Posted on 02/19/2008 4:46:10 PM PST by Zakeet
In his pursuit of the presidency, Mitt Romney held fast to his Mormon faith, though his religion remains controversial with evangelicals and some other Christians. But his determined (and ultimately futile) wooing of evangelicals led him to make some statements that didn't quite square with Mormon beliefs and culture. And the effort itself may have deepened the impression of him as inauthentic—even to some fellow Mormons.
Early in his presidential bid, Romney was asked what he thought of polygamy. Prompted by what they considered a divine revelation, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints discontinued the practice more than a century ago, and the church distances itself from polygamist "fundamentalists." But Romney went one step further, saying he couldn't "imagine anything more awful than polygamy." Many Mormons were privately taken aback. Mormons believe that, in its time, "plural marriage" was a commandment from God, and they are, as a group, fiercely proud of their ancestors, hundreds of whom practiced polygamy. (Romney's own great-grandfather had five wives.) LDS church members loathe the polygamy stereotypes and jokes bandied by outsiders. But hearing Romney—the most recognizable face of their faith these days—disavow it in those terms was mildly unsettling to LDS insiders.
Others were puzzled to hear Romney say he reads the Gideon Bible—a version popular with evangelicals: Mormons uniformly study the King James version, in a Salt Lake edition that is cross-referenced to all other Mormon scripture. "Seems like he just figured he had to say the safest, most Protestant thing he could think of—that was kind of annoying," says Russell Arben Fox, a Mormon professor of political science at Friends University in Wichita, Kans.
(Excerpt) Read more at newsweek.com ...
It’s true. The triune heresy is a greco-roman invention.
Go ahead and say it straight out unless you are afraid someone else knows about the abuse button.
Hey, I got my own number! LOL!
You want dates of every time I have had to ask the Lord for forgiveness for a mistake? I don’t have those.
“Getting saved,” to us, is not a one-time occurrence that thereafter innoculates us from consequence for sin, no matter what we do. We must endure to the end, repenting as we fall short — either for sins of omission or commission — and relying on the Atonement for forgiveness.
If you are asking when I received my first spiritual witness of the truth of the Gospel, I’d have to say it was when I was about 13 or 14 when I began to feel what I could identify as stirrings of the Spirit. I was 17 and in college when I became certain, through a spiritual experience, that God existed and was aware of me. And it has grown and been added upon as I have learned, studied, experienced, and — especially — obeyed.
Thanks grey. Come back when you have something to add. The grown-ups are trying to talk.
You are right, Mormonism is a cult, that’s all it is, stay away from it.
thank you. I wasn’t aware that I belonged to a cult, but now that I do, I will run as fast as I can.
Remarks made by the mormon Prophet Brigham Young in the SLC mormon tabernacle...dated 1863:
"The rank, rabid abolitionists, whom I call black-hearted Republicans, have set the whole national fabric on fire. Do you know this, Democrats? They have kindled the fire that is raging now from the north to the south, and from the south to the north. I am no abolitionist. Neither am I a proslavery man; I hate some of their principles and especially some of their conduct, as I do the gates of hell. The Southerners make the negroes, and the Northerners worship them; this is all the difference between slaveholders and abolitionists. I would like the President of the United States and all the world to hear this.
Shall I tell you the law of God in regard to the African race? If the white man who belongs to the chosen seed mixes his blood with the seed of Cain, the penalty, under the law of God, is death on the spot. This will always be so.
Pretty strong words..by a prophet of mormonism.
Here's another......by the prophet B. Young
I would rather undertake to convert five thousand Lamanites [American Indians], than to convert one of those poor miserable creatures ( Jews ) whose fathers killed the Savior, and who say, "Amen to the deed," to this day. Yea, I would rather undertake to convert the devil himself, if it were possible.
I ask the mormons here....are these accurate prophetic "revealing scriptures"?
Are they misquoted?
Are they just crazy rantings of a mormon prophet?
Are they out of context?
Just when is Young a "good" prophet...and when is he a "bad" prophet?
Yes, they are 150 yrs old. But this guy is a FOUNDING MEMBER of YOUR CHURCH. His name is on ten's of buildings..and a University.
Aren't you guy's ashamed of this man. How can you base much of your religion on him?
And we haven't even started on J. Smith.
I understand you likely haven’t read my entire previous post. Jeremiah 18 that I posted is a warning concerning those who are false prophets and those who willingly follow false prophets.
