Which Christ is the real Christ?

One of the latest attacks I have experienced from people who want me damned for my beliefs as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the claim I follow a false Jesus. As a logical debate, there are numerous fallacies with anyone making such an accusation, but religion is not often required to fit the requirements of logic.

I believe that faith is first and foremost, and that some things must be believed that don't appear to fit logic, but I also have found that those things cannot be discounted only on the basis of a logical argument. Most of what I believe is also entirely logical as well as meeting the requirements of faith. Maybe the only belief I have that cannot be supported logically, is the simple belief in God. I know God lives, but I can't prove it to anyone. That requires faith entirely.

Beyond logic and faith, there remains only scriptural verification. For the sake of those who do not accept all the scriptures I recognize as divine canon, I will amend that as Biblical verification. Not all things can be verified by the Bible, of course, no matter what version of Judeo-Christian theology one espouses. The only recourse then, is to use the process of elimination. If something is clearly and unequivocally eliminated by the Bible, it must be rejected.

The Bible is an exceptionally ambiguous document at times, and so that standard can rarely be met. In the abscence of certainty, logic and faith should be relied on as well, with faith being the last word.

It is not my intent to apply that rigor to the question of: whose Christ is the right Christ (or for that matter, whose Messiah?)? I both question anyone's ability to prove that their version is true to the exclusion of all others, and that the details are even that critical. As far as I have been able to discern, no one challenges these type of beliefs to facilitate the salvation of anyone else, but only does so in an attempt to condemn them. I am not interested in condemning anyone.

I am just as capable of throwing doubt on someone else's version as they are mine. I may even choose to look at some comparisons in a future post. At this time, I am only trying to establish that no person on this earth, unless they claim to be a prophet, has the right, the authority, or the justification to dictate to all others the definative description, origin or mission of Jesus Christ, much less the nature and purpose of God, in general.

I have seen numerous scriptural passages that supposedly prove one point or another, or that claim to disprove my beliefs, but none of them really establish either of those premises. I don't propose to produce a list of my own verses to try and prove or disprove anything. I believe the scriptures contain the information we need to understand God's plan for us, but to try and discern or dispense truth without the guidance of the Spirit is hopeless and foolish.

The real Christ knows who He is and He knows who His sheep are. I have beliefs about the answers to those questions, and I am satisfied with those answers. I follow those beliefs and allow all others to worship as they see fit. I feel the evangelical spirit to share my beliefs, but I am not about to try and dictate where anyone is going after this life based on any set of rules. That is not for me or any living human to decide.

Divine Inspiration

It amazes me when someone is offended or wants to argue with me when I say I believe this nation and its laws were divinely inspired. I'm not exactly sure how it is harming anyone for me to believe that. I don't assert that the United States is a "Christian nation," but it does respect all religions, including Christianity, and to deny that the founders and framers of the U.S. Constitution considered Christian values is asinine.

So maybe a few of the Founders were Deists, or even Atheists, or whatever religion. That fact is a better evidence and testimony of their determination to make this a nation where all religions or no religions could be practiced freely with no interference from the state. Do you want to argue whether there was an establishment clause calling for separation of church and state? Okay, fine, have it your way- the Founders DID want separation of church and state: they wanted the state to stay completely out of questions of religion and religious practice.

The assertion that what I believe is offensive to someone simply because I am allowed to practice it is ludicrous...sticks and stones. To go further and allow litigation, and especially legislation to accomodate the individual who is so thin-skinned that they can't maintain their disbelief without eliminating everything that might make them doubt it, is a complete denial of the principles on which this nation is founded.

Not Christian principles, not Deist, Atheist, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, or any other specific belief system. "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." The enemies of God get us hung on the first part which is highly debatable and open to multiple interpretations, when we should be hammering on the second part "or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."

That is completely plain and unambiguous. That is an absolute statement. No law prohibiting free exercise of religion means NO LAWS. It is clearly unconstitutional for Congress to make any law that concerns (or should I says respects?) religion. None. Because any law that even addresses any aspect of religion is going to either show favoritism (respect and establish) to one belief system or prohibit the free exercise of another, or more likely, both.

You too, Atheists, yours is belief system: you believe there is no God. Until you can prove there is no God, it is only a belief. No one else should be made subject to your belief system, and you should not be subject to ours. You may seek legal redress if you feel that you have had your rights and your freedom violated, but you CAN'T. MAKE. LAWS....unless you eliminate (which is the same as ignore) the United States Constitution.

Those words "United States Constitution" are sacred to me. I believe that the Founders were inspired in creating it, to preserve the rights and the freedoms of all beliefs, and all creeds, ethnicites, etc. I would fight and die to protect your right to belief nothing, or anything, so how about you quit trying to take my rights?

Are Jesus and the devil brothers?

Worded that way, I can easily say, "No, they are not." However, they were brothers, even as Jesus Christ is the eldest brother, and greatest of all of the children of God, which children we are as well. We compare to Him somewhere less than the size of the Earth compares to a blue giant star like Antares YouTube - Size of Earth, yet He is our brother, nonetheless. The devil, Satan, who once was Lucifer, a son of the morning (Isaiah 14:12), who rebelled against God and all those other fallen angels who are now demons to Satan are so much less than we are as to be as close to nothing as can exist.

They are cast out completely from the presence of God and though they have a time during our mortal existence to be allowed to try us, their ultimate fate is complete oblivion. To comprehend such a tragedy is beyond our ability, despite our attempts in theater and literature to try and imagine the worst possible scenarios our minds can concoct through some strange compulsion. Tragedy it is, but one of their own choosing. It is plain: they rebelled.

Now, consider what that means. Can one rebel against a body of which they were never a part? There are many things which God created, in His wisdom, that do not live up to the divinity of their creation, yet they are still God's creations, because there is nothing which was created that He did not create. How can Lucifer not be one of God's creations?

Could he create himself? Would that not make him greater than Jesus Christ who was created by God? Wouldn't that place him equal to God as a creator himself? Which is the more logical? Which is the more blasphemous? Yes, we of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints believe, as Isaiah said, that Satan was created by God as a brother of all living and dead, but he forsook that birthright and was thrown down. He is no prodigal son. He will not return to his Father in Heaven. He is not of us and no brother of our Savior Jesus Christ, nor will he or any who followed him partake of the grace and redemption of He who died for those of us who chose to follow our Father's plan.

Therefore, however you choose to word the question, I definitively answer: No, Jesus and the devil are not brothers.