967 lines
45 KiB
Plaintext
967 lines
45 KiB
Plaintext
God: Mormonism vs. Christianity
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This file is designed to show the comparisons and contrasts existing
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between the teachings of the person of God as defined in the Bible and in
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the teachings put forth by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day
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Saints or Mormons (hereafter referred to as 'LDS'). The differences
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between the two are quite startling although the LDS purport to teach the
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same doctrines the Bible does. I'll let you, the reader, judge the
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accuracy of those claims. Note that in scriptural references where a
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person is speaking (thus saith, I said, he said, etc.), I have put the
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words in single quotes (') for the sake of CLARITY ONLY. They do not
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appear in the texts used. Also, this is not a complete and exhaustive
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study as there are so many related branches to the Biblical study of God
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that things would only get confusing. Therefore, I have limited myself
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to just the main doctrines of God as the LDS and the Bible teach them.
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LDS Teachings: Joseph Smith, Jr.
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The roots of the LDS doctrines lie in their founding prophet Joseph
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Smith, Jr. to whom the LDS hold a deep loyalty. Here are some of the
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proclamations put forth by their "prophet":
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"First, God himself, who sits enthroned in yonder heavens, is a
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man like unto one of yourselves, that is the great secret.... I
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am going to tell you how God came to be God. We have imagined
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that God was God from all eternity.... God himself; the Father of
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us all dwelt on an earth the same as Jesus Christ himself did,...
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You all have got to learn how to be Gods yourselves;... No man
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can learn you more than what I have told you."
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"Times and Seasons"
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Vol. 5, pp. 613-614
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"God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man, and
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sits enthroned in yonder heavens!... I am going to tell you how
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God came to be God. We have imagined and supposed that God was
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God from all eternity. I will refute that idea, and take away the
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veil, so that you may see.... It is the first principle of the
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gospel to know for a certainty the character of God, and to know
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that we may converse with him as one man converses with another,
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and that He was once a man like us; yea, that God himself, the
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Father of us all, dwelt on an earth, the same as Jesus Christ
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himself did; and I will show it from the Bible....
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"Here, then, is eternal life to know the only wise and true God,
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the same as all gods have done before you, namely, by going from
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one small degree to another, and from a small capacity to a great
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one; from grace to grace, from exaltation to exaltation, until
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you attain to the resurrection of the dead, and are able to dwell
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in everlasting burnings, and to sit in glory, as do those who sit
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enthroned in everlasting power...."
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Joseph Smith, Jr.,
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"History of the Church"
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Vol.6, pp.305-306
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"I will preach on the plurality of Gods. I have selected this
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text for that express purpose. I wish to declare I have always
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and in all congregations when I have preached on the subject of
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the Deity, it has been the plurality of Gods. It has been
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preached by the Elders for fifteen years.
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"I have always declared God to be a distinct personage, Jesus
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Christ a separate and distinct personage from God the Father, and
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that the Holy Ghost was a distinct personage and a Spirit: and
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these three constitute three distinct personages and three Gods.
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If this is in accordance with the New Testament, lo and behold!
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we have three Gods anyhow, and they are plural: and who can
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contradict it?"
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Joseph Smith, Jr.,
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"History of the Church"
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Vol.6, p.474
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"The head God organized the heavens and the earth. I defy all
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the world to refute me. In the beginning the heads of the Gods
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organized the heavens and the earth....
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"The heads of the Gods appointed one God for us; and when you
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take [that] view on the subject, it sets one free to see all the
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beauty, holiness and perfection of all the Gods. All I want is
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to get the simple, naked truth, and the whole truth.
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"Many men say that there is only one God; the Father, the Son and
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the Holy Ghost are only one God! I say, that is a strange God
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anyhow - three in one, and one in three! It is a curious
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organization.... All are to be crammed into one God, according to
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sectarianism. It would make the biggest God in all the world.
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He would be a wonderfully big God - he would be a giant or a
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monster."
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Joseph Smith, Jr.,
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"History of the Church"
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Vol.6, pp.475-476
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"Daniel in his seventh chapter speaks of the Ancient of Days: he
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means the oldest man, our Father Adam, Michael, he will call his
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children together and hold a council with them to prepare them
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for the coming of the Son of Man. He (Adam) is the father of the
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human family, and presides over the spirits of all men, and all
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that have had the keys must stand before him in this grand
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council. This may take place before some of us leave the stage
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of action. The Son of Man stands before him, and there is given
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him glory and dominion. Adam delivers up his stewardship to
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Christ, that which was delivered to him as holding the keys to
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the universe, but retains his standing as the head of the human
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family."
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Joseph Smith, Jr.,
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"History of the Church"
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Vol.3, pp.386-387
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"The Father has a body of flesh and bone as tangible as man's;
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the Son also; but the Holy Ghost has not a body of flesh and
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bones, but is a personage of spirit..."
