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DjDan said:New discoveries are being made all the time... with plenty 'evidences' being found in support of the book of mormon 'claim'.
Further insight into the tragic loss of ancient records from the Americas is given by Michael D. Coe and Justin Kerr, The Art of the Maya Scribe (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1998, p. 169):[font=Geneva,Verdana,Arial,Helvetica][size=-1]At one time, most Maya calligraphy must have been contained in books. But out of thousands, perhaps tens of thousands, of manuscripts once extant during the Classic Maya apogee, none remain. For the post-Classic period, we can again only guess at the total number produced, but it was doubtless greatly diminished from what it had once been before the Classic downfall. There is no way of knowing how many were burned by Franciscan missionaries like Diego de Landa, but the act of destruction was remarkably complete: we have only four surviving pre-Conquest native Maya books. . . . For only one other calligraphic tradition - that of ancient Greece and Rome - has the loss of contemporary manuscripts been as severe. [/size][/font]Of the surviving Maya area writings, six distinct scripts have been identified, and scholars are only in the early stages of deciphering two or three of them. We may know what some ancient cities were called by their inhabitants at the time of Cortes, but do we know anything concrete about the era 600 B.C. to 400 A.D.? Do we know the place names that the ancients used? Do we know any of the names of those people - as they called themselves, not as the later Aztecs or Mayans called them? The Book of Mormon is from the ancient New World. The problem is not that nothing correlates with the Book of Mormon, the problem is that we still know almost nothing about the time period covered by the Book of Mormon.
Brennin said:That is false (thanks for the laugh, though).
When we get to the New World, things are more difficult. Until a couple decades ago, we didn't even have good maps of the area. Hundreds of new and often mysterious cities have been discovered, with names that are typically assigned by the discoverer. We are in a state of infancy, and that infancy will last long because most of the peoples and cultures on the American continents did not leave written records.
DjDan said:[font=Geneva,Verdana,Arial,Helvetica][size=-1]At one time, most Maya calligraphy must have been contained in books. But out of thousands, perhaps tens of thousands, of manuscripts once extant during the Classic Maya apogee, none remain. For the post-Classic period, we can again only guess at the total number produced, but it was doubtless greatly diminished from what it had once been before the Classic downfall. There is no way of knowing how many were burned by Franciscan missionaries like Diego de Landa, but the act of destruction was remarkably complete: we have only four surviving pre-Conquest native Maya books. . . . For only one other calligraphic tradition - that of ancient Greece and Rome - has the loss of contemporary manuscripts been as severe. [/size][/font]
Anyone ?Please, each Christian define Christianity, then list the beliefs that you believe are not Christian (toward Mormonism), and provide scripture support.
2 Nephi 25:23 For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do. The phrase, after all we can do can be seen different ways but the main phrase tells us, for we know that it is by GRACE that we are saved. It doesnt say anything about works in the verse (in context to works being the method of being saved). 2 Nephi 25:25 For, for this end was the law given; wherefore the law hath become dead unto us, and we are made alive in Christ because of our faith; yet we keep the law because of the commandments. Now, look at this phrase, and we are made alive in Christ because of our faith. It seems pretty clear, that faith is the key.MarsHill said:For the sake of argument I will quote from the book of Mormon.
peepnklown said:Anyone…?
DjDan said:Please... list the commandments... and i'll tell you wether or not I follow them. Then... together we can conclude on wether or not I am a Christian.
MarsHill said:Peepnklown- Please explain, "......after all we can do". Do Mormons not believe you must do good works in order to enter into their celestial realm? If they believe that they will become a god then what do you need to do in order to become one? You can say that the main component is salvation through grace but actually believing and practicing that is another thing when it comes to the LDS church.
Your personal information states that you are an atheist. How does an atheist become and expert on Mormon theology? If you know for sure that there is no God then why are you studying a relgion that claims that are many gods? Maybe you are not a true atheist. What is your view?
MarsHill said:Christians are judged to determine a level of reward in heaven not salvation.
We will enter into the gates of heaven with gladness because we have been saved soley through faith. That gives us a spot in heaven. We do not believe that we "must do good works" in order to get into heaven.
For the Christian good works are a sign that we are already "saved".
We are going to heaven solely based on our faith in the redeeming work of the cross. Please do not confuse the two. Our good works and living a Godly lifestyle have wonderful benefits. Afterall, only God knows how we should live our lives. He knows what is best for us. We do not know what is best for us. Our hearts are desperately wicked so we cannot follow what our heart tells us to do.
We do good works because we are Christians. Those good works do not allow us to enter into heaven. If good works allowed us to enter in then we are not saved "by grace through faith".
Again I have to ask how do we ever gain assurance that we are truly saved and are able to enter into heaven if we are trying to figure out how many good works we must do to get in? Only our belief in what Christ did on the cross and at the tomb can do that.
As one man put it, "Dogs bark because they are dog. They do not bark to become dogs!"
In the same sense we can say, "Christians do good works because they are Christians. They do not perform good works to "become" Christians."
You stated that as a Mormon you are saved by grace but at the judgement your works will be measured. In the LDS world what happens if you did not do enough good works? Will you be denied your celestial kingdom? Will you not gain that planet that your heart desires?
MarsHill said:Works DO NOT SAVE US!
The correct definition of the word is one who is a follower of the Jesus Christ of the Bible. For almost two thousand years it has never had a reference to anyone other that the historical Jesus Christ of the New Testament http://www.seafox.com/mormons.htmlDjDan said:walch... nothing to say of yourself? all you do is post links to an anti-mormon website. carms. That doesn't really help much. I'm asking you, and i think peep is asking you to make it clear in words what makes a christian. We've already established that the definition of 'christian' is totally unrelated to the nicean creed.
list the commandments.... liste the teachings of Jesus... and i'll tell you if i agree with them or not.
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