CAUTION!! RELIGION BASHING THREAD!!
This thread does not praise God, it weakens faith.
Beware wolves in sheep's clothing.
Posted on 01/16/2014 5:19:52 AM PST by Colofornian
Since its beginning, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has proclaimed to the world...there was an apostasy of the church which had been founded by Jesus during his earthly ministry...This is a fundamental belief of the restored church. In fact, it is the apostasy of early Christianity which creates the very need for the restored Latter-day Saint faith: if there had not been an apostasy, there would have been no need for a restoration.2
Latter-day Saint theology asserts...the church of Jesus and his apostles came to an end...the doctrines which its inspired leaders taught were corrupted and changed by others not of similar inspiration (1 Nephi 13:26-27), the authority to act in God's name was taken from the earth, and the Christian systems that existed in the world after those developments did not enjoy divine endorsement. It was precisely the question of divine endorsement — in Joseph Smith's words, "which of all the sects was right" (Joseph Smith-History 1:18)...he was told to join none of them, "for they were all wrong," and all their creeds were "an abomination" in the sight of God (Joseph Smith-History 1:19)...
...The Book of Mormon prophet Nephi envisioned in the latter days following the Restoration only two churches: "the church of the Lamb of God" and "the church of the devil" (1 Nephi 14:10). Since whoever does not belong to "the church of the Lamb of God" belongs to "the church of the devil," as Nephi announced, then all systems of worship outside of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints would be classified as "the church of the devil" by Nephi's definition.9...
To suggest that fallen Christianity has Satan at its head in the place of God is certainly not to say that all that is in it is satanic...
(Excerpt) Read more at publications.maxwellinstitute.byu.edu ...
The very original source for this excerpt was: Kent P. Jackson in By Study and also by Faith Volume 1, eds. John M. Lundquist and Stephen D. Ricks (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1990).
Worth Noting:
1. Deseret Book Publishers IS owned by the Mormon Church itself.
2. FYI: This piece can also be found by an old Lds apologetics Web site:
3. The most controversial paragraph from this BYU Professor -- as published almost 25 years ago by the Mormon Church -- has been deleted in an abridged version found at the BYU Religious Education Religious Studies Center portion of its Website: See New Testament Prophecies of Apostasy
Here, the article pretty much starts off the same...but the following excerpt From the article was deleted in that abridged version:
So...this isn't the "PR" version of what the Mormon Church plays off often to the world...that :
The initial three paragraphs of this piece are as follows:
a. gift of indwelling Holy Spirit to be found NOWHERE outside of Mormonism;
b. It ALONE is the "one living & true church on the face of the earth" (Lds scripture D&C 1:30
c. "...all systems of worship outside of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints would be classified as 'the church of the devil'" (See "Watch and Remember": The New Testament and the Great Apostasy [Non-Lds worship 'church of...devil']
d. Marriages performed by priesthood (or ministry) outside of the Mormon church is "presumptuous and blasphemous" (See last book listed here by lds.org: The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, ed. by Edward L. Kimball. Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1982, page 494)
e. All baptisms and communion/Lord's Supper/Eucharist served outside of the Mormon church is both "presumptuous and blasphemous" (Lds "prophet" Spencer W. Kimball, the man who approved black priesthood in the Mormon church) and "will highly offend God" (Lds "apostle" Orson Pratt, the man who set the chapter-and-verse divisions in the 1879 Book of Mormon still in use today) [See: Last book listed here by lds.org: The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, ed. by Edward L. Kimball. Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1982, page 494 and Lds "apostle" Orson Pratt's The Seer, page 255, column 2 [Please note, Pratt had such authority in the Mormon church that Pratt's 1879 chapter and verse divisions in the Book of Mormon is what Mormons still use today]
e. No missionary work outside of Mormonism is recognized as divinely authorized
f. No spiritual gifts outside of Mormonism is recognized as divinely given Lds "apostle" Parley P. Pratt, Key to the Science of Theology, pp. 67-68
g. Although the apostle Paul wrote about prophetic gifts to the Corinthians (which is distinct from any official "OFFICE" of prophet as we find in the Old Testament), Mormonism claims no one but their top etchelon speaks prophetically any more as guided by the Holy Spirit. [Ironically, many Mormon apologists and writers have attempted to belittle Christianity for saying God doesn't reveal revelations any more; yet, these very advocates of Mormonism have "bottled up" God from speaking to anyone beyond a few who happen to live in Salt Lake City!]
