Christianity Is In Decline Across America, Satanism Is Taking Its Place(tr)

http://shoebat.com ^ | 09/08/2017 | Andrew Bieszad

[Elsie]

The final arbiter of truth is never the scriptures.

of COURSE not!!

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In conclusion let us summarize this grand key, these “Fourteen Fundamentals in Following the Prophet”, for our salvation depends on them.

1. The prophet is the only man who speaks for the Lord in everything.
2. The living prophet is more vital to us than the standard works.
3. The living prophet is more important to us than a dead prophet.
4. The prophet will never lead the church astray.
5. The prophet is not required to have any particular earthly training or credentials to speak on any subject or act on any matter at any time.
6. The prophet does not have to say “Thus Saith the Lord,” to give us scripture.
7. The prophet tells us what we need to know, not always what we want to know.
8. The prophet is not limited by men’s reasoning.
9. The prophet can receive revelation on any matter, temporal or spiritual.
10. The prophet may advise on civic matters.
11. The two groups who have the greatest difficulty in following the prophet are the proud who are learned and the proud who are rich.
12. The prophet will not necessarily be popular with the world or the worldly.
13. The prophet and his counselors make up the First Presidency—the highest quorum in the Church.
14. The prophet and the presidency—the living prophet and the First Presidency—follow them and be blessed—reject them and suffer.

I testify that these fourteen fundamentals in following the living prophet are true. If we want to know how well we stand with the Lord then let us ask ourselves how well we stand with His mortal captain—how close do our lives harmonize with the Lord’s anointed—the living Prophet—President of the Church, and with the Quorum of the First Presidency.

Ezra Taft Benson

(Address given Tuesday, February 26, 1980 at Brigham Young University)     http://www.lds.org/liahona/1981/06/fourteen-fundamentals-in-following-the-prophet?lang=eng

[Elsie]

Childish insults. And an all around ignorant statement.

 

HMMMmmm...

 

 

 

 

 

Orson Pratt proclaimed: "Both Catholics and Protestants are nothing less than the 'whore of Babylon' whom the Lord denounces by the mouth of John the Revelator as having corrupted all the earth by their fornications and wickedness. Any person who shall be so corrupt as to receive a holy ordinance of the Gospel from the ministers of any of these apostate churches will be sent down to hell with them, unless they repent" (The Seer, p. 255).

 

 

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Questions put to Joseph Smith: "'Do you believe the Bible?' [Smith:]'If we do, we are the only people under heaven that does, for there are none of the religious sects of the day that do'. When asked 'Will everybody be damned, but Mormons'? [Smith replied] 'Yes, and a great portion of them, unless they repent, and work righteousness." (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 119).

Joseph Smith: "for the teachers of religion of the different sects understood the same passages of scripture so differently as to destroy all confidence in settling the question by an appeal to the Bible" (from Pearl of Great Price 1:12). "What is it that inspires professors of Christianity generally with a hope of salvation? It is that smooth, sophisticated influence of the devil, by which he deceives the whole world" (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p.270).

 

 

 

Brigham Young stated this repeatedly: "When the light came to me I saw that all the so-called Christian world was grovelling in darkness" (Journal of Discourses 5:73); "The Christian world, so-called, are heathens as to the knowledge of the salvation of God" (Journal of Discourses 8:171); "With a regard to true theology, a more ignorant people never lived than the present so-called Christian world" (Journal of Discourses 8:199); "And who is there that acknowledges [God's] hand? ...You may wander east, west, north, and south, and you cannot find it in any church or government on the earth, except the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" (Journal of Discourses , vol. 6, p.24); "Should you ask why we differ from other Christians, as they are called, it is simply because they are not Christians as the New Testament defines Christianity" (Journal of Discourses 10:230).

