In his sweeping vision of human history (or, from Nephi’s
perspective, human future), Nephi
divides all people into “save
two churches only; the one is the church of the Lamb of God, and the other is
the church of the devil” (1 Nephi 14:10). Such a dichotomy is a common theme in
the Book of Mormon, and is an indispensible aspect of early Judeo-Christian
literature, dating back to Lehi’s time (see Jeremiah 21:8).[1]
This can be easily misunderstood to insinuate that anyone who is not a
Latter-day Saint is of the church of the devil, and therefore evil. Here, I
would note the interpretation of these two symbols by several scholars, which
suggests that the picture is much more complex.
The Great and
Abominable Church
The first
thing Nephi sees in this phase of the vision is the formation of a “great
church … a church which is most abominable above all other churches” (1 Nephi
13:4-5). Few symbols in Latter-day Saint scripture have been more thoroughly
misunderstood than Nephi’s “great and abominable church,” also called “the
church of the devil” (1 Nephi 14:9-10). Sectarians who are uncomfortable with
the Latter-day Saints have invariably taken this as reference to themselves and
their churches, and all too often Latter-day Saints have only added to this
misperception.[2]
The “great
and abominable church” is a symbol,
and as such it does not correlate one-to-one with any specific institution or group. As Brant Gardner has observed, “the
power of symbolic language is its ability to simultaneously represent multiple
concepts.”[3]
Stephen E. Robinson has amply demonstrated that Nephi’s “great and abominable
church” is the equivalent of John the Revelator’s “Babylon.”[4]
Both persecute, torture, and kill the righteous, both seek wealth and power,
both are described as sexually impure, both exercise dominion over all the
earth, and both are doomed to self-destruct.[5]
Thus, as another scholar concludes, “the Book of Mormon image of a great and
abominable church compliments the biblical images of Babylon and the harlot.”[6]
Robinson further notes:
The word church (Hebrew qahal or edah; Greek ekklesia) had a slightly
broader meaning anciently than it does now. It referred to an assembly,
congregation, or association of people
who bonded together and shared the same loyalties. Thus the term was not
necessarily restricted to religious associations…. When we put all this
together, we find that the term great
and abominable church means
an immense assembly or association of people bound together by their loyalty to
that which God hates.[7]
This accords with Bruce R. McConkie’s definition, that it is “all churches or organizations of
whatever name or nature – whether political, philosophical, educational,
economic, social, fraternal, civic, or religious – which are designed to take
men on a course that leads away from God and his laws and thus from salvation
in the kingdom of God.”[8]
Rodney Turner further distinguished it as only the “vicious elements” within
such groups.[9] LDS
researcher and educator Casey Paul Griffiths explains, “The church of the devil
is a type, designed to represent the work of the adversary among all people,
nations, and societies in the world,” and notes that “no single historical
organization quite fits the profile of the great and abominable church.”[10]
To be sure, certain churches or
religious groups (or people within such organizations) may have constituted a
portion of the “great and abominable church,” and fulfilled some its historical
functions as identified in Nephi’s vision, but this is not limited to groups or
persons outside the LDS faith. That
is to say, some individual Mormons
or groups of Mormons may be part of the great and abominable church. Neither is
the “Church of the Lamb” exclusively limited to the LDS Church or its
membership. Robinson explains, “individual
orientation to the Church of the Lamb or to the great and abominable church is
not by membership but by loyalty.” He continues,
Just as there are
Latter-day Saints who belong to the great and abominable church because of
their loyalty to Satan and his lifestyle, so there are members of other
churches who belong to the Lamb because of their loyalty to him and his
lifestyle. Membership is based more on who has your heart than on who has your
records.[11]
Griffiths also notes that “there may be people on the rolls of the
Latter-day Saints who reside in the church of the devil,” and that “membership
in the church of the Lamb is based on the desires of your heart, not just on
which church you attend.”[12]
Ultimately, identifying
which groups in history have been a part of the great and abominable church is
not as important as understanding the things that church has done and will
continue to do. As Robert E. Parsons noted, “one should be more concerned with
what the great and abominable church did than with who or what the great and
abominable church was.”[13]
The Church of the Lamb of God
Later in the
same vision, Nephi sees that the earth will be overwhelmingly wicked, but that
the few Saints will be all around the world, and that they will be strengthened
by the Lord in a great struggle with the forces of evil (see 1 Nephi 14:9-16). It
is at this point that Nephi introduces the antithesis to the great and
abominable church – the church of the Lamb of God.
And he
said unto me:
Behold
there are save two churches
only;
the
one is the church of
the Lamb of God,
and the other is the church of the devil;
wherefore, whoso belongeth not to the church of the
Lamb of God belongeth to that great church, which is the mother of abominations;
and she is the whore of all
the earth. And it came to pass that I looked and beheld the whore of all the
earth, and she sat upon many waters; and she had dominion over all the earth, among all nations,
kindreds, tongues, and people.
