Mormonism

Something About Mormonism

“But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed!” (Gal 1:8)

 

Journal,

The expression, ‘neither fish nor fowl’ can be applied both to Islam as well as to Mormonism. It doesn’t take an in-depth study of the Muslim faith, to realize that Mohammed set about to embrace elements of Rabbinic Judaism with elements of Christianity, and thereby creating another religion that was neither Rabbinic Judaism nor Christianity. He merely borrowed components from both.

A term used for the mixing of religions is the term syncretism. Syncretism is the fusion of different systems of thought or belief with the result of creating something very much unlike the two blended systems of thought or belief. And of course the boast of Mohammed was that his religion was the only true faith.

So you have something similar in Mormonism. While Mormonism wishes to find itself as the only true Christian religion, actually it is far removed from what is commonly recognized as Biblical Christianity. The Latter-day Saint religion followed the same route as Islam. It has produced a hybrid religion.

It is interesting to note that both Islam and Mormonism were brought into place by angel appearances. For Islam it was supposedly the angel Gabriel. Mohammed’s angel encounters left him bewildered and frightened. He thought he was losing his mind or had been demon possessed. Over time he came under the influence is this spirit being and thus produced his new religion called Islam. [Islam means submission. Of course the sword became the means of submission.]

For Mormonism it was the angel Moroni. The story of Moroni has changed in character and name several times in Mormon history. Be that what it may, let’s move on.

Perhaps it is enough to take heed the Biblical warning about angel messengers –

“I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ.

“But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed!” (Gal 1:6-9)

And again,

“For if one comes and preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted, you bear this beautifully. …

“…For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds.” (2Co 11:4-15)

Leaving Islam aside let’s consider the Latter-day Saints. Most people today are little aware of the latent side of Mormonism and why it is often considered a cult religion by many.

It would be well for my readers to do some personal research on Mormonism. Most of this journal entry will simply be quotes from various writers. Here are some books that I recommend.

 

For Personal Study and Research…

 (1) ‘No Man Knows My History – The Life of Joseph Smith’, by Fawn M. Brodie. (Fawn Brodie’s uncle, David O. McKay, was the 9th president of the Church of Latter-day Saints. 1870-1970.)

The title of Brodie’s book comes from a recorded statement Joseph Smith made at a funeral:

“You don’t know me. You never knew my heart. No man knows my history. I cannot tell it; I shall never undertake it I don’t blame anyone for not believing my history. If I had not experienced what I have, I could not have believed it myself.”

(2) ‘In Sacred Loneliness – The Plural Wives of Joseph Smith’, by Todd Compton. (This book has documentation from diaries of Joseph Smith’s several wives.)

Editorial Review: “Compton has compiled a meticulously researched and masterly study of Mormon Joseph Smith’s 33 wives. The women are presented individually, with many of their own documents cited. Compton contends that ‘Mormon polygamy was characterized by a tragic ambiguity’: infinite dominion in the next life vs. a social system that did not work, thus resulting in acute neglect of the wives. These “key women have been comparatively forgotten,” surprisingly so considering the reverence Mormons hold for their founding prophet and how important polygamy was to Smith.”

(3) ‘An Insider’s View of Mormon Origins’, by Grant H. Palmer.

Note: Palmer is a three-time director of LDS Institutes of Religion in California and Utah, a former instructor at the Church College of New Zealand, and a LDS seminary teacher at two Utah locations.

From the Preface: “I, along with colleagues, and drawing from years of research, find the evidence employed to support many traditional [official Mormon] claims about the [Mormon] church to be either nonexistent or problematic.”

(4) ‘Sidney Rigdon – A Portrait of Religious Excess’, by Richard S. Van Wagnoner.

Description: “Disciples of Christ minister Sidney Rigdon was one of the most significant early converts to Mormonism. His education proved indispensible to Joseph Smith, as together they updated the Bible, received revelations, drafted the Lectures on Faith, dedicated the first temple, and formalized LDS theology. But Rigdon’s unstable temperament made him an ultimately unreliable counselor.”

