Brigham Young and Joseph Smith; How Great They are
Gospel Standards, pg. 18; “BRIGHAM YOUNG AND JOSEPH SMITH. While we honor Brigham Young as the great statesman, the great pioneer and colonizer, we must not forget that Brigham Young built upon the foundation, and fulfilled the predictions, made by the Prophet Joseph Smith. And Brigham Young, great as he was, on all occasions magnified the Prophet Joseph. I honor and love him for the reverence he gave to the man who was the instrument in the hands of almighty God of restoring the gospel to the earth.—Era, 4:690-691.” – Heber J. Grant
Proverbs 16:18; “Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.”
Proverbs says it all doesn’t it?
Apparently Young built doctrines upon Smith and not God Almighty.
“who was the instrument in the hands of almighty God”
The only proof that “he was the instrument of the Almighty God” is what Mormonism says, believe the Prophet. Unlike the Bible, the BOM and the doctrines, writings, have no proof whatsoever. Mormons blindly follow whatever their Prophet says without question,even if wrong. To question the Prophet would result in excommunication. The fear of “losing” one’s salvation keeps Mormons in their church.
One would think that there would be proof of the Mormon writings and Oracles somewhere, but there is not. So where is the proof that Young was? Question authority!
Yes, question authority…
Whether it’s Joseph the wife taker or Brigham the life taker…
“Only among the members of the Mormon faith can one find such a high degree of selective acceptance with regard to the known teachings of the men they recognize as authorized representatives of the Lord Jesus Christ. To my knowledge there is no other religion whose adherents are less aware of their faith’s own true history than that which calls itself the “true church.”
Baker, Lee B. (2011-12-01). Mormonism: A Life Under False Pretenses (Kindle Locations 1888-1890). First Edition Design eBook Publishing. Kindle Edition.
Camdenc…
Thank you for the note… this is one of the lines from our book that so touched our Son, and he has now left the Mormon Faith, Blessings to you. Lee and Kathy Baker
Hey there you!
I know your note is for Camden but I just had to say PTL!!!! What an inspiration you guys are and testimony to what God can do for us. 🙂 I’m wondering…would you consider sending me your testimonies so we can post them here?
God bless!
Michelle
1 Cor. 1:18
PS: I’m sure Camden will respond as well. 😉
Thanks Lee for your very informative and inspiring book. You have a great story and awesome testimony on how you left the LDS church because you and your wife started asking questions about the history of the church and indiscretions by the founder and subsequent leaders. I love the question that you asked when the stake prez said that you were presenting “anti-Mormon” questions. I have used your question several times since I read it… “How can it be called ‘anti-Mormon’ when I am using the church’s own history and writings to base my questions on?” Of course I paraphrased the question because I don’t have the book with me… Thank you again and God bless you and your family.
(The only proof that “he was the instrument of the Almighty God” is what Mormonism says, believe the Prophet. Unlike the Bible)
Of course, you have to believe the men who added the definition of the Trinity to the Bible had authority from God to create “traditional Christianity”.
(To my knowledge there is no other religion whose adherents are less aware of their faith’s own true history than that which calls itself the “true church.”)
Try “traditional Christianity”. Because I do not believe in the definition of the Trinity, ya’ll say I am not a member of God’s true church.
Fred – I don’t know which Christian church you went to or are familiar with because the ones we go to model themselves after the book of Acts and only teach what is in the Bible. So when you talk to us about “traditional Christianity”, you can just refer to it as Christianity. There is no definition of the Trinity in the Bible… The proof is there, if you just look for it, not rely on someone else to tell you it is there (remember the Bereans?).
It is because you believe in a different Jesus, a different salvation, a different gospel, a false prophet, a false scripture, polygamy, polyandry, blood atonement, the humanization of God, the deification of man, polytheism, etc…. Here are some verses to help you understand the Trinity…
ONE GOD
(Deuteronomy 6:4)- Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.
(Deuteronomy 32:39)- “See now that I Myself am He! There is no god besides Me. I put to death and I bring to life, I have wounded and I will heal, and no can deliver out of My hand”.
(2 Samuel 7:22)- “How great You are, O Sovereign Lord! There is no one like You, and there is no God but You, as we have heard with our own ears”.
(Psalm 86:10)- “For You are great and do marvelous deeds; You alone are God”.
(Isaiah 44:6)- “This is what the Lord says – Israel’s King and Redeemer, the Lord Almighty: I am the first and I am the last; apart from Me there is no God”.
(1 Timothy 1:17)- Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.
