Wednesday, September 25, 2019

19th-century Anti-Mormon Protestant Affirming the Propitiatory Nature of Christ's Intercession


In an anti-Mormon volume from 1855, T.W.P. Taylder, while attempting to critique the “Mormon” view of the priesthood wrote:

. . . the person of Christ alone, who has entered into the holy place, even itsel, “now to appear in the presence of God for us,” (Heb. ix. 24.) The intercession of Christ still continuing, so also his priesthood. (T.W.P. Taylder, The Mormons’ Own Book: Or, Mormonism Tried by its Own Standards Reason and Scripture [London: Partridge, Oakey, and Co., 1855], 97-98, emphasis added)

Note how the author ties in Christ’s on-going intercession to his being an eternal, heavenly priest. In a footnote for such, we learn about the function of Christ’s heavenly intercession in the theology of the author:

“The dignity and merit, power and authority, of the Messiah, in his exalted state, imply a continued presentation of his obedience and sacrifice, as ever valid and efficacious, for the pardon and acceptance, the perfected holiness, and the eternal happiness of all who are truly penitent, believing, and obedient.”—Dr. J. Pye Smith’s “Priesthood of Christ,” p. 127 (Ibid., 97, italics in original, emphasis in bold added)

So we see this anti-Mormon author (who is a Protestant) affirm that Christ’s continual intercession allows for the continued application of Christ’s atoning sacrifice, something one finds in texts such as Heb 2:17 and 1 John 2:1-2. See, for e.g.:


As for Taylder and his comments against the LDS priesthood in his book, one should check out my book-length treatment of the priesthood: