SMILE
Where do you get your authority? Our authority resides in the Great Commission of Matthew 28, which was prefaced by Jesus saying "ALL [not some] authority in heaven and earth has been given unto me, go and make disciples of all nations...baptizing them in the Name [notice it says Name--singular, not the LDS plural] of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit."
If your authority came from a line of living prophets, where did they get their authority? If it came from an LDS Jesus, where did he get his authority? If that came from Elohim, where did his authority come from? If that came from a previous god, where did his authority come from?
If Elohim's grand-god delegated authority, from where did that come from?
Run it as far back as you can, and you can find no Original, Ultimate god in LDS theology. There is no god from Eternity-Past. There is no Original, Ultimate Source or Author of Authority from which is triggered all other lines of authority. They were all created as mere mortals who ascended to godhood. Joseph Smith said matter was eternal. But apparently matter pre-dates any LDS god, who then in turn organized it.
Can you imagine a military with no ultimate chain-of-command where the buck stops?
Our Authority can only come from One who says, "Before Abraham was, I am." He is the Eternal "I Am" who has always been and who always will be. He is the One who created all things (John 1, Col. 1, Heb. 1). As Paul says in Colossians, nothing was made that hasn't been made by Him!
SMILE
Thank you for responding to that question. I couldn't have done such a fine job myself.
My commission is given to me directly from God, from his Holy Spirit that dwells within me. I don't need to talk to God face-to-face, His Spirit dwells within me. I don't need a proper Authority to tell me what God wants for me. It is in his Word, the Bible.
"Run it as far back as you can, and you can find no Original, Ultimate god in LDS theology. There is no god from Eternity-Past. There is no Original, Ultimate Source or Author of Authority from which is triggered all other lines of authority. They were all created as mere mortals who ascended to godhood. Joseph Smith said matter was eternal. But apparently matter pre-dates any LDS god, who then in turn organized it."
Excellent point. And in direct contradiction to both Dr. Nibley and early Mormon thinkers, the eternal pre-existence of matter, to say nothing of a multiplicity of gods, is a clearly Hellenistic concept. In fact, the early church councils were expressly formed to coutner Hellenistic influences in Christian theology. In claiming that Greek thought corrupted Christianity, early Mormons demonstrated ignorance of both theology and Greek thought by introducing polytheism and the pre-existence of matter.
An additional Hellenistic concept can be found in their concept of the Golden Thread which suggests that "the Good" exists apart from any being and all are subject to it. In Christian theology, the good is defined exclusively by the nature, actions and personality of God himself and does not exist apart from him.
>>Who asked you to do this? Is there a possibility you are mistaken?
>>How do you know its *your* job to protect the world from Mormons,
>>we are not so bad, you aren’t a bad person, and you used to be one of us.
>>Where do you get your authority? Our authority resides in the Great Commission
>>of Matthew 28, which was prefaced by Jesus saying "ALL [not some] authority in
>>heaven and earth has been given unto me, go and make disciples of all
>>nations...baptizing them in the Name [notice it says Name--singular, not the
>>LDS plural] of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit."
(BTW I really am enjoying this, you are fun to talk to)
So who exactly GAVE Christ this authority if he is the only God involved why not say I have all authority…
I notice Christ is talking to his disciples, not all the body of the church, this is an exclusive gathering of his apostles, people he CALLED and ANOINTED to this position.
BTW, I don’t see anything there that says “And never let a positive word about Mormons go unchallenged”
Maybe I am dense, so spell it out for me. When exactly did God ask you to debunk the Mormon religion for the entire world to see? If God didn’t ask you to, then who did?
Or is it possible that when you left our fellowship you still had a burr under your saddle, could it be you are not at peace and this is why you attack anything positive said about Mormons?
Colorfonian, I honestly believe you to BE a good person at heart. I believe you are doing this because you think it is the right thing to do. I also believe it is a canker on your soul. Christ never told anyone to destroy the faith of another (show me one scripture please)
>>If your authority came from a line of living prophets, where did they get their
>>authority? If it came from an LDS Jesus, where did he get his authority? If that came
>>from Elohim, where did his authority come from? If that came from a previous god,
>>where did his authority come from?
>> an LDS Jesus
There is only one Jesus Christ. You might claim we do not understand him, you may claim we are wrong about him, you might even claim we are going to hell for our misunderstandings. But to claim we are not talking about the same “Only Begotten of the father” is disingenuous and you know better.
Our claim of authority Direct from Jesus Christ without going through Peter is one of the things that makes us unique in the Christian world. God the Father Gave all authority to Jesus Christ as you so ably showed in Mathew 28. All authority over us began with him, he created us.
>>If Elohim's grand-god delegated authority, from where did that come from?
>>Run it as far back as you can, and you can find no Original, Ultimate god in LDS
>>theology. There is no god from Eternity-Past. There is no Original, Ultimate Source or
>>Author of Authority from which is triggered all other lines of authority. They were all
>>created as mere mortals who ascended to godhood. Joseph Smith said matter was
>>eternal. But apparently matter pre-dates any LDS god, who then in turn organized it.
>>Can you imagine a military with no ultimate chain-of-command where the buck stops?
Since Authority begins with the creator who cares where his genealogy goes? Did your dad have to get permission from Adam to spank you? This is a spurious argument at best, who’s only purpose is to muddy the waters with a Mormon belief that we are the literal son’s and Daughters of God. That this world is a type and a shadow of things to come and things which have happened. Jesus Christ’s very life is a blue print of our whole existence.
Consider this, Jesus during the Old Testament was pre-mortal being, during most of the New Testament was a mortal, and now, a resurrected, post-mortal being is a God. WOW what an example, how much clearer can it be?
COME ON! Ya gotta admit if we are indeed wrong, we did it with style!
>>Our Authority can only come from One who says, "Before Abraham was, I am." He is
>>the Eternal "I Am" who has always been and who always will be. He is the One who
>>created all things (John 1, Col. 1, Heb. 1). As Paul says in Colossians, nothing was
>>made that hasn't been made by Him!
Eternity, Yeesh So, If I am here before you are born, and will be here after you die with no change, am I not, to you, eternal? We speak of “Eternal Mountains”, Some Dream of “Eternal Youth”, still others seek “Limitless Wealth” What do we mere mortals know of eternities and absolutes? Everything is relative, to us God is “Eternal”.
So, back to my original question. “Who asked you to do this? Is there a possibility you are mistaken? How do you know its *your* job to protect the world from Mormons, we are not so bad, you aren’t a bad person, and you used to be one of us.”
I'm usually tolerant of moral religious beliefs of people who don't wish to kill me (that is, non-Muslims), but as a gnostic leaning Buddhist, such matter-worship makes me nauseous.
You only expect to see polytheistic matter-worship in cultures that produce "cargo cults" and voodoo.