Posted on 09/09/2017 2:00:00 PM PDT by heterosupremacist
White Christians in the US are in the minority and declining, amid increasing ethnic diversity and growing numbers of people who identify as religiously unaffiliated, according to a new survey.
The poll from the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) found that just 43 per cent of Americans now identify as white and Christian. This is in contrast to 81 per cent of Americans identifying as white Christians in 1976.
But what is most striking about the new PRRI survey is that it shows a relatively recent decline among evangelicals from 23 per cent to 17 per cent from 2006 to 2016.
This report provides solid evidence of a new, second wave of white Christian decline that is occurring among white evangelical Protestants just over the last decade in the US, said Robert P Jones, the PRRIs CEO and author of The End of White Christian America.
Prior to 2008, white evangelical Protestants seemed to be exempt from the waves of demographic change and disaffiliation that were eroding the membership bases of white mainline Protestants and white Catholics. We now see that these waves simply crested later for white evangelical Protestants.
Today, fewer than half of all states are majority white Christian, the survey found. As recently as 2007, 39 states had majority white Christian populations...
(Excerpt) Read more at shoebat.com ...
Well; aren't you supposed to use ONLY 'approved' writings in your 'studies'?
Perhaps I'm confused about what is permitted the missionaries to read ands what the general class of pew warmers can...
https://mormonmissionprep.com/recommended-reading/missionary-reading-list/
"Dave; I think you know why..."
But; many of our non-Mormons reading this (and quite possibly many MORMONs; as well) do not know just how many spinters make up the total log of Mormonism across the world.
For a fella who boldly claimed "..that he'd done more to hold a church together..." we have the following list:
With the Mormons (to be precise, the members of The Corporation of the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints - based in Salt Lake City) intent on being called Christians after so many years of eschewing that word, and despite the fact that there are so many fundamental theological differences between Christianity and Mormonism, I often wonder:How do members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints feel about calling the members of its various spin-off sects Latter-Day Saints, Christians, or Mormons? Or about those sects calling themselves Mormons or Latter-Day Saints? (There was an earlier campaign by LDS to have journalism style books use the word Mormon to refer only to LDS, and not RLDS, FLDS, or other LDS sects).
For a man who bragged about holding things together, Joseph Smith, Jr. doesnt appear go have done a good job of it during his lifetime. Wycam Clarks Pure Church of Christ spun off in 1831. This trend continued. There were six LDS sects spawned in the 1830s, eight in the 1840s, two in the 1850s, and seven in the 1860s.
Do those responsible for the Mormons are Christians campaign consider these denominations to be Mormons or Latter-Day Saints? Surely many of these denominations are much closer to mainstream LDS than LDS is to Christianity. Many stick to Smiths teachings and old temple endowment ceremonies.
Short Creek Community
Latter Day Church of Christ
Apostolic United Brethren
Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
Church of the Firstborn of the Fulness [sic] of Times
Church of the Lamb of God
Church of the New Covenant in Christ
Confederate Nations of Israel
Righteous Branch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
School of the Prophets
Centennial Park
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Kingdom of God
True and Living Church of Jesus Christ of Saints of the Last Days
The Church of the Firstborn and the General Assembly of HeavenBlackmore/Bountiful Community
Restoration Church of Jesus Christ
Order of Enoch
Aaronic Order
Zions Order, Inc.
