The teachings by Brent Wescombe---The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has been a cornerstone of spiritual growth for many individuals, and one such person's journey is a testament to the transformative power of faith. Raised within the church, this individual took a significant step of devotion by serving as a missionary in Italy from the ages of 19 to 21. This period was marked by profound spiritual experiences that deeply ingrained the belief that God's presence and guidance are omnipresent. The commitment to understanding the divine did not wane with time; instead, it blossomed into a lifelong pursuit of studying religion and theology. A pivotal moment came with the realization that Joseph Smith was chosen by God as a modern-day prophet, akin to the prophets of ancient times, a belief further solidified by a personal witness.
The work of Brent Wiscombe, who has diligently uncovered numerous pieces of evidence affirming the Book of Mormon as a sacred scripture, has been particularly inspiring. His conviction, often expressed to others, that knowledge of these truths would lead anyone to embrace the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, speaks to the profound impact of his teachings. Through his insights, many have found not only intellectual affirmation but also spiritual solace and a deeper connection to their faith. The sharing of his knowledge is poised to inspire a wide audience, offering a compelling narrative of faith, discovery, and the unwavering belief in the divine origin of the Book of Mormon.
I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God
Exodus 20:3-9 “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.
Other Gods Mentioned in the Old Testament
by Claude Mariottini—Baal—The Canaanite Fertility God
“You shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3).
The second commandment declares that in Israel, no other god should be worshiped in addition to the Heavenly Father (Yahweh). The commandment's words don't deny other gods, even if it implies monotheism. The truth of monotheism, that there was no other God besides Yahweh, came into existence late in the faith of Israel.
Henotheism is a word used to describe the worship of one god without denying the existence of other gods. The people of Israel believed in and worshiped Yahweh as their God, but they also acknowledged the existence of other gods.
Many people in the Ancient Near East were polytheists. Polytheism is a system of belief in which people worship many gods. In general, most polytheistic religions are associated with the various aspects of nature worship. Since primitive civilizations did not have a scientific understanding of the world in which they lived, most people in these societies associated natural phenomena with the realm of the gods.
The Old Testament mentions several gods. People who lived in the various nations that composed the world of the Bible associated these gods with themselves. The people of Israel worshipped some of these gods. The biblical writers attribute the exile to Israel's apostasy.
Some of the gods mentioned in the Old Testament:
1. Adrammelech (2 Kings 17:31)
Adrammelech was the name of one of the gods worshipped by the people of Sepharvaim. The Sepharvaim were a group of people whom the Assyrians settled in Samaria after the Northern Kingdom fell.
2. Anammelech (2 Kings 17:31)
The people of Sepharvaim also worshipped another god. The people of Sepharvaim worshiped their gods by burning their children as sacrifices.
3. Ashima (2 Kings 17:30)
A god worshiped by the people of Hamath who settled in Samaria after the fall of the Northern Kingdom.
4. Ashtoreth (1 Kings 11:5)
Ashereth was the goddess of the Sidonians. Ashtoreth is the name used in the Old Testament to refer to the Canaanite goddess Astarte. She was the consort of Baal, the Canaanite storm god.
5. Baal (Numbers 25:3)
Baal was the Canaanite storm god. Baal was also associated with the fertility of the land. The word “Baal” means “lord” or “husband.” Many people in Israel worshiped Baal in various forms and representations. The earliest mention of Baal in the Old Testament occurs in Numbers 25:3, where the people of Israel yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor.
6. Bel (Jeremiah 51:44)
The name by which Marduk, the god of the Babylonians, is called in the Old Testament. Bel appears in the Apocrypha, in addition to the book of Daniel.
7. Chemosh (1 Kings 11:7)
He is the national god of the Moabites, to whom Solomon built a temple in the mountains east of Jerusalem. The writer of Kings calls this god “the abomination of Moab.” The Moabites were called “The people of Chemosh” (Numbers 21:29).
8. Dagon (Judges 16:23)
Dagon appears in the Old Testament as the god of the Philistines. The nature of Dagon and its characteristics are not very clear. Some scholars have identified Dagon as a “grain” god, while others have identified him as a “fish” god. It seems that the Philistines adopted the cult of Dagon after they settled in the land of Canaan.
9. Kaiwan (NRSV) or Kiyyun (ESV; Amos 5:26)
Amos calls Kaiwan “your star-god.” Kaiwan was an astral god worshiped by some people of the Northern Kingdom after they became vassals of the Assyrians. The god is associated with the planet Saturn.
