There are multiple times in which Jesus said his disciples would not taste death and would still be alive when the "Second Coming would occur. What's more, the disciples believed it, using such phrases as "then we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord", as well as Paul warning believers that they in should not marry, because Jesus was coming back soon. Even in Revelation, John claimed he had a vision from Jesus saying he was coming soon.

The Apostles all died with no return. 2000 years later there has been no return. Jesus lied, or only thought he would return but didn't know. Therefore, Christianity should have faded away then and there, and if it weren't for the Romans enforcing it it might have gone the way of the Greek and Egyptian stories: myths that were once seen as religious truth.

EDIT: By "discarded" I mean "as a widespread belief of faith" not "as something that was historically present". More along the lines of how we view the mythologies of the Mayans, Greeks, Ancient Romans, etc.

EDIT 2: Have a lot of passages:

"Immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming upon the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with a trumpet blast, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other. “Learn a lesson from the fig tree. When its branch becomes tender and sprouts leaves, you know that summer is near. In the same way, when you see all these things, know that he is near, at the gates. Amen, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. (Matthew 24:29-35)

"There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.” (Matthew 16:28)

"Amen, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. (Mark 13:30-31)

"He also said to them, “Amen, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see that the kingdom of God has come in power.” (Mark 9:1)

"Peter turned and saw

Hero worship is a big problem in the church culture in at least the Utah Church.

When we had the Triumphant Three apostles (Rasband, Stevenson, and Renlund) called all during the Oct 2015 conference. Here are a few selected comments from their talks.

Rasband, I Stand All Amazed

> A few days ago I had the great privilege to meet with the First Presidency and receive this call from our dear prophet, President Thomas S. Monson. I want to witness to all of you of the strength and love President Monson had as he said to me, “This call comes from the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Stevenson, Plain and Precious Truths

> ... Tuesday morning of this week, just after 9:00 a.m. as the Bishopric was beginning a meeting with the Asia Area Presidency, who are here for conference, that I was called to meet with President Monson, along with his counselors. Moments later, as I walked into the boardroom adjacent to his office, I must have looked nervous sitting across the table, as he kindly spoke to calm my nerves. He commented, noting my age, that I seemed quite young and even looked younger than my age. Then, within a few moments, President Monson described that acting on the will of the Lord, he was extending a call to the Quorum of the Twelve to me. He asked me if I would accept this call, to which, following what I am sure was a very undignified audible gasp, in complete shock, I responded affirmatively. And then, before I could even verbalize a tsunami of indescribable emotion, most of which were feelings of inadequacy, President Monson kindly reached out to me, describing how he was called many years ago as an Apostle by President David O. McKay, at which time he too felt inadequate. He calmly instructed me, “Bishop Stevenson, the Lord will qualify those whom He calls.” These soothing words of a prophet have been a source of peace, a calm in a storm of painful self-examination and tender feelings in the ensuing agonizing hours which have passed day and night since then. I rehearsed what I have just described to you to my sweet companion, Lesa, later that day, seated in a quiet corner on Temple Square...

Renlund Through God’s Eyes

> My dear brothers and sisters, thank you for sustaining me yesterday as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. It is hard to express how much that means to me. I was especially grateful for the sustaining vote of the two extraordinary women in my life: my wife, Ruth, and our dear, dear, dear daughter, Ashley.

They all spoke, one right after another, and I couldn’t help but notice how boring thei

This movie is so visceral and disturbing with so much excellent cinematography, the brief action, and horror I dont know why it was/is hardly talked about especially since it went to Netflix. Check it out if youre interested! Gore warning, especially involving a drill. It also has an excellent trailer worth watching (though only after seeing it) edit: nice to see so much love for it! Honestly the first place I've seen people discuss it

I’m very happy that this was said in General Conference today:

“With millions watching and listening via broadcasts...Elder Ulisses Soares of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles told 20,000 people in the Conference Center....that some church members may be experiencing sadness, agony and regret over loved ones who distance themselves from faith, but he encouraged members to love, embrace and pray for them.”

“Sincerely rejoice with them in their successes,” he said. “Be their friends and look for the good in them. We should never give up on them but preserve our relationships. Never reject or misjudge them. Just love them!”

To be clear, it probably shouldn’t need to be said. But I’m still very glad that it was said.

Bringing poor women from Europe to an inescapable desert in order to be married off to old men. Stupid typo.

Acts 10:25-26 New International Version (NIV)

25 As Peter entered the house, Cornelius met him and fell at his feet in reverence. 26 But Peter made him get up. “Stand up,” he said, “I am only a man myself.”

In an attempt at fellowshipping, the bishop came to ask if I would teach a primary class. I’ve purposefully stayed connected to the relief society because I like participating in the service projects and knowing a few people in the neighborhood. But I’ve been inactive for at least 3 years (since before we moved in).

Here’s how it went:

Me: “No I don’t think you’d want me teaching the children”

Him “Why? I’m sure you’d do a great job”

Me: “I have conflicting beliefs”

Him: “Could you give me an example?”

Me, very reluctant to share: “Well, I don’t think the prophet and apostles are actually just that. I don’t sustain them”

Him: “Oh well, we wouldn’t want that”

He was very nice and understood. It felt really good to speak up and be honest to a TBM in a power position. I’m usually non-confrontational so this was a big deal for me.

Suppose you are a genuine, orthodox TBM and you get called to be an apostle. You've heard the rumors about how they get to meet Jesus. You're steeped in a culture that assumes they constantly receive revelation and Divine instruction.