 

Quotes from ‘Sacred Loneliness – The Plural Wives of Joseph Smith’

[From the introduction] “The supernatural–revelations, prophecy fulfilled; miraculous healings and glossolilia; visitations from dead relatives, from angels, from demonic spirits, and from the Three Nephites–comprise a major element of nineteenth-century Mormon writings.”

“This was a time of frequent blessing, tongue-speaking meetings, which were dominated by women. On the first day of 1847 Louisa (very large with child), Eliza, Zina Young, and Patty celebrated with a blessing meeting filled with glossolilia and prophecy.”

From the diaries of Joseph Smith’s wives. (No corrections made on the English.)

Brigham Young had 55 wives

[Patty’s and Eliza’s diaries.] “‘Went to a meeting to Eliza Beamans with many of the sisters.’ … all spoke in tongues on June 2. The next day Louisa, Elisa, Zina, and Emily laid their hands on Patty Sesions’s head and gave her a prophetic blessing. After another blessing meeting during a rainstorm on June 9, Eliza ‘went home with Loisa & Z. in the mud rejoicing.’ The next day Louisa, with others, spoke in tongues…”

[Zina’s diary.] “The gifts of the gospel were manifest the first time I ever sang in tong[ue]s after being baptized into the church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints – around me was a light as the blaze of a candle – I was surrounded [it was] a heavenly influence and no unpleasant sensation from that day the gift has remained with me.”

Note: Accord to Zina the gift of tongues rested upon her with such “overwhelming force” that she became “alarmed” and “checked its utterance.” As a result the gift left her, and she felt she had offended the Holy Spirit. … The gift returned, and Zina kept her vow; she would take part in glossolalia and interpreting tongue speech throughout the rest of her life. She and Eliza Snow, with Elizabeth Whitney, would be the most enthusiastic tongue-speakers in the early [Mormon] church. Thus women practiced a prophetic mode in early Mormonism …

Emmeline Wells would later write that Zina gave “the interpretation of hymns, psalms and sacred songs in the most musical and happy manner, without thought or hesitation. There is something divinely beautiful in thus rendering, by the gift of inspiration, words uttered in an unknown tongue.”

 

From No Man Knows My History

In this book we read about “nervous spasms and swoonings” that were attributed to the Holy Ghost. Here is a quote:

“There were now about one hundred and fifty converts in Kirkland, more than twice the number that had followed him from New York State. But Joseph was disturbed by the fanaticism that possessed this people. Prayer meetings were punctuated by fits and trances. Converts would roll along the floor to the church door and out upon the frozen ground in a masochistic frenzy. Some would mount stumps to preach to imaginary congregations in unknown tongues…”

Note: Joseph Smith finally forbade the preaching of Mormonism by anyone but an elder who had been ordained by the church.

There is an interesting fact about one of Joseph Smith’s teenage wives. He married Lucy Walker when she was about sixteen years old. This is what Lucy writes:

“[At the next prayer meeting the newly baptized children] “spoke in tong[u]es, others prophesied; again another has the gift of faith, to heal the sick … “

Lucy Walker was the last of Joseph Smith’s proxy wives to die. Lucy passed away on October 1, 1910.

 

An Issue of Concern

How about these esoteric experiences such as the Mormons espouse, or those that Mohammed underwent? Do they confirm that a thing is from God? What many don’t realize is that esoteric experiences, such as those of the Mormons, and the experiences of Mohammed, can never be trusted in themselves as being of God. They can be demonic in origin, but they can also well fit into a psychological framework.

A psychological experience can be induced in certain intense religious environments. It is very real to the person having it. But the question remains, ‘Is it of God?’ 

For example speaking in tongues is a known phenomena in just about every religious grouping of people on planet earth. Consider this quote from the Dictionary of Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements, page 33:

“Spiritualistic glossolalia and related phenomena among spiritual mediums were among the first studied by psychologists near the beginning of the twentieth century. … Pathological glossolalia is known to medicine and psychiatry, the result of such causes as organic neurological damage, effects of drugs, or psychotic disorders. Schizophrenic disorders have furnished examples of glossolalia. Most relevant to Christian glossolalia are clearly reported cases of pagan glossolalia, both ancient and modern…. [Glossolalia] was used sparingly among American Indians but was widespread in African tribal religions.”

