Gazelam wrote:
Theres the Christ known by way of revelation and the teachings of the Prophets.
And theres the Christ known by way of the philosophies and false traditions of Men.
Only one brings salvation.
Richard:
When evangelicals assert that the LDS Christ is different from the Christ of the New Testament, many LDS get offended and respond that they worship the same Christ. Are these LDS wrong? Are they lying or just muddleheaded?
There are differences in the belief in Christ found in the Mormon Church as opposed to the beliefs found in other Christian churchs. Lets look at the First Vision and see what differences can be found there:
" When the light rested upon me I bsaw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other—This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!"
1 First, there is the fact that man can in fact see God. I had a Christian friend of mine actually tell me once that although Jesus walked and talked with people, no one ever actually saw him during his entire mortal ministry, that he used his God powers to obscure his features. (I'm not making this up, he was taught this in his church) This is only one example of the false interpretation taken from John 1:18
18 No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.
While this verse is heavily quoted, the verse a few pages later is often ignored. John 6:46
46 Not that any man hath seen the Father, save he which is of God, he hath seen the Father.
What is a spiritual man? Mosiah 3:19
19 For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.
This is then evidenced in Moses, when he spake with the Lord. Exodus 33:11
11 And the LORD spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend......
God was again speaking to man, as he did in times of old. This is a very different Jesus than is being proclaimed by the churchs of the today.
2 The Father and Son are two seperate beings. The loss of this knowledge has also led to the loss of the knowledge of our own inherent potential. When the scriptures declare that Christ is the Son of God, as He himself testified on numerous occasions, the Latter-day Saints take this as literal.
The Christian churchs of today speak of the Doctrine of the trinity. They try to meld the Godhead into an amalgam of deity in an effort to support the doctrine of the One True God. In the Sacred Grove Joseph Smith first saw the Father, who declared his sins forgiven, who introduced his Beloved Son. Christ then appeared and stood alongside his Father. This single event shattered the false doctrines that had grown up like a weed, chokeing the true doctrine and obscureing proper faith.
The boy prophet "saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description" standing side by side. Both were similar in appearance, and shared a similar glory. That the Son had ascended to stand alongside his Father, and they they were both God, sheds new light on the passages found in John 17:19-23
19 And for their sakes I asanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.
20 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;
21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:
23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.
As Christ grew up into the teachings and instructions of his Father, so can we follow his example. This understanding of Christ as our brother, who became as the Father, is unique to LDS theology. This sheds light on who we are and what we are capable of. And as we become as the savior is, Both the Savior and the Father are exalted further.
Gaz