ScottK™

Please note: If I haven't replied to a tweet you posted to me or in a thread we're in, it could be for a number of reasons; I might be really busy, distracted by another thread, or you just might have become a blathering idiot.

@KevinInHR @RykerJackson97 If you knew the location of the Bangkok Temple (very urban) you would understand the necessity for such spaces.

@RykerJackson97 @ScottK Love the trees there... don't really see that in the States💪🏽

A Christus statue on the grounds of the Bangkok Thailand Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints:

Key, Pivotal Phrases of the Nicene Creed Which Are Not Biblical (much shorter version) This isn't to pick on creedal Christians. My purpose is to discuss the various creedal terms that are wide departures from the Bible for truth seekers. The following terms and phrases were introduced via the Nicene creed to counter Arianism. It was the big, emotional theological brawl of the 4th century. If I could sum it up quickly - in order to counter one 'wrong' manmade philosophy, they came up with their own manmade phrases to refute Arianism. But those terms have no Biblical roots or supports. Basically they exchanged one 'wrong' idea for another, but at least it dismissed Arianism and that's the creed's main motivation for existence. To defeat Arianism. The following list of those terms are clearly non-biblical. 🚨Eternally Begotten Strange term. You will find no such phrase or teaching in the Bible or anything that even comes close. It is completely manmade. No Savior, prophet or apostles coined such a term. Most people have no clear idea what that phrase even means. Eternal is forever. Begotten is a moment in time when one is sired and/or birthed. It's literally an oxymoron. Besides being abstract - this term and the idea it attempts to frame has zero Bible verses to support it. 🚨"God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God" As poetic as this line is - the Bible teaches nothing like this. There is nothing biblical on which to attach these projections—superimposed onto God. But it did counter Arianism. That was important. 🚨Begotten, not made Another oxymoron. Two ideas which fight each other. Begotten refers to a moment in time when one is sired or birthed. 'Not made' is a highly ambiguous phrase. The mind can do a lot of cartwheels trying to grasp what is begotten yet not made. But most importantly, the Bible has no such teaching...but it directly counters Arianism. 🚨 Of One Being Nothing in the Bible uses the words "One Being." Not ever, not once. Some have attempted to conflate "being one" as meaning one being...but that quickly fails because the Savior uses that term multipole times referring to his disciples. Both to be one with Him (unified) and to be one with each other. "If ye are not one, ye are not mine." 🚨"Who proceeds from the Father and the Son" There's a gigantic problem with this phrase. No where in the Bible does it ever describe the Holy Ghost proceeding (as in manufactured) from the Son. The 6th century addition "And the Son" (filioque) caused an enormous split in the early Church and of course it lacks biblical support. 🚨"With the Father and the Son he (the Holy Ghost) is worshipped and glorified" This is purely a creedal clarification, and not supported in the Bible anywhere. 🚨"One holy catholic and apostolic Church" – Seemingly innocent, this is a post-biblical description of the church. And no such terms are found in the Bible - it's a creedal invention. These additions reflect the early church’s effort to articulate the Trinity and Christ’s nature in ways that go beyond the Bible’s narrative and epistolary [letters/epistles] style. Let me translate that. The Nicene Creed sounds NOTHING like anything in the Bible. Not one prophet or apostle, old or new sounds like the Nicene Creed. The language, the voice, the tone, the style wholly and completely departs from volumes of Bible writings. It is demonstrably manmade literature that doesn't even claim God's input. (Creed means "I believe.") This list of Nicene creedal terms are rooted in biblical ideas but shaped by 4th-century theological brawls and manmade embellishments.

The Priority Pyramid of Truth: 1. God's direct words (vision or scripture) 2. Prophetic messages delivered by God's command 3. Prophet's insight and guidance 4. Apostle's expound and teach on existing doctrine 5. Gospel manuals 6. Seminary and Gospel Doctrine Teachers 7. Grandpa 8. Oral traditions and historic teachings How it really works a lot of the time (what people resource first) 1. Oral traditions and historic teachings 2. What grandpa and my stake president said 3. Anything I heard once in seminary and Sunday School 4. Gospel manuals (what's that?) 5. McKonkie-isms and their extended influence 8. Anyone at General Conference, anytime. 6. What a prophet said once, one time. 7. Scriptures - a few verses I remember. 8. God's actual words do not take priority, 1 - 7 have equal weight.)

Wanted to share a message I wrote this morning. "You are a wonderful person. I will be honest. My life has greatly improved in quality since using X a lot less. While X has been a worthwhile endeavor with very interesting people to interact with, for now, I'm on a different path. I'm sure that's not permanent because paths change - that's one of life's guarantees. I guess there is a season for everything." I'm on X even less than I anticipated, but it's been a ridiculously good move for me at this time in my life. Nonetheless, I have fond memories and feelings about LDX and the people who make it go. Godspeed you.

