The Great and Abominable Church Part 1

For years I’ve wondered about the identity of the Great and Abominable Church of the Devil, or the Church of the Devil.  I think they’re the same.  It says in D&C 18:20 “Contend against no church, save it be the church of the devil.”  So if there is a Church of the Devil, what is it and how do we know what it is?

I’ve asked this question, and I’ve received the stock answer that apparently comes from Eld. McConkie’s “Mormon Doctrine” that says it’s “everything which fight against the testimony of Jesus Christ”.  Of course it used to say that it was the Catholic Church which is what I pretty much believed when I was on my mission. 

I now believe that the Church of the Devil is the Great and Abominable Church of the Devil that is described in Nephi’s vision of the tree of life, or more accurately Nephi’s vision which interpreted his father’s vision of the Tree of Life because is seems to me that Nephi’s vision goes far beyond Lehi’s vision. 

1 Nep 1

1. And it came to pass that I saw among the nations of the Gentiles the formation of a great church.
2. And the angel said unto me: Behold the formation of a church which is most abominable above all other churches, which slayeth the saints of God, yea, and tortureth them and bindeth them down, and yoketh them with a yoke of iron, and bringeth them down into captivity.
3. And it came to pass that I beheld this great and abominable church; and I saw the devil that he was founder of it.
4. And I also saw gold, and silver, and silks, and scarlets, and fine-twined linen, and all manner of precious clothing; and I saw many harlots.
5. And the angel spake unto me, saying: Behold the gold, and the silver, and the silks, and the scarlets, and the fine-twined lined, and the precious clotthing, and the harlots, are the desires of this great and abominable church.
6. And also for the praise of the world do they destroy the saints of God, and bring them down into captivity.

1. And the angel of the Lord said unto me: Thou hast beheld that the book proceeded forth from the mouth of a Jew; and when it proceeded forth from the mouth of a Jew it contained the fulness of the gospel of the Lord, of whom the twelve apostles bear record; and they bear record according to the truth which is in the Lamb of God.
2. Wherefore, these things go forth from the Jews in purity unto the Gentiles, according to the truth which is in God.
3. And after they go forth by the hand of the twelve apostles of the Lamb, from the Jews unto the Gentiles, thou seest the formation of that great and abominable church, which is most abominable above all other churches; for behold, they have taken away from the gospel of the Lamb many parts which are plain and most precious; and also many covenants of the Lord have they taken away.
4. And all this have they done that they might pervert the right ways of the Lord, that they might blind the eyes and harden the hearts of the children of men.
5. Wherefore, thou seest that after the book hath gone forth through the hands of the great and abominable church, that there are many plain and precious things taken aways from the book, which is the book of the Lamb of God.

These two sets of scriptures give a description and a time frame for when it was founded.  This church is founded among the nations of the Gentiles (1 Nep 14:4).  This is interesting because Nephi doesn’t mention this Church in the destruction of his brethren’s people in the destruction of his brethren’s people.  He specifically says that they were destroyed because of

1. And the mists of darkness are the temptations of the devil, which blindeth the eyes, and hardeneth the hearts of the children of men, and leadeth them away into broad roads, that they perish and are lost
2. And the mists of darkness are themtation of the devil, which blindeth the eyes, and hardeneth the hearts of the children of men, and leadeth them away into broad roads, that they perish and are lost.

I wouldn’t say that those things that destroyed the Nephite and Lamanite cultures wouldn’t also be part of the Great and Abominable Church, but Nephi seems to be describing something else.  So it’s formed among them and bindeth them down, and yoketh them with a yoke of iron, and bringeth them down into captivity.” (1 Nep 14:5)

I used to see the medieval Catholic Church as this organization, however I don’t know of a European organization that did all of those things.  For example the Catholic Church never had the power to slay anyone.  If the Catholic Church found a person to be a heretic they turned them over to the secular authority to slay them.  The Catholic Church might have done all those other things there described, but so did secular authorities as well.

