Should you really you pray to know if the Book of Mormon is God? Is there an adequate basis in the Holy Bible to be able to trust "pray to God to know if the Book of Mormon is true" is a subterfuge or clever to be deceived? What does the word of God in the Bible?
Author: Israel Gonzalez
This paper will show that the act of praying to God to know if the Book of Mormon is true is totally biblical and absolute. We conclude that there so abundant biblical evidence of this act, it's amazing that some denominations do shun their parishioners of this act.
first specify:
- What the Book of Mormon says
- What the critics say
To then demonstrate the following three basic postulates: Postulate 1
- : Pray to God to know a matter is Bible
- Postulate 2: Pray to God to see a matter is biblical
- Postulate 3: Pray to God to see if a new book of scripture is true is biblical
What we will necessarily to conclude that the exhortation to "ask God if the Book of Mormon is true" is absolutely correct and that speaks of an imperative for anyone who has received a copy of the Book of Mormon.
What the Book of Mormon says
The Book of Mormon, in the words of his latest scribe and prophet, said that the process to find out for yourself if true, is as follows:
Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that you read, remember how merciful the Lord has been with the sons of men, from the creation of Adam to the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts. And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God the Eternal Father in the name of Christ, if these things are true, and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it by the power of the Holy Spirit and the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things. (Moroni 10:3-5)This teaches a procedure that ends with a prayer request. Enumerate the steps of the process that arises in the above quote:
- believe that there is a God
- believe that God is our Heavenly Father
- believe that God is loving and merciful.
- Meditate deeply in love of God
- have faith in Christ, manifesting a life in harmony with it (James 2:17)
- believe that we consult God in prayer
- believe that God can answer using Holy Spirit
- Received a Book of Mormon
- have doubted the veracity of the Book of Mormon (for the birth of the need for consultation)
- have read the entire Book of Mormon
- Have made a powerful prayer asking if the Book of Mormon is true
- Have completed the appeal in the name of Christ
- recognizing God's answer through personal and unequivocal manifestation of the Holy Spirit (which is not always a burning in the chest, at least the Book of Mormon not only boxed in that, as critics say)
- be willing to live in accordance with the principles of the Book of Mormon *
What the critics say
says criticism is that the process of talking to God to know if the Book of Mormon is true it would not be biblical. Some critics even go further and argue that it is a satanic practice. It is said that we should not have enough "confidence" in this process query by sentence, and consequently, we should not practice it. That view would be an issue even unnecessary.
However, if this criticism were true, we could not find evidence in the Bible of the following three assumptions (mentioned above):
Postulate 1: Pray to God to know a matter is biblical
will test
the need for us to pray about a matter : that prayer, I pray, tilt, humility of heart and we dialog with God is part of the acquisition of spiritual knowledge in all biblical times. It will be seen in following scriptures that explicitly or implicitly, prayer is central to the process of acquiring knowledge:
2 Chronicles 1:9-10. " now, O Lord God , which is fulfilled thy promise unto David my father, because you have made me king over a people as numerous as the dust of the earth. Give me now wisdom and knowledge ...". Solomon prays that God give wisdom and knowledge to his reign.
Job 12:13, 28:20-21 " With God are wisdom and power ; are his counsel and understanding ... Whence then comes wisdom? "Where is the place of understanding? Because it is disguised in the eyes of all living, and every fowl of heaven he is hidden. "Job teaches that wisdom only comes from God directly.
Psalms 51:6. "Behold, You desire truth in the inward , and in secret you teach me wisdom." David said that his understanding of the issues found God in the privacy of your relationship with Him This implies periods of study, meditation and prayers in the personal privacy of David. Jesus will use the word "secret" for just referring to sincere prayer is Heavenly Father (see Matthew 6:18)
Proverbs 2:2,10; 22:17: "Giving ear to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding ... When wisdom enters your heart and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul. Tips your ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply your heart to my knowledge ...". Emphasis on listening only was not enough - remember that law is learned mostly in oral form, ie by listening, that would in our time to read - but you need to lean on God, which is very typical of the humble , penitent and sincere prayer is kneeling.
