Posted on 09/29/2010 3:05:05 PM PDT by zippythepinhead
Atheists and agnostics know more about major world religions than many people of faith, while Mormons can answer more Bible questions than their Catholic and mainline Protestant counterparts.
Those are among the somewhat startling conclusions about religious literacy in America the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion and Public Life drew after surveying 3,412 Americans.
Some of the multiple-choice questions were relatively simple: Where was Jesus born and who led the exodus from Egypt? What religion was Mother Teresa, what day does the Jewish Sabbath begin and what is the name of Islam’s holy book?
Others were more obscure: What is Indonesia’s dominant religion? Which Christians teach that salvation comes through faith alone?
About half the Protestants (53 percent) couldn’t correctly identify Martin Luther as the person whose writings and actions inspired the Protestant Reformation. Fewer than half of Americans (47 percent) knew the Dalai Lama is Buddhist and only 38 percent correctly associated Vishnu and Shiva with Hinduism.
John Morehead, director of the Western Institute for Intercultural Studies in Salt Lake City, had already noted religious illiteracy in the general population as well as in the evangelical community. But he did not expect Mormons to top them in their biblical fluency.
“Mormons tend to emphasize Mormon scriptures like the Book of Mormon rather than the Bible in their devotional life,” Morehead said in an e-mail.
Even some LDS scholars were surprised to find Mormons at the top.
(Excerpt) Read more at sltrib.com ...
FYI, it's “at” Jerusalem, not in Jerusalem.
This actually shows it's an ancient record, as opposed to such a glaring error on JS’s part.
Have fun with it all you will, but it's how the ancients viewed the region.
If you still hold this view, then you'll need to throw out the bible too.
2 Kings 14:20
“And they brought him on horses: and he was buried at Jerusalem with his fathers in the city of David.”
BYW, Restornu, you don’t need to keep pinging me. While I appreciate what you are doing, I don’t have the time or inclination to debate endlessly with these guys and gals.
If you need to take me off the ping list for a while, I’d appreciate it, I’m super busy right now.
Thanks.
“Beware: when someone says that they are following the leading of the Holy Spirit – yet are acting contrary to the Word of God.”
****
Romans 8
14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
Lol. I bet this goes over like a porkchop in a synagogue. Priceless.
Suburb of Jerusalem. Its in the greater Jerusalem metropolitan area. :-)
This is actually quite amusing.
The truth is that if Mormons knew much about the Bible, they’d stop being Mormons.
Hi Ampu,
Do you believe that God can reveal his mind and will to an individual, and give inspiration and guidance?
I disagree when you say that I have no way of knowing whether something is of God or of a demon.
We all are born with an inborn knowledge of good and evil which God has given us a way to judge between what is of God and what is of the devil. It is the light of Christ — which is “the true light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world” (John 1:9)
This light allows us to discern what is of light and what is of darkness. It is a gift and a guide that can lead a man or woman to Christ, if they do not harden our hearts and “quench the Spirit” (1 Thess. 5:19)
Ok so it goes over you head not my problem!
That's what keeps things so interesting, no? But, can you be more specific as to which points?
good to see some depth in your post
Thanks.
Here's our teachings about Bethlehem.
http://scriptures.lds.org/gs/b/21
Now, really, I don't with to be dragged in, just pointing out the bible says the same thing.
Oh, smack. I’ll be bruised in the morning.
By that admission I guess it did not go over...
“The Holy Spirit witness and teaches a man to do good the will of the Heavenly Father. To Love one another, the devil will never teach this!”
1. Of course he will, if it means he will have your company in hell!
2. I notice you continue to quote from the mormonic verses -
cultic literature that contradicts the Bible...
“There were several Bethlehems in the area this one was in Jerusalem not the Bethlehem in Galilee.”
There was ONE Bethlehem God chose. It wasn’t Jerusalem.
God - right, again
Joe - wrong, again
If God was specific, it ain’t nitpickin’!
