For Byron: what Mormons DO believe


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Ok guys, we have a new poster name Byron whom seems like a really nice guy trying to get the honest story.  Unfortunately other people have told him some completely-off-base stuff.  So let’s take turns telling him what Mormons DO believe.

 

I’ll start out—

 

I, as a Mormon, believe full heartedly in God.  I believe in the Father, whom created me and this world.  I believe in the Son, Jesus Christ, whom lived a perfect life and died as a sacrifice for my sins.  He is my redeemer and my Lord.  I believe in the Holy Ghost, whom witnesses of truth and comforts me when I cry.

 

I believe that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost together are God: united completely as 1 in purpose, love, and will (not substance). 

 

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I believe in the Savior Jesus Christ. I believe He is and was real, and has the power to heal all kinds of hurts and change hearts. I've experienced this personally, in ways I cannot deny. I believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God, and I feel the influence of the Holy Ghost when I study it. It is another testament of Christ. I believe that God is more loving and merciful than we can understand, and that He has provided means for every one of His children to return to Him, if they will. 

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Some may remember my own inquiries into LDS doctrines, a few years back.  When it came to comparing and contrasting, I found that the most honest source for non-LDS to use for finding core beliefs was the Articles of Faith:

 

Articles of Faith 1
  • Pearl of Great Price

The Articles of Faith of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints History of the Church, Vol. 4, pp. 535–41  

Articles of Faith 1:1
  • Pearl of Great Price

We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost.

Articles of Faith 1:2
  • Pearl of Great Price

We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam’s transgression.

Articles of Faith 1:3
  • Pearl of Great Price

We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel.

Articles of Faith 1:4
  • Pearl of Great Price

We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are: first, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second, Repentance; third, Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; fourth, Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost. 

Articles of Faith 1:5
  • Pearl of Great Price

We believe that a man must be called of God, by prophecy, and by the laying on of hands by those who are in authority, to preach the Gospel and administer in the ordinances thereof.

Articles of Faith 1:6
  • Pearl of Great Price

We believe in the same organization that existed in the Primitive Church, namely, apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists, and so forth.

Articles of Faith 1:7
  • Pearl of Great Price

We believe in the gift of tongues, prophecy, revelation, visions, healing, interpretation of tongues, and so forth.

Articles of Faith 1:8
  • Pearl of Great Price

We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly; we also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God.

Articles of Faith 1:9
  • Pearl of Great Price

We believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God.

Articles of Faith 1:10
  • Pearl of Great Price

We believe in the literal gathering of Israel and in the restoration of the Ten Tribes; that Zion (the New Jerusalem) will be built upon the American continent; that Christ will reign personally upon the earth; and, that the earth will be renewed and receive its paradisiacal glory.

Articles of Faith 1:11
  • Pearl of Great Price

We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may.

Articles of Faith 1:12
  • Pearl of Great Price

We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law.

Articles of Faith 1:13
  • Pearl of Great Price

We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul—We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.

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Guest MormonGator

I believe Joseph Smith was a for real, legit prophet of God who translated the Book of Mormon from a golden plates that existed in a real, physical reality. The same reality that you and I live in today. 

 

I believe the Book of Mormon takes place literally, not metaphorically (though some of it certainly is!).

 

But most important I believe Jesus is the Son of God. Who died for me. 

Edited by MormonGator
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Major LDS teaching not present in Christian teaching:

1.) We believe in One God in three Persons - the Father, the Son, the Holy Ghost. What makes them One is not their Substance (ousia) but rather their Will. All 3 Persons is God because they freely chose that Will which is God.

2.) We believe that our consciousness (intelligence, essence) is eternal - neither created nor destroyed. Before God gathered our intelligences into His family, we had no knowledge. Because God saw us and Loved us, God gathered all the intelligences and set them on a path of progression towards Joy that we may have what He has - that we may unite our will with that Will that is God. He created our spirit bodies that we may act upon it and exercise our free will. He designed the Plan of Happiness - to separate ourselves from God and have mortal bodies - that we may gain knowledge of good and evil and exercise our free will that we may desire to choose to unite our will with that Will that is God. We, therefore, existed prior to our mortal birth and will continue to exist past our mortal death.

