Prophets Are Not Always Church Leaders

Prophets Are Not Always Church Leaders
excerpt from "Thus Saith the Lord" by Duane Crowther

One important theme which is repeatedly set forth in the scriptures is that the gift of prophecy is not related to Church position, but is rather a blessing received by many lay members of the Church. By the same token, whether .or not a person holds a high calling in the Church is in no way a valid test of the veracity of his prophecy.

Scriptural examples to demonstrate these points are many and varied. Typical is the account of prophecies made by other individuals to Eli, the priest, who lived in the final days of the judges of Israel. Eli was, presum­ably, the head of the Church for he was the priest and keeper of the taber­nacle and "had judged Israel forty years."9 His sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were also priests, though they were wicked.'10 Eli held power and authority from God, and was able to grant blessings in the name of diety."11 Yet others prophesied to Eli, the Church leader.

An unidentified "man of God" came and rebuked Eli for failing to chastize his errant sons. He prophesied judgments upon the house of Eli, the death of both his sons, and that the Lord would raise up priests from another lineage to lead his people.12 The man of God's identity is unknown, but he did not stand as the leader of the Church, for that presumably was Eli's calling. A short time later, the Lord spoke to another individual, the young child Samuel, who repeated the prophecy he received to Eli:

Behold, I will do a thing in Israel, at which both the ears of every one that heareth it shall tingle.
In that day I will perform against Eli all things which I have spoken con­cerning his house; when I begin, I will also make an end.
For I have told him that I will judge his house for ever for the iniquity which he knoweth; because his sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not.
And therefore I have sworn unto the house of Eli, that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be purged with sacrifice nor offering for ever."13

In this instance, God used both an unidentified man and a small child as the spokesmen for prophecies which ultimately affected both a leader of the Church and the people at large. It should be noted that the Lord used the law of witnesses in this instance. Two separate individuals prophesied the same message to Eli.14

Later, while Samuel ruled as the head of the Church and as judge of Israel, a young man, Saul, was chosen to be a future king of Israel. As Saul journeyed with his servant,

A company of prophets met him, and the Spirit of God came upon him, and he prophesied among them.
And it came to pass, when all that knew him before time saw that, behold, he prophesied among the prophets, then the people said one to another, What is this that is come unto the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?"15

In this instance Saul was able to prophesy, though he wasn't the leader of the Church.

Another prophetic incident of significance occurred during David's reign as king of Israel. After David's sin with Bathsheba and Uriah the Hittite, the Lord rebuked him through the prophet Nathan. Among other prophecies, Nathan warned David of the Lord's promise, "I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house. ..."16 A second witness also prophesied against David. The man was Shimei, a descendant of Saul. Shimei challenged David on the road, and prophesied that "the Lord hath delivered the kingdom into the hand of Absalom thy son; and, behold thou art taken in thy mischief, because thou art a bloody man."17 Again the Lord supported his word according to the law of witnesses; again men who were not the leaders of the Church18 made prophecies of events which ultimately affected the entire nation.

An assumption frequently made is that the authors of the prophetic books of the Old Testament were the constituted authorities of the Church in their eras. This, however, was not always the case. Some of them were even considered rebels by the religious leaders of Israel in their days. Jeremiah was one such prophet who stood outside of the Church. The established Church, through its priests, even attempted to put Jeremiah to death. 19 Micah, Amos, Hosea and Zephaniah were also prophets who were critical of corruption within the Church.

These Old Testament prophets did not speak as representing the church, but as representing the Lord. Though the prophets may have held the higher priesthood authority,20 there is no Biblical indication that the general church membership of that time was aware of it.

Many times the Lord spoke through the prophets to rebuke the estab­lished church which was still conveying the Priesthood authority.21 They were regarded as spokesmen of God by the righteous, but as enemies and nuisances by the wicked priestly officials. Hireling prophets were engaged to counter their words. Many times the people of Israel were unable to discern which prophets were foretelling the truth."22
Jeremiah spoke in strong words against the corrupt church and its hireling prophets, giving this warning to the people:
Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you: they make you vain: they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the Lord.23

Hosea also spoke out against the false prophets entrenched within the Church, saying,
The days of visitation are come, the days of recompence are come; Israel shall know it: the prophet is a fool, the spiritual man is mad, for the multitude of thine iniquity, and the great hatred.
The watchman of Ephraim was with my God: but the prophet is a snare of a fowler in all his ways, and hatred in the house of his God.
They have deeply corrupted themselves, ... 24

Micah commented on the low caliber of the church officials in his day, and how they, though being evil, still insisted that God was with them:

The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet will they lean upon the Lord, and say, Is not the Lord among us? none evil can come upon us."25

And Zephaniah observed, concerning the church in Jerusalem, that
Her prophets are light and treacherous persons: her priests have polluted the sanctuary, they have done violence to the law."26

These passages are cited in this context only to show that in some periods of Old Testament history, the prophets we recognize and study today were not the church leaders, but instead were outspoken critics of corrupt practices and officials within the church."27

These prophets represented the avenue of communication with God, while the priests within the church represented the ritualistic elements of daily living to the people and continued the line of priesthood authority. The prophets were regarded with varying degrees of respect as the right­eousness of the church membership fluctuated.

The Book of Mormon also depicts some of the prophets as being individuals who were not church leaders. For instance, the following is recorded concerning Gidgiddoni, a Nephite general who utilized the gift of prophecy during the era when Nephi was the head of the Church:
Now it was the custom among all the Nephites to appoint for their chief captains, (save it were in their times of wickedness) some one that had the spirit of revelation and also prophecy; therefore, this Gidgiddoni was a great prophet among them, as also was the chief judge.
Now the people said unto Gidgiddoni: Pray unto the Lord, and let us go up upon the mountains and into the wilderness, that we may fall upon the robbers and destroy them in their own lands.
But Gidgiddoni saith unto them: The Lord forbid; for if we should go up against them the Lord would deliver us into their hands; therefore we will prepare ourselves in the center of our lands, and we will gather all our armies together, and we will not go against them, but we will wait till they shall come against us; therefore as the Lord liveth, if we do this he will deliver them into our hands.28

Many more examples could be cited from the scriptures to show that prophets, in ancient times, were not always Church leaders. These, presum­ably, are sufficient to make the point. Church position is not the test by which the validity of prophecy is measured.


Footnotes:

8. One of the inevitable results of being an author of several books on LDS themes is that telephone calls are frequently received in which questions are asked on various doctrinal subjects. Those who call are often seeking insights to resolve questions that have arisen in various Church classes, or are attempting to resolve difficulties on doctrine which have arisen in their area. This author has used the utmost care to avoid any involvement in those doctrinal disagreements, all of which are beyond his area of jurisdiction and personal responsibility. Yet the frequency of calls on questions related to matters of revelation clearly indicates that many Church members have questions and misunderstandings in this area, and that counsel given by various individuals is sometimes in direct conflict with the scriptures.
9. I Sam. 5:18. The actual existence of the Church among the Old Testament Israelites must be acknowledged. They had a definite, clearly-defined form of worship which they had received by revelation through a prophet, religious law to which they rendered obedience and by which they were governed and judged, and a covenant relationship with their God, Jehovah. The Abrahamic covenant, under which the Church still functions today, promised that "they shall bear this ministry and priesthood" (Abra. 2:9), that those who received the Gospel would be adopted into their race and be accounted the seed of Abraham (Abra. 2:10), and that through the Israelite lineage all the families of the earth would receive "the blessings of the Gospel, which are the blessings of salvation, even of life eternal." (Abra. 2:11.)
10. They were "sons of Belial," or "worthless, lawless fellows." (I Sam. 2:12.) Among their sins was the committing of whoredoms with the harlots of Israel (I Sam. 2:22).
11. See I Sam. 1:17-20, in which Eli promised the barren mother of Samuel a son by the power of God.
12. I Sam. 2:27-36. Eli was a descendant of Ithamar, Aaron's youngest son. Years later, in fulfillment of this prophecy, the right to be high priest was taken from his line and restored to the line of Eleazar, the elder son of Aaron, through Zadok's appointment by King Solomon (I Ki. 2:35).
13. I Sam. 3:11-14. See verses 1-20.
14. See Jn. 8:17; Deut. 19:15; Mt. 18:16; II Cor. 13:1; D&C 6:28; D&C 128:3; Deut. 17:6; Num. 35:30; Heb. 10:28; I Tim. 5:19; D&C 42:80.
15. 1 Sam. 10:10-11.
16. II Sam. 12:11. See verses 1-14.
17. II Sam. 16:8. See verses 5-12.
18. Nathan was not the high priest; Zadok was the high priest. See II Sam. 8:15-17. Abiathar also served as high priest in the early days of David's reign, but he allied himself with rebels during the rebellion of Adonijah while Zadok remained faithful (I Ki. 1:7-8, 24-26).
In fulfillment of their prophecies, Absalom captured Jerusalem and David was an outcast for a short time until Absalom fell in battle (II Sam. 17, 18).
19. Jer.26:8-11.
20. Joseph Smith, on one occasion, is reported to have given this answer to the question, "Was the Priesthood of Melchizedek taken away when Moses died?":

All Priesthood is Melchizedek, but there are different portions or degrees of it. That portion which brought Moses to speak with God face to face was taken away; but that which brought the ministry of angels re­mained. All the prophets had the Melchizedek priesthood and were or­dained by God himself. (Smith, Joseph Fielding, comp., Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith (Salt Lake City, Utah: The Deseret News Press, 1938), pp. 180-181. No original source is given.)
21. Joseph Smith taught, for instance, that "the Levitical Priesthood is forever hereditary-fixed on the head of Aaron and his sons forever, and,was in active operation down to Zachariah the father of John." Smith, Teachings (Ibid., p. 319. Original source listed only as "MSS. Historian's Office.")
22. See, for instance, Jer. 28.
23. Jer.23:16.
24. Hos. 9:7-9.
25. Mi. 3:11.
26. Zeph.3:4.
27. Their messages concerning the danger of prophets leading people astray will be considered in detail later in this book. See chapter 9.

