“My servant Joseph Smith, Jun., might have power to translate through the mercy of God, by the power of God, the Book of Mormon. And also those to whom these commandments were given, might have power to lay the foundation of this church, and to bring it forth out of obscurity and out of darkness, the only true and living church upon the face of the whole earth, with which I, the Lord, am well pleased, speaking unto the church collectively and not individually”

Those who point out that only creeds were wrong, and not churches, might ponder the implications of this. I believe that there are many great people in other churches, and many true doctrines, but the Lord said that this church (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) is the only one that is both true and living,

Becoming proud about it would totally ruin the purpose so to me there is no shame in saying that this is the one true church. But there is a way to express it that would probably be acceptable for any other believer that we should adopt as a way to speak in general.

“Creeds are an abomination; professors are corrupt; but churches, ministers, and members probably were neither even if wrong.”

I don’t know if this interpretation will hold under analysis, but I like it.

I noticed another thing about the newest First Vision video. It makes no reference to Joseph’s encounter with the adversary. I thought that striking the first time I saw it and commented aloud to Carol why they left that out. I think any reference to Satan in this day in age seems to cause people to feel uncomfortable. It was much more common in recorded discourses in the early days of the church, as in Brigham and Heber and Jedediah.

Thank you for sharing the points Elder Holland made in your Stake Conference about the creeds being an abomination and the professors being corrupt. That’s an very important distinction. Corrupt in this instance can mean damaged or altered, implying unintentional change. I agree that we should not impugn abomination upon the believers or the ministers, only upon the corrupted creeds. I have been enlightened. Well shared!

“I don’t care to prove my points right or wrong. I believe that truth can stand on its own. There have been so many defenders of the faith before me who have done a masterful job of explaining what we believe.”

No single blog (from people like you and me) should pretend to take on the responsibility of being THE defender of the truth. The truth stands pretty well on its own, and besides, as you say, there have been plenty of masterful defenders of the Church who have preceded us.

The main thing I have learned from your blog essays is that the Church works in your life, producing blessings that could not originate from anywhere but God. You are one of the most effective bloggers in the delivery of that most practical message. Thanks.

I do not think that as a Church we strongly emphasize that other churches are "wrong." President Eyring's recent talk about our being the true and living Church makes no mention of this or of the First Vision. http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=d7d1558fcc599110VgnVCM100000176f620a____&hideNav=1

The newest Church video with respect to the First Vision does not mention God's words in Joseph's account that the other churches were "wrong."

When Elder Holland visited our stake a year or so ago, he emphasized that the wording states that the "creeds" were an "abomination" and the "professors" "corrupt"–implying to me in his exegesis that while the churches and teachings themselves might have been "wrong", the churches, members and ministers (as distinct from professors and creeds) were not an "abomination" or "corrupt."

David H