3.). As no unclean thing can live in the presence of our Father, we despaired when our Father presented us with the Plan of Happiness. We couldn't gain the knowledge of good versus evil without experiencing evil. Experiencing evil separates us from our Father. Choosing evil dooms us to eternal separation from our Father - spiritual death. Our lack of knowledge guarantees that we will eventually choose that which is evil and death. We couldn't find a way to gain knowledge without being subject to sin. Jesus Christ presented Himself to our Father to pay the price for our sin that we may be able to come back to God's Kingdom even as we choose to sin due to our lack of knowledge. Jesus Christ then became our mediator, the One Chosen to teach us that we may gain knowledge and freely choose to follow Him and unite our will with God. And through his atoning sacrifice we are saved from death. When this Plan of our Salvation was presented to us, we shouted for joy! We then freely chose to follow Christ. This choice allowed us to be born into mortality to gain knowledge. Every single person, therefore, born into mortality - including Mother Teresa and Hitler - chose to follow Christ in pre-mortality. Each of us are born with the light of Christ - that desire to seek that which is good.

4.). The Covenant of Baptism is that ordinance where we accept Christ as our Savior. We promise to follow Christ. The revelation that Christ is our Savior transcends mortal death. We continue gaining knowledge even after death. The ordinance of baptism, as well as other saving ordinances, can still be available to those who died before receiving knowledge. As these ordinances are mortal ordinances, they are performed by proxy in our Holy Temples.

5.). Gender - Male and Female - is an eternal trait. It is an attribute of our eternal intelligence. Our Father designed the Plan of Happiness through the cooperation of Male and Female united in the mission to bring each of us closer to God's Will. The Covenant of Marriage is the covenant that is the foundation of Families. In the Family, we promise to bring spirits closer to God, with fathers and mothers charged with teaching their children of the Plan of Happiness. As mortal death is not the end of our progression in knowledge, the Marriage Covenant continues past death and Families continue in eternity.

That's it for now.

Edited by anatess
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More Mormon specific beliefs:

 

Mormons also believe in continuing revelation: that God does STILL and ALWAYS talks to man, publicly and privately.  That there are many great things yet to be revealed to us.  

 

That the union between spouses and children is a bond which can continue into the eternities, through the Christ-given power to bind in earth and be bound in Heaven (Matthew 16:19(.

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1.) We believe in One God in three Persons - the Father, the Son, the Holy Ghost. What makes them One is not their Substance (ousia) but rather their Will. All 3 Persons is God because they freely chose that Will which is God.

What is that substance made of? It's a mystery.

What if I told you that substance is will?

Edited by Crypto
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As a Mormon I believe these truths:

 

1) God the Father is the father of all our spirits.  He loves us and wishes us to follow the right path to return to Him.

2) Jesus Christ is the Only Begotten of the Father in the flesh.  He lived a perfect life, completed the Atonement -- including the resurrection, became our Savior, and now rules forever over all mankind.  And salvation comes in and his atoning blood an in no other way.

3) The Holy Ghost is the conduit by which the Father and the Son communicate with us as mortals.  It is through the power of the Holy Ghost that the truth of all things is made manifest.

4) Joseph Smith was the first prophet of this dispensation who was chosen by God to restore the gospel in its fulness.

5) The Bible, The Book of Mormon, The Doctrine & Covenants, and The Pearl of Great Price make up our canon of scripture from which all other ideas, doctrines, beliefs, and practices must be measured against.

6) Today Thomas S. Monson is the earthly leader, a prophet, seer, and revelator of the Church.  He is the Lord's representative on this earth.

7) The structure and organization of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the method the Lord is currently using to get much of His earthly work done.

7) I as an individual and child of God must seek Him out in all things.  It is my duty to gain a testimony of the divine mission of Jesus Christ.  It is upon me to seek the guidance of the Holy Ghost to gain a testimony of every word which proceed out of the mouths of the prophets.

 

As a Mormon I practice these things:

 

1) I make and keep promises such as baptism and temple covenants.

2) I go to worship as often as I can -- usually once a week, sometimes more.

3) I love and serve my family.

