In article , Dave says...
>
>> And the leaders, at least, of the Mormons are leading a great many people 
>> into
>> precisely this great harm. So are the missionaries in the field, who feed
>> deception to the gullible.
>
>You speak evil of us and judge us as decivers much as the pharasies did to 
>Christ.

No, it is not at all "much as the pharasies [sic]" did. By no means. On the
contrary: a much closer analogy would be the way Christ Himself "spoke evil of
and judged" (your choice of words, not mine) the Pharisees in:

   Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you traverse sea
   and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte,
   you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.  (Mat 23:15 RSVA)

For this is _exactly_ what you do when you make converts! You make them twice as
much a child of hell as yourselves by teaching them to deny the Divinity of
Christ, to deny that He is consubstantial to the Father in His Divinity and
consubstantial to us in His humanity.

>But blessed in Christ shall be all the innocent who suffer from 
>such persecution.

That would not include you, since you do not gather with Him, but rather, you
scatter, as you conveniently omitted from your Matthew citation, which ends in:

   He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather
   with me scatters.  (Mat 12:30 RSVA)

 > As a missionary I brought the name and teachings of Jesus 
>Christ to people who never felt Christs true love.

And they still have not, if they follow _your_ teachings. For your teachings
really are that alien to Christianity.

>Perhaps some scriptures regarding your fellow accusors might be helpful:

But that passage is NOT "regarding my fellow accusors". You are
quoting Christ
out of context. See below.

Of course, this should surprise no one, since it is only by ignoring Christ's
words, or by distorting Christ's words that you can hide the evidence that
Christ is God, the only-begotten Son of the Father, begotten before all ages,
true God of true God, consubstantial to the Father in His divinity,
consubstantial to us in His humanity.

Why, even this very passage you would use against us proves how wrong you are!
Again, see below.

>Matthew 12: 22-28
>
> Then was brought unto him one possessed with a devil, blind, and dumb: and 
>he healed him, insomuch that the blind and dumb both spake and saw. And all 
>the people were amazed, and said, Is not this the son of David? But when the 
>Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by 
>Beelzebub the prince of the devils.

Did you miss the significance of "when they heard it"? They were
not there when
it happened, they heard it only be report. This is important, since it prepares
the way for the next verse to show that Christ is God.

> And Jesus knew their thoughts,

Again, did you miss the significance of "knew their thoughts"?
God alone knows
the depths of the hearts of men (Prv 15:11, 21:2, 24:12), yet He "knew their
thoughts" before anyone told them to Him.

This, in addition to healing the demoniac, shows His divine power. No prophet
ever healed in his own name, no prophet nor wise man ever knew the thoughtsof
his accuser before he spoke. Only God does this.

> and said 
>unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; 
>and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand: And if Satan 
>cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom 
>stand?

Satan's kingdom is indeed divided. And Mormonism is part of that divided
kingdom. So what is your point?

>And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast 
>them out?

Do you even know to whom He is referring here? It appears you do not. For if you
did know, you would know better than to think that you could refute orthodox
Christianity by citing this passage.

He is referring NOT to the followers of the Pharisees, but to the Apostles (of
the seventy). For they too drove out demons, in the name of Christ. This too
proves that He is God. For the Apostles drove out demons in HIS name.

> therefore they shall be your judges. But if I cast out devils by 
>the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you.

Yes, the kingdom of God is come unto us, and you Mormons preferred another
kingdom. How very sad.

>.....if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is 
>come unto you.

You have misunderstood Him. Christ could say this, because He really _did_ cast
out demons, quite literally, and that without doing it in another's name. He did
it by His own divine authority. This most certainly does NOT apply to you, who
do NOT cast out devils by the Spirit of God, and even preach against His
kingdom.

And yes, you _do_ preach against His kingdom, every time you deny that He is
consubstantial to the Father, who together with the Holy Spirit are the three
Persons of the Holy Trinity, one God one in essence and indivisible.

So yes, you have _completely_ misunderstood this passage you tried to use to
defend your evil deceptions. And no wonder, when you forget something else that
has changed since Christ spoke those words: Christ Himself gave the Church a
very wide authority, called "binding and loosing". And by that
authority, the
Church has repeatedly proclaimed that anyone who denies the Trinity is not part
of the Church at all, but has cut himself off from eternal salvation.

So you cut yourself off, and teach false teachings to others to cut them off
too. This means that just as Augustine pointed out, you fall under the Prophet's
curse:

   Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness
   for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and
   sweet for bitter!  (Isa 5:20 RSVA)

Repent of your evil, confess Christ as He really is and stop teaching deception
to the weak and vulnerable.


-- 
---------------------------
Subudcat se sibi ut haereat Deo
quidquid boni habet, tribuat illi a quo factus est.
(St. Augustine, Ser. 96)
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