Posted on 11/14/2012 10:44:44 PM PST by reaganaut
Members of the LDS Church are familiar with the charge that Mormonism isn't a Christian faith. They hear it often enough, but they really don't understand why people think that. "We are Christians," Mormon President Gordon B. Hinckley insisted. "We have the name of Jesus Christ right in the name of our Church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We follow Christ. We worship Him. We love Him. He is the center of all we do"("Inspirational Thoughts," Liahona, June 1999, 3; 2 Nephi 25:24-29).
In the summer of 2005 we asked Mormons in Nauvoo, Illinois to take a quiz we called "Guess Who?" The quiz consisted of 15 relatively recent statements made by LDS leaders; we asked the participants to see if they could determine who their Church leaders were talking about. We invite you to take the same quiz. The answers will be at the end; see if you can do this without scrolling down for the answers.
His teachings "are the foundation of our faith. Everything we have is a lengthened shadow of [him]."
"I pray we may learn from his example, that we might incorporate into our lives the great principles which he so beautifully taught; that we ourselves might emulate him;..."
"I honor and revere [his] name... I delight to hear it; I love it. I love his doctrine... I am his witness."
"He died for those he loved. He reigns in the realms above."
"The more I learn of him, the more I love and revere him."
"I look to him. I love him. I seek to follow him."
"He not only gave us joy, happiness and opportunity here, but also a great hope in the life to come."
"Today, this Sabbath day, in many thousands of congregations, perhaps as many as twenty-one thousand, in many areas of the earth, our people have sung or will sing the praises of [him]."
"Of noble seed, of heavenly birth, he came to bless the sons of earth."
He was "a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief."
"Church members are interested in learning more about [him] because they love him and they love the gospel he brought forth."
"How great indeed is our debt to him. ...Great is his glory,... We stand in reverence before him... Let us not forget him. Let not his memory be forgotten in the celebration of Christmas."
"...and he shall stand in due time on the earth, in the flesh, and fulfill that to which he is appointed."
"The light, provided to the world by [him], illuminates the confusion, clarifies the principles of the gospel, and helps lead men and women to their own eternal reward, if they will but endure to the end."
The "work that has been carried out by President Young and his brethren [of the Twelve] has been in accordance with the plans, and designs, and Spirit, and instructions of [him]."
How did you do?
If you thought these statements were about Jesus—the One Mormons claim to worship and adore, the One they say is the center of all they do—you are incorrect. In each statement above, the speaker was talking about Joseph Smith.
Quotes with References
His teachings "are the foundation of our faith. Everything we have is a lengthened shadow of [him]." (15th President Gordon B. Hinckley, Church News, 3/19/2005, p.3.)
"I pray we may learn from his example, that we might incorporate into our lives the great principles which he so beautifully taught; that we ourselves might emulate him;..." (Thomas Monson (First Presidency), Ensign, 6/1994, p.7.)
"I honor and revere [his] name... I delight to hear it; I love it. I love his doctrine... I am his witness." (2nd President Brigham Young, quoted in Ensign, 1/1996, p.7.)
"He died for those he loved. He reigns in the realms above." (3rd President John Taylor, Hymns #296, "The Seer, Joseph, The Seer." While this hymn was written in the 18th century, it is still in use as evidenced by its performance by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir during the 175th Semi-Annual General Conference of the LDS Church in October, 2005.)
"The more I learn of him, the more I love and revere him." (Apostle Joseph B. Wirthlin, Church News, 2/19/2005, p.5.)
"I look to him. I love him. I seek to follow him." (15th Gordon B. Hinckley, Church News, 12/13/2003, p.3.)
"He not only gave us joy, happiness and opportunity here, but also a great hope in the life to come." (Apostle L. Tom Perry, Church News, 7/3/1993, p.4.)
"Today, this Sabbath day, in many thousands of congregations, perhaps as many as twenty-one thousand, in many areas of the earth, our people have sung or will sing the praises of [him]." (15th President Gordon B. Hinckley, Ensign, 9/1994, p.62.)
"Of noble seed, of heavenly birth, he came to bless the sons of earth." (John Taylor, Hymns #296, "The Seer, Joseph, The Seer.")
He was "a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief." (BYU Professor Robert Millet, Ensign, 9/1994, p.19.)
"Church members are interested in learning more about [him] because they love him and they love the gospel he brought forth." (LDS Church Historian Glen M. Leonard, Church News, 12/6/1997, p.4.)
"How great indeed is our debt to him. ...Great is his glory,... We stand in reverence before him... Let us not forget him. Let not his memory be forgotten in the celebration of Christmas." (15th President Gordon B. Hinckley, Ensign, 12/1997, p.2.)
"...and he shall stand in due time on the earth, in the flesh, and fulfill that to which he is appointed." (Church News, 7/19/1994, p.5.)
"The light, provided to the world by [him], illuminates the confusion, clarifies the principles of the gospel, and helps lead men and women to their own eternal reward, if they will but endure to the end." (Church News, 12/13/1997, p.16.)
The "work that has been carried out by President Young and his brethren [of the Twelve] has been in accordance with the plans, and designs, and Spirit, and instructions of [him]." (George A. Smith (First Presidency), quoted in Church News, 12/20/1997, p.7.)
I can't!
I'd 'imagine' him sitting next to Honey Boo Boo and telling the second grade teacher (for the 12th straight year) "I do not care what scholars have to say!"
Staright A's and you flub THIS?
FACTS will NEVER 'change' as you so wrongly claim.
They are what they are.
SPIN about FACTs changes ALL the time; as you correctly pointed out here: "The subject matter is not the same, now why do you suppose that is?"
Perhaps you meant that man changes 'the use of' facts to suit...
That's weird!
Your fingers typed: I am not a christian!
Hebrews 10:25
Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
Then you'll be just like Candace in the chariot; needing SOMEone to come along and explain things to you.
Good logic; but you’re faced with high emotion.
and illogic, too.
So; you admit not being ABLE to control us and to not WANTING to control us, but merely want others to know that we are BASHING the poor MORMONs; an activity that is patently OBVIOUS to anyone actually IN one of these threads.
You are NOT contributing anything that isn't already known.
You are merely making noise; much like a guy running along side a float in a parade, yelling to the bystanders to "Look at THIS float!"
Then it should be up to the MORMONS to bash back; not have you helping them!
A 'scholar' has reported that:
The gruesome be headings of some 40 Ute corpses in 1850, heads stacked in boxes,and hung by their long hair from the eves of buildings at Fort Utah,has long been ignored, “You didn’t see the Indians beheading the Mormons.”-- Historian Robert Carter
Interesting!
Who has 'commanded' you to point out OUR error?
You CERTAINLY have shown that you are MORE than 'justified' to do so!
Almost .500 Nana!
Time has come today.
Both islam and mormonISM lead you away from God Almighty, not sure how that part escaped you.
Then you should be grateful that the emperor Constantine twisted enough arms at Nicaea to get that doctrine carved in stone, because without his action there might be no "Christians" today.
In your case that isn't difficult
I am sorry that you believe that is was not the author of scripture, God Himself, who is more than capable of taking care of His people and preserving His word. No arms were twisted. The Holy Spirit convicts the heart, not any man.
The Bible has been used ably to defend both trinitarian and non trinitarian views.
The doctrine of the trinity arose through a political process, not through direct communication from God.
You are speaking of words on paper. The Word of God is living and active. I am sorry that you don’t understand that. Someday you will. But until then, you really don’t know of what you speak.
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