4) I love and serve my fellow man.

5) I am honest in all my dealings with others.

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Guest MormonGator

On a personal note: I believe Mormons are the most over bashed church, by far! The dichotomy between who we are and who the public thinks we are is vastly different.   

 

They hate us cause they ain't us  :cool:

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MormonGator, the closest I got to the LDS experience of "hate" was being Assemblies of God in the after-shock to the two Jimmies televangelism scandals of the late 1980s.  Five years later I mentioned to an Evangelical professor that I was heading to the AG seminary, and she looked surprised.  She pulled me aside, and whispered, "But what about Jimmy...?"  I responded that he had been defrocked five years earlier, and she says, "Oh."  Our early pioneers were not killed, but they were tar, feathered, and driven out of time.  The early parishioners were pelted with rotten fruit.  Some of our evangelists were jailed for "practicing medicine without a license."

 

Now we are acceptable.  Sadly, some of our younger leaders are making us too acceptable (my opinion--by downplaying our distinctives, hyping our cool music, and our general with-it-ness).  It's hard to find the balance between accepting disapproval and persecution with Christlikeness, learning where we can improve our reputations in a godly way, and knowing when to stake our claim and just say, "Thus sayeth the LORD!"

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Mormons do call themselves Saints.

But not in a sense that they are perfect, or in any way exalted.

They mean they are disciples of Christ.

They also mean that they are called to be Saints, to perfect their life, to become more like Christ every day, and not just on Sunday.

It does not mean they think they are perfect.

It means their calling is to try to perfect themselves.

dc

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JWs are much more maligned than LDS, imho.  Is that what you were thinking?

 

Really, how so?

 

Do JWs have an entire commercial industry dedicated to their downfall?  Do they have professional JW bashers that make a living off of movies, books, seminars, and radio shows based on nothing but bashing their faith?

 

I grew up with a guy who really took the time to know our faith.  He was certainly a smart guy, and he learned a lot.  But it was all from his anti-Mormon colored glasses.  

 

By the time we were in high school, I was his go-to Mormon to test all his arguments.  I'd usually get him to back down.  But he won some points too.  So, this was the beginning of my apologetics training.

 

Today, he has his own radio show that is specifically to "Save Mormon's from their faith".  Can you imagine having a full time job doing nothing but bashing someone else's religion?  I've become his converse, yet I volunteer for much less than 40 hrs/wk.  I've got better things to do than bash someone else's religion for 40 hrs/wk.

Edited by Guest
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Really, how so?

 

Besides the typical Evangelical opposition, many don't like the perceived aggressiveness of JW door-to-door work.  They refuse military service, will not salute the flag, and abstain from all holidays--including birthdays.  So, their kids grow up pretty ostracized.  Also, they have no centralized city or state which is majority JW.

 

Do JWs have an entire commercial industry dedicated to their downfall?  Do they have professional JW bashers that make a living off of

movies, books, seminars, and radio shows based on nothing but bashing their faith?

 

Yes.  I read as many counter-cult JW books as I did LDS ones, growing up.  Most of the counter-cult organizations covered both LDS and JW. 

 

I grew up with a guy who really took the time to know our faith.  He was certainly a smart guy, and he learned a lot.  But it was all from his anti-Mormon colored glasses.  

 

Perhaps, because I grew up with JWs, I spent more time reading the anti-JW stuff, so I could defend my faith.  I'm telling you--all the groups that criticized you did the same to them.

 

By the time we were in high school, I was his go-to Mormon to test all his arguments.  I'd usually get him to back down.  But he won some points too.  So, this was the beginning of my apologetics training.

 

I spent a semester during my 8th grade year doing a Bible discussion with 3 JW students, during our lunch hour.  It was all done in a good spirit, and there were no emotional arguments.

 

Today, he has his own radio show that is specifically to "Save Mormon's from their faith".  Can you imagine having a full time job doing nothing but bashing someone else's religion?  I've become his converse, yet I volunteer for much less than 40 hrs/wk.  I've got better things to do than bash someone else's religion for 40 hrs/wk.

 

Again, most counter-cult groups cover multiple faiths they perceive as heterodox.  LDS and JWs are usually high on the list.

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