Category: Perfection
-
To Be or Not to Be? That is the Question (About Perfection in Mormonism)
The word perfection has been emphasized in several different ways by LDS leaders over the years. Today, imperatives like “strive” and “do your best” are often used in response to a word that, in this church’s history, has historically been associated with successfully accomplishing the task (i.e. commandment) at hand. Perfection was the focus of…
-
Mormonism Affirms Its Doctrine of “Being Perfect—in Christ”
8 July 2019 The June issue of Ensign magazine (2019), published by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, contains an article in its “What We Believe” section titled, “We Believe in Being Perfect—in Christ” (30-31, emphasis in the original). The LDS doctrine related to being perfect has been examined and discussed several times at…
-
LDS Apostle Tries to Comfort Discouraged Mormons
LDS apostle Jeffrey Holland seems to be engaged in an ongoing effort to soften the harsh reality of Mormonism’s impossible gospel. A year and a half ago, at the April 2016 General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Mr. Holland assured Mormons, contrary to orthodox and historical LDS doctrine, that even…
-
Perfect Mormonism
At a blog site titled “Relationship Refinery,” Mormon blogger Kate wrote about her “Lifelong Wrestle with Mormonism.” In her article, Kate writes that there is one factor to which she attributes “any lasting peace or happiness” she has experienced. “that, unequivocally, has come from fully living my religion. And I mean, the real religion. “One issue is that…
-
Matthew 5:48: Is Perfection an Achievable Goal?
This article first appeared in the Practical Hermeneutics column of the CHRISTIAN RESEARCH JOURNAL, volume 39, number 06 (2016) Jesus taught in Matthew 5:48, “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father, which is in heaven is perfect” (KJV). This verse has been quoted many times over the years by top leaders of The Church of Jesus…
-
Reading Between the Lines on the Issue of Perfection (Part 1)
A recent article in the July 2014 Ensign magazine titled “Becoming Perfect in Christ,” written by Seventy Gerrit W. Gong, caught my eye. I’m not one to make many predictions, but when I saw the title, my immediate response was that this article would teach that “becoming perfect” is not what Mormonism teaches. In effect,…
-
Matthew 5:48: Perfection
By Bill McKeever and Eric JohnsonPresident Spencer W. Kimball told of a man who wanted to make sure he had made final spiritual preparations before undergoing “radical surgery.” Kimball wrote,
-
Matthew 19:16-22: Becoming Perfect?
By Eric JohnsonMany Latter-day Saints have pointed to the story of the rich young ruler to show that perfection is required in order to obtain salvation. The passage reads: 16 Just then a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?”17 “Why do you ask me…
-
Perfection (Defined)
Perfection. The idea that a Mormon must keep all the commandments. Often Matthew 5:48 (“be ye perfect”) is quoted to show that this standard must be met by the faithful Latter-day Saint. According to twelfth President Spencer Kimball: “This progress toward eternal life is a matter of achieving perfection. Living all the commandments guarantees total…