10. Milcom (1 Kings 11:5)
Milcom is known as “the abomination of the Ammonites.” He is also known as Molech. Jeremiah says that the Israelites offered their sons and daughters as sacrifices to Molech by burning them. The meaning of the name is unclear. Probably, the meaning of the name is derived from the word “melek,” the Hebrew word for king.
11. Molech (Jeremiah 32:35)
Molech is the same god as Milcom above. The name Molech comes from the consonants of the word “melek,” “king,” and the vowels of the Hebrew word “bosheth,” a word that means “shame.”
12. Nebo (Isaiah 46:1)
Nebo is the name of a Babylonian god that is exclusively mentioned in the book of Isaiah. The name of this god appears in the name of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon.
13. Nehushtan (2 Kings 18:4)
This deity was the bronze serpent worshiped by some people in Judah in the days of Hezekiah. This deity was associated with the serpent Moses made in the wilderness (Numbers 21:8-9).
14. Nibhaz (2 Kings 17:31)
The name of a god worshiped by the Avvites, a people brought to Samaria by the Assyrians.
15. Nisroch (2 Kings 19:37)
The Assyrian god was worshiped by Sennacherib, king of Assyria. According to the biblical text, Sennacherib was worshiping his god when he was killed by his sons.
16. Rimmon (2 Kings 5:18)
A Syrian god. After Naaman was cured from his leprosy and proclaimed his faith in the God of Israel, he recognized that he would still have to bow down to Rimmon because he served the king of Syria.
17. Sakkuth (NRSV) or Sikkuth (ESV; Amos 5:26)
A Babylonian deity associated with astral worship. In the book of Amos, Sakkuth appears together with Kaiwan.
18. Succoth-benoth (2 Kings 17:30)
The name of a god worshiped by the people of Babylon who lived in Samaria after the Assyrians conquered the city of Samaria in 722 B.C.
19. Tammuz (Ezekiel 8:14).
A Mesopotamian god whose cult has been associated with the cycle of the harvest. The weeping for Tammuz is a reference to the death of the god, which in turn was associated with the agricultural calendar
20. Tartak (2 Kings 17:31)
The god worshiped by the Avvites, a group of people brought to Samaria by the Assyrians after they conquered the Northern Kingdom.
21. The Queen of Heaven (Jeremiah 7:18).
The name of an unidentified goddess worshiped by the people of Judah in the days of the prophet Jeremiah (7th and 6th centuries B.C.). The Queen of Heaven appears only in the book of Jeremiah (7:18; 44:17, 18, 19, 25). This goddess has been identified with the Mesopotamian goddess Ishtar and with the Canaanite goddess Ashtoreth, also known as Astarte.
No Man Can See God Fallacy
The criticism that Joseph Smith was a false prophet due to his claim of seeing God the Father alongside Jesus Christ in a vision is often rooted in a misunderstanding of biblical teachings. Detractors point to verses suggesting that no man can see God the Father, citing examples of Christ's post-resurrection appearances and His exaltation to the right hand of God. However, this perspective is heavily influenced by the Trinity creeds formulated by scholars in the 4th century, which can lead to the oversight of crucial passages that affirm God the Father as our literal Father and God. A key example is found in John 20:17, where Jesus instructs Mary, "I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God." This verse unequivocally establishes that Jesus has a God and Father, who is also the God and Father of all people. This concept aligns with the teachings of the ancient Israelites and Jesus Himself, who were not Trinitarians. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints offers a distinct understanding of God the Father and our relationship with Him, grounded in the principle that God continues to communicate with modern-day prophets and apostles. This ongoing revelation enables a deeper comprehension of our connection to God and Jesus Christ, setting the Church apart in its doctrine. By recognizing the limitations of traditional Trinitarian theology and embracing the restored gospel, individuals can gain a more nuanced and accurate understanding of their divine heritage and the nature of God.
Has seen God:
Adam - Genesis 1-3
Enoch—Genesis 5:24
Abraham—Genesis 18:33
Hagar—Genesis 16:13
Jacob—Genesis 32:30
Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and 70 Elders of Israel—Exodus 24:9-11
Moses - Exodus 33:11
Isaiah - Isaiah 6:1
Manoah—Judges 13:22
Ezekiel - Ezekiel 1:16
Job—Job 42:5
Steven - Acts 7:54-56
John - Revelation 4
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ANOTHER LESSON BELOW
The Debt of Love: The Gospel’s Unpayable Obligation
I would like to speak today about some of the very basic teachings and beliefs taught by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
What is the Gospel, and what does it require of us?
