"You are My witnesses," declares the LORD, "And My servant whom I have chosen, So that you may know and believe Me And understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, And there will be none after Me. I, even I, am the LORD, And there is no savior besides Me.” Isaiah 43:10-11
God went to a lot of trouble to be sure we would have the ability to
test and know that His story was true. The Bible really did come from God.
Let’s begin looking at the Bible’s testimony and evaluating it’s
witnesses.
The first and obvious testimony inside our modern completed work is
prophecy. By 740 BC God’s batting average is so clearly established that
it became the basis of other discussions as we can see in Is. 43 under our
title.
This broad section in Isaiah (which consists of the second half of the
book of Isaiah) is making that case. God notes that the Jewish people had become
His witness to the world at large. Jehovah is God and He has spoken. The effect
of the Jewish witness is clearly seen in that when Jesus came, He was
expected. In other words, Jesus did not just show up and say, “I have
arrived, look at Me!”
Let’s look in on one of Jesus’ conversations. (He is
dealing with the Samaritan woman.) John 4: 25-26. The woman said to Him, "I know that
Messiah is coming (He who is called Christ); when that One comes, He will
declare all things to us."
Jesus *said to her, "I who speak to you am {He.}"
The
bottom line is they were looking for “Messiah!”
For the record, both Joe Smith (of Mormon fame) and Muhammad, “just
arrived.” The Bible addresses the kind of witness presented by Smith and
Muhammad. Through Isaiah God actually challenges both of these worldly
religions to put up or shut up. (Something neither of them did!) The
witnesses of both Smith and Muhammad are very different from those bringing us
the Bible.
Isaiah 44: 8-9 'Do not tremble and do not be afraid; Have I not long
since announced {it} to you and declared {it?} And you are My witnesses. Is
there any God besides Me, Or is there any {other} Rock? I know of none.' Those
who fashion a graven image are all of them futile, and their precious things
are of no profit; even their own witnesses fail to see or know, so that they
will be put to shame.”
The idolatry aspect of God’s challenge would not apply as
directly to Islam as it would to the Mormon religion, but the folly of
witnesses to a worldly religion is self evident. It leads to shame. Neither
of these men could have responded to God’s challenge to the
world’s religions issued from the God of heaven Himself!
"King
Agrippa, do you believe the Prophets? I know that you do." Acts
26:27.
Match God’s examples of prophecy… and expectation. Their
inability to do such should leave their followers in shame. Many do not know to
be ashamed. Today most people don’t take the time to compare
Christianity with the world’s religions so they really don’t know
how it stacks up.
I.E. As a people, many of us have forgotten our heritage. We have also
forgotten that Jesus always intended for us to question before we follow.
Notice that Jesus truly wished for us to demand something greater than
the single testimony of men, our eyes etc. Any one of the avenues of gathering
information can sometimes deceive us… but not all of those avenues at
once. Here is Jesus’ advice in this regard.
John 5...
The
witness of Jesus
31. "If I {alone} testify about Myself, My testimony is not true.
The
witness of John
32. "There is another who testifies of Me, and I know that the
testimony which He gives about Me is true.
33. "You have sent to John, and he has testified to the truth.
34. "But the
testimony which I receive is not from man, but I say these things so that you
may be saved.
35. "He was the lamp that was burning and was shining and you
were willing to rejoice for a while in his light.
Witness
of Works
36. "But the testimony which I have is greater than {the
testimony of} John; for the works which the Father has given Me to
accomplish--the very works that I do--testify about Me, that the Father has
sent Me.
Witness
of the Father
37. "And the Father who sent Me, He has testified of Me. You
have neither heard His voice at any time nor seen His form.
38. "You do not have His word abiding in you, for you do not
believe Him whom He sent.
Witness
of the Scripture
39. "You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you
have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me;
40. and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life.
Let’s
separate out Jesus’ own list of witnesses…
The witness of Jesus Himself. (Not enough)
The witness of John, The herald of Messiah.
The witness of the miraculous.
The witness of the Father (some of them saw/heard the heavens open up.)
The witness of the scriptures (Old Testament)….
After the resurrection….
Each of men responsible for writing
the Bible would also
be added to this list.
The Jews that hated Jesus would be also (even though they were unwilling
witnesses.)
Note the
wisdom of God displayed here.
People can be duped by any one of the witnesses of the list. Even
miracles can sometimes be faked. Not all of these things can be faked at
once. That is Jesus’ point.
Consider Jesus’ comment in His High priestly prayer (just prior
to the Gethsemane prayer).
John 17: 12. "While I was with them, I was keeping them in Your name which You have given Me; and I guarded them and not one of them perished but the son of perdition, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled.”
“Not
one has been lost….” This is
the standard set by Jesus Himself.
The
witnesses of the Bible virtually all willingly died violent deaths rather than
recant their testimony. Can the
Mormons (or any other of the “wanna be” religions) truly match the
Bible’s standard? They like
to claim to be on a par with the Bible. Is it
true?
