@ THELDSLIFE
Did you know the mormons did not allow non-whites into their priesthood until 1978 when the gov't threatened to take their tax-exempt status?
Response: What is the priesthood? Who held it historically? The authority to act in "Who's" name? Until you give me a clear definition of what the priesthood is, how can you explain who is to hold it?
Did you know that not even ALL Jews were allowed to hold the priesthood?
Did you know that until 34-100 A.D. Gentiles were not allowed to hold the priesthood? The Seven Churches that were written to by Paul and also John were ALSO churches where the Gentiles had established churches in their midst. Each of these churches had the priesthood authority apart from the presence of Paul, Peter, or John.
P.S. - The Tax-Exempt Status issue was and continues to be a "Non-Factor." Blacks had always been a part of the LDS church and none were denied entrance, baptism, or helping with meaningful callings within the church. You got to get your facts straight! Furthermore, in our doctrine, the gospel of Christ is available to ALL men.
2 Nephi 26: 33 "...for he doeth that which is good among the children of men; and he doeth nothing save it be plain unto the children of men; and he inviteth them all to come unto him and partake of his goodness; and he denieth none that come unto him, black and white, bond and free, male and female; and he remembereth the heathen; and all are alike unto God, both Jew and Gentile."
Your words:
Did you know the mormons teach that you will go to hell if you are not mormon?
Joseph Smith - When asked, "Will all be damned but Mormon?" he replied, "Yes, and a great portion of them unless they repent and work righteousness" (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pg. 119)
Answer: Unless ALL men repent... makes sense. All must have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, show fruits for repentance, be baptized, and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. (These things are all in the Bible) - This baptism must be performed by one with authority to do so. A counterfeit baptism will not work. In order to enter in at the straight gate, a man must be baptized. If baptism is a Key and there are MANY out there offering that key, then one should BE SURE that the key they hold onto helps get them past the "Pearly Gates."
There will be many, if not all, that will have the chance to choose "Eternal Life" between now and the end of the Millennium.
"Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself." - 2 Nephi 2:27
Did you know there are many INVERTED PENTAGRAMS on LDS temples?
What do the symbols on the Temple mean to you?
Do you even see evil inverted pentagrams?
Is there something wrong with an actual pentagram?
"Inverted Pentagram
The pentagram may be inverted with one point down. The implication is of spirit subservient to matter, of man subservient to his carnal desires. The inverted pentagram has come to be seen by many pagans as representing the dark side and it is abhored as an evil symbol.
Fundamental christians, indeed, see any form of pentagram as such. However, these are recent developments and the inverted pentagram is the symbol of Gardnerian second degree initiation, representing the need of the person to learn to face the darkness within so that it may not later rise up to take control. The centre of a pentagram implies a sixth formative element - love/will which controls from within, ruling matter and spirit by Will and the controlled direction of sexual energies...
Protection against evil...
The pentagram has long been believed to be a potent protection against evil, a symbol of conflict that shields the wearer and the home. The pentagram has five spiked wards and a womb shaped defensive, protective pentagon at the centre. (Yes, protection against Evil is also Evil, eh?)
Here is a comprehensive look at temple symbolism and what those symbols really mean.
http://www.ldschurchtemples.com/saltlake/
Also where symbols are placed and the number of each is also important.
Symbols have their meanings... perhaps one day, people will look back at the
"Symbol of the Stop Light" and wonder why we would ALL stop before it and pay it reverence.
Perhaps the Stop Light is Evil! HAHAHAHAHA...
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Run And Not Be Weary - Walk And Not Faint - Gospel Principles Lesson 29 - The Lord's Law of Health
Our Bodies Are Temples of God
One of the great blessings we received when we came to earth was a physical body. We need a physical body to become like our Heavenly Father. Our bodies are so important that the Lord calls them temples of God (see 1 Corinthians 3:16–17; 6:19–20). Our bodies are holy.
Because our bodies are important, our Father in Heaven wants us to take good care of them. He knows that we can be happier, better people if we are healthy. The Holy Ghost can be with us if our bodies and minds are clean. Our Father knows that we face temptations to treat our bodies unwisely or to take harmful things into them. For this reason He has told us which things are good for our health and which things are bad. Much of the information God has given us concerning good health is found in Doctrine and Covenants 89. This revelation is called the Word of Wisdom.
We must obey the Word of Wisdom to be worthy to enter the temple. If we do not obey the Word of Wisdom, the Lord’s Spirit withdraws from us. If we defile the “temple of God,” which is our body, we hurt ourselves physically and spiritually.
We Are Commanded Not to Take Certain Things into Our Bodies
What has the Lord commanded us not to take into our bodies?
The Lord commands us not to use wine and strong drinks, meaning drinks containing alcohol. The First Presidency has taught that strong drink often brings cruelty, poverty, disease, and plague into the home. It often is a cause of dishonesty, loss of chastity, and loss of good judgment. It is a curse to all who drink it. (See “Message of the First Presidency,” Improvement Era, Nov. 1942, 686.) Expectant mothers who drink can cause physical and mental damage to their children. Many automobile accidents are caused each year by people who drink alcohol.
For teachers: Writing lists can generate interest and help learners focus their attention. As class members or family members discuss substances that the Lord has commanded us not to take into our bodies, you may want to ask someone to write their answers on the board or on a large piece of paper. You could do the same when they discuss things that are healthful for our bodies.
The Lord has also told us that “tobacco is not for the body” (D&C 89:8). It is harmful to our bodies and our spirits. We should not smoke cigarettes or cigars or use chewing tobacco. Scientists have shown that tobacco causes many diseases and can harm unborn children.
The Lord also counsels us against the use of “hot drinks” (D&C 89:9). Church leaders have said that this means coffee and tea, which contain harmful substances. We should avoid all drinks that contain harmful substances.
We should not use drugs except when they are necessary as medicine. Some drugs are even more harmful than alcohol and tobacco (which are also drugs). Those who misuse drugs need to seek help, pray for strength, and counsel with their bishop so they can fully repent and become clean.
We should avoid anything that we know is harmful to our bodies. We should not use any substance that is habit forming. We should also avoid overeating. The Word of Wisdom does not tell us everything to avoid or consume, but it does give us guidelines. It is a valuable temporal law. It is also a great spiritual law. By living the Word of Wisdom, we become stronger spiritually. We purify our bodies so the Spirit of the Lord can dwell with us.
What are some things that are not specifically mentioned in the Word of Wisdom that we should avoid?
We Are Taught That Certain Things Are Good for Our Bodies
According to the Word of Wisdom, what are some things the Lord says are good for us?
Fruits, vegetables, and wholesome herbs are good for us. We should use them with wisdom and thanksgiving.
The flesh of birds and animals is also provided for our food. However, we should eat meat sparingly (see D&C 49:18; 89:12). Fish is also good for us to eat.
Grains are good for us. Wheat is especially good for us.
How has the use of these things blessed you?
Work, Rest, and Exercise Are Important
What do work, rest, and exercise have to do with the Lord’s law of health?
In addition to Doctrine and Covenants 89, other scriptures tell us how to be healthy. They tell us that we should “cease to be idle; cease to be unclean; … cease to sleep longer than is needful; retire to thy bed early, that ye may not be weary; arise early, that your bodies and your minds may be invigorated” (D&C 88:124). We are also told, “Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work” (Exodus 20:9). The Lord counsels us not to labor more than we have strength for (see D&C 10:4).
A latter-day prophet has told us that we should keep our bodies healthy. He counseled, “Nutritious meals, regular exercise, and appropriate sleep are necessary for a strong body, just as consistent scripture study and prayer strengthen the mind and spirit” (Thomas S. Monson, in Conference Report, Oct. 1990, 60; or Ensign, Nov. 1990, 46).
Promised Blessings for Living the Lord’s Law of Health
What blessings come to us as we obey the Word of Wisdom?
Our Heavenly Father has given us health laws to teach us how to care for our bodies. The scriptures tell us about God’s laws: “No temporal commandment gave I … , for my commandments are spiritual” (D&C 29:35). This means that His commandments concerning our physical state are for our spiritual good.
When we keep the Lord’s law of health and obey His other commandments, the Lord promises to bless us physically and spiritually.
Physically we have been promised good health. As a result of this good health we “shall run and not be weary, and shall walk and not faint” (D&C 89:20). This is a great blessing, but the spiritual blessings He has promised us are even greater than the physical ones.
The Lord promises us that we “shall find wisdom and great treasures of knowledge, even hidden treasures” (D&C 89:19). We will be taught important truths by the Holy Ghost through revelation. President Boyd K. Packer taught: “Our physical body is the instrument of our spirit. In that marvelous revelation the Word of Wisdom, we are told how to keep our bodies free from impurities which might dull, even destroy, those delicate physical senses which have to do with spiritual communication. The Word of Wisdom is a key to individual revelation” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1989, 16; or Ensign, Nov. 1989, 14).
The Lord also promises that the destroying angel shall pass us by. President Heber J. Grant said, “If you and I desire the blessings of life, of health, of vigor of body and mind; if we desire the destroying angel to pass us by, as he did in the days of the children of Israel, we must obey the Word of Wisdom; then God is bound, and the blessing shall come to us” (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Heber J. Grant [2002], 192).
U
Add a Note
How can we help children and youth understand the eternal significance of the Word of Wisdom?
What can we do to help family members or friends who have difficulty obeying the Word of Wisdom?
Additional Scriptures
Judges 13:13–14; Proverbs 20:1; Isaiah 5:11–12; Daniel 1 (avoid strong drink)
D&C 59:16–20 (things of the earth for the benefit of man)
Proverbs 23:20–21 (warning against drunkenness, gluttony, laziness)
D&C 136:24 (cease drunkenness)
One of the great blessings we received when we came to earth was a physical body. We need a physical body to become like our Heavenly Father. Our bodies are so important that the Lord calls them temples of God (see 1 Corinthians 3:16–17; 6:19–20). Our bodies are holy.
Because our bodies are important, our Father in Heaven wants us to take good care of them. He knows that we can be happier, better people if we are healthy. The Holy Ghost can be with us if our bodies and minds are clean. Our Father knows that we face temptations to treat our bodies unwisely or to take harmful things into them. For this reason He has told us which things are good for our health and which things are bad. Much of the information God has given us concerning good health is found in Doctrine and Covenants 89. This revelation is called the Word of Wisdom.
We must obey the Word of Wisdom to be worthy to enter the temple. If we do not obey the Word of Wisdom, the Lord’s Spirit withdraws from us. If we defile the “temple of God,” which is our body, we hurt ourselves physically and spiritually.
We Are Commanded Not to Take Certain Things into Our Bodies
What has the Lord commanded us not to take into our bodies?
The Lord commands us not to use wine and strong drinks, meaning drinks containing alcohol. The First Presidency has taught that strong drink often brings cruelty, poverty, disease, and plague into the home. It often is a cause of dishonesty, loss of chastity, and loss of good judgment. It is a curse to all who drink it. (See “Message of the First Presidency,” Improvement Era, Nov. 1942, 686.) Expectant mothers who drink can cause physical and mental damage to their children. Many automobile accidents are caused each year by people who drink alcohol.
For teachers: Writing lists can generate interest and help learners focus their attention. As class members or family members discuss substances that the Lord has commanded us not to take into our bodies, you may want to ask someone to write their answers on the board or on a large piece of paper. You could do the same when they discuss things that are healthful for our bodies.
The Lord has also told us that “tobacco is not for the body” (D&C 89:8). It is harmful to our bodies and our spirits. We should not smoke cigarettes or cigars or use chewing tobacco. Scientists have shown that tobacco causes many diseases and can harm unborn children.
The Lord also counsels us against the use of “hot drinks” (D&C 89:9). Church leaders have said that this means coffee and tea, which contain harmful substances. We should avoid all drinks that contain harmful substances.
We should not use drugs except when they are necessary as medicine. Some drugs are even more harmful than alcohol and tobacco (which are also drugs). Those who misuse drugs need to seek help, pray for strength, and counsel with their bishop so they can fully repent and become clean.
We should avoid anything that we know is harmful to our bodies. We should not use any substance that is habit forming. We should also avoid overeating. The Word of Wisdom does not tell us everything to avoid or consume, but it does give us guidelines. It is a valuable temporal law. It is also a great spiritual law. By living the Word of Wisdom, we become stronger spiritually. We purify our bodies so the Spirit of the Lord can dwell with us.
What are some things that are not specifically mentioned in the Word of Wisdom that we should avoid?
We Are Taught That Certain Things Are Good for Our Bodies
According to the Word of Wisdom, what are some things the Lord says are good for us?
Fruits, vegetables, and wholesome herbs are good for us. We should use them with wisdom and thanksgiving.
The flesh of birds and animals is also provided for our food. However, we should eat meat sparingly (see D&C 49:18; 89:12). Fish is also good for us to eat.
Grains are good for us. Wheat is especially good for us.
How has the use of these things blessed you?
Work, Rest, and Exercise Are Important
What do work, rest, and exercise have to do with the Lord’s law of health?
In addition to Doctrine and Covenants 89, other scriptures tell us how to be healthy. They tell us that we should “cease to be idle; cease to be unclean; … cease to sleep longer than is needful; retire to thy bed early, that ye may not be weary; arise early, that your bodies and your minds may be invigorated” (D&C 88:124). We are also told, “Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work” (Exodus 20:9). The Lord counsels us not to labor more than we have strength for (see D&C 10:4).
A latter-day prophet has told us that we should keep our bodies healthy. He counseled, “Nutritious meals, regular exercise, and appropriate sleep are necessary for a strong body, just as consistent scripture study and prayer strengthen the mind and spirit” (Thomas S. Monson, in Conference Report, Oct. 1990, 60; or Ensign, Nov. 1990, 46).
Promised Blessings for Living the Lord’s Law of Health
What blessings come to us as we obey the Word of Wisdom?
Our Heavenly Father has given us health laws to teach us how to care for our bodies. The scriptures tell us about God’s laws: “No temporal commandment gave I … , for my commandments are spiritual” (D&C 29:35). This means that His commandments concerning our physical state are for our spiritual good.
When we keep the Lord’s law of health and obey His other commandments, the Lord promises to bless us physically and spiritually.
Physically we have been promised good health. As a result of this good health we “shall run and not be weary, and shall walk and not faint” (D&C 89:20). This is a great blessing, but the spiritual blessings He has promised us are even greater than the physical ones.
The Lord promises us that we “shall find wisdom and great treasures of knowledge, even hidden treasures” (D&C 89:19). We will be taught important truths by the Holy Ghost through revelation. President Boyd K. Packer taught: “Our physical body is the instrument of our spirit. In that marvelous revelation the Word of Wisdom, we are told how to keep our bodies free from impurities which might dull, even destroy, those delicate physical senses which have to do with spiritual communication. The Word of Wisdom is a key to individual revelation” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1989, 16; or Ensign, Nov. 1989, 14).
The Lord also promises that the destroying angel shall pass us by. President Heber J. Grant said, “If you and I desire the blessings of life, of health, of vigor of body and mind; if we desire the destroying angel to pass us by, as he did in the days of the children of Israel, we must obey the Word of Wisdom; then God is bound, and the blessing shall come to us” (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Heber J. Grant [2002], 192).
U
Add a Note
How can we help children and youth understand the eternal significance of the Word of Wisdom?
What can we do to help family members or friends who have difficulty obeying the Word of Wisdom?
Additional Scriptures
Judges 13:13–14; Proverbs 20:1; Isaiah 5:11–12; Daniel 1 (avoid strong drink)
D&C 59:16–20 (things of the earth for the benefit of man)
Proverbs 23:20–21 (warning against drunkenness, gluttony, laziness)
D&C 136:24 (cease drunkenness)
Monday, August 30, 2010
Friday, August 27, 2010
No Rest For The Wicked :Quitters Beware!
The Lord is 100% aware of those who try to thwart the work of the Lord. He said as much in the Doctrine and Covenants regarding those who endeavor to stop his will when we read:
How long can rolling waters remain impure? What power shall stay the heavens? As well might man stretch forth his puny arm to stop the Missouri river in its decreed course, or to turn it up stream, as to hinder the Almighty from pouring down knowledge from heaven upon the heads of the Latter-day Saints. D&C 121:33
Anti-Mormons Beware! I have your number and I'm dialin' it all day long. Shining light into your eyes and watching you retreat to the darkness. Your works are the works of darkness. You lie about the LDS church and are responsible for keeping MANY honest of heart folks from discovering the restored gospel. One day you'll have to reconcile with that great God, our father in heaven, and have to explain yourselves before the judgment bar.
