You can tell your Catholic friend that Pope John Paul II himself made an official declaration on the Mormon religion being not Christian.
Posted on 12/28/2010 3:24:14 PM PST by mnehring
A few months ago, I gave a talk in Sacrament meeting in which I discussed how studying other religious faiths and their scriptures had enriched my life. When the meeting was over, a couple approached me and said they wanted a copy of the talk to give their daughter because she described herself as a “Buddhist Mormon.” The couple said their daughter couldn’t decide whether to be a Buddhist or a Mormon, so she was trying to be both.
I responded that in a certain sense I considered myself a “Buddhist Mormon” as well, and that the beauty of true Mormonism is that when we find truth in another religion, we have no obligation to reject it, but rather, are encouraged to embrace it. As Joseph Smith said: “We should gather all the good and true principles in the world and treasure them up, or we shall not come out as true ‘Mormons’.” “One of the grand fundamental principles of ‘Mormonism’ is to receive truth, let it come from whence it may.” Thus, one could say that to the extent the principles of Mormonism overlap with the principles of Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, or other religious faiths, one could say that a Mormon is a Buddhist, a Hindu, or a Taoist, and vice versa.
As I’ve discussed in a previous post, the Book of Mormon declares that God speaks the “same words” to “all nations,” and that one day God’s words to all nations will be “gathered in one.” In a follow-up post, I discussed my belief that the existing great religious texts of the world are God’s word to all nations to the extent their principles and doctrines overlap with the Standard Works. In this post, I’d like to share just a few examples of the great overlapping truths found in the Standard Works, the Buddhist Dhammapada, the Taoist Tao Te Ching, and the Hindu Bhagavad Gita. Please bear in mind that the following list is by no means an exhaustive compilation of all commonalities; due to space limitations, I could only list those overlapping truths that are succinctly expressed in just one or two sentences.
Matthew 10:39 - [H]e that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.
The Bhagavad Gita – “Through selfless service, you will always be fruitful and find the fulfillment of your desires”: this is the promise of the Creator.
Matt 5:44 – [B]less them that curse you, do good to them that hate you.
The Dhammapada – Let us live in joy, never hating those who hate us.
Mark 9:35 - If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all.
Tao Te Ching – If the sage wants to be above the people, in his words, he must put himself below them; If he wishes to be before the people, in his person, he must stand behind them.
Matthew 7:3 – And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?
The Dhammapada – Do not give your attention to what others do or fail to do; give it to what you do or fail to do.
Luke 6:38 - Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom.
Tao Te Ching – The sage does not hoard. The more he does for others, the more he has himself; The more he gives to others, the more his own bounty increases.
Proverbs 23:7 - For as [a man] thinketh in his heart, so is he.
The Dhammapada – [W]e become what we think.
John 14:15, 15:4,10 – If ye love me, keep my commandments. Abide in me . . . . If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love.
The Bhagavad Gita – [T]hose who worship me with love live in me, and I come to life in them.
Proverbs 15:1- A soft answer turneth away wrath.
The Dhammapada – Speak quietly to everyone, and they too will be gentle in their speech.
Luke 14:11 - For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
Tao Te Ching – The unyielding and mighty shall be brought low; the soft, supple, and delicate will be set above.
Proverbs 16:32 - He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.
The Dhammapada – One who conquers himself is greater than another who conquers a thousand times a thousand men on the battlefield.
D&C 38:16 - . . . I am no respecter of persons.
The Bhagavad Gita – . . . none are less dear to me and none are more dear.
2 Nephi 26:22 – [Y]ea, and [the devil] leadeth them by the neck with a flaxen cord, until he bindeth them with his strong cords forever.
The Dhammapada – Little by little a person becomes evil, as a water pot is filled by drops of water.
D&C 93:29 - Man was also in the beginning with God. Intelligence, or the light of truth, was not created or made, neither indeed can be.
The Bhagavad Gita – There never has been a time when you . . . have not existed, nor will there be a time when we will cease to exist. The body is mortal, but he who dwells in the body is immortal and immeasurable.
Mosiah 4:30 – [I]f ye do not watch yourselves, and your thoughts, and your words, and your deeds, . . . ye must perish.
The Dhammapada – Guard your thoughts, words, and deeds. These three disciplines will speed you along the path to pure wisdom.
Closing Thoughts
Mormons believe Christ is the source of all truth. That being so, can any Mormon deny that Christ is the source of the Buddhist, Taoist, and Hindu scriptures quoted above? Can any Mormon dispute that the authors of these scriptures were messengers of Christ? Perhaps Christ’s presence in non-Judeo-Christian scripture is much larger than we have been prepared to recognize in the past due to our cultural traditions. Perhaps millions of faithful adherents to the world’s various religions have already heard Christ’s voice and are already living in accordance with Christ’s true principles without even recognizing it.
You can tell your Catholic friend that Pope John Paul II himself made an official declaration on the Mormon religion being not Christian.
You must have prepared typed out responses for everything. lol.
44 Now, this restoration shall come to all, both old and young, both bond and free, both male and female, both the wicked and the righteous; and even there shall not so much as a hair of their heads be lost; but every thing shall be restored to its perfect frame, as it is now, or in the body, and shall be brought and be arraigned before the bar of Christ the Son, and God the Father, and the Holy Spirit, WHICH IS ONE ETERNAL GOD, to be judged according to their works, whether they be good or whether they be evil.
>>the Book of Mormon declares that God speaks the “same words” to “all nations,” and that one day God’s words to all nations will be “gathered in one.”<<
That would be described in Revelation. Not something I want to belong to. Thanks but no Thanks.
He is also in the running for “player of the year”, don’t forget.
ODDITHER,
Never ran into you on FR before. Glad to meet you.
