Posted by:
RPackham
(
)
Date: December 08, 2013 02:15PM
According to the Book of Mormon, the true Church of Christ will have the name of Christ in its official name.
"And how be it my church save it be called in my name?" 3 Nephi 27:8
Me: What does this mean? Does it mean that if a church does not have "Christ" or "Jesus Christ" in its official name, then it is not the true church?
Mormon: Yes, that's what it means. You notice that our church is named the "Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints."
Me: If it were officially called something else, without "Jesus" or "Christ" in the name, that would mean that it was not the true church?
Mormon: Of course. That's what the Book of Mormon teaches us. That way we can recognize that the Lutheran Church or the Catholic Church or the Methodist Church - since they are not named after Christ, are not His church.
Me: I see that the First Presidency of your church, on May 3, 1834, obtained a vote from a church conference to change the original official name of the church ("Church of Christ") to "The Church of the Latter-day Saints." No mention of Jesus or Christ. Your church had that name until April 26, 1838, a period of almost four years, when it got its present name (D&C 115:3-4). Does that mean that for those four years your church was not the true church?
Mormon: Well, it was still the true church. The church itself had not changed. It was the same church. Only the name was different.
Me: But you agreed with the Book of Mormon, that a church without "Christ" in its name was not the true church. Your church lacked that name for four years.
Mormon: I feel here the spirit of dissension. You need to pray more so that you are not under the influence of the Adversary.