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.)
Who are the Obama voters here?
Who is it that turns away from the truth and ridicules those who try to bring it up?
I support you (which is little)
- - - - - -
It means much more than you think. I don’t seek after the glory of man, but for the Glory of God Almighty, however, knowing I am not the only one sometimes brings comfort.
This is spiritual warfare - front lines and I get weary, but I push on doing what God has called me to do - by the Grace of God.
And you post on Free Republic, why? Did you vote for Obama?
No, it’s always the same merry band of Mormon bashing freepers pushing this crap, so I am not going to mind my own business when it comes to this. Why would I afford you all a courtesy that you afford no others?
If you are going to attack, then prepared to be attacked.
If you can mind your own business, then your business will not be minded by others.
See how that works?
Didn’t think so.
Uh, yeah.....
Do as I say, not as I do.
I am in complete agreement.
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 [zilla to chris]
Good catch, Zilla
The 'minders' preach 'don't mind' -- all as they mind what others are doing...
Religious hypocrisy.
Hypocrite - nailed it.
If you can mind your own business, then your business will not be minded by others.
Well welcome to the party - except that under RF protocols you should have something to contribute other than personal attacks. If you can't literatly defend mormon doctrine - then perhaps you should just stay on the porch. Otherwise your credability is less than that of J. Smith.
I am also for God, Family, Country, and Liberty.
If you are for God, Family, Country, and Liberty then you are also a bigot in some other person's eyes.
What I mean by that is rules, rites and rituals. LDS place their faith in ‘a church’ not Jesus.
I attend church, I read my Bible, I minister to others, I’ve even taught Sunday School. To many I would seem ‘religious’, but my faith is in Christ, not a denomination to save me.
Yes, I agree. Jesus Christ and my personal relationship with him is all that matters.
I do not need the approval or advice or guidance of other human beings to tell me that I am doing it right or that I am doing it wrong.
Mind your own relationship and not the relationship of others.
I am not going to be controlled by religion or anything else man has invented.
I do not wish to be converted, nor do I wish to convert. People come to those decisions then exact moment they come to them via whatever criteria or occurences caused those decisions to occur. To attempt to force them is foolish.
I believe in Jesus Christ, but I do not listen to the man in the orange vest on the street corner yelling at me about Him. My relationship is private and it does not concern anyone else.
Ok ok dude. I am to mind my own business and you get to mind my business as well - got it!
But you don’t.
You appear in ever Mormon thread, and every Glenn beck thread not minding your own business, thus I apeear telling you to do so.
Leave the Mormons alone, they have never done anything to you. Just leave them alone, what they believe and what they do in their own lives is no concern of yours or anyone else other than themselves.
WWJ Say -
Mat 28:19 KJV - Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
Poor relationship if it is one that is not shared, particularly when the command is to go.
Well, you were fooled before.
What if you have been fooled again?
You really do not know for a fact that anyone’s teachings are false. You do not know for a 100% fact that your teachings are false or not. They are your beliefs, and nothing more.
- - - - - -
I was fooled by Mormonism because I was a teenager, trusted that the Mormons were telling me the truth and I didn’t need to research, I didn’t know the Bible, I was looking for ‘religion’ and didn’t know Christ as my personal Savior.
Now, I am older, I don’t trust anything anyone says without researching it myself (even my pastor), I know the Word of God quite well and I have a relationship with Jesus. Being Born Again really does bring a change of mind and heart.
I know what teachings are false or not, based upon the Word of God (and I have an academic background in it as well). Christianity can be defended logically and intellectually - Mormonism cannot.
If you make a statement of belief - it can be just that. But if you make a statement that you KNOW something, you are subjecting that statement to the rules of logic. I can do that, Mormons cannot.
Why not?
And no I voted for Mitt Romney.
Is there some requirment that I must be a Mormon basher to post on free republic or something?
Actually, I am doing as you do.
What you give, you get.
I am a Lutheran pastor. I am very much in favor of organized religion. I do rites and rituals. I follow the historic liturgy and church year of the Christian church. I wear vestments. I chant. I am sacramental. I am a member of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. And my faith is in Christ to save me. And I do all those other things BECAUSE my faith is in Christ, not in place of it.
Chris, I too was saved from the mormon cult after being brought up in it, only 5 or so years ago.
You are wrong, based on lack of personal experience, to put the values of what you know of different Christian demoninations onto mormonism. It is in a wholly different class. It is a brainwashing, all controlling, all taking, mind-numbing CULT. They do not allow you your own time, possession, speech, family or even thoughts.
God is not a bureaucrat, he wants our hearts. God has used the different denominations in the same way he used the different Apostles. Aside from obvious charlatans, each whith their own emphasis, each for the benefit of their own types of people. God is not a bureaucrat sitting up there with a checklist as the mormons teach, he wants our hearts.
Mormonism is based on fraud. The second FLDS/LDS "prophet" Brigham Young claimed that Jospeh Smith's re-translation of the bible was a fraud and made all the members be rebaptized into his breakaway sect.
Young taught that mormons were not Christians.
Young taught that they were the saviors of the earth.
Young taught that Christ was nto born of a virgin.
Young taught that Jesus was a polygamist.
Young and Smith both taught the cult would take over national government someday, then it would be "As the days of mohammed, Joseph Smith or the sword." They almost just won control over a second third of the federal government.
Nowadays mormons try to cover all of this up and claim they are just mainstream Christians.
They are free to believe what they want, but we are commanded as Christians to avoid the "leaven of the Pharisees". We are also commanded to have nothing to do with the works of darkness, "but rather expose them".
Gee that is working out so good for everyone right now isn't it.
Now if you will excuse me I have to go and try to explain to my almost 5 year old why a man and another man dressed like a mommy are kissing on TV, and do so in such a way that he wont get sent to a reeducation camp or me arrested for a hate crime.
Moral ambiguity, America is much better off with it...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.