You show up to the office on your first day. You don't meet Jesus. You feel nervous but otherwise nothing is different. Then you go to the meetings with the other Apostles. Nelson shows up and tells everyone about his latest Revelation. Everyone in the room announces that they feel the Spirit telling them that yes indeed this is a true Revelation from God, what a glorious thing it is to be prophets seers and revelators. There has been a huge outpouring of the Spirit. You look around the room and everyone is in tears.

But you don't feel anything.

You'd probably get really nervous. Why don't you feel what everyone else is feeling? Why haven't you gotten your "special witness" ie visit from Jesus? Very quickly you get impostor syndrome. You assume that everyone else is getting Revelations but you're not. It must be because you're unworthy. You're an impostor. You'll have to fake it.

What you don't understand, though maybe you'll figure it out, is that everyone in the room had the same experience and learned to fake it. They're all faking it, at least the newer ones, and they're all stuck in this charade for life unless they're willing to recognize that it's all an act, the Church has no Divine guidance, and they've devoted their lives to a fairy tale. And so far, none of them have had the honesty to admit that.

But the older ones might not be faking it anymore. Sure, you start out with impostor syndrome. But then you go on some speaking assignments. Stake presidents and bishops and regular members worship you and kiss the ground you walk on. They stand and sing "we thank thee o God for a prophet" when you walk in. If you tell them to jump they ask how high on the way up. They bear their testimonies that they KNOW you are a Prophet.

You go on some mission tours. The missionaries fear you. You can tell when you shake their hand that they think you're looking into their souls and reading their thoughts. The mission president tells you how great the latest Church missionary curriculum is, the one you worked on in your committee assignment, how it's making the missionaries find teach and baptize with the spirit.

All of your relatives treat you as if you were the wisest man in history. They come to you for advice and counsel.

Obviously this question is especially relevant to the Catholic Church. Catholic tradition asserts that Saint Peter was the first bishop of Rome. In fact, it is required of Catholics to believe this and not permit any doubt. John W. O’Malley, S.J. says, in A History of the Popes: From Peter to the Present:

>No one piece of evidence states in straightforward and unambiguous language either that Peter either went to Rome or that he died there.

Clement of Rome, writing towards the end of the first century (1 Clement) shows no evidence that he was aware that Peter had led the church in his own city just a few decades earlier. Francis A. Sullivan SJ states in From Apostles to Bishops that

>the the consensus among scholars, including most Catholic ones, is that the church in Rome was led by a college of presbyters and that only during the course of the second century did a bishop preside, assisted by presbyters.

On pages 222-223, Sullivan explains why he agrees with this consensus. He says that the structure of leadership in the Roman church was clearly collegial even in the first half of the second century. The earliest person really known to have been bishop of Rome was Anicetus, although it is quite possible that his immediate predecessor, Pius I, was also a monoepiscopal bishop.

>The Church of Rome did not have authority over the church in Corinth**.** Roman Catholic theologians argue that the Church of Rome was a monarchical episcopate over the entire church on Earth. However, we don’t see this in 1 Clement, which is our earliest extrabiblical source. Instead, this church has plural elders or “presbyters,” instead of a single bishop or elder (“presbyters among you,” ch.1, “engage in sedition against its presbyters,” ch.47, “let the flock of Christ live on terms of peace with the presbyters set over it,” ch.54, “submit yourselves to the presbyters,” ch.57).[10]
>
>Election is mentioned a lot in this letter**.** Since the church in Rome had Paul’s letter to the Romans (specifically Romans 9), Reformed theologians argue that the doctrine of “unconditional election” was already in view.
>
>There is no mention of Peter being in Rome**.** Clement mentions Peter’s martyrdom, but makes no mention of him leading this church. This is a conspicuous silence for Roman Catholic theologians who argue th

Something is always lost and something is always added in translation. In the case of the Bible, secular undertones have reshaped religious terminology. A modern day reader might think of Jesus’ teachings on the law and lawlessness as references to government regulations. However, there is only one law in the entire Bible and that is the Mosaic Law.

Matthew 7:21-23

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name, cast out demons in your name, and done many wonders in your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me you who practice Lawlessness.’”

In Judaism, the primary definition of sin is the violation of the Mosaic Commandments.

“Whoever commits sin also commits Lawlessness, and sin is Lawlessness.” (1 John 3:4)

“The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will weed out of His kingdom every cause of sin and all who practice Lawlessness.” (Matthew 13:41)

Jewish Christian followers such as James, the brother of Jesus as well as the first bishop of Jerusalem, reinforce this adherence to the Mosaic Law:

“they are all zealous for the Law” (Acts 21:20)

“For whoever keeps the whole Law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it” (James 2:10)

“Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the Law” (James 2:12)

“What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but no deeds? Can such faith save them?” (James 2:14).

“In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead” (James 2:17).

On the complete opposite side of the spectrum, you have Paul who takes an entirely different view of the Mosaic Law and introduces an entirely new concept:

“By what Law? Of works? No, but by the law of faith. Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the Law.” (Romans 3:27)

In Greek, there’s no variation in wording between deeds, action, and works; they all come from the same Greek word. The same “works of the Law” (Romans 3:28) that Paul so heavily repudiates throughout his ministries.

When the Jerusalem Church gets wind of Paul’s unorthodox teachings, multiple waves of representatives were sent to return the sheep to Mosaic Law compliance. First, “Certain ones having come down from Judea were teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to

Cause you got these two 90 year old guys trying to cement the church’s homophobic rhetoric, which these younger guys will have to be the guys to face an inevitable showdown with the public and federal government. With the proclamation being declared canon, not only will it look bad to switch up really quick, you’ll have all kinds of members who will still hold to it as canon (basically a repeat of the 1886 Revelation debacle)