OK, let’s review the facts. I will simply ignore any opinion posted so far because its value is zero.
We’ve established the following:
1. The Bible is our source of truth(commonly accepted)
2. God speaks to men by the use of prophets (ref: Amos 3:7)
3. Stephen is a true prophet (commonly accepted)
4. Stephen was martyred by those ignorant of #3 (commonly accepted)
The most interesting thing about the martyrdom of Stephen is his dying vision Acts 7:54-59:
“54When they heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him. 55But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56”Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”
57At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, 58dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul.
59While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep.”
NB: These verses are an absolute proof of Joseph Smith’s First Vision.
They confirm that Jesus is separate from God (Heavenly Father), but has the capacity of God to receive souls/spirits to himself.
Also, Christ has two titles: Lord and Son of Man.
MORMONs = The Bible is our NOT our ONLY source of truth
Also, Christ has two titles: Lord and Son of Man.
_______________________________________________
Kid if you ever read the Biblke you will find that the LORD Jesus Christ has dozens odf “titles”
Meanwhile little grasshopper, heres a few for ya...
Jesus is God,
The Everlasting Father
Prince of Peace
Only Begotten Son of God
Savior
Healer
Deliverer
Master
Redeemer
Immanuel
Wonderful Counselor
The Alpha and the Omega
The Beginning and the End
The I Am
Love
The Way
The Truth
The Life
Creator
The Lamb of God
The Word of God
All Powerful
Faithful and True
Worthy
The LORD of lords
The KING of kings
The Good Shepherd
The Gate
The Door of the Sheepfold
The Light of thge World
The Bread of Life
Our Mediator
Our Advocate
Our Maker
The Bright and Morning Star
Particularly yours.
We’ve established the following:
Well, lets see about this.
1. The Bible is our source of truth(commonly accepted)
Depends upon your flavor 10, but for the purposes of your little chalk talk it is adequate for the moment.
2. God speaks to men by the use of prophets (ref: Amos 3:7)
Incomplete 10 - you've already violated #1 above. God speaks to us through the Bible (2 Timothy 3:16-17). 2 Peter 1:3 declares, “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him who called us by his own glory and goodness.” Individually, through the Holy Spirit and the Word, and events to occur in our lives to direct us, change us, and help us to grow spiritually (James 1:2-5; Hebrews 12:5-11; First Peter 1:6-7 )
But lets delve deeper into Amos shall we. Contexturally, Amos was speaking of the OT era, yet because of Jesus those conditions changed as described in Hebrews 1:1-2 “God, who at sundry times and divers manners spake in times past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken to us by his Son…” that through Jesus we have all the revelation we need.
But for grins and giggles, lets ignore Hebrews and say "ok, we need living prophets", then we should apply the test that the Bible has given us to discern who a true prophet is - Deuteronomy 18:20-22 makes the test very clear and concise - God's standard is 100% accuracy in the outcome of his prophecies.
3. Stephen is a true prophet (commonly accepted)
Stephen's gifting was as a deacon and evangelist. That which could be considered prophetic was the vision in Acts 7:55.
4. Stephen was martyred by those ignorant of #3 (commonly accepted)
Stephen was martyred on the charge of blasphemy (Acts 6:11 and 7:57. He was not martyred on the charge of being a false prophet. Further, it is argueable that his murders were 'ignorant' of the prophetic nature of his vision, nor the truthfulness of his orthodoxic presentation of the Jewish faith history.
They confirm that Jesus is separate from God (Heavenly Father), but has the capacity of God to receive souls/spirits to himself.
Ah, yes, the failed attempt to use this as a proof text of smith's first vision and mormon polytheism. For starters, what does the scripture actually say?
Act 7:55 But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God,
He saw the "glory" and Jesus standing on the "dexios" of that Glory. Also, not suprisingly, is the literal nature that mormons want to interpret this passage, while ignoring the contextural construct and usage of the phrase. Was Jesus actually standing on God's "hand"? No, so the passage cannot be taken literally in the manner they want. Rather "dexios" refers to a metaphoric / symbology of Jesus' position of honour or authority.
NB: These verses are an absolute proof of Joseph Smith’s First Vision.
They confirm that Jesus is separate from God (Heavenly Father), but has the capacity of God to receive souls/spirits to himself.
Folks, this is a leap of logic that even Evil Knevil would avoid making. But it appears you are citing someone else by the NB:, care to enlighten us your source? For starters, which VERSION of the first vision would one want to refer too - there are at least 9 by smith and on this point alone smith's accounts are very contradictory
In Smith's 1827 account, he states that a "spirit" appeared to him
IN his 1830 testimony to Bauder, smith states that an "angel" first appeared to him
In his 1832 account from his journal he states that only Jesus visited him - when he was 15 years old.
Inthe 1834-35 Messenger and Advocate, smith testifies about his first vision by saying that he was visited by an angel when 17.
In 1835-36, an account, found in smith's diary and given to a Jewish minister, smith states that an unidentified silent 'personage' infire appeared then a second unidentified personage appeared and said that Jesus was the Son of God, but neither is identified as Jesus.
In the 1838 (now official version), we have separate God and Jesus (by implication) appearing.
In 1844 — Account in An Original History of the Religious Denominations at Present Existing in the United States, smith fails to identify the 'personages' as God and Jesus
Now, this only deals with details about WHO or WHAT smith had claimed to have visited him. This then begs the question - WHICH version of the vision is "true" to begin with? If one were to examine these other testimonies of smith in greater detail, one will find more confusion and contradiction - key elements over the years. He changed:
The date / his age - from 1823 (age 16), to 1821 (age 15), to 1820 (age 14)
The reason or motive for seeking divine help - from no motive (a spirit appears with the news of gold plates), Bible reading and conviction of sins, a revival, a desire to know if God exists.
Who appears to him - a spirit, an angel, two angels, Jesus, many angels, the Father and the Son.
Thus Stephens vision in Acts does not prove smith's alledged 'vision' to be true at all - since it is apparent from smith's own inconsistent testimony that he made the whole thing up to begin with.
Also, Christ has two titles: Lord and Son of Man.
It may be humorous to see you stumble through your explanation of this
I thought I was going to be schooled here - guess I should have hoped for someone who knew what they were talking about. And we haven't even really touched the fact that smith grossly failed the Deut 18 standard for prophets not once, not twice, but every time.