"The Church is True"

What Orson said.

It’s cultural habit, and it simply means, imo, “I know that God directs the Church.” It’s clunky and odd phraseology to me, but I “get it” as far as what people generally mean by it, so I let it ride and don’t worry about it.

Thank you for your responses.

I always thought it was odd that members said “The Church is true.” I doubt anyone would ever say “The Church is false.” So it’s not a true/false mind-think.

It’s like saying “We’re grateful for the moisture we’ve received,” or “I would be ungrateful today if I didn’t . . .” Also, they probably mean “gospel” but say “church.”

This is a habit. Picked up from a long history of Testimonies and continues to this day. I am thankful for your post and I personally do not say this. I have a testimony of the restored gospel. I believe that the teachings of this gospel are true.

Old habits die hard.

It is similar to the sustaining of members in callings and business from the pulpit. I recall a Stake High Councilor bringing a motion to move the church building 26 feet to the north. All of the adults raised their hands sustaining and no one opposed. Then he asked several people what he had just brought before them and they did not know even thought they had sustained…

Interesting food for thought…

The Church points in the “true” direction. It doesn’t mean it (or we) got there yet.

In the New Testament era, The Church is likened to two things: the body of Christ and the bride of Christ – as it sometimes is today when the New Testament is studied. Furthermore, there was to be one faith, one Lord, one baptism. With each church denomination in the early reformation years having a different “common denominator” – a different set of beliefs (i.e., “faith”, and sometimes baptism), the question arose as to which faith (and baptism) was in accord with the original apostolic teachings. They assumed or understood that such a church would be the true bride of Christ and or alternately the true body of Christ. All others faiths, denominations, churches would not be the same as the one that had been established in New Testament times. Therefor all others would be something other than the true “bride” and “body.” After all, the true bride and body (Church) has only one faith, Lord and baptism and therefor cannot encompass all the various forms of faiths, baptisms, etc., that the general body of “christianity” encompassed.

I suspect that the matter of the “Church” being “true” is strange to most people responding to this post for several reasons. 1. We don’t think of the Church in symbolic terms (i.e., as the bride or body) and therefore don’t think of any churches as imposter brides or bodies of Christ. 2. Unlike in the past, few other churches today believe in a “one true Church” and so without their claiming to be that one true Church/bride/body, we don’t perceive them as imposter churches, brides or bodies of Christ. 3. Like the general population, we tend not to associate so much with others who witness of their faiths and so we are unlikely to even know that others generally believe that today’s true Church of Jesus Christ is the whole body of Christian believers. This belief is why some consider us not Christians. After all, our beliefs are not one with their beliefs on some very critical points – some of which points are mostly imagined or exaggerated in their minds but critical, and other points that are significant to us, such as our having the keys to the kingdom of heaven. It is “The True…”

Nathan, I think it is important to know what the ancient church looked like and taught, but there are enough differences (and even radical differences) between the church then and the church now that I don’t think anyone is going to be convinced solely (or even primarily) by such a comparison. There generally has to be some other driving motivation to cause someone to consider those things, especially since everyone bases their claim on their own interpretation of exactly those things you list.

Finally, there are enough translation issues already that relying on any interpretation of the Bible is tricky, at best. Even though I believe our most unique doctrines come from the Bible, I think the most that can be said as a foundation for those who don’t believe or are struggling to believe is that the overall Mormon view is no more illogical or obviously incorrect than anyone else’s interpretation. Once that’s accepted, each person can start constructing their own view of how the Church can be “true”. Mine is the compass “true north” – pointing us to our highest possibility.

In the end, I think your general answer is much like others’ answers: People mean that the Church is led by Jesus / God.