by Irene Davault

Created on: November 02, 2009   Last Updated: November 25, 2009

According to the World English Dictionary, gospel means: (1) set of beliefs, (2) absolute truth. Gospel: (1) teachings of Jesus Christ. What is religion? The dictionary states that it is (1) beliefs and worship; (2) a system. A religion is a system of beliefs and worship. The true gospel of Jesus Christ was preached before the world began and when we heard it in our pre-mortal life, we shouted for joy ( Job 38:7).The gospel plan was for the children of God to come to this earth, so we could receive our bodies as a temple to house our spirits.(John 2:21; 1 Cor 6:19). When we are born we cannot remember our former pre-mortal life, but each of us was born with the light of Christ in us (John 14:26). Because of this, we would be able to know right from wrong and we would be able to recognize eternal truths, truths we were taught before we came to earth through mortal birth (John14:26; 1Thes 2: 5, 13). God the Father knew we would need help to get back to him and so he sent his Son to teach us what we needed to know to progress and return to our Heavenly Father. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:16). Christ would set up the Kingdom of God on earth and it would be established upon true and correct principles. It would be different from any other religion practiced in ancient times. Christ's teachings would go against the teachings of the Sadducee's, scribes, and Pharisees (Mathew 15:9; 23:13) Man's tendency has been to interpret the scriptures through the natural eyes instead of through spiritual eyes. Walking down this path leads to the plurality of religions. Because of the different interpretations of the scriptures, there will be those who believe one way and other who would believe another. Yet, they would never come to an understanding of the same scripture. One scripture from the Bible would have a different meaning according to the faith one belonged to (one Cor 2:12-14).

Christ was the promised Savior. He came to earth to do the will of the Father. Christ set up the Kingdom of God (religion) and preached his doctrine (teachings). After Christ was crucified and the apostles were killed or banished, the church fell into apostasy. The church Christ had set up no longer existed (Isa 24:5), but was promised to be restored (Mathew 17:11). Understanding how the plurality of religions was born has to come from understanding the doctrine that Christ preached.

Many early reformers and world religious leaders like John Wycliffe, born in the 14th century in England, translated the Bible into English; he believed the Catholic Church did not have the priesthood keys, that the Holy Eucharist (sacrament) was not the actual body of Christ. Martin Luther, born 10 November 1483, was in open defiance for certain beliefs of the Roman Catholic Church, including the practice of having people pay money to be forgiven of their sins. William Tyndale, born in Wales in 1491, translated the New Testament so the common people would have access to it. He also exposed the false doctrines and corruption of religious leaders. As a result, he was executed on 6 October 1536. John Calvin, born 10 July 1509, in France, was a major leader in movements to reform the Catholic Church (M. Russell Ballard, Our Search for Happiness, 26-32).

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