Knowing you are a LDS, I understand why you must believe this. I believe LDS to be wonderful people, but i dont believe Joe Smith was a Prophet from God.
That's okay; I'm not asking you to.
When I read Gal 1:6-9 I steer clear of Prophets with different messages. Didnt Joe Smith say some angel gave him another gospel in some way that you call "Book or Morman? Isnt that exactly what this passage warns us of?
I can understand why you would say that, as that is what most non-Mormons believe about us, about Joseph Smith, and about the Book of Mormon. Let me just explain something about Mormonism that may help you understand my perspective. Mormons believe that Jesus Christ did, in fact, establish a Church as a part of His ministry here on earth. We believe that, as the Apostles (and particularly Paul) prophesied would happen, men changed that Church and it's doctrines became less pure over time. They also changed the organizational structure of the Church that Christ established. We believe that Jesus Christ re-established the same Church that existed anciently, and that He did so through Joseph Smith. It wasn't a "different gospel." It was the "original gospel." The differences between it and the rest of Christianity are due to the fact that many of Christ's original teachings came to be lost over time. They have now been restored.
All Religions Have Changes. But never has Jesus been denied by Catholics.
I certainly hope that you don't think I was implying that Catholicism denies Jesus Christ. Most Catholics I know personally, and those I know on this and other forums, are fine Christians. That doesn't mean I can accept all of their beliefs. On the other hand, I do accept quite a number of their doctrines.
When we read the book Revelation there are 7 Churches with different beliefs that Jesus considers his Churches. The Church of Philadelphia will not fall and Jesus says will keep them from the hour of Trial that the whole world would endure. i dont see how this church could fail...
I'm not quite sure how you are concluding that seven different churches, all with different beliefs, can all be equally acceptable to Jesus Christ. We are told that there is "one Lord, one faith, and one baptism." Today there are oer 30,000 different Christian denominations. No two of them teach exactly the same thing. On any given point of doctrine on which any of of these denominations differ, only one can be correct. I am sure that Jesus Christ considers all (or at least the vast majority) of these churches to be Christian Churches, and that He knows their adherents are worshipping Him to the best of their understanding. Still, the fact remains, if there is to be "one faith," 30,000 competing organizations cannot all be considered that "one faith." They may all be correct in many respects, but they cannot all be 100% correct. That is a mathematical impossibility.
But if someone told me that a man was visited by and angel with a different message and wrote a whole new book, i would think directly of Gal 1:6-10... As a LDS, has your book of Mormon or your beliefs ever changed since its origin? (Is it Perfect?)
Well, as I already said, we don't believe the gospel we teach is a "different gospel." Secondly, Joseph Smith didn't write the Book of Mormon. He translated it. You should read it some time. With respect to your question about changes in the Book of Mormon, let me just say that there have been far fewer changes in the Book of Mormon over time than there have been in the Bible. And do I believe it to be perfect? No, I don't, and I don't believe the Bible to be perfect either. Both may have been perfect as originally penned, but any time you have human beings involved, there is a potential for error. That's just common sense.
i read the passages you quoted and none of them say that the Christian belief would be lost and in need of a new movement to fix it. I see the opposite that the Faith will be attacked and not spared by the attackers so be on guard for False Prophets and Angels with another message claiming to be the New Truth different from what they preached.
Well, I guess we'll have to differ on our interpretation, then.
So, I guess the big question is knowing that I am a Quaker Friends Christian, what do you think is wrong with my belief that is different from early Christians?
Honestly, I don't know enough about your denomination to even comment on that, and I always make it a point to reserve judgment until I have studied anyone's beliefs in considerable depth. I will say, however, that on those online quizzes that are designed to help people figure out which religion is a good fit for them, I always get a high match with the Quaker Church. So evidently, our churches must have quite a bit in common.
Thanks for your reply of being a LDS, some people hide what they are. I just dont agree with you. I work with LDS's and on the surface we are very close in belief... Just i am unclear how one clould believe in Many Gods and becoming a God of their own planet if perfect. (Sounds like what the Devil wanted to me)
[/quote]Well, it appears to me as if you've sort of misunderstood your LDS friends. Just to draw an analogy to explain why I say that -- Catholics, as you probably know, believe in the doctrine of transsubstantiation, i.e. that when they receive the Lord's Supper, the bread and wine are
literally the body and blood of Christ. I'm not sure, but I suspect Quakers reject that doctrine. At any rate, if someone were to say that Catholics are cannibals, wouldn't you say that's just a bit of a misrepresentation of their doctrine? I have a feelng that Mormon doctrine wouldn't seem quite so bizarre to you if you understood it better. Still, this probably isn't the thread on which to have such a discussion.
