Many people hate organized religion, or at best have an uneasy mistrust of large religious bodies. The American patriot Thomas Paine, for example, had harsh words for organized bodies of believers:
“I do not believe in the creed professed by the Jewish Church, by the Roman Church, by the Greek Church, by the Turkish Church, by the Protestant Church, nor by any church that I know of. My own mind is my own church.”
“All national institutions of churches, whether Jewish, Christian, or Turkish, appear to me no other than human inventions set up to terrify and enslave mankind, and monopolize power and profit.”
“I do not mean by this declaration to condemn those who believe otherwise; they have the same right to their belief as I have to mine. But it is necessary to the happiness of man, that he be mentally faithful to himself. Infidelity does not consist in believing, or in disbelieving; it consists in professing to believe what he does not believe.” (Age of Reason, Chapter 1)
Although he was a believer in his own way, he clearly felt that the churches extant in his day were not true. This anti-establishment feeling is not unique to Paine. Many people see the scandals that plague churches and para-church ministries, and they are put off by the whole affair. “If this is what a gathering of true believers is like,” they say, “then I will take my chances with the atheists, agnostics, and pagans.”
Mormons have a different view of things. Frequently in their meetings they will say, “I know the Church is true.” What this means is that
This is important for several reasons. However, the best way to explain why it is important is to go back to the organization of the Mormon Church on April 6, 1830, and study what happened.
This organization was preceded by several events. The first was the First Vision, where God the Father and Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph Smith. The second was the visit of the angel Moroni to Joseph Smith. Then came the translation of The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ. And finally came the restoration of priesthood authority from John the Baptist, and the three apostles Peter, James, and John.
With all of this in place, Joseph Smith was ready to organize the body of believers. As the notes from the organization tell, they conducted the meeting with a specific agenda. This is what occurred on that special day:
“Having opened the meeting by solemn prayer to our Heavenly Father, we proceeded, according to previous commandment, to call on our brethren to know whether they accepted us as their teachers in the things of the Kingdom of God, and whether they were satisfied that we should proceed and be organized as a Church according to said commandment which we had received. To these several propositions they consented by a unanimous vote.”
“I then laid my hands upon Oliver Cowdery, and ordained him an Elder of the ‘Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints;’ after which, he ordained me also to the office of an Elder of said Church. We then took bread, blessed it, and brake it with them; also wine, blessed it, and drank it with them. We then laid our hands on each individual member of the Church present, that they might receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, and be confirmed members of the Church of Christ. The Holy Ghost was poured out upon us to a very great degree—some prophesied, whilst we all praised the Lord, and rejoiced exceedingly. …”
“We now proceeded to call out and ordain some others of the brethren to different offices of the Priesthood, according as the Spirit manifested unto us: and after a happy time spent in witnessing and feeling for ourselves the powers and blessings of the Holy Ghost, through the grace of God bestowed upon us, we dismissed with the pleasing knowledge that we were now individually members of, and acknowledged of God, ‘The Church of Jesus Christ,’ organized in accordance with commandments and revelations given by Him to ourselves in these last days, as well as according to the order of the Church as recorded in the New Testament.” (“Chapter 11: The Organization and Destiny of the True and Living Church,” Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith, [2007], 135–47.)
The first thing they did was to organize the leadership. Joseph Smith was called to be the First Elder of the Church, with Oliver Cowdery as the Second Elder. In addition to being the leaders, they were also empowered to be “teachers in the things of the Kingdom of God.” This act was sustained by the approval of the six members.
From this two principles emerge. One is the necessity of having a centralized leader. I admire Roman Catholics because they have a clear chain of command and a centralized leader who can lay down the law for the whole body of Catholics. Pope Benedict XVI, for example, has been able to orchestrate a church-wide house-cleaning due to the child molestation scandal. If there was no centralized authority, one wonders how they could deal with the problem. On the other hand, religions that have no centralized authority tend to be subject to fads and domineering personalities, which ultimately lead to instability, sects, and factions.
The second point is the importance of membership approval, or common consent. As Elder James E. Talmage (a Mormon apostle) observed, this process made the Mormon Church a “theodemocracy.” (The Vitality of Mormonism, 30), which combines the best of both worlds: there is guidance from above, but members must also approve of the choices. This is a fail-safe for human imperfection.
But back to the history. Next, Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery set each other apart by the priesthood authority to serve in their capacities. This is another priesthood rite that empowers people to serve in their church callings. Following that they administered the sacrament (communion or Lord’s Supper). They then confirmed each of the six members as members of the church and gave them the Gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands.
This is another reason why an organized body is necessary. The ordinances (ceremonies or rites) must be preformed within the church by authorized members. Order is the watchword: “One Lord, one faith, one baptism.” (Ephesians 4:5)
The third thing that happened at the organization of the church was fellowship. After the ordinances were preformed, there was an outpouring of God’s love on the small group of saints:
“Some prophesied, whilst we all praised the Lord, and rejoiced exceedingly. … A happy time spent in witnessing and feeling for ourselves the powers and blessings of the Holy Ghost, through the grace of God bestowed upon us, we dismissed with the pleasing knowledge that we were now individually members of, and acknowledged of God.”
This is a bit hard to explain, since we were not there and the words of the record fail us. But such experiences are commonplace.
Have you ever been to a party, or on a date, or with another person, and for some reason everything just clicked right? There was chemistry between you two, but also something even more? And then have you tried to explain it to someone else who wasn’t there with you—be it at the church meeting or seeing a movie or that chat over a game of checkers—and you just cannot conjure up the same feelings? This meeting was like that. Something happened there, and it made a difference to those people.
Similarly, in church meetings today we strive to have the same experience they did. There is something unseen—call it an esprit de corps—that emerges when like-minded people gather together to worship. But there is something even more: God sends His spirit to bless us, to unify us, and to edify us. God empowers us to live for the rest of the week.
So we have organized religion to have a centralized coordinating authority, to perform the ordinances of the Gospel, and also to have fellowship with our neighbors and the Lord. Thomas Paine disliked organized religion. But when we see all the good things that come out of having an organized religion, we humbly beg to differ. For Mormons, organized religion is not a human invention set up to terrify and enslave mankind, but a blessing from God.
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