Nic Silvester

I help property managers increase tenant satisfaction and profitability in one product. Find me on the golf course or at the baseball field.

[Nic Silvester @3105_ns]

@MitchWeight You mean he went to prison for polygamy, right? How many wives did he have?

[Nic Silvester @3105_ns]

Ok. Let’s say Joseph was a prophet of God. Do his actions and claims hold up to the Berean standard of Acts 17, examining the scriptures to see if what Joseph said was true?

1st-

How was the prophet called in comparison to how God appeared to prophets in the Bible (examining the scriptures for truth).

2nd-

What are prophecies that Joseph made
that came true in his day to show the people he was a prophet?

3rd-

God uses all people, flawed or not, but was Joseph above reproach? A man of unimpeachable character?

One who did not spread rumors, or cheat on his wife, or led his people to make enemies wherever they went.

4th-

Did the theology that the prophet preached to the people match what the Bible already said?

So those are important questions that should be examined and thought through.

[Nic Silvester @3105_ns]

James, God does not require a “covenant” relationship with Him where you agree to keep covenants and He agrees to give you grace for following them.

He also doesn’t require garments, rituals, sacred ceremonies, missions, marriage, or children to reach the celestial kingdom.

He does not require that you baptize others for their dead relatives.

He doesn’t require you to “Come unto Christ”.

He does not grant you special privileges because you were born into the covenant, and He did not wait 1800 years to call a prophet to transcribe tablets that contradict the Bible. In fact, without the Bible, the Book of Mormon could not have existed.

Your religion teaches the original temptation in Genesis, that man can become like God. (Not equal, of course). Your temple ceremony celebrates that Satan beat God at His own game and that Adam and Eve’s rebellion was a good thing. That ceremony is evil and demonic.

The good news is that you can accept that you are a sinner in need of a Savior, not a good person that Jesus came to earth to fulfill His destiny and die so that man can progress to heaven.

[Nic Silvester @3105_ns]

@Lets_Talk_HC Ryan doesn’t believe that. You have a choice today, Hayden. You might not have that chance tomorrow, and you won’t have it when you die.

He wants you to be saved, it’s your choice to accept or reject Him. That is free will. He loves you with a deep, abiding love.

[Nic Silvester @3105_ns]

@Jb2Investments Heady times for sure. Hindsight 20/20 should have just bought everything.

[Nic Silvester @3105_ns]

@Primary_Pianist If the Old Testament is unfinished, then Jesus is a liar. He said he came to fulfill the law and the prophets.

Why is the Angel Moroni more credible than Jesus?

Matthew 5:17-21

[Nic Silvester @3105_ns]

@Tyfyghter @kateiswell Start with one that has Bible in the title, watch some of their sermons online, go and attend.

Be welcomed to come as you are and not be pressured to perform.

[Nic Silvester @3105_ns]

@Primary_Pianist @MasonO_1554 @Lets_Talk_HC So the original LDS started worshiping the BOM and are now apostate? That ‘s the logical conclusion to the argument you just made

[Nic Silvester @3105_ns]

@newfoundglory Dang, sorry dudes.

[Nic Silvester @3105_ns]

The phrase “deny his power” appears nowhere in the Bible. Jesus says nothing about it.

You can say that God is all-powerful, He speaks to each and every person through His word, the Bible. He can show Himself through an answered or unanswered prayer, a miraculous healing, or protection from an accident. Acknowledging this not going to save you.

The rest of the verse still does not match with the Bible. Which book is more reliable, the BOM or the Bible?

[Nic Silvester @3105_ns]

As usual, a non sequitur from you Mr. Incognito.

Moroni 10:33:

And again, if ye by the grace of God are perfect in Christ, and deny not his power, then are ye sanctified in Christ by the grace of God, through the shedding of the blood of Christ, which is in the covenant of the Father unto the remission of your sins, that ye become holy, without spot

None of this verse makes sense. How do you “deny not his power”?

Or that Christ’s death on the cross is part of a covenant for the remission of sins.

The whole thing is not found in the Bible.

And if ye are by the Grace of God are perfect in Christ sounds kind of Calvinist and predestined, no?

[Nic Silvester @3105_ns]

@GuyInco15542744 @moak_ryan Why do you think Christians worship the Bible and not God?

[Nic Silvester @3105_ns]

Of course I have read it.

Come unto Christ is not the same as believe and you will be saved.

