Well, let's see...haven't you gone to bat aplenty thru the years for the Mormon Church, 1010RD?
So tell us 1010RD:
(1) If Jesus had 12 apostles in Israel, as the Mormon Church portends...And then, as the Book of Mormon claims, he came to the Americas and set up another 12 apostles, doesn't that make (at least) two dozen apostles world-wide?
Why doesn't THEN the Mormon Church have two dozen "apostles" as part of their Apostles' Quorum?
While the Mormon Church attempts to "hearken" back to the Biblical Scriptures, if it was truly hearkening back to ALL that the Mormons claim as "Scripture," it would have at least 24 apostles, not 12. Maybe even 25 given Paul's addition. Yet it doesn't. It fails the "hearken" test.
Perhaps the Mormon apologists should stop this lying (or to give them the benefit of the doubt, they should stop bandying about false numbers as some sort of "proof" of its authenticity).
(2) And, hey, since we're on this sasme topic, we know the New Testament church had pastors (Eph. 4:11)...so where are the titled "pastors" in the LDS church if it indeed is a "restoration?"
The same Ephesians 4 section talks about titled "evangelists"? Where are the titled "evangelists" in the contemporary Mormon church if its a "restoration?"
We also know that Anna was a New Testament prophetess (Luke 2:36) and that Philip's daughters were also prophetesses in Acts 21:9. If the LDS Church is a restoration where are its titled prophetesses?
Guess we can agree that the Mormon Church flunks having "the same organization" as the New Testament church, right?
I'm happy to discuss anything in the Bible with you. I know your specialty and delight is Mormonism. Ironically, this is a Catholic thread on the Mother of God, Mary.
To the Bible-believing Christian, like myself, the Bible is clear on many points, where you haven't had pollution by the philosophies of men.
So to your point, what should the True Church of Jesus Chris look like.
First the context of the Epistles is that they are letters to believing saints. Letters of encouragement and correct because apostasy is the steady state of man. Have you ever heard or sung the Robert Robinson and John Wyeth's hymn hymn, Come Thou Font of Every Blessing?
Here's Sarah Noelle's version:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3w9nvXuVnk
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, Prone to leave the God I love; - Most apostasy occurs for 'good' human reasons. It's apostasy nonetheless.
So what do we read in the Bible in Ephesians starting at 4:11? Let's use the Weymouth translation:
And He Himself [Jesus Christ]appointed some to be Apostles, some to be Prophets, some to be evangelists, some to be pastors and teachers, for the perfecting of the saints, to the work of serving, to the building up of the body of Christ; till we all of us arrive at oneness in faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God, and at mature manhood and the stature of full-grown men in Christ.
The first thing you might notice is that Christ must appoint the officers/officials of his church. This is clearly emphasized in Hebrews 5:4
http://biblehub.com/hebrews/5-4.htm
No man can take this honor upon himself or have it granted by another man via a graduation certificate, etc. Authority matters to God.
Before we delve into what the Bible has to say about the offices, let’s first look at the purposes as stated in Ephesians.
For this Young’s Literal is especially edifying: unto the perfecting of the saints, for a work of ministration, for a building up of the body of the Christ,
http://biblehub.com/ephesians/4-12.htm
The three-fold mission of the Church is iterated clearly as:
1. Perfecting the Saints
2. Missionary work
3. Building up the body of Christ (which as you know, said Christ opened the Gates of Hades)
#2 “for a work of ministration is best understood by knowing the Greek diakonía ("ministry") specifically refers to Spirit-empowered service guided by faith. The “Spirit-empowered service guided by faith” must be the spreading of the Gospel. What more better service could one man do for another than to share the Good News?
What about the necessary offices of the True Church of Jesus Christ as named in the Bible?
They are named as:
1. Apostles
2. Prophets
3. Evangelists
4. pastors
5. teachers
6. deacons
Do they have special roles?
Apostles are special witnesses of Jesus Christ, particularly his resurrection. You’ll likely recall from the Book of Mark that the first lie told about Christ’s resurrection was that it was fake. The witness that Christ lives is a critical one.
Prophets perform the function as you’d expect as an astute reader of God’s Holy Word.
Evangelists prove a sticky wicket for some. The Greek can bring some clarification: euaggelistḗs (from euaggelízō, "evangelize") – properly, an "evangelist"; someone with a vocational calling from God to announce the good news of the Gospel (see Eph 4:11).
Note Bene the call must come from God, but what is this ‘good news’? God saves individually. There is no group Salvation by Christ. It is one to one. So an Evangelist would bring the good news of the Gospel to… you personally.
Pastor/Overseer/Bishop is a role that is self-explanatory in that they watch over groups of Christ’s flock. Teachers is self-explanatory and Deacons is an errand runner and another office that an Elder in Christ’s Church may hold.
As for prophetesses, I don't know much about that. The Bible is fairly silent on women's roles in the Church. Take a look at 1 Corinthians 11:4-5 where reference is given to both men and women prophesying.
4Every man who has something on his head while praying or prophesying disgraces his head. 5But every woman who has her head uncovered while praying or prophesying disgraces her head, for she is one and the same as the woman whose head is shaved.
http://biblehub.com/context/1_corinthians/11-4.htm
I suspect our modern understanding is flawed in this case. Prophesying means forthtelling which reveals the mind (message) of God in a particular situation.
As you can see from above it is closely conjoined with prayer and I suspect may be the natural outcome of that conversation with the Divine. In this case, the personal response of God to prayer for an individual, married couple, family, etc. as they go about trying to live godly lives in a wicked world. The world of the NT was extremely wicked.
Do women prophesy in your church?
What other Bible questions do you have? If none, go my son and sin no more.