Jenda

Congratulations, Dr T! I hope there were great shouts of praise and joy! I am not sure what you mean by optional. It isn't required for salvation, but Christ commanded it, so it needs to be done out of obedience.

I apologize for getting drawn into a fight and responding in kind. I came to discuss valid issues surrounding this topic and am sorry that a few questions has led to such nasty postings. If thekabalist wishes not to discuss the issues surrounding the topic, that is fine.

I can discuss the issue with you in a PM, where those who are upset because I have asked a question won't butt in with issues that are not related.

Thanks! (Actually, I am a she. )

Amen! When I was RLDS I could not say I was saved. It was just such absolutely foreign language to me, but yet I had an experience that most Evangelical Christians would classify as a salvation event. My heart was changed from stone to flesh and I have lived for Christ since the mid 70s. I have had other such 'saving' events. Sometimes I think I'm the only person who's been saved multiple times (even though I never was unsaved inbetween). I have learned to call these events "epiphanies", and recognized that what I have experienced was when Biblical truths finally made themselves clear through the muddied beliefs and doctrine I was holding to help guide me to more Biblical truths God wanted me to know. I know I have lots more truths to be awakened to, and my prayer is that I'm always open to where God wants to draw me and not put up resistance because I like where I'm at.

And my question specifically related to how much of the context he took into account when he assigned meaning to that name. If you decide this is not a debatable area, that is fine, I follow the rules (I was a moderator here for 2 to 3 years, after all), and the discussion is interesting, but sometimes questions need to be asked.

There are lots of people who question why Yeshua or Yehoshua is transliterated Jesus into Yeshua or Yehoshua, and insist on only using Yehoshua or Yeshua. If you looked around on the other board, you'd find many such discussions. The issue, though, is not that things are transliterated, but that meanings are being assigned to transliterated names. Pointing out parallels is one thing, assigning meanings seems to go beyond what would be appropriate under the circumstances.

Whether or not I, or anyone else, asked you this question before, it is still a valid question. If you transliterated my screen name into Hebrew and tried to assign a meaning to it, it would certainly not convey a valid meaning. As you said, it is all conjecture. How much of the conjecture is based on the textual story you are taking the name from?

Out of your list, I think that #1 and #5 are key. The others might help guide and define, but the truth has to come from God. I do have to say that I don't believe that reliance on personal spiritual revelation is an LDS thing. I don't believe that anyone can be a true Christian without revelation that Jesus is the Christ.

I am not a member of a denomination, so perhaps my answer doesn't count, since it is based on personal experience, but I'd say that it happens when you've prayed and studied the scriptures and you have an enlightenment of mind. Suddenly, everything fits and you see things in a new light. I believe that the Bible interprets the Bible, so when you know everything the Bible has to say on a matter, then you know the truth.

This is not true. There technically was no Catholic Church at that time. There was just local assemblies very loosely bound. This is just something that the RCC says to try to disavow the authority of Protestant religions. The Bible was assembled under the guidance of the Holy Spirit (God), not a church body.

thekabbalist, I am confused by how you derive meanings from words when you admittedly use transliteration from the English word contained in the Book of Mormon to get to a Jewish-sounding word. If the word/name was a direct translation of a Jewish word, I can understand just translating it back, but how do you assign a meaning to a phonetical Jewish word?

I would say not just that, but because at the time, there wasn't a Bible to put in everyone's hand and it (the NC) was a clear, concise statement of belief that could be referred back to that was supported by accepted NT texts. Yes. Many of the sections in the D&C were direct answers to direct questions asked to, or by, Joseph Smith in the early formative time of the church.

I've been in and out over the years, lurking. How are you doing?

T.D. Jakes preaches a prosperity gospel, and I don't believe that that is a correct interpretation of the gospel.