 

 

 

 

Orson Pratt also said: "This great apostasy commenced about the close of the first century of the Christian era, and it has been waxing worse and worse from then until now" (Journal of Discourses , vol.18, p.44) and: "But as there has been no Christian Church on the earth for a great many centuries past, until the present century, the people have lost sight of the pattern that God has given according to which the Christian Church should be established, and they have denominated a great variety of people Christian Churches, because they profess to be ...But there has been a long apostasy, during which the nations have been cursed with apostate churches in great abundance" (Journal of Discourses , 18:172).

 

 

President John Taylor stated: "Christianity...is a perfect pack of nonsense...the devil could not invent a better engine to spread his work than the Christianity of the nineteenth century." (Journal of Discourses , vol. 6, p.167); "Where shall we look for the true order or authority of God? It cannot be found in any nation of Christendom." (Journal of Discourses , 10:127).

 

 

 

James Talmage said: "A self-suggesting interpretation of history indicates that there has been a great departure from the way of salvation as laid down by the Savior, a universal apostasy from the Church of Christ". (A Study of the Articles of Faith, p.182).

 

 

 

President Joseph Fielding Smith said: "Doctrines were corrupted, authority lost, and a false order of religion took the place of the gospel of Jesus Christ, just as it had been the case in former dispensations, and the people were left in spiritual darkness." (Doctrines of Salvation, p.266). "For hundreds of years the world was wrapped in a veil of spiritual darkness, until there was not one fundamental truth belonging to the place of salvation ...Joseph Smith declared that in the year 1820 the Lord revealed to him that all the 'Christian' churches were in error, teaching for commandments the doctrines of men" (Doctrines of Salvation, vol. 3, p.282).

 

 

 

More recent statements by apostle Bruce McConkie are also very clear: "Apostasy was universal...And this darkness still prevails except among those who have come to a knowledge of the restored gospel" (Doctrines of Salvation, vol 3, p.265); "Thus the signs of the times include the prevailing apostate darkness in the sects of Christendom and in the religious world in general" (The Millennial Messiah, p.403); "a perverted Christianity holds sway among the so-called Christians of apostate Christendom" (Mormon Doctrine, p.132); "virtually all the millions of apostate Christendom have abased themselves before the mythical throne of a mythical Christ whom they vainly suppose to be a spirit essence who is incorporeal uncreated, immaterial and three-in-one with the Father and Holy Spirit" (Mormon Doctrine, p.269); "Gnosticism is one of the great pagan philosophies which antedated Christ and the Christian Era and which was later commingled with pure Christianity to form the apostate religion that has prevailed in the world since the early days of that era." (Mormon Doctrine, p.316).

 

 

 

President George Q. Cannon said: "After the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was organized, there were only two churches upon the earth. They were known respectively as the Church of the Lamb of God and Babylon. The various organizations which are called churches throughout Christendom, though differing in their creeds and organizations, have one common origin. They all belong to Babylon" (Gospel Truth, p.324).

 

 

President Wilford Woodruff stated: "the Gospel of modern Christendom shuts up the Lord, and stops all communication with Him. I want nothing to do with such a Gospel, I would rather prefer the Gospel of the dark ages, so called" (Journal of Discourses , vol. 2, p.196).

[Elsie]

According to Living Prophet® #2; you are damned; Storm Prepper.

What say ye about this fact??

"Now if any of you will deny the plurality of wives, and continue to do so, I promise that you will be damned;

and I will go still further and say, take this revelation, or any other revelation that the Lord has given,

and deny it in your feelings, and I promise that you will be damned.

  - JoD 3:266 (July 14, 1855)

[Elsie]

 

 

Do ANY of the rest of you "damned " SLC mormons reading this, who has gotten any information from your church, think that old B.Y. was:

 

1. Speaking the very words of GOD...

2. Drunk...

3. On peyote...

4. REALLY upset at SOMEone...

5. Or just running his mouth as a man: a mere mortal, prone to the slings and arrows that beset us all...

6. or do you just accept the FACT that you are, truly, damned for not following your Scripture found in D&C 132:58-66?

