This weekend will be the fall session of the semi-annual general conference.
I recommend watching at least some of it to anyone out there.
I'll promise you this if you do, while you may hear some things that you might not agree with, you will certainly hear things that you will agree with and the messages will be uplifting and beneficial.
Which brings me to my next suggested topic, I invite everyone to post their thoughts, comments and questions on any of the messages shared during any of the general conference sessions to post them here.
Either way, I hope you all have a great week and weekend.
Monday, September 29, 2008
Monday, September 1, 2008
How do we know?
There are a lot of ancient texts out there, some considered scripture by some and not by others. We don't have hard evidence of the truthfulness of any of them though, so how do we know which are inspired writings, which are merely the thoughts of uninspired men, or which are complete made up?
With Christian religions, the main book is the Holy Bible, which is actually a collection of many other books, which were in turn taken from an even wider arrangement of books and writings. Most Christians (I think), believe that the Holy Bible is the Word of God and many look at any writings that are not included in that collection of books as not being true.
In fact, I've heard the argument on more than one occasion, that the Bible itself claims to be the only true book. The reference used to make that claim can be found in John's book of Revelation, chapter 22, verse 18, where it states: ...If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written i this book.
At first blush, that might seem pretty telling, as the book of Revelation is included at the very end of the Bible and that reference is very close to the end of the book of Revelation.
Now, the Torah is the main book in the Jewish religion (correct me if I'm wrong on that, but that is my understanding), which includes the first part of the Holy Bible. Namely, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In the book of Deuteronomy, chapter 4, verse 2, it states: Ye Shall not add unto the word which I command you...
So, is the Torah correct and everything else in the Bible an attempt to add to those words? Or is it not quite as simple as that?
I don't want to get into any Bible bashing here (that's a war that nobody can ever win, other than perhaps the devil), but to get to the point of this post, how can we know what books/writings to believe?
My personal belief is that no man can tell you. Only the Spirit can tell you. And the only way that can happen is to read, ponder and pray, in that order.
I believe that the Bible, as well as the Book of Mormon, is the Word of God, but many do not share my belief, at least not about the Book of Mormon. That's okay, everyone has the agency to accept or reject the Book of Mormon for themselves. I do humbly make one request though, do not reject it without reading it first.
Now I leave it to all of you to sound off. What writings/books do you believe and how can you know which to believe and which to discard?
With Christian religions, the main book is the Holy Bible, which is actually a collection of many other books, which were in turn taken from an even wider arrangement of books and writings. Most Christians (I think), believe that the Holy Bible is the Word of God and many look at any writings that are not included in that collection of books as not being true.
In fact, I've heard the argument on more than one occasion, that the Bible itself claims to be the only true book. The reference used to make that claim can be found in John's book of Revelation, chapter 22, verse 18, where it states: ...If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written i this book.
At first blush, that might seem pretty telling, as the book of Revelation is included at the very end of the Bible and that reference is very close to the end of the book of Revelation.
Now, the Torah is the main book in the Jewish religion (correct me if I'm wrong on that, but that is my understanding), which includes the first part of the Holy Bible. Namely, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In the book of Deuteronomy, chapter 4, verse 2, it states: Ye Shall not add unto the word which I command you...
So, is the Torah correct and everything else in the Bible an attempt to add to those words? Or is it not quite as simple as that?
I don't want to get into any Bible bashing here (that's a war that nobody can ever win, other than perhaps the devil), but to get to the point of this post, how can we know what books/writings to believe?
My personal belief is that no man can tell you. Only the Spirit can tell you. And the only way that can happen is to read, ponder and pray, in that order.
I believe that the Bible, as well as the Book of Mormon, is the Word of God, but many do not share my belief, at least not about the Book of Mormon. That's okay, everyone has the agency to accept or reject the Book of Mormon for themselves. I do humbly make one request though, do not reject it without reading it first.
Now I leave it to all of you to sound off. What writings/books do you believe and how can you know which to believe and which to discard?
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