No double speak Jeff...
Can we have celestial glory without the LDS church? If not that means Joseph Smith trumps Christ and Christ died and resurrected in vain.
The LDS DO in fact place their own worthiness (required) and works and Joseph Smith over Jesus Christ and no amount of word tweaking will change that. Mormons claim Christ and then stomp on Him.
Sorry Reaganaut, you are simply mistaken.
I have been in the Church for over 40 years, 43 to be exact. The Church does not place personal worthiness or Joseph Smith above Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ and Him crucified...ie. His Aotnement...is the only thing that can allow anyone to return to the presence of God. One cannot be “personally worthy,” without it, therfore it rises above all other considerations.
No double speak, no word tweaking, it’s just as simple as that.
All the rest comes from that simple and awe inspiring truth and act of love.
But you know this is what I have consistantly said and lived over the years...and I expect you will continue to try and refute it.
I thank God in Heaven that in the end, He and His Son will be the ultimate judge, and that they know my heart, and that of all their children. As He says, “God looketh on the heart.”
My Witness for Christ
http://www.freewebs.com/jeffhead/jlhwitness.htm
Have a great evening.
Can we have celestial glory without the LDS church? If not that means Joseph Smith trumps Christ and Christ died and resurrected in vain.
The LDS would say you cannot gain celestial glory outside of the LDS church, but that's because they believe that their church is the Church. The same way the Catholic Church believes it is the Mother Church and the one and only church, Lutherans, Baptists, etc. Would you really want to belong to the "We're Just Like Them, But Different Christian Church" aka Universalists or the "It's all Good Church"?
Everybody thinks they belong to the true church. Why would you knowingly belong to a false one?
The second part of your post doesn't follow from the first. That doesn't mean that Joseph Smith trumps Christ and Christ died and resurrected in vain. It simply means that you must do as Christ said, "keep the commandments." You'd say, that all you need is to believe in Jesus Christ as your personal savior. That's just as repugnant to those who believe in the Bible and Christ's call to do work in his name and keep the commandments.
Your hyperbole and lies kills your arguments and makes your conversion seem angry, not revelatory.