All I asked was 'a debate'. I'm not trying to do anything to anyone- I don't want folks to run, get mad, feel offended or try to get me kicked out of here. My intentions is to always have a fun debate. And here we are.
Well, as I posted, if they taught it was and it wasn't they'd be dead shortly thereafter if they didn't catch and stop it and correct the teaching, so said the LDs god. Comments that come generations after are excuses designed to justify present beliefs. If Christians did that we'd be haunted by the antis forever. None of us can have it both ways. It would be nice sometimes, tho
Would not surprise me at all. Even if half were from former LDS.
No, the church doesn't teach old doctrines today. That ended when the church revamped itself around 1915-1918. They dropped those 'God-given' beliefs and settle on, mostly, present ones- the world had encroached on them and knew of their teachings and beliefs so they 'changed' them. Would it concern you to learn that polygamy is the doctrine the LDS church was founded on? Elder John Taylor was preaching to the people in the Tabernacle in SLC, Ut. on April 7, 1866. He started out by saying (I mentioned it earlier- now you know 'where' it is taught, the reference) how good it is to know 'the' truth (Mormonism) and how bad it is if they do not live by their beliefs. And he teaches this,
(JoD 11:217), "We are situated
differently from any
other people under the face of the heavens. There is no people, no government, no kingdom, no assembly of people, civil,
religious, political,
or otherwise, that enjoy the blessings that we are in possession of this day;" (JoD 11:217)
And,
“As it regards our religious status, we feel just the same in relation to that (do our duty, obey our leaders, and maintain our integrity before God- p.217), for everything is connected with our religion and our God. We are not indebted to any church in existence for the position which we occupy, nor for the intelligence we are in possession of. We have no need to trace our authority through the Popes, or through any other medium, we care nothing about them. We do not need either to go to Rome or to the Greek Church to find out whether we are right or wrong, where our religion commenced, and whether we are placed on the right or on the wrong foundation.
We are not under the necessity of searching the Jewish records, or any other records, in relation to these matters. We are not indebted to any of the schools, academies, or systems of divinity, or theology, or any of the religious systems extant, nor to any of the heathen nations. There is no nation, people, kingdom, government; NO RELIGIOUS OR POLITICAL AUTHORITY OF ANY KIND THAT IS OF AN EARTHLY NATURE, THAT WE HAVE TO GO TO IN RELATION TO THIS MATTER.
WE DISCLAIM THE WHOLE OF THEM; CLAIM NO AFFINITY TO ANY OF THEM; ARE NOT OF THEM OR FROM THEM; AND, CONSEQUENTLY, SO FAR AS THEY ARE CONCERNED, WE ARE PERFECTLY INDEPENDENT OF THEM. OUR RELIGION CAME GOD; IT IS A REVELATION FROM THE MOST HIGH; it is that everlasting Gospel which John saw an angel bring to be preached in all the earth, and to every people, nation, kindred, and tongue, crying with a loud voice, fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment is come.
Then God is the author of our religion; He has REVEALED IT FROM THE HEAVENS; he has sent His holy angels for that purpose, who communicated it to Joseph Smith and others. Having restored the everlasting Gospel, He has sent it forth to all the world, and those men who have delivered that Gospel to us have received it by revelation directly from God, and have been ordained by that authority. If God had not spoken, if the heavens have not been opened, if the angels of God have not appeared then we have no religion- it is all a farce; for as I have said before WE CLAIM NO KINDRED, NO AFFINITY, OR RELATIONSHIP WITH THEM-GOD FORBID THAT WE SHOULD, WE DO NOT WANT IT. This, then, is the platform we stand; this is the position that we occupy before God; for this is God’s work that we are engaged in.” (JoD 11:218).
“We are not associated with them; our interest is not bound up with them; they have nothing which we can sustain. … Is there a religious society under the heavens that we are indebted to for any ideas or intelligence which we possess? NOT ONE. Is there any priest in Christiandom that has helped us forward in the least in our religious career? Not one.” (JoD 11:219).
This is pretty clear-cut. The early Mormon leaders
taught that they were not, are not and don't want to be considered by anyone, anywhere to be Christian or any other religion. I am only repeating what they taught, printed and published so don't beat up on me, ok?
In my next post I will explain how polygamy is the foundation the Mormon church is based and built on. I will quote, without comment, exactly what the LDS leaders taught and where it can be found in Mormonism's vast printed material.