Well, let’s use Mormonism as a comparison to Christianity. Smith was well aware of the extraordinary requirements placed by scripture in this regard. He tried to falsely reproduce them. For example in the front of every Book of Mormon (hereafter referred to as BOM) you will find two groups of the witnesses the Mormons presented to the world.
A total of eleven men are presented…. Below is a scan from my
1908 copy of the Book of Mormon:
What’s
my point? Virtually all of these guys that
swore they had seen angels, golden plates etc and swore to the world that this weird
story was true… either fell away from the church or were thrown out by
the church and had to run for their lives!
For example, on April
12, 1838 the church
excommunicated Oliver Cowdery, all the living Whitmers on the list, and Hiram
Page (among others). They became known as “the dissenters.” On June 17, 1838 Sidney Rigdon preached a sermon that among other
things included the admonition, “that it was the
duty of the faithful to cast the dissenters out "to be trodden beneath the
feet of men!” These folks ran for their lives.
(In case you are
not already aware of why they ran…. the Mormons had a violent underground
enforcement group known as the Danites.)
Martin Harris later admitted repeatedly and publicly… That he
wasn’t there when an angel supposedly came down and showed the other two
the golden plates (the “signed” claim of the first three
witnesses). Harris said that he only saw them “spiritually.”
If the BOM really came
from God...
Then why did virtually every
one of the BOM witnesses fail the test?
Hyrum Smith died in a gun fight beside Joseph Smith in the Carthage jail in 1844. This is very different from the Christians
that were connected in some way with the Bible…
These
two Mormon founders were not “willing” martyrs!
They are
more like John Wayne… than Jesus!!!
Sometimes Mormons try to claim both Smiths were martyrs like the writers of the Bible. It is true that they were killed in a gun fight, but they were trying desperately to fight their way out and escape.
Here is a Mormon account of such,
“Brother Joseph as he drew nigh to Hyrum, and, leaning over him, exclaimed, 'Oh! my poor, dear brother Hyrum!' He, however, instantly arose, and with a firm, quick step, and a determined expression of countenance, approached the door, and pulling the six-shooter left by Brother Wheelock from his pocket, opened the door slightly, and snapped the pistol six successive times; only three of the barrels, however, were discharged. I afterwards understood that two or three were wounded by these discharges, two of whom, I am informed died." (History of the Church, Vol. 7, p. 100, 102 & 103)"
This is very different from those connected with the New
Testament… The Mormons were rather proud that Smith killed two people
before they got him!
See how
many of the familiar names you recognize below. Would
you like to know what happened to the Christians that wrote (or were connected
with) the Bible? Let’s take them one by one.
James, the son
of Zebedee, brother of John: First of the apostles to die (A.D.44; see Ac. 12:2).
Andrew, brother of Peter: After the apostles left Jerusalem he labored in the town
of Edessa, Greece. He made the mistake of converting the governor’s
wife, who then converted the governor’s brother. Aepeas, the governor
was outraged by the whole affair and ordered him crucified. He was crucified
on an x shaped cross, a “Saint Andrew’s Cross.”
Phillip of Bethsaida:
Died at Hieropolis, Phrygia
(A. D. 54). Scourged, imprisoned then crucified.
Thomas
(AKA Didymus): Thomas has been remembered by the world as doubting Thomas.
That is a shame, he was an intelligent man whose doubts must be resolved before
he would follow. Those doubts were resolved. See John 20:24-29. He died near Madras,
India. They ran him through with a spear.
If the Bible were not what it claims to be… Why do you suppose none of these men ran? They all “willingly” laid down their lives so that you would respect the Bible? Men don’t do this for money…
Nathaniel, (AKA Bartholomew): Do you recall
Nathaniel? “Jesus saw Nathaniel coming to him, and saith of him, Behold
an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!” John 1:47 I picture a kind,
decent man without a mean bone in his body. In India, they tried to make him deny Jesus
by skinning him alive. They failed, so they beheaded him.
Matthew
(Levi): Labored in Parthia and Ethiopia. Killed with a halberd in the city of Nadabah
60 AD
James, son of Alphaeus
("The Less"), and James
the Lord's brother: These two men are often confused in history. Their life and death stories are
hopelessly intertwined. Eusebius, Josephus
and Jerome record that one of them killed by the priests (A. D.64/66).
One of them was thrown from the pinnacle of the temple. The other seems to
have been beaten or stoned to death at the hands of the priests as well.
Simon Zealotes:
Preached in Mauritania, Africa, then in Britain. Crucified there (A. D. 74).
Judas, brother of James (Lebbeaus, Thaddeus); Crucified at Edessa (A. D. 72).
“For we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty.” II Peter 1:16
Simon Peter: Crucified by Nero. He requested to
be crucified upside down, since he wasn't worthy to die the same way as his Lord.
