Christmas Book Citations Doctrines of Salvation Part 2

.1 examines the teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints from a biblical perspective viewpoint when Mormonism is sponsored by Mormonism research ministry since 1979 Mormonism research ministry has been dedicated to equipping the body of Christ with answers regarding the Christian faith in a manner that expresses gentleness and respect. And now, your host for today's viewpoint on Mormonism are thanks Adam for a bail for that musical introduction welcome to this addition viewpoint on Mormonism.

I'm your host, Bill McKeever, founder and director Mormonism research ministry with me today is Eric Johnson. My colleague at MRM we continue looking at a book that was given away as a Christmas gift by the first presidency in the year 2001 that is titled selections from doctrines of salvation. Doctrines of salvation was originally a three volume set that was compiled by Bruce McConkie who was the son-in-law of Joseph Fielding Smith. This book is really been quite a standard. If you want to understand Mormon doctrine and I can see why they would want to give a book such as this away as a Christmas gift. Joseph Fielding Smith does seem to have a handle on traditional Mormonism and this is what we find in the three volume set as well is in this that was compiled from the three volume set which, as we mentioned yesterday, somebody had to go through the three volume set and choose what is going to be in this special leather bound addition that would be given away as a Christmas gift. Obviously the person or persons who put these quotations together for this book must've believed that those teachings were things that Latter Day Saints should believe and that's why it makes this book so exceptional is because this is published by the church itself.

This is not published as the other set was published by book craft were looking at what Joseph Fielding Smith had to say regarding Adam and Eve. But before we do. Eric, how can people get the quotes that we are citing. All we need to do is go to MRM.org our website and in the search engine type in Christmas book in the first article to come up contains links to all of the books in the Christmas series from 1981 to 2017. Including these from selections of doctrines of salvation. Today were going to look at a statement that can be found on page 85 of selections from doctrines of salvation having to do with what exactly was the transgression of Adam, the transgression of Adam did not involve sex sin as some falsely believe and teach Adam and Eve were married by the Lord while they were yet immortal beings in the garden of the 94 death entered the world. I know there's nothing in the book of Genesis that spells out the fact that Adam and Eve had to have a wedding ceremony that was officiated by God the father. It makes me wonder why would they even need a ceremony like that since marriage is designed to protect the family, particularly offspring from that couple. And there were no other people on the earth at this time.

Why would a ceremony even be necessary. These are the creations of God himself, and this is what he designed mean they can't procreate.

Until God the father reads a few certain words over them in a ceremony of some sort that that's doesn't make any sense at all. There is no biblical support for this idea that Adam and Eve were married and he says I the Lord on page 85, but later pages 169, 170 we get more clarity as to who the Lord is. He said God the father married Adam and Eve marriages established in the beginning was an eternal covenant, the first man in the first woman.

Adam and Eve were not married until death should park them for at that time. Death had not come into the world this ceremony. On that occasion was performed by the eternal father himself, whose work endures forever. Can you see how many assertions not based on Scripture at all are included in that short little paragraph. Look at all the assumptions that are being made marriage as established in the beginning was an eternal covenant talk about celestial marriage for time and eternity is that we were supposed to understand by what Joseph Fielding Smith is saying here. Where would you support that from Scripture, you certainly couldn't.

You certainly couldn't even support from the book of Mormon, much less the Bible billing that previous quote on page 85, Smith said that the transgression of Adam did not involve sex, sin as some falsely believe and teach that you and I off air were asking the question, what does that mean sex sin and who was talking about that and the thing that came to my mind immediately.

Was this doctrine called the serpent see Dr. or dual seed or two seed line and I'm just reading from Wikipedia is not necessarily a scholarly publication, but I think they do a pretty good job in one paragraph explaining what this says is a controversial religious belief which explains the biblical account of the fall of man by saying that the serpent, Satan mated with Eve in the Garden of Eden and the offspring of their union was cane it appears in early Gnostic writings such as the Gospel of Philip which came around 350 A.D. Ira Naess, an early church father explicitly rejected the doctrine is heresy, a view which was echoed by mainstream Christian theologians. The serpent see Dr. has occasionally been promoted in more recent times, such as by American religious leaders Daniel Parker, who was from the 18th and 19th centuries, William M. Branham from 1909 to 1965 and Arnold Murray from 1929 to 2014. The belief is also held by the unification movement or the Moonies and some adherents of the white supremacist theology known as Christian identity who claim that Jews are descended from the serpent so there is this idea out there that the serpent makes with Eve if he's referring to that. That's just an interesting thing for him to bring in here but he doesn't give us a whole lot of context of work from you. I would almost think that he probably is not going that deep. I think he's probably just trying to make a point that hey, it's not like Adam and Eve were having sex that was not sanctioned by God because God performed a marriage ceremony for them again.

