Please click on the title and go to the Expositor's web page. Great stuff!
The Lost Symbol of Mormonism? NO.....
"God presides in the great assembly." Psalm 82:1
The great assembly is in the great Hall of Justice (1Kings 7:7) in heaven.
"In The Lost Symbol, the front and center theology is that of Apotheosis--of humans becoming gods." (Exaltation and The Lost Symbol, Scott Holley, September 21, 2009, http:timesandseasons.org/mormonreview/wordpress/?p=107#more-107)
The 'essay' titled "Exaltation and The Lost Symbol," (Dan Brown, The Lost Symbol, New York: Doubleday Books, 2009), points to the conclusion that one of the subjects within this book supports the Mormon theology that Mormons will become gods. The essay uses Psalm 82 from the Bible as support for their (Mormons) exaltation into the eternities as a "god."
"God presides in the great assembly; he gives judgment among the "gods". How long will you defend the unjust and show partiality to the wicked? Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked. "They know nothing, they understand nothing. They walk about in darkness; all the foundations of the earth are shaken. "I said, 'You are "gods"; you are all sons of the Most High. But you will die like mere men; you will fall like every other ruler." Rise up, O God, judge the earth, for all the nations are your inheritance." (Psalm 82)
"If The Da Vinci Code highlighted one key element of Mormon theological distinction from Evangelical Christianity with the origin of Biblical scripture, then The Lost Symbol masterfully articulates the second-exaltation and man's divine potential." (Ibid, same essay)
"The psalm was understood in rabbinic circles as an attack on unjust judges who, though they have been given the title "gods" because of their quasi-divine function of exercising judgment, are just as mortal as other men." (NET Bible.org)
"PS 82 A word of judgment on unjust rulers and judges. The Levitical author of this psalm evokes a vision of God presiding over his heavenly court-analogous to the experiences of the prophets (see 1Ki 22:19-22; Isa 6:1-7; Jer 23 :18, 22; see also Job 15:8)." (The Holy Bible, Footnotes on psalm 82)
God is the King and Judge over all, especially over all of the rulers and judges on this earth. The "gods" are earthy humans who have earthy power; those who rule and judge while here on this earth. For those humans who defend the unjust, show partiality to the wicked, utterly devoid of true understanding of moral issues or of the moral order of God's rule sustains, God will "judge" them. Within this psalm, "gods" is used as a term that applies to types of authorities. "God, Most High, and O God," is used to describe the "Most High God" or our Father who is in the "great assembly."
"This offhand assertion is especially interesting given the ultimate message of the book-that not only are we gods, but we are able to access our divinity through shared spiritual experiences, and that truth is often found in such "wide acceptances". (Ibid)
In psalm 82 the message is clear that the God of the Most High is the only God who will judge all in the end. All other gods are not significant in stature, only to do His work on earth. If that work is not according to His will, then the "gods" will have very harsh judgment by by "GOD". This psalm is not about becoming a god, the Mormons are wrong.
One of The Books
I was given several books lately by a good friend whom she and I think very similar. She handed over these books as a gift from the heart. Thank you very much! I've been reading the material I was given and, WOW, there's so much info here. I started to read one particular book tonight and thought I'd share a little. So here it goes:
Title: A Winter with the Mormons
Edited by: David L. Bigler
Preface by: George Miles
Printer: Tanner Trust Fund
Date: 2001
My rating: *****!! (so far)
I had just finished the preface, and I had to give everyone a taste. If you like what you 'taste' then by all means, buy the book!!! I'm gonna quote just a little bit:
"Goodell's broad critique of Mormon society built upon his contempt for polygamy. His observations of Mormon legal, economic, and political relations continually return to the theme of expedient self-indulgence as the primary engine of Mormon behavior. Whether they are making cowardly deals with "savage" Indians, selling goods at inflated prices to hard-pressed travelers, using the courts to extort money from unfortunate outsiders, or seeking to obtain federal funds for irregular purposes, Goodell's Mormons are undisciplined, selfish, and unprincipled. When confronted with evidence of the sacrifices the pioneers have made to emigrate to Salt Lake or with their willingness to subordinate individual comport to the needs of the larger community, Goodell sees not nobility but craven fear of the Danites, the Church's secret militia.
Goodell's depiction of a corrupt, authoritarian society reflects a broader theme in American popular culture of the ante-bellum years, the fear that powerful conspiracies were undermining American freedom. Critics castigated the Freemasons, Roman Catholics, the slave-power conspiracy, and the abolitionists as secret, self-serving organizations whose ambitions were incompatible with American democracy. In such an era, Mormon social cohesion was seen not as an inspiring expression of community but as a political, economic, and social threat." (A Winter with the Mormons, preface pgs Xll and Xlll)
Did that wet the ole' appetite? Did mine. Now I'm off to read some more of this fantastic book. Go get your own!