Well, perhaps I’ve said enough for now. So, I will simply leave this with my readers. You can decide for yourself where any of this fits in your own belief system.

Just some things to think about.

[signoff]

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God Chose Jerusalem – Not Rome or Mecca or Jackson County, Missouri

What’s this about Rome, Mecca, and Jackson County, Missouri? 

Let me get this out-of-the-way. And without saying too much, of course Rome is the Center of the Roman Catholic world. And, no, the Roman Catholic Church is not and never can be called the original church. It is far removed from ancient Christianity. I’ll leave little said about that.

As for Mecca, this is the holy city for the Muslims. Mohammed set about to replace the Biblical record of God’s redemption program through Jesus Christ, with a theology that has replaced Jacob/Israel with the Ishmaelites, as God’s favored redemptive people. Mohammed disclaimed Jesus as God’s Son and that Jesus Christ did not die on the cross, but that He was a prophet. Not the greatest prophet, mind you. And when Jesus returns He will convert the world to the Muslim faith. (Enough on that.)

And as for Jackson County, Missouri, well, that is where Joseph Smith taught was the site of the original Garden of Eden, and thus prophesied that Jesus Christ would return there to a temple to be built in Independence, Missouri, as the temple of New Jerusalem.  

It’s not that these three religions allow no room for an earthly Jerusalem in their theology. It is all the other things that twist and turn to make their religions the true religion of God. And isn’t it interesting how all three center so very much on spiritualism and esoteric experiences, including angel visitations. 

Oh well, there is a lot more to all these stories, but let’s get past all this and on to the matter of God choosing Jerusalem.

 

God has chosen Jerusalem

“’Sing for joy and be glad, O daughter of Zion; for behold I am coming and I will dwell in your midst,’ declares the LORD. ‘Many nations will join themselves to the LORD in that day and will become My people. Then I will dwell in your midst, and you will know that the LORD of hosts has sent Me to you.’

“The LORD will possess Judah as His portion in the holy land, and will again choose Jerusalem.” (Zec 2:10-12)

 

 

Journal,

The Bible speaks of two Jerusalem’s, an earthly Jerusalem, and a heavenly Jerusalem. Of the heavenly city we have this, “But the Jerusalem above is free; she is our mother.” (Gal4:26) Of the earthly city, the prophet of old called her, “the bloody city.” (Cf. Eze22:2; 24:6; 24:9)

Is it not strange why thebloody city has always had a central place in God’s plan of redemption? And yet the earthly Jerusalem is also called, “The city of the great King.” (Cf. Psa48:2; Mat5:35)

Ever wonder why is the earthly Jerusalem called, “The city of the great King.”?

Or, why is Jerusalem the most contested city on earth?

Or, why Jesus wept over Jerusalem?

Understand the answers to these questions and you will know much more about the redemption of God. The more we gaze at the Bible, the more we will see Jesus. And the more we gaze at the Bible, the more we see why Jesus wept over Jerusalem.

Let’s begin with …

 

God’s Heavenly City

Yes, there is a heavenly and holy city of God. Abraham had seen in his heart a wonderful city. It says…

“By faith he [Abraham] lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise; for he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.” (Heb 11:9-10)

Of the saints of old, we have this:

“All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own. “

“And indeed if they had been thinking of that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them.” (Heb 11:13-16)

The Bible begins closure with a description of God’s heavenly city. John wrote:

“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.” (Rev 21:1-2. Cf. Isa65:17-19)

This brings us to …

 

The Earthly Jerusalem

Abraham is instructed to offer his son on the mountains of Moriah.

“[God] said, ‘Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you.’” (Gen 22:2)

Moriah is where Jerusalem is situated. Isaac was the miracle child of Abraham and Sarah. And it is in this event where the Lord sets forth a prophetic picture of His Son, Jesus Christ, and the cross.

