DennisTate

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  1. Thanks
    DennisTate reacted to Vort in Can a Christian who takes the idea of reincarnation seriously...   
    Yes.
    Latter-day Saints generally do not believe in reincarnation in any normal fashion. That does not stop some from having nonstandard suppositions about many things. Latter-day Saints speculate and theorize about all sorts of foolishness. That doesn't get them excommunicated, nor does that alone make them bereft of the Spirit. We all believe wrong things. But any Saint who is worthy of the title knows to follow the prophet and the Spirit.
    Bottom line: Embrace Christ and his teachings, repent, live your covenants, and NEVER teach your own theories as LDS doctrine. If you think you have had revelation that is not strictly in line with LDS beliefs, that's all the more reason to keep such revelation to yourself.
  2. Thanks
    DennisTate reacted to person0 in Can a Christian who takes the idea of reincarnation seriously...   
    I depends on what you mean by 'reincarnation'.
    I know a few Latter-Day Saints who believe that those who become Sons of Perdition will be reverted back to their form of existence as an embodied spirit or intelligence and that they will be granted what essentially amounts to a 're-do' at mortal life.  In fact, there was an Area 70 over my state who taught that to my mother.  Personally, I believe it is wrong; however, even if it were to be true, I don't think it is something we ought to teach or dwell on because it is most likely to lead people into a false sense of security in thinking that they could have another chance.
    Here is a link to an article on the matter, and the history of this teaching, as it originates from obscure teachings from Brigham Young.
    Once again, I personally do not believe this thought to be true; however, it would be the closest thing to reincarnation that any Latter-Day Saint I know of believes.
  3. Thanks
    DennisTate reacted to Jane_Doe in Can a Christian who takes the idea of reincarnation seriously...   
    The teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is that we each lived as spirits before this earthly life, and will be physically resurrected after this earthly life.
    That's a different belief that Hindu-style reincarnation when a person goes through multiple earthly lives to ultimately leave their physical bodies behind.  
  4. Thanks
    DennisTate reacted to Benskie in Mark of the Beast??   
    The Restoration of the Fulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ: A Bicentennial Proclamation to the world -  April 2020.
     
     
  5. Thanks
    DennisTate reacted to Benskie in Should L.D.S. support rebuilding of Jerusalem Third Temple?   
    Reference: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/1972/05/the-future-of-the-holy-land?lang=eng 
    ...
    ...
    8. A new temple will be built in Jerusalem.
    In Zechariah 8:9 is a statement in which he says, “Let your hands be strong, … that the temple might be built.” [Zech. 8:9]
    A description of the temple is given in Ezekiel 40–48 [Ezek. 40–48]. Reference is made to the temple at Jerusalem by Orson Pratt in Journal of Discourses, volume 19, pages 19–29, and in Doctrine and Covenants 124:36–37 [D&C 124:36–37]. President Wilford Woodruff said:
    “… Christ will not come until these things come to pass. Jerusalem has got to be rebuilt. The temple has got to be built.
    “… These things have been revealed by the prophets; they will have their fulfillment.” (MS, vol. 52 [Oct. 6, 1890], p. 740.)
    And Joseph Smith said: “What was the object of gathering the Jews, or the people of God in any age of the world? … The main object was to build unto the Lord a house whereby He could reveal unto His people the ordinances of His house. …” (DHC, vol. 5, p. 423.)
    Many of the Orthodox Jewish people themselves are talking about the construction of a third temple. Concerning this subject, an important scroll was discovered in the Middle East just a few years ago. Dr. Yigael Yadin of the Hebrew University is now translating this scroll, which he calls the Temple Scroll and concerning which he has said:
    “The amazing thing about this scroll is that it was written as a Torah—a law—given by God to Moses. The entire text is written in the first person singular, with God as the speaker. Every other scroll from the Dead Sea is either a copy of an existent Biblical book or a Biblical commentary or a sectarian document composed by the Qumran community. Here we have for the first time a scroll that was apparently meant to be in the Biblical text but which was never part of the Biblical canon, so far as we know.” (Newsletter Number 7 of the American Schools of Oriental Research, November 13, 1967. Italics added.)
    With what does that text deal? Dr. Yadin says that it has the plans for the construction of a great temple and that it introduces a new feature into the temple. There are three courts instead of two, each exactly square. The middle and the outer courts of the temple are to have twelve gates, three on each side, and each gate is to be named for one of the Twelve Tribes of Israel. Dr. Yadin adds:
    “This is significant. The whole apocalyptic literature and that of Qumran were occupied with the concept of uniting the twelve tribes of Israel as ordained by God. Here, too, the emphasis is on the twelve tribes, as it is so frequently also in the New Testament.” (Ibid.)
    Orson Pratt has described another distinguishing feature concerning the temple that will be built in Jerusalem during the last days: “The Temple at Jerusalem will undoubtedly be built, by those who believe in the true Messiah. Its construction will be, in some respects different from the Temples now being built. It will contain the throne of the Lord, upon which he will, at times, personally sit, and will reign over the house of Israel for ever.” (JD, vol. 19, p. 20. Italics added.)
  6. Thanks
    DennisTate reacted to Traveler in Mark of the Beast??   
    Here is a thought and speculation concerning the temple at Jerusalem.  After the Flood of Noah a great Patriarch by the name of Melchizedek  established a city under the divine covenant of Peace called Salem.  Because of the righteousness of the city's inhabitants -  it was taken up into heaven.  With Salem gone a new city was built and named after Salem.  It is not unusual anciently for a new city to be built where an older city structure one was.  One of the variant meanings of Jerusalem is Salem upon two mountains.  
    Perhaps a temple temple after the structure of Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem will not ever be rebuilt or restored in the last days.  Perhaps the temple prophesied by Ezekiel is the temple of Salem that was taken up but to be restored at the time or restoration of all things.
     
