Are mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses the Synagogue of Satan?

[josie05]

So, 
   My roommate says that Jehova's Witnesses, and Mormons are a synagogue of Satan.
   His assertion is that the LDS Church, and JW Church are run by The Free Masons, and that their God is not the actual God, that they pledge to. He states that they pledge under a certain Sect of Religion, but the God at the top of the scale, above all other Gods is Satan.
   I see what he is trying to do: turn every Mormon or JW into whatever religion he believes in, however, does not that make Him Satan, since he is not the God of my understanding. Isn't God a creation of our own psyche, of our Ideal Self? And possibly that Christ is simply a great teacher regardless of whether or not he was God Incarnate?
   These are all personal questions of Self Identity based on religion, and do I ascribe to one sect of religious thought? NO. I believe that if anyone writes a book about a spiritual book, and people ascribe to that way of thought, en masse, maybe, just maybe, the book has some universal truth to reveal... just food for thought.

[kevingodlovesyou]

I saw the tail end of this loud discussion myself. Voices were raised. I did not see Ray claiming that JW's and Mormons were run by FreeMasons, I did see Josie coming into the living room reading the scripture from 2Peter1 saying that Ray was a false teacher. I objected to it because Ray, as far as I can tell, is a bible believing christian who acknowledges that Jesus is God Himself. LDS and JW's deny this claim. Josie comes from a mormon background where there is denial of the deity of Christ.


I do not think there's much of any connection between the Free Masons and JW or LDS.

Regarding what Josie wrote

I see what he is trying to do: turn every Mormon or JW into whatever religion he believes in,
***This does not make sense to me.

however, does not that make Him Satan,
***Make who Satan?

since he is not the God of my understanding.
***We are all roommates in a 12 step SLE, and the 3rd step is "Turned our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him." Josie is claiming that Satan is NOT the God of his understanding and I accept that. However, I personally believe that Satan circumvented the LDS church he was exposed to such that he does not have a firm grip on scripture nor theology.

Isn't God a creation of our own psyche,
***NO. Way off. And actually qualifies as heresy.

of our Ideal Self?
***No. Jesus is God. Part of the Triune Godhead, with God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

And possibly that Christ is simply a great teacher
***I agree that Jesus is a great teacher but not SIMPLY a great teacher, He was and is God Himself. This is kind of the root of our disagreement with JOsie.


regardless of whether or not he was God Incarnate?
***Uhh, no. If Jesus was NOT God then He was NOT Good. He has sent countless thousands to their deaths defending Him, defending His deity, sending them to persecution which is utterly unnecessary if He is not Who He claimed to be.


These are all personal questions of Self Identity based on religion,
***For me, it's almost entirely based upon historical fact. It is a FACT that Jesus died claiming to be God Himself, even His enemies acknowledged this claim.


and do I ascribe to one sect of religious thought? NO.
***I am not sure if trinitarian christianity would be considered a sect. C.S. Lewis called it "Mere Christianity", it jumps out across all christian denominations including catholicism.


I believe that if anyone writes a book about a spiritual book, and people ascribe to that way of thought, en masse, maybe, just maybe, the book has some universal truth to reveal...
***That's kind of the standard pablum that people who don't believe Jesus is God Himself, that's the kind of stuff they spout off.


just food for thought.
***Well then here we are biting at that food with an eye towards thoughtful exchange of real scripture.

[josie05]

See, and my only thing is that when I choose to believe that Jesus is the ONLY Prophet of God, or that the Bible is the ONLY that is correct book about faith, I suffer. In thirst for death. But I have found a spirituality that relieves my suffering, and makes me believe that Heaven is a place on earth, that can be achieved by keeping the commandments, and that people are meant to be loved, no matter what it is about their diverse ways of thinking. I can't understand how statements can be made about religions, when you base your claims on stereotypes about them. If there are facts about other religions, that you believe, pull out the scripture in the Qur'an, or other religious book, that supports your claim. Otherwise, your argument that these are synagogues of Satan is invalid.

[kevingodlovesyou]

Last night, Josie and Ray and I were having a heated discussion about the bible and its exclusivity & inerrancy. Josie stormed off. Just now he said "Don't talk to me".


In response to what he wrote:
See, and my only thing is that when I choose to believe that Jesus is the ONLY Prophet of God,
***Jesus HImself followed and adhered to the prophets of the old testament, so he is not the ONLY prophet of God. There was also a notation of a prophet of God who told Paul that he would be bound in chains if he went to Rome [which turned out to be true].

or that the Bible is the ONLY that is correct book about faith, I suffer.
***This was something that I encouraged Josie to post, because suffering is a guarantee if you uphold the christian faith. Persecutions are promised. I'm hoping someone else can find comforting passages of scripture for someone who shies away from the suffering to the point of denying the underlying important aspects of the faith.


