Lanterna Rally

Author: Darrell L Swallom

Publisher:

Published: 2019-02-28

Total Pages: 432

ISBN-13: 9781072975243

This book is divided into four parts: Part 1: The Cracks in the Foundation of Tradition, reviews the absence of correspondence between many doctrines of today's Christian world at large and the source of gospel truth, even the Holy Bible. The standard laid down by the Apostle Paul is "One Lord, one faith, one baptism", yet there are over 2,000 different faiths, ordinances of baptism that don't correspond to biblical example and some who say baptism isn't even required. There are countless claims to priesthood authority, none of which can trace the origin of this authority to Jesus Christ as is required in Acts 1:21-22. Puny man cannot give himself authority to act in the name of God. It stands to reason that God need do this for Himself by personal appearance and/or appearances of His servants. Part Two: Gospel Truth Helps Us to Keep the Commandments, shows how some of the popular doctrines in traditional Christianity are not supportive of the admonition to show love for the Savior by keeping His commandments (John 14:15). For example: the world no longer keeps the Sabbath Day holy. So too, faithful Christians are taught to revere a deity that is not described in biblical text. Part Three: Two Kingdoms: How Do We Tell Them Apart?, discusses the differences between the true kingdom of God on the Earth and the the other kingdom, a concoction of religious creeds which have been initiated by mankind alone, in good faith, yet without claim to or support from the God of heaven. Part Four: Rebuilding the House: discussed the efforts made by the God of the universe to restore His true gospel doctrines and authority to His children. Many discoveries suggest that events of the Book of Mormon would have been unknown to Joseph Smith, Jr. if the book were fiction. The Church established by this man was under the direction of the Lord Jesus Christ whose name is a part of the name of the Church and He claims it as His own. The only Church on Earth so claimed. When the Church was in its infancy, the prophet Joseph Smith gathered the entire priesthood leadership of the Church into a one-room cabin 14 feet square. In this meeting he made the claim that this Church would spread from this humble beginning to spread throughout the whole earth. This would have been the claim of an charlatan were it not supported by the God of heaven Who brought about literal fulfillment. The substance of this book comes from a blog on the subject that received comments such as "Well written and relevant information" and "the best on the internet". Letters from publishers stated similar opinions, but ultimately declined to publish the book because of the author's lack of academic or leadership credentials. The book will succeed or fail based on its own merit. Research for this literary work was an all-consuming effort to use time outside of work and family responsibilities to prove to the author's satisfaction that Joseph Smith, Jr. told the truth. This proof is laid out in detail comprising 429 pages. The proof is based on a conscientious use of sound contextual support using scriptural references from several different biblical writers. The reader will find that there are no claims of a foundation of doctrinal correctness based on one verse alone.