QUOTE |
Jesus The Christ by James E. Talmage, One of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Published by Deseret Book Company Salt Lake City, Utah, copyright Joseph F. Smith, followed by Harold B. Lee as Trustee in Trust for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints |
Could someone please explain to me the three levels of heaven. I really don't understand them. where do you find reference to them in the New Testament.
Message Edited... Mormon: That has nothing to do with the topic at hand. Please... 1. Post this in the Religious Beliefs and Traditions Board if you are NOT LDS. 2. If you are LDS then start a NEW thread with your question. 3. Update your profile. |
That is a good point Lds_forever. You can know that it is doctrine if it is put out by the church in most cases. There are books like Mormon Doctrine for instance that hold some opinion. We must be very careful when we are learning and especially when we are teaching that we take opinions as opinions. Then after the matter is prayerfully considered we can receive personal revelation. But that still doesn't give us liberty to preach it to others. There are many writers that I enjoy. Joseph Fielding Smith is one of my favorites. I agree with him on almost every subject. While I also enjoy Cleon Skousen but I don't agree with all of his opinions.
QUOTE (JB @ 23-Apr 03, 11:41 PM) |
Why does the Church not take an official position on the Journal of Discourses? |
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"The Journal of Discourses is not an official publication of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is a compilation of sermons and other materials from the early years of the Church, which were transcribed and then published. It includes practical advice as well as doctrinal discussion, some of which is speculative in nature and some of which is only of historical interest. ... Questions have been raised about the accuracy of some transcriptions. Modern technology and processes were not available for verifying the accuracy of transcriptions, and some significant mistakes have been documented. The Journal of Discourses includes interesting and insightful teachings by early Church leaders; however, by itself it is not an authoritative source of Church doctrine." (LDS.org Gospel Topics, Journal of Discourses) |
Yes, but my MAIN question is given that it is considered unofficial and inaccurate why is it then used at all in MANY official books of the Church including Sunday School / Priesthood manuals and institute literature for study and learning? If the answer is that ONLY the 'better' parts are used then my next question is "Who determines what is accurate or not?". Additionally if there is someone capable of establishing the accurate parts then why not compile the credible parts of it?
QUOTE (JB @ 8-Jul 09, 12:47 PM) |
Yes, but my MAIN question is given that it is considered unofficial and inaccurate why is it then used at all in MANY official books of the Church including Sunday School / Priesthood manuals and institute literature for study and learning? |
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"Who determines what is accurate or not?" |
I agree and like I said, the correlation committee decides what is included and what is not based on PRESENT church doctrine hence the contents of church publications have been changing so much for the past few decades.