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"Doctrine and Covenants" 130:22
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Smith himself was sure of his teachings and he tolerated no
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dissent as the following quote shows:
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"God made Aaron to be the mouth piece to the children of Israel,
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and He will make me be God to you in His stead, and the Elders to
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be mouth to me; and if you don't like it, you must lump it."
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"History of the Church"
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Vol.5, pp.319-320
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You can see he had a big ego!
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LDS Teachings: Brigham Young
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Brigham Young not only continued the work of Smith, but also added
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his own "brand" of God in his teachings; especially in his doctrine of
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Adam (of the Garden of Eden fame) being the "God and Father of the human
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family":
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"How many Gods there are, I do not know. But there was never a
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time when there were no Gods and worlds..."
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Brigham Young
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"Journal of Discourses"
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Vol.7, p.333
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"My next sermon will be to both Saint and sinner.... Our God and
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Father in heaven, is a being of tabernacle, or, in other words,
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He has a body, with parts the same as you and I have;... I will
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tell you how it is. Our Father in heaven begat all the spirits
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there ever were, or ever will be, upon this earth; and they were
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born spirits in the eternal world."
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"Journal of Discourses"
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Vol.1, p.50
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"Now hear it, O inhabitants of the earth, Jew and Gentile, Saint
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and sinner! When our Father Adam came into the Garden of Eden,
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he came into it with a celestial body and brought Eve, one of his
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wives, with him. He helped to make and organize this world. He
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is MICHAEL, the Archangel, the ANCIENT OF DAYS! about whom holy
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men have written and spoken - HE is our FATHER and our GOD, and
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the only God with whom WE have to do. Every man upon this earth,
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professing Christians or non-professing, must hear it, and will
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know it sooner or later.
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"...Now, let all who may hear these doctrines, pause before they
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make light of them, or treat them with indifference, for they
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will prove their salvation or damnation.
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"...In the Bible, you have read things I have told you tonight;
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but you have not known what you did read. I have told you no
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more than you are conversant with; but what do the people know in
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Christendom, with their Bible in their hands, know about this
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subject? Comparatively nothing."
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"Journal of Discourses"
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Vol.1, p. 50-51
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"ADAM, THE FATHER AND GOD OF THE HUMAN FAMILY"
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"The above sentiment appeared in Star No.48, a little to the
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surprise to some of its readers: and while the sentiment may have
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appeared blasphemous to the ignorant; it has no doubt given rise
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to some serious reflections with the more candid and
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comprehensive mind... Adam is really God! and why not?"
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"Millennial Star"
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Vol.15, p.801
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"It has been said that Adam is the God and Father of the human
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family, and persons are perhaps in fear and great trouble of
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mind, lest they have to acknowledge him as such in some future
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day. For our part we would much rather acknowledge Adam to be
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our Father, than hunt for another, and take up with the Devil."
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"Millennial Star"
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Vol.15, p.825
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"...every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess that he is the
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God of the whole earth. Then will the words of Prophet Brigham,
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when speaking of Adam, be fully realized - 'He is our Father and
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our God, and the only God with whom we have to do.'"
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"Millennial Star"
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Vol.17, p.195
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Of note is the following statement of then Elder James A. Little
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(a contemporary of Brigham Young):
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"I believe in the principle of obedience; and if I am told that
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Adam is our Father and our God, I just believe it."
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"Millennial Star"
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Vol.16, p.530
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A few years before his death, Young preached the following:
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"How much unbelief exists in the minds of the Latter-day Saints
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in regard to one particular doctrine which I revealed to them,
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and which God revealed to me - namely that Adam is our Father and
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God... Our Father Adam helped to make this earth, it was created
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expressly for him... He brought one of his wives with him... We
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say that Father Adam came here and helped make the earth. Who is
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he? He is Michael,... He was the first man on earth, and its
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framer and maker. He with the help of his brethren brought it
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into existence. Then he said, 'I want my children in the spirit
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world to come and live here. I once dwelt upon an earth
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something like this, in a mortal state. I was faithful, I
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received my crown and exaltation. I have the privilege of
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extending my work, and to its increase there will be no end. I
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want my children that were born to me in the spirit world to come
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here and take tabernacles of flesh that their spirits may have a
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house, a tabernacle, or a dwelling place as mine has' and where
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is the mystery?"
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"Desert News"
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June 14, 1873
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As an aside, lest it be claimed that Young was misquoted in his
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preaching, the following should dispel that thought:
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"This book was made possible because Brigham Young secured
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stenographic reports of his addresses. As he traveled among the
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people, reporters accompanied him. All that he said was
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recorded. Practically all of these discourses (from December 16,
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1851 to August 19, 1877) were published in the 'Journal of
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Discourses', which was widely distributed. The public utterances
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of few great historical figures have been so faithfully
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preserved."