I noticed you wrote this, “We have our differences but always come back to the fact that we all have Christ as the center and the enemy is not other religions but Satan.”
Are you referring to the Mormon Jesus:
- Created Being, like every angel and person (not God)
- came to earth as an ordinary man (and not God)
- Didn’t have an infinite life to lay down for anyone (since he was simply a man)
- Couldn’t therefore be a Savior to anyone
- worked his way up to mormon godhood, to join the billions of other gods in the mormon pantheon of gods
OR
Are you referring to the Biblical Jesus:
- Never created or made
- God from eternity to eternity
- Came to earth, never losing his eternal Godhood
- Had an infinite, perfect, sinless life on earth
- Laid down His perfect, infinite life to pay for the sins of mankind
- Is Savior, therefore, to all who place faith in His Gracious Gift (the gospel)
- Ascended back to heaven after rising from the dead and sits at the right hand of God the Father
I ask because there is just one REAL Christ. There are many false ones. The mormon one above is a false Christ.
Which one are you writing about in your post?
best,
ampu
First of all, I don’t believe any of the so called “mormon God” characteristics you posted. I have never been taught those things either, so I can’t debate you on any of those issues. I believe the same things that you describe in the bible. We believe in the King James Version of the bible too.
To me, you are using the “When did you stop beating your wife” to introduce those concepts and so I will not go any further in debating the negative.
I can tell you this as a convert to the LDS church, it is the only church that I investigated that could answer the following questions:
Where did I come from, Why am I here and where am I going.
I also liked the organization of the church and lack of politics and money. Only the Bishop and his counselors know who is a full tithe payer and who is not. No money ever exchanges hands during sacrament meetings.
There are no paid ministers, teachers or musicians but members, regardless of how much money they have or give, are called to positions based on righteousness. You might have an Iron worker as a bishop and a Doctor or lawyer as a librarian or caring for babies in the nursery.
The last church I attended gave positions based on the amount of money they gave the church, so only “rich” people were called to pass the sacrament or take up the collections.
I have not run into any part of the Mormon Doctrine that I don’t agree with nor have I run into the doctrine that you described as the “mormon Jesus.”
N way, he's too boring and predictable. I vote for Resty and/or Sandra "The Destroyer" Duffy.
Courtesy ping to all
ODDITHER,
If you do not know that your church, the LDS church, teaches that Jesus Christ was a spirit child, who became a man with a body, who worked his way to godhood - along the way marrying and being sealed to a wife - than you either just walked in the door or you don’t want to know what your church teaches. It is not hidden.
“I can tell you this as a convert to the LDS church, it is the only church that I investigated that could answer the following questions:
Where did I come from, Why am I here and where am I going.I can tell you this as a convert to the LDS church, it is the only church that I investigated that could answer the following questions: Where did I come from, Why am I here and where am I going.”
Every church that uses a Bible should be able to answer that question. Unfortunately, in the case of LDS, the answers they give are not Biblical, since they start with being created as a spirit who comes to earth.
“There are no paid ministers, teachers or musicians but members, regardless of how much money they have or give, are called to positions based on righteousness.”
No paid staff. Just people in pursuit of worthiness in order to get a temple recommend, get into the highest level of mormon heaven and become a mormon god. Surely you’ve been there long enough to know that.
“The last church I attended gave positions based on the amount of money they gave the church, so only “rich” people were called to pass the sacrament or take up the collections.”
That was also wrong.
“I have not run into any part of the Mormon Doctrine that I don’t agree with nor have I run into the doctrine that you described as the “mormon Jesus.””
I suggest you begin to ask some serious questions friend.
AMPU
cc: pinging three former mormons to clarify whether I wrote all that accurately from a mormon theological perspective. If not, please correct me. Thanks!
First of all, I don’t believe any of the so called “mormon God” characteristics you posted. I have never been taught those things either, so I can’t debate you on any of those issues.
- - - -
Then you apparently aren’t paying attention. I was taught those when I was LDS, and I am sure others who have been LDS on here will say the same.
And the old “the LDS church is the only one that answers those questions” reeks of brainwashing. NEWSFLASH - all other Christian churches can answer the same questions, only better and biblically.
Good point, SD should get it, if for no other reason than her non opus opus
Your comments were perfectly correct and accurately stated Mormon doctrine.
Would you like quotes from your leaders and/or scriptures and/or official church manuals that teach the doctrines that AMPU listed?
We would be more than happy to provide them so you can look them up yourself and see what we are saying is true.
It was a really disappointing excuse for an opus.
ODDITHER, please don't take things personally. You need to know, and will not be told, THAT EVERY SINGLE ASPECT, EVERY SINGLE DETAIL of the lds "Plan of Salvation" to which you refer was ripped off by Joseph Smith from a man named Emmanuel Swedenborg. He lived from 1688-1772, wrote many books, claimed to have visited face to face with God and had many followers, even to this day. Read "A Treatise on Heaven and Hell" for starters. historical library records from Palmyra New York even show repeated checkouts of this book to Joe Smith Jr.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_New_Church
Yeah but the whole worshiping the Articles of Faith tirade did a lot for our side.
I concur !!!
A “worthy” recipient...
20Then shall they be gods, because they have no end; therefore shall they be from everlasting to everlasting, because they continue; then shall they be above all, because all things are subject unto them. Then shall they be gods, because they have all power, and the angels are subject unto them.
21Verily, verily, I say unto you, except ye abide my law ye cannot attain to this glory.
----------------
Becoming a god in mormonism is explained right here. I was taught this in elder's quorom and questioned it. That is why I quit mormonism. Even as someone who grew up in a secular home, I knew there is but one God just by my infrequent attendance at a non-denom Sunday School. Mormonism teaches that men can become gods, therefore, there are many. Verse 20 spells it out quite clearly.
Easy enough...
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