Perfected Church of Jesus Christ of Immaculate Latter-day Saints
Church of Jesus Christ (Bullaite)
Community of Christ
Church of Jesus Christ (Toneyite)
Independent RLDS / Restoration Branches
Church of Jesus Christ Restored 1830
Church of Christ (Lion of God Ministry/Clarkite)
Church of Jesus Christ (Zions Branch)
Restoration Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
Remnant Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
Church of Christ (Temple Lot) (Hedrickite)
Church of Christ (Fettingite) (Hedrickite)
Church of Christ at Halleys Bluff (Hedrickite)
Church of Christ (Restored) (Hedrickite)
Church of Christ With the Elijah Message (Hedrickite)
Church of Christ (Hancock) (Hedrickite)
Church of Christ (Burtite) (Hendrickite)
Church of Israel (Hendrickite)
Church of Christ with the Elijah Message (The Assured Way of the Lord) (Hendrickite)
The Church of Jesus Christ (Bickertonite)
Church of Jesus Christ (Cutlerite)
True Church of Jesus Christ (Cutlerite)
Restored Church of Jesus Christ (Cutlerite)
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Strangite)
Holy Church of Jesus Christ (Strangite)
Church of Jesus Christ (Drewite) (Strangite)
True Church of Jesus Christ Restored (Strangite)
Pentecostal Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Whitmerite)Or these defunct sects:
Pure Church of Christ (Clarkite)
Independent Church (Hotonite)
Church of Christ (Boothite)
Church of Christ (Parrishite)
Alston Church
Church of Christ (Chubbyite)
Church of Jesus Christ, the Bride, the Lambs Wife
Church of Christ (Pageite)
True Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (this one was particularly curious - started by William Law, editor of The Nauvoo Expositor, just one of many sects started in opposition to plural marriage)
The Church of Zion (Godbeite)
United Order Family of Christ
Church of the Potter Christ
Church of the Firstborn (Morrisite)
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Gibsonite)
Church of Jesus Christ of Saints of the Most High
Church of the Christian Brotherhood
Church of Jesus Christ of the Children of Zion (Rigdonite) Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ (Bickertonite)
Primative Church of Jesus Christ (Bickertonite)
Church of Christ (Aaron Smith)
Church of the Messiah (Adamsite)
Church of Christ (Wrightite)
Church of Christ (Whitmerite)
Church of Christ (Brewsterite)
The Bride, the Lambs Wife
Congregation of Jehovahs Presbytery of Zion
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Gladdenite)
Independent Latter Day Saints of Nigeria
Independent Latter Day Saints of Ghana
Apostolic Divine Church of GhanaAre members of those LDS groups Mormons? Latter Day Saints? Christians?
Do the folks in Salt Lake City have a problem with any of those groups, who believe in the restoration of the original church by Joseph Smith, calling themselves Mormons or Saints?
Most of these divisions in the Latter-Day Saint movement occurred over the issue of polygamy or succession of the Prophet. Sects broke off when Joseph Smith was still alive, and when Brigham Young was named prophet, because they didnt believe in the practice of plural marriage either publicly, or in some cases when it was practiced in private and denied in public.
Of course, there was the great split between Rocky Mountain Saints and Prairie Saints, when LDS members couldnt agree on a successor prophet to Smith, Jr., and the church went to Utah, Missouri, Illinois, Michigan, and Pennsylvania under Brigham Young, Sidney Rigdon (senior member of the First Presidency), James Strang, Lyman Wight, Alpheus Cutler, William Smith, David Whitmer (a BOM witness), or Joseph Smith III (son of Joseph Smith, Jr.). Almost all of these individuals still has multiple sects in existence that date to an 1844 decision about who should be the next President/Prophet of the church.
The Prairie Saints split into sects over the issue of whether Smith practiced polygamy. Rocky Mountain Saints had many, many spinoff sects after the 1890 Manifesto groups that still practice plural marriage.
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Thanks to ScoutMaster for all the hard work here!
ARTICLES OF INCORPORATION
of the
CORPORATION OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE CHURCH OF JESUS
CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
STATE OF UTAH
COUNTY OF SALT LAKE
I, the undersigned, having been duly chosen and appointed President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in conformity with the rites, regulations and discipline of said Church, being desirous of forming a corporation for the purpose of acquiring, holding and disposing of Church or religious society property, for the benefit of religion, for works of charity and for public worship, under and pursuant to the provisions of Chapter 3, Title 19, of the Compiled Laws of Utah, 1917, on "Churches and Religious Societies," and all acts amendatory thereof and supplementary thereto, for that purpose do hereby make and subscribe, in duplicate, the following
First: The name of this corporation shall be the CORPORATION OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS.
