Christmas Book Citations God

Answering Mormons questions by Bill McKeever and Eric Johnson deals with 36 commonly asked questions by your LDS friends and neighbors. It's a great resource for Christians want to share their faith with friends and loved ones. Be sure to pick up your copy today at your favorite Christian bookstore viewpoint on Mormonism program that examines the teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints from a biblical perspective viewpoint on 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. Our thanks that of Ruben for that musical introduction welcome to this edition of viewpoint on Mormonism on your host, Bill McKeever, founder director Mormonism research ministry and with me today is Eric Johnson. My colleague at M are M this week we began a series looking at some of the books that were given as Christmas gifts by the first presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

They gave these books away between 1981 and 2017, there were given to other general authorities in the church as well as some of the employees of the church. The question that we asked at the beginning of the week is this. If a general authority was to give you a block and have you read it, would you think that what's in that book is something that that general authority believes and if he believes it. Do you think that you as a Latter Day Saints should believe it also got our website MRM.org/books employee gift and that would be hyphens between books, employee and gift and you can see the list of books are 37 of them three different times. I gave away the LDS Scriptures and the same time they gave away a lot of books written by presidents of the church. Obviously these are books that must've been important. Otherwise, why would they have put them in the leather and put such quality into giving those away you could not buy them. It was only for general authorities and other employees of the church.

Now the reason why we have them were Eric has them I should say is because he found these books on eBay. Some of them are still sealed in the cellophane that they originally came in and so I would have to assume that those that were still sealed were probably being sold by members of the church you perhaps did not think that that gift was really worth keeping, but that's another issue. The point is, does it make sense that the first presidency of the church would give away books that contain teachings that members should not believe now that doesn't make a lot of sense at all. That doesn't make any sense at all. But today were going to look at the topic of God looking up with some of these books had to say in relationship to the person of God the father and so the first one were going to deal with is a book that was given away as a Christmas gift. It was a book written by Joseph F.

Smith, the sixth president of the church titled gospel doctrines.

In this quote can be found on pages 453 and four, 54, he wrote it is said that God is a spirit, and they who worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth, but he is a spirit possessing the tabernacle of flesh and bones as tangible as a man's, and therefore to be like God and Jesus all men must have a body. Earlier in the week we discussed the topic of truth and how important truth is to a lot of these leaders in the church and should be important to members of the church as well.

This is one of those areas where we have to examine what's being said and ask ourselves is this man's explanation is Joseph F. Smith explanation of John 424 that says that God is spirit is his interpretation accurate. I would say no it is not.

It doesn't say in John 424 that God has a spirit, it says God is spirit. In fact, it's the King James the puts the word alien.

There actually reads God is spirit, and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth, so I would find Joseph F. Smith explanation of this passage or his exegesis of this passage to be faulty because the Greek does not support his conclusion, we have a friend, a mutual friend Mark Strauss and we asked him that question a few years ago and he said very clearly it cannot be translated. The way that the latter-day St. might want to make. It is funny how he takes John 424 and the verse says what it says and he says but he's a spirit possessing the tabernacle of flesh and bones. Where does it say that in John 424. In fact, where does it say it anywhere in the Bible. Now latter-day St. might try to pull verses of the Old Testament and verses that were personifying God an anthropomorphic sense that God has a hand or God has a nose and they say well that must be literal that's taken out of the context no Jewish person.

No Christian personal Muslim person. The monotheistic religions of the world would believe that God has a body of flesh and bones. Where does Joseph F. Smith and other Latter Day Saints get that well is from doctrine and covenants section 130 verse 22 we reject doctrine and covenants because Joseph Smith wrote it and we don't believe he had the authority to write Scripture as a latter-day St. might think we go on in these descriptions of who God is and we're going to look at another by Joseph Smith that's found in the teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, which was also given as a Christmas gift. This is found on page 370, and it says I have always declared God to be a distinct personage Jesus Christ as separate and distinct personage from God the father and that the Holy Ghost was a distinct personage and a spirit and these three constitute three distinct personages and three gods.

That statement can't possibly be true because when we look at the book of Mormon.

For instance, we don't find it, teaching as Joseph Smith claims that there are three distinct personages and three distinct gods.

We only need to go to Elm at chapter 11 verse 27.

Let me start with verse 26 because this is a conversation between Z's room and Emulex Z's room is a lawyer in this context and amulet is a prophet of God you cannot say anything which is contrary to the spirit of the Lord. According to Elma 1122 when you read verse 26 Z's room says to amulet thou sayest.

There is a true and living God and others.

