The Book of Ex-Mormon: Another Testament Of Jesus, Joseph, Mary, Peter James & John

 Another Testament Of Jesus, Joseph, Mary, Peter James & John:

Note from the author to my friends who are active members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

I didn't lose a testimony. I gained one. Yes, I was endowed in 2015 and sealed to my ex-wife in 2016. I always wondered where did Joseph Smith get the format for the 12 articles of Faith of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. It so happens that The Creed is made of 12 articles of Faith too: �Article 9: the holy catholic Church, the Communion of Saints, Catholics believe that the Church is more than a mere institution and certainly not a necessary evil. It’s an essential dimension and aspect of spiritual life. Christ explicitly uses the word church (ekklesia in Greek) in Matthew 16 when he says, “I will build My Church.” The Church is the vehicle in which the sacraments are administered to connect the Human with the Divine and we become One Body of Christ by receiving Him in the Eucharist. The Deposit of Faith of the Original Twelve Apostles is a sure foundation. Their churches expanded beyond Rome. Egypt (Alexandria) Syria (Antioch), India, Lebanon, Greece and Constantinople. These apostolic traditions and the creeds are Not a restriction on God's ability to still speak to us individually. But they are guardrails for our individual private revelations.

See:

https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P2A.HTM

From the Handbook also known as the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

Paragraph 4. CHRIST'S FAITHFUL - HIERARCHY, LAITY, CONSECRATED LIFE

871 "The Christian faithful are those who, inasmuch as they have been incorporated in Christ through Baptism, have been constituted as the people of God; for this reason, since they have become sharers in Christ's priestly, prophetic, and royal office in their own manner, they are called to exercise the mission which God has entrusted to the Church to fulfill in the world, in accord with the condition proper to each one."385”

The Holy Ghost

Also Christians do not pray to a God that creates out of pre-existing matter. Joseph taught “looking at it [dualism] philosophically we shall find a very material difference between the body and the spirit:—the body is supposed to be organized matter, and the spirit by many is thought to be immaterial, without substance. With this latter statement we should beg to differ—and state that spirit is a substance; that it is material, but that it is more pure, elastic, and refined matter than the body;—that it existed before the body, can exist in the body, and will exist separate from the body when the body will be mouldering in the dust; and will in the resurrection be again united with it. Without attempting to describe this mysterious connexion and the laws that govern the body and spirit of man; their relationship to each other, and the design of God in relation to the human body and spirit, I would just remark that the spirits of men are eternal, that they are governed by the same priesthood that Abraham, Melchizedec, and the apostles were; that they are organized according to that priesthood which is everlasting, “without beginning of days or end of years”— that they all move in their respective spheres, and are governed by the law of God;—that when they appear upon earth they are in a probationary state, and are preparing if righteous, for a future and a greater glory”
Source: https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/times-and-seasons-1-april-1842/11

Speaking to a Methodist pastor on eternal duration of matter JoSmith said, “There is no such thing as immaterial matter. All spirit is matter but is more fine or pure and can only be discerned by purer eyes We cant see it but when our bodies are purified we shall see that it is all matter.”
- D&C 131 (7-8)

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The Latter Day Saint Joseph:

Impregnated Mary with James and John. - Orson Whitney

The Latter Day Mary: was not of an immaculate conception, but was taken up by Angels and came back pregnant after congenial relations with Heavenly Father who is a Polygamist.

“...Mary the wife of Joseph had another husband…That very babe that was cradled in the manger, was begotten…by another Being. Do you inquire by whom? He was begotten by God our heavenly Father. This answer may suffice you–you need never inquire more upon that point.” (Brigham Young, JoD, 11:268)

Cover page: The First Vision

When Joseph Smith took the question of which church he should Join join in his 1832 first vision recounts the the two Heavenly figures telling him, "Join none of them for all their creeds are an abomination"

(depiction of how Latter Day Saint Missionaries portray the vision)

or did they mean,

join none of them for all heir Creeds are an Abomination...

(depiction to a Catholic being dissuaded by Satan to stay in the Catholic Church)

Would God tell his earnest seekers of truth to walk away from the Church that is the holder and protector of the Universal truth? Ponder that before dismissing the creeds of the Catholic church.

The Latter Day Saints have a unique tradition with an interesting take on “who is Jesus?” The Jesus portrayed by Joseph Smith doesn’t always play well with the scripture revealed to the Saints before 1830. St. Ignatius of Loyola on his series of the discernment of Spirits taught that even the devil can give you good feelings, but they always lead to Spiritual desolation at the end. The Jesus, Jospeh Smith saw told him not to believe any of those Saints for their creeds are an abomination to god. But bit by bit the LDS Church are adopting to the traditions of the Saints before Joseph Smith introduced the world to a people group called the “Latter Day Saints”
The R-LDS or the Emma Smith’s movement already accepted the Nicene creed and the Trinity in their understanding of the Book of Mormon verse 2 Nephi 31:21 which reads:
“….And now, behold, this is the doctrine of Christ, and the only and true doctrine of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, which is one God, without end. Amen.”
As the LDS church turns towards the teachings of the original apostles of Jesus Christ and the Saints they ordained, the LDS church will become more like the Church that Jesus founded when He gave the keys to Peter and said, “Simon Peter, upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell won’t prevail against it.” Matthew 16:18.
You won’t find that in the Book of Mormon. You’ll have to go to the original source and learn about it from the apostolic successors of Peter and the original apostles. 

