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PBS Special on Mormon Church

Prophet Joseph Smith's Motive in Founding Religion:

  • Big flat screen TVs not invented. Had to pass time.

    Votes: 2 10.5%
  • Recite news of Angel Moroni and the Golden Tablets

    Votes: 1 5.3%
  • Could hump young local babes w/out wife objecting

    Votes: 13 68.4%
  • Received vision that it was too soon for Scientology

    Votes: 3 15.8%

  • Total voters
    19
  • Poll closed .
as has been stated before, you cant believe everything you read -- additionally anti mormon sites probably arent the best places to go to find the most accurate information on mormon beliefs.

I still laugh at the mormom rituals stuff -- Ive even had people tell me I sacrifice goats during rituals and have horns but does that make it true?

the temple is a place of learning where we make covanants with the lord -- true baptisms for the dead are performed there, as are marriage covenants -- we believe in marriage for time and all eternity, not "till death do you part"
 
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The following quote is from an LDS site, a website created by LDS members to defend and explain LDS theology.

Christ, The Firstfruits of Theosis

"Among the most radical departures of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from mainstream Christian thought is the belief that we can become like God. This is the much disputed Judaeo/Christian doctrine of theosis--the belief that the faithful can attain a level of divinity in the hereafter.

Members of the Church believe that faithful men and women have the potential to become like God himself. This means that we have within ourselves seeds of divinity that will allow us to eventually return to the presence of God as perfected beings of great glory, with an exaltation so great that we will mirror the physical, spiritual-moral perfection of the Father and the Son.

Orthodox Christians also hold the doctrine of theosis but they limit the extent to which we can share the divine nature to a spiritual-moral likeness and/or the ability to emulate the celestial humanity of the dual-natured Christ of creedal thought.

This paper will discuss the early Judaeo/Christian doctrine of theosis. It will be shown how the majority of the Jews living immediately before and after Christ and essentially all Christians of the first century church accepted the belief that the faithful would experience an extreme exaltation as part of the process of salvation with the faithful fully reflecting the divinity of the Father and the Son. In fact, just as Christ was "the firstfruits of them that slept" (1 Cor. 15: 20) so it will be shown that Christ is the firstfruits of the exaltation of God's children.

Mainstream Christians were often troubled with the extreme theosis held by members of the Church of Jesus Christ; for the ontological gulf between God and man demanded by classical thought insures that men could never become like God."

I think this is a good representation of that doctrine, although it is written from a pro-LDS standpoint. You can, of course, obtain more negative articles from many evangelical non-LDS sources. My point has always been that this theological distinction is more distinguishing than the issues seperating protestant denominations, and in my opinion, even greater than the theological gulf between Catholics and the Reformed churches over the nature of the Host and Papal authority.

Does the issue of multiple gods and men becoming gods create enough of a theological gulf that the doctrine removes the LDS church from the ranks of so-called "Christian" churches? This site argues that LDS belief is in line with ancient Christian thought.
 
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afgolfer;834215; said:
as has been stated before, you cant believe everything you read -- additionally anti mormon sites probably arent the best places to go to find the most accurate information on mormon beliefs.

I still laugh at the mormom rituals stuff -- Ive even had people tell me I sacrifice goats during rituals and have horns but does that make it true?

the temple is a place of learning where we make covanants with the lord -- true baptisms for the dead are performed there, as are marriage covenants -- we believe in marriage for time and all eternity, not "till death do you part"

Having had occassion to read the first Chapter of the Book of Mormon (because a couple of kids on a mission asked me to) I can say that the Book of Mormon sounds very contrived to me. The thing was written in .. what 1850ish... and yet, to read it.. it sounds like Smith is intentionally being "too biblical" in the way he writes. Too many "Behold" too many "sayths" and such "biblical words" So, in that respect I am inclided to agree with your "laugh at rituals."

However... and I don't mean to point the finger at you specifically afgolfer - it seems to escape a lot of Christians that people look at Christianity (at the exclusion of Mormonism for purposes here) as equally laughable. I suppose to be fair, one should respect another's rituals if he himself has his own which he must practice to please his Lord.
 
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afgolfer;834215; said:
as has been stated before, you cant believe everything you read -- additionally anti mormon sites probably arent the best places to go to find the most accurate information on mormon beliefs.

I still laugh at the mormon rituals stuff -- Ive even had people tell me I sacrifice goats during rituals and have horns but does that make it true?

Are you directly saying that the LDS Temple ritual did not include the throat slash/disembowling signs until recently, or that your more recent experience did not, and you do not know about practices prior to your affiliation?
 
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Gatorubet;834250; said:
Are you directly saying that the LDS Temple ritual did not include the throat slash/disembowling signs until recently, or that your more recent experience did not, and you do not know about practices prior to your affiliation?