Also this Church sought after “gold, and silver, and silks, and scarlets, and fine-twined linen, and all manner of precious clothing: and I saw many harlots.” (1 Nep 14:7-8).  Again it can be said by anyone that knows of the history of the medieval Catholic Church know that it did seek after these things, however it was not the only organization that did so or does so.

It also says that the reason that the Church did thes was because of the praise of the world. (1Nep 14:9)

1 Nep 14:23-28 gives us another thing that the Great and Abominable Church does, and a time frame by when it had to have been formed.  Verse 23 is talking about the Old Testament that is had among the Gentiles and is similar to the Brass Plates thought they are not as extensive, they do contain the covenants of the Lord and are of great worth to the Gentiles.  Verses 24 and 25 say that this book goes forth in purity from the Jew to the gentile, and it contains the fullness of the gospel.

Verse 26 starts to talk about how the testimony of the apostles goes forth, and then the formation of the Great and Abominable Church which has “taken away from the gospel of the Lamb many parts which are plain and most precious; and also many covenants of the Lord”.  So the first thing that this Church does is change the teachings about the gospel and the covenants that go with it.  Verse 27 explains why they’ve done “this that they might pervert the right ways of the Lord, that they might blind the eyes and harden the hearts of the children of men.”

Verse 28 then explains that after this is done the Church then alters the book that has gone forth from the Jews.  I think that it’s talking about both the Old Testament and the New Testament.  This had to have happened during the 2nd Century because after this all evidence seems to indicate that the Old and New Testaments were pretty much fixed.  The Catholic Church could not have done this because Catholic Church did not exist at this time.  I’m not sure that it’s possible to tell what the organization is or if it’s even a single organization.  My thought is that it is organized bureaucracy that started to become more prevalent around that time and certain elements of that changed the doctrine and the scriptures.  An ingrained trait of bureaucracy is to protect and sustain itself.  A prefect example of this, I believe is how the civil organization of dioceses, parishes etc. became the Catholic Church’s organization.

A New Blog!

I know that my kids are going to think;  "Oh great Dad has another blog."  And it's true I've been starting and stopping blogs for a few years.  It all started when I had a Wood Badge ticket to help get the scouts better informed.  l started with iWeb and realized that worked OK but then the scouts wouldn't own it so then I started thinking it would be nice if the scouts could start and run a website that the troop could own. There was also a problem with the church not wanting units to have web sites.

So then I started looking for some thing that would let the scouts set up and run a website. I found something called Expression Engine (EE).  That was exciting for me personally but when they upgraded to 2.0 the free version went away and it was too complicated.  Now I don't worry about web sites for the scouts to keep them informed but would like a blog of my own.  During my EE phase I thought it would be nice to have a family site but really with social media and stuff it doesn't really make sense to try do something like that.

Around this time was when the LDS leadership started talking about using the internet to spread the gospel.  In my humility I thought that I would be good at that because I know everything. Just ask me.  So I thought two web sites one that is more personal and one that would explain Mormonism to the world.  Turns out there was some problems with that plan.  First it's hard for me to divide between what is   nonreligious and everything else because religion permeates everything for me and since I'm LDS that means Mormonism.

Second I'm  so dang smart that I couldn't even spell Mormon in the website address correctly.  It was momonthoughts and my daughter Nini had to point that out to me.

So I've just decided to have one blog and combine everything in it since my family are most likely the only people who will probably read it.  Also I've now got Mormon in the address.  I have an internet friend who I met years ago on a Christian message board and his blog is called "Mild Mannered Musigs".  l love alliterations and that made me want a blog called "Mormon Musings".  How about that for a total ripoff?  Well I thought Mormon Meditations was pretty good but that was taken as was Mormon Musings and Mormon Thoughts and finally I hit on Mormon Rumination's and that was available.  It's not an alliteration but it has a lot of m and n sounds going on and that's pretty close.