My Testimony of a True Prophet

http://www.artbulla.com/zion/Aaron's%20Page.html

The Gospel is the most important thing in my life. It gives us the meaning and purpose of life. Meeting Art Bulla was an incredible experience because for the first time I met a true prophet of God. Since being baptized back on March 2002 and ordained into the Church of Jesus Christ I have had the Holy Ghost continually striving with me so my faith is unshakable. While the rest of apostate Christendom is lost in false doctrines, I am satisfied knowing that I am in the one true church. Over a 30 year period, Art has received volumes of revelations called the Revelations of Jesus Christ. They can be downloaded for free at
(http://www.artbulla.com/zion/order.html) or the book can be purchased at (http://www.iuniverse.com/bookstore/book_detail.asp?isbn=0-595-28287-3). First on how I discovered Art.

I first learned about Art Bulla from my brother, Jong in July 2000 when he returned home from Tennessee to where I was living with our family in Gardena, CA. While he living in TN, he learned about the Mormon Church from an old lady, a member, who had sold him the land he was living on. (I noticed Jong started studying Christianity in late 1998. He seemed particularly interested in where the apostolic authority for baptism described in the Book of Acts had gone.) He was baptized into the Church but started to notice inconsistencies between the modern Church under the Presidencies of Spencer W. Kimball up till Gordon B. Hinckley and the early Church established by Joseph Smith, Brigham Young and John Taylor. In early 2000 he read a post written by Art on a Mormon newsgroup. His testimony can be read : (http://www.artbulla.com/zion/jong'spage.html). So when he returned home, he discussed with me Mormonism. I was a bit overwhelmed at first and did not believe. However, over time I thought about it and progressed in knowledge, reading Art's website and finally a couple years later was baptized into the Church on March 2, 2002. But first a little background on me on how I first discovered Jesus. Around the time I dropped out of college at UC Riverside due to lack of interest in early 1999 and moved to Lomita,CA just south of Torrance and started to work at AT&T Worldnet with Jong commuting to Burbank, I started to desire to believe in God. I started to build a faith that God is existed and that the Bible was his revealed word. Why did I believe ? It just seemed true to me I thought. I mean for 2000 years people have accepted Jesus as the Only Begotten Son of God. Millions of people accepted Christianity, how could the Bible be wrong I thought. That and the Gospel had an appeal to my soul because it had a certain purity about it, a certain ring of divinity and truth about it. But could I say for 100% certainty that Jesus is real ? No, I could not. I mean it sounded like it could be true but I never saw Jesus myself although historically I knew he existed. So for several months that year I thought about it and had a more or less blind faith in it. The scriptures say we need a testimony by the Holy Spirit in order to know for certainty if the Gospel is real.

26 Even so, come unto me and learn of my ways, and I will give unto you, even as many as shall come, that peace which surpasseth understanding, and if ye shall inquire of me concerning these things, will I the Lord manifest by the influence and power of the Holy Ghost that these things are verily true and are of me, saith the Lord.
Revelations of Jesus Christ sec. 6:26

27 But behold, if ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if ye can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words.
28 Now, we will compare the word unto a seed. Now, if ye give place, that a seed may be planted in your heart, behold, if it be a true seed, or a good seed, if ye do not cast it out by your unbelief, that ye will resist the Spirit of the Lord, behold, it will begin to swell within your breasts; and when you feel these swelling motions, ye will begin to say within yourselves--It must needs be that this is a good seed, or that the word is good, for it beginneth to enlarge my soul; yea, it beginneth to enlighten my understanding, yea, it beginneth to be delicious to me.
(Alma 32:27-28)

So around the middle of October '99 around the time I quit working at AT&T, one morning I believe around 6:30 in my room at the Lomita apartment I shared with my family, I got on my hands and knees on the floor facing the window that overlooked the street on Narbonne Ave. I still remember it like it was yesterday I started by praying, "Father in Heaven, I pray in the name of Jesus that you will forgive me for my sins..." and right after those exact words suddenly the words started to pour out of my mouth uncontrollably at the same time I could feel the Spirit physically flowing through my body like a jet of water! So then I knew that the Gospel is real! That Jesus did really exist and He truly was the Only Begotten Son of God. I now had a testimony which I wonder if so many so called Christians have the same witness. I also had a couple more memorable experiences after that within around a 3 day period where I was just completely engulfed by the Spirit almost to the point where I don't think I could be impressed anymore if an angel had appeared in front of me or so it felt that ways anyways. No man could shake me from testimony, no one, no Darwinist scientist or anyone. However, following those experiences, I never felt the Spirit again. It stopped communicating with me. It was like a water hose was shut off. The problem was I didn't know the scriptures better or I would have known the answer. You see, you can have all the signs and wonders you want, dreams, visions, angels, the Holy Spirit, all of that will not save your soul. You need to be baptized by a legal administrator just like Paul was baptized by Ananias after seeing Jesus in a vision on the road to Damascus to persecute the Saints (Acts 9:1-18).

19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.
(James 2:19)

Here is what the scriptures say in order to be saved:
16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.

(Mark 16:16)
5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water, and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
( John 3:5)

37 Now when they heard [this], they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men [and] brethren, what shall we do?
38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
(Acts 2:37-38)

So in order to be saved you MUST be baptized. So if you agree with scriptures above, the questions that remains to be asked is which Church is authorized to perform baptism. With so many different Christian sects, the Catholics and Protestants which is the true Church. How can so many different churches with different doctrines, various interpretations of the scriptured co-exist ? Would God allow such chaos to exist ? Did not Paul write in Ephesians 4:5 there is "one faith, one baptism" ? Aren't we to come to the "unity of the faith" ?

11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:

(Ephesians 4:11-13)

The Prophet Joseph Smith the founder of the Mormon Church when a boy of 14 years old in 1819 was living with his family on a farm in Palymra, New York. At the time there was a great deal of religious excitement in the United States with all the different denominations competing with one another to claim themselves as the correct Church. His family had joined the Methodists but he still was unsure so he prayed to God and this is his personal account of what happened:

(Joseph Smith-History 1:14-21):
14 So, in accordance with this, my determination to ask of God, I retired to the woods to make the attempt. It was on the morning of a beautiful, clear day, early in the spring of eighteen hundred and twenty. It was the first time in my life that I had made such an attempt, for amidst all my anxieties I had never as yet made the attempt to pray vocally.
15 After I had retired to the place where I had previously designed to go, having looked around me, and finding myself alone, I kneeled down and began to offer up the desires of my heart to God. I had scarcely done so, when immediately I was seized upon by some power which entirely overcame me, and had such an astonishing influence over me as to bind my tongue so that I could not speak. Thick darkness gathered around me, and it seemed to me for a time as if I were doomed to sudden destruction.
16 But, exerting all my powers to call upon God to deliver me out of the power of this enemy which had seized upon me, and at the very moment when I was ready to sink into despair and abandon myself to destruction--not to an imaginary ruin, but to the power of some actual being from the unseen world, who had such marvelous power as I had never before felt in any being--just at this moment of great alarm, I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me.
17 It no sooner appeared than I found myself delivered from the enemy which held me bound. When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other--This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!
18 My object in going to inquire of the Lord was to know which of all the sects was right, that I might know which to join. No sooner, therefore, did I get possession of myself, so as to be able to speak, than I asked the Personages who stood above me in the light, which of all the sects was right (for at this time it had never entered into my heart that all were wrong)--and which I should join.
19 I was answered that I must join none of them, for they were all wrong; and the Personage who addressed me said that all their creeds were an abomination in his sight; that those professors were all corrupt; that: "they draw near to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me, they teach for doctrines the commandments of men, having a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof."
20 He again forbade me to join with any of them; and many other things did he say unto me, which I cannot write at this time. When I came to myself again, I found myself lying on my back, looking up into heaven. When the light had departed, I had no strength; but soon recovering in some degree, I went home. And as I leaned up to the fireplace, mother inquired what the matter was. I replied, "Never mind, all is well--I am well enough off." I then said to my mother, "I have learned for myself that Presbyterianism is not true." It seems as though the adversary was aware, at a very early period of my life, that I was destined to prove a disturber and an annoyer of his kingdom; else why should the powers of darkness combine against me? Why the opposition and persecution that arose against me, almost in my infancy?
21 Some few days after I had this vision, I happened to be in company with one of the Methodist preachers, who was very active in the before mentioned religious excitement; and, conversing with him on the subject of religion, I took occasion to give him an account of the vision which I had had. I was greatly surprised at his behavior; he treated my communication not only lightly, but with great contempt, saying it was all of the devil, that there were no such things as visions or revelations in these days; that all such things had ceased with the apostles, and that there would never be any more of them.

