Posted on 06/21/2007 6:57:50 AM PDT by DBCJR
Doubts continue to swirl over Fred Thompson's faith ... Thompson shot back that he's not only a Christian, but a member of the fundamentalist Churches of Christ.
...Professor Mark Elrod of Harding University said he doubts Thompson is "filling out an attendance card at a Church of Christ on Sundays." ...he hasn't been able to find any information regarding the former senator's actual membership... "In our tradition," Elrod said, "that's called 'being out of fellowship' or a 'lapsed member.'"
... WND has learned Thompson was baptized into Christ in the early 1950s at the First Street Church of Christ in Lawrenceburg, Tenn.
His mother, Ruth Thompson, regularly attends the Brentwood Church of Christ near Nashville... Fred Thompson is known to worship there when he visits his mother.
In 1997, Thompson spoke at a fund-raising event at Freed-Hardeman University in Henderson, Tenn. – another college affiliated with the Churches of Christ – where he was presented with a Bible. He and his parents have set up academic scholarships in their names there.
...
According to a spokesman for Focus on the Family, Dobson had not not meant to disparage Thompson and was simply "attempting to highlight that to the best of his knowledge, Sen. Thompson hadn't clearly communicated his religious faith, and many evangelical Christians might find this a barrier to supporting him."
Dobson told reporter Dan Gilgoff he had never met Thompson ...
Thompson and his first wife, Sara Lindsey, divorced in 1985. The Church of Christ frowns on divorce, and believes only "fornication," or sexual infidelity, can be grounds for divorce and remarriage.
In 2002, Thompson and second wife, Jeri Kehn, were married in the liberal United Church of Christ, not the ultra-conservative Churches of Christ to which Thompson claims to belong.
(Excerpt) Read more at worldnetdaily.com ...
First century Christians did not believe that the God of the Hebrew Scriptures used to be a man, or that He has a physical body or that He has a spirit wife.
I have no problem with people believing these doctrines, but they have absolutely nothing to do with the beliefs of 1st century Christians.
Rudy's problem is that he's divorced and remarried outside the church. That doesn't result in the official status of excommunication (although it used to), but it has much the same effect: he's forbidden to receive the sacraments until he repents and fixes his situation.
His pro-abort opinions are a further problem.
I have no problem with that but I don't really see anyone pointing to anything wrong Fred is doing, rather, they are saying he doesn't seem to act devoted enough to be as good a Christian as they are.
Not so as you would notice.
1. Mormons state there is no triune God or Trinity, only many separate gods: pantheistic belief.
2. Mormons believe that Christ was once a man like all human beings, but became a god.
3. Mormons [formerly] believed that the father of Jesus Christ was Adam.
4. Mormons believe there is no "original sin" but humanity is only responsible for sins committed in this life.
5. Mormons believe there is no hell for the unrepentant.
6. Mormons believe a person can be "saved" by proxy baptism; baptism for the dead.
7. Mormons believe that after death they will be gods, just like Christ and God the Father and will rule over their own domains (planets).
8. Mormons believe in the process of "continuing revelation" through the presidency of the church, that has allowed the Mormon church to contradict earlier belief, i.e., sidestepping the doctrine of polygamy when it was a doctrine preached implicitly by Joseph Smith.
9. The Mormons believe that when there is a conflict between Mormon tenets and the Bible teachings, the Bible is incorrectly translated and Mormon tenets take precedence. The Bible is only authoritative when it is correctly translated (according to the Mormon church) and agrees with the pre-determined Mormon doctrines.
From this site: http://www.ondoctrine.com/conversa/3morm004.htm
Are you SURE they're more in tune with 1st century [or any other] Christianity?
As subtle as the proverbial train wreck.
I love it that the liberals are already afraid of FDT. I think that’s a good sign.
And to what “tradition” does Mr. Elrod refer?
I attend mass weekly, but I don’t fill out an attendance card.
It’s back again!
I sure their are places for your exposition of doctrine. The internet is full of LDS and anti-LDS sites. Sorry I mentioned anything about it. Why don’t you decide what Mormons believe instead of asking them? I think that will work.
