Why do you think that God hasn't chosen the leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to speak for Her/Him?
If God has chosen the leaders of TCoJCoLDS to speak for Him, this has yet to come to fruition as evidence by the LDS church's current teachings. An ongoing prayer of mine is that God would do a work in TCoJCoLDS much like he did with The Worldwide Church of God https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLQRIUU9-9c (warning-- contains the c-word re: TWCoG).
It is my understanding that a true prophet would have had a divine encounter with God, whatever a prophet says comes to pass (Deut.18), is empowered to do miraculous things (Deut. 12), and Deut. 13:1-5 Though a prophet may perform miracles, do not listen if he teaches contrary to the word of the LORD. As I think someone else has mentioned, Jesus fulfilled the requirements of a prophet, priest, and king.
Basically, my answer to your question would be that TCoJCoLDS leadership does not teach the biblical gospel.
The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession... The LORD set his love on you and chose you... The LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery. Deut. 7
Although, he said his priest once told him he was more of a Protestant Catholic, which is a bit of a contradiction of terms.
It’s almost as if people can just make up whatever god suits them.
- Doc
Hugh Nibley claimed he bumped into Adolf Hitler, Albert Einstein, Winston Churchill, Gertrude Stein, and the Grand Duke Vladimir Romanoff. Dishonesty is baked into Mormonism.
Much to my delight, I have discovered that, among all the numerous atheists on this forum, there are a few Biblical Christians. In particular, Jersey Girl and Msnobody appear to be Biblical Christians, and I suppose there may be more that I haven't noticed. I'm not going to ignore any atheists who respond to this post, but I'm really addressing it to those few Biblical Christians. Why do you think that God hasn't chosen the leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to speak for Her/Him?
Kevin, you seem to start threads and then not contribute to them. Are we writing your thesis for you? Anyhow, on the assumption things have just simply slipped your mind please go back to the thread linked below (another one you started and then bailed out on) and answer the outstanding questions... viewtopic.php?f=4&t=156102&p=2806244#p2806244
Maybe he just needs more time. He did mention being in school, married and raising a child, If I recall correctly.
The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession... The LORD set his love on you and chose you... The LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery. Deut. 7
It’s rare to find believing Mormons anywhere who will respond to and engage criticism.
Take one look at DCP’s blog. He lets gemli stay as a token punching bag, but bans everyone else.
It’s just too emotionally painful for most Mormons to discuss their religion critically, after decades of indoctrination to stay away from anything “anti” lest their fragile little faith be damaged.
If you believe that God would ever give authoritative guidance to an earthly religious institution as such, then you're going to believe that God inspires your own institution, not some other one. If you believe in popes, you generally believe in the Pope.
Maybe this is a fun topic just to see which of the more predictable answers will be shared, but I would say that it is surprising anyone cares to ask why some other group does not accept a different set of beliefs as just as true as their own. It is a silly question on its face. You will hear something about Mormon teachings not being Biblical--I have not read the answers, so pardon me if I offend--but the humorous part of this is that there is no consistent Biblical teaching or theology. The various books of the Bible contradict each other all over the place. Moreover, why is it suddenly that an old book that was put together in the fourth century AD viewed to be so authoritative, anyway? It's the word of God? Really? Where to begin?
My bottom line is that people will believe what they believe. No one has the one right answer to the complicated questions, the imponderables. They do their best to follow their best inspiration. For some that is Mormonism, others atheism, others Southern Baptist, others Islam or Hinduism.
That one group should not view another as having the right answers is the most predictable thing in the world.
“If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don’t have to worry about the answers.”~Thomas Pynchon, Gravity’s Rainbow
Kishkumen, your response along with Physic Guy's succinct and 'on the money' reply a couple of posts before yours really do tell it all.
People do find their own paths and adhere to their own views - hopefully, with respect for others. Though the 'respect' part can be questioned, I see. What about conspiracy theories? What about views that cause obvious harm as Jim Jones and David Koresh led their followers to their deaths?
Perhaps that's why the golden rule ("Do unto others ...) and even the Hippocratic oath ("Above all else, do no harm") are universal and have stood the test of time.
For quite a few years I went to a weekly Bible study with a group of Mainstream Christians. I don't get out very often anymore, but I have discussed this topic multiple times with them. I can give you their response. First off, they tend to struggle with the whole idea of people being inspired directly by God in the first place. When I talked with them about personal revelation, they struggle with the concept. They firmly believe in sola scriptura, so when talking about inspiration, if you read a Bible verse and feel inspired about it, that is good. If you feel like God is talking to you directly, that makes them uncomfortable. We even have a Catholic in our Bible study group who doesn't think God ever speaks to the Pope. Although, he said his priest once told him he was more of a Protestant Catholic, which is a bit of a contradiction of terms.
Overall, in answer to the question, "Why do you think that God hasn't chosen the leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to speak for Her/Him?" I think the Mainstream Christians in my Bible study group would say, "God already chose people to speak for him, and his words are in the Bible. There is no need for God to have anyone speaking for him today, let alone the LDS Church. The only people who can speak for God will use the words of the Bible to reach out to people."
For those who are Mainstream Christians here, feel free to correct me if you think I'm putting words in your mouth.
John, I think what you report are views real people have.I do not think the subject has real firm boundaries or rules. I wonder and am a bit surprised with even casual contact with tv religion how many special words of inspiration these folks claim to receive. Unpleasantly much of the special inspiration I think is of low value.
I do not think God gives people special messages. How would the person know if it was from God and had value or not? How would anybody else recognize its value? Instead I think God's inspiration connects directly with a persons understanding so they use their natural understanding to see its value. Other people can recognize its value by the same means.
Elder Bednar was asked recently what he thought of most Christian religions and he said they are deceived. And when pressed about his own beliefs being deceived he just said you have to have faith.
I can't speak for David Bednar, but I wonder if he would agree with me that the critical difference is just what one has faith in. Biblical Christians believe the Bible tells the truth about God. Latter-day Saints believe God loves us, and wants us to know about Her/Him. If Biblical Christians are deceived, then there still might be some other ways to find out about God. If Latter-day Saints are deceived, then there is no way to find anything out about God.
