Mormons (LDS) Know More About Bible Than Other Christians

The Salt Lake Tribune ^ | 09/28/2010 | Peggy Fletcher Stack

[zippythepinhead]

Atheists and agnostics know more about major world religions than many people of faith, while Mormons can answer more Bible questions than their Catholic and mainline Protestant counterparts.

Those are among the somewhat startling conclusions about religious literacy in America the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion and Public Life drew after surveying 3,412 Americans.

Some of the multiple-choice questions were relatively simple: Where was Jesus born and who led the exodus from Egypt? What religion was Mother Teresa, what day does the Jewish Sabbath begin and what is the name of Islam’s holy book?

Others were more obscure: What is Indonesia’s dominant religion? Which Christians teach that salvation comes through faith alone?

About half the Protestants (53 percent) couldn’t correctly identify Martin Luther as the person whose writings and actions inspired the Protestant Reformation. Fewer than half of Americans (47 percent) knew the Dalai Lama is Buddhist and only 38 percent correctly associated Vishnu and Shiva with Hinduism.

John Morehead, director of the Western Institute for Intercultural Studies in Salt Lake City, had already noted religious illiteracy in the general population as well as in the evangelical community. But he did not expect Mormons to top them in their biblical fluency.

“Mormons tend to emphasize Mormon scriptures like the Book of Mormon rather than the Bible in their devotional life,” Morehead said in an e-mail.

Even some LDS scholars were surprised to find Mormons at the top.

[CommerceComet]

This headline is horribly misleading. I just took the 15-question quiz (scoring 15 of 15) and few of the questions were about the Bible but rather about other religions and religious history. Even if the remaining 17 questions in the full quiz are about the Bible, a large portion of the quiz has nothing to do with the Bible.

[aMorePerfectUnion]

“My next question is, “turned around” to what? Another religion, another belief?”

Yes, turned directly to the God of the Bible.

“If the members are happy in their beliefs and their form of worship, why should so many people want them to change?”

To avoid hell. To spend eternity in the presence of God - the Biblical God.

“Yes, they are bigots and they know who they are.”

If by “bigot” you mean someone who thinks their belief is truth, count me in. If I didn’t believe that, I’d go find something that was true. Don’t you fit that definition too? Don’t 50,000 mormonite missionaries travel the earth telling Christians their church is wrong and the mormon cult is the true religion? Yup.

“He actually walked 5000 miles to get back to them in winter quarters where he found them half-starved.”

Did he, um, start in Central America on this walk?

“Mormons are not a cult, not a sect and do not eat babies.”

You would know best about the baby eating, so I’ll leave that to you. Mormonism is a cult, a heresy, a collection of heresies the Christian Church condemned more than a thousand years ago - mixed with the best lies from Satan in the Garden of Eden to the New Age Movement to Hinduism. They have it all.

“They are good hard working and honest people”

I agree that the majority are exactly that.

“that just tired of being pushed around by people that didn’t agree with their form of worship.”

If that’s what you believe is happening, you are wrong.

“I don’t understand the hatred that comes from a small group of ‘Mormon-Haters’ that have infiltrated Free Republic.”

Point out one and quote a hate statement. You can’t.

“Mormons do love Jesus and God, they are Christians and they live clean lives.”

You would probably know best how clean they are, but the Jesus they love is a created spirit being who became a god. God the father (mormon version) used to be a fallen man who has his own god to worship. THAT ain’t Chrisian.

“Facts are facts.”

Facts have nothing to do with mormonism. Feelings, yes.

[RobRoy]

>>If the members are happy in their beliefs and their form of worship, why should so many people want them to change?<<
I’ll put it this way:

The bible is about two things: Man’s relationship with man and man’s relationship with his Creator. You can even see it in the ten commandments. All of them fall into one of those categories.

Now, as Solomon says in Ecclesiastes, it is mans lot to eat and drink and enjoy the fruits of his labor and it is a good thing. However, that is all about man’s relationship with man.

And like an animal, one can live a happy life if one follows the rules as laid down in the bible. And I think the mormons nail that one pretty well with only minor exceptions (especially for men). But where they are completely lacking, as is your statement, is in their teaching about man’s relationship with his Creator.

This is a serious problem because this is actually the REAL issue. Life is mindbogglingly short compared to eternity. It is also only a shadow of what an eternal relationship with your creator is.

In my opinion, the only difference between a devout mormon and a street bum or islamic suicide bomber is that the mormon lives a happier life. They all go to the same place - annihilation. And that is the exact thing that Christs death and resurrection is to save us from.

It is a pretty important thing.

What I say above comes from a context of my believing the general conclusion made by the author here:

HELL: Eternal Torment or Complete Annihilation?
http://www.jeremyandchristine.com/articles/eternal.php

[RobRoy]

>>They feel their beliefs are the only way...<<

I am that way with some core beliefs. The rest, I dunno. I’m a strong mid-tribulationist. My salvation does not depend on it nor do I think pre-tribulationists, etc. are wrong. I think we will all find out.

However, I do think 2+2=4 and a person that swears it equals 22 is just wrong. On core beliefs I DO feel pretty strongly.

