Posted on 03/10/2012 5:31:08 PM PST by delacoert
Often, when Mormons are presented with statements from their leaders that could cause some difficulty for them, many will respond by saying something like "Oh, that's just his opinion. Its not the official view of the Mormon Church." Often, when Mormons talk about official doctrines of the Church they usually mean the Standard Works: The Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrines and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price.
Although many Mormons do not view other LDS writings as official Scripture (for example, The Seer or The Journal of Discourses), it should be remembered that many of these writings consist of the words of very prominent leaders in the Mormon Church. As such individuals commanded great respect they were certainly influential over the rank and file. Their statements must have carried some weight. Mormon leaders in prominent positions, like Brigham Young, Orson Pratt, and Bruce R. McConkie, influenced those who looked to them for leadership. The words of these early LDS leaders did not just go out into a vacuum, they went the hearts and minds of the Mormon people and were incorporated into their beliefs.
It would also seem that many Mormon leaders have tended to view their words as carrying a great deal of weight. For example, regarding the sermons of Brigham Young in the Journal of Discourses it is interesting to look at some of Young's words himself as to how he viewed what was contained in the Discourses:
Even though it is fashionable for today's Mormons to say that they will not accept statements which are not officially classed as revelation, or Scripture, I came across the following quote of a BYU professor which I thought was interesting regarding this very issue:
Related to the above observations from the BYU professor, it can be pointed out that there are some doctrines of Mormonism that are simply not found in the official Standard Works. The LDS doctrine of their being a "Mother in Heaven" is one example. Nowhere is this doctrine found in any of the official Standard Works of the Church. However, such a doctrine is vital in the Mormon concept of eternal progression. If God was not married to His wife in Mormonism then He could never have become God in the first place.
Some Mormons will object that unless a statement by an LDS Church leader opens with the statement "Thus saith the Lord", then it can be set aside as the mere opinion of the speaker. However, not everyone would agree with this. In 1980 prominent Mormon leaders gave a speech which contained the following words:
Furthermore, the popular, and widely distributed, LDS Church manual Gospel Principles clearly states that the inspired words of the living prophet are supposed to be accepted as scripture by Latter-day Saints. (Gospel Principles, p. 55).
Another objection that some members of the Mormon Church may bring against the words of past LDS leaders is that it was all in the past and that the Church has moved on since then. But the problem with this view is that the entire existence of the Mormon Church is based on the historical events that it appeared in in the early 19th century. Also, modern officially endorsed Mormon publications such as the books in the series entitled:Teachings of the Presidents of the Church, contain prolific quotes from early Mormon publications. So past LDS leaders are still influencing modern Mormons even though the quotes that are given are given selectively.
The conclusion of all this is that it is too easy for Mormons to brush aside something uncomfortable that they might hear from a Mormon leader as "just his opinion", but the truth is that the words of these leaders do carry great weight and influence over the rank and file. In addition to this, as the quotations in this brief article demonstrate, there are Mormon leaders who feel that writings and speeches by Mormon leaders are authoritative even though they may not be contained in the Standard Works.
Islam is doing that as we speak. Christians are being persecuted in some Islamic countries, their churches are being burned.
You are incorrect. I am neither LDS neither I work for Romney. If you bother to follow my previous posts, you will learn that my preference is for Newt.
My opinion of Christ is that he was one of the kindest, purest holy man to walk this earth. He preached love and tolerance of others. A great man indeed.
Doncha know Mormons and Muslims are in cahoots, especially since they both start with the letter M. Coincidence? I think not.
Plus, if Romney becomes President there is a secret plan to force the entire Executive Branch to convert to Mormonism and wear Magic Underwear? And Romney will be riding a White Horse, forcing all black people to not be Mormons because he wants it to be pre-1978 all over again?
Incoming Spam soon !!
some PRESENT day Mormon leaders saying Joseph Smith or the Sword.
I would be interested in learning who is saying that in 2012.
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Every time they “go through the temple”
Every time they sing “praise to the man”
Every time they claim the book of mormon is true
Every time they dead dunk my Christian ancestors
Every time they send out their teenage salesmen to knock on my door
Every time Mormon bishop and high priest Willard Mitt Romney says “I believe in the father of my fathers”
etc
What Mormons did in 1838 does not resemble to me what is happening in 2012.
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about 1838 Joey Smith started his bank scam and cheated many people out of their life savings..
He called it the Kirtland Safety Society Bank and he conned his followers into investing in a fraud claiming that it was the will of the mormon gods...
Today Mormons are still cheating other Mormons of millions of dollars...