OMNIPRESENT: “EVERYWHERE PRESENT”
God the Father- (Jeremiah 23:23-24) “Am I only a God nearby”, declares the Lord, “and not a God far away? “Can anyone hide in secret places so that I cannot see him”? declares the Lord. “Do not I fill heaven and earth”? declares the Lord.
God the Son- (Matt. 18:20) “For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them”.
God the Holy Spirit- (Psalm 139:7-8) “Where can I go from Your Spirit? Where can I flee from Your presence? If I go up to the heavens, You are there; if I make my bed in the depths, You are there”.
OMNISCIENCE: “ALL KNOWING”
God the Father- (Romans 11:33) Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable His judgments, and His paths beyond tracing out!
God the Son- (Matt. 9:4) Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said, “Why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts”?
God the Holy Spirit- (1 Cor. 2:10) But God has revealed it to us by His Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.
OMNIPOTENCE: “ALL POWERFUL”
God the Father- (Job 42:2) “I know that You can do all things; no plan of Yours can be thwarted”.
God the Son- (Matt. 28:18) Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me”.
God the Holy Spirit- (Romans 8:11) If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit, who lives in you.
HOLINESS: “ALL HOLY”
God the Father- (1 Samuel 2:2) There is no one Holy like the LORD; there is no one besides You; there is no Rock like our God.
God the Son- (Acts 3:14) You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you.
God the Holy Spirit- (John 16:8) “When He comes, He will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment”.
ETERNAL: EVERLASTING”
God the Father- (Psalm 90:2) Before the mountains were born or You brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting You are God.
God the Son- (Rev. 1:8) “I AM the Alpha and the Omega”, says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty”.
God the Holy Spirit- (Heb. 9:14) How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the Eternal Spirit offered Himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!
THE TRUTH: “ALL TRUTHFUL”
God the Father- (Proverbs 30:5) Every Word of God is flawless; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him.
God the Son- (Rev. 3:7) “To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: These are the Words of Him who is Holy and True, who holds the key of David. What He opens no one can shut, and what He shuts no one can open.
God the Holy Spirit- (1 John 5:6) This is the One who came by water and blood-Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the Truth.
THE CREATION: “CREATED ALL THINGS”
God the Father- (Genesis 1:1) In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
(Psalm 102:25) In the beginning You laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands.
God the Son- (John 1:3) Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made
(Colossians 1:16-17) For by Him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.
God the Holy Spirit- (Genesis 1:2) Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
(Job 33:4) The Spirit of God has made me; the breath of the Almighty gives me life.
You accept the manmade definition of the Trinity, and all the accepted understandings of the Bible that re said to support it.
There are many nonMormons who believed you wrong.
I know this is a lot to read, but you might want to follow the links, check the footnotes, and see if the authors got it right.
++++
Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and [to] my God, and your God. John 20:17
Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear. Acts 2:33
And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Matthew 27:46
Jordan Vajda, OP, a Dominican Catholic priest (“OP” stands for Ordo Praedicatorum-Order of Preachers-the official title of the Dominican order) even writes:
It seems that if one’s soteriology cannot accommodate a doctrine of human divinization, then it has at least implicitly, if not explicitly, rejected the heritage of the early Christian church and departed from the faith of first millennium Christianity. However, if that is the case, those who would espouse such a soteriology also believe, in fact, that Christianity, from about the second century on, has apostatized and “gotten it wrong” on this core issue of human salvation. Thus, ironically, those who would excoriate Mormons for believing in the doctrine of exaltation actually agree with them that the early church experienced a “great apostasy” on fundamental doctrinal questions. And the supreme irony is that such persons should probably investigate the claims of the LDS Church, which proclaims that within itself is to be found the “restoration of all things. [6]
6[note] St. Irenaeus, “Adv Haer III IV:38:4,” The Ante-Nicene Church Fathers: “We are not made gods from the beginning; first we are mere humans, then we become gods.” St. Maximus the Confessor : “Let us become the image of the one whole God, bearing nothing earthly in ourselves, so that we may consort with God and become gods, receiving from God our existence as gods.” St. Athanasius, De inc.: “For the Son of God became man, that we might become God.” St. Augustine: “He has called men gods that are deified of His Grace, not born of His Substance.” St. Irenaeus, Adv Haer III: “The Word became flesh and the Son of God became the Son of Man: so that man, by entering into communion with the Word and thus receiving divine sonship, might become a son of God.” St. Augustine of Hippo: “Let us applaud and give thanks that we have become not only Christians but Christ himself. Do you understand, my brothers, the grace that God our head has given us? Be filled with wonder and joy–we have become veritable Christs!” St. Thomas Aquinas: “The Only-begotten Son of God, wanting us to be partakers of his divinity, assumed our human nature so that, having become man, he might make men gods.” St Basil the Great: “The highest of all things desired is to become God.”
http://en.fairmormon.org/Mormonism_and_the_nature_of_God/Trinity/Early_beliefs
+++
What about John 10:30?