I’d invite my LDS friends to bring the same energy and curiosity that you bring to reading the Book of Mormon to understanding the formation of the Bible, from manuscripts to a beautifully bound book that made its way into the Hands of Joseph Smith. The Words and Wisdom contained in them moved Joseph Smith to know more. But as he inquired of the Lord on which church to join, Joseph Smith recounts in his first vision which accounts which you can read about from a Faithful Latter Day Saint site called the Joseph Smith Papers project. https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/.../accounts-of-the...
If you compare his account in 1832 and 1835, it took him three years to introduce the second personage into account of the first vision. What the missionaries teach us from is the 1838 account which has significant additions from its original account such as the dark energy that overcame him before he saw the pillar of light come down and call him by name and then advice to not join any of the churches because their creeds are an abomination. Not sure about your tradition, but in ours when a dark spirit overcomes you and two heavenly personages tell you that the creeds of the Catholic Church is an abomination we usually report that to the Archdiocese to inquire about the spirit to determine whether an exorcist may need to get involved. So I hope you understand the cautious approach to accepting any doctrines that are built on this questionable foundation of leaving the Catholic Church and its Universal truths. See quote from public group Mormonism Vs Christianity:

christ when he came to the first time was prophesied to come as a suffering, servant and Isaiah.. His mission was to seek him to save that which was lost. And you can see that all the way through the gospels. He eats with sinners, he forgives Peter when he denies him, why if Jesus came to the Americas as the book of Mormon claims would that mission change. And you have Nephi showing more compassion to these people and morning them then Jesus does. It’s not the same guy. This is a fictional Jesus. And when he says well, what about knowing the flood or what about Sodom and Gomorrah that is under the old covenant. Jesus fulfilled the old covenant and usher in the new covenant. Isaiah prophesies this.

Joseph Smith just didn’t right very well and he really didn’t know who Christ was let alone about his mission to seek him to save, all he saw was a dramatic opening. This is why it’s not the same Jesus and it’s really illustrated right there in Nephi.

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Gavin Britto

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Sandy Lynn Markham Yes, its like a Bipolar Jesus (Mormon one) after forgiving Peter and Thomas, he appears to the lost tribes in America and flips character

Holy Ghost

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. Doctrine and Covenants 93:24 the Lord says, 'And truth is knowledge of things as they are, and as they were, and as they are to come.

If that is true then, here the question my LDS friends: What was the distinct third person of the Godhead who is The Holy Ghost or the Holy Spirit of Promise (Acts 2:33) doing for 1800 years when all Christians read John 1:1 from a Trinitarian doctrinal perspective? Did he not play His part as prophesied in Acts 2:33?

Under the LDS Holy Ghost:

1. The scriptures were allowed to be corrupted by the Bishops that He failed to protect

2. The New & Everlasting covenant of D&C 132 was omitted

The LDS Jesus:

1. Allowed Hades to Prevail against God's Church (The Rock)

2. Instituted a means to unseal what has been sealed by the Holy Spirit of Promise. Matthew 19:6

The LDS God the Father

1. Did he not send Peter, James and John to the Bishops after the death of the last apostle?

2. Why is Kolob not mentioned every in any Jewish texts as a dwelling place of God?

The LDS Theology is not even close to solving the mystery of God. Yet, Mormon Jesus tell Joseph Smith that all their creeds are an abomination. Sounds like Joseph Smith realized that he can't be a Christian and be a freemason, so he had to create a religion where he would be regarded as the meridian of time, opening the heaven to the last dispensation.

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Lucifer: · "Now there is another personality of which I desire to speak, ... that person is Satan, the Devil. But according to our understanding and teaching, Satan is a person with a spirit body, in form like that of all other men. HE IS A SPIRIT BROTHER OF OURS AND OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, who is our Elder Brother in the spirit world. The earth was in course of development for the abode of man in mortality. A Redeemer was to be sent down and make it possible for the Father's children to return to him." ("Apostle" Joseph Merrill, LDS Conference Report, April 1949, p. 27)

In Joseph Smith account of the first vision, he reads James 1:5 in the Bible and then feels prompted to go to the Woods to pray. While praying in the woods, he is overcome by a dark spirit before seeing what could have been two angelic beings(Sons of Perdition).  In Catholic Theology Satan was God’s most powerful Angel. In Mormon theology, he is the brother of Jesus. Also In Mormon theology Satan doesn’t have wings or a tail and pitch fork. Mormons portray Satan as good looking enough for Eve to speak with him. Satan convinces Eve that if she and Adam eat of that fruit, they would be as wise as their Father in Heaven and be like the Gods. “For it is how Father gained his power… “

· "Now there is another personality of which I desire to speak, ... that person is Satan, the Devil. But according to our understanding and teaching, Satan is a person with a spirit body, in form like that of all other men. HE IS A SPIRIT BROTHER OF OURS AND OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, who is our Elder Brother in the spirit world. The earth was in course of development for the abode of man in mortality. A Redeemer was to be sent down and make it possible for the Father's children to return to him." ("Apostle" Joseph Merrill, LDS Conference Report, April 1949, p. 27)