Posted on 02/20/2015 4:41:37 AM PST by LeoMcNeil
Rob Bell is a progressive former mega-church pastor. He is also a heretic who, since giving up the mega-church pastoring gig, has been hanging out with the likes of Oprah Winfrey. Bell was part of the emergent church, which engaged in conversations and rejected historic Christianity. While the emergents like to pretend theyre new, hip and cool, the reality is theyre no different than the other progressive churches out there which have rejected historic Christianity. The difference between the emergent church and the pentecostal or baptist churches is only how they demonstrate their rejection of historic Christianity. Rather than rolling on the floor, the emergent church sips a Starbucks and has a conversation that looks remarkably like a sermon. Their conversation is distinctly post-modern, absolute truth is rejected.
Rob Bell was one of the leaders of the emergent church. Perhaps he still is. He gave up his church in supposedly conservative Grand Rapids, Michigan to hang out with Oprah and Hollywood Starlets out in Los Angeles. His most recent book argued there is no Hell and no one actually goes to Hell. These days hes busy pushing homosexual marriage. He has argued that the church is moments away from embracing such a bastardization of marriage. Worse, he argues that the church shouldnt rely on 2,000 year old letters to form an opposition to homosexual conduct. If Christians cannot and should not rely on Gods word as contained in scripture, what exactly are we supposed to rely upon?
Bell of course argues we should rely upon personal experiences, in particular we should rely on the people placed before us. This is typical progressive nonsense, dripping in post-modernism. Bells argument really comes down to not believing in any truth whatsoever so we might as well be nice to the sexual perverts that may be in our lives. Of course being nice to such people is a truth, so that might get a little sticky at some point. Basically, if the wider culture embraces something Bell believes the church should follow. We shouldnt look to scripture because thats old. We must embrace the new and modern, even if it contains no truth. We want the church to be relevant after all.
The problem of course is that if we reject Pauls 2,000 year old letters (to say nothing of the legal proclamations of Moses which are several thousand years older) why not reject the entire gospel of Jesus Christ? The gospels are just as old as Pauls letters and they contain more foolishness to the world than Pauls condemnation of homosexual acts. The gospels after all claim a virgin birth, a resurrection from the dead and an ascension into Heaven. They make the preposterous argument that some man named Jesus died for the sins of an elect. Not only that, this Jesus claims hes God. What a silly, small minded, old fashioned thing to believe. Yet Bell doesnt outright reject the gospel, the niceties of hippy Jesus give modern man the warm fuzzies.
Bells and the progressive and emergent churchs apostasy is clear. They reject scripture unless it suits their purposes, whatever they may be. There are plenty of Christian denominations which have been completely overtaken by progressive higher criticism and rejected everything relating to Christs birth and resurrection. Bell is well on his way to this, rejecting anything supernatural while keeping the stories about Christ being nice to wicked people. In doing so, they miss the entire point of those stories. But that doesnt matter to the post-modern emergent church or to Rob Bell. These people really dont believe in anything. They reject the Bible and they lie to people by offering a little bit of the Bible in the form of Christs niceties while rejecting everything else. Thats how Bell can embrace homosexual marriage despite Gods specific creation of marriage in the Garden of Eden between one man and one woman and multiple examples of homosexual conduct declared sin in scripture. In the end, Bell and any church or person who adopts such a position will do nothing but lead himself and others to Hell.
Why is it personal?
Either you is ready for 'heaven' or you ain't!
I'm bound for Heaven because of my trusting in Jesus; alone.
The LDS authorities make it VERY plain that a person HAS to follow the RULES set down by management.
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. 535541
Joseph Smith |
Temple Recommend Questions
1 Do you have faith in and a testimony of God the Eternal Father, His Son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost? 2 Do you have a testimony of the Atonement of Christ and of His role as Savior and Redeemer? 3 Do you have a testimony of the restoration of the gospel in these the latter days? 4 Do you sustain the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as the Prophet, Seer, and Revelator and as the only person on the earth who possesses and is authorized to exercise all priesthood keys? Do you sustain members of the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles as prophets, seers, and revelators? Do you sustain the other General Authorities and local authorities of the Church? 5 Do you live the law of chastity? 6 Is there anything in your conduct relating to members of your family that is not in harmony with the teachings of the Church? 7 Do you support, affiliate with, or agree with any group or individual whose teachings or practices are contrary to or oppose those accepted by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints? 8 Do you strive to keep the covenants you have made, to attend your sacrament and other meetings, and to keep your life in harmony with the laws and commandments of the gospel? 9 Are you honest in your dealings with your fellowmen? 10 Are you a full-tithe payer? 11 Do you keep the Word of Wisdom? 12 Do you have financial or other obligations to a former spouse or children? If yes, are you current in meeting those obligations? 13 If you have previously received your temple endowment: Do you keep the covenants that you made in the temple? Do you wear the garment both night and day as instructed in the endowment and in accordance with the covenant you made in the temple? 14 Have there been any sins or misdeeds in your life that should have been resolved with priesthood authorities but have not been? 15 Do you consider yourself worthy to enter the Lord's house and participate in temple ordinances? |
They succeeded in killing Joseph, but he had finished his work.He was a servant of God, and gave us the Book of Mormon.He said the Bible was right in the main, but, through the translators and others, many precious portions were suppressed, and several other portions were wrongly translated; and now his testimony is in force, for he has sealed it with his blood.As I have frequently told them, no man in this dispensation will enter the courts of heaven, without the approbation of the Prophet Joseph Smith, Jun.Who has made this so?Have I?Have this people?Have the world?No; but the Lord Jehovah has decreed it.If I ever pass into the heavenly courts, it will be by the consent of the Prophet Joseph.If you ever pass through the gates into the Holy City, you will do so upon his certificate that you are worthy to pass.Can you pass without his inspection?No; neither can any person in this dispensation, which is the dispensation of the fulness of times.In this generation, and in all the generations that are to come, everyone will have to undergo the scrutiny of this Prophet.They say that they killed Joseph, and they will yet come with their hats under their arms and bend to him; but what good will it do them, unless they repent?They can come in a certain way and find favor, but will they?
