Tuesday, February 28, 2006
D&C 28: Only Joe Smith is authorized to use a magic rock
In the Mormon scripture Doctrine & Covenants 28 we read the following:
1 BEHOLD, I say unto thee, aOliver•, that it shall be given unto thee that thou shalt be heard by the church in all things whatsoever thou shalt teach them by the bComforter, concerning the revelations and commandments which I have given.
2 But, behold, verily, verily, I say unto thee, ano• one shall be appointed to receive commandments and brevelations in this church excepting my servant cJoseph• Smith, Jun., for he receiveth them even as dMoses•.
3 And thou shalt be obedient unto the things which I shall give unto him, even as aAaron•, to bdeclare• faithfully the commandments and the revelations, with power and cauthority unto the church.
4 And if thou art aled• at any time by the Comforter to bspeak• or teach, or at all times by the way of commandment unto the church, thou mayest do it.
5 But thou shalt not write by way of acommandment•, but by wisdom;
6 And thou shalt not command him who is at thy head, and at the head of the church;
7 For I have given him the akeys• of the bmysteries, and the revelations which are sealed, until I shall appoint unto them another in his stead.
8 And now, behold, I say unto you that you shall go unto the aLamanites• and preach my bgospel• unto them; and inasmuch as they creceive thy teachings thou shalt cause my dchurch• to be established among them; and thou shalt have revelations, but write them not by way of commandment.
9 And now, behold, I say unto you that it is not revealed, and no man knoweth where the acity• bZion• shall be built, but it shall be given hereafter. Behold, I say unto you that it shall be on the borders by the Lamanites.
10 Thou shalt not leave this place until after the conference; and my servant Joseph shall be appointed to preside over the conference by the voice of it, and what he saith to thee thou shalt tell.
11 And again, thou shalt take thy brother, Hiram Page, abetween• him and thee alone, and tell him that those things which he hath written from that bstone are not of me and that cSatan• ddeceiveth• him;
12 For, behold, these things have not been appointed unto him, neither shall anything be appointed unto any of this church contrary to the church covenants.
13 For all things must be done in aorder, and by common bconsent in the church, by the prayer of faith.
14 And thou shalt assist to settle all these things, according to the covenants of the church, before thou shalt take thy journey among the Lamanites.
15 And it shall be agiven• thee from the time thou shalt go, until the time thou shalt return, what thou shalt do.
16 And thou must open thy mouth at all times, declaring my gospel with the sound of rejoicing. Amen.
Apparently, Hiram Page found a seer stone of his own and was deceiving even the "elect" (i.e., Cowdery and the Whitmers--the same folks whose testimonies Mormons expect us to accept). As "God's" chosen magic rock diviner Joe could not abide this upstart and summarily issued a "revelation" to the effect that only his rock-peeping was ordained by "God," thereby silencing his rival and securing his own chicanery.
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1 BEHOLD, I say unto thee, aOliver•, that it shall be given unto thee that thou shalt be heard by the church in all things whatsoever thou shalt teach them by the bComforter, concerning the revelations and commandments which I have given.
2 But, behold, verily, verily, I say unto thee, ano• one shall be appointed to receive commandments and brevelations in this church excepting my servant cJoseph• Smith, Jun., for he receiveth them even as dMoses•.
3 And thou shalt be obedient unto the things which I shall give unto him, even as aAaron•, to bdeclare• faithfully the commandments and the revelations, with power and cauthority unto the church.
4 And if thou art aled• at any time by the Comforter to bspeak• or teach, or at all times by the way of commandment unto the church, thou mayest do it.
5 But thou shalt not write by way of acommandment•, but by wisdom;
6 And thou shalt not command him who is at thy head, and at the head of the church;
7 For I have given him the akeys• of the bmysteries, and the revelations which are sealed, until I shall appoint unto them another in his stead.
8 And now, behold, I say unto you that you shall go unto the aLamanites• and preach my bgospel• unto them; and inasmuch as they creceive thy teachings thou shalt cause my dchurch• to be established among them; and thou shalt have revelations, but write them not by way of commandment.
9 And now, behold, I say unto you that it is not revealed, and no man knoweth where the acity• bZion• shall be built, but it shall be given hereafter. Behold, I say unto you that it shall be on the borders by the Lamanites.