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John A. Widtsoe, Preface of the
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"Discourses of Brigham Young"
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"We do not wish incorrect and unsound doctrines to be handed down
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to posterity under the sanction of great names, to be received
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and valued by future generations as authentic and reliable,
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creating labor and difficulties for our successors to perform and
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contend with, which we ought not to transmit to them. The
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interests of posterity are, to a certain extent in our hands.
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Errors in history and in doctrine, if left uncorrected by us who
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are conversant with the events, and who are in a position to
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judge of the truth or falsity of the doctrines, would go to our
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children as though we sanctioned and endorsed them. Such a
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construction could be very easily be put upon our silence
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respecting them, and would tend to perplex and mislead posterity,
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and make the labor of correction an exceedingly difficult one for
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them. We know what sanctity there is always attached to the
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writing of men who have passed away, especially to the writings
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of the Apostles, when none of their contemporaries are left, and
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we, therefore, feel the necessity of being watchful upon these
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points. Personal feelings and friendships and associations ought
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to sink into comparative insignificance, and have no weight in
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view of consequences so momentous to the people and kingdom of
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God as these."
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Brigham Young
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"Millennial Star"
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Vol.27, p.659
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Well said, Brigham Young! The following should seal the issue
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concerning what he preached and whether it was "correct":
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"In printing my remarks, I often omit the sharp words, though
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they are perfectly understood and applicable here; for I do not
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wish to spoil the good I desire to do. Let my remarks go to the
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world in a way the prejudices of the people can bear, that they
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may read them, and ponder them, and ask God whether they are
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true."
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"Journal of Discourses"
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Vol.5, pp.99,100
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As you can see, Young took great pains to make sure his meaning was
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CRYSTAL CLEAR in his preaching. To be fair, though, the LDS no longer
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teach the Adam-God doctrines of Young. They disavow that his
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"Discourses" belong to the "standard works" of the church, even though
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he is claimed to be a "prophet". In fact, so sure was Young in his
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proclamations, and so sure was his belief in their "agreement" with the
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other "scriptures" that he made this public statement:
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"In my doctrinal teachings I have taught many things not written
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in any book, ancient or modern, and yet notwithstanding the many
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things I have told the people, I have never looked into the
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Bible, the Book of Mormon or the Doctrine and Covenants or any of
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our church works to see whether they agreed with them or not.
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When I have spoken by the power of God and the Holy Ghost it is
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the truth, it is Scripture and I have no fears but that it will
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agree with all that has been revealed in every particular."
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"Desert Weekly News"
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Vol. 26, p.274
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It's a shame he felt that way because none of his teachings agreed
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with the Bible, and very few of his teachings agreed with what Smith
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taught or other works released at that time. His attitude was like other
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cult leaders, namely, "What I say is the truth and if it doesn't agree
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with other scripture, tough!"
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Teachings of other LDS authorities
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Heber C. Kimball, a member of the First Presidency with Young made
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these statements:
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"...then shall we go back to our Father and our God, who is
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connected with one who is still farther back; and so on..."
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"Journal of Discourses"
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Vol.7, p.19
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"...for our God is a natural man... the first of all mechanics.
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Where did he get his knowledge from? From his Father, just as we
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get knowledge from our earthly parents."
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"Journal of Discourses"
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Vol.8, p.211
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Apostle Orson Pratt, a contemporary of Smith and Young had this to
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say:
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"The Gods who dwell in the Heaven... have been redeemed from the
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grave in a world which existed before the foundations of this
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earth were laid. They and all the Heavenly body which they now
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inhabit were once in a fallen state... they were exalted also,
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from fallen men to Celestial Gods to inhabit their Heaven forever
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and ever."
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"The Seer"
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Page 23
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"We were begotten by our Father in Heaven; the person of our
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Father in Heaven was begotten on a previous heavenly world by His
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Father; and again, He was begotted by a still more ancient
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Father; and so on, from generation to generation, from one
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heavenly world to another still more ancient, until our minds are
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wearied and lost in the multiplicity of generations and
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successive worlds, and as a last resort, we wonder in our minds,
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how far back the genealogy extends, and how the first world was
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formed and the First Father was begotten."
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"The Seer"
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Page 132
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Bruce R. McConkie, a member of the present First Council of the
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Seventy says this:
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"...God... is a personal being, a holy and exalted man, a
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glorified, resurrected Personage having a tangible body of flesh
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and bones, an anthropomorphic Entity,..."
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"Mormon Doctrine"
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Salt Lake City, 1966
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Page 250
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"...as the Prophet also taught, there is 'a God above the Father
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of our Lord Jesus Christ....'"
