Do the Mormons worship Jesus?

[RuthAnne]

There is no restored church. The true church of Jesus Christ never went away.

 

[ltwin]

One other question: are all Mormons on the same page theologically? I vaguely recall there is a difference between the Latter-Day Saints and “other” Mormons.

After Joseph Smith died, several competing denominations formed due to disputes over who should succeed him.

The largest, most important group is the LDS Church based in Utah. This church was led by Brigham Young after Joseph Smith’s death. It is hierarchical in the sense that its leadership defines what LDS members have to believe. So, theoretically, all LDS members should believe whatever the LDS leadership requires them to believe.

There are much smaller Latter Day Saint groups and some of these have important differences that set them apart from the Utah-based LDS Church since Brigham Young introduced his own unique practices that deviated from Joseph Smith.

In other instances, some denominations have moved away from their Latter-Day Saint heritage and are similar to mainline churches. For example, the second-largest denomination in the Latter Day Saint tradition is the Community of Christ (originally the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) which keeps some unique Latter Day Saint beliefs but rejects other. They are more traditional in their theology (for example they believe in the Trinity) and have many attitudes comparable to liberal Protestant churches.

Then the main, Utah-based LDS Church has itself experienced splinter groups over not being Mormon enough. Mormon Fundamentalism is a movement which seeks to preserve polygamy, which was rejected by the LDS Church after the US government threatened the Church’s legal existence. These are the Mormons you hear about having compounds out in the desert where young girls are married off to old cult leaders.

 

[ltwin]

There is no restored church. The true church of Jesus Christ never went away.

Yes, but meltzerboy2 asked a question about the term “latter” in their name.

 

[meltzerboy2]

Thanks for this interesting information.

 

[Horton]

(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.) Horton:

They claim Jesus is the literal son of God, conceived through humans means with a being called “Heavenly Mother” (not Mary) and then sent to earth to be born to Mary.

TRUE
From 1 Nephi 11, the LDS written scripture. I may have been wrong about Mary (although I know that was a belief at one time) but the rest comes straight from your own LDS book.

13 And it came to pass that I looked and beheld the great city of Jerusalem, and also other cities. And I beheld the city of Nazareth; and in the city of Nazareth I beheld a virgin, and she was exceedingly fair and white. 14 And it came to pass that I saw the heavens open; and an angel came down and stood before me; and he said unto me: Nephi, what beholdest thou? 15 And I said unto him: A virgin, most beautiful and fair above all other virgins. 16 And he said unto me: Knowest thou the acondescension of God? 17 And I said unto him: I know that he loveth his children; nevertheless, I do not know the meaning of all things. 18 And he said unto me: Behold, the virgin whom thou seest is the mother of the Son of God, after the manner of the flesh. 19 And it came to pass that I beheld that she was carried away in the Spirit; and after she had been carried away in the Spirit for the space of a time the angel spake unto me, saying: Look! 20 And I looked and beheld the virgin again, bearing a child in her arms.

(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.) Horton:

Mary really has no significance to the LDS.

This is all I could find on Mary on LDS sites and this paragraph is used to sell a book.

Throughout the world, millions of devout followers of Christ look to the Virgin Mary as a sacred figure, a woman to be revered and worshipped. While Latter-day Saints do not worship this chosen vessel of the Lord, we do esteem Mary as one of the most influential people in history. Her faithfulness changed the course of the world, but even so, much detail of her life remains unknown to most. In Glorious Truths about Mary, Mother of Jesus, readers are invited to join distinguished LDS scholar Susan Easton Black on a journey of discovery spanning the life and legacy of this unparalleled faith-filled giant. Discover, through scriptural and historical sources, the compelling look at how Mary, mother of Jesus, has been characterized over the centuries and the true story and lasting influence she has had— woman whose incomparable example continues to guide and inspire religious women today.

 

[YHWH_Christ]

Mormonism is polytheistic.

 

[Horton]

Con’t

(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.) Horton:

The LDS state Jesus was fully human and not divine at all.

Very TRUE. The LDS dismiss the fact of divinity of Jesus with a very silly diversion to the real question about having a body. From Fairmormon.com

“2. If Gods are individuals who have passed through an earth life to attain Godhood, how is it that one person of the Trinity (Jesus Christ) was God before He received a body or passed through earth life?”

