Jesus Christ, Part 1

Heart of the Matter Broadcast Overview

Live from Salt Lake City, Utah, this is Heart of the MatterTGNN’s original show where Shawn McCraney deconstructed religion and developed fulfilled theology., where we do all we can to try and worship God in Spirit and in Truth. I’m your host, Shawn McCraneyFounder of TGNN and developer of the fulfilled perspective—calling people to faith outside of religion.. Show 6 482 Jesus Christ Part I February 9th 2016.

Well, we have done over 500 hour-long shows for your viewing enjoyment and learning. The majority about Mormonism. A number of them about Christianity. All available at www.hotm.tv. Also, we invite all of you to go to www.campuschurch.tv and join us for church on Sundays.

Why join us? You can watch from your couch or bed. You can watch when you want. There’s no obligation at all. And you are free to walk out into the world and apply your Christianity to the world as you are led of the Spirit. That’s www.campuschurch.tv every Sunday at 10am Mountain Time and 2:30 Mountain time. You can also go to the site and watch our verse-by-verse teachings through Matthew, John, Romans, Hebrews, James, 1st Peter, Part of Acts, and Part of 2nd Peter.

Additionally, we are also adding Greek lessons to the site where you can step in and learn to read Koine Greek! We are on the third lesson so this is just starting.

Indicators of a Proficient Christian

If a person claimed to be a proficient swimmer, not even proficient but an expert swimmer, we could examine a number of things about them to decide if their claim was true. One of the things we could use to justify their claim would be (strange as this is) the way they smell. Swimmers, especially when their skin gets wet, smell like chlorine. This isn’t always the case, but often. We could examine the texture and sheen of their hair as swimmers often have very shiny, brass-like hair. This is often the case but not always as many swimmers wear caps.

We might also examine their physique as most swimmers have what are referred to as swimmers' bodies – lean, small waist, large shoulders, sleek – if you will. But again, I have known some very good swimmers who are nearly obese and a few who were even pear-shaped. But there is one absolute true test to tell if a person is a proficient or expert swimmer – they can swim with speed and endurance. This is really the only surefire test that determines the validity of the claim as everything else – smell test, hair test, physique – are secondary and can be faked.

When it comes to Christianity there are a number of indicators that a person is a proficient or expert Christian (if such a thing existed). People can look Christian – but this is inferior. They can act Christian – meaning in their speech and lifestyle. But again, this can be feigned. They can go to church, memorize scripture or explain it well, they can pass the smell test. But there is only one sure way we can tell if a person is a Christian – if Jesus is in them.

The True Test of Christianity

If they love – God and others more than themselves. If they love their enemies. If they love as love is defined in 1st Corinthians 13 – meaning that their love is long-suffering and their love is kind; and their love is not envious nor does it parade itself about, nor is it arrogant, nor does not behave rudely, nor does not seek its own, nor is it provoked, nor does it think evil; nor does it rejoice in iniquity, but it rejoices in the truth; and it bears all things, and it believes all things, and it hopes all things, and it endures all things. and it is a love that never fails.

This is the actual swimming of the Christian faith. It is what proves the individual Christian to truly be a follower of Christ. Denomination or doctrinal stance does not. It’s not even mentioned. In fact, Paul goes so far as to say 1st Corinthians 13:2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. It’s not that having knowledge isn’t important – sort of like having a swimmer's body is certainly important to the best swimming done – but if love isn’t present, the knowledge is of any benefit – it would sort of be like having a swimmer's body but not being able to swim a stroke. I would go so far as to say that wherever.

The Essence of True Christianity

We find a person who truly loves as Christ loved; there we also find a true Christian. This is one of the reasons I have always maintained that there are LDS Christians because I have seen their love. Not all – certainly not all – but I have certainly not seen all people claiming to be Christian loving either! And don’t get me wrong – everyone has to get in the pool and learn to swim – I get babes in Christ and salvation by grace through faith. But in the end, when we are talking about the most proficient Christians – those with all the speed and endurance to be considered experts – and the absolute qualifier is not faith, it’s not knowledge, it’s love.

The Measure of Love

John wrote in 1st John 2 – 3 And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. 4 He that saith, “I know him,” and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 5 But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him. 6 He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked. And how did He walk? In love. Perfect love for God and for us.

A Comparison of Views

Okay, six weeks ago we left off comparing and talking about the ontology of God from the LDS point of view as compared with the Christian. Do you remember? I’ve been using professor Charles R Harrell’s book, “This is my Doctrine” to help guide me through the documented evidence we’ve been presenting. In fact, except for the sudden surprise guests and topics that will come up through the year, here is a thumbnail sketch of the years' programs:

Now six weeks ago we left off with a general discussion of God and how the LDS version has morphed over time. Tonight I want to enter into the LDS and Christian view of Jesus. I have to admit that this is not an easy topic to represent from the Christian view – especially compared to the PRESENT DAY LDS view. I emphasize present day view because it too has changed over time. But what makes comparing the Christian view to the PRESENT DAY LDS is the Present Day LDS is concrete, set, and without deviation. But when it comes to the myriad of Christian views revolving around the make-up of Jesus things become a little more nuanced and (shall we say) uncertain.