For the honest of heart! Do your own research and DO SO apart from the opinions, commentary, and words from others. Read the scriptures. Speak with the missionaries and use the Lord's guidance through thoughtful and careful prayer to DISCOVER these answers for yourself. The Lord will answer the prayers of the willing of heart. (See 1 John 5:9, James 1:5-6)
Honest of heart... take note. Enemies to the LDS church work tirelessly to KEEP you from the blessings which our Heavenly Father has for ALL of us. Do not let them pull you into the chasm that they are inevitably going to fall into unless they repent before the end!!!
The doctrines of the church are plainly available to the world. Nothing is kept in darkness. There are not ADDED things that Mormon's are unaware of... just enemies to the church who would have you believe such a farce.
Anti-Mormons (or otherwise people who profess to love Mormons and hope to save them or keep folks from investigating the LDS church) would also be "Enemies To The Church" by nature, they have said the following about us to others and are daily trying to convince them that we believe the following...
1. Mormons worship Joseph Smith.
2. Gordon B. Hinckley was false because he was fooled by the Salamander letter.
3. Mormons force dead people to join the church through temple baptism.
4. Mormons are brainwashed by their leaders and are not allowed to question doctrine.
5. Moroni was an "angel of light" and therefore false (re: Galatians 1:8)
6. Mormons added to the Bible.
7. Mormons are "forced" to pay tithing or risk being excommunicated. (pay and pray)
8. Mormons believe in endless numbers of gods.
9. Joseph Smith wrote the BoM based on a fictional book.
10. Mormons worship Moroni.
Other strange beliefs that they'd like you to think about Mormons:
Mormons believe in another Jesus, you know, the one documented in the New Testament. Mormons believe that their works will save them, even though the scriptures are clear that JESUS died for us and PAID the price of sins.
Mormons vote on other people's rights, even though marriage is defined as beiung between a man and woman ONLY in the Bible.
Mormons believe in many Gods, even though the scriptures are clear that there is only ONE God, Elohim, which btw is a plural noun, go figure. What does ONE mean then?
Contributions by channels: M424Filmcast and MormonAnswerMan
How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts. Jude 1:18
¶ Thus saith the Lord; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord. Jeremiah 17:5
The Day Of Rest is coming, indeed. I will feel no joy for those who spent their entire lives in the labor of tearing down. God did not send us down to tear it down but to build up the kingdom. The reason why I did this video was to show the WORLD just how silly these zealots REALLY are. The honest of heart will not be duped or fooled. Those who live their lives the way that they CHOOSE to do so are usually MORE inclined to follow after the Ed Decker's of the world vs. Jesus.
How long can rolling waters remain impure? What power shall stay the heavens? As well might man stretch forth his puny arm to stop the Missouri river in its decreed course, or to turn it up stream, as to hinder the Almighty from pouring down knowledge from heaven upon the heads of the Latter-day Saints. D&C 121:33
Anti-Mormons Beware! I have your number and I'm dialin' it all day long. Shining light into your eyes and watching you retreat to the darkness. Your works are the works of darkness. You lie about the LDS church and are responsible for keeping MANY honest of heart folks from discovering the restored gospel. One day you'll have to reconcile with that great God, our father in heaven, and have to explain yourselves before the judgment bar.
For the honest of heart! Do your own research and DO SO apart from the opinions, commentary, and words from others. Read the scriptures. Speak with the missionaries and use the Lord's guidance through thoughtful and careful prayer to DISCOVER these answers for yourself. The Lord will answer the prayers of the willing of heart. (See 1 John 5:9, James 1:5-6)
Honest of heart... take note. Enemies to the LDS church work tirelessly to KEEP you from the blessings which our Heavenly Father has for ALL of us. Do not let them pull you into the chasm that they are inevitably going to fall into unless they repent before the end!!!
The doctrines of the church are plainly available to the world. Nothing is kept in darkness. There are not ADDED things that Mormon's are unaware of... just enemies to the church who would have you believe such a farce.
Anti-Mormons (or otherwise people who profess to love Mormons and hope to save them or keep folks from investigating the LDS church) would also be "Enemies To The Church" by nature, they have said the following about us to others and are daily trying to convince them that we believe the following...
1. Mormons worship Joseph Smith.
2. Gordon B. Hinckley was false because he was fooled by the Salamander letter.
3. Mormons force dead people to join the church through temple baptism.
4. Mormons are brainwashed by their leaders and are not allowed to question doctrine.
5. Moroni was an "angel of light" and therefore false (re: Galatians 1:8)
6. Mormons added to the Bible.
7. Mormons are "forced" to pay tithing or risk being excommunicated. (pay and pray)
8. Mormons believe in endless numbers of gods.
9. Joseph Smith wrote the BoM based on a fictional book.
10. Mormons worship Moroni.
Other strange beliefs that they'd like you to think about Mormons:
Mormons believe in another Jesus, you know, the one documented in the New Testament. Mormons believe that their works will save them, even though the scriptures are clear that JESUS died for us and PAID the price of sins.
Mormons vote on other people's rights, even though marriage is defined as beiung between a man and woman ONLY in the Bible.
Mormons believe in many Gods, even though the scriptures are clear that there is only ONE God, Elohim, which btw is a plural noun, go figure. What does ONE mean then?
Contributions by channels: M424Filmcast and MormonAnswerMan
How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts. Jude 1:18
¶ Thus saith the Lord; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord. Jeremiah 17:5
The Day Of Rest is coming, indeed. I will feel no joy for those who spent their entire lives in the labor of tearing down. God did not send us down to tear it down but to build up the kingdom. The reason why I did this video was to show the WORLD just how silly these zealots REALLY are. The honest of heart will not be duped or fooled. Those who live their lives the way that they CHOOSE to do so are usually MORE inclined to follow after the Ed Decker's of the world vs. Jesus.
Monday, August 2, 2010
How Jesus Christ is Both the Father and the Son
Josoph Smith's First Vision of God the Father and Jesus Christ clarified almost 2,000 years of debate over the nature of God in an instant. Joseph Smith said, "[he] saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other—This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!” This is exactly what Stephen described in Acts while being stoned to death, "Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God” (Acts 7:55). However, if Jesus Christ is a separate being from God the Father (Eloheim), why does the Bible in many instances call Jesus Christ, the Eternal Father? How is Jesus Christ both the Father and the Son? And, if a separate being, how is Jesus Christ "one" with the Father?
Jesus Christ is the rightly called the Eternal Father of Heaven and Earth because:
1. Jesus Christ existed with God the Father in the beginning as the first spirit Son of God and became the only begotten Son of God (John 1: 1-10, John 3: 16).
2. Jesus Christ volunteered to perform the Atoning sacrifice for the salvation of mankind in a grand heavenly counsel before creation (Rev. 13: 8, Isa. 6: 8, Abr. 3: 27).
3. Jesus Christ, under directions of the Father, created both the heavens and the Earth. Therefore, just as the writers of the Constitution are considered the Fathers of the Constitution, Christ is considered the Eternal Father of the Heavens and the Earth (John 1: 1-10).
4. Jesus Christ of the New Testament is Jehovah of the Old Testament (Ex. 3: 14, John 8: 58).
5. Jesus Christ gave the Law of Moses and the Ten Commandments to Israel (3 Ne. 15: 5).
6. Jesus Christ speaks on behalf of God the Father though divine investiture of power, which is akin to a divine “ durable power of attorney” (John 5: 19, 30).
7. After accepting Christ as Savior, He becomes the granter of, or the father of our eternal life. The righteous are considered his sons and his daughters (Rom. 8: 16-17, Mosiah 5: 7).
8. Jesus Christ received all that the Father hath (Rom. 8: 16-17).
9. Jesus Christ is the perfect revelation of God the Father (John 14: 6-11).
10. Jesus Christ is one in purpose with God the Father (John 17: 19-23).
Posted by David B at 10:26 AM
Original Post Found At http://ldsdoctrine.blogspot.com/2006/10/jesus-christ-father-and-son.html
LDS Doctrine :
Jesus Christ is the rightly called the Eternal Father of Heaven and Earth because:
1. Jesus Christ existed with God the Father in the beginning as the first spirit Son of God and became the only begotten Son of God (John 1: 1-10, John 3: 16).
2. Jesus Christ volunteered to perform the Atoning sacrifice for the salvation of mankind in a grand heavenly counsel before creation (Rev. 13: 8, Isa. 6: 8, Abr. 3: 27).
3. Jesus Christ, under directions of the Father, created both the heavens and the Earth. Therefore, just as the writers of the Constitution are considered the Fathers of the Constitution, Christ is considered the Eternal Father of the Heavens and the Earth (John 1: 1-10).
4. Jesus Christ of the New Testament is Jehovah of the Old Testament (Ex. 3: 14, John 8: 58).
5. Jesus Christ gave the Law of Moses and the Ten Commandments to Israel (3 Ne. 15: 5).
6. Jesus Christ speaks on behalf of God the Father though divine investiture of power, which is akin to a divine “ durable power of attorney” (John 5: 19, 30).
7. After accepting Christ as Savior, He becomes the granter of, or the father of our eternal life. The righteous are considered his sons and his daughters (Rom. 8: 16-17, Mosiah 5: 7).
8. Jesus Christ received all that the Father hath (Rom. 8: 16-17).
9. Jesus Christ is the perfect revelation of God the Father (John 14: 6-11).
10. Jesus Christ is one in purpose with God the Father (John 17: 19-23).
Posted by David B at 10:26 AM
Original Post Found At http://ldsdoctrine.blogspot.com/2006/10/jesus-christ-father-and-son.html
LDS Doctrine :
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Trust Not In The Arm of Flesh Alone
¶ Thus saith the Lord; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord.
6 For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited.
7 Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is.
Jeremiah 17:5-7
A continued conversation with a fellow YouTube Subscriber:
He wrote:
Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, Pearl of Great Price all HERESY! Read Revelation 22:18-19 for me. No other text can be considered sacred other that what is in the BIBLE! Even a fifth grader can understand that.
First of all, I'm not upset. I always welcome a good scriptural challenge but folks? Revelations 22:18-19? This perhaps is the most mis-quoted passage used the most frequently and yet it's the easiest to explain when read in context. Even easier than Galatians 1:6-9; which has also been bastardized beyond it's original context and vomited out onto the tables for the good Christians to "eat right up."
I'm not even upset that he considers me a 5th Grader. I happen to know a few 5th Graders that are much SMARTER than some adults; hence, "Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader" has made for such a popular T.V. game show... so no, I'm not upset that he insulted my intelligence one bit. They are just believing what they are told and have continued in a long line of just "Believing in what someone else says is true..." or else we would have all came to a "Unity of the Faith" long ago. And if all unified in the faith, we would have welcomed ANY new information about our lost bretheren found upon the Isles of the Sea and all jumped for joy to learn that the Lord has had his hand in this mighty work upon all nations and within the House of Israel for centuries before and also after the resurrection of our Lord, Jesus Christ and the Book of Mormon would have then been HAILED as a marvelous addition to the mighty works of GOD...but I digress.
Straight up. Here is my response as follows
You only believe in the Bible the way that you do because someone told you that their way is correct and our way is wrong... but if you went about believing everything that you were told, then there is someone out there willing to sell you beach front property in Arizona.
"If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son." 1 John 5:9 -
This is what we should seek above all else.
I'm willing to suggest that your religious persuasion comes mostly from what others tell you to believe and they have not encouraged you to inquire of the Lord over the matter at hand or else they'd have no problem with encouraging you to pray and ask God whether there is a current true prophet in Israel and a re-established Zion: The Kingdom of God.. (James 1:5-6)
Keep reading... I'll have your theory about Revelations 22 completely turn a 180, if you'll let it.
If you were told that The Book of Revelations, written by John on the Isle of Patmos, that this was the absolute LAST book ever written chronologically, and that around the final part of Revelations, it means to say that John meant the entire Bible, then history may just not support this theory. Many scholars agree that Revelations came before 1,2, and 3rd John. Some even suggest it came before the "Gospel of John" was recorded; written well before the Gospels according to Matthew, Mark, Luke and John as these were written in the Twilights of their Apostleship.
Secondly: Moses paraphrased the same words in Deuteronomy; which if taken literally, would have disqualified any additional writing after his mysterious death and burial by the Lord. (See Deuteronomy 34) leaving ancient Israel in a bind not being able to receive any additional revelation from God. The Books of Joshua and all other books that would follow would be rendered as "Heresy" being unnecessary and adding to the already 5 written books of Moses...but this is not comparing literally to the context of Revelations 22 either.
The critics misuse Revelation, misunderstand the process by which the Bible cannon was formed, and must ignore other, earlier scriptures to maintain their position. (Deuteronomy 4:2-4) Their use of this argument is a form of begging the question whereby they presume at the outset that the Book of Mormon and other scriptures are not the Word of God, which is precisely the point under debate. In its proper context, the passage in Revelation actually supports the teachings of the Book of Mormon that many plain and precious things would be taken away from the Bible. It also shows clearly the need for another book of scripture like the Book of Mormon to restore those lost and sacred teachings. (See Revelations 14:6-7, where John also discloses the need for an Angel to return to the Earth in order to restore the "Gospel of Jesus Christ" by bringing with him that record.)
If the Book of Mormon and other modern scriptures are the work of uninspired men or the arm of flesh, then of course one ought not to trust them. If, however, they are indeed the word of the Lord to prophets, then all who desire to be saved ought to carefully heed them.
I, for one, do not rely on my religious leaders, professors, teachers, pastors, or friends when it comes to understanding and becoming aligned with the gospel message or whether the Lord has called modern prophets to help guide Israel in the latter-days. I go to a higher authority to obtain answers. None in our church are told to believe the prophet and to never question things. In stark contrast, they are encouraged to inquire (or ask) of the Lord to receive a witness of the spirit surrounding the truth of new prophets, the book of Mormon, and the once-again-restored Church.
6 For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited.
7 Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is.
Jeremiah 17:5-7
A continued conversation with a fellow YouTube Subscriber:
He wrote:
Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, Pearl of Great Price all HERESY! Read Revelation 22:18-19 for me. No other text can be considered sacred other that what is in the BIBLE! Even a fifth grader can understand that.
First of all, I'm not upset. I always welcome a good scriptural challenge but folks? Revelations 22:18-19? This perhaps is the most mis-quoted passage used the most frequently and yet it's the easiest to explain when read in context. Even easier than Galatians 1:6-9; which has also been bastardized beyond it's original context and vomited out onto the tables for the good Christians to "eat right up."
I'm not even upset that he considers me a 5th Grader. I happen to know a few 5th Graders that are much SMARTER than some adults; hence, "Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader" has made for such a popular T.V. game show... so no, I'm not upset that he insulted my intelligence one bit. They are just believing what they are told and have continued in a long line of just "Believing in what someone else says is true..." or else we would have all came to a "Unity of the Faith" long ago. And if all unified in the faith, we would have welcomed ANY new information about our lost bretheren found upon the Isles of the Sea and all jumped for joy to learn that the Lord has had his hand in this mighty work upon all nations and within the House of Israel for centuries before and also after the resurrection of our Lord, Jesus Christ and the Book of Mormon would have then been HAILED as a marvelous addition to the mighty works of GOD...but I digress.
Straight up. Here is my response as follows
You only believe in the Bible the way that you do because someone told you that their way is correct and our way is wrong... but if you went about believing everything that you were told, then there is someone out there willing to sell you beach front property in Arizona.
"If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son." 1 John 5:9 -
This is what we should seek above all else.
I'm willing to suggest that your religious persuasion comes mostly from what others tell you to believe and they have not encouraged you to inquire of the Lord over the matter at hand or else they'd have no problem with encouraging you to pray and ask God whether there is a current true prophet in Israel and a re-established Zion: The Kingdom of God.. (James 1:5-6)
Keep reading... I'll have your theory about Revelations 22 completely turn a 180, if you'll let it.
If you were told that The Book of Revelations, written by John on the Isle of Patmos, that this was the absolute LAST book ever written chronologically, and that around the final part of Revelations, it means to say that John meant the entire Bible, then history may just not support this theory. Many scholars agree that Revelations came before 1,2, and 3rd John. Some even suggest it came before the "Gospel of John" was recorded; written well before the Gospels according to Matthew, Mark, Luke and John as these were written in the Twilights of their Apostleship.
Secondly: Moses paraphrased the same words in Deuteronomy; which if taken literally, would have disqualified any additional writing after his mysterious death and burial by the Lord. (See Deuteronomy 34) leaving ancient Israel in a bind not being able to receive any additional revelation from God. The Books of Joshua and all other books that would follow would be rendered as "Heresy" being unnecessary and adding to the already 5 written books of Moses...but this is not comparing literally to the context of Revelations 22 either.
