Sinasamba Ba Ng Latter Day Saints Si Joseph Smith?

By : Bro. Nathan

Critics of the church often mistake Latter Day Saints na winoworship daw ng Latter Day Saints si Prophet Joseph Smith through Hymn no. 27 na "Praise To The Man". For them, ang "praise" ay worship na agad at pagsing ng Isang hymn as a tribute for someone ay worship na daw agad even though na nagprapraise sila sa ilang mga tao na mayga nagawang achievement. Let's take the bible kung justified nga ba ang paggawa ng hymns sa isamg mortal.

In the bible ay may mga Psalms na nakadedicate sa mga mortals like ng mga Kings at Israelite Heroes at may mga places din where mortals are given the same praise given to Yahweh. praises for mortals are justified in the bible. In these places in the Bible, the Hebrew verb חוה or ang Greek verb sa Lxx na προσκυνεω (proskuneō) which is properly translated as "to worship" o kaya "to bow down". In other places din ay ginagamit ang Hebrew word na תּהלּה (telilah). Ang terms na Ito ay found throughout the Hebrew Bible at sa Septuagint (Zeph. 3:20; 1 Chr. 29:20; Ps. 72; Isa. 45:15; Gen. 49:8; Dt. 26:19; Ps. 49:18; 56:4-10; Prov. 27:2; 31:28-30; 31:31; Ec. 4:2; Song. 6:9; Isa. 62:7; Jer. 13:11; 33:9). Ang תּהלּה ay defined as :

תּהלּה

f. (from the root הָלַל Piel).-

(1) praise, Psa 22:26 48:11 51:17 hence-(a) a song containing praise, a hymn, Psa 22:4 66:2 145:1 and pl. תְּהִלִּים, as the title of the whole book of Psalms.-(b) the person praised or celebrated, Deu 26:19 Jer 13:11 33:9 Zep 3:19, 20 Zep 3:20.

(2) praise, in which any one stands with respect to others, glory, Psa 9:15 Isa 42:8. Hence the person (or thing) wherein any one glories. Jer 17:14, אַתָּה תְהִלָּתִי “thou (Jehovah, art) my glory.” Deu 10:21.

Sa Zephaniah 3:20 ay ginamit dito ang Hebrew word na תּהלּה to Israel, which means "to praise" or even means a "hymn" like what is defined above :

“"At that time I will bring you in, Even at the time when I gather you together; Indeed, I will give you renown and praise (לִתְהִלָּה) Among all the peoples of the earth, When I restore your fortunes before your eyes," Says the LORD.” (Zeph.3:20) NASB

Sa 1 Chronicles 29:20 ay inapply dito yung verb dito for worship na חוה to King Solomon

“Then David said to all the assembly, "Now bless the LORD your God." And all the assembly blessed the LORD, the God of their fathers, and bowed low and did homage to the LORD and to the king.[וַיִּשְׁתַּחֲווּ לַיהוָה וְלַמֶּלֶך]” (1 Chr. 29:20) NASB

Ang context is when Ito ay nangyari sa temple sacrifice, at ang mga Israelita dito ay inutusan dito na "lumuhod" at "sambahin" ang Panginoon at ang hari ng Israel. Like ng paggamit dito ng sentence na וַיִּשְׁתַּחֲווּ לַיהוָה וְלַמֶּלֶך doesn't tell anything na magkaiba yung worship na ibinigay Kay Jehovah/Yahweh at sa king of Israel. Sa Lxx ay ganito ang reading :

καὶ εἶπεν Δαυιδ πάσῃ τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ Εὐλογήσατε κύριον τὸν θεὸν ὑμῶν· καὶ εὐλόγησεν πᾶσα ἡ ἐκκλησία κύριον τὸν θεὸν τῶν πατέρων αὐτῶν καὶ κάμψαντες τὰ γόνατα προσεκύνησαν τῷ κυρίῳ καὶ τῷ βασιλεῖ. (1 Chr. 29:20) Lxx

Sa Psalms 72 ay dedicated sa Isang Davidic King. As one commentator stated :

In Psalm 72 wild creatures and enemies, kings and nations, all bow down and serve the king (vv. 9-11). The pairing of the roots חוה and עבד in verse 11 is precisely the pairing of words that one finds in the commandment forbidding the adoration of idols (Exod 20:5; Deut 5:9). Thus, while it is possible to separate cultic worship from courtly obeisance, we have begun to see enough of the confluence of idealized human figures and actions and ascriptions typically reserved for God to keep us from being able to rule out “worship and serve” reserved for God to keep us from being able to rule out “worship and service” of the king as a rite appropriate even for Israel’s monolatrous belief and practice. The Priestly creation story has already opened up the possibility that idealized, original humanity stands as the image of God that grounds the prohibition of images made by human hands. It is no great leap from such a creational theology of idealized human figures to such a figure playing precisely the role of God’s proxy in worship and service, such that what is forbidden to images made by human hands is allowed to the image formed by God. The idea would be that God is worshipped through this service because God stands behind this king.

In the succeeding verses, the king is deemed worthy of such adoration because he is deliverer (v. 12), savior (v. 13), and redeemer (v. 14). And so the king’s name, like God’s own glory, is celebrated as something that should last forever (v. 17). “The psalm seems to hold out the possibility that a king might be granted life to a fuller and greater extent than an ordinary human being. Here again, the Judahite conception of divine kingship is less explicit and exalted than what we find in Egypt . . . but it still has a mythical dimension that goes beyond the common human condition” (Collins and Collins, King and Messiah, 23). Even beyond this, the petition that the king’s name flourish “before the sun” (לִפְנֵי־שֶׁמֶשׁ, v. 17) became an opening for the idea that the name of the king existed before the sun. (J.R. Daniel Kirk, A Man Attested by God: The Human Jesus of the Synoptic Gospels [Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 2016], 101-2)

Sa Isaiah 45:14 wherein may binigay na promise dito si God sa Israel, in which binigyan ng prayer ng mga Gentiles ang Israel, followed by the reading ng Lxx :

“Thus says the LORD: “The labor of Egypt and merchandise of Cush And of the Sabeans, men of stature, Shall come over to you, and they shall be yours; They shall walk behind you, They shall come over in chains; And they shall bow down to you. They will make supplication (προσευχομαι) to you, saying, ‘Surely God is in you, And there is no other; There is no other God.’ ” (Isa. 45:14) NKJV

Οὕτως λέγει κύριος σαβαωθ Ἐκοπίασεν Αἴγυπτος καὶ ἐμπορία Αἰθιόπων, καὶ οἱ Σεβωιν ἄνδρες ὑψηλοὶ ἐπὶ σὲ διαβήσονται καὶ σοὶ ἔσονται δοῦλοι καὶ ὀπίσω σου ἀκολουθήσουσιν δεδεμένοι χειροπέδαις καὶ προσκυνήσουσίν σοι καὶ ἐν σοὶ προσεύξονται, ὅτι ἐν σοὶ ὁ θεός ἐστιν, καὶ ἐροῦσιν Οὐκ ἔστιν θεὸς πλὴν σοῦ· (Isa. 45:14) Lxx

Sa verse na ito unlike sa paggamit sa other place sa Bible for worship, sa context nito ay ginagamit ang Greek word na προσευχομαι (proseuchomai) which is properly translated as a "prayer". However, sa hymn no. 27, Praise to the Man, ay walang prayer na ibinibigay Kay Prophet Joseph Smith. It's two different things.

Thus concludes na walang Mali sa pagsing ng Hymn 27 as a tribute to Joseph Smith