Monday, October 3, 2016

Cults

God the Mother
God compares Himself to a mother multiple times.
Deuteronomy 32:18 The Rock that bore you .. the God who gave you birth
Hosea 11:3-4 It was I who taught Ephraim to walk  I took them up by their arms ... and I bend down to them and fed them.
Psalm 131:2 I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother
Mothers are known for the comfort and solace they provide for their children.

Rebuttal
Mathew 6:9  Our Father
Isaiah 54:5 Your Maker is your husband, the LORD of hosts is his name
1 Sam 12:12 the LORD your God was your king.
Rev 17:14 Lord of lords and King of kings.
God's son came as a man: Jesus
Deuteronomy 32:6 Is He not your father
Psalm 68:5 Father of the fatherless
    A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows,
        is God in his holy dwelling.
Romans 8:15 you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons by whom we cry "Abba! Father!"

see: carm.org Can God the Father give life without God the Mother?

Galatians 1:8 
Aramaic Bible -  But even if we or an Angel from Heaven should evangelize you outside of that which we have evangelized you, we or he would be damned

NKJV - But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be [b]accursed.

JWs
reformation21.org "A simple way to speak to Jehovah's Witnesses"
They say we believe I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me (John 14:6)
We have faith that Jesus came to earth from heaven and gave his perfect human life as a ransom sacrifice (Matt 20:28)
His death and resurrection make it possible for those exercising faith in him to gain everlasting life (John 3:16)
We believe that Jesus is now ruling as King of God's heavenly Kingdom, which will soon bring peace to the entire earth Rev 11:15)
But we take Jesus at His Word when he said: the Father is greater than I am(John 14:28) So we do not worship Jesus as we do not believe that he is Almighty God.
    God cannot stop being God. How do we reconcile the fact that the second Person of the Trinity is     fully divine yet fully human and by definition “lower than the angels”? The answer to that question can be found in Philippians 2:5-11. When the second Person of the Trinity took on human form, something amazing occurred. Christ “made himself nothing.” This phrase has generated more ink than almost any other phrase in the Bible. In essence, what it means is that Jesus voluntarily relinquished the prerogative of freely exercising His divine attributes and subjected Himself to the will of the Father while on earth.

Because they do not worship Jesus, JW's do not worship the one, true and living god as he revealed himself (Heb1:1-4) and they do not worship in truth (John 4:23-24)

Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him (John 5:23)

Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son 23 No one who denies the Son has the Father.  Whoever confess the Son has the Father also.(1 John 2:22)

Jehovah does not share his glory with anyone else, but Jesus shares his glory
Isaiah 42:8
am the Lord, that is My name;
And My glory I will not give to another,
Nor My praise to carved images.

John 17:1,5
Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, 
And now, O Father, glorify Me together [b]with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.

Jehovah is the only Savior, but Jesus is also referred to as the Savior
Isaiah 43:11
I, even I, am the Lord,
And besides Me there is no savior.

Titus 1:4
To Titus, a true son in our common faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior.


Jehovah is referred to as "the Alpha and the Omega', "the fist and the last" and the "beginning and the end" in Revelation but Jesus claims these titles for himself.
Rev 1:8 "I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”
Rev 1:17-18 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, 18 and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades. 
Rev 21:6  And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. 
Rev 22:13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”

Finally 
Isaiah 9:6 For to us a child is born,
    to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon[d] his shoulder,
    and his name shall be called[e]
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
John 20:27-29  JW's proof text that Jesus is not God (John 20:17)
    but completely at odds with John 20:28 

John 10:29,30 I and the Father are one.  The Jews picked up stones...


John 8:58 58 “Very truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!”

Exodus 3:14 14 God said to Moses, “I am who I am.”1 And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I am has sent me"

ego eimi

(see separate document JW_BibleDifferences)

JW
Don't believe in hell
The dead are unconscious and so cannot feel pain.
God has set death, not torment in a fiery hell as the penalty for sin.
The idea of eternal torment is repugnant to God.
Good people went to hell.
The parable of Lazarus and the rich man was not a real-life account.

Biblical examples of Hell
Mark 9:43 
43 If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out. 
Matthew 25:41
41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
Revelation 20:15
15 Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.


Mormons
Sandra Tanner, the great-great-granddaughter of Brigham Young, the church’s second prophet, adds that the LDS church teaches that salvation is dependent on so much more than Christ: “Mormons believe we were all born as spirit children of Heavenly Father. And so Jesus is our older brother. But Christ’s atonement alone is not sufficient. Mormons believe their salvation is completed only with the addition of Mormon ordinances, Mormon gospel, and Mormon Temple ritual.”

In the Mormon gospel we see belief + repentance + baptism + laying on of hands + temple work + mission work + church ministry + tithing + ceasing from sin + abstaining from the use of intoxicants and strong drinks and tobacco and caffeine + confessing Joseph Smith as Prophet + temple marriage + baptism for the dead + genealogy research . . . the list could go on and on and on. Only upon completion of all these things may Mormons attain the third and highest “degree of glory,” thus achieving the ultimate goal of the Mormon gospel — godhood.


And Mormons believe there’s no hell, but a “spirit prison.” LDS doctrine also teaches that Jesus, God, and the Holy Spirit are separate, individual gods — part of a universal community of gods. But here’s the kicker: these gods were once mere men! Don’t miss this: Mormons believe that God — our Creator — was once a man elevated to godhood by his own efforts.
LDS believe after you die you will go to one of three levels of heaven.
The worst of the worst will go to outer darkness or hell (people who reject the atonement of Jesus Christ).
They don't believe in original sin. Each man is capable of sinning or not sinning.
So the ultimate goal of every committed Mormon male, then, is to also attain godhood. In the words of LDS founder Joseph Smith“Here then, is eternal life — to know the only wise and true God; and you have got to learn how to be gods yourselves, and to be kings and priests to God, the same as all gods have done before you.”
In the early 1800s, while still a teen, Smith claimed he had visions of being visited by God, Jesus, and the angel Moroni. God’s supposed message to him: that all existing Christian churches were false, and their teachings an “abomination.” So directed by Moroni, Smith translated special gold plates on which were written the Book of Mormon. (It is from this book, which the LDS believe contains the “fullness of the gospel,” that the church got the nickname “Mormon.”)

Smith pronounced the text to be “the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion … a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book.” Don’t miss this: Joseph Smith asserted that the Book of Mormon has been more faithfully translated (transmitted) than the Bible. That’s a huge red flag.

Per the LDS website, “The Book of Mormon answers essential questions that we all have at some point: Is there life after death, and what’s waiting for us on the other side? What is the purpose of life, and how can I find happiness and peace now? Does God know me and hear my prayers? How can I avoid sin and learn to truly repent? How can I become the best possible version of myself?”

A response put forth by Pastor Tim Challies: “The heart of Joseph Smith’s false teaching was that he put his own authority over the authority of Scripture. By adding his own revelation to the Bible’s revelation, Smith took it upon himself to identify and correct what he claimed were errors in Scripture.”

Is there a Heavenly Mother?
Yes. We have both a Heavenly Mother as well as a Heavenly Father. The concept of "heavenly parents" is a fundamental concept to Latter-day Saint theology.




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