And judging from the lack of Lds responses on this, even in 2007-2009 when Lds FReepers were more active "countering" posts...+ from what I saw on a Mormon discussion Web site...Lds have real problems among themselves with dealing with Matt. 16:18.
General authority quote after general authority quote assures the Lds grassroots that in the 21st century & beyond, God would ne'er dare lead the church astray and that they are on a fine course via their "prophet."
While they say that with 100% assurance, they somehow also conclude -- at least their leaders have with 100% assurance -- that Christ could somehow ne'er fair well in keeping the church from going astray.
* So their current "Captain Prophet" @ the helm, whoever that is at the time, is supposedly 100% dead-on and set for life...
* "Captain Moroni" Click here for Deseret Book 'Captain Moroni Action Figure' -- a real, well a real-fake name/character Smith made up for the Book of Alma in the Book of Mormon -- (not to be confused with the ghost-angel Moroni character in the Book of Mormon)...anyway, Captain Moroni could "compel" 4,000 to meet their maker in raising a "Title of Liberty" flag [yeah, I'm "sure" they had that swashbuckling, flag-hoisting 'Captains' back then...Tennessee Nana & Elsie, stop laughing...of course, the Hebrew South or Central Americans -- give or take several thousand miles -- had action figure prototypes titled "Captain" about 100 years before Christ's public ministry!!! You 'history' scoffers, you!]
* But "Captain Christ"??? No...Mormons concluded He couldn't even keep the ship afloat...and that 100% of the crew "mutinied" on Him. And the ship named "Christian" went down to Davy's locker, per 14 yo pimply-faced teen Joey Smith.
And Mormons, who conclude from the book of Moroni in the Book of Mormon, that 7 year-old, 364-day children can't sin, seem to conclude that...
...hey, if 7 yo can't go wrong...
...then we'll place our entire physical and spiritual eternal lives in the hands of what a 14 yo saw!!!
“For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us
to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: By which also he went and
preached unto the spirits in prison; Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering
of God waited in the days of Noah ...” (1 peter 3:18-20)
For for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged
according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit. (1 Peter 4:6)
It’s amazing that Jesus preached also to the spirits of the disobedient. Appearantly we can repent
and accept Jesus even after death. All is not lost for those who lived without Jesus in their lives.
But there is a problem; how can they be baptized? For Jesus said that
“He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
(Mark 16:16)
and
“... Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit,
he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” (John 3:5)
The solution to this problem is vicarious baptisms, where the living are baptized for the dead.
This was a common practice amoung the early saints. St. Paul tells us about it in the Bible.
“Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? why are
they then baptized for the dead? (1 Cor. 15:29)
We know this was a common practice because Paul didn’t have to justify it, but rather, he justified
the rising of the dead by the vicarious baptisms. Clearly, St. Paul and the Corinthians considered
the practice of baptisms for the dead to be a normal part of the Gospel, otherwise there would have
been no justification in St. Paul’s argument.
Where do we see this practice today? Which Christian church loves the dead enough to be baptized
for them? As far as I know, all of Christianity simply ignore the dead. All except The Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons).
And heard!
Ignorant farm boy?
“At about the age of twelve years my mind became Seriously imprest with regard to the all importent concerns for the wellfare of my immortal Soul which led me to Searching the Scriptures believing as I was taught, that they contained the word of God thus applying myself to them ... I discovered that [men] did not ... adorn their profession by a holy walk and Godly conversation agreeable to what I found contained in that sacred depository ... thus from the age of twelve years to fifteen I pondered many things ... and by Searching the Scriptures I found that mankind did not come unto the Lord but that they had apostatised from the true and liveing faith and there was no society or denomination that built upon the Gospel of Jesus Christ as recorded in the new testament.”
3(Joseph Smith, Jr., A History of the Life of Joseph Smith, Jr., Church Archives, Church of Jesus Christ of Later-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah, pp. 1-2. Transcription published in Dean C. Jessee, Early Accounts of the First Vision)
From the above quote we see that the young Joseph was contemplative, and had sufficient reading skills to seek the Scriptures for answers to spiritual and moral questions. A very revealing quote from Joseph’s mother in her biography of her son and his ancestors further corroborates the fact of Joseph’s biblical astuteness. She mentions a man that was attempting to bring about a union of the warring denominations in their area and remarks:
“This seemed about right to me, and I felt much inclined to join with them; in fact, the most of the family appeared quite disposed to unite with their numbers; but Joseph, from the first, utterly refused even to attend their meetings, saying, ‘Mother, I do not wish to prevent your going to meeting, or any of the rest of the family’s; or your joining any church you please; but, do not ask me to join them. I can take my Bible, and go into the woods, and learn more in two hours, than you can learn at meeting in two years, if you should go all the time.’”
(Lucy Smith, Biographical Sketches of Joseph Smith the Prophet and His Progenitors for Many Generations. Liverpool, England, 1853, pg. 90. Reprint of the Original 1853 edition.)
Even though he did spend most of his formative years in rural farming communities in New England, that does not mean that he was isolated from the religious and historical ideas of his time. Just from the quotes above, it is easy to see that Joseph was intimately involved in theological issues. These issues that were being debated in the various churches around the area was what supposedly drove Joseph to go to the grove to pray and see what church to join which ultimately produced his “first vision.” Oddly enough these were the same issues that are supposedly answered by revelation from God in the Book of Mormon.
1830 edition of the Book of Mormon with all but the most recent changes marked. This volume is available to any one who wishes to compare the modern editions of the BOM with the original.11
Space prohibits a detailed examination of the many changes, but I think it important to include a few of the more serious doctrinal and historical changes. I do so without comment to show that the above condition is totally in error. (Words in bold type are the added words.)
1 Nephi 11:18 — “Behold, the virgin which thou seest, is the mother of God, after the manner of the flesh” (1830 ed., pg. 25).
1 Nephi 11:18 — “Behold, the virgin whom thou seest is the mother of the Son of God, after the manner of the flesh” (1989 ed.).
This mistake was made and rectified in two other places:
1 Nephi 11:21 — “And the angel said to me, behold the Lamb of God, yea, even the Eternal Father!” (1830 ed., pg. 25).
1 Nephi 11:21 — “And the angel said to me: Behold the Lamb of God, yea, even the Son of the Eternal Father!” (1989 ed.).
1 Nephi 13:40 — “These last records ... shall make known to all kindreds, tongues and people, that the Lamb of God is the Eternal Father and the Savior” (1830 ed., pg. 32).
1 Nephi 13:40 — “These last records ... shall make known to all kindreds, tongues and people, that the Lamb of God is the Son of Eternal Father, and the Savior” (1989 ed.).
And in Mosiah 21:28 (1830 ed. pg. 200), we read about king Benjamin having a gift from God, but since BOM chronology actually has Benjamin dead at that time, it was later changed to king Mosiah having a gift from God.
Again, the changes are too numerous to list here. The facts demonstrate that this condition is not accurate.