[mlo]

Oh BS. Religion is declining, but Satanism it not taking anything’s place, and the article doesn’t even say that.

[dfwgator]

Something is filling that void.

[mlo]

Not Satanism. No matter what the growth rate of Satanism might be, if there is one, it's a tiny fringe and always will be. Kinda like Nazis.

If people are becoming less religious then they are just less religious. No void to fill.

[StormPrepper]

Btw, can you explain why you're exempt from this scripture:

Amos 3
7 Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.

As Paul states in 2 Tim 3 that false religions would reject the Prophet of the last days. How does that not apply to you?

[Elsie]

According to modern day revelation, Zion is a city that will be built near Jackson County, Missouri (see Doctrine and Covenants 45:66-67). This Zion in Missouri, also referred to as the New Jerusalem, will be the gathering place of the tribe of Ephraim before Christ’s second coming.

Got any building permits yet?

[aMorePerfectUnion]

“According to modern day revelation

You went careening off the road at that moment.

[daniel1212]

What I said here: [sp]A couple things; 1. You're assuming that what you believe is correct and your gospel is the same as what the original apostles preached. Has nothing to do with your response here: [daniel1212]That is absurd. We have abundant manuscript evidences attesting to the preservation of NT texts

That assuming "your gospel is the same as what the original apostles preached" was understood as impugning the integrity of the gospel texts, as Mormons have done .

Again you're assuming you're interpreting scripture correctly and that your doctrine is correct. But you have no prophet to a approve your conclusions or correct your mistakes.

Which ignores what I said, for even the veracity of the preaching of apostles was subject to testing by Scripture, which testing invalidates your prevaricating "prophets!"

You're in the same boat that the Pharisees were in. They had scripture too but rejected the prophets and relied solely on tradition and their own understanding ...and got it completely wrong.

Wrong: They, as with your leaders, presumed a level of assured veracity above that which was written, and as with your leaders held to traditions that were not Scriptural, and as with your leaders were reproved by Scripture by those whom they considered itinerant preachers. But who did not teach such nonsense as that God was a an exalted man and polygamist etc. or make false prophecies .

Unlike the Pharisees, the veracity of what I say must rest upon the weight of Scriptural substantiation, and not kill others because they disagree with me.

Preservation of text is a red herring you just introduced into this discussion.

Not if Mormons attack the integrity of the Bible. Sorry for assuming you were like those who do!

And you have it all totally backwards. Why do you think the Jews stoned the prophets? Why did they crucify Jesus? Because they would never yield to the fact they were wrong.

Because like violent and vengeful Joe Smith, they could not take reproof for long, and exalted themselves and made traditions of men equal in authority with Scripture.

The final arbiter of truth is never the scriptures. James explains, James 1: 5 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.

We are to go to God first in prayer and He may use the scriptures to teach us what the truth is... Seeking God certainly should come first, and wisdom as to how to obey Scripture is to be sought, but what one feels or experiences simply is not the final and sure arbiter of truth, which is absurd, and by which every cultist can justify himself as it relies upon subjective feelings versus the objective word of God.

From the time when He chose to reveal His will to an entire nation then He preserved it in writing, which is His manifest means of preservation. (Exodus 17:14; 34:1,27; Deuteronomy 10:4; 17:18; 27:3; 31:24; Joshua 1:8; 2 Chronicles 34:15,18-19; Ps. 19:7-11; 119; John 20:31; Acts 17:11; Revelation 1:1; 20:12, 15;Matthew 4:5-7; 22:29; Lk. 24:44,45; Acts 17:11)

And as is abundantly evidenced, the "word of God/the Lord" was normally written, even if subsequent to to being spoken, and as written, Scripture became the transcendent supreme substantive standard for obedience and testing and establishing truth claims as the wholly Divinely inspired and assured, Word of God.

