Posted on 01/08/2008 4:09:13 PM PST by tantiboh
Mitt Romney is facing an unexpected challenge in Iowa from rival Mike Huckabee, who has enjoyed a groundswell of support from religious voters, particularly evangelical Christians wary of the clean-cut former Massachusetts governor because of his Mormon religion.
The common worry among evangelicals is that if Romney were to capture the White House, his presidency would give legitimacy to a religion they believe is a cult. Since the LDS church places heavy emphasis on proselytizing -- there are 53,000 LDS missionaries worldwide -- many mainstream Christians are afraid that Mormon recruiting efforts would increase and that LDS membership rolls would swell.
...
THE ONLY PROBLEM with those fears is that they don't add up. Evangelicals may be surprised to learn that the growth of church membership in Massachusetts slowed substantially during Romney's tenure as governor. In fact, one could make the absurdly simplistic argument that Romney was bad for Mormonism.
...
ONE WAY TO GAUGE what might happen under a President Romney would be to look at what happened during the period of the 2002 Olympic Winter Games. Held in Salt Lake City, they were dubbed the "Mormon Olympics."
...
Despite all the increased attention, worldwide the Church grew only slightly, and in fact in the year leading up to the games the total number of congregations fell. Overall, from 2000 to 2004, there was a 10.9 percent increase in memberships and a 3.6 percent increase in congregations.
...
The LDS church is likely to continue its current modest-but-impressive growth whether or not Romney wins the White House. Perhaps the only real worry for evangelicals is that, if elected, the former Massachusetts governor will demonstrate to Americans that Mormons don't have horns.
Carrie Sheffield, a member of the LDS Church, is a writer living in Washington, D.C.
(Excerpt) Read more at spectator.org ...
Why do you obsess over things that you don’t understand and are none of your business in the first place?
~”I already know the answer....do you?”~
Yep. 100%. The LDS Church is a charity. Everything it uses is being used for the benefit of a charitable organization.
I believe we’ve had this conversation before?
Nope, probably never saw you.
You would have remembered me. Ha!!
Based on the mormon boy's I've had knock on my door....they were woefully biblically inexperienced and only versed in what they had been brainwashed in.
On second thought.....maybe you DID come to my door. LOL!!
You aren’t worth answering. You queries have been dealt with and put to rest on numerous other threads. You want answers, do dig them out ... that is the standard Mormon saw. Live with it. LOL ... That’s your cue to post ‘so you can’t answer, just throw insults.’ Bwahahahaha, or maybe you would rather threaten me? Gufaw gufaw.
MYTH and Joe Smith at least have the master con man thing in common I have to give you that.
MYTH could break out a new white salamander letter tomorrow that says God told him to run for President and people would still vote for him.
~”...they were woefully biblically inexperienced...”~
Yeah, we send out the weak, and rely on God and the Holy Spirit to do our converting. Weird, huh?
Seems to be working. We’re still growing pretty quickly. If historical trends keep up, there should be half a billion or so of us in a hundred years.
Darned inexperienced missionaries.
Your post is noted.
Sorta gets your hackels up, eh?
Well it ought to.
Your church....LD$ Inc. is amassing a MULTI-BILLION $$$$ conglomerate on YOUR back.
You should be questioning it. But don't be too vocal.....cause you WILL be crushed...if you are LD$.
YOU are ignorant.
And have NO idea...what you speak of.
Oooh... our champion fails in the follow-through. 2.5 from the judges.
Ravi Zacharias, in good faith, spoke in the Mormon Temple a while back, as part of the ‘new initiative’ begun between Mormon hierarchy and Evangelical Christians ... that initiative started heating up about the time Mitt was deciding he had political capital to run for president (’02, I think). I don’t trust people who will purposely deceive to suck one into the ‘church’ on milk without meat. And from the deceptions spittled out by Moronism Apologists at FR over the past several months, it looks like the nation is about to get a big dose of lies, deceit, and professional grade Momron spin.
“Of course not! Why persuade and convince when “You’re a hell-bound cultist” is so much easier?”
You are getting really close to accepting the TRUTH aren’t you? It’s all been laid out for you over the past few weeks, all you gotta do now is receive this free gift of eternal life. Don’t pretend like you are fighting it any more tantiboh. You know you want it. Today is the day of salvation—go for it!
Why should we really care about anything what your Mormon heretics have to say?
Figures....!!
Numbers don't lie....but liars do.
You are a liar, Tant.
Plain and simple.
Yep, it’s all about promoting Mormonism, as tantiboh just revealed. It’s all about ‘his church’ not His Church! Thanks for revealing that slip up, tanti, you couldn’t help it could you? Like I offered to you, Matthew 22;13-14 is perhaps your last warning. Who knows what tomorrow will bring?
Salvation is an individual thing...
And the Mormons do not have it.
