What I’m getting from this is there is a spiritual intelligence that one would feel when they are ready for baptism, be it two weeks after the first LDS contact or longer BUT…a mere human will determine if they are worthy; such as going to church weekly, married, give up smoking, alcohol, and I assume coffee & soda. and most of all pay that most important of LDS, money. Is that correct?
To some extent humans will determine if one is ready for water baptism as happens in every church. But that of course is only half a baptism and good for nothing if it is not followed by the baptism of fire and the Holy Ghost. No human will determine when that state is reached but the Lord himself. Only when one has exercised faith unto repentance and committed to follow Christ will they receive baptism of fire. Nephi testified of this when he said, “For the gate by which ye should enter is repentance and baptism of water; and then cometh a remission of your sins by fire and by the Holy Ghost. And then are ye in this strait and narrow path which leads to eternal life” (2 Ne 31:17-18).
Bolding mine
I do recognize truth from any & all sources. I first read about the LDS while in college in Utah. Didn’t find any truth there but was able to dissuade many missionaries, neighbors, school mates, and so on during my time in Utah. I then moved to another state that had a large LDS population. During my 20 years there still didn’t find truth in the LDS.
A lot of protestant churches don’t focus on baptism. In 18 years I only saw a dozen people or so baptised in the pentecostal churches I attended and in only one was it taught as necessary. The other two taught it as a personal choice.
Too true RebeccaBut Nephi means nothing to us. We are not LDS and Nephi is not in the Bible, only the B.o.M which we see as fiction. So you can quote all you like but what happens when there is little to no water for full immersion? Do you think God cares about the water or the persons true intention to receive The Holy Spirit?
Then there is the whole proxy baptism thing. Kind of like a get out of jail free card in my opinion.
If this is true then why are so many Ex Mormons shunned by family and friends and people in the church? What happened to the 11th article of faith?
Baptism by proxy, but yeah, they do that. They also confirm and “seal” (marry) by proxy as well.
A friend IRL who is ex-LDS and now a very happy Christian explained this concept to me. I remember her say that those who are never married at the time of death are then “spirit married” so they can go to…where ever it is they end up. For never married women or divorced women whose ex-husbands get temple divorces, they are generally given in marriage to men as plural wives.
The idea makes me ill.
This is also true. Another thing common is that if a man is a widower,he can get sealed to his second wife thus resulting in a plural marriage in heaven). In temple work, if a man had multiple marriages due to divorce or deaths they will seal all the marriages to the man in question, thus having a plural marriage in heaven.
They are treated very much like that. They are expected to be homemakers. While publicly they encourage women to pursue their desires (such as being a professional or a homemaker ) in practice they discouraged from pursuing anything other than being a homemaker. I have seen women shamed and guilted for wanting to have a career. Also, since there is so much pressure on becoming “exalted” women often go to college, not for education, but for what they call at BYU and the wider LDS community - and “MRS” degree. So yes, women are seen as commodities to marry, bare children, and to keep the home. Weather or not they desire a monogamous marriage marriage for “time and all eternity” (as the temple vows state) is of no concern.
Ok folk, I am an active Mormon, but not a believer in Mormonism. Please understand my purpose here is to give accurate information, not to defend Mormon beliefs.
I spent a lot of time in your position, explaining and not defending and having to preemptively disclaimer that it was only an explanation not a defense. Obviously, eventually, I found too many things untenable and left. That said, your last two sentences hit me in the feels. I’ve been in that uncomfortable spot and empathize.