I learned that the Mormon Church was the restored Church of Jesus Christ but they had apostatized and the keys belonged in the hands of Art, a former Apostle of the Church. On April 7th, I was ordained a Seventy Apostle. After I was ordained a 70 Apostle, I was given a command by Art by revelation of the Lord that I should move down to San Diego with Jong who was already living here so that the brethren could be living more closer together. So after having found a job, I moved down here to San Diego to live with my brother in late May. On May 23rd, I was ordained in the Quorum of Twelve.

Who is Art Bulla ? The following is the account of his first vision.

FIRST VISION
While journeying on foot about 10:00 P.M. in the east, being inducted into the armed forces the next day, being on the way to the bus station to travel to the armed forces induction station in Raleigh, N.C, I received the following vision, while on the road on foot at night:
"December 29, 1969, while enwrapted in a heavenly vision, It seemed that I, Art Bulla, was removed out of my body, or whether in the body or out of it I could not tell, and I beheld his face, and He spake unto me face to face as one man speaks unto another for forty-five minutes or an hour, and whether in the body or out of it, I could not tell, for I beheld his glory, which surpasses all understanding, and spake while in the vision, in a much better tongue than any spoken by man at this time, which I supposed to be the Adamic Tongue, my understanding being quickened by such might and intelligence and power that it is beyond the mind of man unaided by the Spirit of Revelation which dwells yet within me, to comprehend, and indeed no words can convey, for it seemed that I was transfigured before Him of whom I speak, my God in whom I bear record as others have before me, that He lives, for I too have seen Him. And tongue cannot express his matchless might, glory, power and intelligence, and I shall forever adore his glory, for having once beheld his face and felt of his love and might and power and beheld things which I cannot convey, for there is no language, I must, I MUST obtain his presence, and I shall not be content with anything else, this world or its allurements. And having been ordained unto the Holy Order of God which is after the Order of Melchizedec, even the Holy Apostleship, the keys of which I hold, I bear record of my Father, for I have seen Him and conversed with him, and I testify that He shall return in this the Latter Day as soon as my people are straightened from this crooked and perverse generation which shall be destroyed by the might of his power, and that they be gathered out according to the Revelations which are being given unto me, almost daily at this time, which is one of the darkest periods and most wicked because of unbelief in the history of the earth, that Zion may descend and that the heavens and the earth mingle and become One, as prayed by the Only Begotten, even my brother Jesus of Nazereth. Yea, my Father, I pray that thy will be done and thy Kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven. Even so. Amen."
In July of 1971 Art was stationed at Fort Sam Houston, TX studying to become an advance medical lab technician ( medical technologist). His wife Cathy introduced him to the Book of Mormon and as he read the first paragraph of Nephi, he had a powerful testimony by the Holy Spirit. Soon afterwards, he was baptized into the Mormon Church. In 1974, he was ordained a Seventy Apostle by Rex D. Pinegar (http://www.artbulla.com/zion/about.html). A few months after the Church under President Spencer W. Kimball reversed the ban on giving blacks the Priesthood on June 9, 1978, Art received his first two written revelations from the Lord one of which rebuked the Mormons for giving the negro the Priesthood. He showed them to his home teacher Randy Olsen who attacked him and broke his nose. The Stake wanted Art to apologize and summoned him to appear at Stake High Council Court but he would not apologize and was excommunicated. Due to the Church apostatizing by giving the negro the Priesthood despite Brigham Young's prophecy warning them of the grave consequences, the keys of the Priesthood was taken from the Church. (More on Art's background can be read on "A Tale to Tell" at http://www.artbulla.com/zion/tale.html )
"Let this Church which is called the Kingdom of God on the earth. We will summons the First Presidency, the Twelve, the High Council, the Bishopric, and all the Elders of Israel, suppose we summons them to appear here, and here declare that it is right to mingle our seed, with the black race of Cain, that they shall come in with us and be partakers with us of all the blessings that God has given to us. on that very day and hour we should do so, the Priesthood is taken from THIS CHURCH AND KINGDOM and god leaves us to our fate. The moment we consent to mingle with the seed of Cain, the Church must go to destruction. We should receive the curse which has been placed upon the seed of Cain, and never more be numbered with the children of Adam who are heirs to the Priesthood until that curse be removed."
Brigham Young Addresses, Ms D, 1234, Box 48, Folder 3, dated Feb. 5, 1852, located in the LDS Historical Dept. SLC, UT.

The Lord has wrested the keys of the Priesthood from the Church and given it to Art who as a Seventy has the requiste Priesthood authority required to be the Lord's Anointed. Jesus Himself was an Apostle.

“The Seventies are Apostles; and they stand next in authority to the Twelve...If through the providence of God the First Presidency and the Twelve were taken away, then it would be the duty of the Seventies to preach the Gospel, build up the Church , and ordain every officer requisite in order to establish the Church, and ordain High Priests, Bishops, High Counselors, Patriarchs, and set in order the whole church in all the world. This is according to the revelations given to us...I suppose I ordained hundreds of Seventies in early days. Brother Joseph Smith has come to us many times, saying, ‘Brethren, you are going to ordain Seventies. Do not forget to confer the high priesthood (Melchizedec priesthood) upon them. Ordain each of them to the High Priesthood, and to be one of the Seventy Apostles.’ This was my language in the ordination of the Seventies, and that is the way I ordain them now. Brigham Young, Des. News, June 6, 1877, p. 274.

Despite the false beliefs of the Mormons, the Priesthood is not limited to the Church but stands apart from the Church.

Read http://www.artbulla.com/zion/andruskog.htm :
A cogent, analytical, and historically accurate as well as correct analysis of the relationship of the political Kingdom of God to the Church and the Priesthood by Hyrum Andrus, Professor Emiritus, Brigham Young University.
“I will say to you with regard to the kingdom of God on the earth, Here is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints., organized with its rules, regulations and degrees, with the quorums of the holy Priesthood, from the First Presidency to the teachers and deacons; here we are, an organization. God called upon Joseph, he called upon Oliver Cowdery, then others were called through Joseph, the Church was organized, he with his two counselors comprised the First Presidency. In a few years the Quorum of the Twelve was organized, the High Council was organized, the High Priests' quorum was organized, the Seventies' quorums were organized, and the Priests' quorum, the Teachers' quorum and the Deacons'. This is what we are in the habit of calling the kingdom of God. But there are further organizations. The Prophet gave a full and complete organization to this kingdom the Spring before he was killed. This kingdom is the kingdom that Daniel spoke of, which was to be set up in the last days; it is the kingdom that is not to be given to another people; it is the kingdom that is to be held by the servants of God, to rule the nations of the earth, to send forth those laws and ordinances that shall be suitable and that shall apply themselves to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; that will apply themselves to the mother Church."
For an illustrated diagram of the structure of the Kingdom of God see: http://www.artbulla.com/images/kingdom.gif
The fact is even before the Church was organized on April 6, 1830, almost a year before on May 1829, the Melchizedek Priesthood was restored when Peter, James, and John returned and laid hands on Joseph Smith. This in itself proves that the Priesthood and the Church are separate. Joseph Smith ordained as Apostles Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer, and Martin Harris even before the existence of the Church.
"God chooses prophets, you (the Church) do not do this." Brigham Young

Brigham Young; Journal of Discourses, 26 vols., 1:, p.133
"Perhaps it may make some of you stumble, were I to ask you a question-Does a man's being a Prophet in this Church prove that he shall be the President of it? I answer, no! A man may be a Prophet, Seer, and Revelator, and it may have nothing to do with his being the President of the Church. Suffice it to say, that Joseph was the President of the Church, as long as he lived: the people chose to have it so. He always filled that responsible station, by the voice of the people. Can you find any revelation appointing him the President of the Church? The keys of the Priesthood were committed to Joseph, to build up the Kingdom of God on the earth, and were not to be taken from him in time or in eternity; but when he was called to preside over the Church, it was by the voice of the people; though he held the keys of the Priesthood, independent of their voice."

In fact, Joseph Smith wanted his brother Hyrum to be the President of the Church in order to alleviate some of the pressure of leading the people but the people wanted Joseph as President.

In the Book of Mormon, Mosiah was the Lord's Anointed and Alma was the President of the Church.