Second: The object of this corporation shall be to acquire, hold and dispose of such real and personal property as may be conveyed to or acquired by said corporation for the benefit of the members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a religious society, for the benefit of religion, for works of charity and for public worship. Such real and personal property may be situated, either within the State of Utah, or elsewhere, and this corporation shall have power, without any authority or authorization from the members of said Church or religious society, to grant, sell, convey, rent, mortgage, exchange, or otherwise dispose of any part or all of such property.
Third: The estimated value of the property of which I hold the legal title for the purpose aforesaid, at the time of making these Articles of Incorporation, is One Million, Five Hundred Thousand Dollars.
Fourth: The title of the person making these Articles of Incorporation is "PRESIDENT OF THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS."
Fifth: The corporation seal shall contain the words, "Corporation of the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints," and an impression thereof is hereto affixed.
[Seal] [Signed] Heber J. Grant
President of the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints.
STATE OF UTAH
SS:
COUNTY OF SALT LAKE
On this 26th day of November, 1923, before me, Arthur Winter, a Notary Public in and for said County, personally appeared HEBER J. GRANT, who is known to me to be the person whose name is subscribed to the foregoing instrument as President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and duly acknowledged to me that he executed the same as such President.
[Seal] [Signed] Arthur Winter
Notary Public
Residing at Salt Lake City, Utah.
My commission expires Dec. 1, 1923.
ARTICLES OF INCORPORATION
of the
CORPORATION OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE CHURCH OF JESUS
CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
STATE OF UTAH ss.
COUNTY OF SALT LAKE
HEBER J. GRANT, being first duly sworn, deposes and says:
That he is now and for more than twenty years last past has been the duly chosen and appointed President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and as such President has been since on or about the 26th day of November, 1923, and now is, the legally constituted Corporation of the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter=day Saints, a corporation sole; that under and pursuant to Section 18-7-5 R.S.U. 1933 he hereby amends Article "Fourth" of said Articles of Incorporation as now of record in the proper offices of this and other states, said article as amended to read as follows:
Fourth: The title of the person making these articles of incorporation is "President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints." He and his successor in office shall be deemed and are hereby created a body politic and corporation sole with perpetual succession, having all the powers and rights and authority in these articles specified or provided for by law. But in the event of death or resignation from office of the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or in the event of a vacancy in that office from any cause, the President or Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of said Church, or one of the members of said Quorum thereunto designated by that Quorum, shall, pending the installation of a successor President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, be the corporation sole under these articles, and the laws pursuant to which they are made, and shall be and is authorized in his official capacity to execute in the name of the corporation all documents or other writings necessary to the carrying on of its purposes, business and objects, and to do all things in the name of the corporation which the original signer of the articles of incorporation might do; it being the purpose of these articles that there shall be no failure in succession in the office of such corporation sole.
[Signed] Heber J. Grant
President of the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints,
corporation sole.
[Seal]
Subscribed and sworn to before me this 18 day of June, 1940.
[the name of Notary Public not shown on copy of amendment]
(Original in State of Utah Archives, Salt Lake City, Utah)
ARTICLES OF INCORPORATION
of the
CORPORATION OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE CHURCH OF JESUS
CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS.
A UTAH CORPORATION SOLE
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 16-7-5 of the Utah Code Annotated 1953 (as amended) relating to amendments of articles of incorporation of corporations sole, the CORPORATION OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS, a Utah Corporation Sole, does hereby amend its Articles of Incorporation by adding an additional Paragraph V thereto as follows:
Upon the winding up and dissolution of this corporation, after paying or adequately providing for the debts and obligations of the corporation, the remaining assets shall be distributed to a nonprofit fund, foundation or corporation, which is organized and operated exclusively for charitable, educational, or religious and/or scientific purposes and which has established its tax-exempt status under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the undersigned has caused these presents to be executed this 19th day of November, 1973.
CORPORATION OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE
CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY
SAINTS, a Utah Corporation Sole
By: [signed] Harold B. Lee
Harold B. Lee, Corporation Sole
STATE OF UTAH ) ss:
County of Salt Lake )
HAROLD B. LEE, being first duly sworn, deposes and says: That he is now and ever since July 7, 1972, has been the duly chosen and appointed President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and, as such president, is now and ever since said date has been the legally constituted CORPORATION OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS, a Utah Corporation Sole; that the original Articles of Incorporation of said Corporation Sole were executed by Heber J. Grant, President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints; that he, Harold B. Lee, is the successor in office to the said Heber J. Grant; that he, Harold B. Lee, executed the foregoing Articles of Amendment as said Corporation Sole.