10 Thou shalt not leave this place until after the conference; and my servant Joseph shall be appointed to preside over the conference by the voice of it, and what he saith to thee thou shalt tell.
11 And again, thou shalt take thy brother, Hiram Page, abetween• him and thee alone, and tell him that those things which he hath written from that bstone are not of me and that cSatan• ddeceiveth• him;
12 For, behold, these things have not been appointed unto him, neither shall anything be appointed unto any of this church contrary to the church covenants.
13 For all things must be done in aorder, and by common bconsent in the church, by the prayer of faith.
14 And thou shalt assist to settle all these things, according to the covenants of the church, before thou shalt take thy journey among the Lamanites.
15 And it shall be agiven• thee from the time thou shalt go, until the time thou shalt return, what thou shalt do.
16 And thou must open thy mouth at all times, declaring my gospel with the sound of rejoicing. Amen.
Apparently, Hiram Page found a seer stone of his own and was deceiving even the "elect" (i.e., Cowdery and the Whitmers--the same folks whose testimonies Mormons expect us to accept). As "God's" chosen magic rock diviner Joe could not abide this upstart and summarily issued a "revelation" to the effect that only his rock-peeping was ordained by "God," thereby silencing his rival and securing his own chicanery.
# posted by O'Brien @ 2/28/2006 11:40:00 PM 
Monday, February 27, 2006
Move over Jesus! Joe Smith has done a greater work than you!
Come on! ye prosecutors! ye false swearers! All hell, boil over! Ye burning mountains, roll down your lava! for I will come out on the top at last. I have more to boast of than ever any man had. I am the only man that has ever been able to keep a whole church together since the days of Adam. A large majority of the whole have stood by me. Neither Paul, John, Peter, nor Jesus ever did it. I boast that no man ever did such a work as I. The followers of Jesus ran away from Him; but the Latter-day Saints never ran away from me yet. (History of the Church, Vol. 6, p. 408-409).
...[N]o man or woman in this dispensation will ever enter into the celestial kingdom of God without the consent of Joseph Smith. From the day that the Priesthood was taken from the earth to the winding-up scene of all things, every man and woman must have the certificate of Joseph Smith, junior, as a passport to their entrance into the mansion where God and Christ are - I with you and you with me. I cannot go there without his consent. He holds the keys of that kingdom for the last dispensation - the keys to rule in the spirit-world; and he rules there triumphantly, for he gained full power and a glorious victory over the power of Satan while he was yet in the flesh, and was a martyr to his religion and to the name of Christ, which gives him a most perfect victory in the spirit-world. He reigns there as supreme a being in his sphere, capacity, and calling, as God does in heaven. Many will exclaim - "Oh, that is very disagreeable! It is preposterous! We cannot bear the thought!" But it is true. (Brigham Young, JoD 7:289)
...[E]very spirit that does not confess that God has sent Joseph Smith, and revealed the everlasting Gospel to and through him, is of Antichrist, no matter whether it is found in a pulpit [p.177] or on a throne, nor how much divinity it may profess, nor what it professes with regard to revealed religion and the account that is given of the Saviour and his Father in the Bible. They may say that they acknowledge Him until doomsday, and he will never own them, nor bestow the Holy Spirit upon them, and they will never have visions of eternity opened to them, unless they acknowledge that Joseph Smith is sent of God. Such people I call unbelievers. They tell about believing in Jesus Christ, but they might as well talk about birds understanding the Hebrew language. (Brigham Young, JoD 8:176)
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...[N]o man or woman in this dispensation will ever enter into the celestial kingdom of God without the consent of Joseph Smith. From the day that the Priesthood was taken from the earth to the winding-up scene of all things, every man and woman must have the certificate of Joseph Smith, junior, as a passport to their entrance into the mansion where God and Christ are - I with you and you with me. I cannot go there without his consent. He holds the keys of that kingdom for the last dispensation - the keys to rule in the spirit-world; and he rules there triumphantly, for he gained full power and a glorious victory over the power of Satan while he was yet in the flesh, and was a martyr to his religion and to the name of Christ, which gives him a most perfect victory in the spirit-world. He reigns there as supreme a being in his sphere, capacity, and calling, as God does in heaven. Many will exclaim - "Oh, that is very disagreeable! It is preposterous! We cannot bear the thought!" But it is true. (Brigham Young, JoD 7:289)
...[E]very spirit that does not confess that God has sent Joseph Smith, and revealed the everlasting Gospel to and through him, is of Antichrist, no matter whether it is found in a pulpit [p.177] or on a throne, nor how much divinity it may profess, nor what it professes with regard to revealed religion and the account that is given of the Saviour and his Father in the Bible. They may say that they acknowledge Him until doomsday, and he will never own them, nor bestow the Holy Spirit upon them, and they will never have visions of eternity opened to them, unless they acknowledge that Joseph Smith is sent of God. Such people I call unbelievers. They tell about believing in Jesus Christ, but they might as well talk about birds understanding the Hebrew language. (Brigham Young, JoD 8:176)
# posted by O'Brien @ 2/27/2006 10:53:00 PM
Sunday, February 19, 2006
DNA vs. The Book of Mormon
I recommend this video (except, perhaps, for the evangelizing at the very end).