(a) And
it came to pass that I beheld the church of the Lamb of God,
(b) and
its numbers were few,
(c) because
of the wickedness and abominations of the whore who sat upon many waters;
(a) nevertheless,
I beheld that the church of the Lamb, who were the saints of God, were also
upon all the face of the earth;
(b) and
their dominions upon the face of the earth were small,
Nephi introduces the church of the Lamb with a detailing, a type of parallelism that makes an introductory
statement, which is by itself complete, and then follows it up with statements
that provide more details, principally answering a question of either who, what,
which, why, where, or how.[15]
In this case, the introductory statement yields the information that there are
only two churches, and the follow up statements identifies what those churches are.
Just as with the great and abominable church
(identified here as “the church of the devil”), the church of the Lamb is
typological, and includes more than just the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints. Casey Paul Griffiths writes, “Membership in the church of
the Lamb in this [typological] context expands beyond denominational lines to
include all who genuinely strive to do good according to the light they have
been given.”[16]
He further states, “This allows us to recognize righteous individuals outside
of our own faith who will stand in opposition to the work of the church of the
devil. By this standard there are members of all faiths who may reside within
the church of the Lamb of God…. By this standard, membership in the church of
the Lamb is based on the desires of your heart, not just on which church you
attend.”[17]
Just as the great and abominable church is an embodiment of all that is evil,
so the church of the Lamb is an embodiment of all that is good.
Though the typological embodiment of the
church of the Lamb goes beyond the LDS Church, nonetheless certain historical
aspects of Nephi’s prophecy relative to the church of the Lamb are fulfilled by
the restored Church of Jesus Christ (just as historical functions of the great
and abominable church may be fulfilled by identifiable groups). Griffiths
highlights three aspects of the prophecy fulfilled by the Church:
Nephi’s
vision of the church of the Lamb of God paints an illustrative picture of what
the members of the true Church may expect in the last days. Among the most
illuminating points of the vision are the following:
·
The
Church’s numbers were few and dominions small (see 1 Nephi 14:12).
·
The
Church’s members were scattered upon all the face of the earth (see 1 Nephi
14:12, 14).
·
Nephi
saw the power of the Lamb descend upon the Saints of the Church and beheld that
they were armed with righteousness and power of God in great glory (see 1 Nephi
14:14).
These
few phrases give a marvelous description of the place and function of the
Church in the last days.[18]
Griffiths goes on to demonstrate that these are the exact conditions of
the LDS Church at present.[19]
The extended alternating parallels of verse
12 (see above) serve to emphasize the predicament of the church of the Lamb: it
will always be few in number and small in power, and this will be because of
the wickedness of the great and abominable church (or “whore,” as it is
identified in this passage). Griffiths notes, “From a prophetic point of view,
obstacles to Church growth come directly from the followers of the adversary.”[20]
Today the Church faces opposition in the public sphere from various advocacy
groups who deliberately seek to tear down the Church. Hence, it is presently
just as Nephi described.
Still, readers ought
not confuse the way the LDS Church fulfills some of the historical aspects of
the church of the Lamb as indicating that the LDS Church is the church of the
Lamb as a whole. Given that this passage speaks symbolically and typologically,
with only two churches in Nephi’s vision, it would be absurd to insist that
anyone not baptized into the LDS Church is therefore of church of the devil. Griffiths
notes that a “typological view of the church of the Lamb allows us to include
the modern day Cyruses who will stand with the Saints in defense of
righteousness…. [The Saints are not] without allies in their struggles.”[21]
Conclusion
The two symbols—the church
of the Lamb and the church of the devil—symbolize, typologically, the forces of
good and evil. As I noted in the introduction, such dichotomies are typically
of ancient Judeo-Christian literature. “This kind of scriptural writing is
meant to remind us of the struggles between good and evil that have happened
throughout the earth’s existence.”[22]
That struggle continues today, and Nephi is speaking of the world we currently
live in. In giving us only two options, Nephi challenges us to pick a side.
Like Joshua, he leaves us to “choose you this day whom ye will serve” (Joshua
24:15), and like Christ, he insists that we cannot serve both (Matthew 6:24;
Luke 16:13). We live in a world where we must choose; “as for me and my house,
we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15).
[1] See commentary in Brant A. Gardner, Analytical and Contextual Commentary on the
Book of Mormon, 6 vols. (Salt Lake City, Utah: Greg Kofford Books,
2007-2008) 1:247-248.
[2] In all fairness, it has not been unheard of
for sectarian anti-Mormons to equate the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints with the “Babylon,” “the great whore,” and “mother of all harlots” in
John’s Revelation, which represents the exact same thing as the “great and
abominable church” (see discussion in the body of the text). The pejorative use
of scripture symbols goes both ways.
[3] Gardner, Second Witness, 1:229.