The request was granted.
This
seventeenth century painting (Domine quo vadis)
is a depiction of the tradition that arose surrounding Jesus’ appearing
to Peter to encourage before he was crucified. This ancient account of
Peter’s death is preserved is various accounts. The acts of Peter, the
martyrdom of Peter etc. “And as he went forth of the city, he saw the Lord entering into Rome. And when he saw him, he said: Lord, whither goest thou thus (or here)? And the Lord said unto him: I go into Rome to be crucified. And Peter said unto him: Lord, art thou (being) crucified again? He said unto him: Yea, Peter, I am (being) crucified again. And Peter came to himself: and having beheld the Lord ascending up into heaven, he returned to Rome, rejoicing, and glorifying the Lord, for that he said: I am being crucified: the which was about to befall Peter.
XXXVI. He went up therefore again unto the brethren, and told them that which had been seen by him: and they lamented in soul, weeping and saying: We beseech thee, Peter, take thought for us that are young. And Peter said unto them: If it be the Lord's will, it cometh to pass, even if we will it not; but for you, the Lord is able to stablish you in his faith, and will found you therein and make you spread abroad, whom he himself hath planted, that ye also may plant others through him. But I, so long as the Lord will that I be in the flesh, resist not; and again if he take me to him I rejoice and am glad.
And while Peter thus spake, and all the brethren wept, behold four soldiers took him and led him unto Agrippa. And he in his madness (disease) commanded him to be crucified on an accusation of godlessness.”
Note: The non Biblical accounts are always a little suspect to me, but they contain details that can be cross referenced with others. One thing is clear… Peter was crucified confessing Jesus.
If he had denied Jesus at the last, it would have been made known to the entire world!
Matthias (replaced Judas):
Stoned and beheaded at Jerusalem.
"For we are not like many, peddling the word of God, but as from sincerity, but as from God, we speak in Christ in the sight of God." II Corinthians 2:17
Timothy: Eventually became an elder at Ephesus in AD 65. At the age
of 80, in AD 97 he tried to stop a pagan procession that appears to have been
very similar to the Mardi Gras of New Orleans. They beat him, dragged him
through the streets then stoned him. Note the compliment Paul paid
Timothy, “But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and
hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them.” II
Timothy 3:4 How many people do you know that have no clue were their beliefs
came from? Or why they believe a certain way? Timothy knew why. He knew
Jesus was the son of God. He also knew men who had seen and spoke with Him.
John Mark: He is credited with founding the
church at Alexandria. The pagans didn’t appreciate it. (Money!) If you make a living
carving idols, Christianity is bad for business. They drug him through the
streets on Easter day. They weren’t sure how the governor would react.
When he did nothing…. The next day they tied the rope around his neck and
drug him to death.
John, son of Zebedee, brother of James: The only one of the
twelve to escape a martyr's death (see
John. 21:18-23). While he escaped,
it wasn’t because he was unwilling. Domitian ordered him to be thrown
into a pot of boiling oil… he didn’t die. So, he was banished to
the mines in the isle of Patmos. This story intersects
with scripture. “I John, who also am your brother, and companion in
tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle
that is called Patmos, for
the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.” Revelation 1:9
“But Paul said, "I am not out of my mind, most excellent Festus, but I utter words of sober truth. "For the king knows about these matters, and I speak to him also with confidence, since I am persuaded that none of these things escape his notice; for this has not been done in a corner.” Acts 26:25-26
The Apostle Paul: He was
beheaded in Rome by Nero. Traditionally
he and Peter died on the same day. Peter being crucified, but Paul a Roman
citizen was entitled to beheading. It seems a little strange to say “entitled”
to be beheaded, doesn’t it? But, compared to crucifixion beheading
doesn’t sound so bad! Paul was one of the “lucky” ones.
Here’s the bottom line. One after another of these men went
willingly to their deaths swearing that Jesus had risen from the dead. They
didn’t run. If any of them had… The Jews and the Romans would have
seen to it that we would have known about it. We know very well about all the
Mormon false witnesses running.
Only one reasonable explanation
comes to mind… They really did see and speak
with the risen Savior. One after another of these men wouldn’t just go
to their deaths without even a whimper!
Paul explains, “For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.” II Timothy 4:6-8
They had plenty of time to think
about it. It wasn’t a fluke, it was an honor.
This list is based primarily on Fox's
"Book of Martyrs," and almost certainly is in error on some details.
But in the hostile environment in which these men lived, if they had cowered and ran, we would have
known about it. They remained all faithful until death. Let’s consider Paul's
explanation:
"I believed and therefore have I spoken" (2 Corinthians
4:13)
**Update: Read My Follow-Up to this post:
A History Lesson on Mormonism***
A History Lesson on Mormonism***
Hi I am glad you stopped by our blog. These articles are from an emailing that we did several years ago. Today most of our work is on facebook
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Be well
Jerry Blount
