In a recent video, Which Mormon Church is True?, David Bartosiewicz argued that, among the Twelve Apostles, there were no quarrelling with one another vis-à-vis the gospel and the mechanics thereof. In reality, however, the apostles did dispute with one another about the gospel. The apostle Peter was rebuked by none other than Paul himself:
But because of false believers secretly brought in, who slipped in to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus, so that they might enslave us--we did not submit to them even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might always remain with you. And from those who were supposed to be acknowledged leaders (what they actually were makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality)--those leaders contributed nothing to me. On the contrary, when they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel for the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel for the circumcised (for he who worked through Peter making him an apostle to the circumcised also worked through me in sending me to the Gentiles), and when James and Cephas and John, who were acknowledged pillars, recognized the grace that had been given to me, they gave to Barnabas and me the right hand of fellowship, agreeing that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. They asked only one thing, that we remember the poor, which was actually what I was eager to do. But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood self-condemned; for until certain people came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But after they came, he drew back and kept himself separate for fear of the circumcision faction. And the other Jews joined him in this hypocrisy, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. But when I saw that they were not acting consistently with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, "If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews?" We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; yet we know that a person is justified1 not by the works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ. And we have come to believe in Christ Jesus, so that we might be justified by faith in Christ, and not by doing the works of the law, because no one will be justified by the works of the law. (Gal 2:4-16 | NRSV)
Such was not a minor issue, but one that affected the gospel (cf. the Council of Jerusalem in Acts 15 and the debate about how Gentiles were to become members of the New Covenant).
While it is true that, after the death of Joseph Smith, the members of the Church (not just the apostles) had some confusion about the question of who would succeed Joseph Smith. However, if the existence of such confusion is a “problem” for LDS claims, then, if he were to be consistent (he never is, I know), then that means Jesus being the Messiah is something that must come into question:
But we trusted (ἠλπίζομεν [indicative imperfect active first person plural of ελιπζω, “to hope”]) that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel: and beside all this, to day is the third day since these things were done. (Luke 24:21)
But here is a challenge based on the video Bartosiewicz produced: Which Protestant Church is teaching the true gospel?
Let us suppose, for the sake of argument, that Bartosiewicz can convince one that "Mormonism" is false, the important question that is rarely addressed (at least with any intellectual honesty), is "then what?" So here is the challenge to the Protestant apologist:
Of the 9,000+ Protestant denominations out there, which one has the truth on all these issues:
· Baptismal regeneration
Remember, the apostle Paul condemned the Judaizers at Galatia for adding just one element to the gospel (Gentiles to be circumcised to enter the New Covenant), so any denomination that gets any of the above wrong (e.g, baptismal regeneration being false would mean that most Lutherans and Anglicans are preaching a false, damnable gospel), and -NONE- of these are "minor" issues, like exclusive psalmody or which musical instruments are acceptable in worship. They affect the very gospel itself.
In reality, Bartosiewicz and other Protestants have installed themselves as a mini-pope, imputing to themselves infallibility when they are clueless about exegesis, theology, and the very gospel itself (see my pages responding to him on various topics).
With respect to the succession crisis and the plausibility of claimants other than Brigham Young, see the following on James J.Strang (just as one example):
Responding to a Critic of Brigham Young being Joseph Smith's Proper Successor - my response to arguments from a follower of James Strang
