Apologette
12-19-2013, 05:52 PM
Joseph Smith claimed to be an authority on everything, even wings. But, apparently, he wasn't much of a student of the Bible:
An angel of God never has wings. Some will say that they have seen a spirit; that he offered them his hand, but they did not touch it. This is a lie. First, it is contrary to the plan of God: a spirit cannot come but in glory; an angel has flesh and bones; we see not their glory. The devil may appear as an angel of light. Ask God to reveal it; if it be of the devil, he will flee from you; if of God, He will manifest Himself, or make it manifest. We may come to Jesus and ask Him; He will know all about it.” (History of the Church, 3:392.)
So an evil spirit will not shake hands if you offer him your hand. Why didn't Joe offer to shake the hands of the two "beings" who he claims approached him and told him all the Christian creeds were an abomination - that those who profess them are all corrupt? Maybe they were from the devil - and obviously those "beings" (if they existed at all, which I doubt) were Satanic since they ripped into the Church founded by Jesus Christ.
Apparently, Joe Smith, Bizarro theologian, forgot about these Bible verses:
In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train[a] of his robe filled the temple. 2Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3And one called to another and said: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!" Isaiah 6:1-3 ESV
Seraphim are an order of angelic beings found in the Old Testament. Futhermore, depictions of angels were fashioned in the Holy of Holies:
17 Make a throne,[2] too, of pure gold, two and a half cubits long, one and a half cubits broad, 18 and two cherubs of pure beaten gold for the two ends of this throne, 19 one to stand on either side of it; 20 with their wings outspread to cover the throne, guardians of the shrine. They are to face one another across the throne. And this throne is to be the covering of the ark, 21 and the ark’s contents, the written law I mean to give thee. 22 Thence will I issue my commands; from that throne of mercy, between the two cherubs that stand over the ark and its records,[3] my voice shall come to thee, whenever I send word through thee to the sons of Israel." Exodus 25
I guess he also forgot 1 Kings 6 describing the cherubim in the Holy of Holies:
23 Within the shrine stood two cherubim, made of olive-wood, ten cubits high; 24 each of these had wings of five cubits’ breadth, so that there was ten cubits’ distance between the tips of them. 25 The second cherub matched the first in height, no difference of size or of workmanship between them. 26 Ten cubits high they stood, 27 there in the midst of the inner shrine, either touching the wall with one wing and its fellow’s wing with the other. 28 The cherubim, too, he plated with gold.
and 2 Chronicles 3:
8 He made, too, an inner shrine, twenty cubits long like the width of the main building, and twenty cubits wide. Some six hundred talents of gold were used in the facing of it; 9 the very nails were of gold, each of fifty sicles’ weight; even the upper rooms were faced with gold. 10 Within the inner shrine stood two carved cherubs, all plated with gold; 11 the four wings of them had twenty cubits’ stretch, 12 either touching the wall with one of its wings, five cubits long, and its fellow cherub with the other. 13 Thus, with outspread wings both of them, they occupied the whole space of twenty cubits; upright they stood on their feet, with their faces turned towards the outer building. 14 A veil, too, he made, of fine linen thread twined with threads of blue, purple and scarlet, with a tapestry of cherubs. 15 And before the doors of the temple he set up two pillars thirty-five cubits high, with capitals of five cubits; 16 and he made chains (within the inner shrine) which he hung round the capitals, each interspersed with a hundred figured pomegranates.[2] 17 At the very entrance of the temple he set up these pillars, one on the right, to which he gave the name of Jachin, and one on the left, to which he gave the name of Booz.
not to mention 1 Kings 6:
23 Within the shrine stood two cherubim, made of olive-wood, ten cubits high; 24 each of these had wings of five cubits’ breadth, so that there was ten cubits’ distance between the tips of them. 25 The second cherub matched the first in height, no difference of size or of workmanship between them. 26 Ten cubits high they stood, 27 there in the midst of the inner shrine, either touching the wall with one wing and its fellow’s wing with the other. 28 The cherubim, too, he plated with gold.
As we can see these verses consistently share the teaching that angels have wings. If the Mormons here are not educated regarding angels (and I guess they aren't or they'd know better than to believe Smith) let's look at a definition of cherubim and seraphim and the ranks of angels:
http://www.biblestudytools.com/dictionary/angel/
Joseph Smith spuriously taught that angels were human beings - in fact Mormons believe that men, angels and gods are all of the same species. Of course, the bible nowhere teaches anything even remotely like Mormonism. This is why Joe Smith couldn't stand the fact that angels had wings - and simply disregarded all the biblical evidence to the contrary. Some even believe that Sidney Rigdon was really Smith's "angel" Moroni....that Rigdon visited Smith once a year, and finally brought the Spalding m****cript which formed the basis of the BoM. Rigdon didn't have wings - and neither did his alter ego, Moroni! So Joe had to make the bizarre claim that angels don't have wings, despite so much biblical evidence to the contrary!