Do you refuse to listen. How many times does it take for you to understand that those are not the teachings, nor the beliefs of Mormons. Any Mormon would distant themselves from such a quote. There were never a part of the official teachings of the Church. Do you want me to dig up racist comments from leaders of the Catholic, Lutheran, Baptist, and other Christian churches made 140 years ago? Then I can say, “See this is what they believe in.” Do you realize how dishonest you are being?
I disagree with you. While I don't believe it necessarily has to a one-time occurrence, that doesn't mean our relationships with the Lord are always all over the map anymore than a high number of marriages display an ability to remain stable. If our relationships with an imperfect spouse can remain stable or flourish, then our relationships with a Perfect Spouse can flourish. (And the Bible frequently describes our relationship with the Lord as a similar covenant experience).
Certainly "reconciliation" with the Lord may not be "one-time." But both John (John 10) and Paul (to Timothy) both stress how God is faithful (Paul said even when we are unfaithful).
And this is all coming from a a rarer Evangelical who doesn't believe "once-saved, always-saved" as applicable to everybody.
A couple of places in the book of Hebrews, like Heb. 6, are quite revealing that you can take either position too far...
Hebrews 6:4-6 says that "It is IMPOSSIBLE" for those who hae been enlightened/tasted heavenly gift/shared in Holy Ghost/tasted God's Word/powers of coming age "if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.
(So you can't have those in Christ who are constantly nailing Christ to the cross again and again! On the other hand, these very same verses show you CAN "fall away.")
You must have missed THIS:
JOSEPH PRONOUNCED THESE PLATES GENUINE!
As described in detail with annotations HERE, Joseph Smith accepted these plates as authentic and even claimed he had translated a portion of them.
According to the diary of William Clayton, Joseph Smith's private secretary:
I have translated a portion of them and find they contain the history of the person with whom they were found. He was a descendant of Ham, through the loins of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and that he received his kingdom from the Ruler of heaven and earth. Joseph Smith
The plates were lost for a number of years until one was rediscovered in the 1950's in Chicago Historical Society Museum.
In 1962, Welby W. Ricks, President of the BYU Archaeological Society, hailed the find as a vindication of Joseph Smith's work:
A recent rediscovery of one of the Kinderhook plates which was examined by Joseph Smith, Jun., reaffirms his prophetic calling and reveals the false statements made by one of the finders....The plates are now back in their original category of genuine.... Joseph Smith, Jun., stands as a true prophet and translator of ancient records by divine means and all the world is invited to investigate the truth which has sprung out of the earth not only of the Kinderhook plates, but of the Book of Mormon as well.
In the mid-1960's, an engineering analysis conclusively proved the plates were of 19th century origin. They were part of a cruel hoax, and Joseph Smith was duped.
The Mormon Church has since adjusted its position on the plates in line with your statement.
I read it. A necessary assumption to your conclusion is that Joseph was a false prophet, something that your scripture does not prove. Do you understand what circular reasoning is? I am guessing not. Anyway, your scripture does not prove your conclusion. But I respect your ability to interpret scripture, but I do not agree with you.
No, you admonished Zakeet for being gullible and being "easily swayed by “alleged” stories that have no evidence". And yet you have absolutely no evidence to support Joseph Smith's story about a visit from God who told Smith not to join any of the existing churches because they were all false and their professors were all corrupt.
The fact of the matter is that there is a lot of solid, reliable and contemporary evidence to support the FACT that Joseph Smith was a "money digger" and that he joined the Methodist Church after allegedly being admonished by God himself not to join any of them.
Joseph Smith spent much of his pre-Prophet days digging for buried treasure and essentially being a superstitious snake oil salesman. There is plenty of solid evidence to prove that. There is no evidence to show that the Heavenly Father and Jesus visited with Joseph Smith when he was a teenager. All contemporary evidence suggests that the event never happened. And Joseph Smith's behavior subsequent to that event is further evidence that he was not God's chosen vessel to restore a gospel that Christ had promised would endure forever.
So if you don't think it matters that Joseph Smith was a fraud then by all means let your bosom be warmed by thoughts of him. If you are putting your faith in the arm of flesh, then ultimately more than just your bosom will be heated up.
By the fact the major news magazines do NOT like to get SUED??
and the lack of any substantiation by the author of the article.
Did you read the WHOLE article?
Read James. For example, “Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well. The devils also believe, and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?”
I saw that too. I love the conclusion that some engineering report (not produced) shows they were of 19th century origin, or that people were certain that the plates referred to were in fact those translated by Smith. You should not become an investigative reporter.
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