Posted on 10/04/2002 9:19:59 AM PDT by fishtank
Point was, if God can change a practice in the past, who is man to say He can't do the same today? You admit it was done after all.
God can change a practice ... it is the gospel which is unchanging ... per Paul in Galatians 1:8.
As for Galatians 1:8, that goes with what I said about principles being eternal. For the record, it is the LDS position that our teachings are the gospel as Christ taught it, and that orthodox chrisitanity has lost and altered those teachings over the ages.
You are correct ... it is the LDS position that orthodox christianity has lost and/or altered JESUS'/Paul's/Peter's/etc.'s recorded teachings over the ages. Thus, ... I think that it is YOU who have the task of demonstrating that this assertion is true in regard to orthodox christian belief.
***
orthodox adj. 1. Adhering to the accepted or traditional and established faith, especially in religion.
2. Adhering to the Christian faith as expressed in the early Christian ecumenical creeds.
3. Orthodox. a. Of or relating to any of the churches or rites of the Eastern Orthodox Church. b. Of or relating to Orthodox Judaism.
4. Adhering to what is commonly accepted, customary, or traditional: an orthodox view of world affairs.
In the 1800's the Lord Jesus Christ restores His Church and Word here on earth again, now this seem peculiar to those who have been born into the Tradition Creeds, which a tradition does not make it authentic! For over time many records were gathered for the different Bibles, and many Bibles were burned, as well as many men, of God were burned over the struggle of the Word, of the Lord.
In the scriptures we are taught how to discern those things which belongs to the Lord!
Why in your opinion is there a tendency with some believers to dispise prophesyings and prophets?I, actually, don't believe that there is a general tendency, within the christian church, to despise prophesyings and prophets, although there are those within the body who believe that the time for prophecy has passed, per I Corinthians 13:8 ...
Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease, where there are tongues, they will be stilled, where there is knowledge, it shall pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears.There are those which conclude that perfection is the Bible. But, again, this is not the orthodox view.
However, prophecy, in the church, will always be subject to the tests of a prophet, given by God in the Old Testament.
You may say to yourselves, ... "How can we know when a message has not been spoken by the Lord?" If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the Lord does not take place or come to pass, that is a message the Lord has not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously. Do not be afraid of him. Deuteronomy 18:21-22
... a tradition does not make it authentic!Neither does newness, or ... a declaration of restoration. There must be evidence (truth) to back up the claim.
In the scriptures we are taught how to discern those things which belongs to the Lord!
Indeed we are.
"... no man or woman in this dispensation will ever enter into the celestial kingdom of God without the consent of Joseph Smith ..."This is a different gospel. Whereas JESUS, Peter, Paul, John, Luke, Matthew, and Mark all state that entrance is gained into the kingdom of God through JESUS alone, ... here Joseph has added HIMSELF to the process.
| "Joseph [Smith] will be held accountable for his ministry here on the earth, he will answer to God and report who did and who did not accept him, and that report will be an important factor in the outcome of each person in this dispensation." - Grig BLASPHEMY! |
God:
"Joe...What were you THINKING?
Didn't you read that First Commandment? You know the one, that says I'm God, and thus sole judge, not you?
Take your gold plates with you. You're gonna need them. Maybe you can trade them for an air conditioned cell..."
It is not Moses, but rather ... God's revelation which came through Moses.
Since the gospel (i.e. God's revelation regarding THE WAY of our entry into the His Kingdom) was established, at least, by the time of Paul's writing, some 1900+ years ago, as unchanging per Galatians 1:8,9 ...
... what revelation does Joseph bring to this dispensation which is, somehow, necessary to the question of our salvation ?
Matthew 5:1 Now when He saw the crowds, He went up into a mountain and sat down. His disciples came to Him, and He began to teach them saying ...Matthew 5:11 "Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. 12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you."
In this passage, JESUS speaks to His followers ... His disciples, who would soon face a range of persecutions for following Him.
The Pharisees and religious leaders were up in arms about JESUS and His following. They labored to make life difficult for them. They encouraged their Jewish families to disown them, to impoverish them. And so many did.
After JESUS' death, ressurection, and ascension, JESUS' follwers, whose numbers increased mightily, came under increasing persecution.
Stephen was the first martyred for his faith in JESUS. John's brother James followed him into glory soon after. Then JESUS' brother James. And so it went. Eventually, all of JESUS' original 12 apostles (minus Judas, plus Paul), except John, were martyred for their faith and their witness of JESUS.
The persecution of the early Jewish believers incrased in pitch until they fled Jerusalem, and then, Judea, into the surrounding areas, taking the gospel of JESUS with them.
Christians endured dire persecutions for the next 300 years, as they were put to the sword, burned at the stake, fed to the lions, etc. by way of Rome's hostility to this band of followers of JESUS.
Even today, Christians are persecuted to the point of death, in China, in the Philippines, in the Sudan, in Greece, etc., for their steadfast practice of their faith.
It is to Christians down through the ages that JESUS directed those words ...
"Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. 12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you."... for they would, indeed, be persecuted ... even as the prophets of old.
You know anyone living those nations you mention, are being persecuted for their religion. Budda, Hindu, Christians etc.
***
Steve,
Is it not the Lord who purne His vineyard, By what authority does a stranger have in trying to hewd down one of the trees in the Lord vineyard?
Please show me in the scriptures?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.