The critics misuse Revelation, misunderstand the process by which the Bible cannon was formed, and must ignore other, earlier scriptures to maintain their position. (Deuteronomy 4:2-4) Their use of this argument is a form of begging the question whereby they presume at the outset that the Book of Mormon and other scriptures are not the Word of God, which is precisely the point under debate. In its proper context, the passage in Revelation actually supports the teachings of the Book of Mormon that many plain and precious things would be taken away from the Bible. It also shows clearly the need for another book of scripture like the Book of Mormon to restore those lost and sacred teachings. (See Revelations 14:6-7, where John also discloses the need for an Angel to return to the Earth in order to restore the "Gospel of Jesus Christ" by bringing with him that record.)
If the Book of Mormon and other modern scriptures are the work of uninspired men or the arm of flesh, then of course one ought not to trust them. If, however, they are indeed the word of the Lord to prophets, then all who desire to be saved ought to carefully heed them.
I, for one, do not rely on my religious leaders, professors, teachers, pastors, or friends when it comes to understanding and becoming aligned with the gospel message or whether the Lord has called modern prophets to help guide Israel in the latter-days. I go to a higher authority to obtain answers. None in our church are told to believe the prophet and to never question things. In stark contrast, they are encouraged to inquire (or ask) of the Lord to receive a witness of the spirit surrounding the truth of new prophets, the book of Mormon, and the once-again-restored Church.
Friday, July 16, 2010
No Other Gods Before Me Or After Me - An In Depth Look into Isaiah 43:10
I wanted to address a scripture, which is probably the most used by Anti-Mormons and certainly the most mis-quoted. I am a very big stickler about reading scriptures in context and it bothers me when they're not. Scriptures are not written words to mold to one's understanding. They must truly study Ancient Israel in all of its aspects while also having a running understanding of the Bible in order to understand these verses in context. The verse I want to address today is Isaiah 43:10
"Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me."
If we were to ONLY read this verse without verses 9 leading up to it and 11 after wards, then I can see how easy it would be to go willy nilly in the internet and drop this verse all day long to suit ones purposes. If you were to read it WORD for WORD with these collection of words, as it appears in the English Language, one may possibly be hearing... "No God Formed" and they might loosely interpret this as saying, "No God Created" or "No God Born" but this isn't even what the question is all about. Continuing in verse 11, we learn...
"I, even I, am the Lord; and beside me there is no saviour."
Let's remember at what point in time this was written also. It is late in the years after Israel has already been organized and have been living in the promised land for quite some time. They had already dealt with the introduction of other false God's such as Baal. They have already been influenced by the God's of other nations.
So what is Isaiah really writing? It's the Lord saying the same thing here as he did on Mt. Sanai when he told Moses this:
Thou shalt have NO other GODS before me.
4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:
5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
(Emphasis Added) *Exodus 20:3-5*
What evidence do we have that there were other Gods that were worshiped before the one true God, the God of Israel? One only needs to go back to the book of Joshua.
Joshua 24:15-16
15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
16 And the people answered and said, God forbid that we should forsake the Lord, to serve other gods;
So we learn that we must not follow after the Gods that were worshiped by Men during ANY other time in the history of this world, that exist now, or can possibly be invented before the great day of judgment shall surely come to pass. The words mis-quoted in Isaiah do not disqualify Men from reaching their true potential. The Lord himself said, "To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne." Revelations 3:30. These are not IDLE words spoken by the Lord to his servant John while on the Isle of Patmos. Those early church members once had a perfect knowledge of their true potential. To him that overcomes the world will be granted the opportunity to rule and reign in the house of Israel as the Kings and Priests which they are.
In conclusion, chapter 43 of Isaiah are the Lord's words to ancient Israel, that they should rely upon ONE savior and only that ONE TRUE MESSIAH and to not follow after the God's who were worshiped in those days, worshiped in the past, or could POSSIBLY be invented in the future. This reference holds no connection to Man's potential to becoming like his Father in Heaven; which I have found more evidence in the Bible than can possibly be written on this blog that supports Man's true potential versus a badly, mis-quoted verse of scripture such as Isaiah 43:10 being quoted out of context. Chapter 43 is all about the Lord's word to Israel. The Lord says: "I am thy God; I will gather thy seed; beside me there is no Savior; ye are my witnesses."
All who belong to covenant Israel are now the witnesses for the Lord and we witness unto the world with the power of the Holy Ghost that there are prophets once again in Israel and for the whole earth. We testify to the world that Isaiah said it best. There is only one name under heaven through which men can receive a forgiveness from their sins and that name is Jesus Christ.
2 Nephi 31: 20-21
Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life. And now, behold, my beloved brethren, this is the way; and there is none other way nor name given under heaven whereby man can be saved in the kingdom of God...
If you are already a member of this new and everlasting covenant, then continue to press forward as covenant Israel in these latter-days. Let not the gods of this world occupy your time and attention. Let not the graven images of our world today replace the one true Lord, which is Jesus Christ, in our importance. Let the words of Isaiah, spoken in true context, teach men on earth that there is only ONE God, as far as he is concerned, that we must worship and laud as the only means through which we may be saved in that glorious kingdom which is shortly to come to be. But make no mistake about this...the Bible talks repeatedly about the deification of man and of man's potential to be sanctified and made holy!
Some have confused this passage of scripture to mean that we are all 'judges' and not literal children of God. (See Psalms 82:1,6-8) If you read carefully in this Psalm, it was well understood by the ancient Hebrews that we were literally the 'children of God' being thus also called gods. This did not mean that we were 'immortal' or that we would never die in the sense of how God is, yet. One day our bodies would be renewed and one day we would ALL be immortal. We would all become perfected in Christ and through the atonement, if we gave it cause to work within us. (See Galatians 3:24, Philip. 3:15 (14–15) - See also 2 Tim. 2:10–12, Romans 8:15-18, but best explained by Paul's writings to Timothy.)
John 10:29-39 explains more about why the Lord used the passage in Psalms to explain how he and the father were both divine and enjoyed the same level of Godhood. This does not necessarily explain to the world regarding our 'true potentials' but that this could never be accomplished on our own regardless. The need for a 'savior' and 'sanctification/purification via the baptism of Fire and the refiners fire would still need to enact itself upon those disciples of Jesus..."
John 10: 29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand. 30 I and my Father are one. 31 Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him. 32 Jesus answered them, Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me? 33 The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God. 34 Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods? 35 If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken; 36 Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God? 37 If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not. 38 But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him. 39 Therefore they sought again to take him: but he escaped out of their hand,"
It wasn't written in error about 'ye are gods' because each one of us are prince's ... which are prince's to become kings and then like the father, who is the King of Kings. This was also well explained in Revelation 1:5-6 - the early saints had no doubt that mankind's potential was to 'join the father' and become like him. Many Early Christian saints held this belief, to be sure.
Potential to become 'like God' is Un-Christian?
Some Christians insist that the doctrine of theosis is unBiblical and unChristian. However, a review of Christian history illustrates that this doctrine was and is a common belief of many Christians.
Irenaeus (ca. AD 115-202) Saint Irenaeus, who may justly be called the first Biblical theologian among the ancient Christians, was a disciple of the great Polycarp, who was a direct disciple of John the Revelator. Irenaeus is not a heretic or unorthodox in traditional Christian circles, yet he shares a belief in theosis:
While man gradually advances and mounts towards perfection; that is, he approaches the eternal. The eternal is perfect; and this is God. Man has first to come into being, then to progress, and by progressing come to manhood, and having reached manhood to increase, and thus increasing to persevere, and persevering to be glorified, and thus see his Lord. Like the LDS, Irenaeus did not believe that this belief in any way displaced God, Christ, or the Holy Ghost: there is none other called God by the Scriptures except the Father of all, and the Son, and those who possess the adoption....Since, therefore, this is sure and stedfast, that no other God or Lord was announced by the Spirit, except Him who, as God, rules over all, together with His Word, and those who receive the Spirit of adoption.
Bibliography Notes: Henry Bettenson, "The Early Christian Fathers: A Selection from the Writings of the Fathers from St. Clement of Rome to St. Athanasius" (London: Oxford University Press, 1956)pages 16–17, page 94. ISBN 0192830090. Visit this link for more research on the matter and the thoughts and beliefs of many other "Christian Fathers" who lived from 100-400 A.D. who held the same beliefs. http://en.fairmormon.org/Mormonism_and_the_nature_of_God/Deification_of_man#endnote_fn1
"Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me."
If we were to ONLY read this verse without verses 9 leading up to it and 11 after wards, then I can see how easy it would be to go willy nilly in the internet and drop this verse all day long to suit ones purposes. If you were to read it WORD for WORD with these collection of words, as it appears in the English Language, one may possibly be hearing... "No God Formed" and they might loosely interpret this as saying, "No God Created" or "No God Born" but this isn't even what the question is all about. Continuing in verse 11, we learn...
"I, even I, am the Lord; and beside me there is no saviour."
Let's remember at what point in time this was written also. It is late in the years after Israel has already been organized and have been living in the promised land for quite some time. They had already dealt with the introduction of other false God's such as Baal. They have already been influenced by the God's of other nations.
So what is Isaiah really writing? It's the Lord saying the same thing here as he did on Mt. Sanai when he told Moses this:
Thou shalt have NO other GODS before me.
4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:
5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
(Emphasis Added) *Exodus 20:3-5*
What evidence do we have that there were other Gods that were worshiped before the one true God, the God of Israel? One only needs to go back to the book of Joshua.
Joshua 24:15-16
15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
16 And the people answered and said, God forbid that we should forsake the Lord, to serve other gods;
So we learn that we must not follow after the Gods that were worshiped by Men during ANY other time in the history of this world, that exist now, or can possibly be invented before the great day of judgment shall surely come to pass. The words mis-quoted in Isaiah do not disqualify Men from reaching their true potential. The Lord himself said, "To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne." Revelations 3:30. These are not IDLE words spoken by the Lord to his servant John while on the Isle of Patmos. Those early church members once had a perfect knowledge of their true potential. To him that overcomes the world will be granted the opportunity to rule and reign in the house of Israel as the Kings and Priests which they are.
In conclusion, chapter 43 of Isaiah are the Lord's words to ancient Israel, that they should rely upon ONE savior and only that ONE TRUE MESSIAH and to not follow after the God's who were worshiped in those days, worshiped in the past, or could POSSIBLY be invented in the future. This reference holds no connection to Man's potential to becoming like his Father in Heaven; which I have found more evidence in the Bible than can possibly be written on this blog that supports Man's true potential versus a badly, mis-quoted verse of scripture such as Isaiah 43:10 being quoted out of context. Chapter 43 is all about the Lord's word to Israel. The Lord says: "I am thy God; I will gather thy seed; beside me there is no Savior; ye are my witnesses."
All who belong to covenant Israel are now the witnesses for the Lord and we witness unto the world with the power of the Holy Ghost that there are prophets once again in Israel and for the whole earth. We testify to the world that Isaiah said it best. There is only one name under heaven through which men can receive a forgiveness from their sins and that name is Jesus Christ.
2 Nephi 31: 20-21
Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life. And now, behold, my beloved brethren, this is the way; and there is none other way nor name given under heaven whereby man can be saved in the kingdom of God...
If you are already a member of this new and everlasting covenant, then continue to press forward as covenant Israel in these latter-days. Let not the gods of this world occupy your time and attention. Let not the graven images of our world today replace the one true Lord, which is Jesus Christ, in our importance. Let the words of Isaiah, spoken in true context, teach men on earth that there is only ONE God, as far as he is concerned, that we must worship and laud as the only means through which we may be saved in that glorious kingdom which is shortly to come to be. But make no mistake about this...the Bible talks repeatedly about the deification of man and of man's potential to be sanctified and made holy!
Some have confused this passage of scripture to mean that we are all 'judges' and not literal children of God. (See Psalms 82:1,6-8) If you read carefully in this Psalm, it was well understood by the ancient Hebrews that we were literally the 'children of God' being thus also called gods. This did not mean that we were 'immortal' or that we would never die in the sense of how God is, yet. One day our bodies would be renewed and one day we would ALL be immortal. We would all become perfected in Christ and through the atonement, if we gave it cause to work within us. (See Galatians 3:24, Philip. 3:15 (14–15) - See also 2 Tim. 2:10–12, Romans 8:15-18, but best explained by Paul's writings to Timothy.)
John 10:29-39 explains more about why the Lord used the passage in Psalms to explain how he and the father were both divine and enjoyed the same level of Godhood. This does not necessarily explain to the world regarding our 'true potentials' but that this could never be accomplished on our own regardless. The need for a 'savior' and 'sanctification/purification via the baptism of Fire and the refiners fire would still need to enact itself upon those disciples of Jesus..."
John 10: 29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand. 30 I and my Father are one. 31 Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him. 32 Jesus answered them, Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me? 33 The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God. 34 Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods? 35 If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken; 36 Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God? 37 If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not. 38 But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him. 39 Therefore they sought again to take him: but he escaped out of their hand,"
It wasn't written in error about 'ye are gods' because each one of us are prince's ... which are prince's to become kings and then like the father, who is the King of Kings. This was also well explained in Revelation 1:5-6 - the early saints had no doubt that mankind's potential was to 'join the father' and become like him. Many Early Christian saints held this belief, to be sure.
Potential to become 'like God' is Un-Christian?
Some Christians insist that the doctrine of theosis is unBiblical and unChristian. However, a review of Christian history illustrates that this doctrine was and is a common belief of many Christians.
Irenaeus (ca. AD 115-202) Saint Irenaeus, who may justly be called the first Biblical theologian among the ancient Christians, was a disciple of the great Polycarp, who was a direct disciple of John the Revelator. Irenaeus is not a heretic or unorthodox in traditional Christian circles, yet he shares a belief in theosis:
While man gradually advances and mounts towards perfection; that is, he approaches the eternal. The eternal is perfect; and this is God. Man has first to come into being, then to progress, and by progressing come to manhood, and having reached manhood to increase, and thus increasing to persevere, and persevering to be glorified, and thus see his Lord. Like the LDS, Irenaeus did not believe that this belief in any way displaced God, Christ, or the Holy Ghost: there is none other called God by the Scriptures except the Father of all, and the Son, and those who possess the adoption....Since, therefore, this is sure and stedfast, that no other God or Lord was announced by the Spirit, except Him who, as God, rules over all, together with His Word, and those who receive the Spirit of adoption.
Bibliography Notes: Henry Bettenson, "The Early Christian Fathers: A Selection from the Writings of the Fathers from St. Clement of Rome to St. Athanasius" (London: Oxford University Press, 1956)pages 16–17, page 94. ISBN 0192830090. Visit this link for more research on the matter and the thoughts and beliefs of many other "Christian Fathers" who lived from 100-400 A.D. who held the same beliefs. http://en.fairmormon.org/Mormonism_and_the_nature_of_God/Deification_of_man#endnote_fn1
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Man's Potential to Become like his Heavenly Parents
We teach what the Bible mentions as man's potential to become like his heavenly parent. This is not a new concept and was shared by some of the earliest of Christians; (before the Nicean Creed) The concept of Theosis has existed long before that group of philosopher's got together to declare that God is TOO big to understand or too dogmatic. I, for one, choose to believe that God is literally our father in heaven. He is the father of Spirits. Jesus Christ called him, "Abba" which interpreted literally means, "Daddy or Papa"
and we were encouraged to do the same while being members of the covenant... not that being a member gives us some sort of right but it means we acknowledge that he LITERALLY is the father of spirits.
(Compare Rom. 8: 15-18, Galatians 4:6)
Here, below, are examples of men who shared a similar belief that we as latter-day saints do and they did so WELL before God was declared TOO dogmatic for men to dare comprehend:
(This information was found at: http://en.fairmormon.org/Nature_of_God/Deification_of_man )
Irenaeus (ca. AD 115-202)
Saint Irenaeus, who may justly be called the first Biblical theologian among the ancient Christians, was a disciple of the great Polycarp, who was a direct disciple of John the Revelator. Irenaeus is not a heretic or unorthodox in traditional Christian circles, yet he shares a belief in theosis:
While man gradually advances and mounts towards perfection; that is, he approaches the eternal. The eternal is perfect; and this is God. Man has first to come into being, then to progress, and by progressing come to manhood, and having reached manhood to increase, and thus increasing to persevere, and persevering to be glorified, and thus see his Lord.
Like the LDS, Irenaeus did not believe that this belief in any way displaced God, Christ, or the Holy Ghost:
there is none other called God by the Scriptures except the Father of all, and the Son, and those who possess the adoption....Since, therefore, this is sure and stedfast, that no other God or Lord was announced by the Spirit, except Him who, as God, rules over all, together with His Word, and those who receive the Spirit of adoption.
