World a giant urim?

[_The Nehor]

Think holodeck. See what you want to see.

[_The Nehor]

You either believe in credible Prophets of God who actually spoke Truth that they had been given through their Prophetic gifts and calling, or they were making it up as they go along. You really can't have it both ways. If half the time they're just speaking their own opinions, and there's no way to determine when they are and when they're actually a conduit for Truth from God, and you can't ever really tell what is what, then they are simply not credible.

We call the way to determine which is which the Holy Ghost.

[_Sethbag]

And obvious weakness with this claim is that the Prophets, Seers, and Revelators must not have had the Holy Ghost when they said what they said, but now you come along, and you do. Right.

Also, how do you resolve the conflict where one person claims a witness from the Holy Ghost of point A, and another claims a witness from the Holy Ghost of (not A)? There is no reliable, reproducible method or way of determining anything at all by means of the Holy Ghost which will yield a consistent answer. It all boils down to what any given individual thinks about it. That's hardly reliable.

I simply refuse to accept or believe that a God exists who would want and need so badly for us all to know certain Truths about him and his plans for us, and then only communicate it to us through such unreliable means, and give us no reliable, consistent method to discern the truthful answers that really are from him, and those that aren't.

[_mentalgymnast]

There's nothing obviously special about the magic rock Joseph Smith used to find treasure and translate the Book of Mormon, so why does the Earth have to be anything other than what it is right now to function as a grand and glorious Celestial Magic Rock?

I know there's the tidbit about a sea of glass, and Charity brings up the streets of gold. Did anyone mention the gumdrop trees, and the chocolate fountains? We're all going to live in these great and spacious Gingerbread houses on this giant sea of glass with the streets of gold, and we'll just look down at the ground whenever we want to know anything, because it'll all be a giant Celestial magic rock.

Excuse me for sounding so sarcastic, but the whole notion of all of this really happening is retarded.

Joseph Smith didn't know what he was talking about regarding the age of the Earth, or the Flood of Noah, or 6 foot tall Quakers living on the Moon. Those are all acknowledged to be just his fallible human opinions. But the bit about the Earth turning into a giant Celestial Magic Rock, well, that's doctrine you can hang your hat on.

The fact is, however, that what will be...will be. If the earth is changed, or changes, at a certain point in its future, and it will, what will those changes look like after all is said and done? Can the changes be conceptualized and described completely...now...here on this board? Nope. If there were to be resurrected beings existing on this world, would the world as we know it be sufficient/adapted to the needs of a resurrected being(s)? Would the earth need to be changed in some manner...fundamentally... to adapt to the needs of its new occupants?

We don't know. Plain and simple. What we do know is that some have speculated as to what a post telestial world would look like. How far off are they? How close are they? I don't know that we can sit here and actually know either way.

Regards,
MG

[_mentalgymnast]

And obvious weakness with this claim is that the Prophets, Seers, and Revelators must not have had the Holy Ghost when they said what they said, but now you come along, and you do. Right.

Also, how do you resolve the conflict where one person claims a witness from the Holy Ghost of point A, and another claims a witness from the Holy Ghost of (not A)? There is no reliable, reproducible method or way of determining anything at all by means of the Holy Ghost which will yield a consistent answer. It all boils down to what any given individual thinks about it. That's hardly reliable.

I simply refuse to accept or believe that a God exists who would want and need so badly for us all to know certain Truths about him and his plans for us, and then only communicate it to us through such unreliable means, and give us no reliable, consistent method to discern the truthful answers that really are from him, and those that aren't.

Some truths (lower case t) are relative. Truth (upper case T) itself...is not.

Regards,
MG

[_The Nehor]

And obvious weakness with this claim is that the Prophets, Seers, and Revelators must not have had the Holy Ghost when they said what they said, but now you come along, and you do. Right.

Also, how do you resolve the conflict where one person claims a witness from the Holy Ghost of point A, and another claims a witness from the Holy Ghost of (not A)? There is no reliable, reproducible method or way of determining anything at all by means of the Holy Ghost which will yield a consistent answer. It all boils down to what any given individual thinks about it. That's hardly reliable.

I simply refuse to accept or believe that a God exists who would want and need so badly for us all to know certain Truths about him and his plans for us, and then only communicate it to us through such unreliable means, and give us no reliable, consistent method to discern the truthful answers that really are from him, and those that aren't.

God also knew that if he let slip his greatest Truths too easily no one would value them.

Then there's the whole do the will of the Father and you shall know of the truth of the doctrine.

[_mentalgymnast]

I simply refuse to accept or believe that a God exists who would want and need so badly for us all to know certain Truths about him and his plans for us, and then only communicate it to us through such unreliable means, and give us no reliable, consistent method to discern the truthful answers that really are from him, and those that aren't.

Print media, television, internet, and word of mouth are fairly effective means of communication.

He gave us our mind, heart, opportunity to pray, and intellect. What other gifts would you demand in order to reliably discern truth from error? Do you think that it's possible that a person could be mistaken even though they claim to have used these gifts? If so, how would you fix it so that there isn't room for error?

If you were God, that is.

Regards,
MG

[_Jersey Girl]

If you meant the question seriously, ck, I think the answer is that is has to do with communication between spheres. And the idea of the Heavenly abode being something other than dirt is Biblical. Streets of gold, etc.

I never heard any earth-as-sun teaching.

charity,

What do you mean by "spheres"?

[_beastie]

According to Joseph Smith, the glorified earth will be a glorified peep stone. I'm trying to understand what the appeal is of living on the surface of a giant urim.

The appeal is that the righteous will be able to find all the slippery treasures and get 'em quick before the skeery spooks make 'em slide down in the earth.

[_Gazelam]

If you meant the question seriously, ck, I think the answer is that is has to do with communication between spheres. And the idea of the Heavenly abode being something other than dirt is Biblical. Streets of gold, etc.

I never heard any earth-as-sun teaching.

charity,

What do you mean by "spheres"?

The word "Spheres", as in Spheres of influence, is actually a more appropriate word than the frequently used term of "Kingdoms". This is in reference to the three kingdoms known as Telestial, Terrestrial and Celestial.