Mormon Dilemmas 8

06 June

Abrahamic Covenant is a Dilemma for the Mormon Church

The dilemma this time is something I wish every single Mormon knew about.  It’s imperative as a Christian to know who Abraham was.  Who was he, where did he live, why did God like him, when did he live, and what significance does his life story play in Christianity, why do I need to know?  What is the Abrahamic Covenant?  What does it mean for me as a Christian today?

When the Mormon is told Abraham received the gospel some 2,000 years before it was in existence, was a priest, and participated in celestial marriage it serves only one purpose and that is to confuse the Mormon.  The Church can say what it wants and make up a new story about something that has already been historically established, but sadly for the Mormon they’re the brunt of the horrible dilemma.

www.lds.org; Abraham made covenants with God when he received the gospel, when he was ordained a high priest, and when he entered into celestial marriage. In these covenants, God promised great blessings to Abraham and his family. These blessings, which extend to all of Abraham’s seed, are called the Abrahamic covenant.

D&C 132:34; God commanded Abraham, and Sarah gave Hagar to Abraham to wife. And why did she do it? Because this was the law; and from Hagar sprang many people. This, therefore, was fulfilling, among other things, the promises.

Holman Bible Dictionary; God made His second covenant with Abraham (Gen. 15:18; 17:2). As the covenant with Noah involved a righteous man (Gen. 6:8-9), so the covenant with Abraham involved a man of faith (Gen. 15:6). God initiated His covenant with this type of person, but this does not mean that the person earned God’s covenant with good works. Rather, this type of person was open to God’s actions and could be directed by God for His purposes. The covenant with Abraham, like that with Noah, involved divine promises, not human obedience. God promised to give the land of Canaan to Abraham’s descendants after a long sojourn to a foreign land.

Genesis 15:5-6; And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.  6 And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.

Abraham did not receive the gospel, he was not ordained a high priest and he didn’t enter into celestial marriage.  God made Abraham cast Hagar out to the wilderness because she was not part of the promise God had made with Abraham.  Abraham and Sarah made a grave mistake by having him father a child (Ishmael) through Hagar; God’s promise to Abraham came through his son Isaac.

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2 Responses to “Mormon Dilemmas 8”

  1. shematwater June 7, 2011 at 4:52 am #

    I would love to know where the dilemma is.

    Now, I understand that a person who is so focused on the Bible as to have tunnel vision would see this, but I thank the Lord that the LDS church and its membership are not so blinded as to reject truth from any other source.

    There are other historical records besides the Bible, and in many of them it talks about Abraham seeking the Priesthood and being ordained a High Priest.
    Beyond this, I would love to know where it says in the Bible that he wasn’t a priest, or that he wasn’t so married.

    As to Hagar, even the Bible does not say that she was cast out because she was a mistake on Abraham’s part. The Bible says that she was cast out for tormenting Sarah (who was the head wife of Abraham) and persecuting Isaac (who was the one to inherit). Thus we see that it was because of Hagar’s actions, not Abraham’s, that she was cast out.

    So, again I ask, where is the dilemma?
    It only exists if you assume that if the Bible doesn’t directly state something as truth it ahs to be false.

  2. shematwater June 21, 2011 at 8:33 pm #

    Also, Galatians 3: 8
    And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.

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