--JOURNAL OF DISCOURSES, vol. 8, p. 224
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 mens 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 Presidencythe highest quorum in the Church.
14. The prophet and the presidencythe living prophet and the First Presidencyfollow them and be blessedreject 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 captainhow close do our lives harmonize with the Lords anointedthe living ProphetPresident 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
It IS considered scripture. Oh, you didn’t know that?
How’s your logic now?
HMMMmmm... I’d think that SLC would say so.
https://www.lds.org/scriptures?lang=eng&cid=rdscriptures
Well, enjoy your delusions. No amount of “testimony” in your bosom is going to suddenly make Joseph Smith’s (or those of any subsequent LDS prophet) false prophecies be true, or make the Book of Abraham something other than an Egyptian Book of Breathings. It won’t make the Book of Mormon or Joseph Smith the fulfillment of Biblical prophecies, such as your church teaches in spite of overwhelming scriptural evidence and scholarship to the contrary, it won’t produce archeological evidence of a fictional civilization, and it won’t make Smith’s blatant and demonstrable plagiarism of the King James text go away. But have fun pretending it does.
Sorry; but the POGP contains only a PORTION of the entire JST.
Color coding explanation:
Added stuff... Changed stuff... Rearranged stuff... Removed stuff...
*(UNDERLINED stuff is the DISTRACTING reference on every tenth word or so that infuses LDS 'scripture' online.)
|
Don’t be too hard on him.
I suspect a BIC.
He’s learned what he knows from the LDS religious organization all of his life.
Give him time to do his own research.
I understand why you would not wish to think on these things. You probably already have doubts about the things you've been taught.
Your entire life would be turned upside down when you find them to be, shall we say, not completely as they have been represented.
And I'm especially not going to some silly discredited anti-Mormon site.
Discredited?
Why??
It is merely QUOTING (and THINKING about) things that have been published by Salt Lake City.
About half of the Old Testament changes were made to the book Genesis while close to 80% of the New Testament changes were made to the four Gospels. Scattered changes were made throughout the rest of the Bible. One insertion made in Genesis chapter 50 added twelve new verses after verse 24a in the King James Version, including a conveniently placed prophecy about Smith! According to verse 33 in the Inspired Version, . . . his name shall be called Joseph, and it shall be after the name of his father. . . Needless to say, no Hebrew manuscript ever discovered supports this addition.
Smith claimed that he received a revelation on January 10, 1832 commanding him to continue the work of translation until it be finished (D&C 73:4b). A year and a half later, Joseph Smith said his translation was completed. On July 2, 1833, History of the Church 1:368 reported,
We this day finished the translating of the Scriptures, for which we return gratitude to our Heavenly Father.
The corrections made by Smith were lauded by Mormon apostle Bruce R. McConkie, who wrote:
The Joseph Smith Translation, or Inspired Version, is a thousand times over the best Bible now existing on earth. It contains all that the King James Version does, plus pages of additions and corrections and an occasional deletion. It was made by the spirit of revelation, and the changes and additions are the equivalent of the revealed word in the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants. For historical and other reasons, there has been among some members of the Church in times past some prejudice and misunderstanding of the place of the Joseph Smith Translation. I hope this has now all vanished away. Our new Church Bible footnotes many of the major changes made in the Inspired Version and has a seventeen-page section which sets forth excerpts that are too lengthy for inclusion in the footnotes. Reference to this section and to the footnotes themselves will give anyone who has spiritual insight a deep appreciation of this revelatory work of the Prophet Joseph Smith. It is one of the great evidences of his prophetic call (Sermons and Writings of Bruce R. McConkie, p. 289).
If Joseph Smith truly finished his translation of the Bible and made corrections to a book that he claimed was true only as far as it was translated correctly, and if these changes are as good as McConkie says they are, then why doesnt the LDS Church officially use the Inspired Version rather than the King James Bible?
I rather answer the question that should have been asked: "Why doesnt the LDS Church officially use the Inspired Version rather than the King James Bible?"
After all; your own AoF casts dobt on the KJV, with the phrase "...as long as it's interpreted properly."
Why is the KJV STILL in the Quad?
Why hasn't the Inspired Version replaced it?
After all, one of the best LDS apologists said...
It contains all that the King James Version does, plus pages of additions and corrections and an occasional deletion. It was made by the spirit of revelation, and the changes and additions are the equivalent of the revealed word in the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants.
Oh?
Says whom?
I'd like to see ANY evidence your chosen religion has to present.
Really???
HMMMmmm...
Say...
Have you ever been a Mormon Missionary?
I hear that they have to follow some rules.
Evidently GOD ordered them to do so...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.