I believe in the Trinity, but I am not sure where in the Bible, if at all, it is described as such. Could you help me with that?
True that. Those without sin may cast the first stone. Not saying that not attending church is a sin because it isn’t a sin. It is good to go for encouragement being around other Christian people and being there to hear the word of the Lord. Church is not a building but a gathering of God’s people coming together to worship. How can these people call out Fred for not attending church when they don’t themselves. They should say Fred as well as myself don’t attend and it would be good for us if we did.
Why don't I ask what Mormons believe? I can find tenets of the Catholic Church on line. Why can't I look up tenets of the LDS on line? Besides, very few people can clearly and succinctly state comprehensively the tenets of their faith when pinned down.
If Mitt Romney were the best candidate, I'd have no problem voting for him--Mormon, or not.
It would be foolish to expect a politician today to be religiously compatible with more than a tiny fraction of his supporters.
Of course, it would be great if we had a godly Christian man as president, one who treasures justice and values the things God values.
But we are electing this person to uphold the Constitution and carry out the duties of the President. That needs to be our first priority.
I have no idea what Fred’s old or current denomination believes. I hope he does start to attend worship services regularly, but only if it is with believers who can help him build his faith. I have no interest in seeing a politician go through the motions of religiosity for the sake of good press, or to participate in an unhealthy community with dodgy beliefs.
We should keep all of our politicians and leaders and public servants in prayer, and we should do everything we can to build them up and lead them towards ideals that are closer and closer to God’s values.
The leftist Christian bashers will awfully disapointed to learn that a good Christian with stong moral principles does not have to go to church every sunday.
And then there are rotten Christians that go to church every sunday (especially around election time- right J F'ing K?) how have no moral principles at all.
The difference in the Creed between the Eastern and Western churches is the West's addition of the filioque, the expression that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son, whereas in the original it said only "from the Father." The addition was by and large a response to the heresy of Arianism in parts of the West, which downplayed the deity of Christ. The Orthodox reject the addition, not so much on theological grounds, but on the grounds that the addition was not decided upon by the entire Church in council. This controversy is one of a number that caused the final division between the East and West in the 11th century.
Here is the text:
I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God; begotten by the Father before all ages; Light of Light; True God of True God; begotten, not made; of one essence with the Father, by Whom all things were made. Who, for us men and our salvation, came down from Heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit and of the Virgin Mary, and was made man. And was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered and was buried. And on the third day, He rose from the dead, according to the Scriptures, and ascended into Heaven, and sits at the right hand of the Father. From thence He shall come again in glory, to judge the living and the dead. Whose kingdom shall have no end.
And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Giver of life, who proceeds from the Father, who with the Father and the Son is worshipped and glorified, who spoke by the prophets.
And in one Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins. I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.
“I’m not a big Mitt Romney fan, but to say Mormons are not christians is, in my opinion, wrong. The name of the demonination is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. This is from Wikipaedia:
Adherents to the church (usually called Mormons, Latter-day Saints or LDS) believe that Jesus Christ leads the church by revelation given to the President of the Church, whom they consider to be a prophet. They consider themselves to be Christians, but do not consider themselves part of the Catholic, Orthodox, or Protestant traditions.”
1. Wikipedia is anything but authoritative. It has an extreme liberal bias.
2. What Mormons believe about themselves as being Christian is not nearly so important as what orthodox Christians believe. Mormons seek to eliminate their differences with the vast majority of Americans to make conversion easier.
3. Mormon doctrine is different in substantative critical areas than Orthodox Biblical doctrine.
Having said that, I would vote for Mitt in a heartbeat if he were the Repub candidate.
Here you go (Catholic version):
We believe in one God. The Father Almighty. Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the only begotten, begotten of the Father before all ages. Light of Light; true God of true God; begotten not made; of one essence with the Father, by whom all things were made; who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven, and was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, and became man.
And He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered, and was buried. And the third day He rose again according to the Scriptures; and ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of the Father; and he shall come again with glory to judge the living and the dead; whose Kingdom shall have no end.
And (We believe) in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Giver of Life, who proceeds from the Father: who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified: who spoke by the prophets.
In one Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.
I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins. I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.
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