Wasn't Christianity doing fine before Mormon and J.W. theology came along?

Question

No matter what's been said, the Bible is completed. Matt 5:18 "For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled." Proverbs 1:1

-- Do not add to His words Or He will reprove you, and you will be proved a liar. Proverbs 30:6

Do we need additional words of wisdom from would be prophets? How many more "prophets" will come along, attract a following and bring their Bibles with them?

Will J.W.s and Mormons continue to alter the Bible or quote from their holy books or will they read in Rev. 22:18 where it says, "I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book".

Magcor: Remember the book of Acts...The first Christian church began long before Catholicism took root.

voodootabby: there is no "companion book" to the Bible. Just because the world has changed doesn't mean God has. We can find out all we need to know from His Word and His Spirit. God doesn't need revision or addition. His Word stands alone; no companion necessary.

em3macey: I have nothing but love for others. Why shouldn't I Iove those who are deceived? I love them even more because I know what a dangerous situation they are in. They are so close to the truth, but close isn't good enough.

Answer 1

Traditional Christian theology was doing fine in the 19th century of the United States. The millenial movements of that century gave birth to the Mormon and JW churches as well as stressed millenial theology in the mainstream Protestant churches of that time (Methodist, etc)

Likewise I agree about the Bible being the sole rule for Christian faith and belief, versus reliance upon some human hierarchy like the JW Watchtower or Mormon elders.

From a psychological viewpoint, there are many reasons a person would want to join a group like the LDS's or JW's. Anything from a sense of belonging, to family (something which the LDS church is very big on; it could be said that family is one's salvation per LDS doctrine), desiring a spiritual fulfillment of some kind. The only problem with this last thing - spiritual fulfillment guaranteed by a church like the LDS or JW - neither can actually "give" this sort of thing to a person, only God can. It's not the case of the Watchtower or elders leading one to God, it's more of a case of having the individual spiritually dependent upon the human leaders of the group. The power of suggestion is amazing and is one of the key points in how the Mormon and JW churches grew in strength and numbers.

Per the Bible, it is complete insofar as prophecy goes (I'm not sure there is even a need for modern day prophecy since Jesus) but there are some people who have probably read the Bible, been dissatisfied with some part of it and try to "correct" it, thus the "need" for a modern day prophet.

Having said that, I'd have to say Christianity was doing fine and well before the LDS and JW theologies arose in the 19th century.

Answer 2

I am often amazed when we are compared to Mormons, who have an entirely serparate Book. I am one of Jehovah's Witnesses, and the Bible is our only authority. Contrary to the lies that have circulated, we have NOT "altered the Bible." The New World Translation is a literal translation into modern languages, nothing more. In fact, it has been recognized by scholars as one of the most accurate translations out there. We prefer to use it because it has restored the divine name where other versions and translations omit it.

This is what Jason BeDuhn (not a Witness) said in his book "Truth in Translation" about bias in translation:

"You see, Protestant forms of Christianity, following the motto of sola scriptura, insist that all legitimate Christian beliefs (and practices) must be found in, or at least based on, the Bible. That's a very clear and admirable principle. The problem is that Protestant Christianity was not born in a historical vacuum, and does not go back directly to the time that the Bible was written. . . .

For the doctrines that Protestantism inherited to be considered true, they had to be found in the Bible. And precisely because they were considered true already, there was and is tremendous pressure to read those truths back into the Bible, whether or not they are actually there. . . .

The Jehovah's Witnesses ... are more similar to the Protestant in their view that the Bible alone must be the source of truth in its every detail. So you might expect translators from this sect to labor under the Protestant Burden. But they do not for the simple reason that the Jehovah's Witness movement was and is a more radical break with the dominant Christian tradition of the previous millennium than most kinds of Protestantism. This movement has, unlike the Protestant Reformation, really sought to re-invent Christianity from scratch. Whether you regard that as a good or a bad thing, you can probably understand that it resulted in the Jehovah's Witnesses approaching the Bible with a kind of innocence, and building their system of belief and practice from the raw material of the Bible without predetermining what was to be found there."

Answer 3

Although I'm not a mormon or J.W. i'd like to point out that the first two verses you listed were in the old testament, and that means that ALL of the new testament was added after those had been written, so ...

To the guy writing about protestants picking and choosing, that isn't true, protestants follow the entire bible according to how their denomination interprets it, all they threw out was the idea that they had to answer to a priest or a pope and the idea that the pope is infallible, and since there is nothing in the bible about people needing a pope, some chose not to follow him. also, if it wasn't for protestants, we wouldn't even be able to read the bible, because it was protestants who translated it into the common languages.