The Complexity of Interpretation

I think this is both acceptable and expected – man-made religions always have the upper hand on a straight biblical faith because the man-made faiths supply its members with all the answers. Biblical Christianity has a lot more wiggle room. Now, remember, remember, lacking televisions, internet, even electricity – and the fact that the people of the area and the Smith family themselves were VERY interested in the Christian faith – Joseph Smith at a very young age was exposed to “talk about religion.” I would suggest that he understood the general and maybe even the specific protestant teachings as well as most protestants and was able to dialogue about them from an early age.

So, to the subject of Jesus. In Joseph Smith’s day – and well before – Christians believed (and continue to believe) that the Old Testament in some degree or another speaks of Him. Now, there are Christians who believe that there are at least 300 plus allusions to the person of Jesus. (at least that’s what Josh McDowell suggests). That being said, there are other Christians who do not see ANY passages in the Old Testament that directly speak of Christ but that the reader has to take what is said and make it fit to Him and His life. In other words, the critics are not necessarily saying that the Old Testament ISN’T foreshadowing events of Christ’s life but all they are saying is that when the Old Testament was written none of them KNEW they were writing about Jesus.

Interpretations of Jesus in the Old Testament

In their day and age or something that they were wholly unaware of but that no verse of the Old Testament can be taken and show contextually to be speaking of Jesus and Jesus alone. And obviously his name is never used in Old Testament canon. So within the Christian faith we have some extreme views: One says that the Old Testament is talking about Christ all over the place and at the other extreme the view is it never is talking about Him but men have taken its contents and assigned it to Him and His life – that any allusions to Jesus have been “read into” the Old Testament narrative. Got all that?

Now I happen to believe personally that there are a multiplicity of allusions to Jesus and His life woven throughout most of the Old Testament – to the point that most of it is a type and a foreshadowing of Him, His ministry and His life. That being said I am not so sure that any single passage Old Testament passage was directly and only speaking of Him prophetically; in fact I can see places in scripture where the apostles actually borrowed passages that seemed to have NOTHING to do with Christ at all and assigned them to Him.

New Testament Views on Old Testament Prophecies

However, the New Testament writers make it clear that the Old Testament was all about Christ. Luke wrote in Acts 3:18, “But those things, which God before had shewed by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled.” And in his gospel Luke quotes Jesus as saying: (Luke 24:44) “These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.”

John goes so far as to say that the Spirit of Prophecy, which is what the entire Old Testament apparently written through, is “the testimony of Jesus,” and Paul adds that the passages that speak of Jesus in the Old Testament were veiled from those who have been spiritually hardened but then adds: 2nd Corinthians 3:14 But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ. I think it goes without saying that the Old Testament was believed by the New Testament Apostles to contain endless revelations of Christ but that had to be discovered by the spiritually discerning. And most Christians agree that for the faith to be fully and properly seen then Christ has to come into view through the Old Testament.

Joseph Smith's Interpretation

Now, when Joseph Smith stepped up to the plate to deliver a faith that contained far more solutions than questions, he seemed to take the view that the Old Testament (and the Jews prior to Christ) not only prophesied of the coming Messiah through veiled language, but he had them literally speak of Jesus openly and with direct references. In my estimation Smith was able to concretely show Jesus and His importance to the world by doing this, thereby gaining favor with people wanting more certainty in their faith. How did he do this?

In his Book of Mormon he actually had the righteous very well acquainted with Jesus and the plan of Redemption and has his Book of Mormon prophets even explain how passages in the Old Testament were about Jesus – that’s how familiar Joseph portrayed them to be with the Lord. In fact, where the Old Testament writer Malachi wrote the line “Sun of Righteousness” in Malachi 4:2 Joseph Smith, in 3rd Nephi 25:2 reworded the passage to be, “Son of Righteousness,” improving upon the Biblical narrative. To me these unfounded “improvements” upon Christian discussions are something to smile about but to never take seriously.

The Book of Mormon's Prophetic Knowledge

What Joseph did was remove all doubts for people who believe him. In fact his “retranslation” of the book of Genesis has him, in the VERY FIRST CHAPTER OF THE BOOK insert the title, “only begotten” referring to Jesus! Genesis 1: 2, 27, and 29 of the JST all include the title “only begotten!” But it is in his Book of Mormon where details about Jesus were apparently known about by the people and prophets well before His incarnation. For example, Joseph Smith had his Book of Mormon characters know precise details about Jesus birth, the name of his mother, and the exact year of his birth well before they occurred – something again the Old Testament prophets never even got close to explaining.