“I disagree when you say that I have no way of knowing whether something is of God or of a demon.”
And that would be simply an opinion with no facts, logic or evidence. Again.
“We all are born with an inborn knowledge of good and evil which God has given us a way to judge between what is of God and what is of the devil.”
Can you give me a Bible verse citation on that...
“It is the light of Christ — which is “the true light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world” (John 1:9)
Bad translation, by the way. It is Christ coming into the
world, not every man. That doesn’t not mean Satan cannot
deceive you.
“This light allows us to discern what is of light and what is of darkness.”
No, that isn’t what the verse means, Normandy.
“It is a gift and a guide that can lead a man or woman to Christ, if they do not harden our hearts and “quench the Spirit” (1 Thess. 5:19)”
Again, wrong understanding of the passage. It doesn’t say
it will guide you. Only Christians have the Spirit of the
Bible. You are quoting a passage that was written to the Church
of Christ. The Church that condemned mormonic teaching.
The Christ that was neither created nor made, but is
and was and will be eternally God.
Again, no facts, no evidence, no logic. You have feelings
that support your feelings.
ampu
/YAWN Is this Mormon bashing babblefest still going on in here? LOL what was I thinking. Of course it is. Opposition to all things after all.
Undecided readers,
If you peruse the Free Republic religion forums you will notice a pattern. There’s an anti-Mormon group of people here that spends a great deal of their time attacking the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. They post regurgitated propaganda on an almost daily basis.
They have a misguided obsession. You can witness many different tactics employed that you might find quite interesting. The straw man argument is a big favorite and is frequently preceded by cherry-picking quotes or other material. After the “quotation” the attacker will misrepresent what has been said or what was meant and then attack their own interpretation. You’ll likely see perfect examples of just this shortly after I post.
Sometimes they cruise the headlines of the day seeking any story that might be twisted into making the Church look bad. Anything will do, just watch the progression of posts following it and see what I mean.
After reading their posts, I invite you to seek the truth about whatever “issue” they seem to be “revealing” or “exposing”. I promise that if you do so with honest intent, the “ahah” moments you will have will be many and frequent. You will start to recognize the tactics employed to cleverly twist and attack and will likely chuckle the more you see. In actuality, there’s nothing new here. It’s all been addressed many times before.
Here’s a few links to get your started from a different viewpoint. I have found that the vast majority of the “issues” brought up can be found and addressed at http://www.fairlds.org/ but here’s more:
http://scriptures.lds.org/
http://www.lds.org
http://www.fairlds.org/
http://www.mormonwiki.com/Main_Page
http://www.lightplanet.com/response/index.html
http://www.jefflindsay.com/LDS_Intro.shtml
http://www.answeringantimormons.com/index.htm
http://promormon.blogspot.com/
Now you will likely notice the “you never address our points” posts pop up as usual. All after providing the answers just as you have here. Will you wear blinders too? Seek truth. Find out for yourself.
It just occurred to me that God was VERY SPECIFIC
as to which of the Bethlehems He would have His Son
born in:
5:2 As for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, seemingly insignificant among the clans of Judah – from you a king will emerge who will rule over Israel on my behalf,
one whose origins are in the distant past.
Bethlehem Ephrathah!
This distinguishes the correct Bethlehem for an important
reason...
This Bethlehem was David’s birthplace, and of the clan of Ephratah, that of Jesse, David’s father. Christ is a descendant of David and is of the “tree of Jesse”.
David was annointed King of Israel there.
Jesus Christ was born King there.
God was very, very specific.
He did not say Jerusalem.
He said Bethlehem Ephrathah.
He meant if for a reason.
ampu
Dear, “Undecided readers”,
I’ll save you time.
The God of the Bible says there is ONE GOD.
Mormonism teaches there are millions or billions of gods.
They teach you can become a god (so does Shirley McClain).
Heck, they teach gods have sex.
Double-Heck, they teach god has a god.
Ergo, mormonism is a false religion.
That was easy.
ampu
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