8 Now king Mosiah had given Alma the authority over the church.
(Mosiah 26:8)

1 AND now it came to pass that the persecutions which were inflicted on the church by the unbelievers became so great that the church began to murmur, and complain to their leaders concerning the matter; and they did complain to Alma. And Alma laid the case before their king, Mosiah. And Mosiah consulted with his priests.
(Mosiah 27:1)
''An assumption frequently made is that the authors of the prophetic books of the Old Testament were the constituted authorities of the Church in their eras. This, however, was not always the case. Some of them were even considered rebels by the religious leaders of Israel in their days. Jeremiah was one such prophet who stood outside of the Church. The established Church, through its Priests, even attempted to put Jeremiah to death. Micah, Amos, Hosea, and Zephaniah were also prophets who were critical of corruption within the Church.
"These Old Testament prophets did not speak as representing the Church, but as representing the Lord. Though the prophets may have held the higher Priesthood authority, there is no Biblical indication that the general Church membership of that time was aware of it." Thus Saith the Lord; Duane S. Crowther, p. 148.
8 Now it came to pass, when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking all that the LORD had commanded him to speak unto all the people, that the priests and the prophets and all the people took him, saying, Thou shalt surely die.
9 Why hast thou prophesied in the name of the LORD, saying, This house shall be like Shiloh, and this city shall be desolate without an inhabitant? And all the people were gathered against Jeremiah in the house of the LORD.
10 When the princes of Judah heard these things, then they came up from the king's house unto the house of the LORD, and sat down in the entry of the new gate of the LORD's house.
11 Then spake the priests and the prophets unto the princes and to all the people, saying, This man is worthy to die; for he hath prophesied against this city, as ye have heard with your ears.
(Old Testament | Jeremiah 26:8 - 11)
4 Her prophets are light and treacherous persons: her priests have polluted the sanctuary, they have done violence to the law.
(Old Testament | Zephaniah 3:4)
11 The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet will they lean upon the LORD, and say, Is not the LORD among us? none evil can come upon us.
(Old Testament | Micah 3:11)

The scriptures clearly prophesize about an individual who the Lord would send in the latter days, during a new dispensation of the Gospel, to gather Zion. The whole point of the Gospel is to build up the Kingdom of God (diagrammed on the link http://www.artbulla.com/images/kingdom.gif) on earth. That was the whole goal of Joseph Smith, Brigham Young and the early Mormons.(Unfortunately, they gave up polygamy because of persecution from the US government, received the last "Thus saith the Lord" revelation in 1889 written by President Wilford Woodruff right before the Manifesto of 1890, and assimilated themself with the rest of the Gentile United States.) They no longer believe in the literal gathering of Zion or the political Kingdom of God safe in their belief that attending Church on Sundays is all that is necessary.

The Kingdom of God is a real literal government and is spiritualized away by Christians as some place in space or a figurative reference. The Lord's prayer says,"Our Father in Heaven, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven...". Jesus said in 3 Nephi 13:33, "But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you." Jesus was trying to gather the Jews but they rebelled against him and hung Him on a cross between two common thieves. And where is the Kingdom of God ? It is where there is a legal administrator receiving direct revelation from God.

"Whenever men can find out the will of God and find an administrator legally authorized from God, there is the kingdom of God; but where these are not, the kingdom of God is not. All the ordinances, systems, and administrations on the earth are of no use to the children of men, unless they are ordained and authorized of God; for nothing will save a man but a legal administrator; for none others will be acknowledged either by God or angels."

(Joseph Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, selected and arranged by Joseph Fielding Smith, p.274)

Ogden Kraut's "The Gathering of Israel":

The doctrine of the gathering of the people of God, including Israel, is one so clearly predicted by the inspired writers, that it seems almost superfluous to refer to the numerous passages relating to it. (Orson Pratt's Works, p. 9)

Every true prophet has advocated this principle; and usually the only people who were saved from various calamities were those who gathered out from the rest of the world. It is an evidence of inspired leaders, i.e.:

* Enoch gathered a few faithful to his city so they could be righteous enough to be saved and translated.
* Noah could only gather a few faithful from his own family, but they were saved from the flood.
* Abraham gathered a few righteous souls out of Sodom and Gomorrah.
* Lehi had to gather his family away from the wicked to save them from destruction in Jerusalem.
* Moses sought to gather Israel to save them; when they were scattered, they were cursed.
* Jesus sought to gather Israel again, but they disobeyed His command.
* The Prophet Joseph Smith gathered Saints to Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois.
* Brigham Young gathered the Saints to the Salt Lake Valley.

The Prophet Joseph explained how gathering is for the salvation of Israel in all ages.

All that the prophets that have written, from the days of righteous Abel, down to the last man that has left any testimony on record for our consideration, in speaking of the salvation of Israel in the last days, goes directly to show that it consists in the work of the gathering. (TPJS, p. 83)

God has called His people to gather out of the wickedness and corruptions of Babylon, just as He would call a righteous soul from out of a den of thieves, a saloon, or a diseased area. God seeks to have His people gather to one place and form a community and society of their own. It was a doctrine taught by Jesus and His disciples at Jerusalem. He declared:

He that is not with me, is against me; and he that gathereth not with me, scattereth abroad.

(Luke 2:24)


24 For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land.

(Ezekiel 36:24)

The spirit and power of gathering filled the souls of all the prophets of God. It seems that those prophets who were the most spiritual felt that power the most.

The Importance of Gathering in This Dispensation

One of the basic tenets of the restored Gospel was to be gathered together. It was even specifically mentioned in the Articles of Faith:

We believe in the literal gathering of Israel and in the restoration of the Ten Tribes; that Zion will be built upon this the America continent. . . . (Article 10)

[100] But to have a gathering, there must first have been a scattering-which condition does not come from God:

You have heard brother Brigham preach it here time and time again, and other men, that a scattering spirit was not the spirit of God; and I know it is not. (Heber C. Kimball, JD 4:362)

(end)

Before discussing the prophesized Prophet who will gather Israel, it is necessary first to discuss some historical information. After King Solomon died, Israel was divided into the nations, the Northern Kingdom and the Southern Kingdom. The Northern Kingdom was comprised of Ephraim and eight other tribes and the Southern was made up of Judah, Benjamin, and Levi. However, Ephraim, the Northern Kingdom was invaded by Assyria around 750 BC and taken captive, scattered through Europe, completely losing their identity. Judah, the Southern Kingdom experienced the same situation when they were attacked by Babylon around 600 BC and taken into bondage in Babylon for 70 years. Unlike their brethren Ephraim a few thousand Jews (short for Judah) returned and restored their nation. Jesus was sent to the Jews as their Messiah and is the Only Begotten. However, the Lord did not forget Ephraim, regathering them on the New World of North America and establishing the United States of America. The prominent role of Judah and Ephraim is clearly delineated in the scriptures.

1 NOW the sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel, (for he [was] the firstborn; but, forasmuch as he defiled his father's bed, his birthright was given unto the sons of Joseph the son of Israel: and the genealogy is not to be reckoned after the birthright.

2 For Judah prevailed above his brethren, and of him [came] the chief ruler; but the birthright [was] Joseph's:)

(1 Chronichles 5:1-2)

19 Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which [is] in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, [even] with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in mine hand.

(Ezekiel 37:19)

13 The envy of Ephraim also shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off; Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim.

(2 Nephi 21:13)

34 Behold, this is the blessing of the everlasting God upon the tribes of Israel, and the richer blessing upon the head of Ephraim and his fellows.

(D&C 133:34)

The Gospel was restored on the United States through Mormonism when the Melchizedek Priesthood was restored in May 1829 through Joseph Smith. Unfortunately, Zion wasn't redeemed in his time or Brigham Young's time. Joseph Smith said, "the redemption of Zion has been left to other hands, and to other times. But that its redemption will come no one doubts who believes in the firm decrees of God." The Mormons gave up polygamy, did away with the Seventies (ordaining them High Priests a lower Priesthood office which is contradictory since the superior cannot be ordained by the inferior), gave up the literal gathering of Israel, and the stake in the heart was giving negroes the Priesthood. Third President John Taylor gave limited authority to Lorin Woolley to seal plural marriages but to not hold any meetings until the One Mighty and Strong was to arrive. And who is the One Mighty and Strong ? He is Prophet prophesized by Joseph Smith to come in the last days:

7 And it shall come to pass that I, the Lord God, will send one mighty and strong, holding the scepter of power in his hand, clothed with light for a covering, whose mouth shall utter words, eternal words; while his bowels shall be a fountain of truth, to set in order the house of God, and to arrange by lot the inheritances of the saints whose names are found, and the names of their fathers, and of their children, enrolled in the book of the law of God;

(D&C 85:7)

Isaiah saw a vision of the last days when the One Mighty and Strong would arrive :

1 WOE to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim, whose glorious beauty is a fading flower, which are on the head of the fat valleys of them that are overcome with wine!

2 Behold, the Lord hath a mighty and strong one, which as a tempest of hail and a destroying storm, as a flood of mighty waters overflowing, shall cast down to the earth with the hand (referring to the keys of the Priesthood).

3 The crown of pride, the drunkards of Ephraim, shall be trodden under feet:

4 And the glorious beauty, which is on the head of the fat valley, shall be a fading flower, and as the hasty fruit before the summer; which when he that looketh upon it seeth, while it is yet in his hand he eateth it up.

