How can I justify the following:
The Joseph Smith translation of the Bible clearly teaches against witnessing to others:
Matt. 7: 9-11 Do not share the mysteries of the kingdom with the world.
Which is in clear contradiction to Jesus' own words that instruct all of us to go and teach everyone:
Matt. 28: 19
Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
Mark 16: 15
And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
2006-07-04 12:27:38 · 8 answers · asked by sharrron 5 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
I'm not mormon, but I never knew that.
Thats not right, you have to share, just like Jesus said.
2006-07-04 12:30:00 · answer #1 · answered by You may be right 7 · 0⤊ 2⤋
Mysteries in this case may refer to information regarding sacred experiences. For example, there are some questions here regarding spiritual experiences that I do not answer, because sometimes I feel people are asking just to make light of sacred ideas. If, for example, someone is visited by the spirit of a loved one who tells them something awesome is coming up in life, I am not going to start telling atheists about it, because they will either not understand even the first sentence, or they will think I just imagined it. On the other hand, if a friend of mine loses a loved one, and she says she had a visitation from that person in the form of a spiritual experience, I would probably offer her more information to her without feeling like it was going to be refused or belittled. Hope you get the idea! Have a happy day!
2006-07-04 19:37:41 · answer #2 · answered by Cookie777 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
This is NOT a contradiction of terms...it may seem as such (due to taking the verse out of context and your lack of referencing the regular scripture from KJV)..but it is not...trust me, our missionaries DO go out in droves...if I am not mistaken, it is well over 50,000 missionaries right now...and they teach people what they need to know in order to get baptized...but those are not MYSTERIES of the Kingdom...
it is like classified information...we share with non mormons the unclassified material that is necessary for one's eternal happiness provided her follows the plan provided.
There IS classified and NEED TO KNOW levels of the Church for the very reason of milk before meat..you don't feed a nursing child meat...they can't digest meat w/o teeth..
What we learn in the Temple (btw-whatever you get online is BS) is classified and you will not know what we learn unless you go to the Temple as well.. It is not that it is "secret" or even mysterious...as much as it is SOOOO SACRED that we have made covenant to not reveal it to those who don't need to know...
in the same way, there Americans who CAN'T and WON'T tell you the realities of your country without you having the proper security clearance..it is just a way to safeguard that which is of the highest priority to the government and because of that the country is protected by those who button up.
The same holds for the Church..we also have to protect the needs of the Church when and where necessary.
BUGGYNBOOBOO:
I am proud of you for having read the book of mormon...that is great...I have also read the bible cover to cover 2 times...many people think Mormons know NOTHING of the Bible and that we lean far too heavily on the Book of Mormon, but if you DID read THE BOOK OF MORMON...you should recognize something that you failed to note...Joseph Smith did not WRITE the book...he TRANSLATED the book from reformed Egyptian. God loved his people whether they lived in the Americas or whether they lived in Israel. So, shouldn't God be consistent and teach the same doctrine to each of his people? They didn't have anyway to make communications between Christ's kingdom in the Americas and that in Israel. So they had to be led by the prophets of the Book of mormon in order to receive that which was taught in the middle east. If you are in court and you have two witnesses...isn't the idea for one to tell the truth and the other witness to confirm what the first witness said?? Same concept. The Book of Mormon is what it is...but you have to think that when Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon...having read the scriptures with his family...that he was probably astounded by some of the verses and their similarities as he translated.
The Bible is the Stick of Judah and the Stick of Joseph in Ezequiel is referring to the Book of Mormon. you don't have to agree to that..but it is what it is whether you like it or not...
2006-07-04 19:46:41 · answer #3 · answered by juanes addicion 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
you sound confused of which to believe.
Mormons have made up so much FKN SH*T and added to "THEIR" teachings since the Joseph smith days it's SICK!
The Book Of Mormon is just another testament of the BIBLE.
Why waste time reading a book that has VERY FEW scriptures FROM the ONE AND ONLY TRUE BOOK, THE Holy Bible and all the other JUNK they added into that Book. BUT! all people are God's ppl and he has many ppl that have different beliefs.
2006-07-04 19:39:48 · answer #4 · answered by Cherries 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I'm in the LDS faith, and I'd have to say that when Joseph Smith disagreed with Jesus Christ he (Smith) was wrong. Smith was a fallible man and a sinner like the rest of us. But so was Moses and I consider him a prophet.
2006-07-04 19:36:34 · answer #5 · answered by Mark F Crist 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I wouldnt try to justify anything Joseph Smith said. He also said that some of his visions and knowledge came from God and some from Satan and apparently he couldnt distinguish the difference.
2006-07-04 19:42:17 · answer #6 · answered by Char D 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
im certainly not a pro-morman, but why do they provide deeply invested missionary work? that scripture must be out of context.
2006-07-04 19:43:50 · answer #7 · answered by really? 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You do ralize that Jesus said that to his chosen few, his Deciples, not everyone, don't you?
2006-07-04 19:29:53 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