But anyway It helps illustrate my belief about the nature of the Godhead. The Son of Man is standing on the right hand of God.
Acts 7:55-60 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 fright• hand of God, 56 And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened•, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God. 57 Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord, 58 And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes• at a young• man’s feet, whose name was Saul. 59 And they stoned Stephen, calling• upon God•, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. 60 And he kneeled down, and cried• with a loud voice, Lord•, lay not this sin to their charge•. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
Similarly when Jesus is baptised he prays to His Father. We believe Jesus is literally praying to his Father.
Of course the Bible and Book of Mormon have numerous scriptures that say God and Jesus are one. A good one to explain what this oneness means is when Jesus offers the great intercessory prayer in John 17.
John 17:11,20-26 11 And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the aworld, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be bone, as we are. 20 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe• on me through their word; 21 That they all may be one•; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be cone• in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. 22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be aone•, even as we are bone•: 23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast bloved them, as thou hast loved me. 24 Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world. 25 O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me. 26 And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.
Through Jesus Christ his apostles could be one "as we are" we being he and God.
Now I understand that most Christians believe the Trinity differently. That is fine by me. But I think the this position is a legitimate one to also take. The Bible and Book of Mormon scriptures are good but it can still some down to what Joseph Smith saw as you cited. Did Joseph Smith see God and Jesus standing on His right hand or not? I beleive he did.
Sometimes non Mormons try to insinuate that because Jesus is literally seperate from God this diminishes his perfectness or "Godliness". In other words they try to say the Jesus Christ Mormons belive in is not Divine. This misrepresents my Faith. Jesus is the Son of God, the Savior the Messiah who is perfect. He is literally Perfect. Jesus in being the only begotten of God in no way dimishes God or the omnipotence of God nor the mission of the perfect Messiah.
My doctrinal understanding of the Nature of God and Jesus' realtionship is based on faith that they appeared to Joseph Smith.
Joseph Smith himself did not understand the distinction until they appeared to him. His family was familiar with the "typical" Christian teachings of the 1800's about the Trinity. Yet he could not deny what he saw.
So either Jospeh Smith is a liar or a prophet (or somewhere in between, I suppose). I beleive he is a true prophet. I respect your belief if you feel differently about the matter.
You posted a passage from John chapter 17, but the wording is ever so slightly confusing via the added 'study version' 'a,b,c' notations not clearly demarked, creating the mistaken notion that God the Father is 'bone' to substantiate the Smith 'vision' your religious cult propagates, namely that God the Father is a separate man of bone and flesh from Jesus: John 17:11,20-26 11 And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the aworld, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be bone, as we are. 20 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe• on me through their word; 21 That they all may be one•; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be cone• in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. 22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be aone•, even as we are bone•
Here is the 'unambiguous' passage, from the NIV:
JN 17:6 "I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. 7 Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. 8 For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. 9 I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. 10 All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. 11 I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name--the name you gave me--so that they may be one as we are one. 12 While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.
JN 17:13 "I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. 14 I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. 15 My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. 17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. 19 For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified. JN 17:20 "My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: 23 I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
Jesus stand on/to the right of God in Stephen's vision. Does Stephen say that God The Father is an image of an elderly man whom Jesus stands next to? No, but that is how Joseph tried to describe his 'vision' of Jesus and God The Father Almighty. You assert, "But anyway It helps illustrate my belief about the nature of the Godhead. The Son of Man is standing on the right hand of God." And in so doing you imply that 'on the right hand' is somehow a physical hand of God The Father Almighty that Jesus stands beside, when the clearer meaning attached to the word 'hand' is that of direction not substance, as in 'to the right side of'.
In post #221, you offer: "The Book of Mormon porphets who wrote the Book of Mormon claimed to have the writings of the prophets up until the time of Isaiah. They had the creation story and copies of the scriptures." You would do well to take a look at a time line for when certain of the OT books are believed to have been written and then compare that timeline to the assumed timing of the people described in the BoM. Also, you might want to explain how it is that when Smith wore the two stones -to translate the BoM from golden plates- which were to give him 'perfect wisdom', his translations came through into English in the words of the King James Bible, complete with 100+ erroneous words that had opposite meaning by his day than they had in the time of King James. I'm really going to enjoy the twists you put on that one!
And one last word: the thing Mitt was trying to avoid in his interviews was getting into an exchange regarding the doctrinal aspects of Mormonism, perhaps because he too recognizes the destructive effect of revealing the cultish nature of many Mormon views/beliefs. So if you want to help Mitt get the Republican nomination, you might do well to stay out of discussions like these until he's elected because the blasphemous nature of the cult comes through all too clearly when you obfuscate the truth about Mormonism. And so long as we are able to do so, there are many at FR who will challenge your posts, to reveal the contradictions and obfuscations of your cult beliefs. [Don't steal away to Kolob, but try to stay out of revealing discussions on world-wide internet sites.]