[aMorePerfectUnion]

RobRoy,

An excellent observation and post.

AMPU

[Osage Orange]

regurgitated blabber

ROFLOL!! Good one!!

Was Brigham Young a racist and a bigot? Yes or no....

I didn't find that answer in your links...maybe you can honestly answer it.

[SZonian]

Maybe one of you mormons or your so-called "biblical scholars" or pep rally squad members ("GO LDS!!!) can answer me this:

Which Christ do mormons worship?

In the Book of Mormon, Jesus brought death and destruction with him to the Cross. In 3 Nephi, Chapters 8 and 9, it details the events testifying of Christ's crucifixion.

It describes the desolation of the great city of Zarahemla by fire, and the city of Moroni "did sink into the sea and the inhabitants thereof were drowned... the earth was carried up upon the city of Mornihah...there was great and terrible destruction in the land southward......terrible destruction in the land northward....the highways were broken up....many great and noble cities were sunk and many burned and many shaken till the buildings thereof had fallen to the earth.....all these great and terrible things were done in the space of three hours."

Here are links to the Official LdS BoM chapters that detail these events:

3 Nephi 8

3 Nephi 9

3 Nephi, Chapter 9, tells of further wrath as the Lord also destroyed the cities and inhabitants of Gigal, Onihah, Mocum, Jerusalem, Gadiandi, Gadiomnah, Jacob, Gimgimmo, Jacobugath, Laman, Josh, Gad, and Kishkumen. (a total of 16 major cities) Who did all this killing to testify of our Lord's atonement on Calvary?

3 Nephi 9:15 reveals the murderer of approximately 2 million innocent inhabitants of the Book of Mormon lands, "Behold, I am Jesus Christ the son of God. I created the heavens and the earth and all things that in them are." He adds, (in verse 21), "behold, I have come unto the world to bring redemption unto the world to save the world from sin." I guess the easiest way was to kill almost every living creature; at least the vast majority of that portion of his "other sheep have I." This Jesus was a god of wrath, exercising some form of Old Testament Judgment by the one who was supposed to be the end of the law.

The Biblical Jesus cried out to His Father,

"Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."

Source: Saints Alive

2 Cor.11:3-5 tells us that there will be those who would teach a different Christ. Paul says of them, "For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, masquerading as apostles of Christ".

It is recorded in the BoM that the mormon christ massacred 100's of thousands men, women and children (possibly millions) and destroyed at least 16, if not more cities.

Yet the Christ of the Bible pleaded for Father to "...forgive them for they know not what they do."? When He came back, He came back to prove He had risen, to overcome death, to have victory over sin. There is nothing in the Bible to indicate He destroyed anyone or anything when He returned. Nothing. Post resurrection, over and over again in the Bible, "do not be afraid", "peace be with you".

The mormon christ wreaked destruction, havoc, death. Do mormons worship the BoM christ, a vengeful, murderous and cruel christ or the Christ of the Bible, pleading to God on our behalf?

Don't you find it at all interesting/concerning that the BoM christ's nature is much different than the nature of biblical Christ? If not, how do you reconcile this obvious contradiction in their nature?

[greyfoxx39]

I guess the PR department is working overtime this week.

They need to be working overtime, what with the "We're "normal", we're mormon" ad campaign running and Sister Wives in the news.

Police say they are investigating Kody Brown, 41, the patriarch in the center of the TLC reality show Sister Wives. The show details the lives of Mr. Brown, four women who call themselves his wives, and his 16 children. The entire group lives together just outside of Salt Lake City, Utah. Mr. Brown is only legally married to one woman, but counts the other three as "sister wives," a term used in polygamist groups.

No arrests have been made, but detectives are now working on the case. Polygamy used to be a common practice among Mormons, but the church has officially renounced it. Still, the practice still exists in scattered communities in the West, Reuters reports.

Link

[MHGinTN]

You are serving your 'father' when you seek to twist the truth as you have done to try and paint others as 'bigots'. Look at you posts starting at #19 in this thread! You are being the bigot but cannot see yourself in the role yet you accuse, always accuse. That is the behavior of 'the accuser', and you are playing that part to the hilt on this thread, twisting and accusing, seeking to set posters at opposition for your entertainment.

What a cowardly methodology you follow. And you're wrong, yet you cannot seem to see where you're wrong: the adherents to Christianity do not define Christ. Mormonism seeks to define themselves as Christians because of their behavior patterns yet they affirm as truth what is false proclamation, proclamations which contradict the Bible.

You are quick to call someone a bigot because they oppose this false methodology of a proven liar, peepstone diviner, sexual predator defining Christ rather than letting Christ define Himself through the Word He has left for us! And you want to be allowed to spittle that falsehood without being opposed, so you accuse in cowardly fashion, inveigling others by thanking them for not being like those who oppose your errors. THAT is very mormonesque, and perhaps it is that behavior which confused me into thinking you are a Mormonism apologist.

