If the Mormons claim that the early church fell into an apostasy, how do you explain the Catholic Church having claim over the bodies of the original apostles today? That to me would be another proven example about how the Church has always maintained herself. Although, of course, there was apostates from the church, there was never a COMPLETE apostasy, Actually, no where close at all to a complete apostasy. Do Mormon apostles go to Rome and visit the tombs of the original apostles? Do Mormon Apostles make pilgrimages to Bethlehem to The Church of the Nativity where the Jesus was born, or the manger where Mary laid him? And if they do, do the people of Bethlehem recognize that they are apostles and treat them the same way they would, say, the Pope?
Alisha,
I suppose I might as well answer these questions since I have popped awake way early this morning and I don’t know that you’ve had your questions here answered.
I personally don’t think having the “claim” over the tombs and the bodies of the original apostles means anything about having authority or having a fulness of truth. It seems like that idea would be more an idea of trying to assert and prove that an organization has legitimate authority by such a claim, than actually proving it by Biblical means (which would be that the church “looks the same” and “acts the same” and "brings the same thing to the world now that it brought to the world then.) I think one would have to study the New Testament itself, the more original the better, to be able to figure that out, not by trying to figure out who owns relics or tombs or the remains of leaders.
I doubt that Mormon apostles would care about visiting the tombs, even if they had complete evidence that the tombs held within them the remains of any of the original twelve. They realize that the original apostles themselves (except John and Judas Iscariot) are in the spirit world helping preach the gospel like they did on earth and helping lead the people as the people progress in following Christ like the apostles did on earth. The apostles’ work didn’t end with their deaths. It continued. Their spirits aren’t “staying close by” their remains, but instead have plenty to do elsewhere.
I have heard Mormon apostles talk about being in the garden of Gethsemane and having reverence for that location.
I think all Mormons have reverence for creche displays. There are many creche displays placed on the Temple Square grounds in Salt Lake City during the entire Christmas season, along with Christmas light displays that celebrate the “light of the world” brought into the world by the Savior’s birth.
When Mormon apostles do visit the Holy Land, they are usually quiet about it unless there is a public occasion or ceremony such as when the school that has been built by the Mormon church near the place where Solomon’s temple stood, was dedicated or re-dedicated after being remodeled. If they appear in public, they certainly abide by their agreement with the Jewish leaders that allowed them to build the school, in that they and the students would not attempt to share the gospel publicly while being there.
Some of the Jewish leaders have actually shown a great deal of respect for the Mormon apostles over the years, and some have visited Salt Lake City over the years and have met apostles and been shown around to places like the Humanitarian Center and the Welfare Center where goods and foods are prepared and stored that are used to aid people throughout the world when needs arise in significant circumstances such as natural disasters or famines.
