LDS How Many Apostles?

[Solomon Smith]

Doesn’t the LDS Church have 15 Apostles? The Quorum of the 12 and the 1st Presidency? I read that there has been as many as 21 Apostles in the LDS Church at one time. Why not 12 like the early Church? Why the difference if they are the restored Church?

 

[Ironhold]

12 apostles + three-person active leadership quorum.

 

[mmksparbud]

12 apostles + three-person active leadership quorum.

What constitutes an apostle in Mormon definition of it?
An apostle as defined strictly by the New Testament no longer exists today, since these three conditions had to be met: The person had to have been an eyewitness to Jesus after his resurrection (1 Corinthians 9:1); had to have been chosen by the Holy Spirit (Acts 9:15); and had to have ministered with miraculous signs and wonders (Acts 2:43; 2 Corinthians 12:12).

 

[Solomon Smith]

12 apostles + three-person active leadership quorum.

So 15 Apostles then? Why are you dodging the question?

 

[Peter1000]

Doesn’t the LDS Church have 15 Apostles? The Quorum of the 12 and the 1st Presidency? I read that there has been as many as 21 Apostles in the LDS Church at one time. Why not 12 like the early Church? Why the difference if they are the restored Church?

We do not know how many apostles there actually were in the first century church. We know there was the original 12 and then Matthias was added, and Paul and Barnabus, but probably Timothy, and Titus, etc., etc., etc.

I would say that less than 12 would probably be a negative sign, but more than 12 would mean the church is expanding world-wide and there needs to be more apostles to do the work, so the Lord authorizes the head apostle on earth to call more.

If the Lord calls more apostles to do the work, who are we to say, no, you can't do that, the bible says there was only 12.

 

[No Swansong]

So 15 Apostles then? Why are you dodging the question?

He clearly didn't dodge the question.

 

[Peter1000]

What constitutes an apostle in Mormon definition of it?
An apostle as defined strictly by the New Testament no longer exists today, since these three conditions had to be met: The person had to have been an eyewitness to Jesus after his resurrection (1 Corinthians 9:1); had to have been chosen by the Holy Spirit (Acts 9:15); and had to have ministered with miraculous signs and wonders (Acts 2:43; 2 Corinthians 12:12).

Do you think that the Lord can not appear to men today, the same way he appeared to Paul in the first century?

Do you think the Holy Spirit can not choose an apostle today, the same way he chose apostles in the first century?

Do you think that signs and wonders are not in existence in the Mormon church today, just like the first century church?

You have a tendancy to put a cap on what the Lord, and the HS can do. Mormons do not, they believe God is all powerful.

 

[Peter1000]

What constitutes an apostle in Mormon definition of it?
An apostle as defined strictly by the New Testament no longer exists today, since these three conditions had to be met: The person had to have been an eyewitness to Jesus after his resurrection (1 Corinthians 9:1); had to have been chosen by the Holy Spirit (Acts 9:15); and had to have ministered with miraculous signs and wonders (Acts 2:43; 2 Corinthians 12:12).

The first 2 requirements can be met easily today as it was in the first century.

Ministering with miraculous signs and wonders was not a requirement to be called to be an apostle. It was a sign that the apostleship existed after you were called to be an apostle.

Paul did not know Jesus in real life. So Jesus appeared to him on the road to Damascus, and that met the special requirement that you had to be a witness of the existence of Jesus Christ.

Jesus has appeared to all of our apostles from the beginning in 1830 until today, and they were called by the HS also. In fact a man cannot see Jesus unless he is protected by the full presence of the HS.

 

[drstevej]

Do you think that the Lord can not appear to men today, the same way he appeared to Paul in the first century?

Do you think the Holy Spirit can not choose an apostle today, the same way he chose apostles in the first century?

Do you think that signs and wonders are not in existence in the Mormon church today, just like the first century church?

You have a tendancy to put a cap on what the Lord, and the HS can do. Mormons do not, they believe God is all powerful.

Warren Jeffs agrees with you, why not embrace him & the FLDS?

 

[Peter1000]

Warren Jeffs agrees with you, why not embrace him & the FLDS?

Because Jeffs has chosen to go his separate way, and is not in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is this body that has true apostles of the Lord.

As you know there are men and women all over the world that claim to be apostles of the Lord, but none of them, that I am aware of have spoken to the fact that they have had a visit by Jesus Christ in person so that they can be a special witness of his existence.

 

[No Swansong]

Warren Jeffs agrees with you, why not embrace him & the FLDS?

Granted I'm not a Mormon but I'm not following your point here.

 

[drstevej]

List of people claimed to be Jesus - Wikipedia

 

[Ironhold]

Granted I'm not a Mormon but I'm not following your point here.

It's common for people to invoke Warren Jeffs as a counter-argument, as if somehow his existence negates whatever people are invoking him in opposition to.

 

[No Swansong]

It's common for people to invoke Warren Jeffs as a counter-argument, as if somehow his existence negates whatever people are invoking him in opposition to.

Thank you for the clarification.

 

[Peter1000]

List of people claimed to be Jesus - Wikipedia

So?

 

[Peter1000]

Granted I'm not a Mormon but I'm not following your point here.

DrSteve is just mesmerized with W. Jeffs and Heavenly Mother. There is not a thread that goes by that the good Dr. does not mention W. Jeffs or Heavenly Mother.

 

[drstevej]

DrSteve is just mesmerized with W. Jeffs and Heavenly Mother. There is not a thread that goes by that the good Dr. does not mention W. Jeffs or Heavenly Mother.

Untrue. Please retract.

 

[mmksparbud]

Do you think that the Lord can not appear to men today, the same way he appeared to Paul in the first century?

Do you think the Holy Spirit can not choose an apostle today, the same way he chose apostles in the first century?

Do you think that signs and wonders are not in existence in the Mormon church today, just like the first century church?

You have a tendancy to put a cap on what the Lord, and the HS can do. Mormons do not, they believe God is all powerful.

Jesus can appear to whomsoever He will. It's just that there was no further additions of apostles after Paul mentioned in the bible, so wondering why you feel to add more. After the apostles, they were designated bishops, elders, deacons.
I do not put a cap on the Lord. I do put a cap on what man does outside of the bible. And it is not so that you think your God is all powerful, for you do not feel that God created everything out of nothing, only from what was already there.

 

[mmksparbud]

Because Jeffs has chosen to go his separate way, and is not in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is this body that has true apostles of the Lord.

As you know there are men and women all over the world that claim to be apostles of the Lord, but none of them, that I am aware of have spoken to the fact that they have had a visit by Jesus Christ in person so that they can be a special witness of his existence.

And what makes their claims false and yours true? What prove do you have that anyone of your apostles has seen Jesus---anyone can make that claim.

 

[Solomon Smith]

He clearly didn't dodge the question.

He didn’t answer the questions.

How many Mormon Apostles are there?
Why are there more than 12?