Predictions and Birth of Jesus

An interesting aside to this, in the early pages of the Book of Mormon a man named Lehi, (1st Nephi 10:4), and angel (1st Nephi 19:8) and men known as “the prophets” (2nd Nephi 25:19) all predict that Jesus would be born precisely 600 years from the time that Lehi would depart from Jerusalem. But this seems to have been forgotten by the faithful characters later in the BOM who were much more vague about his arrival to earth, causing even Alma to hope in Alma 13:25 “that it might be in his day.”

Also trumping the Bible’s pre-Christ prophets, the Book of Mormon writers hundreds of years before His incarnation knew His name and not only His name His Greek name, referring to Him as Jesus rather than Yeshua. And then there is an interesting aside about Jesus date and month of birth. In the LDS Doctrine and Covenants, section 20 verse 1 we read: “the rise of the Church of Christ in these last days, being one-thousand eight hundred and thirty years since the coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in the flesh.” This was written on April 6th 1830 and because of this – trusting in this revelation to Joseph Smith – the LDS have claimed to even know the actual date of His birth!

What’s revealing about this is that most modern scholars agree – even LDS scholars to tell you the truth – that Jesus was probably born between 4 and 7 BC, or as Paul Maier, professor of ancient history says: “Since the chronologies of the Herods, the Romans emperors, and the governors within the time frames of the Gospels are firm, Jesus birth an reliably be placed between June and December of 5 BC,” which not only takes Jesus apparent April 6th birth out of the running, it obliterates Doctrine and Covenants 20:1’s claim from Joseph that the rise of the Church of Christ in these last days was “one-thousand eight hundred and thirty years since Jesus was born.”

The Name of Jesus

Then lets’ talk a minute about His name – which we today say is Jesus. Firstly, His name was given in Matthew 1:21 when the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph and said (speaking of Mary): “And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins. Now this is a translation from Greek where the name Jesus is translated Iesous. And Iesous is translated from the Hebrew name Yeshua, which is our Joshua. How did we get Jesus? Hebrew Yeshua to Greek Iesous to Latin EEsus to English, Jesus.

Then we often refer to Him as Jesus Christ, as if this was his full name, but Christ (Christos) simply means, “the anointed one,” so what we are really saying is, “Jesus the anointed one.” Now typically there were no surnames in Jesus day and people were distinguished from others with the same name by attaching that they were the son of (and the person’s father or grandfather was used). “Yeshua, the anointed ones father was Yoseph, and so to the people in the town he would have been called, “Yeshua ben (so of) Yoseph,” in Hebrew or “Yeshua Bar Yoseph” in Aramaic. And then to those who would not know Yoseph Jesus would have been identified by where He came from, and so that would have been the name, Yeshua of Nazareth.

The Name Jesus Christ

Christians believe that when the Old Testament prophets referred to a promised Messiah. So, the name Jesus Christ was in reality a long way off from the actual person of Yeshua Bar Yoseph. It would not be until at the earliest in His ministry (when Peter claimed that He was the Christos or John the Baptist identified Him) that the name Christ would have been associated with Him. And where the writers of the Gospels’ certainly used the name Jesus Christ in their retroactive accounts of his life, it was in reality Peter on the day of Pentecost who first tied the names together (without a the) between them when he said in Acts 2:38 “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.” Not so in the Book of Mormon which, once again, trumps biblical Christianity and has its prophets use His Greek name and title some 550 years before His incarnation. Therefore we read in 2nd Nephi 10:3 that an angel revealed

The Name of Christ in Scriptural Texts

To the Nephite prophet Jacob, it was revealed that “Christ . . . should be his name.” This declaration was made 550 years before He was to be born, written from Jerusalem, and notably used Christ (a Greek term) rather than the Hebrew Messiah. Joseph Smith, in his inspired translation of the Bible, interjected the name Jesus Christ into his retranslation of Genesis, claiming that the Genesis account should state Jesus Christ is “the only name which shall be given under heaven, whereby salvation shall come unto the Children of men” (see Genesis 6:53, 6:60, 7:57 and then the Book of Moses 6:52, 6:57, and 7:50). Joseph Smith’s inspired translation of Genesis even asserts that water baptisms were performed by ancient patriarchs in the name of Jesus Christ (see Genesis 8:11 and the Book of Moses 8:24).

Christian and LDS Perspectives

This begins our comparison between Christianity's view of the Messiah called Yeshua and the LDS view of Jesus Christ. We see that founding prophet Joseph Smith led people to believe that he could provide further insight into the person of Jesus, asserting that biblical writers either failed to make things clear or that evil biblical translators removed the anglicanized name Jesus Christ, taken from the Greek, from the Book of Genesis, and that he restored it.

Continuing the Discussion

We’ll continue with our discussion about Jesus in Mormonism and in Christianity in next week's program.