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Context
The Way I Viewed Christians
I am a child of the 60s and 70s. My version of Mormonism is based on the truth claims that prevailed at that time. Boyd K. Packer, Bruce R. McConkie, and the promise of Lorenzo Snow shaped my Mormon faith.
As man is, God once was; as God is, man may become.
— Lorenzo Snow, fifth prophet and president to the LDS church, June 1840
My faith pointed primarily to the hope of my own glory. On that basis, I believed in Mormonism and nothing more.
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.
Doctrine and Covenants 1:30
I saw this passage as the literal Word of God. My belief spawned self-righteous arrogance that came with ease.
My Missions
I served two missions for the church in the 70s and 80s. In that era, Mormon missionaries memorized seven discussions, word-for-word. The first discussion focused on Joseph Smith’s account of the First Vision.
18My object in going to inquire of the Lord was to know which of all the sects was right, that I might know which to join. No sooner, therefore, did I get possession of myself, so as to be able to speak, than I asked the Personages who stood above me in the light, which of all the sects was right (for at this time it had never entered into my heart that all were wrong)—and which I should join. 19I was answered that I must join none of them, for they were all wrong; and the Personage who addressed me said that all their creeds were an abomination in his sight; that those professors were all corrupt; that: “they draw near to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me, they teach for doctrines the commandments of men, having a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof.”
Joseph Smith History 1:18-19, Canonized as scripture in the Pearl of Great Price, emphasis added
The First Vision, more than anything, caused Mormons of my generation to distrust born again Christians. In my mind, the idea of being born again conjured visions of paganism.
At that time, I had no reason to suspect God’s truth and the truth claims of Joseph Smith might not be in harmony.
I can’t say my experience in the latter half of the twentieth century was typical of all LDS. However, I am confident my experience represents the prevailing mindset of Mormon baby boomers.
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