That's an argument from silence, but if it makes Joseph Fielding Smith feel better.

I guess that's unnecessary doctrine that he has to believe in. He also talks about in the selections from doctrines of salvation. On page 109 that the gospel was taught from the beginning. This is what he says these principles were taught to Adam after he was driven from the garden of Eden, who repented and was baptized in water for the remission of sins, and received the Holy Ghost and he makes a reference over to the book of Moses, chapter 6, which is found in the Pearl of great Price billets and interesting to me. The idea that a person would repent and be baptized in water, which seems to be a reference over to acts chapter 2, verse 38 for the remission of sins and receiving the Holy Ghost when the Holy Ghost is not been presented in its full form the Jesus promised in John chapter 14, in John chapter 16 so this sentence seems very clear that it's a New Testament concept that the book of Moses discusses will not only that, I think it shows us to have one big huge anomaly here because not only are those phrases that you just mention something that we find in the New Testament, and even unique to the New Testament the word gospel itself, where he says gospel taught from beginning. That's also a New Testament understanding. We don't see that in the Old Testament either. What were trying to get across folks as it's real easy for these guys to come up with some kind of an idea that's an New Testament concept and try to make it appear that it could have been believed in the Old Testament, but if that is a fact. Then is it really right for the Latter Day Saints to say that the great apostasy took place after the death of Jesus and the apostles. If this was really going on in the Old Testament era.

You would think that the Jews should also be accused of a great apostasy as well because we do not find these concepts as understood in the LDS church being belief or practice by the Jews in Genesis to Malachi, I think you're making a great point Bill and I think at this quote on page 328 will confirm what you've just said.

And again were saying that this is what Joseph Fielding Smith is teaching he's giving us from Moses. Chapter 5 doctrine and covenants section 20 doesn't give us anything from the Bible but listen to what he says on page 328, Adam received the holy priesthood and was commanded by the Lord to teach his children. The principles of the gospel. Moreover, Adam was baptized for the remission of sins. There we go again for the same principles by which men were saved in the beginning, in that day as many as repented and were baptized. Receive the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands. Adam made all these things known to his sons and his daughters. So Bill, what you're saying is well if Adam received the gospel being taught from the very beginning and then he takes this repentance and baptism and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost of these are mainly New Testament concepts and then he makes them known to his sons and his daughters will then how did it not continue so that Abraham would've found out down the road and and go down to Moses and go through the prophets and then later I before you get to the New Testament that this should have been taught all along, but we don't see anything in the Old Testament about baptism, we don't see anything about receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost.

And so there must've been apparently previous apostasy before there was the great apostasy I have heard some Latter Day Saints argue that the lever in the temple area was a place for baptisms but yet the Bible tells us very clearly that this was for ceremonial washings of the priesthood had nothing to do with the understanding of baptism for the remission of sins is understood by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I guess the point that we want to get across here is it's really easy for these false teachers, of which Joseph Fielding Smith certainly was as well as his great uncle Joseph Smith, the founder of the Mormon movement.

It's easy for them to try and say that these principles were involved all along and that they're not unique to the LDS church but I think again, this becomes a grand opportunity for us to challenge our LDS acquaintances by compelling them to tell us where they back up a statement like this, you notice what Joseph Fielding Smith does here in these comments is merely make assertions. He really doesn't even try to defend these statements from any type of biblical text.

He goes to the book of Moses, but even the book of Moses is questionable. It's connected to the Joseph Smith translation and of course the Joseph Smith translation.

I firmly believe would read much differently had Joseph Smith commenced with that work not in 1830, as history shows, but let's say 1844 with the Joseph Smith translation.

For instance, speak so much about monotheism with those verses from Isaiah.

Speaking of only one God being in the Joseph Smith translation if Joseph Smith was to have done that work and let's say 1844. I don't think so. I think the Joseph Smith translation itself would look very different had Joseph Smith done that not in 1830 to 1833 but let's think before he dies.

In the mid-1840s.

This guy is making it up as he is going along and because these people believe he's a prophet. They just assume what he's saying is true. Unlike debris and when it comes to the apostle Paul who at least took what he said and verified it through the biblical text, and I think you can say Bill that we as evangelical Christians are not going to be impressed by citing Moses and doctrine and covenants to support ideas that are never found in the Bible. Thank you for listening.

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