Having a body is necessary for a fullness of joy. It was necessary that at some point Jesus receive a body, but the timeframe in which He did so is not particularly important. (To travel to another country, one needs both a passport and an airplane ticket. It doesn’t matter in which order one gets the passport or the ticket, but one must eventually have both in order to reach one’s destination.) If correct sequence is an imperative, one must explain how Christ’s atonement could be efficacious to those who were born, lived, and died prior to His crucifixion. The fact that it was effective should blunt any feigned requirement for sequence concerning the Christ’s receipt of a physical body. It is refreshing, though, to see anti-Mormon critics admit that the LDS consider Jesus Christ to be God. We trust they will remember this point. The critics repeat essentially the same objection above in #1. Repetition does not increase this question’s cogency.

Question: How did Christ achieve deification before mortality?

It was necessary that at some point Jesus receive a body, but the specific time in which He did so is not particularly important.

It is claimed that Latter-day Saint doctrine, which teaches that a physical body is necessary for a fulness of glory, is inconsistent, since Jesus was God prior to his mortal birth. However, having a body is necessary for a fullness of joy . The Holy Ghost is also God, but does not at present have a body in LDS doctrine.

It was necessary that at some point Jesus receive a body, but the specific time in which He did so is not particularly important.

 

[Horton]

Con’t

(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.) Horton:

They claim Jesus atoned for our sins in the garden of Gethsemane, not on the cross, they completely disregard the death of Christ as our means of salvation.

TRUE - Again from LDS website, Fairmormon

These statements are not cited in order to devalue in any way the importance of the cross. It is important to realize however that the cross is not necessarily as significant a concept in the scriptures as some might think. Leon Morris agrees with Murphy-O’Connor that aside from
the cross was a thing accursed. No one professed allegiance to Christ by wearing a cross." He indicates that it was only after Constantine lifted the ban against Christianity in general, and forbade crucifixion in particular, that a “new, more pleasant meaning for the cross was facilitated.” But, he concludes, "even after the cross had been widely accepted as a symbol, there was a consistent refusal to accept its reality. Only two crucifixion scenes survive from the fifth century… The situation remains unchanged the writings of Paul, there are not many references in the New Testament to the ‘death’ of Jesus; indeed: "We would imagine that there are many New Testament references to the death of Christ. But, outside of Paul, there are not. And in this context it is important to remember that Paul’s writings comprise less than one-fourth of the New Testament writings. Father Murphy-O’Connor also writes “during the first Christian centuries, until the twelfth century.” These comments are not intended to devalue the cross or the blood shed there, only to place these events in their proper context within sacred scripture. Despite the fact that Gethsemane is mentioned only twice in the scriptures, it has nevertheless engendered an enormous amount of secondary literature. A study on the study of the passion narratives published in 1989 identified seven books dealing specifically with Gethsemane during the previous 100 years and more than 100 articles. That represents a significant amount of discussion on something seemingly of no account!

(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.) Horton:

The LDS Jesus is just an exalted man, not God.

So this one does require some clarification on the language. In the LDS though all men can be exalted and become god. However in Christianity this is not true. Jesus was God before his incarnation, remained divine as well as human while on earth. Upon his death & resurrection Jesus went to heaven to rejoin (as in trinity) God and the Holy Spirit.

 

[gazelam]

According to Mormon apostle Bruce R McConkie:

“We worship the Father and Him only and no one else. We do not worship the Son and we do not worship the Holy Ghost.”

The full paragraph says this:

We do not worship the Son, and we do not worship the Holy Ghost. I know perfectly well what the scriptures say about worshiping Christ and Jehovah, but they are speaking in an entirely different sense—the sense of standing in awe and being reverentially grateful to him who has redeemed us. Worship in the true and saving sense is reserved for God the first, the Creator.

Another paragraph from that talk found here:

It is true that there may, with propriety, be a special relationship with a wife, with children, with friends, with teachers, with the beasts of the field and the fowls of the sky and the lilies of the valley. But the very moment anyone singles out one member of the Godhead as the almost sole recipient of his devotion, to the exclusion of the others, that is the moment when spiritual instability begins to replace sense and reason.

I hope this helps…

 

[gazelam]

Con’t

gazelam:

(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.) Horton:

They claim Jesus atoned for our sins in the garden of Gethsemane, not on the cross, they completely disregard the death of Christ as our means of salvation.

TRUE - Again from LDS website, Fairmormon

Straight from Latter-day Saint scripture - D&C 21:9

…which manifesteth that Jesus was crucified by sinful men for the sins of the world, yea, for the remission of sins unto the contrite heart.

We do believe there was a component of the Atonement in Gethsemane and also a component in the cruxifixion. I hope this helps…

 

[Horton]

…which manifesteth that Jesus was crucified by sinful men for the sins of the world , yea, for the remission of sins unto the contrite heart.

