In one of Denver Snuffer's blog posts he mentions Joseph Fielding Smith's book "Doctrines of Salvation", titled 'Borrowed Doctrine' dated Oct. 29, 2011. He says that he believed what JFSmith wrote when he first read it but came to realize that this was wrong and he was 'troubled' and 'disappointed' and did not want to admit that JFSmith was 'in error'. No worries, Denver, Elder Smith was NOT wrong:) He was absolutely correct because what he was telling you was the same thing Jesus told Thomas. The manifestation of the Holy Ghost IS more lasting and more powerful than a visitation, believe it or not!
Elder Smith explains on page 44 (vol.1) That 'Christ has himself declared that the manifestations we might have of the Spirit of Christ, or from a visitation from an angel, a tangible resurrected being, would not leave the impression and would not convince us and place within us that something which we cannot get away from which we receive through a manifestation of the Holy Ghost. Personal visitations might become dim as times goes on, but this guidance of the Holy Ghost is renewed and continued, day after day, year after year, if we live worthy of it'. When I read this, I knew exactly what Elder Smith was referring to--he was talking about Jesus' teaching to Thomas, the one who earning the nickname, 'doubting' because he demanded a physical manifestation before he would believe but Christ explained that a witness of the Holy Ghost was more powerful. If Elder Smith was wrong, would Bro. Snuffer declare that Jesus was also wrong?
In my own experience I can attest to this. I have had some power physical manifestations or witnesses and they have dimmed with time, but witness of the Holy Ghost can be given numerous times as we read and ponder and serve in the gospel.
This is one example where Denver Snuffer gets it wrong and unfortunately the truth is pretty easy to see and yet, he has missed it and used his error to condemn another man wrongfully.
Friday, July 4, 2014
Musings on Denver Snuffer
In my travels through the Internet, I've run across the writings of Denver Snuffer. He is an LDS philosopher who was excommunicated a year ago for refusing to stop his writing, publishing, blogging, and lecturing when requested to by the Stake Presidency disciplinary counsel which was held. I've seen some claim he was exed for his beliefs but that is not the case. Each of these 'heretics' was given the chance to keep their membership but that required not speaking. Remember Gallileo when he ran into trouble with the Catholic church--'and yet it moves'. If Br. Snuffer had submitted to the court's decision and agreed to stop his activities he could have remained a member, as Avraham Gileadi did when he found himself challenged by church authorities for his writings.
I've been reading for some time the LDS freedom forum message board and many of Denver's followers (they don't consider themselves by that term but that is what they are) reside and they will often claim they 'feel the spirit' when they read his writings (I'm not surprised, he quotes an awful lot of scripture, it would be hard not to) and more importantly, Denver doesn't 'want' followers and he doesn't want people to look to him, that they should look to no man but only follow Christ. If that meant only following the teachings of Christ, it might not be a problem, where it gets murky is that Denver has had a visitation by the Savior (in 2002) and so he feels that the only way to follow and 'know' Christ is through personal physical manifestation and any thing less is just that--not worth much.
But here is where he gets into trouble. If you refuse to listen to any other people on earth, but only the voice in your head that you believe is the spirit of Christ influencing you, you are ripe for being led astray. You've got nothing to challenge that voice if there is no standard on which to judge it. Like the 'two nails in the board' Analogy, that one little lone nail cannot hold anything steady, it will move all over on the board. Satan knows this and it is one way that he can lead good people astray--people who would never lie, steal, commit adultery, kill etc. When he comes across someone like that Satan doesn't give up ('Oh forget it, he's impenetrable, move on'), he keeps searching and observing until he finds the weak spot--the way to gain influence and be able to tempt. As I've been reading Denver's blogging, it's pretty clear what his weak spot is and it is one of the most common with highly intelligent and talented individuals. Pride. Some will vehemently disagree because they read his false modesty--but the Pride is there throughout his writings. As he points out others' failings there is a veiled smugness. He has moved past the typical mistakes others make and just wishes they could be helped--but they are beyond help.
He believes that the Joseph set up the church perfectly and that subsequent leaders and Prophets have slowly moved away from the correct model of restoration and so have taken the church into apostasy. I'm not sure he's ever stated it that way, but that is what he is inferring. He preaches that we don't need men to stand between us and God, we should bypass them and move away from the church structure to find God within our own hearts. The problem is that Christ set up a church when he came in the flesh, among the Jews and among the Nephites and it's clear he fully expected that church to continue or the world would move into darkness. It did and it took a restoration through Joseph Smith to return it. I've read the scriptures and I'm pretty sure there is no restoration after Joseph, in fact the prophecies are that the church will never be taken away, but will fill the whole world--not in numbers or popularity, but in access or knowledge.
This is where Br. Snuffer goes awry. He teaches people that present leaders are uninspired and the church has lost its footing by having rejected restored truths. I don't see how he can NOT realize he has apostatized from the CofJCofLDS. And of course, his decision to reject their decision that he stop his activities clearly shows his rejection of their authority over him as representatives of Christ's church.
I've been reading for some time the LDS freedom forum message board and many of Denver's followers (they don't consider themselves by that term but that is what they are) reside and they will often claim they 'feel the spirit' when they read his writings (I'm not surprised, he quotes an awful lot of scripture, it would be hard not to) and more importantly, Denver doesn't 'want' followers and he doesn't want people to look to him, that they should look to no man but only follow Christ. If that meant only following the teachings of Christ, it might not be a problem, where it gets murky is that Denver has had a visitation by the Savior (in 2002) and so he feels that the only way to follow and 'know' Christ is through personal physical manifestation and any thing less is just that--not worth much.
But here is where he gets into trouble. If you refuse to listen to any other people on earth, but only the voice in your head that you believe is the spirit of Christ influencing you, you are ripe for being led astray. You've got nothing to challenge that voice if there is no standard on which to judge it. Like the 'two nails in the board' Analogy, that one little lone nail cannot hold anything steady, it will move all over on the board. Satan knows this and it is one way that he can lead good people astray--people who would never lie, steal, commit adultery, kill etc. When he comes across someone like that Satan doesn't give up ('Oh forget it, he's impenetrable, move on'), he keeps searching and observing until he finds the weak spot--the way to gain influence and be able to tempt. As I've been reading Denver's blogging, it's pretty clear what his weak spot is and it is one of the most common with highly intelligent and talented individuals. Pride. Some will vehemently disagree because they read his false modesty--but the Pride is there throughout his writings. As he points out others' failings there is a veiled smugness. He has moved past the typical mistakes others make and just wishes they could be helped--but they are beyond help.
He believes that the Joseph set up the church perfectly and that subsequent leaders and Prophets have slowly moved away from the correct model of restoration and so have taken the church into apostasy. I'm not sure he's ever stated it that way, but that is what he is inferring. He preaches that we don't need men to stand between us and God, we should bypass them and move away from the church structure to find God within our own hearts. The problem is that Christ set up a church when he came in the flesh, among the Jews and among the Nephites and it's clear he fully expected that church to continue or the world would move into darkness. It did and it took a restoration through Joseph Smith to return it. I've read the scriptures and I'm pretty sure there is no restoration after Joseph, in fact the prophecies are that the church will never be taken away, but will fill the whole world--not in numbers or popularity, but in access or knowledge.
This is where Br. Snuffer goes awry. He teaches people that present leaders are uninspired and the church has lost its footing by having rejected restored truths. I don't see how he can NOT realize he has apostatized from the CofJCofLDS. And of course, his decision to reject their decision that he stop his activities clearly shows his rejection of their authority over him as representatives of Christ's church.
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