More Thinking Has Been Done For Them
An article in the LDS Church News on January 09, 2010, titled: "Use Proper Sources" states in a lot of words that one should only use the resources that the Mormon church sees fit for its members. That means the GA's already did the thinking and the homework for you so all you have to do it quote it from their text books. How convenient for those poor brain dead people who just can't/aren't allowed, to think on their own. Oh, the web site is www.ldschurchnews.com
SAINTS ALIVE in JESUS Newsletter
Please click on the heading to go to Tacoma's web site.
You can go to www.saintsalive.com for more information!
Mormon Missions Midwest Outreach Newsletter
CLICK ON EACH PHOTO TO READ THE CONTEXT OF THE NEWSLETTER. DON'T FORGET TO GO THEIR WEB SITE FOR MORE VALUABLE INFORMATION! CLICK ON THE HEADING TO GO THEIR WEB!
Mormon Home Evening
Mormon Home Evening |
Posted: 15 Apr 2010 08:02 AM PDT
In the early 1500's, a man named Martin Luther figured out something important -- the Roman Catholic Church, of which he was a devout and devoted part, was abusing its power. Among other things, the church was selling -- for money -- forgiveness and passes to heaven.
Luther could see that the church was in error because Luther had thoroughly studied the Holy Bible.
In Luther's day, the Catholic lay-people knew little of what was in the Bible. The Catholic clergy used a Bible written in Latin, a language that the common people did not speak or read. The clergy, by keeping the Bible to themselves in this way, were free to misinterpret the holy book to their own benefit -- and thus they did.
In an attempt to end the wrongful practices of the Church upon the people, Luther himself translated the Bible into German. Though he did not, at the time, particularly agree that a few of the books belonged in the Bible, he did not presume to add to, nor take away from, the Bible as it was. He translated God's Word, making it accessible to the masses.
Skip ahead three centuries. In the early 1800's, a man named Joseph Smith produced a book called the Book of Mormon, which condemned the Catholic Church for its errors, calling it the "great and abominable church". It should be understood that the "Reformation", a movement that had started with Martin Luther, would have been widely recognized by Smith's day.
This is a good time to add just a little more information about the Reformation. According to www.theopedia.com,
"The theology of the Reformers departed from the Roman Catholic Church primarily on the basis of three great principles:
* Sole authority of Scripture,
* Justification by faith alone, and
* Priesthood of the believer. "
In other words, in the view of the Reformers (who had read and studied the Bible for themselves), where the Catholic Church was most errant was in
1- Going above/around the Bible for spiritual/religious doctrine
2- Teaching that salvation had more requirements than faith in Christ
3- Claiming exclusive "priesthood" for the religious elite, rather than for each born-again believer (1 Peter 2:9).
Joseph Smith and his Book of Mormon claimed that the Catholic Church had erred by taking many "plain and precious truths" from the Bible, and that he was the one to put those truths back in. This post is not going to address his work on the Bible, other than to state that it is easy to prove that what Joseph "restored" came from his creative imagination and desire to prove himself a prophet.
The question for this post is, since Mormonism since its inception has believed the Catholic Church is the church of the devil (or at least the main face of said church), why has it done the exact same thing?
Specifically:
1- The Mormon Church claims that there is authority over and above the Bible: the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, the Pearl of Great Price (all produced by Joseph Smith), and the teachings of the LDS authority figures.
2- The Mormon Church has added to faith many other requirements.
3- The Mormon Church teaches that priesthood is only for worthy LDS males.
The Catholic Church was able to keep its people subjugated to the Church and its leadership by keeping them away from a knowledge of the Holy Bible.
Martin Luther gave people the power to read the Bible and thus freed them, financially, emotionally, and spiritually from the religious wrong-doings of the Roman Catholic religion.
The Mormon Church keeps its people subjugated to the Mormon Church and its leadership by keeping them away from a knowledge of the Holy Bible.
The LDS have the Bible in their homes, in their own language. But their religion still keeps the Bible truth out of their minds and hearts in at least five ways:
1- The LDS religion insists that the Bible can not be trusted (the 8th Article of Faith).
2- The LDS religion has created and taught new definitions for terms in the Bible, so that when a Mormon reads the Bible, s/he is confused. Some examples of this are the teachings a) that there are two "God the Father"'s, b) that salvation equals universal resurrection and the ability to overcome sin, and c) that 'priesthood' is an authority or power that gets handed down from one faithful (to the church) Mormon man to another.
3- The LDS religion emphasizes Book of Mormon reading over Bible reading. The Book of Mormon contains plagiarized sections of the KJV Bible, with minor wording removed or inserted. It contains Bible stories with new character names and reworked story details. It also contains separated and recombined Bible passages. Because a Mormon is typically more familiar with the Book of Mormon than the Bible, Bible comprehension is negatively affected by the reader's Book-of-Mormon 'lenses'.
4- The LDS religion has an official version of the Bible, the KJV. The King James Version, written in Old English, contains out-dated words and phrasing. More modern Bible translations, such as the NKJV or the NASB, are much more easily understood by the modern reader!
5- The LDS Bible comes with chapter headings. These headings look like they are brief overviews of each chapter. However, they are really used to promote Bible-contrary LDS church doctrine. For instance, the chapter heading for 1 Corinthians 8 teaches that there are many real gods, just as Joseph Smith did from this same piece of scripture.
