LDS and JW's

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dianaiad;5574347:
Actually, I do try, Dave. I invite Jehovah’s Witnesses in for a glass of water (they come out in the most gosh awful heat, all dressed up, and my front porch is not shaded) and offer to talk. The last four or five times they have come by, as soon as they found out I was a Mormon, their eagerness to engage in conversation was exceeded exponentially by their desire to get to the next house. One of these days one of you will actually accept my invitation. I promise, nobody will get hurt, irritated or even mildly annoyed. I won’t forcibly baptize anybody in my bathtub. Really.

The above was interesting to read, but I was made uncomfortable by your assumption that you knew what the Catholics believed, and then used their beliefs to ‘prove’ yours.

The problem with that approach is that when you use it, you can’t afford to get even the smallest thing about the other belief system wrong. When you do, the entire conversation is stopped; you have lost credibility and any chance to explain your position. All the attention goes immediately to your mistake regarding the other belief system.

…and you WILL get something wrong. How can you not? You aren’t a member of that other belief system. You really don’t know, entirely, what the other person thinks or believes. So I’m going to ask you a favor to move this along.

Don’t try to reference my beliefs when you answer my questions, if you choose to try to answer them. Just…explain your viewpoint. I’d really appreciate that.
I grew up in a Catholic FAMILY. What did i say that made you think "your assumption that you knew what the Catholics believed, and then used their beliefs to ‘prove’ yours. "
I have not said one thing that is not true…did you confuse the “quote” with my actual reply?..oh, and thank you for the water… they may have been lesser educated Witnesses–some simply do not have the time to study as much as others. I would definitely engage you in a discussion as you will see when I get to your questions.
Actually, I don’t know whether you were accurate in describing Catholic beliefs or not, Dave. I’m not Catholic, and never was one. I wasn’t trying to accuse you of being incorrect in what you wrote. I simply noted that you did reference Catholic teachings (or what you assume or remember Catholic teachings to be) and commented on the general nature of what happens when you do that sort of thing.

Consider: if I were to talk to you about my own beliefs regarding the composition of the Godhead (we are not trinitarians), and began it by saying something like “well, Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that Jesus is created, not co-eternal with God, and is thus not God, but is something lesser, like a prophet. The scriptures disprove this in this verse or that verse, and we don’t believe it.”

What I have just done is to put a screeching halt to the conversation, haven’t I? Before we can continue to talk about what I believe, you are going to have to correct the errors in what I just claimed. It has been my experience that very few conversations get back on track after that; it is permanently derailed.

I just don’t want the conversation derailed, is all. I want to learn what you believe.
 
Thank you. It is interesting to see the reasoning behind the idea.
Several years ago a JW gave me a little book called, You Can Live Forever in Paradise on Earth. It is a small format booklet of about 250 pages long that gives quite a detailed exposition of their theology. I don’t know if the JWs still give out that book or not. If you can obtain a copy of that book, or ask a JW to give you one, you won’t need another book. It tells you all you need to know about their beliefs.
 
Well, thanks for the replys!
I’m very interested in others religious beliefs and always thought (for whatever reason) LDS and JWs were similar.
Obviously I was wrong. 🤷

dianaiad - When it comes to the baptisms for the dead, the deceased can choose whether or not they wish to accept the baptism? Is this only for deceased who have relatives in the Mormon religion?
 
I think that is a big discussion over a small issue. A more significant point of discussion in my opinion concerns the JW ideas of the resurrection, and especially the resurrection of Jesus Christ. As far as I can recall from reading that little book I just recommended to dianaiad, you believe that Jesus Christ was not resurrected with a physical body, or with the same body which was laid in the tomb. His resurrection was some kind of spiritual phenomenon, and His appearances to His disciples were more apparitions rather than the real thing, all of which I believe contradicts the biblical teaching.
 
Well, thanks for the replys!
I’m very interested in others religious beliefs and always thought (for whatever reason) LDS and JWs were similar.
Obviously I was wrong. 🤷

dianaiad - When it comes to the baptisms for the dead, the deceased can choose whether or not they wish to accept the baptism?
Yes!
Is this only for deceased who have relatives in the Mormon religion?
It applies to all the deceased for whom the work is done.
 
Well, thanks for the replys!
I’m very interested in others religious beliefs and always thought (for whatever reason) LDS and JWs were similar.
Obviously I was wrong. 🤷

dianaiad - When it comes to the baptisms for the dead, the deceased can choose whether or not they wish to accept the baptism?
Absolutely. Given our belief in free will/free agency, that is paramount. The choice is always theirs.
Is this only for deceased who have relatives in the Mormon religion?
I’m not quite certain what you are asking here; we concentrate upon doing the work for relatives first, but that very quickly branches out…by the time we have gone back four generations, for instance, we are looking at doing work for AT LEAST 28 people, and that doesn’t count aunts, uncles and cousins. 😉
 
I have an LDS question. Is it true that you believe that everyone will go to one of the three levels of heaven? A missionary told me once (in jest I think) that he was pretty sure that I’d get to go to the 2nd level of heaven, that faithful LDS go to the 1st level and that criminal sorts go to the 3rd but nobody gets sent to hell. Well, maybe people who left the LDS church? But other than them - nobody. At least that is what I remember but it’s been many years.

Is any of that true? Or is my understanding totally wacked?
 
I have an LDS question. Is it true that you believe that everyone will go to one of the three levels of heaven? A missionary told me once (in jest I think) that he was pretty sure that I’d get to go to the 2nd level of heaven, that faithful LDS go to the 1st level and that criminal sorts go to the 3rd but nobody gets sent to hell. Well, maybe people who left the LDS church? But other than them - nobody. At least that is what I remember but it’s been many years.

