LionHeart

Actually, at the time of his martyrdom, Joseph Smith was in the process of running for president of the U.S. He probably would have won it too. He was going to have all of the missionaries stop their missionary work and start promoting his campaign. And with their newly acquired skills in oration, they would done a good job of it. The Church was only in ill favor with the people in the generalized Missouri/Illinois area. Most people in other states had never heard of the Mormons before, so there would not have been the prejudices in most places. L.H.

.....fornicators and thieves....

This council of heaven was attended by God and many of His children known as "the Noble and Great Ones" among which was Jesus Christ and Lucifer. It was here that Jesus was chosen to be our Saviour; at which point He was promoted to God over this world. Lucifer rejected the plan chosen by God the Father and led away one third of Gods children; the remainder of which chose to follow our Father's plan and showed it by their degree of faithfulness in keeping their first estate. After this council, God the Father, along with Jesus Christ and the other noble and great ones, organized this world. I hope this clears it up a bit. L.H.

Ray, why don't you say it like this: In the heavens, there are Gods many; but there is only one God to whom we are concerned with. This God is our Father in Heaven. The Son of God, whom we know as Jesus Christ, payed for this world with His blood and earned the right to assist in overseeing it; working directly under His Father. Therefore we also refer to Him as God; as He is the mediator between us and our Father in Heaven. No one enters into Gods kingdom except through Jesus Christ. Then there is also the Holy Ghost; given the job of offering spiritual guidance to us on Earth. These three beings: God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost constitute the Godhead; NOT God. To say that there is only one God yet there are three personages who are God is very confusing. L.H.

Ray, this sounds like strange doctrine to me. Very trinitarian indeed. We have a Godhead; not to be confused with God. Ultimately, Our Father in Heaven is God. The Godhead consists of three distinct personages, but does not constitute God. Think of it like the first presidency: It consists of three different individuals, but there is only one who bears the title of 'President of the Church'. Keep in mind, God the Father is ruler over many worlds. He also has a father who went before Him. He is subject unto His Father. We are subject Unto our Father. Therefore, He is our God. He established the Godhead (likely following the example set by His Father in Heaven) to ensure that all of our spiritual needs would be taken care of. As was mentioned before, God the Father has many worlds to oversee, therefore, He placed Jesus to assist Him in overseeing this world, and the Holy Ghost as our spiritual Guide. All three constituting the Godhead, but not constituting God. L.H. Thank you Maureen. That clears things up immensly. L.H.

A quote from Ron White. L.H.

Here's somthing that confuses me about the trinity theory; correct me if I'm wrong but my understanding of it is that the Father, is God; the Holy Spirit is His manifestation in the spirit, and Jesus is His manifestation in the flesh. All being the same being. So the part that confuses me is this: when we read the account of Jesus' baptism, the Holy Spirit descended from Heaven in the form of a dove, and a voice spoke from Heaven saying: "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." So at this point we have record of all three members of the trinity together in one area, except occupying three different plots of real estate. What is the deal? Could someone please clear this up for me? L.H.

I once worked for a man in a warehouse. I was assigned to operate the freezer. Whenever something would go wrong with it, he would ask my opinion on what we should do to fix it. I was new at the freezer job, and he was the one who actually built this particular system. I wondered why he was asking me. I didn't know nearly as much as he did. Later, I found out that he had attended some leadership seminars and that this is something they teach people there. It makes people feel needed and that; and it shows that you respect their opinion. Such is our Father in Heaven. He cares for our well being; He recognizes our need to feel needed. L.H.

My oldest brother was going through some depressing times last year. He had decided that the only solution was suicide. So about thanksgiving time he wrote our mother a letter informing her that he probably would not be around for christmas and that nothing she could do would cause him to change his mind. He said that there was only one person who could talk him out of it and that person was dead. (our father passed away the previous june.) Of course our whole family was very concerned, myself especially, because if he had went through with it, I would have been the one who found him. But one day, he suddenly changed; he had a renewed determination for life. He later told mom that our father had visited him in a dream, and had a good talk with him, which caused him to change his mind. I am so thankful that he is still with us today. As devastating as it would have been for the family, I worried about mother the most. She is very sensitive and I don't see how she would have been able to live through it. I hear you P.C. You have my condolences. L.H.