Yet, Irenaeus—whom it is absurd to exclude from the ranks of orthodox Christians—believed in theosis in terms which agree with LDS thinking on the matter:
We were not made gods at our beginning, but first we were made men, then, in the end, gods.
Also:
How then will any be a god, if he has not first been made a man? How can any be perfect when he has only lately been made man? How immortal, if he has not in his mortal nature obeyed his maker? For one's duty is first to observe the discipline of man and thereafter to share in the glory of God.
And:
Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Word of God, of his boundless love, became what we are that he might make us what he himself is.”
And:
But of what gods [does he speak]? [Of those] to whom He says, "I have said, Ye are gods, and all sons of the Most High." To those, no doubt, who have received the grace of the "adoption, by which we cry, Abba Father."
And, Irenaeus considers the doctrine clearly Biblical, just as the LDS do:
For he who holds, without pride and boasting, the true glory (opinion) regarding created things and the Creator, who is the Almighty God of all, and who has granted existence to all; [such an one, ] continuing in His love and subjection, and giving of thanks, shall also receive from Him the greater glory of promotion, looking forward to the time when he shall become like Him who died for him, for He, too, "was made in the likeness of sinful flesh," to condemn sin, and to cast it, as now a condemned thing, away beyond the flesh, but that He might call man forth into His own likeness, assigning him as [His own] imitator to God, and imposing on him His Father's law, in order that he may see God, and granting him power to receive the Father; [being] the Word of God who dwelt in man, and became the Son of man, that He might accustom man to receive God, and God to dwell in man, according to the good pleasure of the Father.
Further quotes from Irenaeus available here.
Said one Protestant theologian of Irenaeus:
Participation in God was carried so far by Irenaeus as to amount to deification. 'We were not made gods in the beginning,' he says, 'but at first men, then at length gods.' This is not to be understood as mere rhetorical exaggeration on Irenaeus' part. He meant the statement to be taken literally.
Clement of Alexandria (AD 150-215)
Clement, an early Christian leader in Alexandria, also taught the doctrine of deification: yea, I say, the Word of God became a man so that you might learn from a man how to become a god.
And:
"...if one knows himself, he will know God, and knowing God will become like God...His is beauty, true beauty, for it is God, and that man becomes god, since God wills it. So Heraclitus was right when he said, "Men are gods, and gods are men."
Those who have been perfected are given their reward and their honors. They have done with their purification, they have done with the rest of their service, though it be a holy service, with the holy; now they become pure in heart, and because of their close intimacy with the Lord there awaits them a restoration to eternal contemplation; and they have received the title of "gods" since they are destined to be enthroned with the other "gods" who are ranked next below the savior.
Origen (ca. AD 185-251)
And thus the first-born of all creation, who is the first to be with God, and to attract to Himself divinity, is a being of more exalted rank than the other gods beside Him, of whom God is the God, as it is written, "The God of gods, the Lord, hath spoken and called the earth." It was by the offices of the first-born that they became gods, for He drew from God in generous measure that they should be made gods, and He communicated it to them according to His own bounty. The true God, then, is "The God," and those who are formed after Him are gods, images, as it were, of Him the prototype.
The Father, then, is proclaimed as the one true God; but besides the true God are many who become gods by participating in God.
Origen also defined what it means to "participate" in something:
Every one who participates in anything, is unquestionably of one essence and nature with him who is partaker of the same thing.
Justin Martyr (d. ca. AD 163)
Justin the Martyr said in 150 A.D. that he wishes
to prove to you that the Holy Ghost reproaches men because they were made like God, free from suffering and death, provided that they kept His commandments, and were deemed deserving of the name of His sons... in the beginning men were made like God, free from suffering and death, and that they are thus deemed worthy of becoming gods and of having power to become sons of the highest...
Also,
[By Psalm 82] it is demonstrated that all men are deemed worthy of becoming “gods,” and even of having power to become sons of the Highest.
Hippolytus (AD 170-236)
Now in all these acts He offered up, as the first-fruits, His own manhood, in order that thou, when thou art in tribulation, mayest not be disheartened, but, confessing thyself to be a man (of like nature with the Redeemer,) mayest dwell in expectation of also receiving what the Father has granted unto this Son...The Deity (by condescension) does not diminish anything of the dignity of His divine perfection having made you even God unto his glory.
Athanasius
In 347, Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria and participant in the council of Nicea, said:
the Word was made flesh in order that we might be enabled to be made gods....just as the Lord, putting on the body, became a man, so also we men are both deified through His flesh, and henceforth inherit everlasting life...[we are] sons and gods by reason of the word in us.
For as Christ died and was exalted as man, so, as man, is He said to take what, as God, He ever had, that even such a grant of grace might reach to us. For the Word was not impaired in receiving a body, that He should seek to receive a grace, but rather He deified that which He put on, and more than that, gave it graciously to the race of man.
He also states that Christ "became man that we might be made divine."
Augustine (AD 354-430)
Augustine, considered one of the greatest Christian Fathers, said
but He himself that justifies also deifies, for by justifying He makes sons of God. For He has given them power to become the sons of God, (John 1:12). If then we have been made sons of God, we have also been made gods.
Jerome (AD 340-420)
Jerome also described the deification of believers as an act of grace, which matches the LDS understanding precisely:
“I said 'you are gods, all of you sons of the most high.’" let Eunomius hear this, let Arius, who say that the son of God is son in the same way we are. That we are gods is not so by nature, but by grace. “but to as many as receive Him he gave power to becoming sons of God” I made man for that purpose, that from men they may become gods. We are called gods and sons!...[Christ said] "all of you sons of the Most High," it is not possible to be the son of the Most High, unless He Himself is the Most High. I said that all of you would be exalted as I am exalted.
Jerome goes on to say that we should
give thanks to the God of gods. The prophet is referring to those gods of whom it is written: I said ‘you are gods’ and again ‘god arises in the divine assembly’ they who cease to be mere men, abandon the ways of vice an are become perfect, are gods and the sons of the most high...
Modern Christian exegesis
The Westminster Dictionary of Christian Theology describes "deification" thusly:
Deification (Greek Theosis) is for orthodoxy the goal of every Christian. Man, according to the Bible, is ‘made in the image and likeness of God’...it is possible for man to become like God, to become deified, to become God by grace. This doctrine is based on many passages of both O.T. and N.T. (Psalms 82: (81) .6; 2 Peter 1:4), and it is essentially the teaching both of St. Paul, though he tends to use the language of filial adoption (Rom. 8:9-17, Gal. 4:5-7) and the fourth gospel (John 17:21-23).
Joseph Fitzmyer wrote:
The language of 2 Peter is taken up by St. Irenaeus, in his famous phrase, ‘if the Word has been made man, it is so that men may be made gods; (adv. Haer v, pref.), And becomes the standard in Greek theology. In the fourth century St. Athanasius repeats Irenaeus almost word for word, and in the fifth century St. Cyril of Alexandria says that we shall become sons ‘by participation’ (Greek methexis). Deification is the central idea in the spirituality of St. Maximus the confessor, for whom the doctrine is corollary of the incarnation: ‘deification, briefly, is the encompassing and fulfillment of all times and ages’,...and St. Symeon the new theologian at the end of the tenth century writes, ‘he who is God by nature converses with those whom he has made gods by grace, as a friend converses with his friends, face to face...’
Finally, it should be noted that deification does not mean absorption into God, since the deified creature remains itself and distinct. It is the whole human being, body and soul, who is transfigured in the spirit into the likeness of the divine nature, and deification is the goal of every Christian.
According to Christian scholar G.L. Prestige, the ancient Christians “taught that the destiny of man was to become like God, and even to become deified.”
William R. Inge, Archbishop of Canterbury, wrote:
"God became man, that we might become God" was a commonplace of doctrinal theology at least until the time of Augustine, and that "deification holds a very large place in the writings of the fathers...We find it in Irenaeus as well as in Clement, in Athanasius as well in Gregory of Nysee. St. Augustine was no more afraid of deificari in Latin than Origen of apotheosis in Greek...To modern ears the word deification sounds not only strange but arrogant and shocking.
In conclusion:
This view of the early Christians' doctrines is not unique to the Latter-day Saints. Many modern Christian writers have recognized the same doctrines. If the critics do not wish to embrace these ancient doctrines, that is their privilege, but they cannot logically claim that such doctrines are not "Christian." One might fairly ask why modern Christians do not believe that which the ancient Christians insisted upon?UnBiblical?
Theosis has been taught by many Christians through the centuries. They pulled these beliefs from the Bible itself. The Father is the one true God. This thing is certain: no one will ever ascend above Him; no one will ever replace Him.
and we were encouraged to do the same while being members of the covenant... not that being a member gives us some sort of right but it means we acknowledge that he LITERALLY is the father of spirits.
(Compare Rom. 8: 15-18, Galatians 4:6)
Here, below, are examples of men who shared a similar belief that we as latter-day saints do and they did so WELL before God was declared TOO dogmatic for men to dare comprehend:
(This information was found at: http://en.fairmormon.org/Nature_of_God/Deification_of_man )
Irenaeus (ca. AD 115-202)
Saint Irenaeus, who may justly be called the first Biblical theologian among the ancient Christians, was a disciple of the great Polycarp, who was a direct disciple of John the Revelator. Irenaeus is not a heretic or unorthodox in traditional Christian circles, yet he shares a belief in theosis:
While man gradually advances and mounts towards perfection; that is, he approaches the eternal. The eternal is perfect; and this is God. Man has first to come into being, then to progress, and by progressing come to manhood, and having reached manhood to increase, and thus increasing to persevere, and persevering to be glorified, and thus see his Lord.
Like the LDS, Irenaeus did not believe that this belief in any way displaced God, Christ, or the Holy Ghost:
there is none other called God by the Scriptures except the Father of all, and the Son, and those who possess the adoption....Since, therefore, this is sure and stedfast, that no other God or Lord was announced by the Spirit, except Him who, as God, rules over all, together with His Word, and those who receive the Spirit of adoption.
Yet, Irenaeus—whom it is absurd to exclude from the ranks of orthodox Christians—believed in theosis in terms which agree with LDS thinking on the matter:
We were not made gods at our beginning, but first we were made men, then, in the end, gods.
Also:
How then will any be a god, if he has not first been made a man? How can any be perfect when he has only lately been made man? How immortal, if he has not in his mortal nature obeyed his maker? For one's duty is first to observe the discipline of man and thereafter to share in the glory of God.
And:
Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Word of God, of his boundless love, became what we are that he might make us what he himself is.”
And:
But of what gods [does he speak]? [Of those] to whom He says, "I have said, Ye are gods, and all sons of the Most High." To those, no doubt, who have received the grace of the "adoption, by which we cry, Abba Father."
And, Irenaeus considers the doctrine clearly Biblical, just as the LDS do:
For he who holds, without pride and boasting, the true glory (opinion) regarding created things and the Creator, who is the Almighty God of all, and who has granted existence to all; [such an one, ] continuing in His love and subjection, and giving of thanks, shall also receive from Him the greater glory of promotion, looking forward to the time when he shall become like Him who died for him, for He, too, "was made in the likeness of sinful flesh," to condemn sin, and to cast it, as now a condemned thing, away beyond the flesh, but that He might call man forth into His own likeness, assigning him as [His own] imitator to God, and imposing on him His Father's law, in order that he may see God, and granting him power to receive the Father; [being] the Word of God who dwelt in man, and became the Son of man, that He might accustom man to receive God, and God to dwell in man, according to the good pleasure of the Father.
Further quotes from Irenaeus available here.
Said one Protestant theologian of Irenaeus:
Participation in God was carried so far by Irenaeus as to amount to deification. 'We were not made gods in the beginning,' he says, 'but at first men, then at length gods.' This is not to be understood as mere rhetorical exaggeration on Irenaeus' part. He meant the statement to be taken literally.
Clement of Alexandria (AD 150-215)
Clement, an early Christian leader in Alexandria, also taught the doctrine of deification: yea, I say, the Word of God became a man so that you might learn from a man how to become a god.
And:
"...if one knows himself, he will know God, and knowing God will become like God...His is beauty, true beauty, for it is God, and that man becomes god, since God wills it. So Heraclitus was right when he said, "Men are gods, and gods are men."
Those who have been perfected are given their reward and their honors. They have done with their purification, they have done with the rest of their service, though it be a holy service, with the holy; now they become pure in heart, and because of their close intimacy with the Lord there awaits them a restoration to eternal contemplation; and they have received the title of "gods" since they are destined to be enthroned with the other "gods" who are ranked next below the savior.
Origen (ca. AD 185-251)
And thus the first-born of all creation, who is the first to be with God, and to attract to Himself divinity, is a being of more exalted rank than the other gods beside Him, of whom God is the God, as it is written, "The God of gods, the Lord, hath spoken and called the earth." It was by the offices of the first-born that they became gods, for He drew from God in generous measure that they should be made gods, and He communicated it to them according to His own bounty. The true God, then, is "The God," and those who are formed after Him are gods, images, as it were, of Him the prototype.
The Father, then, is proclaimed as the one true God; but besides the true God are many who become gods by participating in God.
Origen also defined what it means to "participate" in something:
Every one who participates in anything, is unquestionably of one essence and nature with him who is partaker of the same thing.
Justin Martyr (d. ca. AD 163)
Justin the Martyr said in 150 A.D. that he wishes
to prove to you that the Holy Ghost reproaches men because they were made like God, free from suffering and death, provided that they kept His commandments, and were deemed deserving of the name of His sons... in the beginning men were made like God, free from suffering and death, and that they are thus deemed worthy of becoming gods and of having power to become sons of the highest...
Also,
[By Psalm 82] it is demonstrated that all men are deemed worthy of becoming “gods,” and even of having power to become sons of the Highest.
Hippolytus (AD 170-236)
Now in all these acts He offered up, as the first-fruits, His own manhood, in order that thou, when thou art in tribulation, mayest not be disheartened, but, confessing thyself to be a man (of like nature with the Redeemer,) mayest dwell in expectation of also receiving what the Father has granted unto this Son...The Deity (by condescension) does not diminish anything of the dignity of His divine perfection having made you even God unto his glory.
Athanasius
In 347, Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria and participant in the council of Nicea, said:
the Word was made flesh in order that we might be enabled to be made gods....just as the Lord, putting on the body, became a man, so also we men are both deified through His flesh, and henceforth inherit everlasting life...[we are] sons and gods by reason of the word in us.
For as Christ died and was exalted as man, so, as man, is He said to take what, as God, He ever had, that even such a grant of grace might reach to us. For the Word was not impaired in receiving a body, that He should seek to receive a grace, but rather He deified that which He put on, and more than that, gave it graciously to the race of man.
He also states that Christ "became man that we might be made divine."
Augustine (AD 354-430)
Augustine, considered one of the greatest Christian Fathers, said
but He himself that justifies also deifies, for by justifying He makes sons of God. For He has given them power to become the sons of God, (John 1:12). If then we have been made sons of God, we have also been made gods.
Jerome (AD 340-420)
Jerome also described the deification of believers as an act of grace, which matches the LDS understanding precisely:
“I said 'you are gods, all of you sons of the most high.’" let Eunomius hear this, let Arius, who say that the son of God is son in the same way we are. That we are gods is not so by nature, but by grace. “but to as many as receive Him he gave power to becoming sons of God” I made man for that purpose, that from men they may become gods. We are called gods and sons!...[Christ said] "all of you sons of the Most High," it is not possible to be the son of the Most High, unless He Himself is the Most High. I said that all of you would be exalted as I am exalted.
Jerome goes on to say that we should
give thanks to the God of gods. The prophet is referring to those gods of whom it is written: I said ‘you are gods’ and again ‘god arises in the divine assembly’ they who cease to be mere men, abandon the ways of vice an are become perfect, are gods and the sons of the most high...
Modern Christian exegesis
The Westminster Dictionary of Christian Theology describes "deification" thusly:
Deification (Greek Theosis) is for orthodoxy the goal of every Christian. Man, according to the Bible, is ‘made in the image and likeness of God’...it is possible for man to become like God, to become deified, to become God by grace. This doctrine is based on many passages of both O.T. and N.T. (Psalms 82: (81) .6; 2 Peter 1:4), and it is essentially the teaching both of St. Paul, though he tends to use the language of filial adoption (Rom. 8:9-17, Gal. 4:5-7) and the fourth gospel (John 17:21-23).