I was a Mormon. Like Martin Luther, I'm protesting that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is keeping their members away from them the truth of and in the Bible, for the sake of money and power. My efforts, and those of people like me, will probably not bring the Mormon Church to its knees. But my prayer is that many Mormons will still find the Bible, and because of it, be freed from Mormonism and saved into the Life of Jesus Christ.
by Staci Lee![]()
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Luther could see that the church was in error because Luther had thoroughly studied the Holy Bible.
In Luther's day, the Catholic lay-people knew little of what was in the Bible. The Catholic clergy used a Bible written in Latin, a language that the common people did not speak or read. The clergy, by keeping the Bible to themselves in this way, were free to misinterpret the holy book to their own benefit -- and thus they did.
In an attempt to end the wrongful practices of the Church upon the people, Luther himself translated the Bible into German. Though he did not, at the time, particularly agree that a few of the books belonged in the Bible, he did not presume to add to, nor take away from, the Bible as it was. He translated God's Word, making it accessible to the masses.
Skip ahead three centuries. In the early 1800's, a man named Joseph Smith produced a book called the Book of Mormon, which condemned the Catholic Church for its errors, calling it the "great and abominable church". It should be understood that the "Reformation", a movement that had started with Martin Luther, would have been widely recognized by Smith's day.
This is a good time to add just a little more information about the Reformation. According to www.theopedia.com,
"The theology of the Reformers departed from the Roman Catholic Church primarily on the basis of three great principles:
* Sole authority of Scripture,
* Justification by faith alone, and
* Priesthood of the believer. "
In other words, in the view of the Reformers (who had read and studied the Bible for themselves), where the Catholic Church was most errant was in
1- Going above/around the Bible for spiritual/religious doctrine
2- Teaching that salvation had more requirements than faith in Christ
3- Claiming exclusive "priesthood" for the religious elite, rather than for each born-again believer (1 Peter 2:9).
Joseph Smith and his Book of Mormon claimed that the Catholic Church had erred by taking many "plain and precious truths" from the Bible, and that he was the one to put those truths back in. This post is not going to address his work on the Bible, other than to state that it is easy to prove that what Joseph "restored" came from his creative imagination and desire to prove himself a prophet.
The question for this post is, since Mormonism since its inception has believed the Catholic Church is the church of the devil (or at least the main face of said church), why has it done the exact same thing?
Specifically:
1- The Mormon Church claims that there is authority over and above the Bible: the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, the Pearl of Great Price (all produced by Joseph Smith), and the teachings of the LDS authority figures.
2- The Mormon Church has added to faith many other requirements.
3- The Mormon Church teaches that priesthood is only for worthy LDS males.
The Catholic Church was able to keep its people subjugated to the Church and its leadership by keeping them away from a knowledge of the Holy Bible.
Martin Luther gave people the power to read the Bible and thus freed them, financially, emotionally, and spiritually from the religious wrong-doings of the Roman Catholic religion.
The Mormon Church keeps its people subjugated to the Mormon Church and its leadership by keeping them away from a knowledge of the Holy Bible.
The LDS have the Bible in their homes, in their own language. But their religion still keeps the Bible truth out of their minds and hearts in at least five ways:
1- The LDS religion insists that the Bible can not be trusted (the 8th Article of Faith).
2- The LDS religion has created and taught new definitions for terms in the Bible, so that when a Mormon reads the Bible, s/he is confused. Some examples of this are the teachings a) that there are two "God the Father"'s, b) that salvation equals universal resurrection and the ability to overcome sin, and c) that 'priesthood' is an authority or power that gets handed down from one faithful (to the church) Mormon man to another.
3- The LDS religion emphasizes Book of Mormon reading over Bible reading. The Book of Mormon contains plagiarized sections of the KJV Bible, with minor wording removed or inserted. It contains Bible stories with new character names and reworked story details. It also contains separated and recombined Bible passages. Because a Mormon is typically more familiar with the Book of Mormon than the Bible, Bible comprehension is negatively affected by the reader's Book-of-Mormon 'lenses'.
4- The LDS religion has an official version of the Bible, the KJV. The King James Version, written in Old English, contains out-dated words and phrasing. More modern Bible translations, such as the NKJV or the NASB, are much more easily understood by the modern reader!
5- The LDS Bible comes with chapter headings. These headings look like they are brief overviews of each chapter. However, they are really used to promote Bible-contrary LDS church doctrine. For instance, the chapter heading for 1 Corinthians 8 teaches that there are many real gods, just as Joseph Smith did from this same piece of scripture.
I was a Mormon. Like Martin Luther, I'm protesting that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is keeping their members away from them the truth of and in the Bible, for the sake of money and power. My efforts, and those of people like me, will probably not bring the Mormon Church to its knees. But my prayer is that many Mormons will still find the Bible, and because of it, be freed from Mormonism and saved into the Life of Jesus Christ.
by Staci Lee