Utah has the most scams of any state in the country..
BTW Joey Smith was charged and fined $1000 a lot of money in 1838
he never paid it but just ran off with the booty..
A big reason he moved from Ohio...
Islam is doing that as we speak. Christians are being persecuted in some Islamic countries, their churches are being burned.
Uh; your answer does NOT fit the question.
Matthew 15:16
"Are you still so dull?" Jesus asked them.
Matthew 231. Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples:
2. "The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat.
3. So you must obey them and do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach.
4. They tie up heavy loads and put them on men's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.
5. "Everything they do is done for men to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long;
6. they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues;
7. they love to be greeted in the marketplaces and to have men call them `Rabbi.'
8. "But you are not to be called `Rabbi,' for you have only one Master and you are all brothers.
9. And do not call anyone on earth `father,' for you have one Father, and he is in heaven.
10. Nor are you to be called `teacher,' for you have one Teacher, the Christ.
11. The greatest among you will be your servant.
12. For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
13. "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men's faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.
14. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation.
15. "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are.
16. "Woe to you, blind guides! You say, `If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.'
17. You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred?
18. You also say, `If anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gift on it, he is bound by his oath.'
19. You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred?
20. Therefore, he who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it.
21. And he who swears by the temple swears by it and by the one who dwells in it.
22. And he who swears by heaven swears by God's throne and by the one who sits on it.
23. "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices--mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law--justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.
24. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.
25. "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.
26. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.
27. "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean.
28. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.
29. "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous.
30. And you say, `If we had lived in the days of our forefathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.'
31. So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets.
32. Fill up, then, the measure of the sin of your forefathers!
33. "You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell?
34. Therefore I am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town.
35. And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.
36. I tell you the truth, all this will come upon this generation.
37. "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing.
38. Look, your house is left to you desolate.
39. For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, `Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.' "
Mark 7:26-27
26. The woman was a Greek, born in Syrian Phoenicia. She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter.
27. "First let the children eat all they want," he told her, "for it is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to their dogs."
Was He the Son of GOD?
OK...
Don’t you and your fellow anti-MORMONs have some unicorns to count?
Say the secret word and the duck will descend...
My opinion of Christ is that he was one of the kindest, purest holy man to walk this earth. He preached love and tolerance of others. A great man indeed.
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Just as Islam and Mormonism teaches about Him...
Now, in Christianity its quite different..
In the Christian Bible He is God...
He always was God...
He started out as God
He always will be God...
He left Heaven and came to Earth to die and save us because He loved us..
He can down from Heaven and was born of a Virgin (meaning she never had sex with man nor mormon god)
He grew up to manhood as worked as a carpenter...
When He was about 30 He was baptised in the River Jorden by His cousin John...
at that time the Holy Spirit of God went into His Spirit and drove Him to go to the desert..
He fasted and prayed for 30 days in the desert...
He was tempted by the devil three times but rebuked the devil each time..
He returned from the desert and began to teach, preach and heal and drive devils out of the afflicted..
He did miracles never seen before and knew the heart of each man and woman..
He got angry at the money changers and made a whip and drove them out of the temple...
He got angry at the Pharisses and Saducces and told them off..
He told them He was God but they refused to believe Him...
He got angry when the Sanhedrin said He was just a man who walked this Earth..
He was intolerant of those who blasphemed God..
He said He would build a church that would never be destroyed,
He said those who believed Him would be part of His church and be saved and go to Heaven to be with Him
and those that did not believe Him would be damned and go to Hell..
He called the church His Bride...
He said that He would return for Her when she was spotless
He shed his Blood on the Cross and He died there..
At the moment He died dead people in their graves came back to life and walked around ..
He rose again from the dead on the 3rd day...
For 40 days He walked around Israel teaching HisHis disciples and reassuring them..
He left one day for Heaven and His disciples watched Him go up into the sky
He will return to gather His own to Him to take us into Heaven to be with Him forever..
Now tell me Enty ..
Have you ever met Him ???
What Mormons did in 1838 does not resemble to me what is happening in 2012.
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Yeah the toilets were a whole lot different back then...
PING to my FReeper Friend ..
;)
Jesus also claimed to be divine and equal to God, the Father.
How do you interpretet his claims? The only logical options are that Jesus was either delusional, deliberately misleading, or was actually God in the flesh.
If he was either of the first two options, then he couldn’t have been pure or holy. In order to believe that Jesus is pure and holy, you must also accept his own statements concerning his deity.
You will find this powerful on your behalf ...
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