5 In that day shall the LORD of hosts be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty, unto the residue of his people,

(Old Testament | Isaiah 28:1 - 5)

(The Lord revealed to Art that he was the One Mighty and Strong in 1980 in Greensboro, NC and at the time had been receiving revelations for a year. He had prayed to find out his calling from God. He knew by earliler revelation that he was an Apostle and that he held the keys and he wanted to know what title he held. So around May, 1983 it was snow from winter time all the way till May. Art remembered thinking that it was very late for it to snow. Around May the temperature spiked up and it became hot all at once turning from winter to summer all in one day and all the snow pack melted at once and flooded the valley. It was a river down State St. in SLC in fulfillment of Isiaiah 28 the advent of the One Mighty and Strong. It happened the very day that Art had published the first type written revelations Revelations of Jesus Christ and hand carried them to those who wanted it including Sam Weller's Zion's Book Store, the Church Historical Department and Jim Wardel's Barber Shop purchased the revelations as well.

Brigham Young was revealed that the One Mighty and Strong would come in a day of apostasy:

"Brethren, this Church will be led onto the very brink of hell by the leaders of this people, then God will raise up the one `Mighty and Strong' (spoken of in the 85th Section of the Doctrine & Covenants) to save and redeem this Church." Brigham Young (Attested to by Joshua Jones who made a minute of it at that time and now has it in his diary.)

This is confirmed in Journal of Joseph W. Musser: September 28, 1938. ... Brother Peay also told of hearing Joshua Jones of Provo tell of hearing Brigham Young say, "The time will come when this people are led onto the very brink of apostacy." Jones made an entry of it in his Journal. The speech was made in the Old Bowery at Provo. Learned through Lorin C. Woolley, that his father, John W. Woolley, attended the above meeting, and upon arriving home at Centerville he told Lorin and his mother of the incident. He related it thusly: "President Young, being filled with the Holy Ghost, said, `The time will come when this people will be led onto the very brink of hell by their leaders, then the one mighty and strong will come to set the house of God in order.'"

The Lord has revealed to Art that the One Mighty and Strong is the same individual as the Root of Jesse:

6 The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.
7 And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
8 And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’ den.
9 They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.
(verses 6-9 refer to the Millineum when Jesus returns in power and glory and the trumpet of angels and there will be absolute peace)

10 And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious.

(Old Testament | Isaiah 11:10)

5 What is the root of Jesse spoken of in the 10th verse of the 11th chapter?

6 Behold, thus saith the Lord, it is a descendant of Jesse, as well as of Joseph, unto whom rightly belongs the priesthood, and the keys of the kingdom, for an ensign, and for the gathering of my people in the last days.

(D&C 113:5-6)

Also:

15 Behold, I say unto you, the redemption of Zion must needs come by power;

16 Therefore, I will raise up unto my people a man, who shall lead them like as Moses led the children of Israel.

17 For ye are the children of Israel, and of the seed of Abraham, and ye must needs be led out of bondage by power, and with a stretched–out arm.

18 And as your fathers were led at the first, even so shall the redemption of Zion be.

(Doctrine and Covenants | Section 103:15 - 18)

The Lord has sent another Messiah, this time to Ephraim ! There is only one Only Begotten Son who is Jesus Christ. Messiah means "Lord's Anointed". The One Mighty and Strong is none other than Messiah to Ephraim. John the Baptist ordained Joseph Smith and Olivery Cowdery the Aaronic Priesthood (precursor to the restorel of the Melchizedek Priesthood) on May 15, 1829 near Harmony, Pennsylvania.

1 UPON you my fellow servants, in the name of Messiah I confer the Priesthood of Aaron, which holds the keys of the ministering of angels, and of the gospel of repentance, and of baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; and this shall never be taken again from the earth, until the sons of Levi do offer again an offering unto the Lord in righteousness.

(D&C 13:1)

Notice that John the Baptist said, "in the name of Messiah" not "the Messiah". If Jesus was the only Messiah, he undoubtedly would have said "the Messiah". I've noticed there are other scriptural passages where the same unmistakable wording is used:

19 And it came to pass that the Jews did mock him because of the things which he testified of them; for he truly testified of their wickedness and their abominations; and he testified that the things which he saw and heard, and also the things which he read in the book, manifested plainly of the coming of a Messiah, and also the redemption of the world.

(1 Nephi 1:19)

4 Yea, even six hundred years from the time that my father left Jerusalem, a prophet would the Lord God raise up among the Jews--even a Messiah, or, in other words, a Savior of the world.

(1 Nephi 10:4)

Again, I testify that the Holy Spirit which continually strives with me that Art is the One Mighty and Strong, the Messiah to the Gentiles (non Jews).

Again I repeat:

10 And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious.

(Old Testament | Isaiah 11:10)

17 And those who receive even my servants in the flesh receive me, saith the Lord, for he is that One prophesied that he should come unto thee, O Israel, and all power is his in me, for are we not sons of God, saith the Lord?
18 And these things are to them who are full of humility and the devil taketh advantage of the humble that they, even they are they not afraid of being humble before me because of the trickery of the devil?
19 But ye must judge, saith the Lord, and by what judgment ye judge, that shall ye receive.
20 Even so, I am Jesus of Nazereth who was slain for the sins of the world and came unto mine own and mine own received me not.
(Revelations of Jesus Christ 25:16 - 20)
Account of a Miracle
I'd like to also share with you a miracle that happened one night when I pulled into the parking lot of a Starbucks Coffee Shop close to where I live. I made the mistake of driving too far into the parking space and driving my car over the concrete block so that these two metal poles sticking out from the top of the block caught my car somewhere underneath my car. I tried to reverse my car and stepping on the gas but it remained stuck. I then put the car in neutral and tried pushing the car from the front but it wouldn't budge. I tried both thing again but with no success.
So I was left with the option of walking back home and walking back with a jack or asking help from a friendly passerby. I decided to give prayer a shot. I prayed according to section 67 of Revelations of Jesus Christ:
1 Thus saith the Father, from henceforth and forever I give unto you a New Covenant, and a new name, that by it ye shall gain communion with the general assembly and Church of the Firstborn and the fullness of the Father, which is exaltation in my presence; Sons of God, not begotten by man, nor the will of man, without father, mother, beginning of days nor end of years, abiding a Priest forever after the Order of Melchizedec.
2 And by it, saith the Father, even this new name, that of Art Bulla, who is that One Mighty and Strong, ye shall command and the angels shall respond to thy defense, the heavens shall shut themselves that it shall not rain, the earth shall move in thy defense, the mighty waters shall be dried up that ye walk over, the sick shall be healed instantly, saith the Father, and this because ye use the name of my well-beloved, my second born among all my children, even my servant who is that One who should come unto thee as anciently, O Zion."
After having prayed in the name of the One Mighty and Strong, Art Bulla that my car would be freed from its attachment, I put the car in neutral and pushed the car from the front. What do you know, the car started to roll back a bit as the concrete block rising off the ground. With every push, the car would react in that manner. The whole time I was thinking to myself how incredible and marvelous the whole experience was. I could not push it hard enough for it to be freed though so finally, I stepped behind the wheel of my car, put my car in reverse, stepped on the gas and in a few moments the car pulled itself free.
I hope you will pray about these things to receive a testimony for yourself like I have.James 1:5 says, "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him."

Announcing Radio Program this Sunday, 11/11

This Sunday on 11/11 at 7pm (pst) (our normal time is 3pm) we will be broadcasting on the topic of the apostasy of Christianity and the modern tax supported religion of Darwinism. We invite calls at (718) 664-9754.

--
Rescuing liberal pagans from the reprobate mind. Romans 1:29.

www.artbulla.com

Our Blog: http://www.artbulla.com/zion/blog/rjc.html

Listen to Zion Redemption Radio hosted by Art Bulla and Aaron Kim on Sunday from 3 to 4 (pst). Just go to http://www.blogtalkradio.com/hostpage.aspx?host_id=3513 All are invited to call in live at (718) 664-9754, email at art@artbulla.com, or by MSM artbulla@hotmail.com. This show is dedicated to the redemption of Zion, revelations of Jesus Christ, authority, Priesthood, Kingdom of God, doctrine discussed pertaining to the salvation of Ephraim and Manasseh. During non broadcast hours you can also listen to archived shows.

My Testimony of a Living Prophet: http://www.artbulla.com/zion/Aaron's%20Page.html

26 Even so, come unto me and learn of my ways, and I will give unto you, even as many as shall come, that peace which surpasseth understanding, and if ye shall inquire of me concerning these things, will I the Lord manifest by the influence and power of the Holy Ghost that these things are verily true and are of me, saith the Lord.

Revelations of Jesus Christ sec. 6:26

The Kingdom of God or Nothing

The Problem with Catholic and Protestant Churches

The problem with these mainstream sectarian churches such as the Catholics and Protestants is that they have no authority. To preach without Priesthood authority is taking the Lord's name in vain, not being guided by legal administrators in the flesh receiving direct revelation from God.

29 He commandeth that there shall be no priestcrafts; for, behold, priestcrafts are that men preach and set themselves up for a light unto the world, that they may get gain and praise of the world; but they seek not the welfare of Zion.

(2 Nephi 26:29)

Discourses of Brigham Young, Pg.135 Where the Priesthood is not, the people are expected to live according to the best knowledge they have; but even then they cannot with impunity commit many heinous faults. The Lord more readily overlooks them in consequence of their unenlightened condition, and there is a kingdom prepared for them.
10:286.