Since the big bang is only theory, and the fact that I believe the universe has existed for eternity, I am going to go with the fall of Adam. It was at this point in which things were set in motion to bring about the eternal life of mankind. This is when life truly began on this Earth. L.H.

That is a good question. I believe that we are physically close to Jesus, but I'm unsure about God the Father. Again, it is personal reasons why I believe this so I won't go into details as to why. L.H.

Good enough Des. Take care, :) L.H.

Why do you believe that?That seems a little far fetched to me... Do you have any reasoning? Yes, I have my reasoning but it is rather personal. Suffice it to say that I believe such, and then you can ponder on it. See if it makes any sense to you. L.H.

Hey Des. By the way, did you know that your avatar rattles? Anyway, if you wouldn't mind telling me, what part of my previous posts concerning the GodHead did you find confusing? Perhaps I can explain further in an attempt to un-do some of the confusion I caused. L.H.

I sometimes teach little children. I guess the best thing that works for me is first of all, like was mentioned before "I speak their language" In other words, I try to speak in a tone that is more on their level. Not baby talk or anything, but more like a children's bedtime story than a business lecture. This makes the lesson more interesting for them and helps to keep their attention. And if their attention is focused on you, they will not be noisy. On some occasions, however, you will come across the brat who just won't do what he's told. In this case, don't be afraid to be stern. Talk in a stern voice. If he talks back, get more stern, and even point a finger at him and take a step or two towards him. Let him know you mean business. And don't back down. If you show weakness, he will use it against you. If you handle it this way, he will realize that you are bigger than him and that if it came right down to it, you could take him out. I wish you the best, L.H.

I'm sorry I've confused you. Did you take the time to read all of the posts? This doctrine can be confusing if you don't know the whole picture. If you read all of the posts carefully, I think you will find that it makes perfect sense, and that I didn't misinterpret the things that I studied. Take care, L.H.

Whoa Josh, you're getting a little demanding. Tell me, have you ever had a spiritual experience that affected you so much, that you knew that the Lord backed you in the things you were doing? This sort of experience is very powerful, and can speak much louder than physical evidence. Physical evidence can be destroyed, manipulated, or tampered with. The voice of God cannot. But in order to have an experience like this, one must have faith. It matters not whether Des believes in one God or many. The important thing is that she acknowledges the God of this world as her God. As Brigham Young said: "For though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in Earth, (as there be gods many and lords many) but to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him." L.H.

Don't worry Des. I'm not offended. I'm only going by the teachings of the founding Prophets of the Mormon religion. But hey, what did they know? L.H.

Some do, some don't. It just depends on how informed they are on LDS doctrine. But the official LDS doctrine is that "In the heavens, there are Gods many". The book of Abraham, found in the Pearl of Great Price is loaded with this doctrine. L.H.

One thing I might point out here Josh is that in the original Hebrew text of the Bible, the word "God" was "Elohiem" The translators just assumed that this was His name so whenever the word "Elohiem" came up, they just wrote "God". However, the Hebrew word for God is actually "Elo" And to put the 'Hiem' behind it actually makes it plural. So the word "Elohiem" actually means "The Gods" L.H.

This is true, Des. We do love you. :) L.H.

No problem. L.H.

Allow me to respectfully disagree...I believe faith can, and should be proved. Josh B) Well, like I mentioned in another thread, A friend of mine once told me that he was attending a class on religion at B.Y.U. and the professor held up a K.J.V. Bible and said to the students: "Give me any topic, any topic at all, and I can prove it right with this book; however, I can also prove it wrong with this same book." From this we gather that something that might prove a certain religion right according to one person might prove it wrong to another person. It is all a matter of how we understand it. L.H.

The evidence I have is not very strong evidence, but can be found on post #33 of this thread. However, like Dr.T said: "I fail to see the connection." However, one must take into consideration the fact that, like was mentioned in the movie 'The DaVinci Code' the evidence that Jesus was married would destroy the common Christian religion because it would lead one to believe that Jesus was merely a man. This should not affect LDS belief because they believe that anyway. But assuming this information would have attacked the core of Christianity, it would not be surprising that the men who compiled the Bible would have left this information out. So as far as my supportive evidence goes, it is weak at best. My strongest argument is that assuming LDS theology is true, one must draw the conclusion that Jesus was married. L.H.