Mormons; when and why did Jesus come to America?

[Dominic_Korozya]

I’ve conducted much research into LDS theology and would really like to concentrate on this topic.

I’d like to turn my attention to the LDS theology/belief that Jesus Christ Himself came to America shortly after His death.

I intend to learn exactly when and why He went there, what was the importance of His appearance and message and precisely what He intended to come of it in the future or even indeed just at that time.

In advance; Thankyou for your much desired (name removed by moderator)ut.

 

[zerinus]

I’ve conducted much research into LDS theology and would really like to concentrate on this topic.

I’d like to turn my attention to the LDS theology/belief that Jesus Christ Himself came to America shortly after His death.

I intend to learn exactly when and why He went there, what was the importance of His appearance and message and precisely what He intended to come of it in the future or even indeed just at that time.

In advance; Thankyou for your much desired (name removed by moderator)ut.

That refers to an event which is recorded in the Book of Mormon, and took place 2,000 years ago shortly after Jesus’ resurrection. The reason why He visited them was that the Book of Mormon people were of Israelite descent, and it was in fulfilment of the covenant that God had made with their fathers. The event is described in chapters 11 to 27 of the book of Third Nephi, which you can read online at the Church’s website. You can start reading chapter 11 here, and flip to the next page when you reach to the bottom.

 

[Dominic_Korozya]

That refers to an event which is recorded in the Book of Mormon, and took place 2,000 years ago shortly after Jesus’ resurrection. The reason why He visited them was that the Book of Mormon people were of Israelite descent, and it was in fulfilment of the covenant that God had made with their fathers. The event is described in chapters 11 to 27 of the book of Third Nephi, which you can read online at the Church’s website. You can start reading chapter 11 here, and flip to the next page when you reach to the bottom.

Chapter 11 - 27, okay. I’ve got the book. I’ll be back.

Thankyou.

 

[zerinus]

Chapter 11, okay. I’ve got the book. I’ll be back.

Thankyou.

That event is prophesied of in earlier parts of the Book of Mormon; and much talked about in the latter part. To get the full picture you need to read the whole book.

 

[Alan55]

Note that there is absolutely nothing in the Bible (or in Catholic tradition) about an appearance of Jesus in the Americas. This reference is solely to the Book of Mormon, which speaks of a lost tribe of Israel that somehow made it to the Americas long ago. If you believe the Book of Mormon, you’ll believe this. If you think the Book of Mormon is a fabrication of Joseph Smith, you’ll dismiss this as a fiction. I dismiss it as a fiction.

 

[fkjuliano]

The Mormon Church is Satanic. I can make a simple and logical case for that. Mormonism teaches that their god was once a man on another planet, did not create the universe, and is one of a multitude of gods in the universe. Therefore, the Mormon god is a false god and whoever worships him renounces the One God.

Moreover, Mormonism teaches that by strictly following the teachings of Joseph Smith, humans can also become gods. An aspiration to be equal to God is satanic by definition. Therefore, Mormonism is satanic in denying God and in teaching the lost souls who believe in it to commit the worst possible blasphemy.

Of course, all this filth is disguised in a veneer of Christian wholesomeness. That is why Mormons are perceived as good, clean-living people. But what to expect of Satan? He is clever that way.

To the individual who claims to be Catholic and “LDS”: It is easy to verify what I have said. You can start on catholic.com itself, but there are countless other sites that will give you all the sordid details about Mormonism. Just do a search for “truth about mormonism”. Once you have done that, if you still wish to have anything to do with Mormonism, you will be doing so in full knowledge that you have become an enemy of God.

 

[Dominic_Korozya]

Note that there is absolutely nothing in the Bible (or in Catholic tradition) about an appearance of Jesus in the Americas. This reference is solely to the Book of Mormon, which speaks of a lost tribe of Israel that somehow made it to the Americas long ago. If you believe the Book of Mormon, you’ll believe this. If you think the Book of Mormon is a fabrication of Joseph Smith, you’ll dismiss this as a fiction. I dismiss it as a fiction.

The Mormon Church is Satanic. I can make a simple and logical case for that. Mormonism teaches that their god was once a man on another planet, did not create the universe, and is one of a multitude of gods in the universe. Therefore, the Mormon god is a false god and whoever worships him renounces the One God.

Moreover, Mormonism teaches that by strictly following the teachings of Joseph Smith, humans can also become gods. An aspiration to be equal to God is satanic by definition. Therefore, Mormonism is satanic in denying God and in teaching the lost souls who believe in it to commit the worst possible blasphemy.

Of course, all this filth is disguised in a veneer of Christian wholesomeness. That is why Mormons are perceived as good, clean-living people. But what to expect of Satan? He is clever that way.

To the individual who claims to be Catholic and “LDS”: It is easy to verify what I have said. You can start on catholic.com itself, but there are countless other sites that will give you all the sordid details about Mormonism. Just do a search for “truth about mormonism”. Once you have done that, if you still wish to have anything to do with Mormonism, you will be doing so in full knowledge that you have become an enemy of God.