Joseph Fitzmyer wrote:
The language of 2 Peter is taken up by St. Irenaeus, in his famous phrase, ‘if the Word has been made man, it is so that men may be made gods; (adv. Haer v, pref.), And becomes the standard in Greek theology. In the fourth century St. Athanasius repeats Irenaeus almost word for word, and in the fifth century St. Cyril of Alexandria says that we shall become sons ‘by participation’ (Greek methexis). Deification is the central idea in the spirituality of St. Maximus the confessor, for whom the doctrine is corollary of the incarnation: ‘deification, briefly, is the encompassing and fulfillment of all times and ages’,...and St. Symeon the new theologian at the end of the tenth century writes, ‘he who is God by nature converses with those whom he has made gods by grace, as a friend converses with his friends, face to face...’
Finally, it should be noted that deification does not mean absorption into God, since the deified creature remains itself and distinct. It is the whole human being, body and soul, who is transfigured in the spirit into the likeness of the divine nature, and deification is the goal of every Christian.
According to Christian scholar G.L. Prestige, the ancient Christians “taught that the destiny of man was to become like God, and even to become deified.”
William R. Inge, Archbishop of Canterbury, wrote:
"God became man, that we might become God" was a commonplace of doctrinal theology at least until the time of Augustine, and that "deification holds a very large place in the writings of the fathers...We find it in Irenaeus as well as in Clement, in Athanasius as well in Gregory of Nysee. St. Augustine was no more afraid of deificari in Latin than Origen of apotheosis in Greek...To modern ears the word deification sounds not only strange but arrogant and shocking.
In conclusion:
This view of the early Christians' doctrines is not unique to the Latter-day Saints. Many modern Christian writers have recognized the same doctrines. If the critics do not wish to embrace these ancient doctrines, that is their privilege, but they cannot logically claim that such doctrines are not "Christian." One might fairly ask why modern Christians do not believe that which the ancient Christians insisted upon?UnBiblical?
Theosis has been taught by many Christians through the centuries. They pulled these beliefs from the Bible itself. The Father is the one true God. This thing is certain: no one will ever ascend above Him; no one will ever replace Him.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Till We All Come To A Unity Of The Faith
Till we all come to a unity of the faith.
The gospel as it has been restored only differs from how you see the gospel message.
You could easily say the same thing about a Baptist if you happened to be a Methodist because they both teach the gospel differently. The same goes for the 20,000 + sects of Christianity which have certainly not helped to fulfill the Lord's words through Paul as he gave them to the Ephesians in which, "all would come to the unity of the faith."
And this UNITY does not mean compromise one with another... but to actually ALL have preached to them the gospel of Christ in its purity; only how Apostles of the Lord can teach it. (1 Tim 2:7)
It was in its fullness when the early church began because there were Apostles and Prophets on the earth.
Not even in the Catholic church, the supposed stewards of the Lords' priesthood authority, continued to call additional Apostles.
When Judas Iscariot was found as dead (committed suicide) his vacancy was filled by the calling of Matthias. Else if he were not called, then the purpose and function of the 12 Apostles may have seemed benign and unimportant... but the calling of Matthias proves that the Lord's organization as it was established by him was meant to continue. If it were possible, there would have been a church ALWAYS upon the earth guided by Apostles and Prophets as the Lord had established. (Ephesians 4:11-14)
The day of the gentiles would one day come, according to the Lords' words in Luke 21:24... and that day would not come for centuries later. The Jews indeed have been trodden down and continued to be despised of men (and in many ways still are) but the times of the Gentiles is beginning to be fulfilled.
The last shall be first and the first shall be last is a literal insight into the Lord's plans to gather Israel one last time. The priesthood of God (as restored in 1830) was in preparation to restore Israel one last time. Indeed... the Lord's words in Luke chapter 21 have already begun to be fulfilled but they could ONLY fulfill themselves with priesthood authority.
Gentiles would not take upon themselves this honor. They would have to have been called of God as was Aaron...
But I know what you may be thinking... you might be thinking that Joseph Smith... or those called by Angels to receive the priesthood may not have had any rites to have it.
Israel had been scattered upon the whole face of the earth. The blood of Ephraim and Manasseh along with the blood of many of the other 10 tribes has had a chance to mix with the Gentiles for the many hundreds of years after the Lord completed the supreme sacrifice. At some point, if you're truly intrigued, I'll share with you the many epiphanies that I've received while studying the Bible as it pertains to Ephraim, the seed through with the Lord blessed via the birthright.
Even though Jesus Christ was born through the loins of Judah, great were the promises and responsibilities of they who belonged to Joseph's descendants. (both Ephraim and Manasseh)
Although we won't see this unity until "WELL" into the Millennium, the ball got rolling; ie, "The Stone Cut Out of the Mountain" that was cut without hands, according to the words of Daniel, the prophet, in chapter 2 of his record.
He that has ears... let him hear.
The gospel as it has been restored only differs from how you see the gospel message.
You could easily say the same thing about a Baptist if you happened to be a Methodist because they both teach the gospel differently. The same goes for the 20,000 + sects of Christianity which have certainly not helped to fulfill the Lord's words through Paul as he gave them to the Ephesians in which, "all would come to the unity of the faith."
And this UNITY does not mean compromise one with another... but to actually ALL have preached to them the gospel of Christ in its purity; only how Apostles of the Lord can teach it. (1 Tim 2:7)
It was in its fullness when the early church began because there were Apostles and Prophets on the earth.
Not even in the Catholic church, the supposed stewards of the Lords' priesthood authority, continued to call additional Apostles.
When Judas Iscariot was found as dead (committed suicide) his vacancy was filled by the calling of Matthias. Else if he were not called, then the purpose and function of the 12 Apostles may have seemed benign and unimportant... but the calling of Matthias proves that the Lord's organization as it was established by him was meant to continue. If it were possible, there would have been a church ALWAYS upon the earth guided by Apostles and Prophets as the Lord had established. (Ephesians 4:11-14)
The day of the gentiles would one day come, according to the Lords' words in Luke 21:24... and that day would not come for centuries later. The Jews indeed have been trodden down and continued to be despised of men (and in many ways still are) but the times of the Gentiles is beginning to be fulfilled.
The last shall be first and the first shall be last is a literal insight into the Lord's plans to gather Israel one last time. The priesthood of God (as restored in 1830) was in preparation to restore Israel one last time. Indeed... the Lord's words in Luke chapter 21 have already begun to be fulfilled but they could ONLY fulfill themselves with priesthood authority.
Gentiles would not take upon themselves this honor. They would have to have been called of God as was Aaron...
But I know what you may be thinking... you might be thinking that Joseph Smith... or those called by Angels to receive the priesthood may not have had any rites to have it.
Israel had been scattered upon the whole face of the earth. The blood of Ephraim and Manasseh along with the blood of many of the other 10 tribes has had a chance to mix with the Gentiles for the many hundreds of years after the Lord completed the supreme sacrifice. At some point, if you're truly intrigued, I'll share with you the many epiphanies that I've received while studying the Bible as it pertains to Ephraim, the seed through with the Lord blessed via the birthright.
Even though Jesus Christ was born through the loins of Judah, great were the promises and responsibilities of they who belonged to Joseph's descendants. (both Ephraim and Manasseh)
Although we won't see this unity until "WELL" into the Millennium, the ball got rolling; ie, "The Stone Cut Out of the Mountain" that was cut without hands, according to the words of Daniel, the prophet, in chapter 2 of his record.
He that has ears... let him hear.
The church to be built upon the foundation of Apostles and Prophets
Jesus Christ has always been the bedrock of his church however, as in Simon "also called Peter" one must realize that the church organization should have always included a prophet, 12 apostles, a quorum of 70, pastors, teachers, evangelists, elders, etc.
Examine this scripture: Now we both know that the translation from language sometimes takes on a different idea when it goes from one to another.
"And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." Matt. 16: 18
We learn that his name was Simon, also called Peter. In the Greek direct translation, Petra (Greek "πέτρα" (petra), meaning rock, is something that signifies a "smaller rock" versus the more firmer "bedrock" which is upon Christ. When it reads; "and upon this rock" I will build my church, the second rock as also translated back into Greek and re-examined = "Bigger Rock"
(So we have "Little Rock" and "Bigger Rock.")
So if we were to read this scripture adding the direct translation, it would read,
"And I say also unto Thee, (Simon) also called, "The Smaller Rock", and upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."
But what rock would the gates of Hell not be able to prevail against? The smaller one or the larger one?
The Larger one because it means 'Jesus Christ,' who is the bedrock.
If man was infallible, then perhaps Jesus would have meant that Peter was unconquerable but we know
that this isn't the case nor would it. Later in the New Testament, we also learn that Jesus Christ acts as the "Chief Cornerstone" of his own church; in exactly the same fashion as he sits today; as the cornerstone of his church. If his church was permitted to exist in the same form that it was, there would have been NO restoration needed but we learn in Acts chapter 3 that the first efforts of Christ's original church may fall short because a restitution of all things was predicted.
"The Church is built upon foundation of apostles and prophets with Christ at the head. (Ephesians 2:20)
Peter was never more important than Jesus Christ. If you lived during his day, you'd probably say that the church was putting too much focus or attention on Peter... or the Church... because it's the same language you use today. Peter was never meant to be the primary focus but his calling as "leader of the church" as acting head of it; or the Lord's mouthpiece on earth, then you understand why we as Latter-day Saints put the same amount of value upon the acting prophet who stands as the Lord's living oracle today.
This man's name is Prophet Thomas S. Monson, current prophet in modern Israel.
Without Prophets and Apostles, we have no foundation; no temple of the Lord on the earth.
The Apostasy was imminent and the servants of God, all but John the Beloved, were to be removed from the Earth. It wouldn't be until a later date that a 'restitution' of all things would once again be needed. (Acts 3:19-23) and the days would not yet come before the Lord.
The events which are mentioned of in verse 23 had not taken place or else we would have seen it written.
This event has NOT yet taken place but is being fulfilled in our day as we one by one cast our votes:
Modern Israel and the Lord or rely on our own understanding; which wisdom, according to Isaiah, is considered "Foolishness." (Isaiah 29:11-14)
It happened once with Moses, who not unlike Joseph Smith, had to restore the knowledge of ALL things from the beginning (of Adam) to his present day. Jesus Christ was that same "Moses" whom was preached should come unto the people and restore/fulfill the law unto the people.
And not totally unlike that instance, another 1800 years or so goes by and the Lord sets forth his hand one last time to gather Israel from ALL parts of the earth to once again establish his Zion as he has hereto before done both in HUGE degree as well as smaller degrees all throughout the Bible.
1 Peter 2: 6-9
Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed. But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:
Your only argument would be whether or not Jesus Christ had the power to restore all things once again.
If you've read the Bible, at all, you'd know that this sort of "restitution" has taken place several different times in the history of mankind. The same argument you are making today was also made by the Jews unto Christ as they referenced verses of the Old Testament as THEY understood them and not how the Lord had intended for those verses to mean. I am willing to submit that the same case exists today with hordes of people who do not inquire of the Lord and rely upon their own understanding, which according to Peter, it is fruitless and without power to do so. The scriptures are not for "private interpretation."
(2 Peter 1:19-20) -
Private = pertaining to or affecting a particular person or a small group of persons; individual; personal: for your private satisfaction; undertaken individually or personally: private research.
Scriptures were meant to be studied together with the Lord and that they should ask for access of the Holy Spirit of Prophecy in order to understand them. This spiritual gift is given to all who have been granted the "Holy Ghost" which no matter how far removed from the church you are, you have ACCESS to that gift!
We should also do as Matthew suggests earlier in Matt. Chapter 16 vs. 17 and... be blessed for not having flesh and blood having reveal truth to you, but have our Father which is in heaven do so..." via the holy spirit, a spiritual confirmation, or the established manner in which to confirm truth.
(1 John 5:5-6)
Examine this scripture: Now we both know that the translation from language sometimes takes on a different idea when it goes from one to another.
"And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." Matt. 16: 18
We learn that his name was Simon, also called Peter. In the Greek direct translation, Petra (Greek "πέτρα" (petra), meaning rock, is something that signifies a "smaller rock" versus the more firmer "bedrock" which is upon Christ. When it reads; "and upon this rock" I will build my church, the second rock as also translated back into Greek and re-examined = "Bigger Rock"
(So we have "Little Rock" and "Bigger Rock.")
So if we were to read this scripture adding the direct translation, it would read,
"And I say also unto Thee, (Simon) also called, "The Smaller Rock", and upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."
But what rock would the gates of Hell not be able to prevail against? The smaller one or the larger one?
The Larger one because it means 'Jesus Christ,' who is the bedrock.
If man was infallible, then perhaps Jesus would have meant that Peter was unconquerable but we know
that this isn't the case nor would it. Later in the New Testament, we also learn that Jesus Christ acts as the "Chief Cornerstone" of his own church; in exactly the same fashion as he sits today; as the cornerstone of his church. If his church was permitted to exist in the same form that it was, there would have been NO restoration needed but we learn in Acts chapter 3 that the first efforts of Christ's original church may fall short because a restitution of all things was predicted.
"The Church is built upon foundation of apostles and prophets with Christ at the head. (Ephesians 2:20)
Peter was never more important than Jesus Christ. If you lived during his day, you'd probably say that the church was putting too much focus or attention on Peter... or the Church... because it's the same language you use today. Peter was never meant to be the primary focus but his calling as "leader of the church" as acting head of it; or the Lord's mouthpiece on earth, then you understand why we as Latter-day Saints put the same amount of value upon the acting prophet who stands as the Lord's living oracle today.
This man's name is Prophet Thomas S. Monson, current prophet in modern Israel.
Without Prophets and Apostles, we have no foundation; no temple of the Lord on the earth.
The Apostasy was imminent and the servants of God, all but John the Beloved, were to be removed from the Earth. It wouldn't be until a later date that a 'restitution' of all things would once again be needed. (Acts 3:19-23) and the days would not yet come before the Lord.
The events which are mentioned of in verse 23 had not taken place or else we would have seen it written.
This event has NOT yet taken place but is being fulfilled in our day as we one by one cast our votes:
Modern Israel and the Lord or rely on our own understanding; which wisdom, according to Isaiah, is considered "Foolishness." (Isaiah 29:11-14)
It happened once with Moses, who not unlike Joseph Smith, had to restore the knowledge of ALL things from the beginning (of Adam) to his present day. Jesus Christ was that same "Moses" whom was preached should come unto the people and restore/fulfill the law unto the people.
And not totally unlike that instance, another 1800 years or so goes by and the Lord sets forth his hand one last time to gather Israel from ALL parts of the earth to once again establish his Zion as he has hereto before done both in HUGE degree as well as smaller degrees all throughout the Bible.
1 Peter 2: 6-9
Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed. But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:
Your only argument would be whether or not Jesus Christ had the power to restore all things once again.
If you've read the Bible, at all, you'd know that this sort of "restitution" has taken place several different times in the history of mankind. The same argument you are making today was also made by the Jews unto Christ as they referenced verses of the Old Testament as THEY understood them and not how the Lord had intended for those verses to mean. I am willing to submit that the same case exists today with hordes of people who do not inquire of the Lord and rely upon their own understanding, which according to Peter, it is fruitless and without power to do so. The scriptures are not for "private interpretation."
(2 Peter 1:19-20) -
Private = pertaining to or affecting a particular person or a small group of persons; individual; personal: for your private satisfaction; undertaken individually or personally: private research.
Scriptures were meant to be studied together with the Lord and that they should ask for access of the Holy Spirit of Prophecy in order to understand them. This spiritual gift is given to all who have been granted the "Holy Ghost" which no matter how far removed from the church you are, you have ACCESS to that gift!
We should also do as Matthew suggests earlier in Matt. Chapter 16 vs. 17 and... be blessed for not having flesh and blood having reveal truth to you, but have our Father which is in heaven do so..." via the holy spirit, a spiritual confirmation, or the established manner in which to confirm truth.
(1 John 5:5-6)
Thursday, April 22, 2010
The Work of Righteous Women
The work of righteous women ought never to be discounted or ignored. Their roles as Queens and Priestesses unto the most high God ought never to be forgotten. The role of Mother and Wife is the most important one in our heavenly father's plan for all of his children.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Thursday, February 25, 2010
The facts about Proposition 8 and declaration of funds used by the LDS church
Over 1 year ago on 2 February 2009, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints clarified erroneous news reports following the filing of its final report on donations to the ProtectMarriage.com coalition.
On Friday, 30 January, the Church filed the final report of its contributions (all of which were non-monetary) to the ProtectMarriage.com coalition. The report, submitted in advance of the 31 January deadline, details in-kind donations totaling $189,903.58.
The value of the Church’s in-kind (non-monetary) contribution is less than one half of one percent of the total funds (approximately $40 million) raised for the “Yes on 8” campaign. The Church did not make any cash contribution.