Discourses of Brigham Young, Pg.135 When a man merely from a spirit of conviction goes forth to build up the Kingdom of God -- to reform the nations of the earth, he can go so far as morality operates upon and enlightens him; but he is without authority from heaven. We are under no obligation to obey any man or being in matters pertaining to salvation, unless his words have the authority and sanction of the holy Priesthood. 8:122.

Discourses of Brigham Young, Pg.136 I never passed John Wesley's church in London without stopping to look at it. Was he a good man? Yes; I suppose him to have been, by all accounts, as good as ever walked on this earth, according to his knowledge. Has he obtained a rest? Yes, and greater than ever entered his mind to expect; and so have thousands of others of the various religious denominations. Why could he not build up the Kingdom of God on the earth? He had not the Priesthood; that was all the difficulty he labored under. Had the Priesthood been conferred upon him, he would have built up the Kingdom of God in his day as it is now being built up. He would have introduced the ordinances, powers, grades, and quorums of the Priesthood; but, not holding the Priesthood, he could not do it. Did the Spirit of God rest upon him? Yes, and does, more or less, at times, upon all people. 7:5.

The above is a reference to the High Priesthood which is the Melchizedek Priesthood. Jesus Christ Himself was an Apostle.

7 Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared; 8 Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;

9 And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;

10 Called of God an high priest after the order of Melchisedec.

(New Testament | Hebrews 5:7 - 10)

Moses received the Priesthood from Jethro, his father in law. Jesus had to go to John the Baptist for he was the only legal administrator at the time. Paul after receiving his first vision still had to go Ananias, a legal administrator, to get baptized.

Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, Section Five 1842-43 Pg.274 Whenever men can find out the will of God and find an administrator legally authorized from God, there is the kingdom of God; but where these are not, the kingdom of God is not. All the ordinances, systems, and administrations on the earth are of no use to the children of men, unless they are ordained and authorized of God; for nothing will save a man but a legal administrator; for none others will be acknowledged either by God or angels.

All men are liars who say they are of the true Church without the revelations of Jesus Christ and the Priesthood of Melchizedek, which is after the order of the Son of God." Joseph Smith; TPJS p. 376

The Mormon Church had the Priesthood until they apostatized in June 9, 1978 when the church under Presidend Spencer Kimball announced the Priesthood would be given to the sons of Cain the Negro. This was in fulfillment of a prophecy by Brigham Young:

"Let this Church which is called the kingdom of God on the earth; we will summons the first presidency, the twelve, the high counsel, the bishopric, and all the elders of Israel, suppose we summons them to appear here, and here declare that it is right to mingle our seed, with the black race of Cain, that they shall come in with us and be partakers with us of all the blessings God has given to us. On that very day, and hour we should do so, the priesthood is taken from this Church and kingdom and God leaves us to our fate. The moment we consent to mingle with the seed of Cain the Church must go to destruction--we should receive the curse which has been placed upon the seed of Cain, and never more be numbered with the children of Adam who are heirs to the priesthood until that curse be removed."

In January of 1979, Art Bulla the last correctly ordained Seventy Apostle received the Priesthood and received his first two written revelations which he showed to his hometeacher at the time Randy Olson, one which criticized the Church for giving the Priesthood to the blacks. He was physically assaulted by Randy and the Church made a preposterous request to Art that he apologize to the Church for this action which he refused and was excommunicated.

Who are the Seventies? They are Apostles just like the Twelve and have equal authority.

1 AFTER these things the Lord appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and two before his face into every city and place, whither he himself would come.

(Luke 10:1)

25 The Seventy are also called to preach the gospel, and to be especial witnesses unto the Gentiles and in all the world--thus differing from other officers in the church in the duties of their calling.
26 And they form a quorum, equal in authority to that of the Twelve special witnesses or Apostles just named.

(Doctrine & Covenants 107:25-26)

“The Seventies are Apostles; and they stand next in authority to the Twelve...If through the providence of God the First Presidency and the Twelve were taken away, then it would be the duty of the Seventies to preach the Gospel, build up the Church , and ordain every officer requisite in order to establish the Church, and ordain High Priests, Bishops, High Counselors, Patriarchs, and set in order the whole church in all the world. This is according to the revelations given to us...I suppose I ordained hundreds of Seventies in early days. Brother Joseph Smith has come to us many times, saying, ‘Brethren, you are going to ordain Seventies. Do not forget to confer the high priesthood (Melchizedec priesthood) upon them. Ordain each of them to the High Priesthood, and to be one of the Seventy Apostles.’ This was my language in the ordination of the Seventies, and that is the way I ordain them now." Brigham Young, Des. News, June 6, 1877, p. 274.

I know by revelation from the Spirit of God that Art is the One Mighty and Strong propehsied in D&C 85:7 and Isaiah 28:2. He has come to straighten out the house of God.

7 And it shall come to pass that I, the Lord God, will send one mighty and strong, holding the scepter of power in his hand, clothed with light for a covering, whose mouth shall utter words, eternal words; while his bowels shall be a fountain of truth, to set in order the house of God, and to arrange by lot the inheritances of the saints whose names are found, and the names of their fathers, and of their children, enrolled in the book of the law of God;

(Doctrine and Covenants | Section 85:7)

1 WOE to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim, whose glorious beauty is a fading flower, which are on the head of the fat valleys of them that are overcome with wine!

2 Behold, the Lord hath a mighty and strong one, which as a tempest of hail and a destroying storm, as a flood of mighty waters overflowing, shall cast down to the earth with the hand.

3 The crown of pride, the drunkards of Ephraim, shall be trodden under feet:

(Old Testament | Isaiah 28:1 - 3

"Brethren, this Church will be led onto the very brink of hell by the leaders of this people, then God will raise up the one `Mighty and Strong' spoken of in the 85th Section of the Doctrine & Covenants to save and redeem this Church." Attested to by Joshua Jones who made a minute of it at that time and now has it in his diary

15 Behold, I say unto you, the redemption of Zion must needs come by power;

16 Therefore, I will raise up unto my people a man, who shall lead them like as Moses led the children of Israel.

17 For ye are the children of Israel, and of the seed of Abraham, and ye must needs be led out of bondage by power, and with a stretched–out arm.

18 And as your fathers were led at the first, even so shall the redemption of Zion be.

(Doctrine and Covenants | Section 103:15 - 18)

Art is the man likened unto Moses. Joseph Smith sowed the seeds for the building of Zion, it is Art Bulla who will now reap the fruits. I am moved by the Holy Spirit every day of my life and I feel it often coarse through my body from which manifestation makes my body tremble and I ask all sincere worshippers of the Lord ask for a testimony.

Did the Civil War End Slavery ?

Brigham Young said concerning slavery and the Civil War:

"What is the cause of all this waste of life and treasure? To tell it in a plain, truthful way, one portion of the country wish to raise their negroes or black slaves and the other portion wish to free them, and, apparently, to almost worship them. Well, raise and worship them, who cares? I should never fight one moment about it, for the cause of human improvement is not in the least advanced by the dreadful war which now convulses our unhappy country. Ham will continue to be the servant of servants, as the Lord has decreed, until the curse is removed. Will the present struggle free the slave? No; but they are now wasting away the black race by thousands. Many of the blacks are treated worse than we treat our dumb brutes; and men will be called to judgment for the way they have treated the negro, and they will receive the condemnation of a guilty conscience, by the just Judge whose attributes are justice and truth.

Treat the slaves kindly and let them live, for Ham must be the servant of servants until the curse is removed. Can you destroy the decrees of the Almighty? You cannot. Yet our Christian brethren think that they are going to overthrow the sentence of the Almighty upon the seed of Ham. They cannot do that, though they may kill them by thousands and tens of thousands. - JoD 10:250 (Oct 6, 1863)

The anti-Mormons read the sermon above and say that Brigham Young is a false prophet because they say the Civil War ended slavery but as the article below shows, slavery for blacks has not ended.

Slavery in Islamist Sudan By Stephen Brown FrontPageMagazine.com | Thursday, November 01, 2007

It was the kind of excitement that made children uneasy. Grownups were pointing toward the river. Others were arriving at a run. The bustling atmosphere in the market place of the peaceful African town of Nyamlell in the Dinka tribal area in the southern Sudan was changing. Worried adults could see what a seven-year-old Dinka boy, Francis Bok, who had gone to the market that fateful day with older village children to sell his mother's eggs and peanuts, could not: "a storm of smoke" rising from a nearby village. Sellers frantically began to gather up their wares and hurry away with the buyers. The adults understood. They recognized the approaching signs of the dreaded scourge that most people believed had disappeared from the pages of African history long ago: a slave raid.

It was 1986 and Bok was about to see his happy world of family and village shattered forever by a centuries-old, barbaric practice that has never died out: the violent capture and enslavement of black Africans by Arabs.

"The Arab militias were told to kill the men and enslave the women and children," said the now 28-year-old Bok, who was himself captured and enslaved that day, to an audience of 80 people at the University of Toronto recently where he had been invited to speak by the campus organization, Zionists at U. of T.

Bok, who would spend the next ten years working as a child slave, then outlined for his college listeners in horrifying detail the savage hurricane of violence he next witnessed when the Arab slavers attacked.