The LDS church can easily back up there doctrine with scripture.

 

[zerinus]

The LDS church can easily back up there doctrine with scripture.

Indeed we can—as many of them as are correctly stated. Not all that they claims to be Mormon doctrine is correctly stated.

 

[TOmNossor]

To the individual who claims to be Catholic and “LDS”: It is easy to verify what I have said. You can start on catholic.com itself

, but there are countless other sites that will give you all the sordid details about Mormonism. Just do a search for “truth about mormonism”. Once you have done that, if you still wish to have anything to do with Mormonism, you will be doing so in full knowledge that you have become an enemy of God.
Yesterday I almost got in on the ground floor of this thread, but then I didn’t have time. It seems I can scarcely find enough time to post here and other places much, but I thought I would offer a little.

First, I wanted to point FKJuliano to the Google results, “Truth about Catholicism.” I will not provide a link because I find such things distasteful.
I would also point him to the many anti-Catholic articles at Mormon.Org or LDS.org, but I think such things are quite rare. Perhaps FARMS.BYU.EDU (now Maxwellinstitute.byu.edu) would be more equivalent to Catholic.com, but I still do not find much exciting.
You can look:
maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/search/?fulltext=catholic&jbms_vol=&jbms_num=&review_vol=&review_num=&author=&search=Search+The+Maxwell+Institute

I am far more comfortable being a LDS and being represented by the articles I mention (other than the “Truth about the Catholic Church” which are certainly mostly if not totally from non-LDS) than I would being a Catholic and being represented by the Catholic.com articles.

What is even more striking is that as a LDS there is far more need to have an opinion about the Catholic Church than there is for a Catholic to have an opinion about the CoJCoLDS. Integral to our foundation is that there is something amiss in today’s Catholic Church. But if Catholicism is true, we are but one of many misguided folks without authority.

Now, a 1971 article or the negative (and not embraced by me) things said by Elder McConkie before his book was edited and corrected by the church about Catholicism are still VERY poor ways of getting to know the truth about Catholicism. Perhaps if you learned more about Mormonism from LDS, you would recognize how unhelpful your recommendation is.
Or perhaps you recommendation was not about informing people but instead was about preventing folks from really thinking about the truth claims of the CoJCoLDS. I know that many anti-Catholic articles I have read have little to do with truth and a lot to do with “boundary maintenance.”

Anyway to the initial question. I like Zerinus’s answer fine. I do however believe that there is much debate about what the Biblical verses mean that LDS believe point to the restoration (just is there is much debate about what Matthew 16:18 means).
I was going to suggest that as a LDS, I am fairly confident that one of the reasons Christ came to visit the Nephite people is so that the restoration could bring forth the Book of Mormon.
The Book of Mormon for me (and I suspect many others) continues to be huge. Said another way, the BOM would be a hugely difficult thing to explain outside of a LDS paradigm (at least for me). So, my answer is that Christ came to the Americas for many great reasons some of which we might not understand. But, I am reasonably confident that the BOM is a key part of God’s restoration and the BOM is built upon Christ’s visit to the Americas.
Charity, TOm

 

[lax16]

That refers to an event which is recorded in the Book of Mormon, and took place 2,000 years ago shortly after Jesus’ resurrection. The reason why He visited them was that the Book of Mormon people were of Israelite descent, and it was in fulfilment of the covenant that God had made with their fathers. The event is described in chapters 11 to 27 of the book of Third Nephi, which you can read online at the Church’s website. You can start reading chapter 11 here, and flip to the next page when you reach to the bottom.

zerinus - who were the Book of Mormon people that were of Israelite descent?

 

[zerinus]

Anyway to the initial question. I like Zerinus’s answer fine. I do however believe that there is much debate about what the Biblical verses mean that LDS believe point to the restoration (just is there is much debate about what Matthew 16:18 means)
I was going to suggest that as a LDS, I am fairly confident that one of the reasons Christ came to visit the Nephite people is so that the restoration could bring forth the Book of Mormon.
The Book of Mormon for me (and I suspect many others) continues to be huge. Said another way, the BOM would be a hugely difficult thing to explain outside of a LDS paradigm (at least for me). So, my answer is that Christ came to the Americas for many great reasons some of which we might not understand. But, I am reasonably confident that the BOM is a key part of God’s restoration and the BOM is built upon Christ’s visit to the Americas.

Great to see you around Tom. Long time no see!

I am sure you are right about the Book of Mormon. I am sure God had had that book in mind as part of His plan of Restoration from the beginning. However, the reason that the Lord gave for His visit to the Nephites (and to other tribes of Israel) was that it was in fulfillment of the covenant He made with their Fathers.

The Nephites were not the only group of Israelites that God had led out of their homeland to distant lands where they had developed their own indigenous communities. There were many others, and Jesus went to visit them all, because they were of the house of Israel, and in fulfillment of the covenant of their fathers, as recorded in the Book of Mormon: 3 Nephi 15:13-24; 16:1-5; 20:25-26.

