RB = Cursed be the man that trusteth in man. 



An excerpt = in the interest of brevity. :pingu2:
( Written by a former minister ) 

TRUST IN THE LORD

A common objection raised against those who belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is that we follow the teachings of the President of the Church thereby violating the words of the Bible which states, "Thus saith the LORD; 

Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD" (Jeremiah 17:5). 

The reason for this objection stems from three fundamental doctrines upon which nearly all Christian churches have built their religious faith. The first is that God has ceased giving us revelation through the use of prophets as He once did anciently. This leads to the second belief that the Bible is the final and complete word of God to man. As such, there cannot be any more added to what God has already caused to be written. And this had lead to the third belief that the Bible is to be our sole source of authority on religious matters.

. . .

Whether a church is very large or extremely small, nearly every Christian denomination has someone who does the preaching to their congregation. This person is referred to as a minister, pastor, reverend, preacher, priest, or some other similar title. In the vast majority of cases, these individuals have been trained for the ministry. That is, they have gone through some sort of formal theological instruction where they have been prepared to understand what is contained in the Bible. 

Their schooling involves an in-depth study of the doctrines of their faith and a thorough analysis of the entire Bible and how it relates to and verifies their stated beliefs. They also are educated in the background of the Bible, which would include the geography, language, culture, customs and history of the people, places, and events found in the Bible. And, in many cases, even after they've graduated from seminary training, most pastors continue to increase their skills and knowledge of the Bible by taking additional education courses, as well as attending seminars, conferences, and retreats that are offered for the purpose of helping them increase their understanding of what the Bible teaches. In fact, a person can pursue their educational training to the point where they can obtain a Ph.D. in religion. Some go on to specialize in various aspects of religion, becoming a Professor of such subjects as Hebrew or Semitic languages, ancient religious history, or comparative religion, to name just a few.

Armed with this knowledge, the pastor goes forth equipped and prepared to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ to others. Their job not only is to bring souls to Christ by helping them understand how to gain salvation, but, more importantly, to teach both the newly converted as well as the long-time faithful how to grow in their Christian life. Each Sunday (or other day of worship) they stand before their congregation and preach a sermon that's intended to edify, educate, inspire, and improve the understanding of those in attendance on what God expects of them. And they do this by exhorting, expounding, explaining, and emphasizing the things found in the Bible.

For the most part, the members of a congregation have little or no formal biblical training, especially compared to that of their minister. Furthermore, they don't attend the seminars and conferences which their pastor is invited to. Therefore, they come to church for the specific purpose of being taught what the Bible says, in the same way a student comes to class to learn from a teacher. As such, it is the pastor whom the members of the congregation look to for their guidance and instruction in what the Bible teaches. He is the knowledgeable person they go to for answers concerning God's word. He is the one whom they rely upon to help them understand God's word. As such, it is his words they depend on for their understanding of what the Bible teaches concerning how to receive salvation and how to continue in their daily walk with Christ.

But this is no different than what the pastor himself has gone through. At one time, he too was brought to Christ by the preaching of a minister. As a student in seminary class, he was taught by men what the Bible teaches. As such, both the pastor and the members of his congregation have depended on the words of man to tell them what God's word wants them to know. Thus, all Christians, whether they wish to acknowledge it or not, depend on man, not God for their understanding of what the Bible teaches. Yet, not one of these instructors of religion even claims to be teaching by divine inspiration, because, according to their own stated beliefs, God no longer speaks to man in that manner.

However, instead of admitting that they're relying on the words of man to understand God's word, nearly all Christians claim their beliefs are based solely on what is found in the Bible. Therefore, they say that their minister is not preaching their own doctrine but rather is simply explaining what God has already revealed in His written word. Yet, if this were truly the case, then there would be no differences of opinion concerning biblical teachings. That means, it shouldn't matter whether someone goes to a Lutheran church, and Episcopal church, a Baptist Church, a Seventh-day Adventist church, or a Catholic Church because they would all be teaching the same doctrines. However, we know that is not the case. The very reason why there are different denominations is because of disagreements between people on what the Bibles says. (for a more in-depth study of these differences see my article entitled "The Authority of God" )

Those who belong to the Lutheran faith base their doctrines on the teachings of the man, Martin Luther, a 16th century reformist. Thus, to be a Lutheran means that a person subscribes to or agrees with the biblical doctrines taught by Martin Luther. Since he is the founder of this religion, it is his ideas of what the Bible says that is taught in this church. He is the one that all other Lutheran ministers rely upon for their understanding of God's word. Accordingly, they interpret all verses of scripture in conformance to the teachings of the man Martin Luther.