A good friend (Destry) wrote a song 3 days ago...and I loved it enough to break radio silence. See what you think of the words and leave a like or comment on his site if you like it. "ANCHOR" - Latter-day Saint themed. (It's guitar / folk ballad style) suno.com/song/5578d353-…

Ancient ≠ Truth Don't be fascinated with it simply because it is old. Old ≠ Truth Let me share some important understandings when it comes to ancient writings before Christ (Or any old writings). Simple truth: Just because it's old, doesn't make it any truer than something someone could make up in 2026 and bury for a couple thousand years. Repeatedly, I see people, including scholars put forth that the older the manuscript, the higher the level of authenticity/authority/truth. It might sound impressive when it comes from before Christ and has been buried somewhere for centuries. False, false concept. Moses didn't write the five books of Moses. As in, NOT AT ALL. They were credited to Moses around 2nd century B.C. Moses was born somewhere around 1500 to 1400 BC - depending on the scholar. Exodus was written approx 600 B.C. during Babylonian exile without prophets - drawing on both oral traditions and written sources (but not written sources from Moses's era). That's easily 700 years worth of editing, cultural influence, political motives, redactions, traditions. Scholars today can show that the books of Moses went through many hands, due to layers of contradicting narratives, word use, grammar style, etc. A lot of what is attributed to Moses' Law wasn't formulated during Moses' lifetime or even in the centuries immediately following him. Let me give you an example. Animal Sacrifice (this is a bit simplified to shorten it) 1) Any man faithful to God could do it anywhere. The alter could be built from local stones or even a raised pile of dirt. The ceremony was personal and private. Examples include Abraham and Jacob both doing it on the run, literally while they were camping out in the middle of nowhere. Exodus 20:24 You need make for me only an altar of earth and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your offerings of well-being, your sheep and your oxen; in every place where I cause my name to be remembered I will come to you and bless you. Next layer 2) Animal sacrifice could be performed at home as before, but a designated priest had to be present, from only one tribe...Levi. This is really questionable, honestly, that this rule existed in Moses' time. It more matches the culture of 600 B.C. Next layer 3) Priests had their own cities and sanctuaries, and you had to go to where they were to offer your sacrifice. Next layer 4) Sacrifices could only happen at a temple. Next layer 5) Sacrifices could only happen at the Jerusalem temple. (Deuteronomy 12:5-14) The outcome: a gap between man and a spiritual, grounding ordinance and communion grew most prohibited and wide. It was structured to enrich the priests. The priests got a piece of every sacrifice. Eventually you could simply pay silver to replace the sacrifice. Obviously, the similitude to the sacrifice of the lamb was lost. Interesting how Joseph Smith was deeply vilified for saying, "We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it was translated correctly." In 1842, this was an outrageous, apostate, faithless, evil thing to say. Even when I was younger, that statement was considered rage bait among most of the Christian world. Today, in 2026, it is considered completely reasonable. Most Christian scholars know how much apocrypha there is in the Old Testament and that a lot of things have been manipulated, evolved, redacted, added, etc. What Joseph Smith said about the Bible in 1842 is now common knowledge and common sense in 2026. Having said that, I'm finishing up 2 Samuel and want to witness that the Old Testament is rich with inspiring passages and truths. Nonetheless, the Spirit is 100% necessary when reading it. Bottom line: Something needs to have a lot more going for it than simply be 2-3000 years old to be true. Quite simply, it needs to be true in the first place. Age does not certify truth nor does it increase its chances of being true. You're welcome. The pdf downloads on my site have grown to about 700 downloads a week. I am busy making changes to keep up with demand and offer relevant content. PPS. I had an 80 minute zoom session with BHP 2 weeks ago, a prominent LDS scholar and he answered some questions I've had for years. It was awesome. Godspeed us all.

@Exmo2EO @FaithfulMonke @LatterDayBean @WalmartThomist There are many who claim to be that gray line on the left. What is ironic is there were approximately 150 smaller schisms in the first 300 years. I’m grateful you have faith in Christ. Beyond that, history doesn’t support your narrative.

Joseph Smith later learned the work for him to do was to translate the Book of Mormon from golden plates buried close to where he lived. Through Joseph a new Dispensation was brought in. The true Gospel was restored to the earth and more. I'm thankful for the Gospel.

40 years ago, President Ezra Taft Benson laid out the mission of the Church. “We have a sacred responsibility to fulfill the threefold mission of the Church—first, to teach the gospel to the world; second, to strengthen the membership of the Church wherever they may be; third, to move forward the work of salvation for the dead.” As he put it, “There is no greater joy than bringing souls to Christ.” This mission is the same to this day. How are we playing our part in accomplishing each of these three objectives? Here are President Benson’s inspired remarks:

We lost one of my favorite actors of all time today. He absolutely nailed this role in Jurassic Park.

The biggest anti Mormons in Texas come from self proclaiming Christians. It is absolutely ridiculous the amount of animosity and bigotry that comes from people who claim to follow Christ. Nevertheless God will prevail and the Fairview temple will be a blessing to members and nonmembers alike in that community.

