The Biblical Jesus vs. the Book of Mormon Jesus

The Biblical Jesus vs. the Book of Mormon Jesus

(From a post on exmormon.org)

Special thanks to who ever posted this originally (sorry I forgot your name) and aknowledgement to Gordon Hinckley who said "we worship a different Christ".

LDS members believe that they are singularly blessed with a record of the earthly ministry of Jesus from his life in Palestine, his visit to the Spirit World, and his visit to the Americas. Yet, a chronological reading of the story of Jesus’ last week in Palestine to his ministry in the America, using LDS scripture, leaves one puzzled as to the very nature and character of Jesus.

I. Palestine

During the last days of Jesus’ life in Palestine, he entered triumphantly into Jerusalem, healed the sick, instituted the Holy Supper with the apostles, suffered greatly in Gethsemane, was judged and mocked, and then was crucified among common thieves.

In Palestine, Jesus is recorded as being meek and forgiving.

In Luke 22:32, Jesus tells Simon Peter that he is praying for Peter to be strengthened knowing that Peter will betray him three times before sunrise.

Also in Luke chapter 22, Jesus is told of going to Gethsemane and gently rebuking the disciples for following asleep during his personal agony and ordeal.

When Jesus leaves Gethsemane, one of the disciples uses a sword and cuts off the ear of the servant of the high priest. “And Jesus answered and said, ‘Suffer ye thus far.’ And he touched his ear, and healed him.” (Luke 22:51)

Jesus is ridiculed and spat upon. During the night, Peter, as forecasted, betrays Jesus three times. In response Jesus turns his head and looks at Peter, causing Peter to weep bitterly.

Herod, having heard of Jesus’ miracles, mocks him by allowing his men to dress Jesus in a robe before returning the prisoner to Pilate.

Pilate finding no wrong in Jesus, appealed to the crowd gathered who called for his crucifixion. During these acts of vulgarity and ridicule, Jesus is recorded as being passive and submissive.

On the cross at Golgotha, Jesus was placed between two thieves. During the dying process, Jesus is recorded as saying: “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.”

Upon hearing Jesus plead for forgiveness, the rulers around him scorned him: “He saved others; let him save himself, if he be Christ, the chosen of God.”

The rulers’ outburst caused the soldiers to add a final insult by placing a wooden placard on the cross above Jesus reading “THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.”

Even the two thieves asked Jesus why he didn’t use his supernatural powers to free himself. As a response, Jesus rebuked one’s disbelief, but then informed that they would be with him in paradise.

The New Testament stories demonstrate a person of quiet dignity, meekness and forgiveness.

II. The Spirit World

According to LDS scripture, immediately upon Jesus’ death, his spirit left his body and ascended to the Spirit World. Jesus begins to metamorphose.

While in Palestine, Jesus preached among the sinners and outcasts.

Yet Mormon prophet Joseph F. Smith saw Jesus’ recently departed spirit go “not in person among the wicked and the disobedient” but to the righteous, such as Adam, Eve, many of Eve’s faithful daughters (apparently names weren’t provided), Abel, Seth, Noah, Shem, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Elias, Malachi, and many more, even the prophets who dwelt among the Nephites. (D&C 138:29, 38-49).

After a visit back to Jerusalem, Jesus became resurrected meaning that his spirit reentered his body. He spent some time teaching his disciples.

III. The Americas

Meanwhile, in the Americas, a different stage has been set. Immediately upon the crucifixion of Jesus, tempests, earthquakes, fires, whirlwinds, and physical upheavals rage for three hours.

The Book of Mormon tells: The city of Zarahemla was set on fire; the city of Moroni sunk into the depths of the sea, and the inhabitants were drowned; the earth was carried up upon the city of Moronihah; and many great and notable cities were sunk, and many were burned, and many were shaken till the buildings thereof had fallen to the earth, and the inhabitants thereof were slain, and the places were left desolate; And there were some cities which remained; but the damage thereof was exceedingly great, and there were many in them who were slain.

The destruction was followed by darkness upon the face of the land and there was great mourning and howling and weeping among all the people.

(3 Nephi 8).

Who caused this massive destruction and death? The survivors would immediately know the culprit in the form a Voice.

The Voice chides America’ inhabitants proclaiming:

“Behold, that great city Zarahemla have I burned with fire, and the inhabitants thereof. And behold, that great city Moroni have I caused to be sunk in the depths of the sea, and the inhabitants thereof to be drowned. And behold, that great city Moronihah have I covered with earth, and the inhabitants thereof, “

“And behold, the city of Gilgal have I caused to be sunk, and the inhabitants thereof to be buried up in the depths of the earth:

And building momentum, the Voice continues:

“Yea, and the city of Onihah and the inhabitants thereof, and the city of Mocum and the inhabitants thereof, and the city of Jerusalem [the America city, not the one in Palestine, he left that one alone] and the inhabitants thereof.”