In thirst for death.
***Strange expression. Last night Josie said something like "Well then hurry up and die, then" because Ray and I said that our suffering would end when we get to Heaven.

But I have found a spirituality that relieves my suffering,
***The bible calls this "tickling your ears". The term is found only once in the Bible, in 2 Timothy 4. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.

and makes me believe that Heaven is a place on earth,
***Not very much scriptural support for that position.


that can be achieved by keeping the commandments,
***I suppose that if Heaven WAS on earth, you might get there by keeping the commandments. So this twisting of scripture is contingent on the earlier false teaching.

and that people are meant to be loved,
***Excellent perspective.

no matter what it is about their diverse ways of thinking.
***Jesus loved everyone but there were diverse ways of thinking that He labelled false teachers and He said about them that they were vipers, unmarked graves, sons of Satan. That goes back to the original "synagogue of Satan" remarks that opened up this thread.


I can't understand how statements can be made about religions,
***Take that up with Jesus Who labelled such false teachers as sons of Satan.

when you base your claims on stereotypes about them.
***The bible is clear about not allowing false teaching to prevail.


If there are facts about other religions,
***Yes there are facts about other religions. Those are the starting point to any investigation of what's real and what's not. I notice that a fact is what both sides in a conflict agree on. It is a FACT that Jesus died for answering the question of His identity, that even His enemies acknowledge He was put to death for blasphemy, for claiming to be equal with God HImself.


that you believe, pull out the scripture in the Qur'an,
***What do the enemies of Islam have to say about Mohammed that amount to being the FACTS of that religion? He was a rapist, a murderer, a pedophile who married a 7 year old, a bigamist, and a violent soul who encouraged others to kill infidels.
Sura (2:191-193) - “And slay them wherever ye find them, and drive them out of the places whence they drove you out, for persecution of Muslims is worse than slaughter of non-believers...and fight them until persecution is no more, and religion is for Allah.”

Sura (5:33) - “The punishment of those who wage war against Allah and His messenger and strive to make mischief in the land is only this, that they should be murdered or crucified or their hands and their feet should be cut off on opposite sides or they should be imprisoned; this shall be as a disgrace for them in this world, and in the hereafter they shall have a grievous chastisement”

Sura (8:12) - “I will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve. Therefore strike off their heads and strike off every fingertip of them”

Bukhari (52:177) - Allah’s Apostle said, “The Hour will not be established until you fight with the Jews, and the stone behind which a Jew will be hiding will say. “O Muslim! There is a Jew hiding behind me, so kill him.”

Tabari 7:97 The morning after the murder of Ashraf, the Prophet declared,” Kill any Jew who falls under your power.”

Ibn Ishaq: 327 - “Allah said, ‘A prophet must slaughter before collecting captives. A slaughtered enemy is driven from the land. Muhammad, you craved the desires of this world, its goods and the ransom captives would bring. But Allah desires killing them to manifest the religion.’”





or other religious book, that supports your claim.
***Josie is the one trying to read out a passage from the book of mormon while at the same time claiming he upholds the bible, in a sort of cafeteria choice type of approach. So the burden is on him to prove that the book of mormon is worth listening to. Josie didn't like it when I said that "you cook eggs for a king and throw in a bad egg, is the king gonna want to eat that omelette?" He claims that the approach is to weed out the bad eggs, which is his problem, not mine, because Deuteronomy 23 sets down the proper filter: Either it's 100% right or it's just plain wrong. Ray and I agreed on this point of assertion.




Otherwise, your argument that these are synagogues of Satan is invalid.
***On the contrary, Josie, your arguments are invalid because the bible directly says so.

[Josh]

There is a lot one could respond to in this thread, and I 'll see if I have time.  But for now, I would say that it would be strange to use the term "Synagogue of Satan" as an official title and directly apply it out of the context of Revelation.  I think John was simply saying that certain synagogues held more allegiance to the devil than to YHWH because they were persecuting the early Christians.  

[kevingodlovesyou]

Feb 22, 2022 16:34:24 GMT -8 Josh said:

There is a lot one could respond to in this thread, 

Hey Josh:

I had 3 other threads that are gone.  One of them was my roommate claiming the moon is 200 miles away.  Another was about what should be the rules [hopefully biblically based] for deciding who gets to watch which TV channel, and another was about taking one's own 4th step.  Where did those threads go?