"I saw many people on the ground, shot.I saw people with their heads cut off with swords and shot in the head. People were lying on the ground like they just wanted to relax for a moment. I saw blood pouring like a small stream," the 28-year-old Bok recounted in a voice that still quivers with emotion.

Unknown to him at that time, Bok was also an innocent victim of the decades-long, savage civil war between Sudan's Arab Muslim North and the country's African Christian and animist South. Based in the capital, Khartoum, the North's Islamist government, which also hosted Osama bin Laden in the 1990s, had promulgated sharia law in 1983 for the whole country in its quest to Arabize and Islamicize the non-Muslim South. Also as part of this goal, the Khartoum government armed Muslim militias and sent them in the 1980s and 1990s to wage jihad against the infidel southerners. However, the spears and hippopotamus shields of the South's Dinka and Nuer tribes, the war's main victims, were no match for the Kalashnikov-armed Muslims, who went on to kill two million southern Sudanese, displace another four million and take tens of thousands of slaves in a silent genocide.

After the slave raid, Bok, a Christian, told the audience he was taken to the Muslim North to work for one of the Arab raiders' families as a child slave for the next decade. During the pitiless trip north, the little Dinka boy witnessed the depth of racism, cruelty and religious hatred of his captors and their world towards black Africans when an Arab slaver cut off the leg of a Dinka girl who would not stop crying because she had seen her parents butchered in the market place. Upon his arrival at his master's home, Bok was to experience himself this racial viciousness when he was immediately surrounded and beaten by the masters' children who called him "abeed" (slave), an Arabic word also used for black Africans in general.

And a slave Bok was in every sense of the word as he worked for his master without a day off and without payment for the next ten years, often laboring from four in the morning until after the family had gone to bed that night.

"I was supposed to look after the goats; there were about two hundred goats," Bok told listeners of his first days as a seven-year-old slave. "My master knew all the goats. He would ask: 'Where is this goat? Where is that goat?' If I answered: 'I don't know. He would beat me.He had a favorite stick to beat me. When I had done something wrong, even when I had done nothing wrong, he beat me."

Lonely and isolated, Bok said he was made to sleep in a shelter near the animals and was never allowed to talk to the Dinka slaves owned by other Arab families. The child slave even received a beating, Bok told the audience, when he asked his master one day why he calls him 'abeed' and why no one loves him. He was told never to ask that question again.

The treatment Bok received from his master's wife, however, was even worse. She would, he related, not allow her 'abeed' to look her directly in the face and would spit in his, often calling on her children to spit on the Dinka boy too.

"That hurt," said Bok. "I asked her why? She said: 'You are my slave and this is my house.' She would also grab a knife and say she would kill me like a chicken."

For ten long years, Bok told his listeners, he would lie awake at night and wonder who was going to come and free him from this hopeless, helpless life of a slave where he was told he was just an animal. Even his forcible conversion to Islam, outwardly in Bok's case, did not bring any improvement in treatment. Only his faith in God, the Dinka slave stated, and his desire to see his parents again kept him going.

"I hated the way they treated me and the way they treated the other slaves," said Bok, recounting his humanity was never once recognized during all those years with the Arab family, his only value being the work he could do.

This was hideously emphasized by a nightmarish incident that convinced Bok to take matters into his own hands and escape. On a visit with his master to his master's friend, Bok said he was instructed to talk in the Dinka language to another boy-slave, who had had his leg cut off.

"I asked him what happened," Bok remembers. "He started crying and said he had refused to go to work for one day. He told his master he was sick and wasn't going to work. His master told him he had to go to work. There was no excuse. The boy continued to argue with his master, so his master cut his leg off."

At age 14, Bok told a silent audience he was caught escaping twice and badly beaten, and nearly killed the second time. Waiting until he was 17 to make another attempt, Bok successfully made it to Khartoum with the help of a kindly Muslim truck driver who took him home and bought him a bus ticket. From Khartoum, the young Dinka made it to Cairo where he was eventually allowed to come to America as a United Nations refugee in 1999. Today, the former African slave is a proud American citizen.

In 2000, sponsored by the American Anti-Slavery Group, Bok began speaking of his experiences to audiences across the United States, especially at schools and colleges, giving as his reason the fact he could not forget those Dinka slave boys he remembered seeing in the Sudan. In his anti-slavery advocacy, Bok became the first escaped slave to appear before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations and has spoken to other politicians, including Colin Powell and George Bush, whom he and most Dinkas, he says, hold in high regard for his assistance to the southern Sudanese cause. The new African American, grateful to America for the second life it has granted him as well as for the opportunity to speak about his people, also wrote a highly engrossing book about his days as a boy slave, Escape From Slavery: The True Story of My Ten Years in Captivity - and My Journey to Freedom in America, that should be required reading in every high school.

About the only setback for Bok in America occurred when he discovered his father had been killed and his mother and sisters went missing in the same Muslim militia raid that saw him enslaved. His brother, however, was still alive and a member of the southern Sudanese, anti-government army.

As for the Sudan today, Bok says the problem remains the same in that the government is still trying to impose sharia law on its non-Muslim citizens, whom, he says, will never accept it and the second-class status it confers on non-Muslims. Bok, who is not against independence for the African South Sudan, also says he did not believe in the 2005 peace treaty between the North and the South that ended the war.

"It was a big deal for the Sudanese; but I didn't even smile," he said. "I knew it wasn't the real thing. I don't see it as a real peace. Why is it a peace when there is still a war (Darfur) in the country? They (the government) shifted the war to another region."

Bok says he plans to return next spring to the Sudan for the first time since his escape and would like to teach English to refugees in Darfur. Asked what he would say to his former master if he was standing in the same University of Toronto lecture room with him at that moment, the supposedly 'half savage' ex-slave said he would tell his former tormentor that he was "absolutely wrong" to do what he did and never to do it to another person.

"I don't want to do anything bad to him or to his wife who hit me," he said. "The only thing I could do is point a finger at him and say: 'This is the man who took my childhood away from me.' Other than that, I forgive him."

Does Faith Save Without Works ?

An anti-Mormon sectarian on a theology debate on alt.religion.christianity posted:

> Rescuing those ensnared in the lie of Mormonism and it's works-based
> theology:
> (Ephesians 2:8-9) "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and
> that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest
> anyone should boast."

My response:

You are wresting the scriptures from their true meaning. When Paul wrote that we are saved through faith and not of works, he was referring to the atonement of Christ as a necessary means of being saved and not just believing to yourself well I donate to charities and do good deeds so I'm a good person so I don't need Jesus. But just acknowledging Jesus' sacrifice is not enough to save yourself as Billy Graham would have you believe. Once having faith, you need to act according to your faith. You need to be baptized and live a life worth someone who is a true servant of God. After Paul had his first vision when he saw Jesus on the road to Damascus, he was instructed to be baptized by Ananias, a legal administrator (Acts 9:1-8). What would happen if someone confessed he believed in Jesus but then murdered someone ? And then the innocent guy goes to hell because he never believed in Jesus. Is THAT what you believe in ? Amazing. There are different levels of heaven, different bodies of resurrection determined by how we live in this probationary period. Joseph Smith restored this glorious principle of the Gospel.


2 In my Father's house are many mansions: if [it were] not [so], I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.

(John 14:2)

39 All flesh [is] not the same flesh: but [there is] one [kind of] flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, [and] another of birds.
40 [There are] also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial [is] one, and the [glory] of the terrestrial [is] another.
41 [There is] one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for [one] star differeth from [another] star in glory.
42 So also [is] the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption:

(1 Cor 15:39-42)




18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.
19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.
20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?
21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?
22 Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?
23 And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.
24 Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.

(James 2:18-24)

16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
(Mark 16:16)

5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water, and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
( John 3:5)

37 Now when they heard [this], they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men [and] brethren, what shall we do?
38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
(Acts 2:37-38)


"True Faith" by Orson Pratt (original Mormon Apostle)

