Posted on 12/23/2011 9:13:15 AM PST by Colofornian
The history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints began in the Sacred Grove when fourteen-year-old Joseph Smith prayed to know which church was true. But Heavenly Father had been preparing Joseph Smith throughout his life for that marvelous First Vision—the most important message the world has received since the time of Jesus Christ. This preparation began on December 23, 1805, in Sharon, Vermont, when Joseph Smith, Jr., was born.
(Excerpt) Read more at lds.org ...
Lds Doctrine & Covenants 1:30 says that the Mormon Church "is the ONLY true and living church on the face of the earth" (D&C 1:30).
[So much for "Good will" and cheer to all Christian churches who claim the name of Jesus Christ every Christmas season!]
When you couple D&C 1:30 with this headline: That "the church began with a prophet" -- it means this headline implies that the only true and living church began with a man named Joseph Smith.
No headline credit to Jesus Christ.
No focus on the Church Jesus Christ began in the first century.
And, of course, the Mormon church can't focus on that historic church. Why not?
Because it claims that church went down in flames. A 100% apostasy...or as close to 100% as you can get.
Joseph Smith even boasted at one point that he was the ONLY man who ever knew how to keep a church together. He specifically said Jesus Christ didn't do it. (Yeah, I know. Blasphemy)
And if there was no "universal apostasy" -- a topic that 52,000 Mormon missionaries broach regularly with contacts...then there's no need for a "restoration"...no need for the existence of the Mormon church.
The presence of such a built-from-scratch church would all be superflous. Redundant. Unnecessary.
Mormon leaders know that.
So in that sense, whatever "peaceful co-existence" there is between the Mormon church and worldwide Christianity, it's really a mere surface public relations' type of "tolerance."
Underneath that surface, Mormonism's spiritual militancy is such that if it allows the worldwide Christian church to be acknowledged as one authorized by Jesus Christ...then its own very existence is called into question.
And you can't have that. (Not if you're a true believing Mormon, that is).
From the December article: This preparation began on December 23, 1805, in Sharon, Vermont, when Joseph Smith, Jr., was born.
Merry Smithmas Day to all Mormons! May you know that the apostle Paul said in Ephesians 6 that we fight NOT vs. flesh and blood!
No Mormon is our enemy! Every Mormon is of tremendous value to God and to us as Christians!
He or she is of such value that our Father-who-was-always-God-from-eternity-past (and was never a man) sent His everlasting-Son-from-Eternal-Past to become a baby in need of "diaper" changes while in a manger low some 2,000 years ago.
And that Christ child went on to show the value of each Mormon by dying for their sin nature and their personal sins on the cross.
May all who identify themselves as "Mormon" have a truly Merry Christmas!
I lump Smith in with Mohammad.
The lds denies Jesus is the Creator of EVERYTHING.
They lie.
They lie.
They lie.
Your relentless religious bigotry against the mormon church is beginning to drive me away from this site. A site I have come to rely on for news and comment over the past ten years.
Well, they both said "angels" appeared to them. (Muhammed even thought it was a jinn -- a demon -- at first). Which resulted in extra "revelations."
And per the head of the Lds apostles in 1838 -- Thomas B. Marsh -- who swore out an affidavit re: Joseph Smith...so did Smith:
I have heard the Prophet say that he would yet tread down his enemies, and walk over their dead bodies; and if he was not let alone, he would be a second Mohammed to this generation, and that he would make it one gore of blood from the Rocky mountains to the Atlantic ocean; that like Mohammed, whose motto in treating for peace was, 'the Alcoran or the Sword.'
Source: Lds 'apostle' affidavit about Smith-as-Mohammed
Btw, isn't "intolerance" what "bigotry" means?
When Christ tells Smith he never knew him.....
“A bigot is a person obstinately or intolerantly devoted to his or her own opinions and prejudices, especially one exhibiting intolerance, and animosity toward those of differing beliefs. The predominant usage in modern English refers to persons hostile to those of differing sex, race, ethnicity, religious beliefs or spirituality...”
You need to own this.
Not surprised
The caption reads: "We are the beneficiaries of the "restored gospel" of Jesus Christ a work which had its earthly commencement with the birth of the Prophet Joseph Smith in the hills of Vermont on a December day in 1805. As we commemorate the birth of the baby in Bethlehem, the Savior of the world, may we also remember his messenger Joseph Smith, and rejoice in his live and sacrifice.
Speaking historically, and not theologically, that depends on which of the accounts of the First Vision you accept. That age and purpose are not in the first version of the First Vision as written by Joseph Smith, Jr.. That is what appears in the fourth version, chronologically, which was dictated in 1838, six years after the first version was handwritten by Smith in 1832. Not all of the versions, including the version written in Joseph Smith, Jr.'s hand, place him at fourteen. And saying there is more than one version of the First Vision doesn't make me 'anti-Mormon.' On its official website, the LDS Church states:
'On at least four different occasions, Joseph Smith either wrote or dictated to scribes accounts of his sacred experience of 1820. Possibly he penned or dictated other histories of the First Vision; if so, they have not been located. The four surviving recitals of this theophany were prepared or rendered through different scribes, at different times, from a different perspective, for different purposes and to different audiences. It is not surprising, therefore, that each of them emphasizes different aspects of his experience.
That is how the LDS Church reconciles the differences among the different versions of the First Vision. See also the official LDS source here. Other sources simply view them as inconsistent and irreconcilable versions of the First Vision.
In Joseph's Smith's first, handwritten account, he was sixteen. This is not accepted by the LDS Church as the official version.
Among the versions, the purpose for Smith's visit to the woods differs, the number of spiritual parties who visits him differ, whether it was a "visitation of angels," as first written, two personages, or one. The fourth version has been accepted as the official version by the LDS Church. That's where the age of fourteen, and going to pray regarding which church is true, comes from.
This is not a theological comment, but a historical one. Please consult the LDS website and historical sources for discussions regarding the different versions of the First Vision. I respect the rights of FR members to believe as they choose; I do not, however respect the rights of all to practice their religious beliefs (for example, I would draw the line at human sacrifice).
What does the Old Testament say about a false prophet? Guess it worked with Joseph Smith, Jr.
“the Sacred Grove”
___________________________________
Capitalized and all...
God had the prophets of old cut down “the sacred groves” amd break down the “high places” and the altars to Baal and Ashtoreth and Molech..
The Mormons include them in their pagan worship..
Problem is that we're not hostile towards "those". We're "hostile" towards the system, the doctrines, tenets, etc. The aspects of mormonism that misleads, denies mormons the saving grace of Christ. I've yet to see any just jump on these threads and claim they hate someone simply because they're a mormon. Although there have been many claims made that is the case but can't prove their claim.
Why just the other day, Christians who evangelize about mormonism, were called "Taliban Christians". I wonder, in rebuttal, based on that person's understanding, can I call the 52,000 mormon missionaries around the world, "Taliban Mormons"? How would that go over? .
Of course, there will be those who claim the two are inseparable, but none have been able to show that, yet, since it's entirely subjective.
Merry Christmas.
You keep right on being salt and light on this cult. The truth is often called intollerance.
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