Monday, April 30, 2012

Joel Osteen: Mormonism is Christian


Last week Pastor Joel Osteen of Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas, spoke out about Mitt Romney’s Mormon faith. He said, “When I hear Mitt Romney say that he believes that Jesus is the Son of God — that he’s the Christ, raised from the dead, that he’s his Savior — that’s good enough for me.” He then goes onto say that he wants to be “inclusive” and welcoming to those who claim they accept Christ. That's an interesting word to pick.

This isn't the first time he's made this statement. He expounded on some of his other beliefs when he was on Oprah, and that's when he told the world there are many paths to Jesus.[1]

His choice of words concerning an "inclusive church" is quite revealing on his part. It is the third leg of Rick Warren's purpose driven/communitarian "three-legged-stool". The "inclusive church", according to Warren, is a church that includes a broad spectrum of believers with a common purpose. This fits very neatly in with Warren's PEACE Plan, and kingdom building with/for the Roman Catholic church.[2]

Here's the interview with Wolf Blitzer:

(CNN link)

Shouldn't a minister of the Lord Jesus Christ be able to differentiate the truth from a lie? Since he is one of the Most Influential Christian Leaders in the U.S., he is leading many of the sheeple toward the wide gate. Let's look at some key differences between Christianity and Mormonism.

God
Christians
Mormons
  • "And they (the Gods) said: Let there be light: and there was light (Book of Abraham 4:3)
  • "God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man, and sits enthroned in yonder heavens!!! We have imagined that God was God from all eternity. I will refute that idea and take away the veil, so that you may see," (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 345).
  • "The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man's," (Doctrine and Covenants 130:22; Compare with Alma 18:26-27; 22:9-10). 
  • "Therefore we know that both the Father and the Son are in form and stature perfect men; each of them possesses a tangible body . . . of flesh and bones," (Articles of Faith, by James Talmage, p. 38).
 Mormon's "sacred" under garments

The Trinity
Christians
  • The Trinity is the doctrine that there is only one God in all the universe and that He exists in three eternal, simultaneous persons: The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. 
Mormons
  • The Trinity is three separate Gods: The Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. "That these three are separate individuals, physically distinct from each other, is demonstrated by the accepted records of divine dealings with man," (Articles of Faith, by James Talmage, p. 35).
 Mormons, as do other cults, uses the beehive in their symbolism. The beehive represents the Mother Goddess, and is part of Satan's Unholy Trinity (or triangle): Mother Goddess (the Queen Bee), Father of Light (Lucifer) and Antichrist, the Son of Perdition, all conspiring to take control of planet earth.[2]

Jesus
Christians
Mormons
  • Jesus is the literal spirit-brother of Lucifer, a creation (Gospel Through the Ages, p. 15).

Holy Spirit
Christians
Mormons 
  • Mormonism distinguishes between the Holy Spirit (God's presence via an essence) and the Holy Ghost (the third god in the Mormon doctrine of the trinity). "He [the Holy Ghost] is a being endowed with the attributes and powers of Deity, and not a mere force, or essence," (Articles of Faith, by James Talmage, p. 144).
 First generation temples like the one located in Nauvoo, are loaded with Hermetic symbolism. The image of the "sunstone" is known to occultists as the symbol for Ba'al.[3]

Salvation 
Christians
  • Salvation is the forgiveness of sin and deliverance of the sinner from damnation. It is a free gift received by God's grace (Eph. 2:8; Rom. 6:23) and cannot be earned (Rom. 11:6).
  • Salvation (forgiveness of sins) is not by works (Eph. 2:8; Rom. 4:5; Gal. 2:21).
Mormons
  •  Salvation has a double meaning in Mormonism: universal resurrection and . . .
    "The first effect [of the atonement] is to secure to all mankind alike, exemption from the penalty of the fall, thus providing a plan of General Salvation. The second effect is to open a way for Individual Salvation whereby mankind may secure remission of personal sins," (Articles of Faith, by James Talmage, p. 78-79).
  • "As these sins are the result of individual acts it is just that forgiveness for them should be conditioned on individual compliance with prescribed requirements -- 'obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel,'" (Articles of Faith, p. 79).
Another view of the symbol for Baal, we see the pentagrams on the side of their Navoo temple. They tell their members it represents Christ's condescension and then resurrection.

The Bible
Christians
  • The inspired inerrant word of God (2 Tim. 3:16). It is authoritative in all subjects it addresses.
Mormons
  • "We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly. . ." (8th Article of Faith of the Mormon Church).
Mormonism is not the biblical version of Christianity. It is not Christian, and Mormons serve a different god than do the Christians -- a god that does not exist.  Paul talks about this in Gal. 4:8, "Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods."  Only the God of the Bible exists.  There are no others. Mormonism puts its faith in a non-existent god.

Reference

Related Posts
Bill Schnoebelen and the Mormons Temple of Doom
Mitt Romney and the Royal Bloodline
Joel Osteen: A Man-Pleaser or God-Pleaser
The Power of the Spoken Word