|
The
logic, David, does not work. The early Messianic believers in Messiah called
themselves haDerechim... followers of The Way. They were called "Christians" by
their opponents in Antioch, that's why it is believed by many to be an
"insulting" term... like being called a "Jesus Freak."
Had
the text of BOM said "Followers of The Way" or something similar, there would be
fuel for your argument because I know a couple groups called themselves
followers of The Way throughout Judaism. Unfortunately the author of the Books
of Mormon didn't have the historical background to understand
this.
--
slade
DAVEH: Hmmmmm.....Is it really
possible for there not to have been any Christians prior to those mentioned in
Acts 11:26.....say, not even before Christ came into the world???
As I see it, it is no less likely than Jesus being our Redeemer before he came
into the world. If one simply draws a quick conclusion by prooftexting
one Bible passage without looking at the big picture, one might draw the
conclusion that there were no Christians prior to vs 26. However,
LDS theology teaches that the Gospel is an eternal concept that existed before
the foundations of the world. We believe Jesus was our Saviour and
Redeemer in the pre-mortal existence, and those following him in that realm
qualified us to be Christians there....long before even Adam was born.
Now I know you probably don't want to consider that possibility, as it was a
long time ago and your memory about it (yes, I believe you were there rooting
for Jesus then as strongly as you are rooting for him now!) is as vague as
mine. So....let's step outside the realm of the Bible for a minute, and
let me take you to an earlier era where the followers of Christ were called
Christians before he was born.......
And those who did
belong to the church were faithful; yea, all those who were true believers in
Christ took upon them, gladly, the name of Christ, or Christians as they were
called, because of their belief in Christ, who should come.
Alma 46:15
......That was spoken by a BoM prophet some 73 years
before the birth of our Lord, which predates his disciples mentioned in vs 26
by approximately a hundred plus years. Yikes.....that does sound
rather ANACHRONISTIC, doesn't it! Maybe you've got a point to consider,
Kevin. Those folks in the BoM really believed Jesus would be coming in
the future, and hence were considered to be Christians at that time. Do
you suppose there are any Bible passages that suggests Jesus would be born in
the future? I'd be tempted to quote some pertinent passages, but I
don't want to irritate Perry any more than I already have by picking and
choosing Scripture as evidence that my LDS biased beliefs are supported by the
Bible. Hopefully you get the point, Kevin. FTR.......from my
(LDS) perspective, those who believed in the forthcoming Messiah (Jesus
Christ), were Christians.
Even though the disciples
mentioned in vs 26 (Acts 11) denotes those to first be called Christians in
the NT, it does not logically follow that they were actually the first
Christians, Kevin. Just think of the throngs of believers who
followed Jesus during his ministry....were they not Christians as well?
Furthermore, I think we can simplify this discussion if we consider the proper
definition of Christian.....and we've discussed that a bit, eh! For the
sake of simplicity, let's use your definition, Kevin......
Christians:
Those who worship the One true God who has REVEALED Himself through
the Bible.
..............Now Kevin, were the disciples in vs
26 the first to worship the One true God? I
don't believe so, and I suspect you don't either. Did any of Jesus'
followers through the early part of his ministry do such ( worship the
One true God)? If so, why cannot they also be considered to be
Christians, even if the term was not Biblically used to denote them as
such?
Moving on to the original question you posed
below as to whether or not I believed Abraham was a Christian.....Let's apply
the same standard. Do you think Abraham
worshiped the One true God? According
to LDS theology, he did....hence my answer in the affirmative. I can't
speak for your side of the fence though, so what do you think, Kevin......Did
Abraham worship the One true God who has REVEALED Himself through the
Bible?
Kevin Deegan wrote:
I was just curious, since the BOM has so many ANACHRONISTIC errors
about Christ in it.
NO, how could they be Christians before Christ came into the
world?
Acts 11:26 And the disciples were called Christians first in
Antioch. Dave Hansen <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
wrote: DAVEH:
>From my LDS perspective, I would say so.
How do you see it,
Kevin?
Kevin Deegan
wrote:
>DaveH
>
>Question was Abraham a
Christian?
--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dave Hansen
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.langlitz.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you wish to receive
things I find interesting,
I maintain six email lists...
JOKESTER, OPINIONS, LDS,
STUFF, MOTORCYCLE and CLIPS.
|
