I’m always intrigued at the conversion of others. Many years ago, I had the opportunity to meet Marvin Goldstein and hear his conversion story as being a Jew who converted not only to Christianity, but to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. What an uplifting spiritual experience it was to hear his testimony.
Converting from Catholicism could be considered just as big when considering the doctrine of the Great Apostasy. I had the opportunity to review a book (released only a few weeks ago), Catholic Roots Mormon Harvest by Eric Shuster (Director of Foundation for Christian Studies). Eric shares his remarkable conversion story in an easy conversational flow with bits of humor here and there. I was filled with joy as a read of the spiritual experiences that Eric shares with us all. Eric puts forth the most complete comparison of Catholicism and Mormonism that I have ever seen, providing ample references as well as his thoughts and commentary on 40 doctrines and practices. An excellent resource for all honest truth seekers.
I enjoy listening to the testimonies of others and how they discover truth in their lives. It is amazing how the Spirit reveals truth and how people act upon the knowledge revealed to them. While for some people, their conversion requires drastic changes in both doctrine and personal habits, and others only require minor changes, the end result is the same: they are brought closer to Christ. While serving my mission many years ago, I had come across a passage in LeGrand Richards’ book, A Marvelous Work and a Wonder, pg 3, that clearly illustrates how understanding the Restoration is an essential part of the conversion process:
In a pamphlet entitled The Strength of the Mormon Position, the late Elder Orson F. Whitney, of the Council of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, related the following incident under the heading “A Catholic Utterance”:
“Many years ago a learned man, a member of the Roman Catholic Church, came to Utah and spoke from the stand of the Salt Lake Tabernacle. I became well-acquainted with him, and we conversed freely and frankly. A great scholar, with perhaps a dozen languages at his tongue’s end, he seemed to know all about theology, law, literature, science and philosophy. One day he said to me: “You Mormons are all ignoramuses. You don’t even know the strength of your own position. It is so strong that there is only one other tenable in the whole Christian world, and that is the position of the Catholic Church. The issue is between Catholicism and Mormonism. If we are right, you are wrong; if you are right, we are wrong; and that’s all there is to it. The Protestants haven’t a leg to stand on. For, if we are wrong, they are wrong with us, since they were a part of us and went out from us; while if we are right, they are apostates whom we cut off long ago. If we have the apostolic succession from St. Peter, as we claim, there is no need of Joseph Smith and Mormonism; but if we have not that succession, then such a man as Joseph Smith was necessary, and Mormonism’s attitude is the only consistent one. It is either the perpetuation of the gospel from ancient times, or the restoration of the gospel in latter days.”
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[...] Shuster, author of Catholic Roots, Mormon Harvest, has co-authored with Charles Sale a new book, The Biblical Roots of Mormonism. In an easy to [...]