From: agr00@ccc.amdahl.com (Anthony G Rose)
Newsgroups: talk.religion.misc
Subject: Re: Christians are not Christians.
Keywords: Mormon, LDS, Christian
Date: 8 Oct 92 03:52:06 GMT
Reply-To: agr00@JUTS.ccc.amdahl.com (Anthony G Rose)
Organization: Amdahl Corporation, Sunnyvale CA

>So what if the Mormons are making an honest mistake?  Doesn't Jesus love them
>too?  If so, won't he straighten them out bye and bye?  im by

Sincerity gets you no where.  If I get on an airplane bound for Dallas,
no matter how sincere I want to go to New York, that plane is going to
touch down in Dallas.  That is the same issue as eternity.  If you have
the wrong path, you will wind up in the wrong eternity!

>I am a Mormon that converted from the Baptist faith over thirty years ago.  I
>became a Mormon because I honestly believe that Jesus visited Joseph Smith in
>New York state when Joseph was fourteen years of age.  Sure, he may have been
>lying.  He may have been crazy.  He may have received a Satanic vision.  But I
>honestly don't think so.  I think he saw the Father and the Son and spoke to
>them.

Do you have any evidence?

>In the New Testament the Savior says that to follow him, you have to follow
>whom he has sent.  Well he has sent Joseph Smith.  If we don't follow Joseph
 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
      -(could we have a reference please?)


>Smith, we aren't willing to follow the Savior.  If we refuse to follow the
>Savior, then we are not Christian.  Christians are the followers of Jesus
>Christ
>
>Mormons are the only Christians in the world because only they are following
>the man, Joseph Smith, whom Jesus sent.  If a man who lived in the days of
>Peter, James and John had refused to follow Peter, James or John would he have
>been a true follower of Jesus?  I think not.  
>
>We cannot reject those Jesus has sent to us and claim to be His followers, that
>is, Christians.

We have to put them to a Biblical test.  If they fail, then we cannot
consider them to be a true Prophet of God.  Have you put him to the
Biblical test in Deut. 13:1-5, and Deut 18:20?  Or have you only prayed
about it?  Now where does the Bible tell us to pray for facts about
wether someone is a prophet or not.  But it does say test all things
(1 THESS 5:21) and it gives us a test (Deut 13 & 18).  In Acts 17:11 the
Bereans were considered the "more noble" because the "searched the
Scriptures daily to see if what Paul said was true".  We need to do the
same about Joseph!

>Do you actually know for a fact that Joseph Smith did NOT speak to the Father
>and the Son?  Do you know for a fact that Joseph Smith was a fraud or a
>lunatic?  What if you're wrong?

I know that he doesn't measure up to the test in the Bible.  If he doesn't
pass the test God has already given us, then why should be even consider
him even further or pray?  God has already spoken, and Joseph fails.


>Sure you have the Bible, but so do we.  How can you be certain that you don't
>misunderstand it?  Are you sure you understand it completely?

No one understands it completely.  But do you understand the parts that
your eternity depends on?

>You think I'm wrong about Joseph Smith being a prophet sent by Jesus Christ. 
>Well, what of it.  If I am, it's an honest mistake.  The Savior will surely
>lovingly correct me somewhere along the line, won't he?

(See above about sincerity)

>But what if you are wrong?  If you are wrong, you are fighting against the
>Savior.  That's not really a very good idea because you know whose side that
>puts you on, don't you?

If Joseph is not a true prophet of God, then there is nothing else to
consider!  That fact is already been derived.

>In your place I would be nice to Mormons just in case.  The Savior asked us to
>love each other in any case.  And he didn't say we should only love people who
>belong to our own church.

I love Mormons with all my heart and am incredibly concerned for their
eternities.  My department recruits at BYU and I have LOTS of LDS friends.
WE are concerned for one another!


>When I was a Baptist, I believed in Jesus.  But my faith in Jesus has grown
>enormously since I became a Latter-day Saint.  The only reason I became a
>Mormon was because I felt that the Latter-day Saints were preaching Jesus
>better than any of the Protestant denominations.  And in thirty years I have
>not learned of anything in the LDS church to make me feel differently.
>
>The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints preaches Jesus better than any
>other church on earth.  That is why I love it so.

Which Jesus?  (2 Cor 11:4)

>So, stop fighting about Jesus!  He doesn't like it.  He wants us to love one
>another.  If our mistakes are honest mistakes, He will give us additional light
>and truth bye and bye.  I really believe this with all my heart.

You need to study friend.  Please write to me!
Newsgroups: talk.religion.misc