Gotta agree with Bess ^

Answer 4

The Book of Revelations quote you mentioned isn't referring to the Bible - it's referring to the Book of Revelations. The Bible actually doesn't say anything about itself to imply that the canon is complete. Take a look at John 21:25, which says....

"And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen."

John understood that there could have been many other books written to describe all the words and deeds of Christ. It's just human assumption that all the important information has been recorded and preserved, and that we don't need anything more.

By the way, Mormons do read the Bible, and we believe it to be the Word of God.

Answer 5

Not one of those verses, or any verse of scripture in the Bible, specifically mentions THE BIBLE. Because when these words were first uttered, and/or written down, there WAS no such thing as THE BIBLE. Therefore, one can't assume that any verse in the Bible is talking about THE BIBLE.

Not to mention that none of those verses say that the BIBLE is complete, perfect, or infallible. There are books mentioned in the Bible that are not included in the Bible, but were obviously considered scripture by whoever it was who wrote that part of hte Bible.

And all the verses that talk about adding to the scriptures, do not say THE BIBLE, and they do not say that GOD can't add more scripture to HIS words if He so chooses. And we fully believe the Book of Mormon, even tho it's not added to anything in the Bible, to be the word of GOD.

Answer 6

The many different versions of the Bible can be accused of being a result of changing the words as well. The LDS Church does not change what Christ taught. It is a restoration of his truth. If you are interested in finding out if this is true or not, talk to the LDS missionaries.

As for your questions, there are also many other sects of religion besides these, so why you isolate them out, I do not know. The belief in Christ as our Savior was doing alright, but his nature, and our purpose on earth was slowing changing. If we look at some very liberal "Christian" churches today, some are trying to make claims about whether or not Christ rose from the dead and such. It is clear that a restoration and modern prophets are needed to keep us from drifting away.

Answer 7

Ideologically they run the comparable direction. For a protestant church to be stunning they might desire to believe: a million - that the catholic church became apostate so that they have been precise to "protest" and smash unfastened 2 - that there became no apostasy from the certainty and so no want for a restoration of certainty by using the LDS church 3 - that they are stunning of their interpretation of the bible which the JWs argue against. you will notice #a million and #2 contradict one yet another, yet they have no selection. on the subject remember of authority basically 2 church homes make the declare and so that they might desire to attack all who make the declare whether their attack on one might validate the different. As a Mormon, i does no longer checklist any church as a cult. in spite of the certainty that technically precise for all religions, this is rude and insulting and an unChristian judgment - in spite of the undeniable fact that for the time of keeping with Mathew 7:a million-2 they might deserve it. needless to say this is not our place to choose.

Answer 8

No, it was not. The first formal Christian church was Catholicism, followed by Greek Orthodox and a schism in the church. That was followed by a division during the time of Henry VIII and the Protestant church movement was born > It split again and now includes Anglicans, Lutherans,Baptists...the list goes on...and now there are Evangelicals and Pentecostals.
And how many of these now even agree or get along with each other?
So, no, the Christian Church has not been doing "fine".

Answer 9

You know when you have a become a true christian when you have truly become like Chirst. That is what being a christain is really about. Hatred, persectuion, intorlance is not what Christ taught. he said, "love thy enemies" and "love thy neighbor" this means everyone. It really is not hard to do there are so many wonderful people on this earth if we would all just take the time to learn what they are all about.

Answer 10

You need to recognize one thing, God / Jehovah gave us his name to carry with high honor and dignity. No other organization has this honor.
As to his approval:
How do angels serve as God’s messengers today? Consider the work Jesus foretold that his followers would do before the end of this system of things. He said: “This good news of the kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all the nations; and then the end will come.” (Matthew 24:3, 14) Annually, Jehovah’s Witnesses spend over a billion hours preaching the good news of God’s Kingdom. But did you know that angels are also involved in this work? The apostle John referred to a vision he had, saying: “I saw another angel . . . , and he had everlasting good news to declare as glad tidings to those who dwell on the earth, and to every nation and tribe and tongue and people.” (Revelation 14:6, 7) This scripture highlights the foremost work of angels in behalf of humans today.

Jehovah’s Witnesses see evidence of angelic direction as they carry out their door-to-door preaching work. They often contact individuals who were just praying for someone to help them understand God’s purposes. As a result of angelic guidance and the Witnesses’ own initiative, each year hundreds of thousands come to know Jehovah. May you benefit from this lifesaving work done under angelic direction