Dave,
Adding to the word is very dangerous business. If one is to believe Jude
3, and Hebrews 1-2, then one would logically assume that scripture is
complete. The operative point in our discussion is not that Christians would
or would not welcome new revelation...I beleive that most would if it could
be demonstrated to be scripture... it is that we believe no new scripture
HAS been revealed. But, as Jesus said on the cross..."it is finished". His
atoning work was complete. No more needs to be done, or said to complete or
augment the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is finished.
As for Revelation 22, I believe that is an admonition from the writer of
Revelation not to change Revelation. However, I also beleive that the
principle applies to all of scripture. If indeed Jude 3 and Hebrews 1-2 are
true, there would be no gain (biblically...although perhaps personally) from
adding to it.
There are a series of objective tests that books of the Bible had to meet
before they were considered scripture ("canonical"), and against which new
"scripture" is judged. There were many other books that, although considered
by some early christian groups to be scripture, did not meet these criteria.
When the mormon extra-biblical works are put to these tests, they fail
miserably. That is why we must take heed to take 2 Cor 11:3,4; Gal 1:6-9 to
heart. The mormon works are heretical.
As for your perception of Christians as "myopic", I differ. First of all,
we are totally in accord with scripture. We start with the biblical fact
that "itis finished". We assume that Hebrews 1:1-2 is correct, in that in
these last days God spoke to us through his Son. We believe Jude 3 when it
says that the faith was delivered once for all to the saints. We are
applying objective tests to purported "new" scripture. We are being good
Bereans and searching the scriptures daily to see if what latter day
"prophets" are saying is true. We are "testing the spirits" of newly
revealed "scripture", including mormonism, and finding that it fails the
tests of "canonicity". My guess is that no one in the mormon theocracy has
ever honestly applied these tests to scripture and truthfully reported their
findings. How honest a scholar are you Dave? Are you the man to do it?
Finally, I would not rely on Google for uncovering the truth about
anything. Especially if my expectations of it's ability were too high, and
my search techniques were lacking.
Perry
From: Dave <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Reply-To: TruthTalk@mail.innglory.org
To: TruthTalk@mail.innglory.org
Subject: Re: [TruthTalk] apostles and prophets
Date: Sat, 31 Dec 2005 10:53:47 -0800
* It is not additional revelation that we object to, per se, and many (if
not most) Christians feel that if it is in God's will, additional
revelation would be welcome.*
DAVEH: That isn't the way I've understood most Protestants to believe.
If so, then why is there such a reluctance to /add to the Word/, so to
speak? When I've addressed the need for current revelation on TT in the
past, some TTers have used Rev 22.......
/[18] For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy
of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto
him the plagues that are written in this book:/
.........as their (faulty) logic in dismissing the option of God revealing
more Scripture. And, I've heard that from more than just one single TTer.
It is a common argument that is used by many Protestants......and as such,
it would suggest that your above comment about........
*additional revelation would be welcome
...........* is not correct. Can you give me some examples of Protestants
making such a claim anywhere on the net? That is such a simple and concise
statement, one would think it would be easy to google it and turn up a lot
of examples of Protestants saying exactly the same thing with exactly the
same words. Yet this is what I got when I tried it.......
_/Your search - "additional revelation would be welcome" - did not match
any documents./_
........Which to me would seem very strange if it was a commonly believed
desire of Protestants.
* Many of us believe that the gospel of Jesus Christ is complete.*
DAVEH: Which is why I think you are myopic on this, Perry. Are there ANY
Protestants who think otherwise? Doesn't believing in that manner suggest
that you would not welcome any *additional revelation*_//_, as it would
imply that your basic premise is flawed? How can you consider the *gospel
of Jesus Christ* to be complete, and then welcome *additional revelation*?
I can only assume that the *_many_* you mentioned below does not include
you?
