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By far the largest portion of the book describes two civilizations, the Nephites and the Lamanites, who were both descendents of the House of Israel, and who lived on this continent between about 600 B.C. and 400 A.D.
When Jesus Christ spoke to his followers in the Holy Land, He is recorded in the Gospel of John as having said, Other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd. He also said that His own personal mission was only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. So who were the other sheep of whom He spoke, people who were evidently not living in the Holy Land but who were, at the same time, of the house of Israel?
After Christs resurrection, he stayed among his Apostles and others for a time. But, according to the Book of Mormon, before He returned to heaven where He now awaits the time of His Second Coming, He visited the people of ancient America. He established His Church here, teaching exactly the same gospel of love, forgiveness and mercy He had taught in the Holy Land.
We believe that the location of the metal plates (said to have the appearance of gold) was revealed to Joseph Smith by an angel named Moroni. Moroni was the last survivor of one of the groups of people whose history is told in the Book of Mormon. He (Joseph) translated it by the power of God from the language in which it was written (a modified form of Egyptian heiroglyphics) into English. The Book of Mormon is 531 pages long.
1. We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost.
3. We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel.
4. We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are: first, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second, Repentance; third, Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; fourth, Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost.
6. We believe in the same organization that existed in the Primitive Church, namely, apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists, and so forth.
8. We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly; we also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God.
11. We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may.
Oh, all right!Girls can be confusing and cause headaches as well
We believe that Jesus Christ is the Only Begotten Son of God in the flesh. While we believe that God is the Father of the spirits of each and every person who has ever lived, and that we are all His spirit offspring, Jesus Christ is most definitely in a class by Himself. He was with His Father in the beginning. Under His Father's direction, He created worlds without number. He was chosen to be "the Lamb" prior to the foundation of this world. He sits today on the right hand of His Father. Along with the Holy Ghost, the Father and the Son make up the Godhead.What is Jesus' status relative to God and humanity?
As I more or less explained in my post of Church organization, but probably not adequately since it was not my intention to emphasize the point, we believe in the absolute necessary of God-given priesthood authority. Even if a church was teaching 100% correct doctrines, it would not be the Church sanctioned by Christ since those in leadership positions had not been given the power and authority to act in God's name. We believe that Christ chose and ordained His Twelve Apostles and actually conferred upon them the power to perform miracles in the name of God, to speak on behalf of God, and to officiate in ordinances that would have eternal significance. (This is what we believe Christ was referring to when He told Peter that he would be able to bind in Heaven those things which he would bind on earth.)Why is it that God did not provide guidance after the Apostles but has provided an unbroken line since Joseph Smith?
It was just two families that left Jesusalem, not two entire tribes. Consequently, they likely would not even have been missed except by those who knew them personally. They were descendents of Joseph (who was sold into Egypt), through Ephraim and Manasseh. The exact number of individuals who left Jerusalem in 600 B.C. is not known; it was probably just 30 to 40 or so. They were not known by the names "Nephites" and "Lamanites" until a number of years after they had been living on this continent.Are there any Old Testament passages in the KJV that are referenced to support the connection of these tribes to Israel? It seems strange that a culture obsessed (at least from our perspective) with genealogies wouldn't mention two tribes that left the rest of Israel.
As a Latter-day Saint, I do believe that Christ is always with His followers and always will be. Even though we have a firm belief that the "fulness" of the Gospel of Jesus Christ has been re-established and exists, along with the essential priesthood authority, only within the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we absolutely do recognize Catholics, Lutherans, Baptists, Methodists, Episcopalians, etc. as Christians. We believe that there is much good in all of these Churches. Typically, however, they are quite happy to exclude us as being part of the Christian family, while we believe that anyone who (1) believes in Jesus Christ as the Son of God, (2) acknowledges Him as his Savior and as the only means by which He can be reconciled to God, (3) looks to Jesus Christ as his exemplar, and (4) considers himself to be a Christian IS one.It seems to me that there are a lot of passages that promise Jesus' ongoing presence through the Holy Spirit and it could easily be argued that "them also I must bring" refers to the spread of the gospel through His church.
