zerinus
Regular Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by spockrates View Post
I’m trying my best to submit myself to God the best way I know how. At this point in my life that means seeking truth in the pages of the Bible–either by trying to understand what is unclear to me in its pages, or by trying to obey what is clear to me in its pages. One clear command that I’m trying to follow now is this:
Code:
Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
I have no problem with that. It is a pity that Paul didn’t tell you how to “try the spirits”! So I am curious in finding out how you intend to carry out that test.
Quote:
And I’m not saying that Joseph Smith, or the LDS Church is a false prophet. I’m just obeying God by testing whether he or it is. I’m doing the same with the Catholic Church–I’m not claiming their Church or their Pope is a false prophet. I’m just obeying God by testing whether it or he is.
I am all for it. But the question still remains: how do you intend to carry out that test?
I’ve answered these questions of yours in previous posts, but I gather my answers lacked clarity. Please let me try again.
My reasoning goes like this: I start by praying and asking God how I can know that the Bible or the Book of Mormon is divine, rather than human, in origin (i.e., I ask how do I know it’s source is Him and not merely human).
The answer I’ve received, is that God predicts the future (for only He knows the future with absolute certainty):
17And the LORD said unto me, They have well spoken that which they have spoken.
18I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.
19And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.
20But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die.
21And if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the LORD hath not spoken?
22When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.
(Deuteronomy 18:17-22)
"I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.
Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare: before they spring forth I tell you of them."
(Isaiah 42:8-9)
So I pray and ask for evidence of predictions of the future in the Bible, and God has shown me many. There are predictions about Christ, predictions about the Jewish nation, and predictions about nearly every ancient city within a thousand miles of Jerusalem. Where the predictions have already come true, they can be confirmed as sound evidence of God’s involvement, for they are not vague, but they are instead specific and verifiable.
Now, this test proves to me that God is the author (so to speak) of the Sacred Scriptures you and I call the Bible. My thought is that I can apply the same test to the Book of Mormon that was so effective in testing the Bible.
Now this test only helps to show me that the Bible is trustworthy, where its meaning is clear. Where it is unclear (such as in the ambiguous passages I mentioned in Matthew 16 and 26) I need a different method to discern (or measure) its truth.
Do you think the predictions of the future test is flawed in some way? If so, please explain.
