A
Arandur
Guest
I wouldn’t make a big deal of the numbers. Yes, they may be inflated more than most religions. All have problems with people leaving and not removing themselves, and with non-practicing members. Many do have ways of assessing or estimating those, however. For instance, while the Catholic Church might claim around 1.3 billion baptized members (which, since Baptism is regeneration and adoption into the Family of God and you’re never cast out completely from that, "once Catholic, always Catholic), we also can estimate how many of those are non-practicing, how many have left, and even how many may reject major teachings or disciplines of the Church. Unfortunately, only a minority of Catholics truly accept and truly try to live out all that the Church teaches–but all religions have the same problem.Well I assume that they remove the names of those that request it to be done. There are plenty of inactive members that are probably also included in the 15 million (I know that in my former ward, there were more inactive elders than active). There are also people like myself that simply leave and don’t request anything. There are most likely only around 4-5 million active LDS worldwide.
Some LDS will naturally view the 15 million number as a demonstration of the church being true. Unfortunately, there are a number of other churches with higher growth rates and large numbers, started after or around the same time that the LDS Church was founded.
Numbers are not really impressive, or evidence of much. With the exception of this: membership AND endurance through time from the beginning of Christianity is a very strong witness to which Church would be the one of which Christ Himself could say, “I will build my Church.”
Since the Catholic Church (and its very similar Orthodox brethren) is the only Church that has endured from the very origin of Christianity, that alone is powerful witness. Add to that the fact that about (more than?) half of ALL Christians are STILL Catholic, and you have a tremendous evidence of the power of Unity. Add to that the distinction that the Catholic Church has been reaching all nations for many centuries, and you have yet another witness.
In these, you find that the Church is One (that evidence of Unity I spoke of), Catholic (truly universal in scope, reaching all nations), and Apostolic (tracing its lineage clearly back to the Apostles through the true method of proof of legitimacy of authority that all human history–even Christ Himself!–has used: dynastic succession).
These are objective, verifiable evidences that weigh far more strongly in favor of the Catholic Church than any other, and grant it unique distinctions–as, for instance, the oldest enduring institution (in essential structure, teachings, and governance) in human history.
Since the devil cannot really create, but only corrupts and destroys, and since his works, then, fall apart and collapse in on themselves, we can quite clearly see that, apart from every human kingdom and every other religion, the Catholic Church stands alone in unity and endurance. If it were the work of the devil, as JS supposed, it would not have proven stronger than Christ’s own Kingdom.
That’s one of the many blasphemous things you have to believe about Christ to believe in a total apostasy: that Christ, who Himself builds His Church, is a failure and a weakling, easily overpowered by man and/or Satan. If such a thing were the case, who would follow a god less powerful than his adversary?