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"Mormon Doctrine"
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Salt Lake City, 1966
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Page 322
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"Those who 'are raised to become gods' (Teachings, p.312) will
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progress... until they are 'glorified in truth' and know 'all
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things.'... God himself, the Father of us all, is a glorified,
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exalted, immortal, resurrected man!"
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"Mormon Doctrine"
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Salt Lake City, 1966
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Page 642-643
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The words of 10th president, Joseph Fielding Smith, are worth
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noting:
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"God is an exalted man. Some people are troubled over the
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statements of the Prophet Joseph Smith... The matter that seems
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such a mystery is the statement that our Father in heaven at one
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time passed through a school of life and death and is an exalted
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man. This is one of the mysteries,... The Prophet taught that
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our Father had a Father and so on. Is not this a reasonable
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thought, especially when we remember that the promises are made
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to us so that we may become like him?"
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"Doctrines of Salvation"
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Vol.1, pp.10,12
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Apostle LeGrand Richards had this to say:
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"There is a statement often repeated in the Church, and while it
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is not in one of the Standard Church Works, it is accepted as
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church doctrine, and this is: 'As man is, God once was; and as
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God is, man may become.'"
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Letter from LeGrand Richards to
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Morris L. Reynolds
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July 14, 1966
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The "Nauvoo Expositor", an anti-Mormon publication in Smith's time
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had this to say concerning Smith's doctrines of God:
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"Resolved 2nd, Inasmuch as... Joseph Smith, Hyrum Smith, and many
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other official characters... have introduced false and damnable
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doctrine into the Church, such as a plurality of Gods above the
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God of this universe, and his (i.e. God's, note mine!) liability
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to fall with all his creations;... we therefore are constrained
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to denounce them as apostates from the pure and holy doctrines of
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Jesus Christ."
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"Nauvoo expositor"
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June 7, 1844
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The following from Sarah Scott, an early Mormon disciple, in a
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letter written June 16, 1844 from the "Vicinity of Nauvoo" is revealing:
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"Joseph says there are Gods above the God of this universe as far
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as he is above us, and if He should transgress the laws given to
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Him by those above Him, He would be hurled from His throne to
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Hell, as was Lucifer and all his creations with him."
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"Among the Mormons"
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Page 44
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In summary, the following are or were key points of Mormon theology:
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1) A plurality of Gods in the heavens
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2) God was once a mortal man like us
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3) God was "appointed" by a "council of Gods"
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4) God is a separate being from Jesus and the Holy Ghost
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5) God had to keep climbing to further Godhood after becoming a
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"God"
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6) His name was/is "Adam, Michael"
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7) He is the literal "father" (as in sexually) of humanity
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8) God and Jesus have mortal bodies of flesh and bone, but the Holy
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Ghost hasn't one
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9) God will turn over his authority to Jesus at the resurrection.
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10) God can, at any time, lose his place in heaven and be cast into
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Hell, as well as His creation (i.e. His "children")
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11) He has a father, grandfather, great-grandfather, etc. ad
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infinitum
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12) He didn't create the universe from scratch (i.e. with nothing),
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he merely "organized" the matter that was in existence into what
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we know today as the universe.
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13) As such, there is no knowledge of the "first God" or how the
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universe came to be
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I'm sure there are more conclusions, but this should give one the
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gist of the Mormon "God".
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God: As the Bible teaches
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-------------------------
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Now, it is time to give the Bible its due:
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"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth."
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Genesis 1:1
|
|
|
|
"And God said, 'Let there be light':and there was light"
|
|
|
|
Genesis 1:3
|
|
|
|
"And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were
|
|
under the firmament from the waters which were above the
|
|
firmament: and it was so."
|
|
|
|
Genesis 1:7
|
|
|
|
"And God said, 'Let the waters under the heaven be gathered
|
|
together unto one place, and let the dry land appear': and it was
|
|
so."
|
|
|
|
Genesis 1:9
|
|
|
|
"And God said, 'Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb
|
|
yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind,
|
|
whose seed is in itself, upon the earth': and it was so."
|
|
|
|
Genesis 1:11
|
|
|
|
"And God said, 'Let there be lights in the firmament of the
|
|
heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for
|
|
signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: and let them be
|
|
for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the
|
|
earth': and it was so. And God made two great lights; the greater
|
|
light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he
|
|
made the stars too. And God set them in the firmament of the
|
|
heaven to give light upon the earth,..."
|
|
|
|
Genesis 1:14-17
|
|
|
|
"And God said, 'Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving
|
|
creature that hath life, and the fowl that may fly above the
|
|
earth in the open firmament of heaven.' And God created great
|
|
whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters
|
|
brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl
|
|
after his kind:..."
|
|
|
|
Genesis 1:20-21
|
|
|
|
"And God said, 'Let the earth bring forth the living creature
|
|
after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and the beast of the
|
|
earth after his kind': and it was so. And God made the beast of
|
|
the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every
|
|
thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind:..."
