Questions about Mormon religion

[dclem9834]

I am a very curious person who makes it a point to learn everything i can of all religions i can find. i think it helps with deciding exactly what i believe. right now im trying to learn as much as i can about Mormons, i know nothing of there history or of there beliefs outside of the Bible. can anyone help me out ang give me a link to a site or give a good outline of how mormon beliefs differ from general christianity? thank you

 

[heron]

The main difference that most Christians see, is the Mormons' emphasis on good works as a means of getting ahead spiritually. Christians do good works to care for others (in theory) and promote God's purposes, but they are saved through faith in God's grace through Jesus' sacrifice.

I just did a quick search for [Mormonism Christianity difference] and came up

with....http://www.carm.org/lds/compare.htm
(comparison chart with scriptures)

http://www.rapidnet.com/~jbeard/bdm/Cults/mormon.htm
(more detailed history)

I'm sure you'll find hundreds more out there.

 

[AvgJoe]

http://www.carm.org/mormon.htm - Alot of info on Mormonism.
http://www.myfortress.org/DEBATE_MORMON.html - Ditto
http://www.xmission.com/~research/about/index.htm - Mormon Origins
http://www.centerplace.org/history/ch/vol3.htm - Mormon History
http://scriptures.lds.org/ - Mormon Scriptures: Book of Mormon, Doctrine of Great Price & Doctrine of Covenants - They also consider the Bible to be Scripture but they consider it to be the least of these. With this Mormon Scripture website you can verify the claims that some of the other sites make, that are listed above.

Christianity believes, based on the Bible, that Jesus Christ was never created, has always existed and is in fact the Creator.

Mormonism believes that Jesus Christ was created, the physical son of God and his wife and the brother of Satan.

 

[heron]

The brother of Satan? I'd never heard that.

Also--the literature comes from an encounter Joseph Smith had in the woods of New York. http://www.pbs.org/americanprophet/joseph-smith.html

 

[Maxster211]

I learned it from a Midnight Call article. They believe that while Joseph Smith was throughn in jail for some odd reason, he had a vision. In the vision, he saw God and Jesus, and they told him that Christianity [or rather, the non-denominational and catholic religion] were of the occult, and that they don't have a complete bible. They say that when Jesus left his desiples the went to America [the country] and preached to the indians all over the country with a new set of deciples. Basically, he left in the same manner as he had gone there, and when the Christian pilgrams came over to America, they already knew alot about Christianity. They also believe that he will SAVE IDAHO and that the new Jerusalem will be placed there.

 

[AvgJoe]

The brother of Satan? I'd never heard that.

Yeah, that really threw me for a loop when I first heard that Jesus and Satan are brothers. Their faith is in a false Jesus. One that was created, not the great I AM. In 1998, the LDS President Hinckley actually affirmed this statement: http://www.carm.org/lds/lds_jesus.htm

The LDS (Mormon) church have 12 apostles and their revelations are to be taken as God breathed Scripture, after the revelation is voted on.


A few other mind bogglers:

"The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man's" (Doctrine and Covenants 130:22. Compare with Alma 18:26-27; 22:9-10) - http://scriptures.lds.org/dc/130

The trinity is three separate Gods: The Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. "That these three are separate individuals, physically distinct from each other, is demonstrated by the accepted records of divine dealings with man." (Articles of Faith, by James Talmage, p. 35.)

Joseph Smith boasted that he did more than Jesus to keep a church together. (History of the Church, Vol. 6, p. 408-409)

Joseph Smith said the Book of Mormon was more correct than the Bible. (History of the Church, Vol. 4, page 461)

Joseph Smith said God was once a man. (Journal of Discourses, Vol. 6, p. 3)


Some far out stuff for us Bible believing Christians.

 

[Maxster211]

No offence, but Joseph Smith was crazy!

 

[88Devin07]

yes I agree Maxster, i recently read a booklet written by a friend of my Mother about Mormonism. The Mormon religion is nothing like ours... I know I shouldn't be speaking for another religion, but I dunno if most Mormons actually follow the teachings of J. Smith or not...

BTW, I'm quoting from the booklet...