Because media coverage about this filing ran without a comment from the Church, the following statements of fact from the Church add context to this story and should help correct the record:
Fox13 (Utah): “The documents show the amount spent by the Mormon Church is greater than what was initially stated.”
Fact: The Church, like other organizations on both sides of the ballot issue, was required to publicly file these donations by the 31 January deadline. The Church has been filing required contribution reports throughout the campaign. Those earlier donations “initially stated” were filed for specific time periods prior to this last reporting period, as required by law. Other groups are also filing their final contribution reports to meet the same deadline.
San Francisco Chronicle : “Mormon church officials, facing an ongoing investigation by the state Fair Political Practices Commission, Friday reported nearly $190,000 in previously unlisted assistance to the successful campaign for Prop. 8, which banned same-sex marriage in California.”
Sacramento Bee : “The disclosure comes amid an investigation by the state's campaign watchdog agency into whether the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints violated state laws by not fully disclosing its involvement during the campaign.”
Fact: This filing is in no way prompted by an investigation by the California Fair Political Practices Commission. Many organizations are filing this week to meet the deadline required by law. We believe we have complied with California law.
KFMB 760 AM (San Diego) :
“Mormon Church Misstated How Much It Spent in Prop 8 Fight.”
“The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints previously claimed only about $2,000 was spent in support of the measure.”
365Ga y : “Mormon Church admits it spent 100 times more for Prop 8 than reported”
Fact: Again, the previous disclosure of an in-kind donation was to meet an earlier deadline. In fact, previous filings detailed over $50,000 out of the total non-monetary contribution of $189,903.58.This week’s filing reported donations that fell within a different time period and required reporting by the 31 January deadline. Other groups also made their final contributions reports this week.
Understanding the extent of donations from other organizations may help the media and the public better understand the context in which the Church’s donations were made.
Apparently good news travels slowly.
On Friday, 30 January, the Church filed the final report of its contributions (all of which were non-monetary) to the ProtectMarriage.com coalition. The report, submitted in advance of the 31 January deadline, details in-kind donations totaling $189,903.58.
The value of the Church’s in-kind (non-monetary) contribution is less than one half of one percent of the total funds (approximately $40 million) raised for the “Yes on 8” campaign. The Church did not make any cash contribution.
Because media coverage about this filing ran without a comment from the Church, the following statements of fact from the Church add context to this story and should help correct the record:
Fox13 (Utah): “The documents show the amount spent by the Mormon Church is greater than what was initially stated.”
Fact: The Church, like other organizations on both sides of the ballot issue, was required to publicly file these donations by the 31 January deadline. The Church has been filing required contribution reports throughout the campaign. Those earlier donations “initially stated” were filed for specific time periods prior to this last reporting period, as required by law. Other groups are also filing their final contribution reports to meet the same deadline.
San Francisco Chronicle : “Mormon church officials, facing an ongoing investigation by the state Fair Political Practices Commission, Friday reported nearly $190,000 in previously unlisted assistance to the successful campaign for Prop. 8, which banned same-sex marriage in California.”
Sacramento Bee : “The disclosure comes amid an investigation by the state's campaign watchdog agency into whether the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints violated state laws by not fully disclosing its involvement during the campaign.”
Fact: This filing is in no way prompted by an investigation by the California Fair Political Practices Commission. Many organizations are filing this week to meet the deadline required by law. We believe we have complied with California law.
KFMB 760 AM (San Diego) :
“Mormon Church Misstated How Much It Spent in Prop 8 Fight.”
“The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints previously claimed only about $2,000 was spent in support of the measure.”
365Ga y : “Mormon Church admits it spent 100 times more for Prop 8 than reported”
Fact: Again, the previous disclosure of an in-kind donation was to meet an earlier deadline. In fact, previous filings detailed over $50,000 out of the total non-monetary contribution of $189,903.58.This week’s filing reported donations that fell within a different time period and required reporting by the 31 January deadline. Other groups also made their final contributions reports this week.
Understanding the extent of donations from other organizations may help the media and the public better understand the context in which the Church’s donations were made.
Apparently good news travels slowly.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Joseph Smith from a "Mason's" Perspective
"In matters of religion and matrimony I never give any advice; because I will not have anybody’s torments in this world or the next laid to my charge." Lord Chesterfield(1694–1773), English statesman, man of letters. Letter, 12 Oct. 1765
(published in Lord Chesterfield’s Letters to His Godson, no. 73, Appendix, ed. by Earl of Carnarvon, 1890).
Those who fall into the category of 'Religious Intolerant' seem to have significant problems with the Mormon faith and its adherents. Whether by trickery or force, they make strong efforts to convert Mormons to their particular brand of salvation, generally attempting to defame the Mormon Church in any way possible. Many of those who are anti-Mormon are also, interestingly, anti-Mason as well despite the fact that one is a religion and the other, a fraternity. It's also curious that several of the most outspoken anti-Masons of today are also the most outspoken anti-Mormons.
Mormon founder, Joseph SmithA brief history: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, sometimes seen abbreviated as LDS, was organized by Joseph Smith after he experienced a series of visions from 1826 to 1830 that called him to restore true Christianity. Smith translated the Book of Mormon from gold plates that he said the angel Moroni revealed to him. His new religion drew converts rapidly but they were severely prosecuted by outsiders. They fled from New York to Ohio and Illinois where a mob, suspicious of the economic and political power of the Mormons as well as the Mormon practice of polygamy (having more than one wife), killed Smith and his brother Hyrum in Carthage, Illinois in 1844.
Much is made, primarily by 'religious intolerants', of supposed similarities between certain religious rites of Mormons and the ceremonies of Freemasonry. Conveniently overlooked is the fact that such similarities exist in many other institutions also. Freemasonry, as the oldest fraternity in the world, certainly had its ceremonies and forms copied either consciously or unconsciously throughout the past three centuries. Likewise, its forms and ceremonies did not arrive 'fully-formed' and have elements from institutions, beliefs, and societies well before their own existence. Whether any of this 'proves' that Joseph Smith was not a Prophet or that Mormonism is a false religion is specious at best and is irrelevant to the discussion from a Masonic perspective.
There is both a past and a present when discussions relative to Freemasonry and Mormonism occur. We'll begin with the past:
Freemasonry became acquainted with the Latter Day Saints at Nauvoo, Illinois in the 2½ years between March, 1842 and October, 1844. Although Freemasonry had been in Illinois since 1805, it's presence there was tenuous and a Grand Lodge formed in 1823 expired very shortly thereafter due to (according to Coil's Masonic Encyclopedia) poor administration. It was not until 1840 that another Grand Lodge was formed but it too met great difficulties, being soon after the Morgan Affair and encountering some jurisdictional disputes over lodges chartered by Missouri.
Joseph Smith had been expelled from Missouri as well and in 1839, settled in Commerce, soon renamed Nauvoo. The population of that location increased from almost nothing to somewhere between 8,000-10,000 souls. In another three years, it was the largest city in Illinois and second only to St. Louis in the whole Northwest. In 1841, Bodley Lodge at Quincy was asked to approve a body of petitioners for a charter at Nauvoo but refused. (There was at this time in many areas a requirement that a new lodge forming in the 'territory' of an established lodge ask permission to do so.) Later in the same year, Grand Master Jonas issued a dispensation and personally instituted the lodge at Nauvoo on March 15, 1842. Some Masonic scholars have indicated that Jonas might have done this for his own personal motives.
In any event, Joseph Smith was initiated the day the lodge was instituted and became a Master Mason the next. Bodley Lodge subsequently charged that the Grand Master had violated Masonic Law in the handling of certain matters surrounding this and on August 11, 1842, the Grand Master suspended the dispensation which had allowed the Lodge at Nauvoo to work.
In a period of less than 6 months, in excess of 250 Masons had been created - an extraordinary number for ANY lodge anywhere at any time. Additional lodges related to that at Nauvoo were 'springing up' in the area without following proper Masonic protocol and there were investigations into the Grand Master's conduct by the Grand Lodge which ordered that the spurious lodges be closed. Those orders were disobeyed and at the Grand Lodge communication of 1844, all Mormon lodges were declared clandestine and all their membership suspended. Coil's Masonic Encyclopedia says:
"These lodges might have continued as clandestine bodies had not the Mormons got into other difficulties. In 1844, a revolt which had been smoldering in the Mormon church broke out, resulting in considerable violence and in the flight of both Joseph and Hyrum Smith. In a few days, the Smiths returned, submitted to arrest and were jailed at Carthage, Ill., where on the afternoon of June 27, 1844, they were lynched and murdered by a mob."
(Masonicinfo Note: Historical accounts indicate that actual death occurred by shooting although apparently lynching was the original intent....)
Myth and legend claims that Joseph Smith used a uniquely Masonic 'signal' to garner assistance from the Masons at the time of his death. These reports persist to this day but were unsubstantiated at the time and remain so now. Additionally, there were conflicting statements from those closest to him physically when his murder occurred. What really happened is obscured by the frenzy of the mob activity, the motivations of the person recounting the story, and the passage of time.
Thereafter, the Mormons made their long and arduous trek across the barren plains and desert, seeking asylum. Brigham Young succeeded to the presidency of the Mormon Church and in the Great Salt Lake Valley, he set his exiled people to work with order and industry, building what was probably the first large-scale system of irrigation in the West.
Because, however, of the stigma of the events in Illinois as well as the moral outrage felt by Masons over the issue of polygamy which the Mormons were then practicing, Grand Lodges in both Nevada and Utah banned Mormons from Masonic membership en masse for several decades thereafter.
Salt Lake City TempleToday, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints are free to become Masons and vice-versa without any hindrance whatsoever. A common 'threat' made by some religious intolerants is that Mormons are not able to advance in their Church or its rites if they are known to be Masons. Many Masons who are of that faith will readily attest to the fallacy of this statement.
Regardless of whether there exist similarities between certain Mormon Temple Rituals and Freemasonry (or with anything else for that matter), it is not a concern of Freemasonry. Using this argument against Freemasonry is but another 'red herring' employed by those who seek to defame the fraternity and divert the discourse. Persons with common sense realize that what the members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints or any other religious body does or does not do has no effect whatsoever on the functioning of a totally separate and different organization.
Masonicinfo Note: The material above has been necessarily brief. It has been prepared for those who might have heard of some 'link' between the LDS and Freemasonry and were curious. It does not attempt to describe the entire history of Mormonism nor the entire history of Freemasonry during that period but instead is intended as a capsule summary, fairly (we hope) presenting events and circumstances. We trust you have found it unbiased and interesting.
http://www.masonicinfo.com/mormons.htm
As a Mormon and Master Mason, I can say you have done a fine job with this presentation. It's about time people quit being hysterical about both organizations. The one thing.... THE **ONE*** thing, first and foremost amongst Masons is the building up of good men, helping them become better men. That, above all else, is the serious motto of Masonry. "TheBackyardProfessor"
"What the critics blithely ignore are the many instances when God's appointed prophets used tools to accomplish their work: Moses using his staff to divide the Red Sea, Moses hitting the rock with his staff to bring forth water, Aaron's rod, etc., even Jesus used a mud plaster to heal a blind man's eyes. It's pretty obvious to me that God does allow the use of tools in his works. Then again, many of our critics are allergic to the idea of works having anything to do with salvation, so why would anybody need tools. Of course, I've noticed also from my work in apologetics, amateur though I be, that some of the critics blithely skip over the Old Testament, feeling that it isn't as relevant as the New Testament, especially the writings of Paul. I guess that might be one reason they feel the Book of Mormon isn't relevant, either.
Well, anyway, great video. Keep up the good work! And now you know where I'm coming from, too. :)" Youtube User; Arklyn
Find out what Masons think about Joseph Smith or the Mormons go to http://www.masonicinfo.com/mormons.htm
The Official Website for FreeMasonry http://freemasonry.org/
For an article about Joseph Smith and his involvement with the freemason's,
click this link; http://en.fairmormon.org/Joseph_Smith...
For questions about "Temple Symbolism" visit http://www.ldschurchtemples.com/saltl...
The official website of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or the Mormon Church, visit http://www.lds.org or http://www.mormon.org
(published in Lord Chesterfield’s Letters to His Godson, no. 73, Appendix, ed. by Earl of Carnarvon, 1890).
Those who fall into the category of 'Religious Intolerant' seem to have significant problems with the Mormon faith and its adherents. Whether by trickery or force, they make strong efforts to convert Mormons to their particular brand of salvation, generally attempting to defame the Mormon Church in any way possible. Many of those who are anti-Mormon are also, interestingly, anti-Mason as well despite the fact that one is a religion and the other, a fraternity. It's also curious that several of the most outspoken anti-Masons of today are also the most outspoken anti-Mormons.
Mormon founder, Joseph SmithA brief history: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, sometimes seen abbreviated as LDS, was organized by Joseph Smith after he experienced a series of visions from 1826 to 1830 that called him to restore true Christianity. Smith translated the Book of Mormon from gold plates that he said the angel Moroni revealed to him. His new religion drew converts rapidly but they were severely prosecuted by outsiders. They fled from New York to Ohio and Illinois where a mob, suspicious of the economic and political power of the Mormons as well as the Mormon practice of polygamy (having more than one wife), killed Smith and his brother Hyrum in Carthage, Illinois in 1844.
Much is made, primarily by 'religious intolerants', of supposed similarities between certain religious rites of Mormons and the ceremonies of Freemasonry. Conveniently overlooked is the fact that such similarities exist in many other institutions also. Freemasonry, as the oldest fraternity in the world, certainly had its ceremonies and forms copied either consciously or unconsciously throughout the past three centuries. Likewise, its forms and ceremonies did not arrive 'fully-formed' and have elements from institutions, beliefs, and societies well before their own existence. Whether any of this 'proves' that Joseph Smith was not a Prophet or that Mormonism is a false religion is specious at best and is irrelevant to the discussion from a Masonic perspective.
There is both a past and a present when discussions relative to Freemasonry and Mormonism occur. We'll begin with the past:
Freemasonry became acquainted with the Latter Day Saints at Nauvoo, Illinois in the 2½ years between March, 1842 and October, 1844. Although Freemasonry had been in Illinois since 1805, it's presence there was tenuous and a Grand Lodge formed in 1823 expired very shortly thereafter due to (according to Coil's Masonic Encyclopedia) poor administration. It was not until 1840 that another Grand Lodge was formed but it too met great difficulties, being soon after the Morgan Affair and encountering some jurisdictional disputes over lodges chartered by Missouri.
Joseph Smith had been expelled from Missouri as well and in 1839, settled in Commerce, soon renamed Nauvoo. The population of that location increased from almost nothing to somewhere between 8,000-10,000 souls. In another three years, it was the largest city in Illinois and second only to St. Louis in the whole Northwest. In 1841, Bodley Lodge at Quincy was asked to approve a body of petitioners for a charter at Nauvoo but refused. (There was at this time in many areas a requirement that a new lodge forming in the 'territory' of an established lodge ask permission to do so.) Later in the same year, Grand Master Jonas issued a dispensation and personally instituted the lodge at Nauvoo on March 15, 1842. Some Masonic scholars have indicated that Jonas might have done this for his own personal motives.
In any event, Joseph Smith was initiated the day the lodge was instituted and became a Master Mason the next. Bodley Lodge subsequently charged that the Grand Master had violated Masonic Law in the handling of certain matters surrounding this and on August 11, 1842, the Grand Master suspended the dispensation which had allowed the Lodge at Nauvoo to work.
In a period of less than 6 months, in excess of 250 Masons had been created - an extraordinary number for ANY lodge anywhere at any time. Additional lodges related to that at Nauvoo were 'springing up' in the area without following proper Masonic protocol and there were investigations into the Grand Master's conduct by the Grand Lodge which ordered that the spurious lodges be closed. Those orders were disobeyed and at the Grand Lodge communication of 1844, all Mormon lodges were declared clandestine and all their membership suspended. Coil's Masonic Encyclopedia says:
"These lodges might have continued as clandestine bodies had not the Mormons got into other difficulties. In 1844, a revolt which had been smoldering in the Mormon church broke out, resulting in considerable violence and in the flight of both Joseph and Hyrum Smith. In a few days, the Smiths returned, submitted to arrest and were jailed at Carthage, Ill., where on the afternoon of June 27, 1844, they were lynched and murdered by a mob."
(Masonicinfo Note: Historical accounts indicate that actual death occurred by shooting although apparently lynching was the original intent....)
Myth and legend claims that Joseph Smith used a uniquely Masonic 'signal' to garner assistance from the Masons at the time of his death. These reports persist to this day but were unsubstantiated at the time and remain so now. Additionally, there were conflicting statements from those closest to him physically when his murder occurred. What really happened is obscured by the frenzy of the mob activity, the motivations of the person recounting the story, and the passage of time.