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# posted by O'Brien @ 2/19/2006 01:50:00 PM
Monday, February 13, 2006
Muslim to Christian v. Christian to Muslim conversions in Russia
01 November 2005, 12:05
2 million ethnic Muslims adopted baptism in Russia while only 2,5 thousand Russians converted to Islam - expert
Moscow, November 1, Interfax - The number of ethnic Muslims in Russia who adopted Christianity is 2 million, while the number of the Orthodox who have been converted to Islam is only 2,5 thousand, stated Roman Silantyev, executive secretary of the Inter-religious Council in Russia.
‘Christianization happens not so much as a result of some purposeful missionary activity (in which only Protestants are engaged) as under the influence of Russian culture which has express Christian roots’, Silantyev said in a interview published this week by the Itogi weekly.
According Silantyev, the converts are predominantly Muslims by birth, while ‘those who really confess Islamic values and attend mosque on a regular basis rarely change their faith’.
‘The assimilation of ethnic and religious minorities is an inevitable process in any society. In Russia it is accelerated due to extremist activities’, the Islamic researcher believes.
For instance, he says, as a result of what happened in Beslan, the proportion of Muslims in North Ossetia has decreased at least by 30%, while in Beslan itself, where Muslims had comprised from 30 to 40% of the population, their number has decreased at least by half.
‘As even Muslim sources confirm, after each terrorist action, thousands and may be even dozens of thousands of ethnic Muslims adopt baptism’, Silantyev stated.
At the same time, the expert accounts for the small number of ethnic Orthodox people who have adopted Islam for the last 15 years, among other things, by the fact that ‘for some reason Russians seem to be more willing to join sects than Islam’.
http://www.interfax-religion.com/?act=news&div=513
This is good news. Thanks to my friend Fred for posting it to Folk of the Fringe.
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2 million ethnic Muslims adopted baptism in Russia while only 2,5 thousand Russians converted to Islam - expert
Moscow, November 1, Interfax - The number of ethnic Muslims in Russia who adopted Christianity is 2 million, while the number of the Orthodox who have been converted to Islam is only 2,5 thousand, stated Roman Silantyev, executive secretary of the Inter-religious Council in Russia.
‘Christianization happens not so much as a result of some purposeful missionary activity (in which only Protestants are engaged) as under the influence of Russian culture which has express Christian roots’, Silantyev said in a interview published this week by the Itogi weekly.
According Silantyev, the converts are predominantly Muslims by birth, while ‘those who really confess Islamic values and attend mosque on a regular basis rarely change their faith’.
‘The assimilation of ethnic and religious minorities is an inevitable process in any society. In Russia it is accelerated due to extremist activities’, the Islamic researcher believes.
For instance, he says, as a result of what happened in Beslan, the proportion of Muslims in North Ossetia has decreased at least by 30%, while in Beslan itself, where Muslims had comprised from 30 to 40% of the population, their number has decreased at least by half.
‘As even Muslim sources confirm, after each terrorist action, thousands and may be even dozens of thousands of ethnic Muslims adopt baptism’, Silantyev stated.
At the same time, the expert accounts for the small number of ethnic Orthodox people who have adopted Islam for the last 15 years, among other things, by the fact that ‘for some reason Russians seem to be more willing to join sects than Islam’.
http://www.interfax-religion.com/?act=news&div=513
This is good news. Thanks to my friend Fred for posting it to Folk of the Fringe.
# posted by O'Brien @ 2/13/2006 04:05:00 PM