“And behold, the city of Gadiandi, and the city of Gadiomnah, and the city of Jacob, and the city of Gimgimno, all these have I caused to be sunk, and made hills and valleys in the places thereof; and the inhabitants thereof have I buried up in the depths of the earth.”

“And behold, that great city Jacobugath, which was inhabited by the people of king Jacob, have I caused to be burned with fire.”

“And behold, the city of Laman, and the city of Josh, and the city of Gad, and the city of Kishkumen, have I caused to be burned with fire”

(3 Nephi 9: 2-10)

After itemizing his destructions, the Voice tells the people the name of their Destroyer:

“Behold, I am Jesus Christ the Son of God.”

******************************************************************************************
Yes, that Jesus who only a short time earlier restored a severed ear, forgave the ignorant, the crucifers, and the non-believers - all of whom had witnessed or knew of his miracles while Jesus preached among them for some three years.

Jesus, the man who had spared those in Palestine who had personally rejected him, mocked him and crucified him, tells those in America:

(3 Nephi 19:35)

“‘So great faith have I never seen among all the Jews; wherefore I could not show unto them so great miracles, because of their unbelief.’”

The one you are positing here is as empty as your head seems to be

Aw...

Ain't you so kind!

The

DOCTRINE AND COVENANTS

OF THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS

SECTION 71

Revelation given to Joseph Smith the Prophet and Sidney Rigdon, at Hiram, Ohio, December 1, 1831. HC 1: 238–239. The Prophet had continued to translate the Bible with Sidney Rigdon as his scribe until this revelation was received, at which time it was temporarily laid aside so as to enable them to fulfill the instruction given herein. The brethren were to go forth to preach in order to allay the unfriendly feelings that had developed against the Church as a result of the publication of some newspaper articles by Ezra Booth, who had apostatized.

1–4, Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon are sent forth to proclaim the gospel; 5–11, Enemies of the saints shall be confounded.

1 Behold, thus saith the Lord unto you my servants Joseph Smith, Jun., and Sidney Rigdon, that the time has verily come that it is necessary and expedient in me that you should open your mouths in proclaiming my gospel, the things of the kingdom, expounding the mysteries thereof out of the scriptures, according to that portion of Spirit and power which shall be given unto you, even as I will.

2 Verily I say unto you, proclaim unto the world in the regions round about, and in the church also, for the space of a season, even until it shall be made known unto you.

3 Verily this is a mission for a season, which I give unto you.

4 Wherefore, labor ye in my vineyard. Call upon the inhabitants of the earth, and bear record, and prepare the way for the commandments and revelations which are to come.

5 Now, behold this is wisdom; whoso readeth, let him understand and receive also;

6 For unto him that receiveth it shall be given more abundantly, even power.

7 Wherefore, confound your enemies; call upon them to meet you both in public and in private; and inasmuch as ye are faithful their shame shall be made manifest.

8 Wherefore, let them bring forth their strong reasons against the Lord.

9 Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you—there is no weapon that is formed against you shall prosper;

10 And if any man lift his voice against you he shall be confounded in mine own due time.

11 Wherefore, keep my commandments; they are true and faithful. Even so. Amen.

I guess what distress me is to think that so many people have such ill will for such a kind group of people.

Several others have attempted this but let me try, too. You seem to have missed the point of the criticism here. It is not directed at the Mormon people. The criticism is directed at their system of beliefs, MormonISM.

I have many friends who are Mormon including several who work at BYU. They are all aware of my beliefs and my contempt for MormonISM. I would do anything for them except stop trying to convert them - my loyalty to my Lord, Jesus Christ and His true Gospel is greater than my loyalty to any friend.

Mormons always avoid these questions like a plague but I'll ask you as the spouse of a Mormon. Is it right for a Christian to hate Muslims? Is it right for a Christian to hate Islam? I'm sure you see the distinction here: a person, the Muslim, versus the system of belief, Islam. It is exactly the same distinction with MormonS and MormonISM. I'm certain that is why Mormons won't answer those questions - too easy to see where that is going and no one wants to be accused of hypocrisy. In their hearts, I'm sure that Mormons would answer those questions in the same fashion that a real Christian would (that is no, yes, respectively).

I still don't understand the Mormon bashing that I see here.

So you admit you don't know much history; eh?

Let me help a bit:

Joseph Smith continues: "for the teachers of religion of the different sects understood the same passages of scripture so differently as to destroy all confidence in settling the question by an appeal to the Bible" (from 1:12). "What is it that inspires professors of Christianity generally with a hope of salvation? It is that smooth, sophisticated influence of the devil, by which he deceives the whole world" (, p.270).

Questions put to Joseph Smith: "'Do you believe the Bible?' [Smith:]'If we do, we are the only people under heaven that does, for there are none of the religious sects of the day that do'. When asked 'Will everybody be damned, but Mormons'? [Smith replied] 'Yes, and a great portion of them, unless they repent, and work righteousness." (, p. 119).

