Joseph Smith was rejected and criticized by his contemporaries because of his unrelenting testimony that he saw God, and for his claim that he had been called by God to restore authority to administer the fullness of the Gospel in preparation for the return of Jesus Christ to the earth.
The splintered condition of Christendom eventually resulted in clerics and professors of religion that would not nor could it support the idea of a single true church because of the many factions. Jesus Christ presided over a single organization when he and his apostles were presiding over it on earth why would it be differnt today and why do the modeern scholars and clerby dismiss the concept of order in the Kingdom of God.
These ministers and "men of the cloth or collar" at some point started their preaching careers viewing the gospel according to their own dictums and basic theology of seminary-taught Bible scholarship. They also conceived a non-biblical "church of all true beleivers" no matter which denomination they pertain to. This was one of the ideas used by Martin Luther to convey that differences in teachings and biblical understanding did not really matter. This of course is a fallacy in reasoning.
Often calling themselves biblical Christians, modern theologians, and clerics teach doctrines that are firmly rooted in the conclusions of early Christian thinkers and philosophers. From the earliest times in the Catholic church, its monks and some earlier predecessor bishops etc. The Protestant reformation added to the sectarian nature of Christianity producing exponential divisions and evangelical movements.
Early critics of Joseph Smith the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints established a pattern of misleading falsehood that has been perpetuated to the present. Many of the criticisms of Joseph Smith came from some of his associates and members that became disaffected with him. They sought to slander his name and character and claim that he was a false prophet. Modern biblical apologists use these conjectured narratives to claim that the Church of Jesus Christ has no place in modern Christendom.
Many efforts over the last 200 years or so have sought to demonstrate that the Book of Mormon is the work of a fraud. None have succeeded. Modern mainstream Christianity claims that the Bible is the only word of God and that in some manner it is inerrant. Bible scholars, however, do not agree on its inerrancy as it has been sufficiently demonstrated that it does have many errors and can obviously be misunderstood.
The methods and mocking tone critics use when speaking about the LDS church its doctrines and its leaders demonstrate a bias and fallacious effort to mislead and misinform people.
Since the beginning of his ministry Joseph Smith and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have endured the false propaganda promoted by their critics. As I have extensively engaged in dialogue over the last 15 years in online forums, I have attempted to learn just what it is that mainstream or trinitarian views teach about God and why the Church of Jesus Christ is opposed so vehemently as non-Christian as some claim.
The long-standing teachings and doctrines that have been formed around the Bible by Christian thinkers are not really from the Bible but are actually conclusions, opinions, and theories of centuries upon centuries of scholarly endeavors. This is a key difference between so-called mainstream doctrines and the doctrines and teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
LDS teachings are based on revelation from God to prophets and are congruent with the Bible and authoritative. Just as Jesus taught as one with authority, we would recognize that many must have taught before him that lacked authority and understanding.
Evangelicalism and the viewpoints it represents are founded on the idea of an eternally self-existing sovereign being. It is identified as an all-powerful, all-knowing, and incorporeal holy force. They say it cannot be described or comprehended by mankind.
The dogmas surrounding this concept of deity are based on creeds and philosophies formed in the church in the early centuries after Christ and his apostles were killed. Early Christian thinkers developed the template by which the Bible would be understood using metaphorical figures of a father and a son that would fit the biblical narrative. God is not a male being nor are the parts of the Trinity. They have no actual relationship with each other as they are the same being.
These ancient Christian philosophers and theologians concluded that God could not be omnipresent if he were an actual corporeal being. These thinkers had no knowledge of how light waves travel or how sound waves can penetrate solid objects. They declared the Trinity to be a mystery never to be understood, and yet have failed to figure out its intentions for around two millennia. These scholarly theologians act as if they had been appointed to do such work.
These theological conclusions inherited by modern professors of religious ideology were based not on revelation, but on the limited understanding of men, and their scholarly endeavors. These errant doctrines and precepts have been maintained in the divinity and theological schools of modern Christendom. As Joseph Smith taught differing doctrines, his theology of God the Father as a person, of Jesus Christ as actually being his son was rejected.