It was not because oral tradition preserved the Word of God that brought about a national revival, but because of reading the wholly inspired-of-God written word:

And Hilkiah answered and said to Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of the Lord. And Hilkiah delivered the book to Shaphan. (2 Chronicles 34:15)

Then Shaphan the scribe told the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest hath given me a book. And Shaphan read it before the king. And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of the law, that he rent his clothes. (2 Chronicles 34:18-19)

And as is abundantly evidenced , the "word of God/the Lord" was normally written, even if subsequent to to being spoken, and as written, Scripture became the transcendent supreme substantive standard for obedience and testing and establishing truth claims as the wholly Divinely inspired and assured, Word of God.

Which is exactly what the Jews said about Jesus...

Indeed, and which the Lord said about them due to their being contrary to Scriptural Truth, and likewise and consistent with Christ then Mormonism is also shown to be critically contrary to Scriptural Truth .

They their fruits ye shall know them was the promise. What was Joseph Smith's fruits?

Every cult seeks to gain validity by obeying many Biblical principles, for the devil knows how to build a church, but their theology mixes in various amounts of damning poison, and in Mormonism this is abundantly manifest, from the nature of God , to its gospel of salvation , to its Aaronic priesthood (from blacks were excluded) to LDS elitism to Smith's fantastic seer stone fables , to his carnal life and more.

“Have ye not seen a vain vision, and have ye not spoken a lying divination, whereas ye say, The LORD saith it; albeit I have not spoken? Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye have spoken vanity, and seen lies, therefore, behold, I am against you, saith the Lord GOD” (Ezek. 13:7, 8).

“But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed” (Gal. 6:8).

In short, your "prophets" have been tried and found wanting by the Bible which it contradicts (as well as itself ), , but since they themselves are the standard for Truth then Mormonism goes on as deceived and being deceived

[daniel1212]

"I will be to this generation a second Mohammed, whose motto in treating for peace was "the Alcoran [Koran] or the Sword". So shall it eventually be with us: "Joseph Smith or the Sword!"

Yes, since the devil is the author of both, there are parallels btwn Muhammad and Smith, both of which attempted to build upon the authority of Scripture but contradict it,

[daniel1212]

Book of Mormon change:

Thanks. When your leadership is autocratic then whatever they currently say is the standard.

[Elsie]

Not if Mormons attack the integrity of the Bible.

Yup they STILL do it; Number 8

 

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Articles of Faith

The Articles of Faith outline 13 basic points of belief of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The Prophet Joseph Smith first wrote them in a letter to John Wentworth, a newspaper editor,
in response to Mr. Wentworth's request to know what members of the Church believed.
They were subsequently published in Church periodicals.
They are now regarded as scripture and included in the Pearl of Great Price.

 

THE ARTICLES OF FAITH
OF THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS
History of the Church, Vol. 4, pp. 535—541

 

 

1. We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost.
   
2. We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam's transgression.
   
3. We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel.
   
4. We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are: first, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second, Repentance; third, Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; fourth, Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost.
   
5. We believe that a man must be called of God, by prophecy, and by the laying on of hands by those who are in authority, to preach the Gospel and administer in the ordinances thereof.
   
6. We believe in the same organization that existed in the Primitive Church, namely, apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists, and so forth.
   
7. We believe in the gift of tongues, prophecy, revelation, visions, healing, interpretation of tongues, and so forth.
   
8. We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly; we also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God.
   
9. We believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God.
   
10. We believe in the literal gathering of Israel and in the restoration of the Ten Tribes; that Zion (the New Jerusalem) will be built upon the American continent; that Christ will reign personally upon the earth; and, that the earth will be renewed and receive its paradisiacal glory.
    
11. We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may.
    
12. We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law.
    
13. We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul—We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.

Joseph Smith

Here is MORMONism's own creed:

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Articles of Faith

The Articles of Faith outline 13 basic points of belief of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The Prophet Joseph Smith first wrote them in a letter to John Wentworth, a newspaper editor,
in response to Mr. Wentworth's request to know what members of the Church believed.
They were subsequently published in Church periodicals.
They are now regarded as scripture and included in the Pearl of Great Price.