I am with you always, even unto the end of the world - Matt. 28:20
For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. - Matt. 18:20
For I am with thee - Act 18:10
That's easy. I was wrong. Or, let's put it this way... We do believe that the Apostles saw Jesus ascending "toward heaven." Unless they actually witnessed his arrival there, it is possible that He first visited the people living in the Americas first. Or, it is entirely possible that He ascended first into Heaven and then appeared to the people in the Book of Mormon.How do you reconcile the verses describing Jesus' accession directly to heaven:
So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God. - Mark 16:19
And he led them out as far as to Bethany, and he lifted up his hands, and blessed them. And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven. - Luke 24:50-51
The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen - Acts 1:1-2
And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven. - Acts 1:9-11
Moroni (pronounced Mor-OWN-eye) is often called "The Angel Moroni," but when he appeared to Joseph Smith, he did so as a resurrected human being. We actually believe that the vast, vast majority of the human race will be resurrected when Christ returns to Earth to begin His millennial reign. A few individuals, however, have been resurrected already, because they have important roles to play as heavenly messengers.Was Maroni an angel or a human?
They were returned to Moroni when the translation was complete. Eleven individuals did, however, see and touch them.Where are the plates?
I've already described the relationship between the Father and the Son, so I'll just add this about the Holy Ghost: The third member of the Godhead is the Holy Ghost. Unlike the Father and the Son, the Holy Ghost is a person of spirit only. It is by virtue of this quality that He is able to both fill the universe and dwell in our hearts. It is through the Holy Ghost that God communicates to mankind. We come to understand spiritual truths through the witnessing of the Holy Ghost, who communicates with us on a spiritual plane. It is through Him that we come to know the Father and the Son.Can you unpack this statement a little? I understand that Mormons don't believe in the Trinity? How are the Father, Son and Spirit related?
Actually, this is a more difficult question than it may appear to be on the surface. First and foremost, we do not believe that there is anything any of us could do to save ourselves. There is no one who has ever lived (except for Jesus Christ himself) who has lived a righteous enough life that he has no need of a Savior. All of us have sinned and therefore we are all in the same boat. We all need Jesus Christ. I emphasize this because we are often accused of believing that we can save ourselves by our good works. Nothing could be further from the truth.What is necessary for salvation? It sounds like "obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel?
Ephesians 4:11-14 is probably the one I see used most often. It states:Perhaps you explain this in your next post, but what New Testament references do you draw upon to demonstrate that the Mormon church is organized "in the same organization that existed in the Primitive Church?"
I can definitely see why it would appear that there would be an automatic heirarchy. We believe that when the biblical writings were first written, they were essentially a flawless record of God's word to His inspired prophets and apostles, just as we believe the same to be true of the Book of Mormon. In other words, God was the author of both books, according to our faith. If we had any of the original biblical manuscripts, there would probably have been no need for Joseph Smith to include the phrase, "as far as it is translated correctly" in the Article of Faith. But, since we don't, and since all we have today are copies of copies of copies of copies, both transcription and translation errors are logically likely to have crept into the manuscripts over time. In the case of the Book of Mormon, Joseph Smith was translating from the original record and was being divinely directed in the process. All subsequent translations into foreign languages were translated directly from the English version of the Book of Mormon. There have simply been fewer human hands touch the Book of Mormon over the years than has been the case with the Bible. Furthermore, on the title page of the Book of Mormon, Joseph admitted to the possibility of errors and cautioned the reader to blame men, not God, for these. Neither Joseph Smith nor any of the prophets who have followed him have ever claimed to be infallible. Like all other human beings, they all have their own opinions, which they voice from time to time, and they have all made mistakes. Sometimes the members of the Church don't like to believe that's possible, but it is. (I once heard something that kind of made me laugh. It was: In the Catholic Church, the Pope's infallible, but nobody believes it. In the Mormon Church, the Prophet's fallible, but nobody believes it. )Do this mean there are errors in the KJV but not in the Book of Mormon? Doesn't this automatically create a hierarchy of authority? Why use the KJV then if it is not regarded as the most accurate translation any more?
No, Jesus Christ is the only way. However, it's really a whole lot more involved than saying, "If you believe in Christ, you're saved. If you don't, you're damned." Remember, I mentioned that you could consider us to be essentially universalist in our view of salvation? Well, those three posts in the thread I posted a link two a couple of posts back will explain how we can believe that Jesus Christ is the only way to salvation and yet believe that non-Christians will also be saved. You really need to read that to understand the full picture of how and when everything happens.What does the line "let them worship...what they may" mean? Are there may paths to salvation?
Once a man is called to be an Apostle, he holds the position until he dies.