[4] See Stephen E. Robinson, “Nephi’s ‘Great
and Abominable Church’,” Journal of Book
of Mormon Studies 7/1 (1998): 32-39; also see Stephen E. Robinson, “Great
and abominable church,” in Book of
Mormon Reference Companion, Dennis L. Largey et al., eds. (Salt Lake City,
Utah: Deseret Book, 2003), 310-315;
Stephen E. Robinson, “Early Christianity and 1 Nephi 13-14,” in First Nephi: The Doctrinal Foundation, Book of Mormon Symposium Series: Volume
2, Monte S. Nyman and Charles D. Tate Jr., eds. (Provo, Utah: BYU Religious
Studies Center, 1989; reprint Greg Kofford Books, 2007), 177-191.
[5] Robinson, “Nephi’s ‘Great and Abominable
Church’,” 34-35; Robinson, “Great and abominable church,” 311; Robinson, “Early
Christianity,” 179.
[6]
Dennis A. Wright, “Great and Abominable Church,” in To All the World: The Book of Mormon Articles from the Encyclopedia
of Mormonism, Daniel H. Ludlow, S. Kent Brown, and John W. Welch, eds. (Provo,
Utah: FARMS, 2000), 114.
[7] Robinson, “Nephi’s ‘Great and Abominable
Church’,” 34; Robinson, “Great and abominable church,” 311; Robinson, “Early
Christianity,” 178.
[8] Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, 2nd ed. (Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret
Book, 1966), 137-138.
[9]
Rodney Turner, “The Prophet Nephi,” in First
Nephi: The Doctrinal Foundation, BMSS
2:88.
[10]
Casey Paul Griffiths, “The Church of the Lamb of God,” in The Things Which My Father Saw: Approaches to Lehi’s Dream and Nephi’s
Vision, The 40th Annual Sidney B.
Sperry Symposium, Daniel L. Belnap, Gaye Strathearn, and Stanley B. Johnson,
eds. (Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book and BYU Religious Studies Center,
2011), 45.
[11]
Robinson, “Nephi’s ‘Great and
Abominable Church’,” 37-38; Robinson, “Great and abominable church,” 314;
Robinson, “Early Christianity,” 184.
[12]
Griffiths, “The Church of the Lamb of God,” 45.
[13]
Robert E. Parsons, “The Great and Abominable Church,” in The Book of Mormon: Part 1 – 1 Nephi-Alma 29, Studies in Scripture: Volume 7, Kent P. Jackson,
ed. (Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book, 1987), 47.
[14]
For the structure of this passage used here, see Donald W. Perry, Poetic Parallelism in the Book of Mormon:
The Complete Text Reformatted (Provo, Utah: Neal A. Maxwell Institute,
2007), 29-30.
[15]
See Perry, Poetic Parallelism, xxxiii.
[16]
Griffiths, “The Church of the Lamb of God,” 45, brackets mine.
[17]
Griffiths, “The Church of the Lamb of God,” 45.
[18]
Griffiths, “The Church of the Lamb of God,” 40-41. None of this should be taken
to mean that these same things cannot be said of non-members, who are part of
the church of the Lamb in the typological sense.
[19]
Griffiths, “The Church of the Lamb of God,” 41-44.
[20]
Griffiths, “The Church of the Lamb of God,” 42.
[21]
Griffiths, “The Church of the Lamb of God,” 47.
[22]
Griffiths, “The Church of the Lamb of God,” 39.
Great insights! It is frustrating to me as a Mormon that very well-known Mormons have contributed to the misperception of what the Church of the Devil is that Nephi sees.
ReplyDeleteI agree that it is frustrating when some among us promote that misconception. Part of why I wrote this up.
DeleteI found it interesting while I was reading through the Book of Mormon student manual when it discusses 1 nephi 13:4-9 that the word church has a deferent meaning to The Lord. In his view church means kingdom. It states we often refer to the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints as the kingdom of god. If we liken the great and abominable curch to the kingdom of the devil it clarifies his dominion and what is meant. To your point it can be anything that the devil has influence over. It is not exclusive to actual church originations as we see now.
ReplyDeleteAs a former LDS, are you suggesting in your article that the LDS church is not the only way to God's presence (eternal salvation) but that any who serve God and fellow man - through their humble and godly heart - are in the Church of the Lamb?
ReplyDelete+Orin Porter, I am a fully active member of the LDS church and if you don't mind, I you like to give you MY personal opinion.
DeleteWe came here to earth to progress. We progressed as much as we could in the pre-earth life and needed bodies to continue our progression. This is what is the most important thing we can do on this earth: BECOME BETTER.
With that in mind do you need to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to become better? Of course not! The church has a lot of things that will help one become a better person, but one can become a better person without the church. The God's church was not on the earth for hundreds of years and there are billions of Gods children that were not members of His church yet it will be alright for them.
What each of us need to do is try and be better people, love our families a little more, help those in need, forgive those that hurt us, smile at strangers...these things are SO much more important than what church you go to.
I think when we all are in front of God to be judged, it will be more of a comparison of what type of a person we are now and what we were before we came to earth. It will not be an analysis of what church we belong to or where or when we lived.
Again that is my opinion but I hope it helps answer your question,
Merry CHRISTmas!