Now I actively speak against Mormonism as a damnable Christian heresy.
Would you say that I qualify as a son of perdition? If I was a Melchizedek Priesthood holder like SZonian would I then be a son of perdition?
Do you not dare name one who is? Give us an example of who is a Son of Perdition, if you can.
I cannot know who would be a son of perdition, only God has the right to make that judgement.
The only two people I believe that are identified in scripture as Perdition are Lucifer and Cain. (D&C 76:26; Moses 5:24)
Both rebelled against God willingly and knowingly.
Jesus refers to Judas as the Son of Perdition (John 17:12) and said that it were better for him that he had not been born. (Matthew 26:24)
No, I don’t consider you a son/daughter of Perdition. It’s not about just actively campaigning against the Church. I seriously doubt if either of you would qualify of being one.
To become a son of Perdition, several things have to happen before hand. The short of it all is:
1. You have to have personally seen Christ and feel his embrace. This way, you know longer have faith, but now you a sure knowledge of Christ and God the Father.
2. You then rebel against this knowledge and purposefully fight against Christ.
I like that way someone else described it:
“Joseph Smith described it like staring into the sun and proclaiming that it doesn’t exist. It’s not a designation for those who stop believing or separate themselves from the church; it would be like if a prophet who had a clear knowledge of Christ denied Him, not the church or something else, but Christ. It’s not accumulated by sins either.”
If I haven’t received that undeniable knowledge of the existence of Christ, then I can not become a son of perdition.
As far as where any of us end up going in the next life, that is not up to me. I would love to see everybody in the CK, but that is not my decision.
I suffer from depression, lucky for me it has run in my family for many generations. I have learnt not to simply judge people whether they are righteous or evil by what they do, because righteous and evil implies intent and I can’t get into other people’s head and know what their intents are.
I also am blessed with ADHD and the people out at work can not begin, sometimes, to fathom why I do certain things. To me, it makes great sense and to them, it makes very little sense. Occasionally, my nonsense, in the long run, turns out to wonderful insight that the others couldn’t see.
Years ago, when I was a lot younger, I was excommunicated because I willfully rebelled against the Lord. It took me a long time, almost five years to get back in. When I was exed, my Stake President took me aside and told me that God loved me immensely and that He had his angels of mercy watching out over me. He said that just because I was exed, that that didn’t mean I was going to Hell. He said that that judgment is left up to Christ. Christ knows our hearts and our minds, better then we even know them.
In times past, in the middle of a severe depression, and thank the Lord that I haven’t had that happen in a long time, I even did things that I didn’t want to do. One day, I walked around the house, screaming and yelling at my children and breaking things. The whole time this was happening, I was telling myself to stop, that this was absolutely wrong, but I couldn’t just stop. It went on for several minutes and finally I stopped and I just broke down and cried. I still don’t know why that that happened when it happened, but I asked my family to forgive me and for them to realize I’m not that person. I’m a big teddy bear.
If you had seen me at that time and only at that time, you would have thought I was crazy and needed to institutionalized and that I should never see my children again. But after getting the medication I needed and some serious counseling, I worked my way through my problems. From this experience, I learnt to not judge others if they are evil or righteous, or if they deserve to go to Hell or to Heaven. Like I said before, that is ultimately God’s decision and He quite often does things that make absolutely no sense to me.
The only person I am aware of that is a son of Perdition is Cain, the son of Adam, who killed his brother. He willfully fought against Christ after receiving a personal witness of Christ.
I also doubt that Judas is a son of Perdition. I doubt he was converted to Christ and so he couldn’t have received that personal witness.
Just before the Crucifixion, Christ told Peter, “... when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.” From this verse, it seems to me that Peter hadn’t been truly converted to the Lord. He hadn’t received the personal knowledge of God and Christ. He had been with Christ for about three years and had seen many miracle, probably even did a few himself, but he didn’t have that more sure word of knowledge. I believe he received it after Christ appeared to him after the Resurrection.
Also, like in the quote, it not about fighting against the Mormon Church, it’s about fighting against Christ.
Some of the early apostles in the Mormon Church left the Church and fought against it. I doubt that they are even sons of perditions, because denying the Church is not equivalent to denying Christ. Committing all sorts of terrible sins doesn’t necessarily equate to denying Christ.
Denying Christ after receiving a “second witness” is a specific sin.
Sorry to be so long winded.
I just want you to know that I’m not trying to trip you up and show you that you are wrong. I just want each of us to better understand where each other is coming from. I just want to make sure that when we discuss our beliefs, that we are on the same page. We will disagree, but I’m not here to disagree and find holes in your arguments. Heaven knows there are plenty in mine, but I’m just trying to understand where you are coming from and what you are trying to tell me and why you are trying to tell me that.
Again, I apologize for being such a bloviating blowhard.