Why do "Christians" not understand that there is only one true gospel of Christ .....?
....... and MANY false ones? Like this one:
"As we are now, God once was, and as God is now, we shall be."
When we don't agree with the false ones, those who do accuse us of hating them.
Is this right?
2009-02-02T13:57:18Z
zyogle - Oh! lol Thanks for sharing that with us.
2009-02-02T13:58:36Z
The Sweetness - Yes, I am tired of Christians bashing atheists, too. But I have to admit, atheist do their share of it, too.
2009-02-02T14:03:00Z
Dogma - I love you, Dogma, and Spirit Roaming and Kevin S no matter how much bad you say about me. You've read much of what I've said with anger when I never wrote it that way.
2009-02-02T14:04:35Z
thelarge17 - I hear ya. It really seems to be that way nowadays.
2009-02-02T14:06:13Z
EddieJ - Anyone can know the truth. It's plain as day in the bible. Would you like one?
2009-02-02T16:56:18Z
Kevin S - LOL Are you serious? Your very name says we should be banned from the site. You constantly speak against us calling us trolls and posting accusing postings about us by name. We have never spoken bad of you or anyone else on here. We only speak against doctrines, not against any person. Why is it you always make it a personal vendetta and never address the doctrines? Hmm.
2009-02-03T11:20:16Z
CJ thanks for joining us. Also Minister, anttttonio, Deb S and Chuck. God bless you.
Anonymous2009-02-03T09:35:55Z
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All Christian denominations claim they believe in and teach the true gospel of Christ. The reason some accuse others of hating them when they disagree with their teachings is simple - nobody is prepared to back down and even contemplate they might be wrong. Some Christians feel threatened and insecure when others try to prove them wrong. I should know - I spent the first 25 years of my life as a Jehovah's Witness and was absolutely convinced they, and only they, had the truth and that everybody else on the face of the planet was wrong. It's much more useful just to point people to Christ Jesus and use the Bible to back up the gospel message. Then let the Holy Spirit get on with the job of convicting people and bringing them to Christ.
With regard to the example you quote - yes, this is a fundamental teaching of Latter Day Saints. Joseph Smith said 'God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man' (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith pages 345-346). LDS Prophet Lorenzo Snow coined the phrase 'As man is, God once was; as God is, man may become' (The Gospel Through the Ages, Hunter, pages 105-106). Brigham Young said 'It appears ridiculous to the world, under their darkened and erroneous traditions, that God has once been a finite being' (Desert News, 16 November 1859 page 290). LDS Gospel Principles states that 'God himself, the Father of us all, dwelt on an earth, the same as Jesus Christ himself did' (1997 page 305).
I am not going to get sidetracked on LDS theology about Elohim and his wife and their children, including Jehovah or Yahweh who became Jesus, or Michael the Archangel coming to earth as Adam with one of his wives. Neither am I going to visit their doctrines on 3 levels of salvation and the suggestion that everybody who ever lived will be resurrected to live on one of those planets, or the notion that they will marry and have children in order to populate their own worlds.
Suffice to say that the notion that God was once a man and that men can become Gods is not in the Bible. Furthermore it wasn't in the Book of Mormon either. Alma 18:26-28 says that God is a Spirit. In 1835 the Lectures on Faith, printed in Doctrine and Covenants, definitely stated that God the Father was a personage of spirit, not a man with a physical body. However, in 1921 these lectures were completely removed. Please don't take my word for it - check out the web links provided below.
LDS can believe whatever they like. However, Christians know that ONLY the Word of God, the Holy Bible, can be used to back up Christian teaching. The suggestion that God once was flesh and blood and that men can become like God stems originally from Gnosticism. And it goes against everything in the Bible. Disagree, throw your toys out of the pram, call me names. I do not care for the opinion of men. All I'm interested in is what God says to us in the Bible. Anything not from the Bible isn't Christian. That is my personal opinion and I'm sticking to it.
There is only one truth. The problem is that people come to different conclusions as to what that truth is. Proving your conclusions become an even bigger mess, because everyone has pretty good reasons for their conclusions.
Here's a silly illustration;
We're all looking for the same thing; the truth. In this illustration, however, we are all looking for a thingamajigger. None of us have ever had a thingamajigger, but we do have a description of it. One guy finds a doohickey and declares, "I've found the thingamajigger!" Another person finds a thingamabob; another a gizmo; another a hickamadodger. Somewhere, someone may actually find the thingamajigger, but everyone has a good argument for why they think they actually have the real thingamajigger, and since no one is sure, the argument over who has the real thingamajigger goes on and on!
I used to be one of the ones who insisted that I had the real thingamajigger. Now, I am realizing more and more that we're not supposed to worry about knowing everything about the real thingamajigger as much as we are supposed to just know that there IS a thingamajigger and be trying to accomplish what the thingamajigger does!
The Bible tells us that there is a God who sacrificed His son on behalf of us. It also tells us how to show appreciation for that sacrifice in how we live our lives and in our behavior. We have to believe that. The rest is just details that we will never agree upon until God sets us straight! That is my current position on this matter, take it or leave it! =P
I like it! Yes - one true gospel. It was supposed to be simple enough for a child to understand, but men make it complicated. It's sad that the outside world looks at everything called Christianity and it looks like a big tangled mess. But I have faith that God knows how to untangle all that when we seek Him with our whole heart:
2Ti 2:18 Who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already; and overthrow the faith of some. 2Ti 2:19 Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity
True and False. When Jesus made this statement, it was within the context of a debate between him and Jews who did not believe that he was the messiah. This statement was a warning to them that they were missing the boat. He was God's designated means for the fulfillment of the covenant, and those who did not latch on would have not get another opportunity, or another means.
Mormonism is a false Gospel, and not Christian, but a Cult. The saying that you mention is part of a speech given by Brigham Young, a follower of, and successor to Joseph Smith. The doctrine it exposes is called Soul Progression. A doctrine that is very close to the Hindu doctrine of Reincarnation. Mormons believe that God was once a Man as we are, and progressed in to God, and that they will as well.
When you ask a Mormon if he/she believes in being Born Again, they will say that they do, and that they are Born Again. The fact is, being Born Again means something completely different to a Mormon than it does to a Christian. Mormons believe that we start out as Spirit Children in Heaven, and in order to progress, we must be Born Again as Human Children. That is why Mormons used to practice Polygamy, and why they have large families, to allow for as many Spirit Children to be Born Again as Human Children as possible. A Mormon is never Saved, or Born Again in the sense that we Speak of it. For the Christian being Born Again is mortal putting on immortality. To the Mormon it is just the opposite.
Mormons believe that Jesus, and Satan are Brothers, like Cain, and Able with a similar struggle. Except that they have progressed into the next level. They deny that there is a Holy Spirit, the Third Person of The Trinity.
Absolutely none of the beliefs of Mormonism are consistent with Christianity. They teach doctrines that are contrary to Christianity. Mormons are not Christians.