For the record, I completely disagree with your assertion that one cannot hate a religion without hating the followers of that religion. The lost are not to be hated, they are to be striven for ... if hating the Ism was the same as hating Mormons, you would have your wish, they would have no opposition on FR threads and be ignored as bound for Hell and good riddance for being the same as their Ism. But that is NOT how many of us deal with this problem of the heresies in Mormonism, because these heresies will lead too many to damnation believing they have done all that they can do to be owed Salvation.

[HungarianGypsy]

What Bible? Ours or theirs?

Depends on if you are using the King James version or something else.

[greyfoxx39]

Excellent post, SZ....I have saved it for future posting with your permission.

[Ingtar]

When many Christians have never heard of Transubstitution or Joseph Smith, yet those questions count for knowledge of Christianity, it is a stacked poll.

[Amerisrael]

Agree.

[HungarianGypsy]

People don’t consider LDS Christians because they do not fit into their little box of what Christianity is. I, like you, believe that so long as someone accepts Christ as their Savior, then then they are Christian. So often, different sects of Christianity will even shun other sects, because they were the Baptist movement of 1848, instead of the one founded in 1762. Then, I wonder why I have friends who read their Bibles and follow Jesus Christ, but are so anti-organized religion.

[RobRoy]

>>There is meaning upon meaning upon meaning.<<

That’s sort of true. I’ve noticed that it is very common for people to find meanings that are not there. I am reminded of the movie The Life of Brian, when he loses a sandal while being chased by his followers. One of them picks it up and gleans an “important message” from the event.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I believe everything written in the bible is there for a reason and there are layers and layers of meaning. Heck, I can read the same passage several times, read it again five years later and get completely new information. However, that very thing is a wedge used by folks like David Koresh, Joseph Smith and a host of other wannabe modern prophets.

If we still abided by Jewish law and stoned them when they are wrong, every early prophet of the mormon church would have died of severe physical trauma and concussion.

[SZonian]

The original survey is about “religion(s)”, not the Bible.

For the Trib to spin it to imply it’s about biblical knowledge is a disservice to all. Not at all surprising though considering their primary audience is in Utah.

[MHGinTN]

"If even the closest, most beloved disciples missed the message - that the Messiah wasn’t a material liberator, but a spiritual one - what does it say about the Chosen People missing the message?" I would offer that THAT is why Jesus told the disciples to wait for the Holy Spirit to be given and then He, The Holy Spirit would lead them in all things. Again, God's timing is exactly carried out because at Pentecost (the prescribed time Jews had been practicing for generations) God's Spirit came upon the believers in Jerusalem and His Spirit has been with us even unto today, just as Jesus promised. But scripture tells us that His Spirit will not always strive with men. Your salvation and mine depend upon the integrity of God, not the best I can do to obtain His Grace. When He promised the comforter would come and would remain with men until a prescribed hour, Salvation was immediately based on His integrity not mine or yours.

When He promised His Spirit would remain with us until the last hour, He is great enough to have kept His promise right throughout the past 2000 years. In this simple thing, Christinaity is at variance with the founding assertions of Mormonism. Men may argue how He has kept His promise--the myriad of denominations and the apparent dichotomy of Catholicism and Protestanism evidence men's arguing over the 'hows'--but one ought not doubt that He is powerful enough to keep His promises.

[colorcountry]

But you see HungarianGypsy, the Bible tells us we must have FAITH in Christ and not just a belief, because even the demons believe in Him.

Faith means you trust and rely that His atonement, His grace, His satisfaction of His justice has been accomplished and that you are saved through Christ by that faith.

I might have a belief that I can fly - but faith is what would make me jump off the cliff to prove it.

Mormonism teaches that Christ’s sacrifice enables you to perform ordinances and covenants that we save you. That is why they are called “saving covenants.” So what are they putting their faith in? Is it Christ and His atonement or is it their works and covenants. I posit that they put their faith in their own works, or why else would they go to the Temple, or pay their tithing or obey the Word of Wisdom if not to gain themselves glory.

[CommerceComet]

Ever been to Bethlehem? I have. It’s basically a suburb of Jerusalem.

Nice try but this glossing over doesn't cut it. The Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem. It was a critical component in validating the identity of the Messiah. Reread Mathew 2:3-6 and you'll be reminded of the importance of Bethlehem. If you asked me where the Red Sox baseball team was located and I said Massachusetts, would accept the answer as correct? I doubt it. You'd want me to be more specific because the team is associated with Boston. Just like the Messiah's birth is associated with Bethlehem, not Jerusalem. Glossing over something like this shows a lack of understanding of the importance of true prophecy.

In fact it is a Semetic evidence of the Book of Mormon that such phraseology is used because it was a common near Eastern practice to refer to a town by its regional setting in proximation to a nearby large city.

Or if you apply Occam's Razor, it is much more logically explained as an error in the "most correct book of any on earth."

[HungarianGypsy]

:) Actually, I was about to write more on this thread, but got to the point of bowing out when I realized I am cranky. Seconds after my last post in defense, I had to stop writing my next post that was going to tell the LDS people to knock it off with the “holier than thou” attitude. See, I am an equal opportunity offender this morning. Too much negative energy in the air, I suppose.