Even this isn’t biblically correct. All men (and women) are sinful, and Jesus was crucified for our sins. There is nothing about a “contrite” heart, nothing about having to meet certain qualifications to know Jesus died for one’s sins. He died for the sins of all mankind, even those who do not believe in Him.

 

[gazelam]

Even this isn’t biblically correct. All men (and women) are sinful, and Jesus was crucified for our sins. There is nothing about a “contrite” heart, nothing about having to meet certain qualifications to know Jesus died for one’s sins. He died for the sins of all mankind, even those who do not believe in Him.

Please see this entry in New Advent on the topic of contrition.

 

[Horton]

I know what contrition is. Nothing in that New Advent article opposes what I wrote above. The crucifixion of Christ for the sins of all mankind is one thing. Individuals accepting this amazing gift is another. Jesus Christ did NOT die for the sins of only some people, he died for the sins of all, even those who do not accept him.

I would even go as far as saying the LDS have not accepted the grace that Jesus Christ died for them as they refuse to accept the biblical truth of who Jesus Christ is. They deny His words of truth found in the bible and from oral traditions of who he tells us he is. However, since Christ died for us all, there is still time to accept his sacrifice. We have our whole lives to become Christian, but once we die we are left to the mercy of God.

 

[adamhovey1988]

I don’t have the book on me, but in the book inside Mormonism, which cites its sources, states that a Mormon leader claimed in the early 80s, I believe it was that Mormons are not to have relationship with Christ. I’m at my sister’s house right now, so I don’t have the book on me, but if someone could please give that quote I would appreciate it.

 

[RuthAnne]

I don’t know anything about this, but I Googled and found this:

Mormon Apostle and apologist Bruce McConkie warns: “I shall speak of our relationship with the Lord and of the true fellowship all saints should have with the Father. I shall set forth what we must believe relative to the Father and the Son in order to gain eternal life…many false and vain and foolish things are being taught in the sectarian world and even among us about our need to gain a special relationship with the Lord Jesus…gaining a special relationship with Christ is both improper and perilous…now I know that some may be offended at the counsel that they should NOT strive for a special and personal relationship with Christ…you have been warned, and you have heard the true doctrine taught” (from a speech given at a B.Y.U. devotional on March 2, 1982).

Again, I have not verified this source. It’s just something I found.

 

[RuthAnne]

I dug a little deeper and saw that the author of the article I posted above conveniently deleted the word “that,” which changes everything.

. . . gaining a special relationship with Christ that is both improper and perilous . . .

So, I don’t think that anything I shared is of much use to your question.

 

[nearlycatholic]

If the church of Christ ceased to exist through apostasy then God would have been a liar. The gates of hell would have prevailed. The Mormon church like every other religion outside the parameters Jesus set is FALSE. That’s not mean or nasty but true!
And what is most ironic is the number of non Christians and non Christian groups who desperately want to identify as Christians. How many non Muslims do you know who will even write their own holy book of “scriptures” so as to claim the title Muslim?

 

[AlbertDerGrosse]

I think this is a distinction without a difference, and the passage from the D&C is actually in line with Catholic belief.

“… for the remission of sins unto the contrite of heart” denotes that the effects of Christ’s passion are conditional upon acceptance of Christ’s free gift that is given to all. Mormons are not Calvinists, and neither are we. And neither they nor we are Universalists. Do you remember the change in the English liturgy back in 2011? The erroneously translated “for you and for all” had to be corrected to “for you and for many” that is “this is the chalice of my blood of the new and eternal covenant that will be shed for you and for many (not all) unto the remission of sins.”

 

[gazelam]

states that a Mormon leader claimed in the early 80s, I believe it was that Mormons are not to have relationship with Christ.

Anyone who makes such a claim is either extremely ignorant or extremely deceitful. Scripture demands such a relationship.

John 17:3 Now this is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and the one whom you sent, Jesus Christ.

 

[gazelam]

If the church of Christ ceased to exist through apostasy then God would have been a liar. The gates of hell would have prevailed. The Mormon church like every other religion outside the parameters Jesus set is FALSE. That’s not mean or nasty but true!

The scriptures that Catholics rely to claim that the early Christian church was indestructible and infallible are very similar to those verses in the Old Testament stating that the Jews would never cease to be God’s chosen people.

“This is what the Lord says, he who appoints the sun to shine by day, who decrees the moon and stars to shine by night, who stirs up the sea so that it waves roar—the Lord Almighty is his name: “Only if these decrees vanish from my sight,” declares the Lord, “will the descendants of Israel ever cease to be a nation before me.” This is what the Lord says: “Only if the heavens above can be measured and the foundations of the earth below be searched out will I reject all the descendants of Israel because of all they have done,” declares the Lord. (Jer 31:35-37)