 

THE ARTICLES OF FAITH
OF THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS
History of the Church, Vol. 4, pp. 535—541

 

 

1. We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost.
   
2. We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam's transgression.
   
3. We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel.
   
4. We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are: first, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second, Repentance; third, Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; fourth, Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost.
   
5. We believe that a man must be called of God, by prophecy, and by the laying on of hands by those who are in authority, to preach the Gospel and administer in the ordinances thereof.
   
6. We believe in the same organization that existed in the Primitive Church, namely, apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists, and so forth.
   
7. We believe in the gift of tongues, prophecy, revelation, visions, healing, interpretation of tongues, and so forth.
   
8. We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly; we also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God.
   
9. We believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God.
   
10. We believe in the literal gathering of Israel and in the restoration of the Ten Tribes; that Zion (the New Jerusalem) will be built upon the American continent; that Christ will reign personally upon the earth; and, that the earth will be renewed and receive its paradisiacal glory.
    
11. We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may.
    
12. We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law.
    
13. We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul—We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.

Joseph Smith

 

Mormonism's own creed...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Elsie]

...Mormons attack the integrity of the Bible.

And yet SLC CONTINUEs to include the KJV in every one of the MILLIONS of Quads it has had printed.

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Somethin' is sure messed up somewhere!

[Elsie]

Anyone besides me notice that the D&C's do not get the same acclaim as the KJV and the BoM??

Which is strange; since virtually NO MORMON 'doctrine' is found in the BoM; but comes mainly from the D's & C's.

[daniel1212]

Then you have the "Inspired Version of the Bible," but not by God, among other changes in demonic deception.

[Elsie]

Ah yes; the 'Inspired Version'!
The one NOT used by SLC Mormons.

Surely you have interacted with some of those folks on FR.
The ones that crow about MODERN revelation and having a PROPHET that does what GOD tells him to do.

[StormPrepper]

Not if Mormons attack the integrity of the Bible. Sorry for assuming you were like those who do!

It is true that I don't see the Bible as an inerrant talisman of all things holy like you do. Most of the writings contained in the Bible are the words of God for the most part. And are of great worth. But it certainly isn't the be all end all that you make it out to be.

A simple examination of it's history puts it into perspective.

1. No prophet assembled it.
Amos 3
7 Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.

The book of Revelation wasn't added to the collection until 400 years after Christ. And the method of deciding which book should be chosen was totally based on popular opinion. It was a popularity contest. Not revelation from God. God has never worked nor will He ever work from the popular opinion of men. That's laughable. Was it the inerrant arbiter of truth before it had all the books added? At what point did it achieve this status? Was it the final word of God before the book of Romans was added? Or Corinthians? Very simple and honest questions...I know you missed my point, so I'll state it. I'm not criticizing the Bible, it is what it is, I am, however, criticizing the way you view it. People like yourself have turned it into a modern day golden calf.

2. Your belief fails under this very simple scrutiny. Amos' words are the eternal law. You can't get around it. You can't dismiss it. There is no wiggle room in Amos' words. If it didn't come from a prophet it didn't come from God. There were lots of other writings from lots of other prophets that weren't popular enough with the people of the time to be included in what those men decided was to be their canon. So the Bible, even though it contains a lot of great things because those are the writings of true prophets, can't be everything you make it out to be. Amos 3:7 is a warning from God of how to know if something is truly from Him.

[StormPrepper]

Ah yes; the 'Inspired Version'!
The one NOT used by SLC Mormons.

What's a SLC Mormon? And how does that differ from say... me?

And why do you say it's NOT used? Please explain this... do you have proof that I don't use it in my study? Or when I teach a class? Show your proof.