Thereafter, the Mormons made their long and arduous trek across the barren plains and desert, seeking asylum. Brigham Young succeeded to the presidency of the Mormon Church and in the Great Salt Lake Valley, he set his exiled people to work with order and industry, building what was probably the first large-scale system of irrigation in the West.
Because, however, of the stigma of the events in Illinois as well as the moral outrage felt by Masons over the issue of polygamy which the Mormons were then practicing, Grand Lodges in both Nevada and Utah banned Mormons from Masonic membership en masse for several decades thereafter.
Salt Lake City TempleToday, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints are free to become Masons and vice-versa without any hindrance whatsoever. A common 'threat' made by some religious intolerants is that Mormons are not able to advance in their Church or its rites if they are known to be Masons. Many Masons who are of that faith will readily attest to the fallacy of this statement.
Regardless of whether there exist similarities between certain Mormon Temple Rituals and Freemasonry (or with anything else for that matter), it is not a concern of Freemasonry. Using this argument against Freemasonry is but another 'red herring' employed by those who seek to defame the fraternity and divert the discourse. Persons with common sense realize that what the members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints or any other religious body does or does not do has no effect whatsoever on the functioning of a totally separate and different organization.
Masonicinfo Note: The material above has been necessarily brief. It has been prepared for those who might have heard of some 'link' between the LDS and Freemasonry and were curious. It does not attempt to describe the entire history of Mormonism nor the entire history of Freemasonry during that period but instead is intended as a capsule summary, fairly (we hope) presenting events and circumstances. We trust you have found it unbiased and interesting.
http://www.masonicinfo.com/mormons.htm
As a Mormon and Master Mason, I can say you have done a fine job with this presentation. It's about time people quit being hysterical about both organizations. The one thing.... THE **ONE*** thing, first and foremost amongst Masons is the building up of good men, helping them become better men. That, above all else, is the serious motto of Masonry. "TheBackyardProfessor"
"What the critics blithely ignore are the many instances when God's appointed prophets used tools to accomplish their work: Moses using his staff to divide the Red Sea, Moses hitting the rock with his staff to bring forth water, Aaron's rod, etc., even Jesus used a mud plaster to heal a blind man's eyes. It's pretty obvious to me that God does allow the use of tools in his works. Then again, many of our critics are allergic to the idea of works having anything to do with salvation, so why would anybody need tools. Of course, I've noticed also from my work in apologetics, amateur though I be, that some of the critics blithely skip over the Old Testament, feeling that it isn't as relevant as the New Testament, especially the writings of Paul. I guess that might be one reason they feel the Book of Mormon isn't relevant, either.
Well, anyway, great video. Keep up the good work! And now you know where I'm coming from, too. :)" Youtube User; Arklyn
Find out what Masons think about Joseph Smith or the Mormons go to http://www.masonicinfo.com/mormons.htm
The Official Website for FreeMasonry http://freemasonry.org/
For an article about Joseph Smith and his involvement with the freemason's,
click this link; http://en.fairmormon.org/Joseph_Smith...
For questions about "Temple Symbolism" visit http://www.ldschurchtemples.com/saltl...
The official website of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or the Mormon Church, visit http://www.lds.org or http://www.mormon.org
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Only a witness of the spirit can overcome the Father of All Lies
2 Nephi 2:27
"Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself."
Satan = the Adversary of all righteousness and the father of all lies... According to this great plan of Happiness, our Father in heaven has allowed Satan, our common enemy, to provide opposition in all things to prove us now herewith that we will yet choose God and that plan and do so for ourselves. This isn't Mormon Apologetics... it's just how things are. God has afforded us a chance to choose him but there is someone also in the mix who is trying to persuade us to follow him and his plan of misery.
One of the things you'll have to come to terms with is that if there be a God, then there is also a Devil and that there is an opposition in all things. We learn more about Satan from the Book of Mormon... if you think the previous verses or this is one whit behind your idea of the devil or how he behaves, you're welcome to tell me why.
Moroni 7:17
"But whatsoever thing persuadeth men to do evil, and believe not in Christ, and deny him, and serve not God, then ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of the devil; for after this manner doth the devil work, for he persuadeth no man to do good, no, not one; neither do his angels; neither do they who subject themselves unto him."
Part of you... the part that makes use of deductive reasoning happen must also include Satan in this equation that you say is difficult to add up and begin asking yourself questions such as...
Is Satan miserable forever? Why would he be miserable? Would he endeavor to take the rest of us down with him if he could? If one encounters the true church of God, would there be opposition against it or not?
Would Satan do all that was within his power to fight against God creating all manner of lies and deceit to keep people from finding it? If your answer is "Yes" to all of these questions, then there should be at least some doubt in the information you've hereto received. I don't care of Joseph Smith was a "boy scout" ... Satan would try to exploit his involvement with the Boy Scouts to promote his hatred against God. That is what he does. Satan is the great deceiver. He desires that NO man or woman may have the joy that this gospel brings to me and my family.
The only way you'll be able to settle all matters is ask of God.
James 1:5-6
If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.
This is what Joseph Smith did. He took one of his questions to the Lord and had no doubt in the response. Whether this is something you remember or not, this is how it all got started. Since then, Joseph Smith received his answer via the brilliant vision of God the father and his son Jesus Christ. Because of this and the subsequent experiences afterwards, Joseph Smith was called to be a prophet of God. There is not one prophet throughout all recorded events or times that have been popular in the eyes of men. Brother Joe has become a disturber and annoyer of Satan's dominion.
Would Satan be pissed off about that? That's a 100% YES!
So just ponder that. You tell me that certain things don't add up.
Could Satan be inserting his input into the equation or not?
I guarantee that he doesn't want you to add 1+1 to get 2.
What I'll do for you, since you seem to have one opinion on certain symbolism occurrences on the temples is let me share with you the symbols in question. I assure you that the description you have received up until this point about these symbols are nothing less stigmatized than the Hindu symbol of the Swastika...
Though once commonly used all over much of the world without stigma, because of its iconic usage in Nazi Germany the symbol has become stigmatized in the Western world, notably even outlawed in Germany. The same thing could be said about the "Southern Cross." and other symbols of our day. It's not difficult for anyone to hijack the meanings of certain symbols, package it up and sell their bill of goods and use the "Fear of the unknown" to fuel their fire.
Go here and see for yourself on what we proclaim are the meanings of certain symbols. http://www.ldschurchtemples.com/saltlake/
It shouldn't be difficult to take this in objectively but after wards, I encourage you to pray. Pray to that same God that Joseph did and ask him in faith regarding these things. Perhaps the Lord will help you set in order the things that seem out of place. Perhaps through your prayers, you will be able to discover where Satan has been part of the mix. After putting your faith in God, you will see that you can sort out any problems with the validity of Joseph Smith's claims and other things which you mentioned in your email to me;
Your words...
The Masonic link appears to similar to be coincidence, the racist stance that appears to change to suit the change in world or American viewpoint. According to many reports the masonic Smith family were practioners of necromancy & other wiccan practices. Smiths 'prophecies' that did not come to pass, the polygamy proofs of Smith, the Kabbalah belief system similarities & mystery schools drama ceremonies, No archeological proof of the ancient Mormon peoples & the book of Abraham being an Egyptian religion papyrus.
Temples and Symbolism
The answer to this is there is answers to all of these concerns.
Answers that explain the man made interpretations of our symbols, a definition of symbols on temples has already been clearly defined. http://www.ldschurchtemples.com/saltlake/
His affiliation with the masonic order.
Masons believe in building themselves into better men & better fathers and they do so in a "Non Denomination" and if I were not member of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I would seek after these kinds of experiences as should all men.
Regarding him being a practitioner of necromancy or wiccan practices?
Seriously, this is just reaching by the opponents of the church. The priesthood of God is the power to heal under the direction of the Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ would also heal the sick and was repeatedly accused of serving the Devil. The accusation of Joseph Smtih performing those healings via the power of the Holy Ghost is no whit behind such an accusation against the Savior but now it's just said of Necromancy or Witch Craft.
Plural Marriage/ Polygamy-Polyandry
We do not deny that the practice of plural marriage was taught and practiced by Joseph Smith and many other church leaders but we do put down the assessment made by those who would suggest the worst about this practice. It was a commandment from the Lord. It was lived in honor and obedience to God despite the persecutions that happened before and after wards. There are reasons why certain things were lived in secret and they are just as telling as to the reasons it was lived at all. The Lord commanded that it should be so and the bretheren did all that they could to be faithful in it not withstanding the persecution they had to live under.
More on this practice is located at this link;
http://en.fairmormon.org/Joseph_Smith/Polygamy/Polyandry
What about the Kabbalah?
I don't know what to say about Kabbalah. That's a new thought entirely. It seems that the enemies of the church won't concede on all the other things so now they've come up with this? How similar are we to Kabbalah? Since I don't know much about that form of worship, I really don't have much to say except visit their website as I did. If you want to study all other religions and try to compare them, by all means do so. I'm sure they've got nothing to hide just like we do not as well.
Kabbalah is probably just as mis-understood as the LDS church so on this wise, I suppose we could be compared to them.
Masons... Kabbalah... Mormonism... these are all compared together because people like to put a face to the name of their "fears of the unknown" and it makes it easier for some to not really put much thought or study into these things to gain an actual knowledge of them. They'll sooner read someone else's assessment of these organization with something quick and easy just like "Instant Coffee." They want answers and they want them now. The most pleasing explanation will do so long as it's quick. Nothing truly studied can be studied quickly and one's sources ought to be
And the fact is there have surfaced scores of proofs and evidence to the support of the Book of Mormon as well as the authenticity of the Book of Abraham... one should only find those things and discover for themselves. It's no less a game of "Guess Who" when Satan places his hands over our eyes. All we but should do is say, "We know who you are, Satan... so take a hike." for him to let loose of our eyes and allow us to see these things versus allow him to whisper whatever he wants to with his hands cupped across our eyes.
All of these things are dead issues now and have been answered long ago but that won't stop Satan from perpetuating the lies and trying them out with new people. His earnest diligence in the work that he does will never let him concede a victory. He never sleeps. His thoughts, will and actions represent a desire to do evil continually and cause that all men might do the same.
It is my prayer that you will seek that witness of the spirit and refrain from putting your trust in the arm of flesh, setting aside all things that have influenced you up till this point and allow God chance to influence you now. Take the things in which I share with you and make an attempt to pray over them. Even if it be at first a simple prayer to know that God is there and that he is mindful of you, the finding out of this could not be counted for evil. Perhaps God will nudge you to continue learning about the church of his son, Jesus Christ and that you will discover the same joy that I have finding out these answers already for myself.
Warm Regards,
Josh Nelson
http://www.kabbalah.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swastika
http://www.masonic-network.com/green.html
http://en.fairmormon.org/Joseph_Smith/Polygamy/Polyandry
"Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself."
Satan = the Adversary of all righteousness and the father of all lies... According to this great plan of Happiness, our Father in heaven has allowed Satan, our common enemy, to provide opposition in all things to prove us now herewith that we will yet choose God and that plan and do so for ourselves. This isn't Mormon Apologetics... it's just how things are. God has afforded us a chance to choose him but there is someone also in the mix who is trying to persuade us to follow him and his plan of misery.
One of the things you'll have to come to terms with is that if there be a God, then there is also a Devil and that there is an opposition in all things. We learn more about Satan from the Book of Mormon... if you think the previous verses or this is one whit behind your idea of the devil or how he behaves, you're welcome to tell me why.
Moroni 7:17
"But whatsoever thing persuadeth men to do evil, and believe not in Christ, and deny him, and serve not God, then ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of the devil; for after this manner doth the devil work, for he persuadeth no man to do good, no, not one; neither do his angels; neither do they who subject themselves unto him."
Part of you... the part that makes use of deductive reasoning happen must also include Satan in this equation that you say is difficult to add up and begin asking yourself questions such as...
Is Satan miserable forever? Why would he be miserable? Would he endeavor to take the rest of us down with him if he could? If one encounters the true church of God, would there be opposition against it or not?
Would Satan do all that was within his power to fight against God creating all manner of lies and deceit to keep people from finding it? If your answer is "Yes" to all of these questions, then there should be at least some doubt in the information you've hereto received. I don't care of Joseph Smith was a "boy scout" ... Satan would try to exploit his involvement with the Boy Scouts to promote his hatred against God. That is what he does. Satan is the great deceiver. He desires that NO man or woman may have the joy that this gospel brings to me and my family.
The only way you'll be able to settle all matters is ask of God.
James 1:5-6
If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.
This is what Joseph Smith did. He took one of his questions to the Lord and had no doubt in the response. Whether this is something you remember or not, this is how it all got started. Since then, Joseph Smith received his answer via the brilliant vision of God the father and his son Jesus Christ. Because of this and the subsequent experiences afterwards, Joseph Smith was called to be a prophet of God. There is not one prophet throughout all recorded events or times that have been popular in the eyes of men. Brother Joe has become a disturber and annoyer of Satan's dominion.
Would Satan be pissed off about that? That's a 100% YES!
So just ponder that. You tell me that certain things don't add up.
Could Satan be inserting his input into the equation or not?
I guarantee that he doesn't want you to add 1+1 to get 2.
What I'll do for you, since you seem to have one opinion on certain symbolism occurrences on the temples is let me share with you the symbols in question. I assure you that the description you have received up until this point about these symbols are nothing less stigmatized than the Hindu symbol of the Swastika...
Though once commonly used all over much of the world without stigma, because of its iconic usage in Nazi Germany the symbol has become stigmatized in the Western world, notably even outlawed in Germany. The same thing could be said about the "Southern Cross." and other symbols of our day. It's not difficult for anyone to hijack the meanings of certain symbols, package it up and sell their bill of goods and use the "Fear of the unknown" to fuel their fire.
Go here and see for yourself on what we proclaim are the meanings of certain symbols. http://www.ldschurchtemples.com/saltlake/
It shouldn't be difficult to take this in objectively but after wards, I encourage you to pray. Pray to that same God that Joseph did and ask him in faith regarding these things. Perhaps the Lord will help you set in order the things that seem out of place. Perhaps through your prayers, you will be able to discover where Satan has been part of the mix. After putting your faith in God, you will see that you can sort out any problems with the validity of Joseph Smith's claims and other things which you mentioned in your email to me;
Your words...
The Masonic link appears to similar to be coincidence, the racist stance that appears to change to suit the change in world or American viewpoint. According to many reports the masonic Smith family were practioners of necromancy & other wiccan practices. Smiths 'prophecies' that did not come to pass, the polygamy proofs of Smith, the Kabbalah belief system similarities & mystery schools drama ceremonies, No archeological proof of the ancient Mormon peoples & the book of Abraham being an Egyptian religion papyrus.
Temples and Symbolism
The answer to this is there is answers to all of these concerns.
Answers that explain the man made interpretations of our symbols, a definition of symbols on temples has already been clearly defined. http://www.ldschurchtemples.com/saltlake/
His affiliation with the masonic order.
Masons believe in building themselves into better men & better fathers and they do so in a "Non Denomination" and if I were not member of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I would seek after these kinds of experiences as should all men.
Regarding him being a practitioner of necromancy or wiccan practices?
Seriously, this is just reaching by the opponents of the church. The priesthood of God is the power to heal under the direction of the Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ would also heal the sick and was repeatedly accused of serving the Devil. The accusation of Joseph Smtih performing those healings via the power of the Holy Ghost is no whit behind such an accusation against the Savior but now it's just said of Necromancy or Witch Craft.
Plural Marriage/ Polygamy-Polyandry
We do not deny that the practice of plural marriage was taught and practiced by Joseph Smith and many other church leaders but we do put down the assessment made by those who would suggest the worst about this practice. It was a commandment from the Lord. It was lived in honor and obedience to God despite the persecutions that happened before and after wards. There are reasons why certain things were lived in secret and they are just as telling as to the reasons it was lived at all. The Lord commanded that it should be so and the bretheren did all that they could to be faithful in it not withstanding the persecution they had to live under.
More on this practice is located at this link;
http://en.fairmormon.org/Joseph_Smith/Polygamy/Polyandry
What about the Kabbalah?
I don't know what to say about Kabbalah. That's a new thought entirely. It seems that the enemies of the church won't concede on all the other things so now they've come up with this? How similar are we to Kabbalah? Since I don't know much about that form of worship, I really don't have much to say except visit their website as I did. If you want to study all other religions and try to compare them, by all means do so. I'm sure they've got nothing to hide just like we do not as well.