|
|
|
|
Genesis 1:24-25
|
|
|
|
"And god said, 'Let us make man in our image, after our likeness:
|
|
and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the
|
|
fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and
|
|
over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.' So God
|
|
made man in his own image, and in the image of God created he
|
|
him; male and female created he them."
|
|
|
|
Genesis 1:26-27
|
|
|
|
An interesting note: the words translated 'us' and 'our' are
|
|
additions from the Greek to denote the position that royalty takes in
|
|
relation to the first person. The best example is Queen Victoria (I
|
|
think) who was remarked to say "We are not amused!" when she wasn't
|
|
pleased. When put with the singular pronoun of God it denotes a singular
|
|
person speaking (as in "me, myself and I, we'll do the job", or such to
|
|
the effect.). Again, the context of first person, singular in the above
|
|
verses denotes one person.
|
|
|
|
"These are the generations of the heavens and the earth that the
|
|
Lord God (note: the Hebrew words "Jehovah elohim") made the earth
|
|
and the heavens,..."
|
|
|
|
Genesis 2:4
|
|
|
|
"And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and
|
|
breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a
|
|
living soul"
|
|
|
|
Genesis 2:7
|
|
|
|
"And the Lord God said, 'It is not good that man should be alone;
|
|
I will make a help meet for him.'"
|
|
|
|
Genesis 2:21
|
|
|
|
"...and the rib, which the Lord God had taken from the man, made
|
|
he a woman, and brought her unto the man."
|
|
|
|
Genesis 2:22
|
|
|
|
As we can see from these passages: God is a singular being,
|
|
he created the universe, stars, earth, etc. from nothing with just
|
|
his word. He created man to be the image (i.e. reflection, manner, etc.)
|
|
of God, then He created a man from dirt, breathed life into the man, and
|
|
created a woman from a bone (i.e. rib) of the man created from dirt.
|
|
These two would be later known as Adam and Eve. So much for the LDS
|
|
doctrine of Adam and Eve "coming from heaven in Celestial bodies". Let
|
|
us continue:
|
|
|
|
"Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God is one Lord:..." Hebrew:
|
|
"Jehovah" our "elohim" is one "Jehovah"
|
|
|
|
Deut. 6:4
|
|
|
|
"For I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy
|
|
Savior:..." Hebrew: "Jehovah" thy "elohim", the "Sacred One" or
|
|
"sanctuary" of Israel, thy "redeemer, freedom, safety, etc."
|
|
|
|
Isaiah 43:3
|
|
|
|
"Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, and my servant whom I have
|
|
chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am
|
|
he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be
|
|
after me. I, even I, am the Lord; and beside me there is no
|
|
savior. I have declared, and I have saved, and I have showed,
|
|
when there was no strange (i.e. foreign, profane, other,
|
|
different, etc.) god among you: therefore you are my witnesses,
|
|
saith the Lord, that I am God." Hebrew: saith "Jehovah",...
|
|
there was no "elohim" formed,... I, even I, am "Jehovah":
|
|
...there is no "redeemer, freedom, safety, etc." ....saith
|
|
"Jehovah", I am "elohim".
|
|
|
|
Isaiah 43:10-12
|
|
|
|
"I am the Lord, your Holy one, the creator of Israel, your King."
|
|
Hebrew: I am "Jehovah", your "Sacred One" or "sanctuary", the
|
|
"creator"..., your "royal King".
|
|
|
|
Isaiah 43:15
|
|
|
|
"Thus saith the Lord the King of Israel, and his Redeemer the
|
|
Lord of Hosts; 'I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me
|
|
there is no God.'" Hebrew: ..saith "Jehovah" the "royal
|
|
King",... his "deliverer" "Jehovah of the armies": I am the
|
|
"beginning", and I am the "end";... beside me there is no
|
|
"elohim".
|
|
|
|
Isaiah 44:6
|
|
|
|
"Fear ye not, neither be afraid: have not I told thee from that
|
|
time, and have declared it? Ye are even my witnesses. Is there
|
|
a God beside me? Yea, there is no God; I know not any." Hebrew:
|
|
is there a "elohim" beside me?... there is no "elohim";...
|
|
|
|
Isaiah 44:8
|
|
|
|
"I am the Lord, and there is none else, there is no God beside
|
|
me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me: That they may
|
|
know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is
|
|
none beside me. I am the Lord, and there is none else. I form
|
|
the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I
|
|
the Lord do all these things." Hebrew: I am "Jehovah", and there
|
|
is none else, there is no "elohim" beside me: ...I am "Jehovah",
|
|
and there is none else,... I "Jehovah" do all these things.