14.--When the Apostles were commanded to go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature, they were informed that he who believed the Gospel, and was baptized, should be saved, and he who believed not should be damned. To believe the Gospel, as the Apostles preached it, was not sufficient, but Jesus added the condition of baptism, clearly showing that their faith must be manifested by the works, otherwise it would be of no benefit to them. Jesus very well understood that the works necessary to salvation never would be performed without faith, which always precedes them; and, as this faith was in their power to obtain through the evidence offered by the preaching of his Apostles, he determined to damn every creature in all the world that would not believe the message they taught.
15.--There are some who believe that faith alone, unaccompanied by works, is sufficient for justification, sanctification, and salvation. But what would it benefit a hungry man, in a field, who believes that in the house there is a table spread for him with an abundance of food, if he make no exertion to approach the house and obtain the blessing? What profit would it be to a rich man who has faith in the words of Jesus, concerning the feeding of the hungry and the clothing of the naked, unless he have works [75] corresponding to that faith? What blessing would be obtained by believing the words which Christ has spoken, unless we do them? It is not the person who merely believes in the sayings of Christ, that is justified, but it is he who shows his faith by obeying them. When Jesus speaks of believers, he has reference, most generally, to those whose faith has been sufficiently strong to lead them to obedience. It is to this kind of believers that He refers in the following passages: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth my words, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life." "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." "He that believeth on him is not condemned."
16.--Jesus here refers to a class of believers who should fully prove their faith by their obedience. Such, and such alone, should be freed from condemnation--should pass from death unto life--should become the children of God by having a faith that would lead them to obey. All other believers are without justification--without hope--without everlasting life, and will be damned, the same as unbelievers, because they profess to believe on the words of the Son of God, but will not obey them.
17.--Jesus says, "If a man love me he will keep my words; and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings." As a man's love is manifested by his works, so is his faith.
18.--John says that, "Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ, is born of God." It is evident, from the whole Epistle in which these words are contained, that none were to be considered as really believing that Jesus was the Christ, only those who manifested it by keeping his commandments; for he further says, "Hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know that we are in him." And again, he says, "Every one that doeth righteousness is born of him." "Whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God." "He that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him." "Every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God." "He that loveth not, knoweth not God; for [76] God is love." "He that dwelleth in love, dwelleth in God, and God in him. Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because, as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casteth out fear; because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. We love him, because he first loved us." "This is the love of God, that we keep his commandments; and his commandments are not grievous."
19.--From all these passages it is easy to perceive that salvation depends upon our loving God; and that loving God is the keeping of His commandments; and the keeping of His commandments is the only sure evidence of our really believing that Jesus is the Christ. Let no persons, therefore, flatter or deceive themselves with the idea that they believe from their heart, that Jesus is the Christ, or that they are born of God, or that they have passed from death unto life, or that they love God, unless they are certain that they have kept His commandments and sayings. Millions are deceiving themselves with a false faith and with a false hope -- deluding themselves with the notion that they are born of God, when they have not attended even to the first commandments in relation to their adoption. All such will meet with a bitter disappointment.
20.--The first effect of true faith is a sincere, true, and thorough repentance of all sins; the second effect is an immersion in water, for the remission of sins; the third is the reception of the ordinance of the laying on of the hands for the baptism of the Holy Ghost: these are the first commandments in the Gospel. No man has a saving faith without attending to these three requirements. No person can be a believer in Christ, in the scriptural sense of that term, without complying, in the strictest manner, with these commandments; without receiving these, it will be in vain for him to pray for a forgiveness of sins, or for the baptism of the Spirit, or for salvation: and if he flatters himself that he loves God, or that he can obtain eternal life without obeying these first commandments, he is woefully deceived. Indeed these are the introductory principles, and the only principles by which men and women can be born into the kingdom of Christ, and become his sons and daughters. After attending to these, there are other commandments for them to obey; but if they undertake to obey the others first, they will find their endeavors unacceptable in the sight of God. For instance, God requires His sons and daugh-[77]ters to keep the Sabbath day holy; but no man can keep the Sabbath holy until he has attended to the first three commandments of the Gospel, after which he can keep the Sabbath according to the mind of God, but not before. There are many commandments which none but those who are born of God can keep. And for a man to undertake to keep them before attending to the first three, would be like a child's undertaking to read before it had learned the alphabet.
21.--A faith, then, that brings remission of sins or justification to the sinner, is that which is connected with repentance and baptism. Faith alone will not justify; faith and baptism alone will not justify; but faith, repentance, and baptism will justify and bring remission of sins through the blood of Christ. What does Paul mean when he says, "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ?" He means that faith is the starting point -- the foundation and cause of our repentance and baptism which bring remission or justification; and being the cause which leads to those results, it is not improper to impute justification to faith. What does that Scripture mean which says, "If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation?" It means that real faith in the heart is that which leads to obedience; for a man who does not obey, only has a degree of faith, and not living faith in the heart, which in all cases will lead to repentance, confession, baptism, laying on of hands, &c. All will admit that to believe with the heart leads to and includes repentance. Why not also admit that it includes every other commandment of the Gospel? Because believing with the heart in the resurrection of Christ is the moving cause of obedience which brings salvation, it well may be said that salvation is the result of faith.
30.--The only way to receive additional faith and light is to practise according to the light which we have: and if we do this, we have the promise of God that the same shall grow brighter and brighter until the perfect day. Every word of God is light and truth. He that saith, that he is in the light, but obeyeth not the words of truth, is deceiving himself, and is in darkness; for none are the children of faith except such as walk in the light, and obey its laws. How many millions in Christendom profess to be Christians, and say that they are in the light and have been born of God, and yet they have never obeyed even the first principles of the light; they have never repented properly and been immersed in water for the remission of sins by the ministration of one whom God has authorized; and yet they pretend that God for Christ's sake has forgiven their sins. How blindly deceived! and how vain their faith and hope of salvation! God has not forgiven their sins; neither will He forgive them, until they obey the message of the Gospel according to the precise order which He has revealed. Faith is the gift of God, and is one of the means of salvation; but none can have this gift except in the way that God has ordained: and all who pretend to have faith and obey not that form of doctrine which God has revealed will find that their faith is of no effect, and that they will be damned with unbelievers: for God will not confer saving gifts upon the disobedient.

On the Plurality of Gods

On alt.religion.christianity, someone posted that there is only one God in response to a post that I wrote that there are are numerous Gods. I replied:

There are many Gods but there is only but one God to each earth. I know this to be true having the Holy Spirit as a testimony of the veracity of it.

6 I have said, Ye [are] gods; and all of you [are] children of the most High.
7 But ye shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes.

(Ps 82:6-7)

34 Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?
35 If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the
scripture cannot be broken;
36 Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?

(John 10:34-36)

5 For though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, (as there be gods many, and lords many,)
6 But to us [there is but] one God, the Father, of whom [are] all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom [are] all things, and we by him.

(1 Cor 8:5-6)

32 And by the word of my power, have I created them, which is mine Only Begotten Son, who is full of grace and truth.
33 And worlds without number have I created; and I also created them for mine own purpose; and by the Son I created them, which is mine Only Begotten.
34 And the first man of all men have I called Adam, which is many.
35 But only an account of this earth, and the inhabitants thereof, give I
unto you. For behold, there are many worlds that have passed away by the word of my power. And there are many that now stand, and innumerable are they unto man; but all things are numbered unto me, for they are mine and I know them.

(Moses 1:32-35)

Some say I do not interpret the Scripture the same as they do. They say it means the heathen's gods. Paul says there are Gods many and Lords many; and that makes a plurality of Gods, in spite of the whims of all men. Without a revelation, I am not going to give them the knowledge of the God of heaven. You know and I testify that Paul had no allusion to the heathen gods. I have it from God, and get over it if you can. I have a witness of the Holy Ghost, and a testimony that Paul had no allusion to the heathen gods in the text. I will show from the Hebrew Bible that I am correct, and the first word shows a plurality of Gods; and I want the apostates and learned men to come here and prove to the contrary, if they can. An unlearned boy must give you a little Hebrew. Berosheit baurau Eloheim ait aushamayeen vehau auraits, rendered by King James' translators, "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." I want to analyze the word Berosheit. Rosh, the head; Sheit, a grammatical termination; the Baith was not originally put there when the inspired man wrote it, but it has been since added by an old Jew. Baurau signifies to bring forth; Eloheim is from the word Eloi, God, in the singular number; and by adding the word heim, it renders it Gods. It read first, "In the beginning the head of the Gods brought forth the Gods," or, as others have translated it, "The head of the Gods called the Gods together." I want to show a little learning as well as other fools.
* * *
The head God organized the heavens and the earth. I defy all the world to refute me. In the beginning the heads of the Gods organized the heavens and the earth. Now the learned priests and the people rage, and the heathen imagine a vain thing. If we pursue the Hebrew text further, it reads, "The head one of the Gods said, Let us make a man in our own image." I once asked a learned Jew, "If the Hebrew language compels us to render all words ending in heim in the plural, why not render the first Eloheim plural?" He replied, "That is the rule with few exceptions; but in this case it would ruin the Bible." He acknowledged I was right. I came here to investigate these things precisely as I believe them. Hear and judge for yourselves; and if you go away satisfied, well and good. In the very beginning the Bible shows there is a plurality of Gods beyond the power of refutation. It is a great subject I am dwelling on. The word Eloheim ought to be in the plural all the way through-Gods. The heads of the Gods appointed one God for us; and when you take [that] view of the subject, its sets one free to see all the beauty, holiness and perfection of the Gods. All I want is to get the simple, naked truth, and the whole truth. Many men say there is one God; the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost are only one God. I say that is a strange God anyhow-three in one, and one in three! It is a curious organization. "Father, I pray not for the world, but I pray for them which thou hast given me." "Holy Father, keep through Thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one as we are." All are to be crammed into one God, according to sectarianism. It would make the biggest God in all the world. He would be a wonderfully big God-he would be a giant or a monster. I want to read the text to you myself-"I am agreed with the Father and the Father is agreed with me, and we are agreed as one." The Greek shows that it should be agreed. "Father, I pray for them which Thou hast given me out of the world, and not for those alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word, that they all may be agreed, as Thou, Father, are with me, and I with Thee, that they also may be agreed with us," and all come to dwell in unity, and in all the glory and everlasting burnings of the Gods; and then we shall see as we are seen, and be as our God and He as His Father. I want to reason a little on this subject. I learned it by translating the papyrus which is now in my house.

(Joseph Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, selected and arranged by Joseph Fielding Smith, p.371-372)