"The Facts on the Mormon Church"
John Ankerberg & John Weldon
Pages 12 and 13

Their views on different subjects...
Christianity: sectarianism; a false and damnable apostate religion
God: "Elohim"; one of innumerable self-progressing bodily deities; formerly a man, a finite creature. In early Mormon theology, Ada (of the Garden of Eden) was considered by many Mormons as the true earth deity.
Jesus Christ: a self-progressing deity ("Jehovah" of the Old Testament) and the first spirit child of "Elohim" and his wife.
Holy Ghost: a man with a spiritual body of matter
Trinity: tritheistic; coordinated under general Mormon polytheism; thus the Father, Son and Holy Ghost are seperate deities.
The Gospel: Mormon salvation by works leading to exaltation or godhood.
Born-again: water baptism into Mormonism.
Immortality: salvation by grace (the universal ressurection of all men).
Atonement: the provision God has supplied for people to earn their own salvation "by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel" (Articles of the Faith, 3).
Virgin Birth: the birth of Christ through a physical sex act between God the Father (the Mormon earth god "Elohim") and Mary (hence, not a virgin birth.)
The Bible: an erring and often unreliable inspired record, properly interpreted only by Mormons and only in light of Mormon theology.

If you wish to learn more (from the research of 2 reliable Christians) then just go to your local Christian bookstore and see if they have the booklet. It's only 4.99 in the U.S. (sorry but I didn't want to cross the line of copyright )

 

[Neeter]

No offence, but Joseph Smith was crazy!

Here is a interesting site that compares Joseph Smith and Mohammed,
they have a lot in common.

http://www.bible.ca/islam/islamic-mormonism-similarities.htm

 

[constance]

My apologies, I cannot resist. My friend made me watch the South Park episode "All about Mormons"...

Lucy Harris smart smart smart
Martin Harris dumb

Constance
(Waaay too old to be watching South Park)

 

[theywhosowintears]

My apologies, I cannot resist. My friend made me watch the South Park episode "All about Mormons"...

Lucy Harris smart smart smart
Martin Harris dumb

Constance
(Waaay too old to be watching South Park)

One of the only Southpark episodes I ever saw...and in all honesty, it was ridiculously funny. :O

 

[A New Dawn]

I learned it from a Midnight Call article. They believe that while Joseph Smith was throughn in jail for some odd reason, he had a vision. In the vision, he saw God and Jesus, and they told him that Christianity [or rather, the non-denominational and catholic religion] were of the occult, and that they don't have a complete bible. They say that when Jesus left his desiples the went to America [the country] and preached to the indians all over the country with a new set of deciples. Basically, he left in the same manner as he had gone there, and when the Christian pilgrams came over to America, they already knew alot about Christianity. They also believe that he will SAVE IDAHO and that the new Jerusalem will be placed there.

I can try to clear up some of these misconceptions.

When Joseph Smith was a teenager, he was confused as to which church to join as they all claimed to be the true church. He went into the woods behind his house and prayed using James 1:5 as the basis of his prayer, and had a vision. In the vision, God told Joseph not to join any church because they drew near to Him with their lips but their hearts were far from Him. But told Joseph that He had a work that He wanted Joseph to perform.

That work was translating the Book of Mormon, which he did and it was published in 1829. The Book of Mormon is a record of a remnant of Israel that came to this continent, and is second testimony of Christ.

Then God instructed Joseph to restore the 1st century church with the priesthood authority and ordinances that Christ established that had become lost or wrongly interpreted through the years. So in April of 1830, God restored the church.

Over time, as happened with the early Christian church, inappropriate teachings crept into the restored church. When Joseph Smith was killed, two main factions came out of it. The LDS church, which went west to Utah (and was the largest), and the RLDS church, which ended up in Independence, MO. The RLDS church is the church that accepted and practice the beliefs of the restored church as when it was organinzed in 1830, the LDS church is the church that the restored church had morphed into by the time Joseph Smith was killed in 1844. It is much different from what the church was like when it began.

The LDS believe in practices like baptism for the dead, celestial marriage and sealing of families for time and eternity, secret temple rituals that are supposed to help you understand the mysteries of God, etc. The church was not like that when it began. It was a very protestant-type of organization that believed that God continues to want to speak to us today as He did all throughout Biblical history.