Ecclesiastes 1:13, 7:25 "And I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all that done under heaven : this sore travail hath God given to the sons of men to deal in him. "Wisdom is found in most parts of the Scriptures that only we possess. Paul later say: "Prove all things, hold fast what is good" (1 Thess. 5:21) in this context. The task of searching for wisdom in all possible sources is imposed by God to all men. Daniel
2:21-22,30. "Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God from eternity to eternity, are his wisdom and power. And he is the one ... gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to understand; he reveals deep and hidden things ; And to me this mystery has been revealed. "Daniel explains that only God knows everything and that man needs to know 'issues unknown' that he by the process of personal revelation has been posis show one of them. The story is undisputed that Daniel and his companions prayed intensely (see Daniel 2:16-18) and was only after this is that Daniel was God's response.
Luke 21:15. "Proponeos therefore in your hearts do not think ahead what ye shall answer; for I will give you words and wisdom, which can not withstand or contradict any of those who oppose you. "Jesus to his disciples Emphasises the need to rely on the influence of God in a closer relationship than just reading or just the reasoning (thinking in advance), that it is necessary that the space necessary personal revelation.
2:5-7,12-13
1 Corinthians: "But we speak the wisdom of God in mystery, the hidden wisdom ... But God has revealed to us by the Spirit because the Spirit searches everything, even what depths of God. For who among men knows the things of man except the spirit of man which is in him? So no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. And we have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit is God, so we know what God has given us, so we speak, not in words taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit ". Paul's stress upon the process of acquiring knowledge of God differs from that of the world, which is based only on the study and reasoning - as was the common thinking of the Greek community Corinthians being immersed in that world, was very own record - It is necessary to involve the Holy Spirit in the process of learning.
Ephesians 1:17. "Do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers , that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him," Paul evidently tells them of his prayers to the Ephesians by them, to prove that this act is necessary for God to give them wisdom, and it is reasonable to assume that also mentions that they knew that they too could pray for the same, he I gave the example (Timothy 4:12).
Colossians 1:9. "Therefore we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you and you may be filled ask knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding," emphasizes the role of prayer again the same purposes indicated above.
James 1:5. "If any of you lack wisdom, ask God , who gives generously to all without reproach, and will be given.." Santiago again mentioned the action of praying to God you do not know a subject and add the knowledge that God will not upbraid, ie the act of prayer to seek to know an issue is something that God wants us to do.
But critics say that this evidence is not sufficient. They argue that this is not enough evidence to demonstrate the need to consult God in prayer about an important issue. Wisdom would say to ask God than to see an issue. Therefore it is necessary to prove the following postulate.
Postulate 2: Pray for God to refer a matter is biblical
Now we will show that not only wisdom should pray for the businesses, it is also biblical to ask God for unknown issues that we know. The fact that the prayer explicitly not only thank and ask, as a monologue as we would in a letter, but also includes direct questions and text as a dialogue with the Lord, it is biblical:
Exodus 18:5: "And Moses said unto his father: Because the people come to me to consult God . " Moses says that the Jewish people had the habit of consulting the facts of daily life to God and he did so because he was "in the place of God" (Exodus 4:6). However, the later people would grow up and know that they could turn in consultation with the Lord, as discussed in the following quotations.
Judges 18:5: "And they said: question now therefore God, so we know if it is to prosper this trip we do. And the priest said to them: Go in peace, because the trip you do is with the Lord. "Consultations with the Lord are" to know ", ie that we are absolutely certain knowledge we need to get.
1 Samuel 9:9. "In Israel, which was to consult God read: Come, let's see the seer: for he is now called a prophet, formerly called seer." It reinforces the idea that Israel, the people of God, has to consult with God through the prophet seer. Later, you will see that the Lord will query through or in the name of Jesus Christ (Zechariah 13:9, John 16:24), where he is the mediator par excellence Celestial.