Brigham Young stated this repeatedly: "When the light came to me I saw that all the so-called Christian world was grovelling in darkness" ( 5:73); "The Christian world, so-called, are heathens as to the knowledge of the salvation of God" ( 8:171); "With a regard to true theology, a more ignorant people never lived than the present so-called Christian world" ( 8:199); "And who is there that acknowledges [God's] hand? ...You may wander east, west, north, and south, and you cannot find it in any church or government on the earth, except the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" (, vol. 6, p.24); "Should you ask why we differ from other Christians, as they are called, it is simply because they are not Christians as the New Testament defines Christianity" ( 10:230).

Orson Pratt proclaimed: "Both Catholics and Protestants are nothing less than the 'whore of Babylon' whom the Lord denounces by the mouth of John the Revelator as having corrupted all the earth by their fornications and wickedness. Any person who shall be so corrupt as to receive a holy ordinance of the Gospel from the ministers of any of these apostate churches will be sent down to hell with them, unless they repent" (, p. 255).

Pratt also said: "This great apostasy commenced about the close of the first century of the Christian era, and it has been waxing worse and worse from then until now" (, vol.18, p.44) and: "But as there has been no Christian Church on the earth for a great many centuries past, until the present century, the people have lost sight of the pattern that God has given according to which the Christian Church should be established, and they have denominated a great variety of people Christian Churches, because they profess to be ...But there has been a long apostasy, during which the nations have been cursed with apostate churches in great abundance" (, 18:172).

President John Taylor stated: "Christianity...is a perfect pack of nonsense...the devil could not invent a better engine to spread his work than the Christianity of the nineteenth century." (, vol. 6, p.167); "Where shall we look for the true order or authority of God? It cannot be found in any nation of Christendom." (, 10:127).

James Talmage said: "A self-suggesting interpretation of history indicates that there has been a great departure from the way of salvation as laid down by the Savior, a universal apostasy from the Church of Christ". (, p.182).

President Joseph Fielding Smith said: "Doctrines were corrupted, authority lost, and a false order of religion took the place of the gospel of Jesus Christ, just as it had been the case in former dispensations, and the people were left in spiritual darkness." (, p.266). "For hundreds of years the world was wrapped in a veil of spiritual darkness, until there was not one fundamental truth belonging to the place of salvation ...Joseph Smith declared that in the year 1820 the Lord revealed to him that all the 'Christian' churches were in error, teaching for commandments the doctrines of men" (, vol. 3, p.282).

More recent statements by apostle Bruce McConkie are also very clear: "Apostasy was universal...And this darkness still prevails except among those who have come to a knowledge of the restored gospel" (, vol 3, p.265); "Thus the signs of the times include the prevailing apostate darkness in the sects of Christendom and in the religious world in general" (The Millennial Messiah, p.403); "a perverted Christianity holds sway among the so-called Christians of apostate Christendom" (, p.132); "virtually all the millions of apostate Christendom have abased themselves before the mythical throne of a mythical Christ whom they vainly suppose to be a spirit essence who is incorporeal uncreated, immaterial and three-in-one with the Father and Holy Spirit" (, p.269); "Gnosticism is one of the great pagan philosophies which antedated Christ and the Christian Era and which was later commingled with pure Christianity to form the apostate religion that has prevailed in the world since the early days of that era." (, p.316).

President George Q. Cannon said: "After the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was organized, there were only two churches upon the earth. They were known respectively as the Church of the Lamb of God and Babylon. The various organizations which are called churches throughout Christendom, though differing in their creeds and organizations, have one common origin. They all belong to Babylon" (Gospel Truth, p.324).

President Wilford Woodruff stated: "the Gospel of modern Christendom shuts up the Lord, and stops all communication with Him. I want nothing to do with such a Gospel, I would rather prefer the Gospel of the dark ages, so called" (, vol. 2, p.196).

ahahaha - Jesus taught in simple words - he didn’t need to tie them into pretzels to try to make them fit.

Now that coming from Mormon is as an ironic statement as I have ever heard.

But let us take you at face value...

Here are some words sans pretzelification...

(Ephesians 2:8-9) - "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast."

(Rom. 3:20, 28) - "because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin...For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law."

(Galatians 2:16) - "nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we may be justified by faith in Christ, and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law shall no flesh be justified."

(Romans 10:9, 10)If you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved "

The words are simple, so what do they say?

From that you can understand what is said in the Simple Words of James. Dead faith is no faith, therefore our works show that our faith is alive because such works derive form the spirit within, not from a need to be saved, for that has already been assured.

This is the simple point the LDS miss, or ignore depending on motivation...

A works based salvation is a mighty control tool.

Sadly for many unknowingly trapped by the LDS, freedom from such resides in the SIMPLE WORDS Jesus and his apostles spoke...

Salvation through grace, not works. If works played a role there would have been no need for Christ's sacrifice for we would be in the same position as before he came.

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