 

[Ran77]

I am a very curious person who makes it a point to learn everything i can of all religions i can find. i think it helps with deciding exactly what i believe. right now im trying to learn as much as i can about Mormons, i know nothing of there history or of there beliefs outside of the Bible. can anyone help me out ang give me a link to a site or give a good outline of how mormon beliefs differ from general christianity? thank you

If you are interested in finding out what the LDS believe it would be best to ask them. Why don't you post a thread in the unorthodox section and see what they (we) have to say.

http://www.christianforums.com/f130

 

[Svt4Him]

www.mrm.org- their articles are excellent.

 

[JJB]

They also believe that he will SAVE IDAHO and that the new Jerusalem will be placed there.

I just find this very funny! ROTFL That's why there are so many there -- also why my hubby would never want to live there again!

Constance
(Waaay too old to be watching South Park)

Don't say such a thing! That makes me.....................umm, err, nvmd!

Dclem,
It would be nice to ask a LDS what they do indeed believe, then compare it to what's in the Bible.

 

[desert_island_1]

I am not allowed to watch South Park... or any other animated adult show...

 

[ParaCristo]

I can try to clear up some of these misconceptions.

When Joseph Smith was a teenager, he was confused as to which church to join as they all claimed to be the true church. He went into the woods behind his house and prayed using James 1:5 as the basis of his prayer, and had a vision. In the vision, God told Joseph not to join any church because they drew near to Him with their lips but their hearts were far from Him. But told Joseph that He had a work that He wanted Joseph to perform.

That work was translating the Book of Mormon, which he did and it was published in 1829. The Book of Mormon is a record of a remnant of Israel that came to this continent, and is second testimony of Christ.

Then God instructed Joseph to restore the 1st century church with the priesthood authority and ordinances that Christ established that had become lost or wrongly interpreted through the years. So in April of 1830, God restored the church.

Over time, as happened with the early Christian church, inappropriate teachings crept into the restored church. When Joseph Smith was killed, two main factions came out of it. The LDS church, which went west to Utah (and was the largest), and the RLDS church, which ended up in Independence, MO. The RLDS church is the church that accepted and practice the beliefs of the restored church as when it was organinzed in 1830, the LDS church is the church that the restored church had morphed into by the time Joseph Smith was killed in 1844. It is much different from what the church was like when it began.

The LDS believe in practices like baptism for the dead, celestial marriage and sealing of families for time and eternity, secret temple rituals that are supposed to help you understand the mysteries of God, etc. The church was not like that when it began. It was a very protestant-type of organization that believed that God continues to want to speak to us today as He did all throughout Biblical history.

Wow! very informative..... I will research this myself! props to you!

 

[mc2phat]

"One Nation Under Gods" by Richard Abanes is an excellent source for history. The tome is well-researched and written. Read the book even though some folks claim it is Mormon-bashing; it is not.

 

[ParaCristo]

Our Church really gets smeared a lot. If you would spend some time finding out about the real Church you might think differently. Any good research also goes to the source. You can ask members like the Mormon above said. You can visit the official visiting site mormon.org. If you really want to do your homework try farms.org.

The main thing is the Book of Mormon. If you can write a verse like it's verses, then maybe you can bash it. But the book stands as a witness of itself through all the evidence you can bring at it.

If the Post (BY Jenda)is smear or lies then please correct them! By giving me a Hyperlink to one of your sites (which I'am sure will lean your way) doesn't really help, Please clear any other lies by previous posts? I'm not tryin' to call you out, but Making a statement that others are lying and then just dropping a link doesn't quite convince me! State your case brother!

Much Love

 

[A New Dawn]

If the Post (BY Jenda)is smear or lies then please correct them! By giving me a Hyperlink to one of your sites (which I'am sure will lean your way) doesn't really help, Please clear any other lies by previous posts? I'm not tryin' to call you out, but Making a statement that others are lying and then just dropping a link doesn't quite convince me! State your case brother!

Much Love

ParaCristo, unfortunately, this is not the place to debate this issue. Mormonism and other unorthodox religions can only be debated in the Unorthodox Theology forum, so if you want to be able to debate it, you need to go there (this thread, because it discusses Mormonism, technically, is supposed to be in the UTD forum.)