|
|
|
|
Isaiah 45:5-7
|
|
|
|
"Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel
|
|
together: who hath declared this from ancient time? Who hath
|
|
told it from that time? Have not I the Lord? And there is no
|
|
God else beside me; a just God and a Savior; there is none beside
|
|
me. Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth:
|
|
for I am God, and there is none else." Hebrew: ...have not I
|
|
"Jehovah"? And there is no "elohim" else beside me: a just
|
|
"elohim" and "redeemer" ...I am "elohim", and there is none else.
|
|
|
|
Isaiah 45:21-22
|
|
|
|
Here we have demonstrated that the Hebrews had/have one God, He
|
|
was/is referred to as God (Hebrew "elohim"), Lord (Hebrew "Jehovah"), or
|
|
Lord God (Hebrew "Jehovah elohim"). There are no other "Gods" to the
|
|
Hebrews to be worshipped, and He is a creator, not an "organizer" which
|
|
denotes a lot of power. He is also known as "the first and the last" and
|
|
"beside me there is no God" meaning he is alone in His position and
|
|
power. Of note, the Hebrew word "elohim" can be translated "God" or
|
|
"gods". The difference between translations is dependent upon the
|
|
context of the passage it appears. "Elohim" is always translated "God"
|
|
when the context denotes "first-person, singular" with regard to Jehovah,
|
|
"god" when the context is "first-person, singular" with regard to satan
|
|
or a heathen god (i.e. Baal. One exception is when "god" was used by
|
|
Jehovah regarding the "perceived appearance" of Moses to Pharaoh (Exodus
|
|
7:1)), and "gods" when the context refers to plurality, as in the
|
|
pagan/heathen gods of the Egyptians or Philistines. "Gods" is NEVER
|
|
associated with the singular Jehovah, as the LDS would have the world
|
|
believe, because the Hebrew grammar and language constructs don't allow
|
|
it. It (elohim) can be roughly compared to the english words "sheep" and
|
|
"deer" which can be both singular or plural nouns depending on context
|
|
and usage (i.e. one sheep, two sheep, one deer, many deer, etc.).
|
|
Continuing on:
|
|
|
|
"God is not a man that he should lie; neither the son of man,
|
|
that he should repent:..."
|
|
|
|
Numbers 23:19a
|
|
Context: singular
|
|
|
|
"And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent: for he
|
|
is not a man, that he should repent."
|
|
|
|
1 Samuel 15:29
|
|
Context: singular
|
|
|
|
Here we have testimony that God isn't a man, as the LDS teaches.
|
|
Therefore, let's see what he is, according to the Bible. Continuing on:
|
|
|
|
"God is a spirit: and all who worship him must worship him in
|
|
spirit and truth."
|
|
|
|
John 4:24
|
|
|
|
"Now, the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord
|
|
is, then there is liberty."
|
|
|
|
2 Corinthians 3:17
|
|
|
|
See also the complete 3rd chapter, the context of Jesus, God, and
|
|
the Holy Spirit/Ghost being one individual.
|
|
|
|
Here, we have God described as a spirit. Even Jesus in Luke 24:39
|
|
described a spirit's attributes: "...for a spirit hath not flesh and
|
|
bones,..." because the disciples thought He was a spirit when He appeared
|
|
to them after His resurrection. All throughout the Old Testament, the
|
|
Holy Spirit is referred to as the Spirit of God, Spirit of the Lord,
|
|
Spirit of the Lord God; the logical conclusion being that the Holy Spirit
|
|
is God also, as man has a spirit and that spirit is part of him and is
|
|
referred to as being man (at times). The New Testament also refers to
|
|
the Holy Spirit/Holy Ghost being the same person.
|
|
|
|
"But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to
|
|
lie to the Holy Ghost,...thou hast not lied unto men, but unto
|
|
God"
|
|
|
|
Acts 5:3,4
|
|
|
|
Here we have God and the Holy Spirit being equated as one person.
|
|
|
|
"Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the
|
|
name of the Father (God), and of the Son (Jesus), and of the Holy
|
|
Ghost:..."
|
|
|
|
Matthew 28:19
|
|
|
|
Note the context of "the name" being applied to all three persons of
|
|
God inferring that they are the same person.
|
|
|
|
"(Jeremiah praying) Ah Lord God! Behold, thou hast made the
|
|
heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm,
|
|
and there is nothing too hard for thee:... (God replying)
|
|
Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh: is there any thing
|
|
too hard for me?"
|
|
|
|
Jeremiah 32:17,27
|
|
|
|
"An the angel answered and said unto her, 'The Holy Ghost shall
|
|
come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow
|
|
thee: therefore that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall
|
|
be called the Son of God.'"
|
|
|
|
Luke 1:35
|
|
|
|
Here we have omnipotence (all-powerfulness) being attributed to God
|
|
and the Holy Ghost.