Excellent letter to the editor published in The Dallas Morning News. Fairview mayor owes Latter-day Saints an apology Mayor John Hubbard of the fast-growing Dallas suburb of Fairview recently wrote in the pages of The Salt Lake Tribune about a zoning dispute in his city. Hubbard has said his goal is to embarrass leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which is headquartered in Salt Lake City, because of their decision to build a temple with a 120-foot steeple that his town approved.     A forthright response is warranted, not from church leaders, who already reached an agreement with the town of Fairview, but from everyday Latter-day Saints, the kind who are hurt by Hubbard’s jeremiad.    In his essay, Hubbard significantly misrepresented the nature and character of Fairview.    He wrote that Fairview is organized around a 35-foot height limit in residential zones. But he did not mention that the temple is located on a major thoroughfare that is currently part of a major expansion project. He also failed to note that the temple site is located on “church row,” where each of the surrounding buildings exceed that 35-foot limit. Churches have been built on this stretch because the road is so busy home builders will not build on it. So much for residential.  Hubbard said Fairview is a small town but did not note the massive outdoor mall less than a mile down the road the temple will be built on, nor that the mall also exceeds the 35-foot height limit.    In other comments, Hubbard compared the temple height to Yankee Stadium, the Leaning Tower of Pisa and the Sphinx. These examples serve to distract. There are six churches in Collin County alone that are taller than the proposed temple and located in residential areas. No need to mention Italy.  Hubbard claimed in his column that the temple would be the tallest structure Fairview has ever seen. That would make sense given how quickly Fairview is growing. But unfortunately, the mayor evidently overlooked other structures in his town. The temple will be at least the fourth-tallest structure in Fairview.     Hubbard also failed to mention that in 2006, Fairview granted Creekwood United Methodist Church a conditional use permit for a building expansion that included a proposed 154-foot digital bell tower. The tower was never built, but the permit itself shows that the town has previously approved a structure substantially taller than the proposed temple. So much for how important height is to the town’s character.    The Church of Jesus Christ has already compromised with the town of Fairview, significantly reducing the size and height of the building to meet the city’s needs. But Hubbard calls the church a bully because it asked the town to follow federal law. After all of this, Hubbard has the temerity to say it is the church that is being a bad neighbor.    Texans aren’t so easily fooled. I lived in Texas for 18 years. Telling our neighbor what to do on their own property, going back on your word, trying to embarrass them — that’s not the Texas way.     This kind of name-calling from a mayor does real damage to real Latter-day Saint kids who are trying to belong, and for what? Stopping the seventh-tallest church in the county, a mile down the road from the mall, on “church row.”   If Hubbard’s goal is truly to be a good neighbor, it’s time to put the embarrassment campaign away, offer an apology, and start mending fences with the Latter-day Saints he’s damaged with his misguided campaign. Author is the legendary CD Cunningham

My friends.

@korhonenhq @JoshuaSwin32372 @Primary_Pianist Please describe how members of The Church "enable" such reprehensible behavior?

@ScottK @JoshuaSwin32372 @Primary_Pianist If you don’t like my re/posts, don’t read them. 😂 What I hate? Long list but #1 is absolutely the way this church handles the sexual abuse cases like Paul Adams & his daughters’. #2 would be the members enabling all of it.

This is an odd claim. Latter-day Saints believe Christ will resurrect everyone, provide salvation for the dead, and ultimately adopt nearly all of God’s children into a kingdom of glory. Many Christians believe billions who never accepted their theology in this life are eternally lost. Which view is actually more exclusive?

@korhonenhq @JoshuaSwin32372 @Primary_Pianist Says the person who posts and reposts Anti-Saint and leftist / liberal tripe ad nauseum over and over. What exactly do you hate about The Church, and why?

@ScottK @JoshuaSwin32372 @Primary_Pianist Also, do take a break every now and then from the internet, ok? Being decades online is not good for anyone. This church needs all the keyboard warriors to survive.

People loved sharing their axes with Joseph Smith because they always knew it would come back sharper & in better shape. This is such a simple account & yet I find it to be so profound. I hope someday to be known for this. As someone who leaves the world better than I found it.

Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ visited Joseph Smith to restore the church of Jesus Christ.

I know who you are and what your TL represents you to be. You obviously don't understand the Laws and Ordinances of The Gospel and are only going on what is printed in the D&C as your entire understanding of our Beliefs and Doctrines. You try to trap members of The Church in our own words, but for those of us who have been at this for some time (me online since 1993 and here since 2007) we know the game you and yours play. Hence, you never see the forest for the trees. Many would call that as being narrow-minded on your part. I just call it a combination of your being ill-informed and intentionally ignorant.

@ScottK @JoshuaSwin32372 @Primary_Pianist everlasting covenant is the polygamy as the title of that section states, even if it’s not practised now. That’s how it’s been taught since the beginning of the church and at least prophets Nelson and Oaks believe in it. Have you ever read that part or do you still skip it? 2/2

X gets to see this first since I’m not posting this to Instagram until tomorrow My tribute to Elder Holland Father and Son