    The Traveler
  7. Thanks
    DennisTate reacted to mordorbund in Mark of the Beast??   
    I'll ruin the joke by explaining it. This thread has gone meta. It started out discussing the mark of the beast, was wounded by time and disinterest, and has now come fully back to life. It is typologically the very thing it was discussing.
     
     
  8. Thanks
    DennisTate reacted to Traveler in Mark of the Beast??   
    I thought to respond directly to this post.  A couple of years ago I traveled to Jerusalem and met with a group of Jewish Rabbis.  One of the things I discussed with them was the rebuilding of the temple.  I will not go into details of all we discussed except to make reference to a "Red Heifer" sacrifice of purification that according to ancient Jewish tradition is necessary for purification for any priests (and others)  involved in working or overseeing the work consistent with the temple - including rebuilding or restoration the temple.  The problem is that the authority to perform such ritual - specifically the Red Heifer sacrifice must be passed down directly from one high priest to his successor.  In short that authority has been lost, not just in Judaism  but through all the tribes of Israel - and thus cannot rightfully be performed without a specific restoration to a direct son of Aaron (Levites).
    Thus it is quite possible that a sign of the Beast; sitting in the temple of G-d showing himself to be G-d (or the authority of G-d) are Messianic Jews along with Christians and others; thinking they have the authority (right or calling) to build and restore the temple and the ancient temple rites of sacrifice.  There is one more thing I could say here but I feel that you are not ready - so rather I would press that you commit to study the Doctrine and Covenants concerning authority to act for G-d.
     
    The Traveler
  9. Haha
    DennisTate reacted to prisonchaplain in Mark of the Beast??   
    I just now realized that I replied to 12-year old posts. Oh well...hope it benefits...  NO LONGER...:-)
  10. Haha
    DennisTate reacted to Colirio in Mark of the Beast??   
    And to think you could have learned all this 12 years ago! 
  11. Okay
    DennisTate reacted to bytor2112 in Mark of the Beast??   
    I think that the Evangelicals believe that the Anti-Christ will be one man and they take this passage pretty literally as far as the mark, 666, etc. Any thoughts on what the LDS believe in regard to this passage or perhaps some enlightenment from non-LDS?

    Revelation Ch. 13
    11 And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.
    12 And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.
    13 And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,
    14 And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.
    15 And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.
    16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
    17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
    18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.
  12. Thanks
    DennisTate reacted to prisonchaplain in Are LDS open to Theistic Evolutionary Theory?   
    I suspect creation happened more recently than most theistic evolutionists propose. Also, while God set evolution in motion, it's likely, in my always humble opinion, that God had a heavier hand in the process than many theistic evolutionists suggest. That said, I'm a history-education-theology guy, not a scientist. I don't prescribe medicine either.
  13. Thanks
    DennisTate reacted to Traveler in Are LDS open to Theistic Evolutionary Theory?   
    There is a problem with using time as a dimension.  In mathematical terms time is a discontinuous function and therefore cannot be considered to be a dimension.  There is some mitigation that actual time is continuous and not accurately defined mathematically - but such mitigation is far from being demonstrated.  Jesus warned about building a house on sand - building on theory that cannot be demonstrated is worse than sand.  There is a lot in science and the universe that we do not see or understand - 95% at least.  Never-the-less, as a scientist and a deeply religious person, I would suggest constructing your models of truth upon foundations you know to be rock solid.
     