Here you go:
“For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.” I John 5:7
“In Scripture there is as yet no single term by which the Three Divine Persons are denoted together. The word trias (of which the Latin trinitas is a translation) is first found in Theophilus of Antioch about A.D. 180. He speaks of “the Trinity of God [the Father], His Word and His Wisdom (”Ad. Autol.”, II, 15). The term may, of course, have been in use before his time. Afterwards it appears in its Latin form of trinitas in Tertullian (”De pud.” c. xxi). In the next century the word is in general use. It is found in many passages of Origen (”In Ps. xvii”, 15). The first creed in which it appears is that of Origen’s pupil, Gregory Thaumaturgus. In his Ekthesis tes pisteos composed between 260 and 270, he writes:”
Josh McDowell Ministry
A. One of the most commonly misunderstood ideas in the Bible concerns the teaching about the Trinity. Although Christians say that they believe in one God, they are constantly accused of polytheism (worshiping at least three gods).
The Scriptures do not teach that there are three gods; neither do they teach that God wears three different masks while acting out the drama of history. What the Bible does teach is stated in the doctrine of the Trinity: There is one God who has revealed Himself in three persons – the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit – and these three persons are the one God.
Although this is difficult to comprehend, it is nevertheless what the Bible tells us, and it is the closest the finite mind can come to explaining the infinite mystery of the infinite God when considering the biblical statements about God’s being.
The Bible teaches that there is one God and only one God: “Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one!” (Deuteronomy 6:4, NASB). “There is one God” (1 Timothy 2:5, KJV). “Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: ‘I am the first and I am the last, and there is no God beside Me’” (Isaiah 44:6, NASB).
However, even though God is one in His essential being or nature, He is also three persons. “Let us make man in our image” (Genesis 1:26, KJV). “God said, ‘Behold, the man has become like one of us’” (Genesis 3:22, RSV).
God’s plural personality is alluded to here, for He could not be talking to angels in these instances, because angels could not and did not help God create. The Bible teaches that Jesus Christ, not the angels, created all things (John 1:3; Colossians 1:15; Hebrews 1:2).
In addition to speaking of God as one, and alluding to a plurality of God’s personality, the Scriptures are quite specific as to naming God in terms of three persons. There is a person whom the Bible calls the Father, and the Father is designated as God the Father (Galatians 1:1).
The Bible talks about a person named Jesus, or the Son, or the Word, also called God. “The Word was God ...” (John 1:1, KJV). Jesus was “also calling God His own Father, making himself equal with God” (John 5:18, NASB).
There is a third person mentioned in the Scriptures called the Holy Spirit, and this person – different from the Father and the Son – is also called God (“Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit? ... You have not lied to men, but to God” (Acts 5:3, 4, RSV).
The facts of the biblical teaching are these: There is one God. This one God has a plural personality. This one God is called the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit – all distinct personalities, all designated God. We are therefore led to the conclusion that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are one God – the Trinity.
Excerpts taken from Answers to Tough Questions Skeptics Ask About the Christian Faith Josh McDowell and Don Stewart. Living Books, 1980.
Thanks for your concern, dmw. I am saved.
You claim that shows it is a three in one thingy.
That is your interpretation. Lets go back to the beliefs taught by the Apostolic Christian Church.
How about I post an extract from the Catholic Encyclopedia that shows that interpretation was not considered correct at the time it was adopted?
Quote
----------------------------------------
In the remaining New Testament writings numerous passages attest how clear and definite was the belief of the Apostolic Church in the three Divine Persons.
In certain texts the coordination of Father, Son, and Spirit leaves no possible doubt as to the meaning of the writer.
Thus in 2 Corinthians 13:13, St. Paul writes: "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the charity of God, and the communication of the Holy Ghost be with you all."
Here the construction shows that the Apostle is speaking of three distinct Persons. Moreover, since the names God and Holy Ghost are alike Divine names, it follows that Jesus Christ is also regarded as a Divine Person.
But apart from passages such as these, where there is express mention of the Three Persons, the teaching of the New Testament regarding Christ and the Holy Spirit is free from all ambiguity.
The doctrine as to the Holy Spirit is equally clear.
That His distinct personality was fully recognized is shown by many passages.
----------------------------------------------------
Unquote
That is not from anything written by a Mormon. It is an expression of the beliefs of the Apostolic Church.
Why should we believe the same as you when it is wrong?
Of course, you are free to interpret the scriptures as you wish. Just because the Apostle Paul taught one way and you want to use your doctrine shouldn't stand in the way.
Also I have to restate that I have danced with my Mother, my Wife, My daughters, and my Granddaughters. That makes four generations of being afoul of your beliefs.
You can't prove that in a hundred years....
Your attempts at side-stepping are pathetic.
With all due respect and honesty...you really need to examine and please PRAY about the finances of LD$, Inc.
If you really do...with an open heart and mind..you will truly see the deception you are involved in.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.