[signed] Harold B. Lee
SUBSCRIBED AND SWORN to before me this 19th day of November, 1973.
[signed] Wilford W Kirton, Jr
NOTARY PUBLIC
Residing at Salt Lake City, Utah
My commission expires:
2-3-77
First: The name of this corporation shall be the CORPORATION OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS.
Second: The object of this corporation shall be to acquire, hold and dispose of such real and personal property as may be conveyed to or acquired by said corporation for the benefit of the members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a religious society, for the benefit of religion, for works of charity and for public worship. Such real and personal property may be situated, either within the State of Utah, or elsewhere, and this corporation shall have power, without any authority or authorization from the members of said Church or religious society, to grant, sell, convey, rent, mortgage, exchange, or otherwise dispose of any part or all of such property.
Third: The estimated value of the property of which I hold the legal title for the purpose aforesaid, at the time of making these Articles of Incorporation, is One Million, Five Hundred Thousand Dollars.
Fourth: The title of the person making these articles of incorporation is "President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints." He and his successor in office shall be deemed and are hereby created a body politic and corporation sole with perpetual succession, having all the powers and rights and authority in these articles specified or provided for by law. But in the event of death or resignation from office of the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or in the event of a vacancy in that office from any cause, the President or Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of said Church, or one of the members of said Quorum thereunto designated by that Quorum, shall, pending the installation of a successor President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, be the corporation sole under these articles, and the laws pursuant to which they are made, and shall be and is authorized in his official capacity to execute in the name of the corporation all documents or other writings necessary to the carrying on of its purposes, business and objects, and to do all things in the name of the corporation which the original signer of the articles of incorporation might do; it being the purpose of these articles that there shall be no failure in succession in the office of such corporation sole.
Fifth: Upon the winding up and dissolution of this corporation, after paying or adequately providing for the debts and obligations of the corporation, the remaining assets shall be distributed to a nonprofit fund, foundation or corporation, which is organized and operated exclusively for charitable, educational, or religious and/or scientific purposes and which has established its tex-exempt status under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
Sixth: The corporate seal shall contain the words, "Corporation of the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints," and an impression thereof is hereto affixed.
Since I CAN post to you...
Once again your proffered "proof text" - which most every modern cult invokes just as Mormonism does - fails to show that prophets are the transcendent standard for Truth and obedience, since besides this text having to do with events and not teaching doctrine, which other inspired men could provide, that God reveals things to prophets simply does not make them autocratic authorities, but as with the apostles, all Truth claims are subject to testing by the established word of God, the Scriptures, as has been shown you!
The book of Revelation wasn't added to the collection until 400 years after Christ.
So how does this dethrone Scripture as being the supreme transcendent standard? How both writings and men of God become established as being so is one thing, but once again, as is abundantly evidenced, 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.
. 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.
It is your rejection of Scripture as established by God which would be laughable if it were not so damnable, and which leaves even Mormonism without the foundation it attempts to build upon. Rather than self-proclaimed prophets being the standard, the NT church was based upon Scriptural substantiation in word and in power manifesting Truth, and apostles and prophets were tested and either established or exposed as fraudulent by examination of their claims with Scripture.
By the time of Christ there was a body of inspired writings which were held as being so, as evidenced by the many invocations of statement from them by the Lord and early church, so that an Apollos could "mightily convinced the Jews, and that publickly, shewing by the scriptures that Jesus was Christ." (Acts 18:28) Those who sat in the seat of Moses did not dispute that these writings were Scripture, they only disputed their meaning. Not only did the Lord and early church substantiate their Truth claims by Scripture Likewise it was s what real or purported prophets say that was subject to testing by the established word of God, and by which your "prophets" are manifest as being false, regardless of your avoidance of that painful but manifest fact.