At the time of the Prophet Joseph Smith in 1830, there existed a couple of hundred Christian religious organizations and denominations in the world. Today, there are more than 45,000 different Christian religious organizations and denominations. Why are there so many different Christian churches? They all are divided from one another because they have different beliefs.
Does Jesus tell us that He agrees with all of these different religious churches? In 1st Corinthians chapter 14:33, it says, "For God is not the author of confusion."
Joseph Smith, at the age of 14, was confused by the different preachers of his day because they all had different interpretations of the Bible and taught different doctrines. Which preacher had the correct interpretation of scripture and was preaching the true gospel of Jesus Christ?
Joseph Smith could not determine the answer by himself, so he went and prayed to get help from God. Joseph had faith in God and believed that God would help him make a decision as to which church he should join.
God answered Joseph's prayer in a miraculous way. Think of Moses being visited by God on the mountain or Paul receiving his vision from Christ. Similarly, Joseph Smith was visited by God the father and by Jesus Christ in answer to his prayer. Joseph was certainly not expecting such a miraculous visitation. He only wanted to know which church to join.
Joseph was told by God not to join any of the religions because their doctrines had been corrupted by the teachings of men over the centuries from the time of Christ's earthly ministry.
Most of the letters of the ancient apostle Paul were written for the purpose of telling the early saints to stop changing the doctrines that he had taught them. They were converted to follow Jesus from their previous pagan religion, and some of these early converts were bringing the beliefs of their former religion and infiltrating these beliefs into the church of Christ. There were so many changes over the centuries until the simple truths of the gospel were totally corrupted. This loss of truth is called apostasy.
From the visitation of God, the father, and Jesus Christ to Joseph Smith, the truth about who and what God is was restored as the beginning of the modern-day restoration of all divine truth.
The basic beliefs of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are summarized in our articles of faith. The first article of faith states:
1. We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost.
A clear understanding of who and what God, Jesus, and the Holy Ghost are is very important to a true understanding of who we worship.
Most Christian religions teach that God is an incomprehensible God, without body parts or passions, as taught in the dogma of the Trinity, which was never taught in the bible. It teaches that the three persons of the Godhead are somehow mind and body melded together into an incomprehensible essence. This truth was never taught in the Bible, nor did the people at the time of Jesus understand or believe such a dogma that was invented more than 300 years after Jesus. God's visit to Joseph Smith corrected this false Trinity doctrine.
The second article of faith states:
2. We believe that men will be punished for their own sins and not for Adam's transgression.
In the garden of eden, Adam and Eve were given a choice. They were told that they could eat from all the trees of the garden except for the tree of knowledge of good and evil, but if they did eat of that tree, there was a consequence for their choice; they would die if they ate from it, but it was freely given to them to make their own choice. Adam and Eve did eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Was this a sin? What is the definition of sin? If you know that something is wrong and do it anyway, that is sin. Children cannot sin because they don't know what is right or wrong. Adam and Eve did not know the difference between right or wrong because they didn't know right from wrong until after they ate from the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, so their choice was not counted to them as sin.
How do we know this? After Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, they were visited by God in the garden of eden. If Adam and Eve were sinners, they could not have been in the presence of God. So they were not sinners after eating of the forbidden fruit. Since Adam and Eve were not sinners, there was no sin that could be passed onto their children, and the human family is not born in sin, as stated in the second article of faith. Most all of the other Christian religions believe that the human race inherits an original sin from Adam, meaning that we are born evil, sinful, and we are all going to hell unless Christ saves us by our confessing a belief in Christ. This is a non-biblical understanding. God would not be a just God if God condemned all of humanity for a choice that an ancestor had committed. God judges each of us for our own choices and not for someone else's choice.
The truth restored through the Prophet Joseph Smith is that we are only held accountable for our own sins, and only after we understand the difference between right and wrong. Little children are not sinful and do not require faith, repentance, or baptism to be saved, as is preached by most Christian religions. Now, let's find out what adults need to do to be saved.
The third article of faith states:
3. We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel.
4. We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are 1st, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; 2nd, Repentance; 3rd, Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; and 4th, Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost.
Baptism of babies is not Biblical and denies the teachings of Jesus when He taught that little children are innocent before God and that adults need to become as little children to enter into Heaven.
Only adults have the mental capacity to understand the teachings of Christ, develop faith in Christ, repent of their sins, and choose to become disciples of Christ by following his commandments and performing the required baptism ordinance.
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