Rather than detail the event, let’s look at what happens when the Lord stops Abraham from sacrificing Isaac. Listen carefully:

“Then Abraham raised his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him a ram caught in the thicket by his horns; and Abraham went and took the ram and offered him up for a burnt offering in the place of his son.

“Abraham called the name of that place The LORD Will Provide, as it is said to this day, ‘In the mount of the LORD it will be provided.’” (Gen 22:13-14)

The mount of Moriah is where each of the successive temples would be built, beginning with Solomon’s and on to the millennium temple.

But another term is also import. ‘The Lord will provide’ can be equally translated, ‘The Lord will be seen.’ The Hebrew word, ra-ah, is a verb meaning, to see, or to appear. It is a word of vision or visitation.

Remember what Jesus said over Jerusalem as He wept? Listen:

“When He approached Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, ‘If you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes.

“’For the days will come upon you when your enemies will throw up a barricade against you, and surround you and hem you in on every side, and they will level you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, …

“… because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.’” (Luk 19:41-44)

So, yes, God’s redemption will be provided for and seen in Jerusalem. But that is not the end of the story. The day will also come when Jerusalem will indeed recognize her day of visitation. There are Jewish people turning to Jesus at this very time in record-breaking numbers. (Did you know that for the first time in history Israel is allowing American troops in their country. – to my understanding -).

So Jesus added,

“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling.

“Behold, your house is being left to you desolate! For I say to you, from now on you will not see Me until you say, ‘BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD!'” (Mat 23:37-39)

Jerusalem is nearing her time of visitation where she will call Jesus the blessed One, the Lord God of Israel.

 

Jerusalem, the City of Redemption

Where is the major hot spot in news today? Why are Muslims so adamant on East Jerusalem as their capital?

They know that Jerusalem is the city of redemption. And Satan well knows that Jerusalem speaks of redemption.

Jews to this day have their bodies sent to the Mount of Olive for burial.

At the Eastern Gate is a Muslim cemetery. The Bible speaks of the glory of God returning to Jerusalem through the Eastern Gate.

Jews, Muslims, and Christians know God’s redemption program begins and ends in Jerusalem.

But something has to happen to bring Jerusalem to her knees?

The Lord spoke through prophet Hosea, saying,

“I will go away and return to My place until they acknowledge their guilt and seek My face; in their affliction they will earnestly seek Me.” (Hos 5:15)

This is where we need to see a prophecy that tells the story of Jerusalem –

“Come, let us return to the LORD. For He has torn us, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bandage us. He will revive us after two days; He will raise us up on the third day, that we may live before Him.

“So let us know, let us press on to know the LORD. His going forth is as certain as the dawn; and He will come to us like the rain, like the spring rain watering the earth.” (Hos 6:1-3)

And so, the gospel story begin with the Jews. Once it has circled the earth, it then ends with the Jews.

 

The Mystery of the Christian and the Jew

The great mystery of the Jew and the Christian is difficult for many to grasp. The new covenant began with the Jews and it fulfills itself with the Jews. What slowed down to a trickle through the years, is now beginning to become a mighty stream.

Jews are looking at Jesus afresh, in a way unknown since destruction of 70 A.D.

What did God tell Moses?

“Then He said, ‘I will hide My face from them, I will see what their end shall be; for they are a perverse generation, sons in whom is no faithfulness.

“’They have made Me jealous with what is not God; they have provoked Me to anger with their idols. So I will make them jealous with those who are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.” (Deu 32:20-21)

Keep ‘not a people’ in view.

Peter quoted from Moses on the day of Pentecost. He also quoted Moses with regard to the Christian people of God.

“But you [Christians] are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession…

“…so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; …

“… for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God, you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” (1Pe 2:9-10)

Yes indeed, the Jews and Christians have had a love-hate relationship from the beginning. The hate part will disappear in God’s time.

Hope this short study has stirred your heart.

Please take time for this song. The Lord wants to speak to you.

‘The Holy City’ by John Starnes

 

 

Your Servant in Christ always,

Buddy


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