JohnOF123

Probably to symbolically the structure of our week; 6 days of work, rest on the 7th day. I thought we all agreed that God is truly all powerful (omnipotent)?

Well, I doubt they gave everyone in jail nothing but wine; would be a pretty classy jail, hehe. I would assume that things were very stressful and it was to lift their spirits. I believe it is referenced in the History of the Church, Vol. 6, page 616 I'm not sure I would agree that they simply tasted it, however I do not condemn Joseph for this since I believe simply the act of wine entering the body does not make one sinful, but that doing it just to get drunk is. Many people in the Bible drank wine, though just like food is not evil, gluttony is. "The Bible displays an ambivalence toward intoxicating drinks, considering them both a blessing from God that brings joy and merriment and potentially dangerous beverages that can be unwisely and sinfully abused." -Waltke

Universe Uni - single Verse - spoken sentence It has been believed that God spoke the Universe into existence. God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. So many examples of this during the creation account in Genesis and throughout the Bible. The fact that there was a beginning establishes God as the creator of time and places all other explanations out of reach. Not sure if this is what you were asking or not...

Yes, good post havejoy. This reminds me of what we call in my world "leagalism". There are some Christians who claim that dancing is wrong or the mere act of ingesting alcohol. Now please understand that I don't drink or dance for that matter, but it is one thing to say that if someone dances it is sinful and if alcohol enters your body it is sinful, than to say that dirty dancing is sinful and getting drunk is sinful. For instance, when David danced to God is wasn't sinful similarly when Joseph Smith had a bit of wine in the Carthridge jail it wasn't sinful. So "legalism" is a list of "do not because it's sinful", but in reality, it is possible to do something on their list apart from sin. We have freedom in Jesus and make our choices in life based on truth. The Jews claimed that Jesus healed on the Sabbath and therefore was sinful, they were legalists. I'm not sure if you agree with this, but your post really reminded me of legalism.

This baffles me. From a mainsteam Christianity point of view, I love to study and discuss theology and I have a strong desire to dig everywhere. I love Bible prophecy, end times, the connection between Islam, Judaism and Christianity, creation science and so on. To me, sticking the head in the sand is a foreign or bad idea. It could also be said that you recommend sticking your fingers in your ears and going "lalalala", hehe. Not trying to laugh at you, I'm just picturing that. I think one needs to face and attempt to resolve those issues. We all have to figure out what is right and what is true. God gave us each decades to do this and I have to say I commend you for seeking hard after truth. Though I am sorry it led you to dismay.

I'm not sure if this is relevant to what you are wondering about the conception of Jesus in Mary through the Holy Ghost, but here is kind of a neat prophecy I posted. I believe it to be the very first prophecy of hundreds found in the Bible. Genesis 3:15 mentions that the seed of the woman shall bruise the serpents head. The seed of the woman would destroy Satan. But the woman does not have the seed. The seed is in the man. But there was one woman in human history who had a seed within her body apart from a man depositing that seed there and that was the virgin Mary. And it was she who produced the Son that crushed the head of Satan. There you go, the first prophecy of the Bible and it is fulfilled specifically in the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ through a virgin; a virgin born man. I will agree that this is all mysterious to us.

Hehe (consummation), yea well I suppose reality is setup in parallels. So we are supposed to treat our own wife as Christ treats the Church, also when the bridegroom is joined with His bride, there will be a great banquet, and the consummation part is probably there, though it will not be sex, lol. But I won't say that I know for a fact Jesus was married, but in my own theological viewpoints, I'd say it doesn't line up with them and has no Biblical support. But I do respect your views on this too.

Hehe, my wife is afraid of space, so she will not watch stuff like this. But it is amazing!

Well I agree with you on some points, for instance I know that I cannot comprehend God in that He is too mysterious. But I have to disagree on whether it is no big deal to believe on whether we think there is 1 God, 3 Gods or many Gods. I'm pretty sure this fact is sorta core when it comes to all the elements of worship and the nature of ourselves. If I had to describe the nature of the Trinity I would say that there is one God in 3 persons and His fingerprint can even be seen in reality. God - Father Son HolySpirit Space - Length Width Depth Time - Past Present Future Matter - Solid Liquid Gas Keeping in mind that space, time and matter make up all of realty, I would say that the design of God's universe is parallel to His own character. Though I will admit I do not understand Him, I have to believe that He is the almighty alpha and omega. I understand we have very different views here and would find you view very interesting to hear also. Thx-

John 2:9 And the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. I assuming you meant "did not know", but thought I would point that out in-case you misread something. KJV says the same thing if you'd like to check.

I think Justice is claiming here that Jesus is being summoned, not invited, to His own wedding in Cana. Hehe, Justice you crack me up. And you were right about one thing, Jesus is getting married when He returns. Jesus is the bridegroom and the Church is His bride. 2 Corinthians 11:2 (Paul's letter to the Church in Corinth) I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him. Revelation 21:1–2 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. Revelation 19:7–9 Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.” (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of the saints.) Then the angel said to me, “Write:‘Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!’ In Corinthians, Paul wrote the above as a letter to the Church. He called Christ the bridegroom and the Church His bride. In Revelations, John saw the wedding and described it. Does this sound like any wedding you've ever been to? Probably wasn't Mary Magdeline, or any woman, unless she's described as a Holy City coming down out of Heaven, but that's just my interpretation. What's you interpretation? Just a reminder, I'm not trying to tell the LDS people that Christ never married in this response, though there is no Biblical or Historical support for it as I claimed earlier. In this post I am confidentially pointing out that this was clearly not Jesus's wedding in Cana. I think everyone here would probably agree with me on that one.

