They believe in Jesus Christ, but they don't believe in the Trinity. They believe that Jesus Christ is the brother of Satan. They believe in the need to follow ordinances as a means of attaining higher levels of Salvation. They believe that Jesus Christ only died for the sins of Adam and Eve, not for the sin that people commit today.
They believe that people can become what God is now, and that God used to be a mortal man just like the men on Earth are now. They believe that God has a father and his father has a father. The believe in many Gods. (10 Commandments speak of something to the effect: "For I am a jealous God and there are no other Gods, I know not one."
There's much more to it than that, but to me, that's enough to convince me that they are not a true Christian theology, and a dangerous Church to place one's belief.
Like most any church, there are a lot of wonderful people in the Church, but from my observations, they are not critical thinking people. And that makes sense because the LDS Church doesn't want members to be critical thinkers. Then they would want answers to questions like "How much does our leadership receive in monies from the Church?" That by the way is a strictly held secret.
Before Lucifer fell he was in Heaven you should become familar with your scriptures!
Isaiah 14
12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.
15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.
BTW Jesus Christ was the only begotten Son of God in the Flesh. Lucifer never recieved a body as you and I have yet at one time he was a brother in Spirit before he became one of the Sons of Perdition!
Sadly you continue to quote from ignorance and give out disinformation I am sure you love the Lord but this approach is not of him
Jatopilot99,
Our critics like to throw a lot of garbage out there against us Mormons which are not true. They also like to publish misleading statements without all the reference points of information. There are so many items in your post I could talk about that meet those two criterias that it would take way too much effort to go through. However, let me be clear on two points:
First, I believe that Jesus Christ pays for all my sins and all mankind sins. To Mormons, he is the complete and only Savior of all mankind. The basics of the gospel is to have faith in Jesus Christ unto repentance of our sins, accept Jesus Christ through baptism, and receive the Holy Ghost. Through the gospel of Jesus Christ we become 100% clean. To me the highlight of my week is during my weekly worship with my fellow Mormons where I take the Sacrament of our Lord Jesus Christ and promise to remember Jesus Christ in all my words and deeds.
Another issue, is the junk about believing that Satan and Jesus are brothers. Mormons do not put these two at the same level, they are complete total opposites. Although Satan was a fallen angel which enjoyed the presence of God, he has became the father of all evil and has lost any relationship with God the Father. Jesus Christ, on the other hand, is the express full image of God the Father, in word and deed. Jesus Christ is our savior, the only way to heaven, and is full of truth and light. There is nothing we can do to please the Father, unless we do it in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ is my personal Savior. I recognize and profess Him as such. He atoned on the cross for my sins and He is the only path to the Ftaher and to Heaven.
I believe in God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, who are absolutely perfetly united and one in their dedication to and offering salvation to us, their children.
I also believe them to seperate and distinct, which is supported in the New Testament by any number of versus (Stephen's testimony, the testimony associated with Christ's baptism, Peter, James and John's experience and testimony on the mount of transfiguration, Christ's own great intercessory prayer in John, the testimonies associated with christ's resurrection, and His ascention to the Father).
That nature of the three of them is a matter of discussion and disagreement among other Christian Churches as well (The Church of Christ for example) and is one of interpretation, not bearing on the essential fact and faith in Christ's atonement of all mankinf who will come to Him, as the Son of God and the author of salvation.
I am LDS and this is what I have been taught and accepted as my faith.
So, please, before repeating what others who either are not LDS, or who are disaffected, say we believe, talk to those of us who profess the faith and let us bear our witness to you.
Then you can more easily judge for yourself...and in any case, in the end, just like with your own heart-felt witness of Christ...which I accept without reservation despite whatever other differences exist...that final judgement and decision is between each of us and our Father in Heaven and His Son Jesus Christ.
His suddenly joining the NRA on the eve of his annoucement for the Presidency is a recent example of what would appear to be actions based on political pundits advise as opposed to true conviction.
As a result, with Romney, I prefer to wait a good while...perhaps years...before judging for myself that these new found pronouncments are genuine and not made out of political expediency. They are too important, IMHO, to risk to any other course.
In the mean time I will trust the track records and firm commitment to those principles of others, who are also Christian, like Hunter and or Thompson.
Now, if it came down to Romney or Rudy (and I will work to try and ensure it does not come down to that choice), then I would pick Romney over Rudy because Romney may well be changing on these issues when I know good and well that Rudy is not.
>>They believe in Jesus Christ, but they don't believe in the Trinity.
You mean the dogma introduced under Constantine (A Pagan calling Religious conferences under pain of death?) in AD 325 as he was trying to reform Christianity to help him unify Rome? Yep we don’t believe that.
They believe that Jesus Christ is the brother of Satan.
Which a common knowledge before the Trinity was invented.
They believe in the need to follow ordinances as a means of attaining higher levels of Salvation.
You mean like baptism? Yep, we believe Baptism is required as an outward manifestation of an inward faith.
>>They believe that Jesus Christ only died for the sins of Adam and Eve, not for the sin that people commit today.
There are so many things wrong with this statement I am truly amazed. We believe that Jesus’ Atonement was infinite and paid for Adam’s sin and our sins thus we can be truly clean and return to that God who gave us birth.
>>They believe that people can become what God is now, and that God used to be a mortal man just like the men on Earth are now.
LOL! You have a Gift for sating things in a convoluted manner, and are exercising it fully in this post.
We believe all that God has promised us. God promised the faithful all that he hath. If a king gives you his kingdom what are you? Are you a king? If we are truly God’s children, what will we grow up to be? Angels? Bah, you don’t believe what the Bible says if you disagree with what we believe, you seem to prefer dogma by pagans like Constantine and others like him.
>>They believe that God has a father and his father has a father.
That’s not doctrine, just logic, Grin.
>>The believe in many Gods. (10 Commandments speak of something to the effect: "For I am a jealous God and there are no other Gods, I know not one."
Try the actual scripture, Exodus 20:3 3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me. (http://scriptures.lds.org/en/ex/20)
I find it funny actually how people think God having a father somehow diminishes him. This world was created by God to teach us about Him. Does your Father having a father lessen him in your eyes? I have even heard people questions God’s authority over us with this a a premise, have you ever tried to appeal to your Grandfather to avoid punishment from your father for something you had done wrong? It would not help you, and would actually make your punishment worse. He was before us, he will be after us (Earth exists in time, he does not.) He is eternal, and all powerful, what’s the problem?
>>There's much more to it than that, but to me, that's enough to convince me that they are not a true Christian theology, and a dangerous Church to place one's belief.
Instead people should believe you? No, I will trust in God the Father and in his son Jesus Christ who came and saved me by performing the Atonement on my behalf, and I thank my God for it.
>>Like most any church, there are a lot of wonderful people in the Church, but from my observations, they are not critical thinking people.
LOL!
>>And that makes sense because the LDS Church doesn't want members to be critical thinkers.
You have no knowledge of what you speak here, and you started a sentence with And (speaking of critical thinking…)
>>Then they would want answers to questions like "How much does our leadership receive in monies from the Church?"
ROTFLOL! We have a Lay ministry for all but the General authorities! (Which means we work for the church for free in our spare time after supporting ourselves with “Day Jobs”?)
>>That by the way is a strictly held secret.
The Financial records of the church are PUBLISHED, and I can look up any expenditure (including a GA’s compensation just so you know, it’s pretty modest BTW but they do have a really good health care plan)
Your post is so full of inaccuracies and half truths that I wonder if it is innocently so.