|
|
|
|
"Whither shall I go from thy Spirit? Or whither shall I flee
|
|
from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there:
|
|
if I make my bed in hell, behold thou art there. If I take the
|
|
wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the
|
|
sea; even there shall thy hand lead me and thy right hand shall
|
|
hold me. If I say, 'Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the
|
|
night shall be light about me.' Yea, the darkness hideth not
|
|
from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the
|
|
light are both alike to thee. For thou hast possessed my reins:
|
|
thou hast covered me in my mother's womb."
|
|
|
|
Psalm 139:7-13
|
|
|
|
Here David, talking to God, expresses His omnipresence and that the
|
|
Spirit is God's and is also omnipresent, making it a logical conclusion
|
|
that the two are the same person.
|
|
|
|
"For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and
|
|
knoweth all things."
|
|
|
|
1 John 3:20
|
|
|
|
"But God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit: for the Spirit
|
|
searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man
|
|
knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in
|
|
him? Even so, the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit
|
|
of God."
|
|
|
|
1 Corinthians 2:10,11
|
|
|
|
Here, God and the Holy Spirit are described as omniscient. Note
|
|
especially that the Spirit is described as "knowing the things of God".
|
|
Only His Spirit has that kind of power, and as such is God.
|
|
These are some examples; there are more but this should give one the
|
|
idea that God and the Holy Spirit/Ghost are the same person.
|
|
The Bible also teaches that Jesus Christ was/is God also, and since
|
|
we've seen that God and the Spirit are the same, logically Christ is the
|
|
same as the Spirit also. Examples:
|
|
|
|
"In the beginning was the Word (Jesus), and the Word was with
|
|
God, and the Word was God. The same (the Word) was in the
|
|
beginning with God. All things were made by him (the Word); and
|
|
without him (the Word) was not any thing made that was made."
|
|
|
|
John 1:1-3
|
|
|
|
Here Jesus (the Word) is declared to be God, was with God in "the
|
|
beginning", and created the universe (See Genesis 1). The logical
|
|
conclusion: Jesus is the same God that is referred to in the Old
|
|
Testament.
|
|
|
|
"And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld
|
|
his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full
|
|
of grace and truth."
|
|
|
|
John 1:14
|
|
|
|
Here, God was incarnated in the person of Jesus and lived with men.
|
|
|
|
"For in him (Jesus) dwelleth the fullness of the Godhead bodily."
|
|
|
|
Colossians 2:9
|
|
|
|
Paul describing Jesus as being the Godhead manifest in flesh.
|
|
|
|
"This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not
|
|
by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that
|
|
beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth. For there are
|
|
three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word (Jesus),
|
|
and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one (i.e. the same
|
|
person). And there are three that bear witness in earth, the
|
|
spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in
|
|
one. If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is
|
|
greater: for this is the witness of God which he hath testified
|
|
of his Son."
|
|
|
|
1 John 5:6-9
|
|
|
|
Another testimony that God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are the same
|
|
person.
|
|
|
|
"(Jesus speaking) 'I am the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and
|
|
the end', saith the lord, which is, and which was, and which is
|
|
to come, the Almighty."
|
|
|
|
Revelation 1:8
|
|
|
|
"(Jesus speaking) 'I am the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and
|
|
the end, the first and the last.'"
|
|
|
|
Revelation 22:13
|
|
|
|
Here Jesus is stating to John that He is the Alpha and the Omega.
|
|
See Isaiah 44:6 where God is quoted as saying "I am the first and the
|
|
last". This makes Jesus Jehovah God because there cannot be more than
|
|
one "first and the last" type individual.
|
|
|
|
There are many more examples of Jesus, God, and the Spirit being the
|
|
same person, but that would require the re-typing of a vast majority of
|
|
the Bible; this file is big enough as it is!
|
|
|
|
The LDS teaches that God has a body because of the bodily parts
|
|
listed as being used by God (right arm, eyes, ears, footsteps, hind
|
|
parts, etc.). If those examples are to be taken literally, then God
|
|
(using LDS logic) must also be part bird (Psalm 17:8, 36:7, 57:1, 61:4,
|
|
63:7, 91:4) have detachable eyes, like grapes, with legs on them
|
|
(2 Chronicles 16:9). Likewise, if LDS logic pertaining to God is to be
|
|
accepted, then Jesus was a freak-of freaks because he would be part plant
|
|
(vine, specifically: John 15:1,5), have a door in him (John 10:9), have a
|
|
roadway issuing from him (John 14:6), be part bread (as in Langendorf, or
|
|
Wonder bread: John 6:51). Even the disciples must have been plant-beings
|
|
(John 15:5). There are many more such absurdities because such
|
|
comparisons are just that: comparisons. They are used to illustrate
|
|
concepts using reference points that humans can identify with, and are
|
|
not to be taken literally, only figuratively.