John 10:30 was an important scripture in the early debates discussed above.
One author wrote of it:
[John 10:30] was a key verse in the early Trinitarian controversies. On the one extreme, the onarchians (Sabellians) interpreted it to mean “one person”, although the “one” is neuter, not masculine. On the other extreme, the Arians interpreted this text, which was often used against them, in terms of moral unity of will. The Protestant commentator Engel, following Augustine, sums up the Orthodox position: “Through the word “are” Sabellius is refuted; through the word one” so is Arius..” [In the Gospel of] John… all these relationships between Father and Son are described in function of the one’s dealings with men. It would be up to the work of later theologians to take this gospel material pertaining to the mission of the Son add extra and draw from it a theology of the inner life of the Trinity.[27]
Note that “one” in this verse is neuter, not masculine. In Greek, the masculine would be used to indicate a oneness of person or being, and neuter implies a oneness of purpose. So, read literally the verse merely says that Jesus and the Father are one in purpose or will: only a belief in the Trinity at the outset would lead one to read this as a Trinitarian passage. A non-LDS Christian scholar wrote of these verses:
The basic reason for this choice is to be found in John 10:30: “The Father and I are one” (hen). Note that Jesus is not saying, “The Father and I are numerically one” (heis), but uses a term meaning “we are together” (Greek hen, as used again in v.38: “The Father is in me and I am in the Father”). The union of the Father and Son does not blot out the difference and individuality of each. Union rather supposes differentiation. Through love and through reciprocal communion they are one single thing, the one God-love.[28]
Note also that later theologians had to contribute ‘extra’ information to solve the problem. This extra eventually resulted in the Trinitarian formulae of today.
What about 1 John 5:7–8?
1 John 5:7-8 reads:
7 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. 8 And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one.
These verses are considered to have been added to the Bible text. Said one conservative reference work:
…the acceptance of this verse [i.e. the Johannine comma: 1 John 5:7-8] as genuine breaks almost every major canon of textual [criticism][29]
Historian Paul Johnson notes:
Altogether there are about 4,700 relevant manuscripts, and at least 100,000 quotations or allusions in the early fathers . . .Thus, the Trinitarian texts in the first Epistle of John, which make explicit what other texts merely hint at, originally read simply: ‘There are three which bear witness, the spirit and the water and the blood, and the three are one.’ This was altered in the fourth century to read: ‘There are three which bear witness on earth, the spirit and the water and the blood, and these three are one in Christ Jesus; and there are three who bear witness in heaven, the Father, the Word and the Spirit, and these three are one.'[30]
So, the early Christians never referred to these verses in their writings. The verse in the early Greek manuscripts simply says:
There are three which bear witness, the spirit and the water and the blood, and the three are one.
But, in the 4th century, the verse had words added to it to support the ‘new’ orthodox doctrine of the Trinity:
There are three which bear witness on earth, the spirit and the water and the blood, and these three are one in Christ Jesus; and there are three who bear witness in heaven, the Father, the Word and the Spirit, and these three are one.
Why is 1 John 5:7–8 still in the Bible, then?
The writer Erasmus noted the problem with these verses in the 1500s, and did not include the addition change in his Greek New Testament:
On the basis of the manuscript evidence available to him, Erasmus had eliminated the passage [1 John 5:7] from his first edition of the Greek New Testament in 1516, but had restored it in later editions, responding to a storm of protest and to further textual evidence that was produced—quite literally produced–in support of the text. Luther’s translation of the New Testament into German, being based on the 1516 edition of Erasmus, did not contain the passage. Although the weight of textual evidence against it was seemingly overwhelming, the proof it supplied for the Trinity made an attack on its authenticity seemed to be an attack on the dogma [thus orthodoxy sought to wrongly restore the Johannine Comma].[31]
This author explains that people were outraged that the verse was taken out. Erasmus replied that he would include it if they could show him a single Greek manuscript that contained it. Scholars believe that a forgery was produced, and (good to his word) Erasmus included the change in his next editions. People cared more about what their dogma, creeds, and councils had taught than what the word of God actually said. The above author continues:
The most pertinacious and conservative in various communions were still holding out for the authenticity of the “Johannine Comma” in 1 John 5:7, despite all the textual and patristic evidence [evidence from the Early Christian Fathers before Nicea] against it, but there was an all but unanimous consensus among textual critics that it represented a later interpolation.[32]
Many Bible translations today omit this part of the text, since it is not considered to be authentic:
New American Bible:So there are three that testify, the Spirit, the water, and the blood, and the three are of one accord.[33] New American Standard Bible:For there are three that testify: the Spirit and the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement.[34] New Revised Standard Version: There are three that testify: the Spirit and the water and the blood, and these three agree.[35]
Why, then, was Nicean Trinitarian introduced at all?
