Written by John Carson
Mormons believe that on May 15, 1829 John the Baptist appeared to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery, and conferred the Aaronic Priesthood to them as part of the restoration of God's Church on earth.
Because none of the Christian denominations had this and the Melchizedec Priesthood, the LDS church (Mormons call "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints") claims that they all were void of authority to proclaim God's message. Mormons believe that their church is the only true church on the face of the earth.
What this means is that the foundation of the LDS Church stands or falls on two major points:
1) Their claim of a complete apostasy of the Christian Church, and;
2) their alleged sole possession of what they call their ‘priesthood authority.'
There is no Biblical evidence of a complete falling away of the Christian Church. In fact, the Bible tells us that a complete apostasy is impossible.
For example, if the Christian Church fell into total apostasy, there would be a time when God would not be glorified in the church, right? Well, Ephesians 3:21 reads:
“Unto him be glory in the church by Jesus Christ throughout all ages, world without end.”
Since God is glorified in the church throughout all ages, a total apostasy never happened.
Other passages you can look up are Ephesians 4:11-16 which speaks not of the Church degenerating, but maturing spiritually; Matthew 16:18, where Jesus promised that not even the gates of Hell can prevail against His Church. Hebrews 12:27-28 and Daniel 2:44 tells us that God's Kingdom cannot be shaken and can never be destroyed.
As far as the so-called ‘priesthood authority' is concerned, Hebrews chapter 7 reveals that the Aaronic Priesthood was done away with by Jesus' death on the cross (verses 11 and 12), and that Jesus is the only One who holds the Melchizedec Priesthood, which verse 24 reveals that it cannot be transferred to another.
What all this means is that there is no Biblical evidence for starting the LDS Church on the false grounds that the Christian Church had completely fallen away, and that the LDS Church is void of the authority of which it claims to have.
See also Broken Promise
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John@DoorwayChristianOutreach.info
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Is it your intent to share your faith with me? I'm a devout Latter-day Saint.
30.06 | 17:21
Let's add, the keys to Death and Hades (Revelation 1:18) the key of David (Rev. 3:7) the key of knowledge (Luke 11:52) and the keys of the kingdom of heaven (Matt.16:19) only given to Simon/Peter.
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Intuitive
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Checked out the great video. 👍 Thumbs up!
The Mormon Religion was officially founded by Joseph Smith Jr. on April 6. 1830 after the Book of Mormon (BOM) was published in that same year.
Joseph Smith Jr. was born in Vermont on December 23, 1805. He claimed that when he was 14, he received a vision from God the Father and Jesus Christ in a grove of trees near his home where he received instructions not to join any of the Christian churches because they were all wrong.
Three years later, Smith claimed that an angel named Moroni (a character found in the BOM) appeared to him in his bedroom whom he said revealed to him that he was selected to translate "Reformed Egyptian" (a language that does not exist) from gold plates into old English. These plates were supposedly hidden near Palmyra, New York and are said to be written around the 4th century. The BOM was named after Moroni’s father, Mormon. Mormons view the BOM as sacred. No one is able to study the original plates because Joseph Smith claimed the angel took them back on May 2, 1838 (History of the Church 1:60).
Smith had a scribe named Cowdery. Smith did not actually translate directly from any plates. Rather, in his writings, he said he placed a "seer stone" in a hat and covered any light from entering it as he placed his face in the hat. According to Martin Harris, “By aid of the seer stone, sentences would appear and were read by the Prophet . . . , and when finished he would say, ‘Written,’ and if correctly written, that sentence would disappear and another appear in its place, but if not written correctly it remained until corrected,” Smith said, “By the power of God I translated the Book of Mormon from hieroglyphics".
Despite such methods of translation, there have been at least 3,913 changes made in the BOM from the time it was first published. Joseph Smith stated, “I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book.” Smith also claimed that John the Baptist appeared to him on May 15, 1829 while he was translating the BOM, and instructed him to restore the church by preaching the only true gospel.
Mormons regard the BOM as sacred writings, and view it in higher standing than that of the Holy Bible. Mormon Missionaries will ask you to pray that it is true. (See our page Pray to Know)