Posted on 11/14/2012 10:44:44 PM PST by reaganaut
Members of the LDS Church are familiar with the charge that Mormonism isn't a Christian faith. They hear it often enough, but they really don't understand why people think that. "We are Christians," Mormon President Gordon B. Hinckley insisted. "We have the name of Jesus Christ right in the name of our Church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We follow Christ. We worship Him. We love Him. He is the center of all we do"("Inspirational Thoughts," Liahona, June 1999, 3; 2 Nephi 25:24-29).
In the summer of 2005 we asked Mormons in Nauvoo, Illinois to take a quiz we called "Guess Who?" The quiz consisted of 15 relatively recent statements made by LDS leaders; we asked the participants to see if they could determine who their Church leaders were talking about. We invite you to take the same quiz. The answers will be at the end; see if you can do this without scrolling down for the answers.
His teachings "are the foundation of our faith. Everything we have is a lengthened shadow of [him]."
"I pray we may learn from his example, that we might incorporate into our lives the great principles which he so beautifully taught; that we ourselves might emulate him;..."
"I honor and revere [his] name... I delight to hear it; I love it. I love his doctrine... I am his witness."
"He died for those he loved. He reigns in the realms above."
"The more I learn of him, the more I love and revere him."
"I look to him. I love him. I seek to follow him."
"He not only gave us joy, happiness and opportunity here, but also a great hope in the life to come."
"Today, this Sabbath day, in many thousands of congregations, perhaps as many as twenty-one thousand, in many areas of the earth, our people have sung or will sing the praises of [him]."
"Of noble seed, of heavenly birth, he came to bless the sons of earth."
He was "a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief."
"Church members are interested in learning more about [him] because they love him and they love the gospel he brought forth."
"How great indeed is our debt to him. ...Great is his glory,... We stand in reverence before him... Let us not forget him. Let not his memory be forgotten in the celebration of Christmas."
"...and he shall stand in due time on the earth, in the flesh, and fulfill that to which he is appointed."
"The light, provided to the world by [him], illuminates the confusion, clarifies the principles of the gospel, and helps lead men and women to their own eternal reward, if they will but endure to the end."
The "work that has been carried out by President Young and his brethren [of the Twelve] has been in accordance with the plans, and designs, and Spirit, and instructions of [him]."
How did you do?
If you thought these statements were about Jesus—the One Mormons claim to worship and adore, the One they say is the center of all they do—you are incorrect. In each statement above, the speaker was talking about Joseph Smith.
Quotes with References
His teachings "are the foundation of our faith. Everything we have is a lengthened shadow of [him]." (15th President Gordon B. Hinckley, Church News, 3/19/2005, p.3.)
"I pray we may learn from his example, that we might incorporate into our lives the great principles which he so beautifully taught; that we ourselves might emulate him;..." (Thomas Monson (First Presidency), Ensign, 6/1994, p.7.)
"I honor and revere [his] name... I delight to hear it; I love it. I love his doctrine... I am his witness." (2nd President Brigham Young, quoted in Ensign, 1/1996, p.7.)
"He died for those he loved. He reigns in the realms above." (3rd President John Taylor, Hymns #296, "The Seer, Joseph, The Seer." While this hymn was written in the 18th century, it is still in use as evidenced by its performance by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir during the 175th Semi-Annual General Conference of the LDS Church in October, 2005.)
"The more I learn of him, the more I love and revere him." (Apostle Joseph B. Wirthlin, Church News, 2/19/2005, p.5.)
"I look to him. I love him. I seek to follow him." (15th Gordon B. Hinckley, Church News, 12/13/2003, p.3.)
"He not only gave us joy, happiness and opportunity here, but also a great hope in the life to come." (Apostle L. Tom Perry, Church News, 7/3/1993, p.4.)
"Today, this Sabbath day, in many thousands of congregations, perhaps as many as twenty-one thousand, in many areas of the earth, our people have sung or will sing the praises of [him]." (15th President Gordon B. Hinckley, Ensign, 9/1994, p.62.)
"Of noble seed, of heavenly birth, he came to bless the sons of earth." (John Taylor, Hymns #296, "The Seer, Joseph, The Seer.")
He was "a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief." (BYU Professor Robert Millet, Ensign, 9/1994, p.19.)
"Church members are interested in learning more about [him] because they love him and they love the gospel he brought forth." (LDS Church Historian Glen M. Leonard, Church News, 12/6/1997, p.4.)
