First off, we have to be careful not to assume, or read things into scripture. The scriptures you cite do not say that All churches are evil and corrupt. It states that there are some that are corrupt and seek to sway people away from goodness and Christ.
Do all churches have false creeds and ideas? Yes. I'd even venture to state that we may have a few among the Mormons, if not on an official basis, then as a generally accepted basis. That doesn't mean the Church is fallen. It just means we do not have all truth yet. We have a fulness of truth, meaning we have enough to exalt us. There are many good churches out there, and we need to recognize truth and light wherever it is found. We also need to fight evil and wrong creeds, wherever they are found. We have this tendency to think that in the book of Mormon there was only the Church of Christ and the Church of the Devil. I submit that as the family grew into a nation, there may have been many churches, and those acceptable to Christ. The religion was not really centralized until Alma 2nd, with the common aspect of worshiping in the wilderness (a la Abraham, Isaac and Jacob) as a traditional past-time of the Nephites before this (and probably afterward, as well). Nephi would not have condemned different branches of the Church, per se. He would have condemned different branches that taught extremely wrong and evil creeds, leading people away from Christ. So, where modern religion leads people to Christ, it ought to be applauded. And where it leads them swiftly to hell, we should condemn it. You tend to view it from a Celestial Kingdom/Hell perspective, while others see things from a multiple heaven perspective, understanding that Terrestrial beings are honorable, as are their belief systems (Law of Moses, Christianity, Buddhism, Islam, etc). K'aya K'ama Gerald Smith [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.geocities.com/rameumptom/ Freedom Forever ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// /// ZION LIST CHARTER: Please read it at /// /// http://www.zionsbest.com/charter.html /// ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// --^---------------------------------------------------------------- This email was sent to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?aaP9AU.bWix1n.YXJjaGl2 Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] TOPICA - Start your own email discussion group. FREE! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/create/index2.html --^----------------------------------------------------------------