*Should God choose to reveal more scripture it would be welcome*
DAVEH: As I see it, Protestantism would not be receptive to it at
all........especially, if such revelations were to point out the errors
promulgated by Protestant theology. I would be most interested in seeing
you find stuff on the net to support your above claim. I suspect you are
merely saying such to pacify my belief that Protestantism does not readily
welcome more revelation from God. If there are *_many_ * Protestants who
believe as you suggested....it should be easy for you to provide evidence,
Perry. Otherwise, I can only assume you are grinding your ax against
Mormonism.
Charles Perry Locke wrote:
Dave,
* It is not additional revelation that we object to, per se, and _many_
(if not most) Christians feel that if it is in God's will, additional
revelation would be welcome.* And to many, additional personal revelation
is accepted.
* Many of us believe that the gospel of Jesus Christ is complete.* That
the faith was delivered once for all to the saints (Jude 3). No more is
necessary, and what we have is sufficient for understanding God's will for
mankind, and attaining salvation. *Should God choose to reveal more
scripture it would be welcome*...but, to date, no works fulfill that goal.
We have been warned in scripture that if anyone preaches a different
gospel than the Apostles taught, they are accursed. (2 Cor 11:3,4; Gal
1:6-9)
It is the heretical, contradictory, and unbiblical nature of the mormon
extra-biblical works, the nefarious background of JS, the lies and deceit
of the mormon church that we object to. These prevent real Christians from
accepting the mormon works as revelation, or as "another testament of
Jesus Christ". This all points to one thing...the mormon system is not of
God. THAT is what we object to. It is a FALSE religion.
Perry
From: Dave <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Reply-To: TruthTalk@mail.innglory.org
To: TruthTalk@mail.innglory.org
Subject: Re: [TruthTalk] apostles and prophets
Date: Sat, 31 Dec 2005 09:04:34 -0800
*It is perhaps perplexing to them why you would so adamantly argue that
the Scriptures have been closed.*
DAVEH: Yes DavidM, that is correct.....Such does perplex us. I'm
suspect there may be other reasons as well, but it almost seems that the
argument for closure is just a knee jerk reaction because of JS's
contribution of post Biblical revelations. From our perspective, it
appears that Protestants have truly put the blinders on in an effort to
avoid hearing anything God might want them to know that is not included
in the Bible.
Apparently, the only thing that is going to be accepted in a post
Biblical sense, will be Jesus.....and that only after he shows the nail
prints in his hands.
If God felt the need to reveal his will through the apostles and
prophets of Bible times, it truly does seem strange to us (LDS) that many
Christians in this era would reject the idea that God could/would do the
same today. To think that God revealed everything we need to know
several thousand years ago, and that it has been 100% recorded in what we
know as the Bible.....seems a bit more than myopic.....it might even be
insulting to a Lord whose methods are claimed not to change.
/*It appears that such dogma comes out of convenience rather than
conviction.*/
DAVEH: To me, it seems more a matter of stubbornness, rather than
convenience. To allow God to reveal more than he has currently revealed
would simply upset the applecart, so to speak. Protestantism has
invested heavily in both time and effort building a framework of theology
that stands apart from Catholicism, and has adopted a no change policy
that would prevent anybody from making waves. IOW.....Why would they
(Protestants) want to take a chance on finding out that some of their
basic premises are wrong! It is much easier to assume correctness of
theology, and refuse to hear anything that might be contrary. Hence,
they stubbornly reject anything God might reveal outside the Bible.
David Miller wrote:
As for the Scritpures being closed.... I have expressed in this forum
many times in the past that my perspective is that I do not expect more
Scriptures to be forthcoming. Nevertheless, there is no mandate or
decree that closes the Canon. It is only an assumption we have that
there will not be any more Scriptures written until Christ himself
returns. I suspect those just before Christ came the first time thought
the same thing. Nevertheless, Christ did come, and soon more Scriptures
were written. The only reason such a point is necessary is honesty in
approaching the subject. I'm sure to the Mormons, who believe that other
Scriptures have been written, you appear unable to think outside your
little theological box. *It is perhaps perplexing to them why you would
so adamantly argue that the Scriptures have been closed.* /*It appears
that such dogma comes out of convenience rather than conviction.*/
--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dave Hansen
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.langlitz.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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STUFF, MOTORCYCLE and CLIPS.
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