The “Great and Abominable church”
June 18th, 2009 | 
Author: So lately I’ve been hearing a lot about the “Great and Abominable Church,” and I think there is a lot of misunderstanding regarding the concept.
Of course I know what my opinion on this topic is, but as a Latter-day Saint I had to make sure that it was correct and that it didn’t contradict any proper doctrine or words of General Authorities. I think I can safely say that it doesn’t, but after researching it a small amount, I’ve found a different way of explaining it than what I had originally planned.
The “great” in “Great and Abominable Church” does not refer to a great quality, but a great size, power and influence over the hearts of men. Although we believe that the works and words of God will prevail against this “church,” it does indeed have a great amount of power, and it stretches across the entire Earth.
The “abominable” in “Great and Abominable Church” is easy enough to interpret and pretty hard to misunderstand. It means that this church is an unpleasant thing, and we believe that it is horribly corrupted.
The “church” in “Great and Abominable Church” is what a lot of people seem to misunderstand. Many people (including my Sunday school teacher) think that by church, this phrase is actually meant to target a church. Easy mistake to make–thinking that a word actually means what it’s supposed to mean. “Great and Abominable Church” really means a large group of people with a corrupted view of God. So, the “Great and Abominable Church” is indeed as Jacob described it–“…he that fighteth against Zion, both Jew and Gentile, both bond and free, both male and female”.
Thinking that an actual, existing church is the “Great and Abominable Church” is, if I dare say it, kinda mean. One of the things that annoys me most is when people think that I’m going to Hell because I’m Mormon, or in other words, not a part of their church. I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one who dislikes this, so why should we accuse other churches of being “great and abominable”?
As long as a church encourages its members to be good people and/or to change the world around them in a positive way, I do not believe that we can correctly call them corrupt. The only members of the Great and Abominable Church are those that fight against the true church, A.K.A. the Church of God.
I hope I’ve cleared this up for some people as I personally dislike it when people are high-minded enough to think that the entire world is full of horrible corruption and they and their church alone are the only ones who haven’t fallen to said corruption. The world is full of wonderful, decent people who aren’t Mormon and who may or may not belong to another church, and I know a lot of people who have difficulty grasping that. I know tons of people who honestly believe that the only way to really be a decent, happy person is to be Mormon. I assure you, that although we are prone to being happy, good people we are not alone out there.
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It’s interesting to note that the LDS Church is the only religion that venerates it’s ancestors by conducting baptisms for the dead. Whereas I see other religions lowering the bar so low that baptism is no longer even considered a prerequisite of discipleship (apparently getting a little wet is too much of a sacrifice for some), Christ laid it out for us in no uncertain terms: Everyone must be baptized before they can partake of His Salvation. Whereas some other religions and their adherents condemn people to Hell left, right, and center (that’s not an accusation; it’s a fact that I can personally attest to), Latter-day Saints are anxiously engaged in conducting ordinances for the dead so that not one soul will be lost. In other words, we don’t condemn anyone; we’re too busy trying to save.
Lovely thoughts, Christi. You’re a skilled blogger.
I found this to be an excellent article, very informative and well written. I like the way in which you have taken the phrase,”Great and Abominable Church,” and have broken it down into three separate words, each to be explained individually. In the past, I, too, have heard in Sunday School that this certain church or that one was the “Great and Abominable” one. I am glad to see that this has changed in recent years so that instructors do not mention this as some once did. Just as I strongly object to other churches saying LDS are not Christians, I can see that they would feel the same to be called “abominable.”
Thanks, it’s nice to know that I’m doing a decent job.