530). Commentary will follow.

(I find it interesting that there is such parallelism between the Mormon Articles of Faith and the Augsburg Confession Articles of Faith. This will become apparent as we move through this exercise.)

Mormon Article of Faith #1

We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost.

Augsburg Confession Chief Article of Faith #1 - God

The churches among us teach with complete unanimity that the decree of the Council of Nicea concerning the unity of the divine essence and concerning the three persons is true and is to be believed without any doubt. That is to say, there is one divine essence which is called God and is God: eternal, incorporeal, indivisible, of immeasurable power, wisdom, and goodness, the creator and preserver of all things, visible and invisible. Yet, there are three persons, coeternal and of the same essence and power: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And the term “person” is used for that meaning which the church’s authors used in this case: to signify not a part or a quality in another but that which subsists in itself. They condemn all heresies that have arisen against this article, such as that of the Manichaeans, who posited two principles, one good and the other evil; likewise, those of the Valentinians, Arians, Eunomians, Mohammedans, and all others like them. They also condemn the Samosatenians, old and new, who contend that there is only one person and cleverly and impiously argue that the Word and the Holy Spirit are not distinct persons but that “Word” signifies a spoken word and “Spirit” a created movement in things.

Commentary

At first glance, it appears as though these two positions agree and that Lutherans are a whole lot wordier! The differences between classic Christian teaching (evidenced in the Augsburg Confession) and the Mormon teaching is only revealed as Mormons begin “unpacking” what they mean by their Article of Faith. The Mormon position identifies God the Father as “flesh and bone” where Lutherans confess God as eternal and incorporeal (that is not flesh and bone). There are three “persons” in both articles of faith, but for Mormons, there is no unity … except in unity of purpose. Lutherans confess the classic Holy Trinity, whereas the Mormons teach a variation of the heresies “condemned” by the Augsburg Confession. In fact, Mormon teaching most resembles Arianism, a heresy rejected by the church in the 5th century.

Pondering Pastor

Link to Part 2