While incomprehensible, the Trinity can still be worshipped by humans as it projects itself into a metaphorical father and son to fit the narrative of the Bible. Humans are according to their teachings mere creatures, formed from previously non-existent dust. The creation of dust or earth into a habitable world is done by some magical process. Science has since established that energy or matter cannot be created or destroyed, only altered and the materials of the universe and endless cosmos are eternal and never-ending, just like God is.
The theories of early church clerics and philosophers lead them to believe that God must exist by a separate set of principles all its own. They have nothing to do with the principles by which the earth was created and the laws of physics, even though God is the one that ordained them. Their template says that God doesn't need anything to create from and so science is ignored.
According to classical Christian scholars and theologians, Adam and Eve were created with the intention that they were to live forever in the Garden of Eden to have fellowship with the Trinity. They were placed there in a "saved" condition as souls that could live forever if they managed not to eat from the one forbidden tree.
Under these conditions, there was no grace involved with their existence in the paradisiacal garden other than the fact that they had nothing to do with their existence. They have created beings, and as such, they were little more than pawns to respect or worship the all-powerful creator who was nothing like they were. Their existence like ours is from grace, however, their salvation was pure works.
Their personal salvation, that is their continued opportunity to live in the presence of God was purely a matter of their own works. It consisted of not eating from the fruit of one tree, The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. If they managed to not do this one thing, they could live with God forever in the garden as naked children with adult bodies, forever being tempted by God's arch enemy, Satan, as their fellow inhabitant.
One might think that if this were the case, Adam would figure out how to make an axe and cut down this nefarious tree so as to avoid the disastrous effects that God had said would happen if they ate from it. Apparently, he did not even have the knowledge to make an axe or remove their only temptation.
Concerning the matter of grace, traditional Christian theology teaches that Adam and Eve through their transgression brought condemnation upon all of mankind. Adam's opportunity to stay in the Garden of Eden and enjoy God's presence was entirely based on obedience to one commandment. Do not eat from the Tree of Knowledge.
The fundamentalist conclusion of Christian scholars implies that Jesus is a backup plan. They have determined that grace is not the method to go back to God and it requires no participation on our part. We can only be saved by a random act of grace by confessing our belief in Jesus and no further action is required.
To make the scene more incomprehensible, why would an all-knowing God such as the Trinity, who must have been terribly bored after doing nothing for all of eternity, put a devil (it had been created out of nothing, not even from the dirt of the earth), in the garden with the human creatures. (Why would an all-powerful, all-knowing force create these pawns-like beings? Was this an experiment of some kind? Apparently, such a creation had never been attempted before until the record in Genesis.
How could this God's actions be motivated by love as some Christian philosophers have speculated since by its omniscient power it knew what was about to happen, and yet proceeded to allow it. This deity had been preparing for all of eternity past and was now ready to plunge humans into a world of misery and suffering, for no apparent reason other than to exercise Its own sovereign force and will.
When the garden experiment failed and man was smitten with death, the Trinity went into what might be described as a clean-up mode. It became apparent or expedient that the triune force would need to separate its being into three persons and sacrifice a metaphorical son so that the biblical narrative could be satisfied. They needed a savior, a Jesus because that is what the Bible calls for.
The incredible book, the Bible, that would eventually get put together would contain the full statements of the Creator's incomprehensible will. This book would be interpreted by scholars and doctrines evaluated by philosophers. Their opinions would become the means by which salvation would be preached to modern Christian believers. Nothing is required, grace is the answer, and Jesus did it all. All of the unintended souls, the creatures that would descend from Adam's loins would now have a chance to live forever, but only if by chance they get one thing right, that is, they must believe what the Bible scholars are telling them.
This would come in the form of grace that would require that a person of the triune God looked like, or at least had the appearance of the human creatures as a man. This made it possible for some of the more evil men to kill him on the cross and this would be the manner of salvation. How is it that the sins of the human race are paid for with blood? How is it that the all-powerful force and will of the Trinity could not simply expunge sin by speaking? To understand these and other questions about the Savior's Atonement and the actual manner and workings of Grace please read https://endlesstimeandspace.blogspot.com/2010/03/why-did-jesus-have-to-die.html
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