Grace is not earned, it is given.

God makes covenants with us, we are not instructed to make covenants with Him.

The gift of salvation does not come with conditions.

God didn’t send Jesus to earth so that man can progress, or to establish a church, He sent Him to be a sacrifice for the world’s sins.

Man is a sinner in need of a Savior, not a spirit child who came to earth to progress to the next life, who is a good person.

[Nic Silvester @3105_ns]

@dominionpowers @GuyInco15542744 @moak_ryan So how does it function for you? As a help for the BOM?

[Nic Silvester @3105_ns]

@provomitch @BIGKLDS @GraceKraemer He didn’t teach them to baptize for the dead, he was telling them to stop doing what the pagans are doing.

[Nic Silvester @3105_ns]

You don’t deny the Bible, you just deny it as final scripture.

Does the pattern in which Joseph was called by God match up with how He called prophets in the Old Testament? No, from Moses through Malachi, God is the one that sent signs or appeared to the prophets when they were least expecting it.

Does the pattern in which Joseph handled his “visions” from God match up with the Old Testament? They do not. The visions

Why would God wait 1800 years to reveal doctrines such as preisthood? Because Kolob and a counsel of Gods do not exist.

And why do so many Christians who love the Lord read the BOM and reject its principles?
Because they read Moroni and learn that the LDS God teaches that grace is only done after obedience, not at the time of salvation.

In summary, LDS accept the Bible as part of your canon, but the truths inside of it are hidden.

[Nic Silvester @3105_ns]

@farmingandJesus Some of them also think the 10
lost tribes of Isreal are under the Nirtb Pole.

Their total misapplication of both grace and faith are the parts that are most puzzling to me.

[Nic Silvester @3105_ns]

If I am reading this correctly, you want to have your cake and eat it as well?

Witness testimony is notoriously inconsistent, yet you have 3 witnesses that say they saw the exact same thing, at the exact same time, without a different perspective.

You hold that as proof, not evidence.

[The Primary Pianist @Primary_Pianist]

EVIDENCE IS NOT PROOF

Protestant: There’s no evidence for that LDS claim.

LDS: No evidence at all?

Protestant: None.

LDS: Let me ask you something. If I showed you something historically or archaeologically consistent with the claim, would that count as evidence?

Protestant: Not if it doesn’t prove it.

LDS: Ah. Then we’re using the word “evidence” differently.

Protestant: How so?

LDS: Evidence is not the same thing as proof.

Protestant: Explain.

LDS: Evidence is information that makes a claim more or less likely. It can be weak, strong, circumstantial, disputed, or inconclusive.

Proof is much stronger. Proof would establish the conclusion to the required standard.

Protestant: So something can be evidence without proving the claim?

LDS: Of course.

Suppose a man is accused of committing a crime.

His fingerprints are at the scene.

Is that evidence?

Protestant: Yes.

LDS: Does it prove he committed the crime?

Protestant: Not necessarily. He might have been there earlier.

LDS: Exactly.

Now suppose there’s security footage showing someone his height and build.

Evidence?

Protestant: Yes.

LDS: Proof?

Protestant: Still not necessarily.

LDS: Good.

So if I present archaeological, linguistic, textual, geographic, or historical information that is consistent with an LDS claim, you can argue:

“That evidence is weak.”

“There’s a better explanation.”

“That doesn’t establish the LDS conclusion.”

“I don’t think it carries much weight.”

All of those are fair.

But you can’t respond:

“There is no evidence.”

Protestant: So your point isn’t necessarily that the evidence proves Mormonism true?

LDS: Right.

My point is that “I am unconvinced by the evidence” and “there is no evidence” are completely different claims.

Protestant: Fair enough.

LDS: And honestly, I think religious conversations would improve a lot if both sides made that distinction.

Not every piece of evidence is proof.

Not every parallel is a smoking gun.

Not every objection destroys the evidence.

We should be arguing about the quality and weight of evidence, not pretending evidence ceases to exist merely because we don’t find it persuasive.

[Nic Silvester @3105_ns]

I think that you have a misunderstanding of what denominational differences are…which are nuances in practices, not differences in beliefs.

For instance, one church practices singing with no instruments, while another has instruments. Does that mean that Jesus is not the center of their church, no, it is just an interpretation of the text. Both denominations trust the Bible as God’s word.

There are over 700 denominations in Mormonism. Does that mean you can’t hold the BOM as the standard of truth?