The context, the question is, is there a true and living God. Emulex says yay there is a true and living God. Now Z's room then says in verse 28 is there more than one God, and we could easily imply that what this means is there more than one true and living God because that's the way the question was framed earlier. So is there more than one true and living God. Is there more than one God is the question in verse 29 what is Emulex say the man who could not see anything contrary to the spirit of the Lord.

He said no, no, that's the answer in verse 29. In other words, no there is not more than one true and living God.

So if the book of Mormon is teaching that there is only one true living God, and there is no more than one true and living God, where the world is Joseph Smith coming up with this notion that he has always declared God to be a distinct personage Jesus Christ as separate and distinct personage from God the father that the Holy Ghost was a distinct personage and a spirit and these three constitute three distinct personages and three gods.

Furthermore, folks. There a lot of other places in the book of Mormon that also mention that there is only one God and bear in mind the book of Mormon was one of the books that was given away as a Christmas gift by the first presidency.

Another quote from Joseph Smith teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, page 370. He said I will preach on the plurality of gods I have selected this text for that express purpose. I wish to declare I have always and in all congregations when I have preached on the subject of the deity.

It has been the plurality of gods. It has been preached by the elders for 15 years. But what I find fascinating about that citation is when he says this 15 years would take you to before the book of Mormon was actually written in 1830 and as your mentioning the book of Mormon very clearly teaches that there is only one God. Joseph Smith changes his mind certainly doctrine and covenants section 130 comes later, and at the same time. If you go back if the book of Mormon. Dean according to Joseph Smith the most correct book on earth and a man could get near to God by abiding by its precepts, and by any other book will then how did he contradict himself and the book of Mormon to say he is always taught on the plurality of gods earlier this week we talked about truth it's important for both the latter-day St. the Christian listening to us to understand were trying to understand what Mormonism is teaching were given a block by the first presidency. That's a classic teaches of the Prophet Joseph Smith.

They're not backing off on this that Joseph Smith says that it has always been in. So that must be true.

For the latter-day St. today and you would think that if we find Joseph Smith contradicting himself as he certainly does in the statements that we have just read. I mean, he did not always declared God to be three personages and three gods. He just didn't do that.

We certainly don't get that from reading the book of Mormon.

In fact, as we mentioned many times on the show rather than teaching. This distinct doctrine of tritheism, which is really what Mormons hold to today. In a modern sense. The book of Mormon teaches moralism that the father is the sun that certainly is a heresy that was not embraced by the Christian church, it was refuted so we don't find the book of Mormon teaching the doctrine of tritheism.

Another idea not only that there are multiple gods but we have the idea that man can become a God, Lorenzo Snow, the fifth president of the church came up with what is known as the Lorenzo Snow couplet while one of the books given by the first presidency is called the teachings of Lorenzo Snow, published in the leatherback addition in 2012 were not talking very a very long time ago.

Page 2 he says as God now is man may be now.

I have told you what father Smith said to me that I should become as great as I could want to be even as great as God himself.

About two years and 1/2 later in Nauvoo.

I asked Elder Sherwood to explain a certain passage of Scripture and while he was endeavoring to give an explanation. The spirit of God fell upon me to an marked extent, and the Lord revealed to me just as plainly as the sun at noon day this principle which I put in a couplet as man now is God once was as God now is man may be that fulfilled father Smith's declaration. Nothing was ever revealed more distinctly than that was to me that we've heard that snow's couplet is no longer being taught in Mormonism.

What would you say to that. Of course that's been taught. Anybody who just read some of the manuals that the churches put out especially the teachings of the presidents of the church manual twice in two manuals, the Lorenzo Snow couplet shows up so it most certainly is a doctrine of the LDS church today based on the statement you just read from the teachings of Lorenzo Snow, one of the books as you mention that was given away as a Christmas gift to general authorities and other employees of the church.

Why would they give away a book that includes this type of teaching if they felt that that teaching was no longer being taught or should be believed that we want to offer you a PDF of not only the quotes that we been citing here on the show but also many more that we just don't have the time to get into, but if they want a copy of that PDF.

Eric will mostly do go to our website, MRM.org and on the right side click on donate and for a generous gift of any size you can receive two different PDF files. We will mail to you in the next week were in include the PDF of your book in their own words in the added note section. If you could do us a favor. Just type in PDF so we know that you're requesting those two PDF files and if you give us the call letters of the radio station you listen to, or the state you live in. If you would do that. That will help us to know where you are from and hundred percent of that money is going directly into our radio ministry. Thank you for listening you would like more information regarding this research ministry. We encourage you to visit our website at www.mrm.org you can request a free newsletter Mormonism research. We hope you join us again as we look at another viewpoint is