Mitt's a 1st Century Christian

From the beginning of New Testament Christianity at the Feast of Pentecost (Acts 2: 38-39) to our time, unbroken and uninterrupted; the church has baptized babies. Entire households (Jewish, proselytes and Gentiles) were baptized by Christ’s original 12 Apostles (I Corinthians 1: 16; Acts 11: 14, 16: 15, 33, 18: 8) and that practice has continued with each generation.

The Early Church

Polycarp (69-155), a disciple of the Apostle John, was baptized as an infant. This enabled him to say at his martyrdom. "Eighty and six years have I served the Lord Christ" (Martyrdom of Polycarp 9: 3). Justin Martyr (100 - 166) of the next generation states about the year 150, "Many, both men and women, who have been Christ’s disciples since childhood, remain pure at the age of sixty or seventy years" (Apology 1: 15). Further, in his Dialog with Trypho the Jew, Justin Martyr states that Baptism is the circumcision of the New Testament.

Irenaeus (130 - 200), some 35 years later in 185, writes in Against Heresies II 22: 4 that Jesus "came to save all through means of Himself - all, I say, who through him are born again to God - infants and children, boys and youth, and old men."

In Place of Circumcision



Furthermore, Paul notes that baptism has replaced circumcision (Col. 2:11–12). In that passage, he refers to baptism as "the circumcision of Christ" and "the circumcision made without hands." Of course, usually only infants were circumcised under the Old Law; circumcision of adults was rare, since there were few converts to Judaism. If Paul meant to exclude infants, he would not have chosen circumcision as a parallel for baptism.

This comparison between who could receive baptism and circumcision is an appropriate one. In the Old Testament, if a man wanted to become a Jew, he had to believe in the God of Israel and be circumcised. In the New Testament, if one wants to become a Christian, one must believe in God and Jesus and be baptized. In the Old Testament, those born into Jewish households could be circumcised in anticipation of the Jewish faith in which they would be raised. Thus in the New Testament, those born in Christian households can be baptized in anticipation of the Christian faith in which they will be raised. The pattern is the same: If one is an adult, one must have faith before receiving the rite of membership; if one is a child too young to have faith, one may be given the rite of membership in the knowledge that one will be raised in the faith. This is the basis of Paul’s reference to baptism as "the circumcision of Christ"—that is, the Christian equivalent of circumcision.

Which Church do you think is THE Church founded by Christ?



Which Church was Jesus referring to here?

17 Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. 18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."



Which Church was Paul referring to?

1 Timothy 3
15 if I am delayed, you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God's household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth.


What traditions was Paul referring to?

"So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by letter." (2 Thes. 2:15)

"And what you have heard from me before many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also." (2 Tim. 2:2)

Which Church was Clement referring to?

Pope Clement I

"Through countryside and city the apostles preached, and they appointed their earliest converts, testing them by the Spirit, to be the bishops and deacons of future believers. Nor was this a novelty, for bishops and deacons had been written about a long time earlier. . . . Our apostles knew through our Lord Jesus Christ that there would be strife for the office of bishop. For this reason, therefore, having received perfect foreknowledge, they appointed those who have already been mentioned and afterwards added the further provision that, if they should die, other approved men should succeed to their ministry" (Letter to the Corinthians 42:4–5, 44:1–3 [A.D. 80]).



The truth is out there for those who seek it!

I find it so difficult to believe that LDS would consider itself anywhere in line with the Judeo-Christian religion. Unfortunately, the one defining difference in this diatribe of we are alike article is that Mormonism is and always has been polytheistic. Every Mormon male that faithfully follows the precepts will become a god, as the present god that is ruling over this is. Each male that goes through the sealing ceremony in the temple with other women, not just his own wife, so that he will rise upon death and call all these women out of the grave to become goddess and have endless sex and create a new population to inhabit another earth like this one.

One might find this funny, but unfortunately, this right out of their own belief and it does not follow the Judeo-Christian theology of oneness or the uniqueness of the one true King of the Universe as practiced by the Judaism or the original apostles of Jesus.

Thus, this one factor alone reduces Mormonism to nothing more than those pagan religions practice polytheism and the first lie of the Bible that anyone can become a “god.”

All of the Abrahamic relgions (including the Church of Jesus Christ [LDS]) are monotheistic. They worship the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

If theosis was extant during the early years, do you think that St. Athanasius of Alexandria (Eastern Orthodox) was polytheistic, because he wrote: "The Son of God became man, that we might become God." .

As a member of the LDS Church, I agree with most of what you are posting.

HOWEVER, THERE IS A RADIO TALK SHOW HOST WHO IS CLAIMING THAT ROMNEY'S CHAMPAIGN sent hundred's of e-mails containing almost word for word the mesage you keep repeating and repeating and repeating...

I hope you realize that this is overkill and that Mitt is being blamed as the author of the e-mail. It is my understandng that Mitt has refused to talk on doctrinal subjects; and I agree that he should NOT.

In love and brotherhood, please stop posting this material, and certainly sending e-mails to talkshow hosts will lead to confusion.

Romney does not divorce himself from the LDS Church; but he cannot appear to be a proselyter for the Church; to do so would be political suicide.

We must be wise and not mix up the issues.

Love in the Gospel;

If you want you can e-mail me at

adams_dean@sbcglobal.net

If you do, I will send you an audio recording of what I am talking about.

Jesus said, Whom do men say that I am?

And his disciples answered and said, Some say you are John the Baptist returned from the dead; others say Elias, or other of the old prophets.

And Jesus answered and said, But whom do you say that I am?

Peter answered and said, "Thou art the Logos, existing in the Father as His rationality and then, by an act of His will, being generated, in consideration of the various functions by which God is related to his creation, but only on the fact that Scripture speaks of a Father, and a Son, and a Holy Spirit, each member of the Trinity being coequal with every other member, and each acting inseparably with and interpenetrating every other member, with only an economic subordination within God, but causing no division which would make the substance no longer simple."

And Jesus answering, said, "What?"