Kabbalah is probably just as mis-understood as the LDS church so on this wise, I suppose we could be compared to them.
Masons... Kabbalah... Mormonism... these are all compared together because people like to put a face to the name of their "fears of the unknown" and it makes it easier for some to not really put much thought or study into these things to gain an actual knowledge of them. They'll sooner read someone else's assessment of these organization with something quick and easy just like "Instant Coffee." They want answers and they want them now. The most pleasing explanation will do so long as it's quick. Nothing truly studied can be studied quickly and one's sources ought to be
And the fact is there have surfaced scores of proofs and evidence to the support of the Book of Mormon as well as the authenticity of the Book of Abraham... one should only find those things and discover for themselves. It's no less a game of "Guess Who" when Satan places his hands over our eyes. All we but should do is say, "We know who you are, Satan... so take a hike." for him to let loose of our eyes and allow us to see these things versus allow him to whisper whatever he wants to with his hands cupped across our eyes.
All of these things are dead issues now and have been answered long ago but that won't stop Satan from perpetuating the lies and trying them out with new people. His earnest diligence in the work that he does will never let him concede a victory. He never sleeps. His thoughts, will and actions represent a desire to do evil continually and cause that all men might do the same.
It is my prayer that you will seek that witness of the spirit and refrain from putting your trust in the arm of flesh, setting aside all things that have influenced you up till this point and allow God chance to influence you now. Take the things in which I share with you and make an attempt to pray over them. Even if it be at first a simple prayer to know that God is there and that he is mindful of you, the finding out of this could not be counted for evil. Perhaps God will nudge you to continue learning about the church of his son, Jesus Christ and that you will discover the same joy that I have finding out these answers already for myself.
Warm Regards,
Josh Nelson
http://www.kabbalah.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swastika
http://www.masonic-network.com/green.html
http://en.fairmormon.org/Joseph_Smith/Polygamy/Polyandry
Saturday, February 20, 2010
The Dispensation of the Fullness of Times
Angels are coming to visit the earth... the Lord is preparing to return for the 1,000 years of peace during this millennium that has been awaited and hoped for now going on 6 Millennium. The Fullness of the everlasting gospel is now being taught upon the earth and the fullness of the Gentiles is blossom as a flower on a tender new plant. Truly, the marvelous work and a wonder has already begun to come forth for decades now in preparation for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ!
The everlasting Gospel has been brought back as promised
(Revelations 14:6-7)and it came in the form of an ancient record un-touched by human hands for nearly one and a half Millenniums of time to reach our eyes and ears in these final days. Just as "Stones and Arrows" were slung at the Lord's servant Samuel, so it will be that men shall symbolically throw stones and arrows at the Book of Mormon and none shall touch it. It will stand as a witness for righteousness and as a witness against wickedness and will testify against those who would not believe in the words which were written by true prophets of our father in heaven... and like Samuel, it will be an instrument in the hands of the Lord until such time that the Lord see's fit to withdraw his word from among the people. And in the latter-days, the gospel will be removed in like manner from the Gentiles, who will reject this restored gospel as a whole and it will once again be given unto the Jews; remnants of the house of Jacob and it will be taught to them so that they too will believe that Jesus is and WAS the promised Messiah since the foundation of the earth.
"Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles, and set up my standard to the people: and they shall bring thy sons in their arms, and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders. And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers: they shall bow down to thee with their face toward the earth, and lick up the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that I am the Lord: for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me."
Isaiah 49:22-23
It is my belief that Samuel, the Lamanite, showed us the manner in which this record, The Book of Mormon, would be received by the world.
Helaman 16:2-7
2 But as many as there were who did not believe in the words of Samuel were angry with him; and they cast stones at him upon the wall, and also many shot arrows at him as he stood upon the wall; but the Spirit of the Lord was with him, insomuch that they could not hit him with their stones neither with their arrows.
3 Now when they saw that they could not hit him, there were many more who did believe on his words, insomuch that they went away unto Nephi to be baptized.
4 For behold, Nephi was baptizing, and prophesying, and preaching, crying repentance unto the people, showing signs and wonders, working miracles among the people, that they might know that the Christ must shortly come—
5 Telling them of things which must shortly come, that they might know and remember at the time of their coming that they had been made known unto them beforehand, to the intent that they might believe; therefore as many as believed on the words of Samuel went forth unto him to be baptized, for they came repenting and confessing their sins.
6 But the more part of them did not believe in the words of Samuel; therefore when they saw that they could not hit him with their stones and their arrows, they cried unto their captains, saying: Take this fellow and bind him, for behold he hath a devil; and because of the power of the devil which is in him we cannot hit him with our stones and our arrows; therefore take him and bind him, and away with him.
7 And as they went forth to lay their hands on him, behold, he did cast himself down from the wall, and did flee out of their lands, yea, even unto his own country, and began to preach and to prophesy among his own people.
I believe this to be an Allegory for our day. As in verse 2, we learn that stones and arrows could not slay Samuel... in like manner, the Book of Mormon has had its share of Stones or Arrows flung at it and in NO way has anything been able to hit it. As much as they try, it will JUST NOT happen. There were they who were converted unto the Lord and went seeking Nephi... and they were baptized. In our day, there would also be many who would seek after baptism as they discover the testimony of this record to be true...
But in the end, the people became wroth with Samuel and seeked to destroy his life but in that moment, Samuel departed... and in verse 7, we learn that Samuel went to preach among his own people. Likewise, in modern revelation, we learn that the gospel will be removed from all other nations in preparation to bring this message to the tribe of Judah as the Gentile nations will reject the gospel, as a whole, and it will be removed from among them.
The everlasting Gospel has been brought back as promised
(Revelations 14:6-7)and it came in the form of an ancient record un-touched by human hands for nearly one and a half Millenniums of time to reach our eyes and ears in these final days. Just as "Stones and Arrows" were slung at the Lord's servant Samuel, so it will be that men shall symbolically throw stones and arrows at the Book of Mormon and none shall touch it. It will stand as a witness for righteousness and as a witness against wickedness and will testify against those who would not believe in the words which were written by true prophets of our father in heaven... and like Samuel, it will be an instrument in the hands of the Lord until such time that the Lord see's fit to withdraw his word from among the people. And in the latter-days, the gospel will be removed in like manner from the Gentiles, who will reject this restored gospel as a whole and it will once again be given unto the Jews; remnants of the house of Jacob and it will be taught to them so that they too will believe that Jesus is and WAS the promised Messiah since the foundation of the earth.
"Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles, and set up my standard to the people: and they shall bring thy sons in their arms, and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders. And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers: they shall bow down to thee with their face toward the earth, and lick up the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that I am the Lord: for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me."
Isaiah 49:22-23
It is my belief that Samuel, the Lamanite, showed us the manner in which this record, The Book of Mormon, would be received by the world.
Helaman 16:2-7
2 But as many as there were who did not believe in the words of Samuel were angry with him; and they cast stones at him upon the wall, and also many shot arrows at him as he stood upon the wall; but the Spirit of the Lord was with him, insomuch that they could not hit him with their stones neither with their arrows.
3 Now when they saw that they could not hit him, there were many more who did believe on his words, insomuch that they went away unto Nephi to be baptized.
4 For behold, Nephi was baptizing, and prophesying, and preaching, crying repentance unto the people, showing signs and wonders, working miracles among the people, that they might know that the Christ must shortly come—
5 Telling them of things which must shortly come, that they might know and remember at the time of their coming that they had been made known unto them beforehand, to the intent that they might believe; therefore as many as believed on the words of Samuel went forth unto him to be baptized, for they came repenting and confessing their sins.
6 But the more part of them did not believe in the words of Samuel; therefore when they saw that they could not hit him with their stones and their arrows, they cried unto their captains, saying: Take this fellow and bind him, for behold he hath a devil; and because of the power of the devil which is in him we cannot hit him with our stones and our arrows; therefore take him and bind him, and away with him.
7 And as they went forth to lay their hands on him, behold, he did cast himself down from the wall, and did flee out of their lands, yea, even unto his own country, and began to preach and to prophesy among his own people.
I believe this to be an Allegory for our day. As in verse 2, we learn that stones and arrows could not slay Samuel... in like manner, the Book of Mormon has had its share of Stones or Arrows flung at it and in NO way has anything been able to hit it. As much as they try, it will JUST NOT happen. There were they who were converted unto the Lord and went seeking Nephi... and they were baptized. In our day, there would also be many who would seek after baptism as they discover the testimony of this record to be true...
But in the end, the people became wroth with Samuel and seeked to destroy his life but in that moment, Samuel departed... and in verse 7, we learn that Samuel went to preach among his own people. Likewise, in modern revelation, we learn that the gospel will be removed from all other nations in preparation to bring this message to the tribe of Judah as the Gentile nations will reject the gospel, as a whole, and it will be removed from among them.
Friday, February 12, 2010
What If?
What if Men ceased relying on their own understanding and turned their trust towards God above trusting in the arm of flesh?
2 Nephi 4:34
What if Men starting reading the scriptures as if they were not just words on paper reading them with real intent while praying to the Lord for understanding and having faith that God would give unto them the "gift of prophecy" and of "revelation?"
Moroni 10:3-5
What if Men ceased to read them and interpret them privately using their own wisdom? 2 Peter 1:19-21
What if men began to have unshakable faith in the Lord that he could understand all things and all points of truth free from the opinions of others? Mormon 8: 24
What if men could be found humble enough for the Lord to show them all things? Ether 4: 1, 8, 13
What if when the Lord were to show them all things that these men would actually dedicate their life to God following him with exceeding faith and not just KNOWING the path but were willing to walk the path doing all the Lord's commandments?
1 Nephi 3:7
What if men had the faith to refute the godless; the greatest of those who subject themselves to the will and power of the Devil?
Jacob 7: 5
What if men such faith that it gave them power to move mountains?
Ether 12: 30
What would it do to Satan's dominion if we were all like unto Captain Moroni? Alma 48: 17
What if those who fight against this restored church are also fighting against God? Acts 5:39
What if they fight against Zion under the guise of fighting for God? Isaiah 29:8
What if the Book of Mormon is true and the subsequent restoration of the Gospel that Jesus Christ had taught was now being taught in its fullness and purity? "
I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book."
Joseph Smith, Jr.
The question you need to ask yourself is, "What if?"
What if I'm missing out in the Lord's blessings because of my unbelief? What if Angels are returning to the earth visiting others and not me? What if this Christ I believe in is coming back to a people more prepared than I? What if all the things that are spoken against the church is influenced by Satan? What if there was an Apostasy and I'm on the wrong end of it? What if there are prophets today and I am rejecting them because of my own lack of understanding regarding warnings given by Jesus Christ about future prophets? What if I deny the miracles of God based on my own unbelief because I think that visions and miracles and healings and the visitation of Angels ceased long ago? What if families can be together forever and I'm steering clear from this? What if it's not about Mormonism but its about the restored Church of Jesus Christ? What if this church has been reestablished in the same way it was anciently? What if authority to perform such sacred saving ordinances like baptism has been made available once again? What if I leave life without receiving this sacred ordinance? What if I can just never see myself becoming Mormon? What if I never find the strength to quit smoking, drinking, pornography, or any other vices non-conducive to the spirit of God? What if I remain just a casual follower of Christ obeying some commandments while submitting to other weaknesses... will that be enough? Last but not least... What if I disqualify myself from eternal blessings because I would rather hear the opinions of men never giving thought to ask God for myself if these blessings have truly come to men on earth through his marvelous work and a wonder? (Isaiah 29:11-14)
We all have to make a choice in this life and it will be based on our actions.
"Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself.
...And not choose eternal death, according to the will of the flesh and the evil which is therein, which giveth the spirit of the devil power to captivate, to bring you down to hell, that he may reign over you in his own kingdom."
(2 Nephi 2:27, 29)
The Lord has commanded that his people be perfect. (Matt 5:48) He has made it abundantly clear that he will not support a slothful and unwise servant as mentioned in the "Parable of the Talents." He will not recognize those who have not had a proper baptism for there will be many which say, "Lord Lord" but will not enter in.
Do what Moroni suggests...
"...Come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God.
And again, if ye by the grace of God are perfect in Christ, and deny not his power, then are ye sanctified in Christ by the grace of God, through the shedding of the blood of Christ, which is in the covenant of the Father unto the remission of your sins, that ye become holy, without spot."
Moroni 10:32-33
And IF you do these things, you will become mighty men and women unto God; even like unto the Brother of Jared, of Nephi, of Captain Moroni, of Mormon and Moroni, of Joseph Smith, of Ether, of Paul and Peter, and you will be like unto ALL the best examples that the world had to offer as they followed Jesus Christ. If you follow the Lord Jesus just as they did, in nowise would you NOT receive this heavenly gift of Eternal Life. This I testify to you, in the Holy name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
2 Nephi 4:34
What if Men starting reading the scriptures as if they were not just words on paper reading them with real intent while praying to the Lord for understanding and having faith that God would give unto them the "gift of prophecy" and of "revelation?"
Moroni 10:3-5
What if Men ceased to read them and interpret them privately using their own wisdom? 2 Peter 1:19-21
What if men began to have unshakable faith in the Lord that he could understand all things and all points of truth free from the opinions of others? Mormon 8: 24
What if men could be found humble enough for the Lord to show them all things? Ether 4: 1, 8, 13
What if when the Lord were to show them all things that these men would actually dedicate their life to God following him with exceeding faith and not just KNOWING the path but were willing to walk the path doing all the Lord's commandments?
1 Nephi 3:7
What if men had the faith to refute the godless; the greatest of those who subject themselves to the will and power of the Devil?
Jacob 7: 5
What if men such faith that it gave them power to move mountains?
Ether 12: 30
What would it do to Satan's dominion if we were all like unto Captain Moroni? Alma 48: 17
What if those who fight against this restored church are also fighting against God? Acts 5:39
What if they fight against Zion under the guise of fighting for God? Isaiah 29:8
What if the Book of Mormon is true and the subsequent restoration of the Gospel that Jesus Christ had taught was now being taught in its fullness and purity? "
I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book."
Joseph Smith, Jr.
The question you need to ask yourself is, "What if?"
What if I'm missing out in the Lord's blessings because of my unbelief? What if Angels are returning to the earth visiting others and not me? What if this Christ I believe in is coming back to a people more prepared than I? What if all the things that are spoken against the church is influenced by Satan? What if there was an Apostasy and I'm on the wrong end of it? What if there are prophets today and I am rejecting them because of my own lack of understanding regarding warnings given by Jesus Christ about future prophets? What if I deny the miracles of God based on my own unbelief because I think that visions and miracles and healings and the visitation of Angels ceased long ago? What if families can be together forever and I'm steering clear from this? What if it's not about Mormonism but its about the restored Church of Jesus Christ? What if this church has been reestablished in the same way it was anciently? What if authority to perform such sacred saving ordinances like baptism has been made available once again? What if I leave life without receiving this sacred ordinance? What if I can just never see myself becoming Mormon? What if I never find the strength to quit smoking, drinking, pornography, or any other vices non-conducive to the spirit of God? What if I remain just a casual follower of Christ obeying some commandments while submitting to other weaknesses... will that be enough? Last but not least... What if I disqualify myself from eternal blessings because I would rather hear the opinions of men never giving thought to ask God for myself if these blessings have truly come to men on earth through his marvelous work and a wonder? (Isaiah 29:11-14)
We all have to make a choice in this life and it will be based on our actions.
"Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself.
...And not choose eternal death, according to the will of the flesh and the evil which is therein, which giveth the spirit of the devil power to captivate, to bring you down to hell, that he may reign over you in his own kingdom."
(2 Nephi 2:27, 29)
The Lord has commanded that his people be perfect. (Matt 5:48) He has made it abundantly clear that he will not support a slothful and unwise servant as mentioned in the "Parable of the Talents." He will not recognize those who have not had a proper baptism for there will be many which say, "Lord Lord" but will not enter in.
Do what Moroni suggests...
"...Come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God.
And again, if ye by the grace of God are perfect in Christ, and deny not his power, then are ye sanctified in Christ by the grace of God, through the shedding of the blood of Christ, which is in the covenant of the Father unto the remission of your sins, that ye become holy, without spot."
Moroni 10:32-33
And IF you do these things, you will become mighty men and women unto God; even like unto the Brother of Jared, of Nephi, of Captain Moroni, of Mormon and Moroni, of Joseph Smith, of Ether, of Paul and Peter, and you will be like unto ALL the best examples that the world had to offer as they followed Jesus Christ. If you follow the Lord Jesus just as they did, in nowise would you NOT receive this heavenly gift of Eternal Life. This I testify to you, in the Holy name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)