Since 1952, the Lds church has sent out about a million missionaries...[Lds has boasted of over a million in its entire history; the largest swath have come in the last 60 years]. They work 70-hour weeks. That's a LOT of "apostasy" mongering...especially given the 80,000 Lds missionaries out & about daily.
And that doesn't include their 24/7 online accusations...
...their books published in who knows how many languages...
...their curricula...
...their published articles...
...their broadcasts...
Snapshot of Joseph Smith’s Slanderous Invectives vs. Christian Sects |
Mormon Source[Note: Most of these are Mormon ‘scriptures'. In fact, First three rows below are Lds 'scripture' & therefore cannot be rug-swept any more than a Jew might try to take three commandments off of the very tablets of stone Moses brought down from the mountain] |
| “...which of all the sects was right… must join NONE of them, for they were ALL WRONG… those professors were ALL CORRUPT…” | Joseph Smith – History vv. 18-19. – Lds "scripture" Pearl of Great Price |
| ...“which of all the sects was right…ALL their CREEDS were an ABOMINATION in his sight…they teach for doctrines the commandments of MEN…” | Joseph Smith – History vv. 18-19. – Lds "scripture" Pearl of Great Price |
| Mormon church the only ‘Christ-sanctioned’ church on earth: “…the foundation of this [Mormon] church…the ONLY true and living church on the face of the whole earth” [Obvious ‘scorched earth’ implication: All other churches are false and dead] | Lds “scripture” Doctrines & Covenants 1:30 |
| Direct question asked of Joseph Smith: 'Will everybody be damned, but Mormons?" Answer from Lds "prophet" Joseph Smith: 'Yes, and a great portion of them, unless they repent, and work righteousness." | Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 119 [Not “scripture” – but still publicly spoken by the Mormon ‘living prophet’ and published by a later Mormon ‘living prophet,’ Joseph Fielding Smith – via a publisher owned by the Mormon church – Deseret News Press, 1938] |
| “In 1952…the first official proselyting plan was sent to missionaries throughout the world…It included seven missionary discussions that emphasized…[four topics, one of them being]…THE APOSTASY and Restoration…” [This makes it 60 years that Mormon church missionaries, soon to number 85,000, have formally emphasized in its training & door to door saturation a priority in bashing the worldwide Christian church as “apostates” (100% AWOL)] | Our Heritage: A Brief History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints p. 116, 1996 |
“...the doctrines which its inspired leaders taught were corrupted and changed by others not of similar inspiration”
Well the article is spot on with that statement. Even a brief look into church history will reveal how Constantine and the Roman church made many revisions to the Messiahs message just 300 years after His ministry. And the corruption continues to this day. Do your own research and try to keep bias out of your conclusions.
Nobody likes you...... :-)
Well, sure it's easy to side with the Mormons if you blame Rome from the get-go.
The problem is that this writer -- and the Mormon church -- claims that the complete apostasy took place "not long after its formation" (meaning Jesus jumpstarting His Church).
(Elsewhere the Mormon church claims this occurred when the apostles had died -- so IoW, early in the 2nd century after John died)
The problem -- for your claim is -- that "The first bishop to claim primacy in writing was Pope Stephen I (254-257) Primacy of the Bishop of Rome
IoW, Rome didn't really "rule" with much of an authoritative hand -- other than Victor, bishop of Rome, attempting to end a controversy toward the end of the 2nd century.
So you blame Rome...but the Mormon church blames the church as well as those OTHER than the Rome-based leaders.