    The Traveler
  14. Thanks
    DennisTate reacted to MrShorty in Are LDS open to Theistic Evolutionary Theory?   
    Personally, I lean towards a theistic evolution viewpoint for the development of life, and I think there are others within the Church who entertain similar possibilities. I also know that we had a stretch during the middle and late 20th century when many of us (including leaders like Joseph Fielding Smith and Bruce R. McConkie) who were staunch creationists and, while I don't think they ever spoke directly to the question of theistic vs. atheistic evolution, never spoke to the possibility of theistic evolution either. Elder McConkie, in his "Seven Deadly Heresies" speech, declared evolution to be a heresy. However, I have observed that he spends most of that portion of the speech decrying atheism and never directly addressed those who believe in evolution and retain a belief in God.
    Some of this could be a conflation of the concepts of theistic evolution and creationism. I know they occupy different categories in my own mind, but it seems that, in and out of the Church, some people treat them as variations of the same thing and others treat them as separate things.
    We had a creationist streak run through us for a few decades, but I see support building for shifting to a theistic evolution viewpoint.
  15. Thanks
    DennisTate reacted to Over43 in Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed   
    It's Ben Stein, and if you're familiar with him and his sense of humor, then in a way, that permeates the movie. He spends a lot of time tracking down scientists who have been banned from academia in their mere mentioning ID at times. Richard Dawkins gives an ad naseum descritpion of how people who believe in ID, and religion, are stupid. (His words, not mine...) And, that anyone who is intelligent would never believe in such myths. (Apparently he never met Carl Eyring or James Talmage.)
    It seems the biggest "threat" to evolution, that has been presented in the movie so far, I'm not quite done, is molecular and celullar biology. He interviewed several cellular biologists who believe Darwin's theory does not mesh wll with what they are learning about the cell, and the complexity of the cell. Some cellular biologists believe the chance of a cell being created "by accident" is a trillion, trillion, trillion. One doc called it "casino biology" if you believe in Darwin due to the odds.
    The one question that none of the "intelligent" people haven't answered yet is, "How did life begin?"
    Anyway, it's interesting. As someone who has read Origin of Species, and liked it, I'm not sure it will sway me one way or the other, but some of his guests have presented some good insite.
    Anyway, take care.
    O43
  16. Okay
    DennisTate reacted to Just_A_Guy in CNN's overt patronization is unbelievable.   
    The article does seem to have a certain amount of pique—the authors are clearly miffed that these seniors are so cavalierly bucking the conventional wisdom.  
  17. Okay
    DennisTate reacted to Vort in CNN's overt patronization is unbelievable.   
    Nor did I. Rather, I found CNN eminently hateable, as illustrated by their unyielding condescension toward what they consider a superfluous population.
  18. Okay
    DennisTate reacted to JohnsonJones in CNN's overt patronization is unbelievable.   
    I didn't find the article hateful.  We see many people of all ages that are probably not social distancing or staying at home, but they chose to focus on Seniors.  Not all Seniors are like that, just not like all College Age kids are like those who went to Florida for Spring Break, and not all people are like the ones that went to Mardi Gras in New Orleans.
    I know that most that I know that are my age are taking this very seriously.  I haven't seen many of them for weeks.  We call each other and wish each other to stay healthy and stay at home except for going out about once a week for groceries. 
  19. Okay
    DennisTate reacted to mordorbund in CNN's overt patronization is unbelievable.   
    1st off, congratulations (pre-)boomer.
    Look, are we under martial law or not? If we are then proclaiming looters will be shot is not sensationalist enough to warrant a headline. If we're not then this is ridiculous.
  20. Okay
    DennisTate reacted to Vort in CNN's overt patronization is unbelievable.   
    How hateable can you get? CNN appears to be committed to finding the answer to that question.
    https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/06/us/older-people-coronavirus-invincible-high-risk-wellness-trnd/index.html
  21. Okay
    DennisTate reacted to Emmanuel Goldstein in The COVID thread   
    Any preparation we do and include in our emergency storage cannot be a bad thing, but panicking is not something we should do. Wash our hands, avoid crowded places and eat healthy and we will be good.
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    DennisTate reacted to brotherofJared in The trinity = the family   
    I'm not sure what this story is supposed represent. There is no creation or fall that affects all mankind in it. Some woman u claim represents Eve has a child and that child is the point of the story. So, in relation to anything we're discussing, it is nonsense. Can u help me see the point of the story in relation the trinity? Or how Eve relates to that family, the trinity? Or how any of this makes what Adam did, bad.
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    DennisTate reacted to Still_Small_Voice in Did Phonecian sailors take Jews to South America around 1000 BCE?   
    This is interesting information to read.  I wonder if it is true.  Thanks for posting this.
  24. Like
    DennisTate reacted to e v e in The trinity = the family   
    well isaiah was talking about going home...now. the attributes of God will be freed from this dungeon prison earth. we are going Home. 
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    DennisTate reacted to e v e in Astounding message in the first ten names in Genesis   
    I think it’s simplistic and I don’t go for it.