Let us return to the second century, when it was first sensed that the formulations of the New Testament and the Apostolic Fathers were not sufficient to describe the nature of the divinity. A new way of doing this was attempted. Thus the so-called Monarchian controversy occurred… In addition to the Modalists (such as Sabellius), for whom Christ and the Holy Spirit were modes in which one Godhead appeared, there the Dynamists or Adoptionists, who conceived of Christ either as a man who was raised up by being adopted by God, or as a man filled with God’s power.[36]
Simply put, people tried a ‘new’ way of talking about God because of disputes about the nature and mission of Christ. In the LDS view, this is because the loss of revelation to the Apostles (due to the apostasy) meant that Christianity was divided about key issues. No one had a good way to resolve the questions, and so they turned to the best intellectual tools they had—they merged Christian theology with Greek philosophy.
Father Charles Curran, a Roman Catholic priest, said,
We [the Christians] went through the problem of appropriating the word in the fourth, fifth, and sixth centuries with the great trinitarian and Christalogical councils where we finally came to the conclusion of three persons in God and two natures in Jesus. Many people at the time said, ‘Well, you can’t say that because those words aren’t in the scriptures.’ That’s right, they aren’t in the scriptures, they are borrowed from Greek philosophy, but they are the on-going account of the believing community to understand, appropriate and live the word of God in its own circumstances.[37]
http://en.fairmormon.org/Mormonism_and_the_nature_of_God/Trinity/Nicene_creed
Greek philosophy? How about Greek mythology? Chief God (Zues) and all the other gods that inhabit Mount Olympus… a Polytheist belief. I believe in one God, who is over all… One God, who answers when we call, only one Almighty God.
The Trinity is indeed in the Bible by God’s definition and Jesus’s statement. Men did not make that definition. Mormonism speaks of one god then says in another place that he is not the Trinity but 3 separate persons. That’s 3 gods. Then there are all the people here who they say become gods…what do you call that? It’s called polytheism.
The Bible has been translated correctly from Hebrew and Greek. Where is is NOT translated correctly? Pls. show us.
In addition, there is NOT any proof of the Book of Mormon. There is ample proof that Jos. Smith plagerised the Bible as whole chapters of some books, Isaiah, for example, are copied to the BOM. Who can trust a book like that?
Why defend a religion that errs in it’s writings, as well as, refuses to let its members question authority on early history, finances, and practices? Don’t you want to find out why they lie? What are they hiding and why is the BOM changed so much? The Bible is not changed!
I am praying for you that you find out the truth on Mormonism and its foundations in the occult and masonry. They don’t tell you things in the beginning and somethings they never tell you. What church/ religion does that? Blind faith and allegiance is no good! It is a mark of a cult. The drilling of the same stuff over and over again is, too. (testimonies of Jos. Smith.) Pls. do your research away from the LDS websites.
(Blind faith and allegiance is no good!)
I am a convert and one of the first things I found out about the LDS Church is that the Lord, through His earthly helpers, has always told us to find out for ourselves about the truthfulness of the restoration. I never understood how some folks miss that teaching.
(Pls. do your research away from the LDS websites.)
I started out to prove the LDS Church wrong. I even visit places like here to see if there is something new that could prove the Church wrong.
(The Trinity is indeed in the Bible by God’s definition and Jesus’s statement. Men did not make that definition.)
There were enough men that found a different meaning in God’s Word that a bunch of them got together to fight over what God really meant in His Word. Many creeds and definitions came out of the meetings. You now have to decide which creeds and definitions you want to follow.
You say I am not a “traditional Christian” because I do not follow the same men that you do.
you are not correct- we are not believeing what these writers say about the Trinity, etc-YOU ARE. We are letting the Bible interpert the Bible for other passages as I said. That is the correct was to interpect the Bible. As Camden said, we don’t follow any man.
SO, Again, in Genesis God said..US.. and then said..HE…as I just wrote at 7:03 AM and posted below.
He tells us in the beginning WHO he is, NOT man, not agruments that you quotes form these writes, saints, etc. BUT GOD in the BIBLE alone. We Christians here, Camden, Michelle, etc and ME believe in SCRIPTURE ALONE, YOu are dragging all this other stuff into your life and mind. Keep it simple. Go is the Triune God as HE said not We say, not Man says. You are also quoting doem LDS materials- I am quoting from the KJV of the Bible and nothing else.
