LDS Doctrine and Covenants Critique
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The Doctrine and Covenants
SECTION 130
Items of instruction given by Joseph Smith the Prophet, at Ramus, Illinois, April 2, 1843.
1–3, The Father and the Son may appear personally to men; 4–7, Angels
reside in a celestial sphere; 8–9, The celestial earth will be a great
Urim and Thummim; 10–11, A white stone is given to all who enter the
celestial world; 12–17, The time of the Second Coming is withheld from
the Prophet; 18–19, Intelligence gained in this life rises with us in
the Resurrection; 20–21, All blessings come by obedience to law; 22–23,
The Father and the Son have bodies of flesh and bones.
1 When the Savior shall appear we shall see him as he is. We shall see that he is a man like ourselves.
Note: Jesus Christ is now glorified.
I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day, and I heard behind me a loud
voice, as of a trumpet, saying, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the
First and the Last,” and, “What you see, write in a book and send it to
the seven churches which are in Asia: to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to
Pergamos, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.”
Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And having turned I
saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the seven lampstands
One like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and
girded about the chest with a golden band. His head and hair were white
like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire; His
feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and His voice as
the sound of many waters; He had in His right hand seven stars, out of
His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like
the sun shining in its strength. And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet
as dead. Revelation 1:10-17
2 And that same sociality which exists among us here will exist among
us there, only it will be coupled with eternal glory, which glory we do
not now enjoy. 3 John 14:23—The appearing of the Father and the Son, in
that verse, is a personal appearance; and the idea that the Father and
the Son dwell in a man’s heart is an old sectarian notion, and is false.
Note: Joseph Smith was a heretic.
For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would
grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened
with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell
in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in
love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width
and length and depth and height— to know the love of Christ which
passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Ephesians 3:14-19
4 In answer to the question—Is not the reckoning of God’s time, angel’s
time, prophet’s time, and man’s time, according to the planet on which
they reside?
Note: God is timeless.
But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day
is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 2 Peter 3:8
5 I answer, Yes. But there are no angels who minister to this earth but
those who do belong or have belonged to it. 6 The angels do not reside
on a planet like this earth; 7 But they reside in the presence of God,
on a globe like a sea of glass and fire, where all things for their
glory are manifest, past, present, and future, and are continually
before the Lord.
Note: Angels are sent by God to be helpers.
Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him. Matthew 4:11
8 The place where God resides is a great Urim and Thummim. 9 This
earth, in its sanctified and immortal state, will be made like unto
crystal and will be a Urim and Thummim to the inhabitants who dwell
thereon, whereby all things pertaining to an inferior kingdom, or all
kingdoms of a lower order, will be manifest to those who dwell on it;
and this earth will be Christ’s.
Note: The Old Covenant demanded the high priest wear a breastplate with stones.
“So, Aaron shall bear the names of the sons of Israel on the
breastplate of judgment over his heart, when he goes into the holy
place, as a memorial before the LORD continually. And you shall put in
the breastplate of judgment the Urim and the Thummim, and they shall be
over Aaron’s heart when he goes in before the LORD. So, Aaron shall
bear the judgment of the children of Israel over his heart before the
LORD continually. Exodus 28:29-30
10 Then the white stone mentioned in Revelation 2:17, will become a
Urim and Thummim to each individual who receives one, whereby things
pertaining to a higher order of kingdoms will be made known; 11 And a
white stone is given to each of those who come into the celestial
kingdom, whereon is a new name written, which no man knoweth save he
that receiveth it. The new name is the key word.
Note: God will personally know each believer.
“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. And I
will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which
no one knows except him who receives it.” Revelation 2:17
12 I prophesy, in the name of the Lord God, that the commencement of
the difficulties which will cause much bloodshed previous to the coming
of the Son of Man will be in South Carolina.
Note: The end of the world did not occur in the 19th century.
“Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be
darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall
from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then the
sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes
of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the
clouds of heaven with power and great glory.” Matthew 24:29-30
13 It may probably arise through the slave question. This a voice
declared to me, while I was praying earnestly on the subject, December
25th, 1832.
Note: Joseph Smith tried to tie an current event to end times prophecy.
Nullification Proclamation (December 10, 1832): Jackson issued a stern
warning to the people of South Carolina after the state passed an
Ordinance of Nullification declaring federal tariffs unconstitutional.
He declared that the federal government was supreme, called
nullification and secession treasonous, and stated that "disunion by
armed force is treason"
14 I was once praying very earnestly to know the time of the coming of
the Son of Man, when I heard a voice repeat the following: 15 Joseph,
my son, if thou livest until thou art eighty-five years old, thou shalt
see the face of the Son of Man; therefore let this suffice, and trouble
me no more on this matter. 16 I was left thus, without being able to
decide whether this coming referred to the beginning of the millennium
or to some previous appearing, or whether I should die and thus see his
face. 17 I believe the coming of the Son of Man will not be any sooner
than that time.
Note: Joseph Smith was a false prophet as Jesus Christ did not return in 1890.
Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on
him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and
makes war. His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were
many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself. He
was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The
Word of God. And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and
clean, followed Him on white horses. Now out of His mouth goes a sharp
sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will
rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the
fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And He has on His robe and on His
thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS. Revelation
19:11-16
18 Whatever principle of intelligence we attain unto in this life, it
will rise with us in the resurrection. 19 And if a person gains more
knowledge and intelligence in this life through his diligence and
obedience than another, he will have so much the advantage in the world
to come.
Note: Believers will glory in Yahweh.
For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the
flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen
the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has
chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which
are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are
despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to
nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His
presence. But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom
from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption— that, as
it is written, “He who glories, let him glory in the LORD.” 1
Corinthians 1:26-31
20 There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations
of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated—21 And when we
obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which
it is predicated.
Note: Joseph Smith placed the LDS fanatics under a curse.
For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it
is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things
which are written in the book of the law, to do them.” But that no one
is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for “the just
shall live by faith.” Yet the law is not of faith, but “the man who
does them shall live by them.” Christ has redeemed us from the curse of
the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is
everyone who hangs on a tree”), that the blessing of Abraham might come
upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of
the Spirit through faith. Galatians 3:10-14
22 The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man’s; the
Son also; but the Holy Ghost has not a body of flesh and bones, but is
a personage of Spirit. Were it not so, the Holy Ghost could not dwell
in us.
Note: Joseph Smith was a heretic.
Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will
neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. You
worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is
of the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true
worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father
is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship
Him must worship in spirit and truth.” John 4:21-24
23 A man may receive the Holy Ghost, and it may descend upon him and not tarry with him.
Note: Believers have been given the Holy Spirit through faith in Jesus Christ.
In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins,
according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us
in all wisdom and prudence, having made known to us the mystery of His
will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, that
in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather
together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and
which are on earth—in Him. In Him also we have obtained an inheritance,
being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things
according to the counsel of His will, that we who first trusted in
Christ should be to the praise of His glory. In Him you also trusted,
after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in
whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of
promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption
of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory. Ephesians
1:7-14