A question for the LDS...?

Question

I'm 100% serious in this question. I don't want any "rude" answers

How can you say that your church is true when in the Bible we are warned of false prophets coming in the last days. And the Bible says not to add or take away anything from it, isn't the book of Mormon adding? And doesn't your Bible take away certain things?

I'm not trying to make an augment ... I just want to hear Mormon's side of this.

for ???????
Revelation 22:18-19 "For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and [from] the things which are written in this book."

Also in Deuteronomy 4:2 ""Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish [ought] from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you."

One more scripture:

Matthew 7:15-20: "Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither [can] a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them."


I'm just trying to see your point of view please help. I'm a very opened minded person. And I don't bite!

Answer 1

First, if the Bible warns of FALSE prophets, that means that there are TRUE prophets. It doesn't say "beware of anyone who calls themselves a prophet".

As for adding, in Revelation, John says MAN, don't add to the Book of Revealation. It doesn't say anything about God can't add to His word anytime He wants to.

Our Bible is the KJV and it takes NOTHING away.

Answer 2

Well if there are false prophets then there are true prophets too.

Book of Mormon is a separate testament of Jesus Christ and does not add or take away from the Bible, it's verses, or the revelation given to John to which that verse belongs.

Revelations 22
18 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:
19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

John is very specific about saying "this prophecy" -- however no one should maliciously add text or delete text to any of the Bible.

We use the King James Version of the Bible with foot notes to a translation of the Bible by Joseph Smith correcting mistranslations (not adding or taking away)

Answer 3

In the Bible, I believe it is about 12 times at the end of different "books" it says not to add to or take away from that book. If nothing was to be written after Revelations then none of the "John" books would have been written because he wrote Revelations prior to the others.

The Book of Mormon does NOT add to the Bible, but it is in addition to it. It is Another Testament of Jesus Christ. We use the King James Version of the Holy Bible. I'll put links below to the Old and New Testaments online from our official web site. I will also give you a couple of other links where any question you have is answered about our faith.

When it comes to our prophets, you can only know that they are true prophets of God through prayer. The Holy Spirit will testify to you that Gordon B Hinckley is a true Prophet of God and so was Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, etc...

Answer 4

Ahh, there will and have been false prophets, but there will also be true prophets

Amos 3:7 "Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets."

We believe that since the original apostles were killed, there have been false prophets and that was the falling away spoken of in 2nd Thesselonians 2:3.

About adding to the Bible. There was no Bible when John wrote Revelation. The warning was not to take from or add to the Book of Revelation.
Or if you don't like that explanation, the verse also says let no MAN add.... it never says that God can't require a person to write down His teachings.

Good question, I hope I helped.

Answer 5

By their fruits ye shall know them. The LDS church proportionate to it's size does more for it's members than any other religion, and as much if not more for world causes. Mormon's believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous and in doing good to all men.

The passage you quote in Revelations could be interpreted in many ways, but I believe John the Revelator was speaking specifically about the book of Revelations. It is unlikely that he is speaking of the entire Bible since it hadn't even been compiled yet.

Many people of other faiths interpret this passage to mean their can be no new scripture. I don't believe that is what John means, but let's consider it anyway. John says "If any man shall add unto these things..." He does not say that God cannot add to them. We believe that the book of Mormon was inspired of God just as the Bible was. If that is so, then it is not man adding scripture but God.

It's interesting that a similar verse appears in Deut 4:2 "Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you." This was when moses presented the 10 commandments which grew into the law of moses. If this verse were interpreted to mean their can be no new scripture it would invalidate the entire bible from that point on.

Could God be the same yesterday today and forever if he no longer calls prophets, gives revelation or provides scripture as he did in the past?

Answer 6

It's important to remember that in both Deuteronomy and Revelation we are told that MAN (in this case meaning people of both genders and of all ages, rather than specifically adult males) is not to add on to or take away from the words of God. Nowhere are we told that GOD cannot add on to or take away from His word (quite a bit of difference, in my humble oppinion!). (And I don't know about you, but I, for one, am not about to tell God what He can and can't do!) That's why the word of God continues after Deuteronomy 4:2 (since if we were to accept that the way in the particular context you're using it, that means that since everything else after that could be considered to be "added onto" the scripture, it should therefore be discarded).

Also, when you stop and think about it, many Christian denominations can't even agree on which books should be in the New Testament, or which English translation of the Bible should be used (so personally, I've always found it somewhat odd that, despite that fact, the accusation of "adding onto or taking away from the Bible" is levelled ONLY against the LDS Church).

While we use the King James Version of the Bible, we often use what's called the "Joseph Smith Translation," which we believe was information provided to Joseph Smith by God to help clarify items in the Bible that were either lost or mistranslated (remember, it's often dificult to translate from one language to another while keeping everything in the original context to begin with, and English didn't even exist when the Bible was originally written).

While we are warned of false prophets in the last days, that (by extention) means that there will be true prophets as well. After all, if all prophets in the last days were false, I think it would be logical to assume we'd be told something along the lines of "Beware of anyone claiming to be a prophet in the last days, for they are all false," rather than "Beware of false prophets." Even the Book of Revelation (chapter 11) tells us that two "witnesses" would prophesy in Jerusalem for "a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth" before being killed, remain in the streets for 3 1/2 days, then be resurrected. (Kinda hard for there to be people prophesying in the future - a part of the job description of a prophet - if prophets didn't exist any more, as many in Chrisitanity claim.)

Answer 7

Well nobody can prove the mormons are worshipping a false prophet. Maybe he is real? The book of mormon is not adding or taking away from the bible. Here is a anti-mormon site on that :http://www.mrm.org/multimedia/video/does-revelation-22-18-condemn-book-mormon

The mormon religion is air-tight, just like the bible. Even though they are both obviously wrong, faith is the ultimate argument. No possibly way to disprove it. Sure you can find MANY scientific things that are wrong in the book of mormon...but even more so in the bible.

I am an ex-mormon now atheist. And no, mormons didn't turn me into an atheist. Was completely my own choice....just started to think logically. Mormons are a great people with a great religion. But like the bible you must live a lie to believe it. Who knows....maybe its for the good?

Cross town traffic.....you are a moron. And that pastor guy is a complete fool. I am embarrssed on his behalf.
Mormons are a much better people than your average christian with the same ridiculous stories. Christians/mormons....what does it matter? Your wrong anyways.

Answer 8

A false prophet would be teaching contrary to the Bible. None of the LDS prophets have done so.

The Bible says not to add or take away (edit) from the things written by the Prophets and apostles of the Bible. The LDS church uses the King James Bible and The Book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon is not a LDS version of the Bible. It is a record kept by other ancient people who had a testimony of Jesus Christ.

Answer 9

I am not an LDS, but I can tell you what they answer this with because I have gotten these answers given to me.
1. The Book of Mormon is the word of God. (It's not)
2. The church restored the true priesthood to the church and the offices of prophets etc. (The book of Hebrews proves they didn't)

Answer 10

To put it simply: The scriptures you gave only mean the book it is written in not the entire Bible.
I feel it is talking about the people who translate the Bible and leave the parts out they don't like. Also the people who rewrite the Bible and change the wording to fit their understanding of the Bible. Especially the new current modern Bibles.
God expects there to be new things written concerning His church because He said His church should have Prophets and continuous revelations.
Now to your question about false prophets. I feel this refers to people like those TV evangelists. They preach one thing and then do the opposite. It is not referring to the LDS prophets. They teach according to the Bible.