 

[zerinus]

zerinus - who were the Book of Mormon people that were of Israelite descent?

The Book of Mormon is a book of scripture that records the sacred history of a group of Israelites who were led by the hand of the Lord to emigrate to the American continent. The Book of Mormon covers a history of those people for approximately 1,000 years, from 600 BC to 400 AD. Just as the Bible is a sacred history of the Israelite nation in the Holy Land, the Book of Mormon is a sacred history of that group of Israelites in the American continent. They had prophets who wrote scripture, and it was compiled (or abridged) into the Book of Mormon.

 

[lax16]

The Book of Mormon is a book of scripture that records the sacred history of a group of Israelites who were led by the hand of the Lord to emigrate to the American continent. The Book of Mormon covers a history of those people for approximately 1,000 years, from 600 BC to 400 AD. Just as the Bible is a sacred history of the Israelite nation in the Holy Land, the Book of Mormon is a sacred history of that group of Israelites in the American continent. They had prophets who wrote scripture, and it was compiled (or abridged) into the Book of Mormon.

zerinus - Thank you. As always, more questions!

How many came with Nephi and his family to the Americas?
How did they travel?
Where in the Americas did they reside?
What type of dwellings did they live in?
Where are their descendants today?
What language did they speak?
Where did they get their supplies? Did they trade with others?
Where else can one learn about these people?
How long after arriving in the Americas did the first battle begin?
Were they farmers or hunters/gatherers?

 

[zerinus]

zerinus - Thank you. As always, more questions!

How many came with Nephi and his family to the Americas?
How did they travel?
Where in the Americas did they reside?
What type of dwellings did they live in?
Where are their descendants today?
What language did they speak?
Where did they get their supplies? Did they trade with others?
Where else can one learn about these people?
How long after arriving in the Americas did the first battle begin?
Were they farmers or hunters/gatherers?

Read the Book of Mormon to find out!

 

[lax16]

Read the Book of Mormon to find out!

Okay - are you saying that all of these questions will be answered in the Book of Mormon?
The language they spoke and if they were hunters and gatherers? Really?

If so, I will read it. If not, you tell me.

 

[zerinus]

Okay - are you saying that all of these questions will be answered in the Book of Mormon?
The language they spoke and if they were hunters and gatherers? Really?

If so, I will read it. If not, you tell me.

Yes, all of those questions are answered in the Book of Mormon, and more!

 

[fkjuliano]

The LDS church can easily back up there doctrine with scripture.

Do you mean the Book of Mormon? That is not scripture any more than the Koran. Wake up! Joseph Smith was a confidence man who wanted power, money and multiple wives, so he wrote a self-serving tract to support his claims, including a lot of plagiarism from the Book of Isiah. The idea of an angel coming to him and revealing a holy book he probably stole right from the Muslims. Come to think of it, that is where he got polygamy too.

 

[lax16]

Yes, all of those questions are answered in the Book of Mormon, and more!

Okay, I will read it.

 

[dianaiad]

The Mormon Church is Satanic. I can make a simple and logical case for that. Mormonism teaches that their god was once a man on another planet, did not create the universe, and is one of a multitude of gods in the universe. Therefore, the Mormon god is a false god and whoever worships him renounces the One God.

Wow! What a remarkable thing…I’ve been a Mormon for 60 years and I had NO idea that we believe that God did not create the universe!!!

Perhaps…just perhaps…that’s because we believe that He DID create the universe, and no, we do not believe that there are a 'multitude of gods in the universe." As to whether we believe that God was 'once a man who lived on a[nother] planet, well…so do you. Is not Jesus fully man and fully God? Was He not born of a woman, and did He not die?

Hello?

As to your contention that we are a Satanic group, may I point out that even if we DID believe what you claim we do, that doesn’t make those beliefs Satanic. However, since we do not, that point is moot anyway.

<snip to the end as not worth reading, much less responding to.>

 

[fkjuliano]

Wow! What a remarkable thing…I’ve been a Mormon for 60 years and I had NO idea that we believe that God did not create the universe!!!

Perhaps…just perhaps…that’s because we believe that He DID create the universe, and no, we do not believe that there are a 'multitude of gods in the universe." As to whether we believe that God was 'once a man who lived on a[nother] planet, well…so do you. Is not Jesus fully man and fully God? Was He not born of a woman, and did He not die?

Hello?

As to your contention that we are a Satanic group, may I point out that even if we DID believe what you claim we do, that doesn’t make those beliefs Satanic. However, since we do not, that point is moot anyway.

<snip to the end as not worth reading, much less responding to.>

If the Mormon god was a man on another planet, then he did not create the universe because it had already been created when he was born on that planet. Therefore, the Mormon god did not create the universe. But since Mormons still worship this god who did not create the universe, then they worship a false god because the One True God is the Creator.
It is simple logic.