As for the means of this establishment and "popularity contest," whether you or Rome like it or not, writings of God were discerned and established as being of God before there ever was a church which presumed that it was essential for this. Once writings were established as being of God and thus authoritative, any claims to be of God were subject to testing by them, and thus it was because NT writings were conflative and complementary to OT Scripture that they could become established as being of God.
To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them. (Isaiah 8:20)
And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me. Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures, (Luke 24:44-45)
And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures, (Acts 17:2)
These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so. (Acts 17:11)
While there was no prophet or council that had decreed that all the writings which the Lord and NT church appealed to for substantiation were Scripture, church councils could only reflect a general consensus, yet the enduring establishment of writings as being the word of God is not due to counciliar decree, but is essentially due to their unique enduring heavenly qualities and attestation, and by which all claims of Divine revelation are subject to. .
Your problem is that of a "latter-day" man claiming to be a prophet who claims to be a Biblical prophet, yet by which you know what Scripture is, versus knowing whether he is a Biblical prophet by examination of his teachings by Scripture, by which he is exposed as a false prophet and teacher.
Was it the inerrant arbiter of truth before it had all the books added?
It was indeed, as while further Divine revelation could be added, they could only do so as conflative and complementary, not contradictory as Mormonic doctrine critically is.
Was it the final word of God before the book of Romans was added? Or Corinthians?
No, not final, as further conflative and complementary Divine revelation was to be added. Your problem is that of a contradictory purported revelation, which problem you seek to rectify by making your "prophet" and church the autocratic authority on what Scripture consists of and means, like as Rome. But your demonic "prophets" are even further critically deviant.
I'm not criticizing the Bible, it is what it is, I am,
Then are indeed criticizing the Bible by demeaning this enduring written word of God as the supreme authority, which "is what it is." From rebuking the devil to reproving leaders to substantiating His Messiahship and mission, the Lord invoked Scripture as the supreme substantive standard.
however, criticizing the way you view it. People like yourself have turned it into a modern day golden calf.
Then you must lay this charge at the feet of the Holy Spirit and NT church itself, which also treated Scripture as the supreme transcendent substantive authority, which all Truth claims had to conflate with and not contradict, as Mormonism manifestly does, and excludes its presumption of autocratic authority.
2. Your belief fails under this very simple scrutiny.
2. Your belief certainly does fail under this very simple scrutiny in the light of Scripture. As show, the written word is God's manifest means of preservation, and as written, Scripture became the supreme substantive standard for Truth and obedience, by which Mormonism is exposed as a demonic deception.
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....Amos 3:7 is a warning from God of how to know if something is truly from Him.
What? Every false prophet like Smith can invoke this to validate himself/herself, yet contrary to your isolation eisegesis, in context the only "eternal law" here is that God will not intervene (such as in sending judgment) without revealing His intent to His prophets, and which simply does not validate every Tom, Dick and Joseph who claims to be a prophet. Instead, prophets are to be tested, as apostles were, and the standard for that is Scripture. Even in your own religion those "prophets" who claim to be teaching the words of Smith will be tested by the established Mormonic "scriptures, no matter how often they invoke Amos 3:7 to justify themselves.
But it is Mormonic faith in your church which is the Golden Calf, which cannot claim to be that of the NT, but again, it is exposed as fallacious in the light of Scripture.
May God grant you repentance unto the acknowledging of the Truth. (2Tim. 2:25
But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him. (2 Corinthians 11:3-4)
Just what IS this 'Inspired Version' we've heard about???
Leader and teacher of LDS youth has been one of his many jobs...
Are you as frustrated as Eliza when she hollered, "SHOW ME!!!"???
So here ya go: actual words from the 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.)
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Didja know that the JEWS managed to LOSE a whole lot of stuff at the end of Genesis??
As he knelt, a mysterious power overcame him, and he found himself unable to speak, and felt oppressed by gloom ; but just as he was despairing the oppression rolled away, and he " Saw a pillar of light descend from heaven and approach him. As the light fell upon him he saw two Personages, in the form of men, glorious beyond description, standing above him in the air. One of these, calling him by name, and motioning to the other figure, said, ' This is My beloved Son ; hear Him.' "
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