Inspired by Martin Luther, John Calvin took up the torch of reforming the church. However, he took exception with Luther on several fundamental points of doctrine, especially concerning the subject of salvation. Today, those who follow the teachings of John Calvin are known as Calvinists, and practice what they refer to as Reformed Theology. Since John Calvin was the father and founder of this religion, it is his words, in the form of writings and sermons, that form the foundation upon which this church understands all biblical verses. As with the Lutheran faith, to be a member of this church means that a person must subscribe to and agree with the viewpoint which the man John Calvin taught.

Although there are many similarities between these two oldest Protestant denominations, there are also some very significant differences. Yet, both religious faiths make the claim that they are not teaching the doctrines of men but are only teaching what God Himself has written in the Bible. Nevertheless, having made that claim, neither one can completely agree with the other on what the Bible actually teaches.

Following in the footsteps of these two men came the establishment of other Protestant churches, such as the Methodists, Episcopalians, Mennonites, Quakers, etc. And with each new denomination, we see even more doctrinal differences of ideas, each one championed by a prominent preacher. So persuasive were these ministers that they developed a following of believers who accepted their word as being the only correct understanding of what the Bible taught.

Today we find this same situation existing among all denominations. A person regularly attends a particular faith mainly because they agree with the teachings of that church. But, if there comes a time when an individual no longer can accept the doctrinal position of that church, they will switch to a different religious organization with whose teachings they can agree. As such, they are not actually following what is in the Bible, but rather are being persuaded or dissuaded by the ideas, interpretations, and reasoning which men, known as ministers, pastors, or preachers, are teaching. Therefore, in reality, nearly all Christians follow the words of men, not God.

It might be argued by some that this is not an accurate statement because people can read the Bible for themselves to determine whether or not a particular pastor or church is following what the Bible itself teaches. And if they conclude that the church they are attending is straying from the teachings of the Bible, then they will move their membership to a church that does teach biblical truth. However, there is a glaring error with this argument because both the pastor and the disagreeing member each think they have the correct understanding of God's word. It could be said that since the pastor has received theological training in the Bible, while the congregational member hasn't, it is the pastor who has the greater insight into God's word.. Yet, on the other hand, it can be argued that the Bible is sufficiently clear in its message that a person doesn't need training in the ministry to understand God's message of salvation. But, if that is the case, then it would seem there shouldn't be any doctrinal disagreements among people, especially among serious students of the Bible.

Furthermore, what such an argument implies is that the responsibility for determining what the Bible teaches is left up to each individual. But, if that were truly the case, then we wouldn't need anyone to treach us what the Bible says. All we would need to do is read the Bible for ourselves. However, under such a condition each person would become their own final authority in judging what is the correct teachings of the Bible, based upon their own level of knowledge. In such a case, each person would then be putting their trust in themselves to know what they should believe rather than relying on what someone else tells them. And, indeed, it is because of this very situation that has led to there being literally tens of thousands of different Christian denominations in the world today.

Yet, surprising as it may seem, this is the exact opposite of what the Bible teaches. The apostle Paul talked about the dangers of people relying on their own personal ideas and leading others astray from the truth. He warned that people could easily be swayed "to and fro by every wind of doctrine" that came along (Eph. 4:14). He continually admonished the Christian saints to be of one mind and to come to a unity of the faith (Romans 12:16; 2 Cor. 13:11; Eph. 4:13; Phil. 1:27). He expressly wrote that they were to listen to his words and to reject anyone who taught a doctrine different than what he had delivered unto them (Galatians 1:8). It was "the apostles' doctrine" which the earliest Christians followed, not their own ideas (Acts 2:42).

However, when members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints follow the "the apostles' doctrines" as taught by modern-day, living apostles and prophets, who claim to be just as inspired as their ancient counterparts, many in the Christian community complain that we are putting our trust in man, rather than in God, while claiming they are following God rather than trusting in man.

Perhaps we can illustrate this by way of an example. Let's say that a master carpenter wrote a book explaining how to create ... - [link to www.14lds.com]

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MC