|
|
|
|
The LDS tries to make the Bible appear to teach their doctrines of
|
|
God. One such example is 1 Corinthians 8:5b which states: "(as there are
|
|
gods many, and lords many,). On the surface, it would indicate the Bible
|
|
teaches a plurality of gods. However, when we look at the full context,
|
|
the meaning is quite different:
|
|
|
|
"As concerning therefore the eating of those things that are
|
|
sacrificed unto idols, we know that an idol is nothing in this
|
|
world, and that there is none other God but one. For though
|
|
there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, (as
|
|
there are gods many, and lords many,) but there is to us but one
|
|
God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one
|
|
Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him."
|
|
|
|
1 Corinthians 8:4-6
|
|
|
|
An explanation that although there are many "lords and gods", they
|
|
are nothing (zilch, zip, nada, zero, etc.) but imaginary. There is only
|
|
one God (Jehovah) and Jesus (whom as previously demonstrated is Jehovah
|
|
God).
|
|
|
|
As you can see, what the LDS teach about God is not what the Bible
|
|
teaches of God. This automatically disqualifies them as a "christian"
|
|
denomination since the teachings of their "prophets" (i.e. mere men), not
|
|
the Bible determines their theology.
|
|
|
|
God: As taught in the Book of Mormon
|
|
------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
It's interesting to note that the LDS' own "Bible," the Book of
|
|
Mormon, agrees with the Bible in the teachings of God and Jesus:
|
|
|
|
"...And also to convincing of the Jew and the Gentile that Jesus
|
|
is the Christ, the Eternal God,..."
|
|
|
|
Title page, Book of Mormon.
|
|
|
|
A declaration that Jesus and God are one and the same person.
|
|
|
|
"For I know that God is not a partial God, neither a changeable
|
|
being; but he is unchangeable from all eternity to all eternity."
|
|
|
|
Moroni 8:18
|
|
|
|
Here God is declared to be an unchangeable being.
|
|
|
|
"And Zeezrom said unto him: 'Thou sayest there is a true and
|
|
living God?' And Amulek said: 'Yea, there is a true and a living
|
|
God.' Now Zeezrom said: 'Is there more than one God?' And he
|
|
answered, 'No.'"
|
|
|
|
Alma 11:26-29
|
|
|
|
A declaration of the non-existence of the plurality of gods.
|
|
|
|
"And after this manner shall ye baptize in my name; for behold,
|
|
verily I say unto you, that the Father, and the Son, and the Holy
|
|
Ghost are one; and I am in the Father, and the Father in me, and
|
|
the Father and I are one.... And thus the Father bear record of
|
|
me, and the Holy Ghost will bear record unto him of the Father
|
|
and me; for the Father, and I, and the Holy Ghost are one."
|
|
|
|
3 Nephi 11:27,36
|
|
|
|
A declaration that God, Jesus, and the Holy Ghost are the same
|
|
person (i.e. the Trinity)
|
|
|
|
"O how great the holiness of our God! For he knoweth all things,
|
|
and there is not anything save he knows it."
|
|
|
|
2 Nephi 9:20
|
|
|
|
A declaration of the omniscience of God. As you see in these
|
|
examples, the Book of Mormon is at variance with the primary teachings
|
|
of God as taught by the LDS. Strange, since they claim that the BOM is
|
|
their Bible and it supposedly "agrees" with their teachings. It seems
|
|
that the BOM has more in common with Christianity than Mormonism. One
|
|
must not forget that Brigham Young declared that he never checked the
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Bible, BOM, or any other works for agreement with his teachings; it seems
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that neither Smith nor any other LDS teacher after Young has done their
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homework on the LDS teachings since they are at variance with the BOM and
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the Bible. So much for the LDS claim to "christianity".
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As an aside, the documents that relate to the Bible (ancient scrolls
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and such) date back to about 250 BC for the Old Testament (the "Dead Sea
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Scrolls"), and to about 150 AD for the New Testament (Rylands Papyrus
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#457: Book of John fragments) whereas the BOM documents only date back
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to about 1850 (2 BOM manuscripts in Smith's hand and the 1830 edition of
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the BOM). There is NO EVIDENCE of BOM documentation prior to 1828 (or
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so) when the "plates" were supposedly being "translated". What a shame
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that the Bible has more documentation backing it up than the BOM which
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only has Joseph Smith's "blessing" to its authenticity. Since the
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"plates" are non-existent on this earth, there is no concrete proof of
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the BOM being anything other than the product of Smith's imagination.
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Ken Simmons
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For more information see below:
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This file has been brought to you by the ministry of the;
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Southern Maryland Christian Information Service BBS, (SMCIS)
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(301) 862-3160 HST
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P.O. Box 463
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California, MD 20619
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Sysop: Buggs Bugnon
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