"How great indeed is our debt to him. ...Great is his glory,... We stand in reverence before him... Let us not forget him. Let not his memory be forgotten in the celebration of Christmas." (15th President Gordon B. Hinckley, Ensign, 12/1997, p.2.)
"...and he shall stand in due time on the earth, in the flesh, and fulfill that to which he is appointed." (Church News, 7/19/1994, p.5.)
"The light, provided to the world by [him], illuminates the confusion, clarifies the principles of the gospel, and helps lead men and women to their own eternal reward, if they will but endure to the end." (Church News, 12/13/1997, p.16.)
The "work that has been carried out by President Young and his brethren [of the Twelve] has been in accordance with the plans, and designs, and Spirit, and instructions of [him]." (George A. Smith (First Presidency), quoted in Church News, 12/20/1997, p.7.)
Did you ‘Reasearch’ that joke?
You must believe exaclty as I do, or you will burn in HEEEEEEIIIIILLLLLLUH!
You must follow these rules exactly, and shun all those other rules, or you will burn in HEEEEEEEIIIIILLLLLLUH!
You know what, reaganaut? Religion sucks, and people are control freaks. Why don’t you believe whatever makes you feel better and let others do the same.
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First I never said people had to believe exactly as I do, there are CORE Doctrines that all people who are Christians MUST agree on, but are free do disagree on other, non salvific doctrines. I can give you a list if you would like.
Second, I don’t believe in religious ‘rules’. That is the core of Mormonism and I shunned that when I left.
Third, I am opposed to ‘organized religion’. I believe in having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
Finally, I believe the Bible and AS A CHRISTIAN I am COMMANDED to speak out against false teachings and false Christ’s. I am doing what the BIBLE commands me.
No they believe Jesus is a product of intercourse between God and Mary and that he lived a perfect life and thus earned his Godhood early and is one of 3 separate gods just for this planet.
As to your second question..”How many mainline or even evangelical Protestants don’t believe that Jesus Christ is the Incarnate Second Person of the Trinity?”
I am sure there are some individuals who don’t believe that but it is NOT institutional (as the Mormon doctrine is) and if they don’t believe that, they are not Christians regardless if they go to church or not.
LOL, not at all.
I enjoyed what I could hear of it. Thanks for that link.
Since when?
LOL
I found a bottle of Balvenie Caribean I bought a few months ago but the house cleaner must’ve moved it.
Forgot all about.
Found it when when I was rummaging for a certain type of glass to drink from and my friend was telling me “Stupid. I’ll drink from a rusty can. Hurry up”.
I started laughing and that’s when I found the two bottles.
So we are drinking and solving the worlds problems.
I freakin love this new version of Balvenie!!!!
You realize, of course, that every time I respond to you now I will add extra ‘e’s to my words, righte?
I miss Sempe Armagnac, we used to drink a lot of that when I was in culinary school as it was my chef instructor’s favorite.
Ia guessa I’lla adda extraa ‘a’s toa alla ofa mya postsa toa youa.
Read “ Cult Watch” by John Ankerberg and John Weldon and you will see that Mormons are not Christians , not even close. (Jesus and Satan were brothers and you can become a god yourself)
That is a great book. And I know first hand that Mormonism isn’t Christian. I was saved out of it almost 20 years ago.
There is also a great series called The Pagan Invasion. It may seem a bit dated but it covers issues like the LDS, Watchtower, Witchcraft etc.
I've studied it. It's true: their "god" is predated by the Universe, he was a being that perfected himself, their "Christ" is merely the "firstborn" and not as John 1:1 describes, their path to salvation involves earning it through individual effort, and lastly, they have three heavens.
Mormonism can't bear close scrutiny without falling apart. Not if one approaches it with intellectual integrity, it can't.
Sauron
Never had it but, my friends chef friends have talked about it.
Sipping good?
Re: post 23
Amen.
Thank you for your clear explainations and speaking forth the truth.
Well, Uhm....tell me...
How many Protestants don’t believe Jesus Christ is the second coming?
Or are we going to play word games with your original wording “How many mainline or even evangelical Protestants don’t believe that Jesus Christ is the Incarnate Second Person of the Trinity?”
She doesn’t have to research the joke.
She knows I speak Spanish..
Write that yourself did ya...
I’m thinking that the absence of a cross on, or in, their ‘worship’ buildings might be a tip-off also....
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