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.)
Apparently you are unaware this is the religion forum and this is a discussion about mormonISM, this discussion has nothing to do with the election.
Just so you understand mormonISM is not pro-life, since you brought it up.
And I didn’t think people wouldn’t fail to understand the difference between the religion forum discussions and news/activism forums and their discussions of the election and politics.
Boy was I wrong.
I can park my lawnmower in the garage, but it still ain't a car.
Show one post that says what you are claiming.
This religion forum thread is about mormonISM, if you have nothing to add why are you here.
God is very clear...people go to heaven or hell of their own free will, He has given them a way to heaven it is up to you and you alone to choose or not choose the way.
Discuss the issues all you want, but do not make it personal.
Mormonism can’t bear close scrutiny without falling apart. Not if one approaches it with intellectual integrity, it can’t.
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Very well said. And you are completely correct. When I was LDS I ignored those who told me I shouldn’t ‘think too much’ about LDS doctrine, just ‘follow the prophet’ and go on my feelings (what they call a testimony). I ignored them because, being young, I thought Mormonism could be defended intellectually. I thought myself out of Mormonism just as they warned me I would and THANK GOD that I did.
VERY good. ;)
It’s way harder to put a little garden on a chain or pictures of gardens in the ward.....after all mormonISM teaches that the cross is sorta an after thought, it is the garden that the lds jesus paid the price.
I know I know I know..........don’t get on the religion forum or open the thread. k?
I'd be interested in your list, out of curiousity.
Thank you and I like your tagline.
I see the whiny, crybaby, blame-shifters have tried to hijack the thread already. The victim mentality doesn’t wear well on Mormons. They have nothing to complain about. They don’t know what real persecution is about and it isn’t Romney losing to obama by voter fraud.
I didn’t vote for Romney because he’s a pro-abortion (baby killing), homosexual marriage endorsing, Romneycare enacting, gun grabbing, flip-flopping, lying liberal by history.
I don’t trust him, plain and simple. He lies.
The only difference between Romney and obama is that obama is open about what he wants to do about destroying the country. Romney worked for it for years before as governor of MA, and was just willing to take it slower with the whole country. Their ideologies are the same.
It’s the frog in the pot thing. Throw it in boiling water, and it will jump out. Put it in and turn up the heat slowly enough, and the frog will cook.
We’d have cooked with Romney.
I’m thinking that the absence of a cross on, or in, their ‘worship’ buildings might be a tip-off also....
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That’s true. In LDS meeting houses, they have pictures of Joseph Smith, a picture of Jesus (that looks A LOT like Joseph Smith - I think Elsie has the pictures), a picture of the current Mormon prophet, and a picture of one of their temples. At least that was what was there when I was LDS.
No cross. Now, the Mormon ‘pat answer’ (which sounds good to nominal Christians who don’t know their bible) is...”We don’t use crosses because we focus on the Savior’s resurrection, not his death”
That sounds reasonable to people who don’t know better but what the LDS DON”T tell you (intentionally) is that they believe the payment for sin (actually just a loan that you have to pay back) and shedding of blood took place IN THE GARDEN NOT ON THE CROSS. To Mormons, the cross is simply a murder device - no different than a gun, rock, guillotine and that Jesus could have died at any time after he paid for sin in the garden (even old age) because the ONLY thing his death accomplished was that he was resurrected and proved we would ALL be resurrected.
When a Mormon says “Jesus died for me” what they REALLY mean is “Jesus died so every human could be resurrected” (universal salvation) not, as Christians believe, “Jesus bled and died on the cross to pay for my sins so I can live with Him again”. To a Mormon, the only way you get back to God the Father is by YOUR own WORKS and ‘grace’ only ‘kicks in’ after all you can do and you spend your life ‘paying Jesus back’ for any sins he paid for by your works.
So, the real reason they don’t use crosses, is they deny Christ’s work on the cross as payment for our sins.
If a Mormon would like to challenge me on this, I can provide documentation from Mormon sources.
“it is up to you and you alone”.
Indeed.
So mind your own path and not the path of others.
I am adding mind your own business.
That’s why I am here.
Bingo!
John 14:6Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Jesus is the One who makes it exclusive. But you know what else? It's inclusive. It's for anyone, any where, any time, without cost. It's inclusive because no one who wants it is ever turned away. Ever.
You know what, reaganaut? Religion sucks, and people are control freaks. Why don’t you believe whatever makes you feel better and let others do the same.
You know what? You're right. Absolutely right. Religion sucks and God hates it, too.
Jesus didn't come to set up a new religion. The Jews had made a great one out of the Law God had given them and Jesus condemned it whole heartedly.
He came to reconcile men to God and that is by forgiveness, not by works and rules and regulations. It's about restoring a relationship not servitude.
Lay blame where it's due, the people who voted for Obama, and their numbers continue to grow.
Why do you think their numbers are growing?
Do you think its because they don't know what the truth is???
or is it that they don't want to listen to the truth?
And do you think they'd oppose people who would try to bring them the truth?
Oh, I see you must have wrote a big exception for yourself eh? Just like some people - do as I say and not what I do.
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