John 14:6 Jesus said to him, I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Is that part of the Bible in the Mormon bible? Just wondering, I have not read the Book of Mormon (as told by Joseph Smith).
The Mormon Church has four standard works: the King James Version of the Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Pearl of Great Price, and Doctrine and Covenants. They are considered in inverse order of importance by the faithful (i.e. Doctrine and Covenants sits on top of the heap). In addition, the words of a profit such as Joseph Smith and Brigham Young are said to be more definitive than scripture ... and Joseph Smith made more than 4,000 changes to the Bible alone. Not surprisingly, there are hundreds of conflicts between them. That gives the church a lot of wriggle room to claim their teachings are pretty much anything.
Here's the bottom line: The Saints can pretty much make the Gospel say whatever they want, and they can (and will) change it at any time. Presently, they teach that the wife is resurrected by the husband, then both pass before Joseph Smith, before they are finally judged by Christ on the basis of their good works (as defined by the Mormon Church). Those deemed worthy by Joseph and Jesus will be given a planet upon which they will rule as a god and goddess for time and all eternity. Of course, none of this is compatible with Christianity in any manner whatsoever.
Yeah, my opinion (based on other things about Mormonism I have read) is that it is not really a Christian cult, like Jehovah’s Witnesses or snake-handlers. They are making a deity of a cartoonish version of Christ that never existed, instead of the one that did exist and preach and die and then rise. Seems like they make Joseph Smith a semi-deity, maybe like St. Peter at the Pearly Gates (which I don’t think is actual scriptural doctrine). They name their key guy Jesus, but it’s not the same guy.
Otherwise (and this might be a great idea), we could set up a tent in the desert and say that Mohammad appeared to us with the Angel Gabriel and told us that it was all wrong, and you can’t marry women when they are 6 and women can be equal and we should be friendly to Christians and Jews. Oh, and a good salted ham is just fine. We could call ourselves Muslims, but I think Muslims might not agree that we get to do that. They would just be more vocal about it than Christians are about Mormons.
I’ve read more believable science fiction.
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