Under His Father's direction, He created worlds without number.
We believe that our Father in Heaven and His Son Jesus Christ have a true father-son relationship. The words, "Father" and "Son," in other words, mean exactly what they say. They are not metaphorical or symbolic of a vague metaphysical relationship, in which two beings are some how both part of a single essence. We are each the physical sons and daughters of our mortal parents. Jesus Christ is the literal, physical Son of a divine Father and a mortal Mother. He was conceived in a miraculous way, but like all sons, was in the "express image of His Father's person." That is to say, He looked like Him. Dogs beget puppies, and cats beget kittens. God beget a Son who is the same species as He is. They both have bodies of flesh and bone (although, until His birth in Bethlehem, Jesus Christ was a spirit being only).
Most Christians also use the words co-equal and co-eternal to describe the relationship between the Father and the Son. We do not. We believe that, as is again the case with all fathers and sons, the Father existed prior to His Son. No son's existence precedes his father's, and Jesus Christ is no exception to this rule.
That the original organization of the Church (with Prophets and Apostles) was intended to be permanent in nature is pretty clear from the scriptures, and even to some extent from early tradition. Whenever an Apostle died, another man was called to fill the vacancy his death created. Matthias was almost immediately called to replace Judas. Paul and Barnabus were also called, even though the scriptures don't specifically mention who it was they replaced. Finally, James (the brother the Jesus) is referred to as an Apostle (in Galatians, if I'm not mistaken). The way things worked out, though, most, if not all, of the Apostles were martyred before having had the opportunity to ordain someone to replace them. Remember, it is impossible for a man to pass on authority he doesn't hold himself. Once all of the Apostles were dead, there was simply no one left who held the authority Jesus Christ had given them. This, of course, was not God's doing. Men were responsible for the fact that the Church fell into apostasy, not God -- although He knew it would happen, just as surely as He knew Adam and Eve would succumb to Satan's temptings. Christ could conceivably have re-established the Church immediately, but probably with the same results. So, it is our belief that He waited until the time was right. We see all of the major events in history following the Apostasy as being significant, from the development of the printing press to the Protestant Reformation to Columbus' discovery of the New World, to the settling of the United States to the American Revolution. All of these things, in the LDS view, paved the way for the original Church to be re-established. Please understand that we do not believe that Christianity ever ceased to exist entirely once it was established by Jesus Christ. We just believe that many of the things He taught were either lost or came to be misunderstood during the first few hundred years following His death.
There have been a couple who were excommunicated. It's been years and years since it happened, though, and I don't know a thing about the details. As far as any of them voluntarily stepping down, not that I know of. I could be wrong, though.Has anyone ever "abdicated" his position of Apostle?
It's easy. I don't have a life.I'm impressed you have time to write so much!
No, it has nothing whatsoever to do with heaven. We just don't believe ours is the only world God has created and populated with life. Think outside our solar system. In all of the universe, with millions of light years separating the thousands of galaxies there are out there. We believe that God's creative powers are so much more vast than what humanity has so far been able to observe.Can you unpack this comment a bit? My understand is "worlds without number" factor into the Mormon understanding of heaven, is that right?
Actually, I'm not sure I understand your question. I'm just going to try to elaborate a little on what I said before and see if that clears up the confusion. If it doesn't, let me know.If "Jesus Christ is the literal, physical Son of a divine Father and a mortal Mother", how can He have existed as spirit before His birth? Does that not mean He existed before being God's Son?
The large number of verses? To the best of my knowledge, there is only one -- the one you quoted. The Greek word that was translated as "spirit" is "pneuma." It was translated in John 4:24 as "spirit," but elsewhere in the scriptures as "life." So, it would be equally correct to say, "God is life." We believe that God is the source of all life. In other words, He is not some kind of a non-living entity without feelings or emotions or any of the other qualities that we think of as denoting life. He is real and alive. That is what we believe is meant by "God is spirit." The fact that He is spirit does not, however, preclude Him from having other characteristics. We believe that He is a spirit clothed in a perfect, immortal, incorrupible body. We believe that He looks essentially like His Son, Jesus Christ, of whom the scriptures say was "the express image of His [Father's] person."How can the Father have a body of "flesh and bone" given the large number of verses that declare God is Spirit (eg. John 4:24 "God is spirit")?
Regarding God's omnipresence:A physical body would limit God to a specific location which seems contrary to numerous passages that declare His omnipresence.