New Era, ‘The Greatness of Joseph Smith and His Remarkable Visions,’ December 1973 “Adam was the first member of the church of Christ on the earth and the first high priest after the order of the Son of God. In the commission he received from God, Adam was given the keys to administer the divine plan of salvation to others, including all his children to the very latest generation of time. It is through Adam’s authority that any revelation pertaining to the gospel of Christ was or shall be revealed.
The Prophet Joseph said:
“Adam holds the keys of the dispensation of the fulness of times; i.e., the dispensation of all the times that have been and will be revealed through him from the beginning to Christ, and from Christ to the end of the dispensations that are to be revealed.” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith [Deseret Book Co.: 1961], pp. 167–68.)
At the age of 14 this boy exercised such great faith that he was given the privilege of beholding the greatest vision ever recorded in the annals of scripture. … Can you now begin to see the greatness of Joseph Smith’s mission? Each of these prophets may have held only a few keys of the gospel. Now he was receiving all the keys that had ever been on the earth.” — Jerry C. Roundy
Luke 17:2 “It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones.”
Matthew 23:12 “And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.”
Today we’re seeing another example of how the Church has a misplaced adoration for the Lord. Tragically, they’re sending the message that Smith is the greatest thing since sliced bread, and have totally snubbed all the miracles God has performed throughout time.
Where is Jesus in all this?
As you can easily see, their indoctrination methods start early. The target audience is for the 12-18 year old youth group.
The number of fallacies in this LDS reference is one of the worst we’ve seen. Be sure to pray for those in the Church, young and old alike!
As an FYI, Mr. Roundy was a professor at BYU.
With Love in Christ;
Michelle
Adam was a sinner, and didn’t die for my salvation.
Indoctrination of youth is a major goal of the Mormon church. Ask any Mormon kid who the greatest man that ever lived was and odds are, that at least 50% of the kids will say Joe Smith; the other 50% will say Jesus. Ask any Mormon girl what kind of a man would make the ideal husband and they will tell you, Joe Smith.
The Mormons, however, have found themselves in very troublesome times of late. The internet has provided information to these young Mormons that the church never intended for them to know. Today, Bishops are being asked questions by young members about church leaders and church history, that they (Bishops) are often unprepared to answer. Some Bishops are probably forced to go to the internet to find out if what little Johnny told them is true.The Bishop not only learns about what little Johnny was talking about, but a whole lot more information that the Bishop himself, finds very troubling. Suddenly, you have a Bishop that has a whole bunch of doubts himself about the church.
The information found on the internet challenges and denies Mormon doctrine. This has created a huge problem for the church. The church can’t deny the real story behind the Book of Abraham, the Kinderhook Incident, the fact that Joe Smith was a womanizer, a fortune teller, a believer in magic, a glass looker, a man arrested for dishonest dealing with his neighbors.
So, what does the church do? It casts doubt on the validity of anything anti Mormon. Members are being told to avoid any teachings that challenge church doctrine. Members are warned that apostate behavior can result a from reading such material. Members are threatened with excommunication or dis fellowship from immersing themselves in internet teachings about the church. Members are furthered warned that to share such information with other church members will definitely result in Ex Communication. Parents are fearful of what their kids are learning on the internet, kids become curious and decide to check the internet to see what all the fuss is about.
Pornography, was a huge issue within the church several years ago, when it was announced (via the media), that Utah had the highest numbers of porn watchers of any state in the union. Panic immediately set in. Special meetings were called for by General Authorities to address this problem. Today, it seems like Porn has taken a back seat to anti Mormon teachings.
Mormonism is imploding. The church can’t keep converts for more than 1-2 years. People are getting fed up with all the demands the church places on them. People are not being fed spiritually at sacrament meetings, even though Genera Authorities tell them they are.
There is a church in my neighborhood called the Holy Redeemer Church. The church has a huge number of Ex Mormons in their congregation. This is a sign that in these last days God is pouring out his spirit on all flesh and as a result, people are learning the truth about the gospel (Acts 2:17)