Since I have been a member, that has not taken place in any action I have been a part of. Can i vouch that it did or didnt happen, no -- just as most of the sites cant vouch that it did. One thing I have noticed is that if one anti mormon site says something others copy it and use it too -- thus making for the appearence that it must be so because so many are saying it.

like I said the temple is a place where we make covanents with our heavenly father -- no throat slashings or disembowlings have been demonstrated during my time in the church.
 
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afgolfer;834275; said:
I still think it funny that you keep saying ritual -- as though you are trying to use a negative conotation


ritual (rĭch'ū-əl)
pron.gif

n.
    1. The prescribed order of a religious ceremony.
    2. The body of ceremonies or rites used in a place of worship.
    1. The prescribed form of conducting a formal secular ceremony: the ritual of an inauguration.
    2. The body of ceremonies used by a fraternal organization.
  1. A book of rites or ceremonial forms.
Deflection duly noted.:)
 
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Buckeyeskickbuttocks;834234; said:
Having had occassion to read the first Chapter of the Book of Mormon (because a couple of kids on a mission asked me to) I can say that the Book of Mormon sounds very contrived to me. The thing was written in .. what 1850ish... and yet, to read it.. it sounds like Smith is intentionally being "too biblical" in the way he writes. Too many "Behold" too many "sayths" and such "biblical words" So, in that respect I am inclided to agree with your "laugh at rituals."

However... and I don't mean to point the finger at you specifically afgolfer - it seems to escape a lot of Christians that people look at Christianity (at the exclusion of Mormonism for purposes here) as equally laughable. I suppose to be fair, one should respect another's rituals if he himself has his own which he must practice to please his Lord.

If I could make one word change -- Im not expecting everyone to accept it,but contray to popular belief, the book of mormon (for those who belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of latter day saints) wasnt "written" by JS, rather it was translated -- this is our belief
 
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afgolfer;834281; said:
If I could make one word change -- Im not expecting everyone to accept it,but contray to popular belief, the book of mormon (for those who belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of latter day saints) wasnt "written" by JS, rather it was translated -- this is our belief
AF - I see I must have misunderstood your position (that's what I get for jumping in to a thread late in the game, I guess... sorry about that.)

said:
http://www.lds-mormon.com/jsmith.shtml]

Alarmed, Isaac demanded an explanation of this strange activity. The explanation that Joseph and Emma gave him only alarmed Isaac more. They told Isaac that Joseph had seen a vision of an angel back in Palmyra. The angel had led Joseph to a place which Joseph called Cumorah, a hill near Palmyra. There, digging in the spot the angel indicated, Joseph had found a set of golden plates comprising a holy book, called the Book of Mormon. The book was written in symbols which Joseph called "reformed Egyptian," but with the gold plates were two stones, with which Joseph could decipher the ancient symbols on the gold plates .
Joseph told Isaac that the gold plates were right in front of them on the table, in a box covered by a cloth. It was not necessary for Joseph to see the plates in order to decipher them. He could read the plates, understand them, and translate them into English, by gazing into the stones. However, in order to see into the stones, he had to shut out all extraneous light. Therefore, he put the stones into his hat and covered his face with the hat. When Isaac asked to see the golden plates, Joseph refused permission. Joseph said that, if anyone besides himself looked at the golden plates, it would mean instant death for the person.

Doesn't sound any more unbelievable than a talking snake telling people to eat fruit (Gen 3:1) or a mule getting mouthy with someone who struck him (Numbers 22:27 ) Nor is it, in my mind, any more unbelievable than believing a man wondering around the Roman empire performing miracles like raising the dead (John 11:44) would escape detection of the Romans or believing Jesus' resurrection is confirmed by the fact that there, as they like say "is no body" in the tomb he was supposedly buried in.

Likewise, it's no more ridiculous than a politician claiming "The fact we haven't found WMD proves they have them." or words to that effect.

I prefer to believe in a God which does not require me to reject reality, or believe in magic. A God that exists and is whatever he is while reality is afforded the opportunity to be the same sensible reality I see around me and believe in. One who reveals himself - if at all - by his very being whatever he is (partly the universe itself) and has little to no interest in writting books documenting his various follies and changing of his mind regarding his creation over the course of humanity. But, I run the risk of being what Richard Dawkins recently described, apparently, as nothing more than a "sexed up atheist"
 
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Gatorubet;834250; said:
Are you directly saying that the LDS Temple ritual did not include the throat slash/disembowling signs until recently, or that your more recent experience did not, and you do not know about practices prior to your affiliation?

Hey... what's wrong with throat slash/disembowling signs? :wink2:
 
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