Thanks for sharing you personal lessons and inspiration. As always, you express you feelings with sincerity and honesty. Your a real lionheart marts.

From an LDS view, I sorta see where you are coming from. Now I understand that you believe Jesus was the first spirit child of many, and that humans were spirit children also... but does this speculation of yours mean that LDS believe Jesus was human before His birth by Mary? (a full human life where He progressed to God) Do you know what I mean, not sure if I expressed that correctly. Since in LDS theology, Jesus would have to be human at least once in order to go from spirit child to man to exalted man. Or am I way off here?

I think Jesus was definitely unique, whereas He doesn't have to be married. Like I said, the Bible mentions Jesus’ (1)mother, (2)adoptive father, (3)half-brothers, and (4)half-sisters, but no wife. Many other people's wives and women are mentioned. I understand the Cana marriage idea wasn't your postulation, but I thought I should point this out. With all respect, there is no way the marriage in Cana was Jesus's. This can be seen easily by just reading John 2. 1) Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding. 2) Jesus didn't live in Cana, His family didn't, Mary didn't. 3) And furthermore, it says that after the wedding, Jesus went down to Capernaum with his mother and brothers and his disciples, not home with His wife to consummate His marriage as was the Jewish custom. Probably more reasons, but that will hopefully do.

Oh yep, sorry about that, you are correct. My mistake. Foot in mouth.

Hi there :) 1) Evidently, this is all God determined that we needed to know. There are some extra-Biblical writings which contain stories of Jesus’ youth (the Gospel of Thomas, for example). But we have no way of knowing whether any of these stories are true and reliable. God chose not to tell us much about Jesus’ childhood – so we have to just trust Him that nothing occurred which we need to know about. (Some answer huh, lol) 2) There is no reason historically or biblically that Jesus was married. While some of the Gnostic gospels mention Jesus having a close relationship with Mary Magdalene, none of them specifically states that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene, or had any romantic involvement with her. The closest any of them come is saying that Jesus kissed Mary Magdalene, which just as easily could be a reference to a “friendly kiss.” Further, even if the Gnostic gospels directly stated that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene, they would have no authority, as the Gnostic gospels have all been proven to be forgeries invented to create a Gnostic view of Jesus. Remember, the Bible mentions Jesus’ mother, adoptive father, half-brothers, and half-sisters, but no wife. Getting married and having children is not why God sent Jesus. Mark 10:45 tells us why Jesus came: “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” -gotquestion.org

Awesome! You rock Dravin. Now if only you could find one that shows flood waters blasting out of the ground moving those Continents, lol!

I'm not sure Nikkie85 was wondering how the birth happened. I think what she was mostly referring to is that Jesus is called "the only begotten Son of God". So the emphasis is probably on how we can also be called the sons of God (since it seems to say Jesus is the only), rather than what some would call us being the "adopted children of God". I also believe there are additional scriptures for both "how He was born" and "who He is".

Yes, I would say the similarities are that it is agreed, Thee true Jesus (whomever is correct) is the Son of God, and Jesus died on the cross. The differences come in when we discuss who God is. The LDS viewpoint, I believe, is that it's still the Jesus of the Bible and the mainstream Christians, I believe, would say that it is not, and say that he is the "another Jesus" referenced in 2 Corinthians 11:4. Either way, the Bible must be clearly read and decided for individually.

Mainstream Christianity would define that as Jesus being the only Son. The original word is "monogenes", mono meaning only and genes meaning begotten. LDS may try to say that genes just means unique? I'm not sure about that one. Another example is that a Jehova Witness would say begotten means created, so the only hope we have is to read the whole Bible and fit everything into context. I personally think if it meant He was unique, then they probably could have dropped the "mono-". Good find though!

Yes, Genesis is a very long book. As is the Old Testament. I have an mp3 Bible if you ever would like to listen instead. It seems that I can develop an attention disorder when I have to read something very long, lol. I'm always thinking, and it can distract me from what I'm reading. I have a KJV, NIV and others I think. Great for the car, stereo, PC or mp3 player!

Yes, you are correct. Thx. I should have said reptile. And I meant to paste that map since you can see how Africa can fit nicely into the Americas. Thought it might be more convincing than Pangea, but perhaps I should have posted both.

Perhaps you might be correct marts. I really haven't looked too much into this one. And I'm sure it would be very hard to write on gold! Copper was found to be written on that contained some of the old testament recently. It was rolled up and preserved in pottery I think. I'm sure that wasn't very easy either, lol. I sure am glad we have keyboards!

I assumed since I've heard many Mormons say that the LDS Church is the only true church, that Nephi was referring to A The Mormon faith and B all outside of it. Joseph Smith and many other prophets seem to possibly say this. "..which of all the sects was right — and which I should join. I was answered that I must join none of them, for they were all wrong, and the personage who addressed me said that all their creeds were an abomination in His sight: that those professors were all corrupt..." (Joseph Smith, History of the Church, vol. 1, p. 5-6). I'm pretty sure a few others said something very similar. But my original point was just that Hemidakota was not simply lashing out. I think he was mostly just quoting Nephi.

Good point there. Thx..