So...classic fail on your part history-wise -- to link up the two...
x
Then Smith goes on to sleep with married women and a 14 year old girl. Also creates the notion men can become gods and have spiritual babies with multiple wives.
CAUTION!! CULT EXPOSING THREAD!!
This thread does not praise CULTS, it EXPOSES THEIR LIES.
Beware MORMON wolves in sheep’s clothing.
All non-Catholic/Orthodox Christian churches teach this, do they not?
Does the constant spewing of bile ever get in the way of tasting things ?
Does the ugliness of your mind show up on your face, like "The Portrait Of Dorian Gray" ?
What other groups do you slander and hate as much as Mormons ?
I don’t understand how the LDS can go through the effort of reading the Bible, point out the warnings about false prophets and teachers but yet go on to promote Mormonism?
You’d think some of them might put two and two together? Connect the dots, etc... Maybe some of apostle’s warnings might have sunk in?!?
No. In fact, most don't.
Even those that broke away directly from Catholicism (like Lutheranism) tried to reform the church -- vs. restore it from ground zero.
In fact, the Lutheran church got its start because the Catholic leadership ex-communicated Luther!
Weakening the faith of those trapped in a psuedo-Christian cult like the Mormons is a GOOD thing. They are the wolves in sheeps clothing, not us.
A lot of it comes down to culture.
You trust your family. You trust your friends, your peers. You don't think they would either be led so far astray -- and worse, you don't they would lead others astray.
Beyond that, the Mormon church overwhelms its membership with activities, temple rituals, genealogical research, rotating two-year emergency preparedness resources, studies of four books they call "scriptures" -- three which compete with the Bible, and then there's annual curricula studies which reinforces it all along with the rest of their media
And often that's on top of raising families -- often larger families than what we see in the rest of America today.
I mean, Mormonism's legalism alone is a killer time-wise invested in people's lives:
Here's two ex-Mormons who point that out; disclaimer on the second one is that a lot of OTHER stuff he/she writes about is nothing I'd recommend:
* Mormon Rules: The List further explained (by former 5th generation Mormon - 'In My Other Life was a Mormon - Been There, Done That. Wore a White Shirt and Tie)
* Mormon411: The 101 Mormon Commandments (this Mormon has become an atheist)
Counterfeit Christianity tends to turn many away from anything "Christian" because they toss it all out.
Bottom line, Salt Lake City HQ in the Mormon church has been one of the biggest "Thou shalt" and "Thou shalt not" factories in existence.
But he ended up in mutiny instead, mostly because he called the pope "the Antichrist" in 1518 (obviously he was not in communion with the Pope at that point!) and was declared excommunicated in 1520 --- not so much a decree as a declaration of what had long been a fact.
Not that I want to re-argue the whole history of the wrongly-called Reformation, which was rather, a rebellion. Just like, if you leave your wife, that's not reconciliation, that's divorce.
The larger point is, all those who left the Church ended up claiming that the Church was apostate,though they don't all agree on when the Church went apostate. Some claim it happened before the death of Peter and Paul! They all agree ---- as far as I know --- that at some point, the Church failed.
Just Petered out, I guess.
Not so.
Luther never claimed, nor did the reformers, that 100% of the church apostatized.
The Scriptures never claim a 100% apostasy would take place. Jesus did ask at one point if -- when He returned -- would He find faith on the earth? (Luke 18:8)
Actually, a prophesy by the apostle Paul shows that God would be glorified in His church throughout all ages -- unto the end:
20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. (Eph. 3:20-21)
So even when unfaithful popes and other church leaders popped up (or should I say "poped up"?), God remained faithful and a remnant of the faithful remained on the scene.
To claim that the Roman Catholic church didn't need ongoing reformation through the centuries would prompt a need to duck history altogether.
It would be tantamount to claiming that the Israelites never needed reform...and such a person claiming that would entirely flunk the Old Testament...with HUNDREDS of OT verses (probably a few thousand, actually) devoted by God to accomplishing such needed reform!
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