~”But God has said (are you listening ?) that the gospel shall never change from that which was received by the New Testament christians ...”~
True, and it never has.
Too bad that Christians themselves changed, isn’t it?
~”If Joseph SMith had come along and preached that same gospel (as it is presented in the New Testament documents) ... there would be no problem.”~
There’s the rub. Christianity has been corrupted over the generations through a combination of greed, priestcraft, evil, introduction of pagan elements, and well-meaning but misguided men. Just the fact that there is a schism between Catholicism and Protestantism proves this - they can’t both be right, and are more likely both wrong.
Fortunately, God still loves His children. Smith provided Him a clean slate with which to work, and the Gospel - as it had been taught by Christ - was restored. I thank God for that. Otherwise, I’d be as lost and aimless as most of the rest of Christianity.
~”But God has said (are you listening ?) that the gospel shall never change from that which was received by the New Testament christians ...”~
True, and it never has.
Too bad that Christians themselves changed, isn’t it?
~”If Joseph SMith had come along and preached that same gospel (as it is presented in the New Testament documents) ... there would be no problem.”~
There’s the rub. Christianity has been corrupted over the generations through a combination of greed, priestcraft, evil, introduction of pagan elements, and well-meaning but misguided men. Just the fact that there is a schism between Catholicism and Protestantism proves this - they can’t both be right, and are more likely both wrong.
Fortunately, God still loves His children. Smith provided Him a clean slate with which to work, and the Gospel - as it had been taught by Christ - was restored. I thank God for that. Otherwise, I’d be as lost and aimless as most of the rest of Christianity.
So ... Mormons claim that mainstream Christianity has diverged from the gospel of Christ ... while Christians claim that Mormonism is a divergence from the gospel of Christ.
So who's right ?
The most honest thing, then, to do ... is to examine the beliefs of each of the groups ... against the gospel documents available to the church at the time of the New Testament Church ... and to see whi's beliefs are rightly aligned with those writings.
If I were a Mormon, I would particularly be interested in the origin of the Temple oaths ... as, in the New Testament document of Matthew, Jesus says ...Matthew 5:33 Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths:
34 But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne:
35 Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King.
36 Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black.
37 But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.