liz3564 wrote:thews wrote:
Liz, please define one piece of the Mormon doctrine of Joseph Smith that is accepted as "Christian". The answer is there isn't anything Christian about Mormon doctrine. The one common doctrine is belief in the Bible, but the Mormon prophet of God changed the Bible, making all of Mormon doctrine exclusive to Mormonism.
This attempted wordplay is easily compared to the differences between Judaism and Christianity. Jews reject the New Testament. Christians reject the Mormon doctrine translated by Joseph Smith. I would guess you'd counter with "some Christians" reject Mormon doctrine, and I would counter that makes as much sense as stating "some Jews" reject the New Testament. This question attempts to define what Christianity encompasses and fails to define what a "Mormon" is by definition. I can agree that Mormonism has roots in Christian doctrine, but Mormon doctrine is not, in any way shape or form, "Christian"... it's "Mormon" by definition.
For arguments sake, let me present an absurd analogy. The Lucky Charms leprechaun speaks to me telling me that he has a restored doctrine of Jesus Christ. I translate the magical plates he gives me using magical seer stones and change the Bible. Would a church based on this premise be defined as "Christian" because I started with the Bible and claimed Jesus Christ was giving me this new doctrine? Isn't the concept of a "restored" version of what Jesus Christ supposedly taught warrant a different definition? In this analogy, I place as much faith in a cartoon leprechaun as I do in Joseph Smith as a prophet of God. Do you see the point?
First of all, Joseph Smith did not rewrite
the entire Bible.
We use the King James version of the Bible as our canon, with cross-references pointing to portions of the Bible which Joseph Smith retranslated.
What is your point? Just because Joseph Smith "translated"
some of the Bible and you "use" the JST cross-referencing the KJV it makes it the same? The two versions of the Bible are different and exclusive to the faiths that use them. The question regarding what defines a "Christian" faith is based on doctrine. If you believe Joseph Smith was a prophet of God, and Joseph Smith "translated" the Bible to include himself in it, it makes the two different. Only Mormons accept the JST, as Mormons accept Joseph Smith and all of Joseph Smith's doctrine as of God... none of which is shared by other Christian faiths. If you want to play the BCspace card and claim what is "official" doctrine, it doesn't negate placing faith in Joseph Smith as a prophet of God would assume one would accept his translation (revised) version of the Bible.
liz3564 wrote:Setting that aside, there are several versions of the Bible being used by various Christian sects. If I am not mistaken, the Catholic Church has its own version. There is also the NIV. How is using either of these versions of the Bible any different than using the KJV with cross-references?
Because only the Mormon faith uses Joseph Smith's translation... the
only one. Arguing semantics of which version of the Bible other "Christian" churches use is an attempted poly to paint the ruse there are minor differences... they are not minor and there are volumes of doctrine only Mormon use to define who Jesus is. Again, are Jews Christians because Christians claim they are? No, they are not, and that's because they share some doctrine, but Christians accept doctrine Jews reject, which warrants a different definition.
liz3564 wrote:I believe in the same beatitudes, the same sacrifices of Christ that you do, Thews.
Not if you believe in planet Kolob, polygamy as a requirement to enter into God's glory, the brother of Satan and one of two personages (who were both men) you don't... they are not the same. One version, Jesus is God in man, and the other version (Joseph Smith's), are completely different. Heaven is different, and Christians (according to Joseph Smith) are damned for rejecting Mormon doctrine.
liz3564 wrote:I am the first to admit that Mormonism is NOT Orthodox Christianity, and I have been very vocal about my objection to many of the tenets. But I will not stand by and be told that as a Mormon, I do not worship Jesus Christ. It is ludicrous. I do worship Jesus Christ.
Do what you wish and believe what you wish regarding
your belief that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God, but Christianity rejects Joseph Smith as a false prophet of God. Only Mormons (LDS) believe in Joseph Smith and his doctrine as of God... it is not Christian.
liz3564 wrote:I could care less about whether or not the LDS Church is admitted into the country club of mainstream Christianity, but I'll be damned if you, or anyone else is going to tell me whether or not I worship Jesus Christ.
I'm not attempting to tell you what you believe, but I'll be damned (literally) if some charlatan named Joseph Smith is telling
me I'm damned for rejecting his hocus-pocus translations through his magic rocks. The discussion focuses on what Christianity accepts regarding doctrine, and Christianity rejects Joseph Smith as a false prophet of God and all of Mormon doctrine as false. Do you agree with that statement?
2 Tim 4:3 For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine.
2 Tim 4:4 They will turn their ears away from the truth & turn aside to myths