1 Samuel 22:15: "And Saul said to him: Why have you conspired against me, thou and the son of Jesse, when you gave him bread and a sword, and consulted God for him, to be lifted against me and I lie in wait, as it does today? Ahimelech ... Then answered the king and said: Did I have started today to consult God for him? ". This episode is evidence that the Jewish custom to consult the Lord was much more rooted in culture than what the critics think, to the extent that the act of praying and talking to God is taken into account as very important in life.
1:6,16-17
2 Kings: "And they replied: We found a man who told us: Go and return to the king that sent you, and tell him, Thus saith the LORD, Is there not God in Israel, that you send to consult Baalzebub the god of Ekron? ... And he said, Thus saith the Lord: Because thou hast sent messengers to inquire Baalzebub the god of Ekron (" there no God in Israel to inquire of his word ?), Not come down, therefore, the bed to you uploaded, but shall surely die. So he died according to the word of the Lord which Elijah had spoken. "The prophet Elijah found so serious that the Lord was not consulted by the king of Israel political drastic decree death penalty on him. Is not it even more important at this time to practice to consult the Lord in prayer to avoid spiritual death?
1 Chronicles 14:14: "Then David inquired of God, saying I go up against the Philistines? and wilt thou deliver to me? And the Lord said, Arise, for I will deliver in your hands. " This is a great example of what we are talking about. Here David raises the question of God explicitly. Thus we see that prayer can, and should involve not only explicit questions and requests or thanks.
2 Chronicles 34:26: "But the king of Judah who sent you to inquire of the Lord and say to him: Lord, the God of Israel, has said so." It reinforces the idea of \u200b\u200bconsulting God.
Isaiah 8:19-20: "And if men tell you to evoke the dead, and the soothsayers, and whispering and murmuring," should not a people seek their God ? Why consult the dead on behalf of alive?. To the law and to the testimony. " Isaiah emphasizes the fact even consulting God is the basis for the law and the testimony of the Lord is permeating the soul. Ezekiel 20:3,31
"Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel, saying, Thus saith the Lord: Do you come consult you? I live, that I will answer, saith the Lord ... Tell me therefore, to the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord: "Do not defile yourselves in the manner of your fathers and I prostituís after their abominations? Ye offer your gifts, your children passing by the fire, you have contaminated with all your idols until now, what shall I be inquired, house of Israel? I live, saith the Lord, I will answer no! "The Lord emphasizes that heaven for answers to our queries in prayer, we make an effort to live a life chords you want to commune with cierlos or he does not respond, which is in complete agreement with what the Book of Mormon emphasizes the phrase "having faith in Christ", which shows both the strength of belief in Christ as the fruit of obedience to beginning of his Gospel.
However, a small group of critics says that it is biblical pray for divine counsel, but not any biblical evidence that has been asked by a new book of scripture, which downplay the importance of consulting a new book of scripture of course.
Postulate 3: Pray to God to see if writing a new book is true is
biblical episode is almost overlooked, but in itself, independent of its brevity is very significant for the subject of this study . Perhaps its brevity it is almost ignored by most critics as well as connoisseurs of the Book of Mormon.
is indisputable proof that it is proper to consult God in prayer to know if a new book of scripture called God is actually the episode of the finding of book of the law contained in 2 Kings 22:
"Josiah ... reigned in Jerusalem thirty-one years ...
He did right in the eyes of the Lord and walked in all the ways of David his father, not aside to the right or left ...
Then Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the type: I found the book of the law in the house of the Lord. And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and read ... And Shaphan the scribe told the king, "Hilkiah the priest has given me a book [Note: As you write, Shaphan have detected right away if a book was already known or new scripture]. And Shaphan read before the king.
happened, when the king heard the words of the book of the law, tore his clothes. And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam son Shaphan Acbor and son of Micah, and Shaphan and Asaiah the servant of the king, saying, Go and inquire of the LORD for me, and for the people and all Judah, about the words of this book that is found , for great is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not hearkened the words of this book, to do according to all that is written about us ... But the king of Judah who sent you to inquire of the Lord , you will say this: Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel: Regarding the words you have heard, because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before the Lord when you heard what I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants, who would become a desolation and a curse, and tore your robes and wept in my presence, I also have heard thee, saith the Lord.
