August 11 – Matt. 16:18 “And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”
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In today’s study we find at least two items of interest. The church, according to Jesus, was not built upon Peter, or any other apostle. It was built upon Jesus Himself. To back this up see 1 Peter 2:5-8. The apostles were to carry on the work, yes; to be the foundation, no. The second item of interest is, why are they quoting from the Bible if they believe that many parts were mistranslated?
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The following quote was taken from the study notes of the Family Home Evening for Sept. 20, 2004.
“It has always seemed a remarkable thing to me that, although the Lord chose twelve Apostles to assist him in the work of the ministry, and to extend it following his death; and that although Paul, who was an Apostle, declared that the Church should be “built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets. . . the office of Apostle, and certainly a Council of Twelve Apostles, is not found to my knowledge in other Christian churches. (Gordon B. Hinckley, “Special Witnesses for Christ,” Ensign, May 1984, 49)”
Well, you were right about that GBH…your so called “priesthood authority” is not found in “other Christian Churches”, simply because Jesus is our High Priest.
Forgive me, math wasn’t my best subject. But, the president, and the first presidency, and the 12, equal 15… right? I sure never read in the Bible that’s how Jesus set up His Church. Does anyone know who were the successors of the original apostles?