An angel of God never has wings. Some will say that they have seen a spirit; that he offered them his hand, but they did not touch it. This is a lie. First, it is contrary to the plan of God: a spirit cannot come but in glory; an angel has flesh and bones; we see not their glory. The devil may appear as an angel of light. Ask God to reveal it; if it be of the devil, he will flee from you; if of God, He will manifest Himself, or make it manifest. We may come to Jesus and ask Him; He will know all about it.” (History of the Church, 3:392.)
So an evil spirit will not shake hands if you offer him your hand. Why didn't Joe offer to shake the hands of the two "beings" who he claims approached him and told him all the Christian creeds were an abomination - that those who profess them are all corrupt? Maybe they were from the devil - and obviously those "beings" (if they existed at all, which I doubt) were Satanic since they ripped into the Church founded by Jesus Christ.
Apparently, Joe Smith, Bizarro theologian, forgot about these Bible verses:
In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train[a] of his robe filled the temple. 2Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3And one called to another and said: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!" Isaiah 6:1-3 ESV
Seraphim are an order of angelic beings found in the Old Testament. Futhermore, depictions of angels were fashioned in the Holy of Holies:
17 Make a throne,[2] too, of pure gold, two and a half cubits long, one and a half cubits broad, 18 and two cherubs of pure beaten gold for the two ends of this throne, 19 one to stand on either side of it; 20 with their wings outspread to cover the throne, guardians of the shrine. They are to face one another across the throne. And this throne is to be the covering of the ark, 21 and the ark’s contents, the written law I mean to give thee. 22 Thence will I issue my commands; from that throne of mercy, between the two cherubs that stand over the ark and its records,[3] my voice shall come to thee, whenever I send word through thee to the sons of Israel." Exodus 25
I guess he also forgot 1 Kings 6 describing the cherubim in the Holy of Holies:
23 Within the shrine stood two cherubim, made of olive-wood, ten cubits high; 24 each of these had wings of five cubits’ breadth, so that there was ten cubits’ distance between the tips of them. 25 The second cherub matched the first in height, no difference of size or of workmanship between them. 26 Ten cubits high they stood, 27 there in the midst of the inner shrine, either touching the wall with one wing and its fellow’s wing with the other. 28 The cherubim, too, he plated with gold.
and 2 Chronicles 3:
8 He made, too, an inner shrine, twenty cubits long like the width of the main building, and twenty cubits wide. Some six hundred talents of gold were used in the facing of it; 9 the very nails were of gold, each of fifty sicles’ weight; even the upper rooms were faced with gold. 10 Within the inner shrine stood two carved cherubs, all plated with gold; 11 the four wings of them had twenty cubits’ stretch, 12 either touching the wall with one of its wings, five cubits long, and its fellow cherub with the other. 13 Thus, with outspread wings both of them, they occupied the whole space of twenty cubits; upright they stood on their feet, with their faces turned towards the outer building. 14 A veil, too, he made, of fine linen thread twined with threads of blue, purple and scarlet, with a tapestry of cherubs. 15 And before the doors of the temple he set up two pillars thirty-five cubits high, with capitals of five cubits; 16 and he made chains (within the inner shrine) which he hung round the capitals, each interspersed with a hundred figured pomegranates.[2] 17 At the very entrance of the temple he set up these pillars, one on the right, to which he gave the name of Jachin, and one on the left, to which he gave the name of Booz.
not to mention 1 Kings 6:
23 Within the shrine stood two cherubim, made of olive-wood, ten cubits high; 24 each of these had wings of five cubits’ breadth, so that there was ten cubits’ distance between the tips of them. 25 The second cherub matched the first in height, no difference of size or of workmanship between them. 26 Ten cubits high they stood, 27 there in the midst of the inner shrine, either touching the wall with one wing and its fellow’s wing with the other. 28 The cherubim, too, he plated with gold.
As we can see these verses consistently share the teaching that angels have wings. If the Mormons here are not educated regarding angels (and I guess they aren't or they'd know better than to believe Smith) let's look at a definition of cherubim and seraphim and the ranks of angels:
http://www.biblestudytools.com/dictionary/angel/
Joseph Smith spuriously taught that angels were human beings - in fact Mormons believe that men, angels and gods are all of the same species. Of course, the bible nowhere teaches anything even remotely like Mormonism. This is why Joe Smith couldn't stand the fact that angels had wings - and simply disregarded all the biblical evidence to the contrary. Some even believe that Sidney Rigdon was really Smith's "angel" Moroni....that Rigdon visited Smith once a year, and finally brought the Spalding m****cript which formed the basis of the BoM. Rigdon didn't have wings - and neither did his alter ego, Moroni! So Joe had to make the bizarre claim that angels don't have wings, despite so much biblical evidence to the contrary!