You will never understand this at all because you are not in the Christian faith nor so you have the Biblical Hopy Spirit to help you know the meaning.
God gave us HIs Word ALONE and not any other works to read the answers in. He will not answer your prayes for understanding while you submit yourself to the Mormon god, who is of Satan himself.
Step out for a while and think only of the Biblical God, then ask HIM only the truth and to open your eyes to it.
(Ps. 73 in FULL below.)
Psalm 73
King James Version (KJV)
73 Truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart.
2 But as for me, my feet were almost gone; my steps had well nigh slipped.
3 For I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
4 For there are no bands in their death: but their strength is firm.
5 They are not in trouble as other men; neither are they plagued like other men.
6 Therefore pride compasseth them about as a chain; violence covereth them as a garment.
7 Their eyes stand out with fatness: they have more than heart could wish.
8 They are corrupt, and speak wickedly concerning oppression: they speak loftily.
9 They set their mouth against the heavens, and their tongue walketh through the earth.
10 Therefore his people return hither: and waters of a full cup are wrung out to them.
11 And they say, How doth God know? and is there knowledge in the most High?
12 Behold, these are the ungodly, who prosper in the world; they increase in riches.
13 Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocency.
14 For all the day long have I been plagued, and chastened every morning.
15 If I say, I will speak thus; behold, I should offend against the generation of thy children.
16 When I thought to know this, it was too painful for me;
17 Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end.
18 Surely thou didst set them in slippery places: thou castedst them down into destruction.
19 How are they brought into desolation, as in a moment! they are utterly consumed with terrors.
20 As a dream when one awaketh; so, O Lord, when thou awakest, thou shalt despise their image.
21 Thus my heart was grieved, and I was pricked in my reins.
22 So foolish was I, and ignorant: I was as a beast before thee.
23 Nevertheless I am continually with thee: thou hast holden me by my right hand.
24 Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory.
25 Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee.
26 My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever.
27 For, lo, they that are far from thee shall perish: thou hast destroyed all them that go a whoring from thee.
28 But it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord God, that I may declare all thy works.
Read about what God says about Himself in the Bible. ( see the other post on the Trinity) when you read the Bible you let the Bible interpert itself from other passages, NOT man, NOT “prophets”.
the first (of ten) Commandment:
“You shall have no other gods.” Deut. 6:4 Hear,O Israel:The Lord God is one.
I Cor 8:4 There is no God but one. Matt 4:10 , 1 Cor. 8:4,
and Gen 1: 26-28 God said, ” Let us make man in Our image, after our likeness….” So God created man in His image…” THE SAME VERSE has OUR and HIS so He defined himself as the TRIUNE GOD.
Other passages say ONE GOD, too. The Bible doesn’t err. You get the meaning from other passages. Man did not define the Trinity. The Bible has this!
——————
and more… Trinity
Matt 28:19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
——————–
I don’t follow different ‘men’ but the Bible. Mormonism is NOT Christian and will never be Christian. There is a different God, Jesus, and Holy Sprit than what is taught in the Bible (see the right sidebar here on this page for those topics)
———————————
Gen. 1:26-28- AGAIN, GOD DEFINES HIMSELF! Here is the full text in KJV:
Genesis 1:26-28
King James Version (KJV)
26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
——
GOD, not man is saying this. He is the TRUINE GOD. Mormonism is wrong from the beginning. Check the ancient Hebrew text, all the translated versions and it says the same.
No, we say that you are not a traditional Christian because you have a different Jesus, a different salvation, a different gospel, a false prophet, a false scripture, polygamy, polyandry, blood atonement, the humanization of God, the deification of man, polytheism, etc…
You must not have researched very hard because all of the lying and the killing and the wife swapping and stealing that was propogated against the members of the church by the founder and subsequent prophets is clearly still all there in the church scriptures, writings, sermon notes, general conference talks, etc.
We certainly do not follow any man, except the GOD-Man Jesus the Christ. While the 12 apostles were great men and the writers of the NT were very helpful… I consider them no different than myself. If you are in Christ, you are a king and priest.
We don’t follow Martin Luther, Justin Martyr, Billy Graham, Polycarp, Chuck Smith, Tertullian, etc… We can learn from them but we don’t follow any man, especially men that lie to “advance their church” or claim that polygamy is the only way to salvation and godhood. Or that Christ’s blood doesn’t cover all sins and some people have to have their own blood shed for atonement. Or that a church would be destroyed the day the Negro is allowed to hold the priesthood. Or that there are people living on the sun and the moon…