The coming divide will surely be faith-based, but it will not sect-based. But that there will be a divide the scriptures made no qualms:
"For the time speedily cometh that the Lord God shall cause a great division among the people, and the wicked will he destroy; and he will spare his people, yea, even if it so be that he must destroy the wicked by fire" (2 Ne. 30:10, emphasis added; see also Mal. 4:1 and Isa. 9:19; 3:5).
"The wicked shall slay the wicked, and fear shall come upon every man; and the saints also shall hardly escape; nevertheless, I, the Lord, am with them, and will come down in heaven from the presence of my Father and consume the wicked with unquenchable fire.... And until that hour there will be foolish virgins among the wise; and at that hour cometh an entire separation of the righteous and the wicked; and in that day will I send mine angels to pluck out the wicked and cast them into unquenchable fire" (D&C 63:33 – 34, 54, emphasis added).
Verses such as these show that a perilous time (or set of times) will whittle down the population of the world prior to Christ's coming, and an alignment to true and sacred principles only will differentiate the portion that remains from the portion that will be lost:
"They that are wise and have received the truth, and have taken the Holy Spirit for their guide, and have not been deceived—verily I say unto you, they shall not be hewn down and cast into the fire, but shall abide the day" (D&C 45:57).
Thus the division of the people during the final scenes before Christ's coming will be faith-based: those who have the faith to receive the truth and those who do not. That this has reference only to those who have received 'the truth' of a certain sect (e.g., those who have accepted Mormonism vs. everyone else) cannot be maintained in the face of the spirit of prophecy. 'The truth' that the surviving righteous will receive will not have to do with whether Christ has a body or not (i.e., doctrinal differences) but perhaps with whether Christ can trust us with our bodies or not (i.e., behavioral differences), which as a societal factor underpins a healthy and free people.
Brigham Young taught:
"Now when Zion is built up and reigns, the question may arise with some, will all be Latter-day Saints? No. Will there be this variety of classes and faiths that we now behold? I do not know whether there will be as many, or whether there will be more.... In the millennium men will have the privilege of being Presbyterians, Methodists, or Infidels, but they will not have the privilege of treating the name and character of Deity as they have done heretofore. No, but every knee shall bow and every tongue confess to the glory of God the Father that Jesus is the Christ" (JOD 12:274).
This statement might cause us to reconsider the assumed membership rosters of the "church of the Lamb of God," as the ancient prophet Nephi called it, for it will be defined not by creed or doctrine but by actual belief manifest in people's lives:
"Behold there are save two churches only; the one is the church of the Lamb of God, and the other is the church of the devil; wherefore, whoso belongeth not to the church of the Lamb of God belongeth to that great church, which is the mother of abominations; and she is the whore of all the earth. And it came to pass that I looked and beheld the whore of all the earth, and she sat upon many waters; and she had dominion over all the earth, among all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people. And it came to pass that I beheld the church of the Lamb of God, and its numbers were few, because of the wickedness and abominations of the whore who sat upon many waters; nevertheless, I beheld that the church of the Lamb, who were the saints of God, were also upon all the face of the earth; and their dominions upon the face of the earth were small, because of the wickedness of the great whore whom I saw" (1 Ne. 14:10 – 12).
Importantly, 'their dominions...were small,' which may be indicative of the fact that no entire sect may be fully represented by its ranks. These millennial survivors will then compose the final Kingdom seen by Daniel in vision, symbolized by "a stone...cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces.... And the stone...became a great mountain, and filled the whole [millennial] earth" (Dan. 2:34 – 35). As Brigham Young further taught:
"The kingdom that Daniel saw will push forth its law, and that law will protect the Methodists, Quakers, Pagans, Jews, and every other creed there ever was or ever will be, in their religious rights. At the same time the Priesthood will bear rule, and hold the government of the Kingdom under control in all things, so that every knee will bow, and every tongue confess, to the glory of God the Father, that Jesus is the Christ. Everyone must bow to the Savior, and acknowledge and confess him with their mouths. Can they still be Methodists? Yes. Presbyterians? Yes....
"The time will come when every tongue shall confess, and every knee shall bow, to the Savior, though the people may believe what they will with regard to religion. The kingdom that Daniel saw will actually make laws to protect every man in his rights, as our government does now, whether the religions of the people are true or false" (JOD 2:189).
"[Immigrants to Zion] will ask, 'If I bow the knee and confess that he is that Savior, the Christ, to the glory of the Father, will you let me go home and be a Presbyterian?'
"'Yes.'
"'And not persecute me?'
"'Never.'
"'Won't you let me go home and belong to the Greek Church?'
"'Yes.'
"'Will you allow me to be a Friend Quaker, or a Shaking Quaker?'
"'O yes, anything you wish to be, but remember that you must not persecute your neighbors, but must mind your own business, and let your neighbors alone, and let them worship the sun, moon, a white dog, or anything else they please, being mindful that every knee has got to bow and every tongue confess. When you have paid this tribute to the Most High, who created you and preserves you, you may then go and worship what you please, or do what you please, if you do not infringe upon your neighbors'" (Ibid. 2:317).
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