Therefore, behold, I will gather you to your parents, and be taken to your grave in peace, and will not see your eyes all the evil which I bring about this place. And they brought the king word . "(2 Kings 22: 1-2,9-10,12-14,18-20)
Why then yes I pray to God to know if the Book of Mormon is true?
The evidence is too strong to be rebutted. Now we just ask the reasons why God has placed this challenge in front of many, a challenge test over all the humility of the person: ask God if the Book of Mormon is true.
First, because the Book of Mormon, unlike other supposedly sacred books of scripture that critics often cited as the Koran and others put them on par with the Book of Mormon, none of them claims to be "Another Testament of Jesus Christ." None supports the Bible as the word of God. Instead, the Book of Mormon is presented as an additional partner that gives more light on the divinity of Jesus Christ and the truth of the Bible.
Second, the Book of Mormon is to us. No Jaredite, Nephites, Lamanites, Zoramite, etc or any pre-Columbian prueblo which we read in the book had access to it. Was written and preserved for centuries especially for our age. That also is unparalleled in history.
Third, because there is salvation by grace in innocence but condemnation in ignorance. The subtle difference is that the innocent might not know, the ignorant rejects what another might have known. So, if true this process leading to pray to know if the Book of Mormon is true, explained at the beginning of Moroni 10:3-5; knowingly rejecting the opportunity to experience this process, to know the truth of this New Will is so important that the consequence of refusing to fall from grace of the Lord:
"My people perish for lack of knowledge. Because thou hast rejected knowledge , I will reject of my priesthood, because you have forgotten your God's instruction, I will also forget of your children. "(Hosea 4:6, TBJ)
Fourth, the final trial will be based on all the sacred books. If the Book of Mormon was true and if you already had an advance copy in his possession and never appreciated it, what will you do when, in front of their eyes, in the table of Judgement see a copy of the Book of Mormon open wide to judge his life? Because you and I "will be judged by all the sacred books" and not just the ones we enjoy (see Revelation 20:12). So it is vital that you know if this book is Another Testament of Jesus Christ or not is:
"But here, there are many that harden their hearts against the Holy Spirit so it has no place in them, therefore, reject many things that are written and considered as nothing.
But I, Nephi, have written what I have written, and I consider of great value, especially for my people. I pray continually for them by day, and my eyes water my pillow at night because of them, and cried to my God in faith, and I know he will hear my cry.
And I know that the Lord God will consecrate my prayers for the benefit of my people. And the words I have written in weakness be made strong for them as persuade them to do good, they do know about their parents and talk about Jesus, and persuade them to believe in him and persevere to the end life is eternal.
And speaking harshly against sin, according to the clarity of truth, so nobody will be upset with the words I've written, unless the spirit of the devil.
And now, my beloved brethren, ye also the Jews and all the ends of the earth, hear these words and believe in Christ, and if you do not believe in these words believe in Christ. And if you believe in Christ will believe in these words, they are the words of Christ, and he has given me, and teach all men should do good.
And if not the words of Christ, judge, for in the last day Christ will manifest with power and glory that are his words, and before his court we shall see face to face, you and I, and know that he has commanded me to write these things, despite my weakness. "(2 Nephi 33: 2 to 5.10 -11)
Finally, I would testify from personal experience. I know the process that calls the book is true: that if we read, meditate and pray to God in the name of Jesus to ask if the Book is true, we know for ourselves that God is through the power of the Holy Spirit. I've done and now I know for myself that the Book of Mormon is also the word of God.
understand the animosity and prejudice that may have before doing so. It's happened to all those who We followed the process since this part because of doubts about the Book. The knees and ask, after an arduous effort to meditate and read, is something that requires courage and above all humility. I tried to do my best to at least you trust that the process is totally and absolutely in line with what the Bible teaches and sensational critics reproach the process of "non-necessary" and even "satanic" is totally wrong and no biblical basis whatsoever.
I invite you and trusted you to do so.
The Book of Mormon is true! May the Lord bless you in your effort!
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