When Joseph Smith was visited by Jesus and God, he was told that the Christian denominations at the time were all wrong, all their creeds were an abomination, their professors were all corrupt, their words spoke of Christ but their actions did not, and they taught commandments of men as doctrine (See JSH 1:19).
In the 185 years since then, have Christian churches improved? Are they still corrupt and abominable? Are their professions of Christianity still hollow?
“have Christian churches improved?”
Some have, and some have worsened.
“Are they still corrupt and abominable?”
In one degree or another, yes. For example, they all refuse to accept the truth of the living Prophet and his authority.
“Are their professions of Christianity still hollow?”
I know some Catholics and Protestants who are very sincere in their love of Christ. Yet the Lord says if we reject his messengers, we would also reject him. That’s a tough question, I’m not sure I can answer fully.
I think that the Catholic Church for sure has improved. It has improved so much that I would imagine God must be pretty genuinely happy with it. I think we can learn a lot from the Catholic Church, and it certainly carries with it a restored moral authority now, post Vatican-II, of which its actions had deprived it during the preceding millenium.
From what I see churches have become worse in the sense that they are less relevant. It appears that less people are regualarly attending church now then ever. It also appears that most churches do not really stand for anything any more. I don’t know how to include a link here, perhaps I can’t but I wrote a post called ‘What do People Wand in a Church’ that tells of a conversation I had with someone who had just joined a church. The reasons they gave were quite lame with no real substance.
I was from Catholic faith before converting to the Church and I can well say that the Catholic Church was very corrupt and abominable to the point where if it has improved i don’t see how a church that was built on money, power over kingdoms and with popes who had multiple families can suddenly become good. God has sure helped them a lot but to me, going back to Catholic faith would be like going from our modern computerized world to no electricity at all. Wouldn’t it be cool tho if every single Catholic on earth would convert to our Church? lol
Good perspective Val. I agree with you on that. As much as I admire the work of the Catholic Church since Vatican II, an LDS-to-Catholic conversion would also, for me, mean settling for a lesser knowledge.