Is any of that true? Or is my understanding totally wacked?
Yes and no. You aren’t totally whacky. Just a little bit. 😉

We do believe that there are basically three levels of heaven (more, actually…you know, the ‘in my Father’s house are many mansions’ sort of thing?

Yes, we believe that the ‘highest’ one, the Celestial Kingdom, is reserved to those who have fully accepted the gospel. All of it. The ‘bottom’ one is where those who screwed up go; the liars, the muderers…but even that is better than here, by a long shot.

So far, so good, right?

Now here’s the thing; we do believe in hell. Perdition, Outer Darkness, whatever you want to call it. It is the perfect absence of God or His influence, we believe. It is where Satan dwells. It is not easy, we don’t believe, to actually quallify for that one. In order to ‘earn’ it, one must commit the unforgivable sin; to sin against the Holy Ghost. In other words, in full knowledge of precsely what you are doing, you tell God and the Holy Ghost to pound sand. Not too many people qualify for that one, I don’t think.
 
I have an LDS question. Is it true that you believe that everyone will go to one of the three levels of heaven? A missionary told me once (in jest I think) that he was pretty sure that I’d get to go to the 2nd level of heaven, that faithful LDS go to the 1st level and that criminal sorts go to the 3rd but nobody gets sent to hell. Well, maybe people who left the LDS church? But other than them - nobody. At least that is what I remember but it’s been many years.

Is any of that true? Or is my understanding totally wacked?
We believe that heaven is graded. It is not all one place. Paul said that he was taken to the “third heaven” (2 Corinthians 12:1–4). So there are at least three heavens, according to Paul. The question is who gets to go where? We believe that most people will eventually go to one of those kingdoms; but those who have committed serious sins (and have not repented of them in this life) don’t get away with their sins scot-free. They still have to pay for them in hell. But after they have paid the penalty, they will be saved in one of the three kingdoms, most likely in the lowest one. This is similar to the purgatory idea of Catholicism.

There is a permanent hell, as dianaiad explained; but that is reserved for those who commit the unpardonable sin; and we don’t think there are too many of those, compared to the rest of humanity. The LDS theology of what happens to you after death is taught in section 76 of the Doctrine and Covenants, which can be read here.
 
actually, i don’t know whether you were accurate in describing catholic beliefs or not, dave. I’m not catholic, and never was one. I wasn’t trying to accuse you of being incorrect in what you wrote. I simply noted that you did reference catholic teachings (or what you assume or remember catholic teachings to be) and commented on the general nature of what happens when you do that sort of thing.

Consider: If i were to talk to you about my own beliefs regarding the composition of the godhead (we are not trinitarians), and began it by saying something like “well, jehovah’s witnesses believe that jesus is created, not co-eternal with god, and is thus not god, but is something lesser, like a prophet. The scriptures disprove this in this verse or that verse, and we don’t believe it.”

what i have just done is to put a screeching halt to the conversation, haven’t i? Before we can continue to talk about what i believe, you are going to have to correct the errors in what i just claimed. It has been my experience that very few conversations get back on track after that; it is permanently derailed.

I just don’t want the conversation derailed, is all. I want to learn what you believe.
where did i state what catholics believe?
 
where did i state what catholics believe?
Right here:
dj dave:
Catholics believe there is only One True God - do you believe there are more than one true God? Because if Jehovah is the One True God - and yet Jesus is another god… what does that make Him, a false god? Or a second true God?

Catholics believe there is only One True God - do you believe there are more than one true God?
Jesus also said that there was one “only true God” and separated from himself
Jo 17:3 “3 This means everlasting life, their taking in knowledge of you, the only true God, and of the one whom you sent forth, Jesus Christ.”
You took what you perceived as Catholic belief and used it (actually, you skewed it a bit) in order to present your argument for your belief.

If I were a Catholic, the first thing I would do upon reading the above is to stop reading the above–and turn my attention to correcting what I thought was a skewed presentation of what I believed. In this case, I might think 'this guy hasn’t got a clue what we believe about the Trinity…" and then the rest of your explanation would be blown off.

Not to mention that if you were attempting to talk to ME, your attempt to use that particular analogy would be so off track as to make no sense.

However, if you had simply presented what you believe without attempting to ‘relate’ to Catholic belief, (or mine, when we get there) then you can use the same information with both of us, in exactly the same way. You can alter your presentation to include our beliefs once we tell you what they are and we both agree about what they are. Later.

Simply tell us what you believe, and why. We already know what we believe. If there are analogies there, we will all figure them out, no problem.
 
Right here:

You took what you perceived as Catholic belief and used it (actually, you skewed it a bit) in order to present your argument for your belief.

If I were a Catholic, the first thing I would do upon reading the above is to stop reading the above–and turn my attention to correcting what I thought was a skewed presentation of what I believed. In this case, I might think 'this guy hasn’t got a clue what we believe about the Trinity…" and then the rest of your explanation would be blown off.

Not to mention that if you were attempting to talk to ME, your attempt to use that particular analogy would be so off track as to make no sense.

However, if you had simply presented what you believe without attempting to ‘relate’ to Catholic belief, (or mine, when we get there) then you can use the same information with both of us, in exactly the same way. You can alter your presentation to include our beliefs once we tell you what they are and we both agree about what they are. Later.

Simply tell us what you believe, and why. We already know what we believe. If there are analogies there, we will all figure them out, no problem.
I WAS QUOTING yellowbird…YOU NUT! Look at it again…back soon

By the way, I was looking at all the questions everybody was asking and it was quite confusing to know where to start. Therefore I am going to ask everybody to ask just 2 questions each (for now) that they really want answers to and I will answer them in the order they appear under this post
 
I WAS QUOTING yellowbird…YOU NUT! Look at it again. Aug 12, '09, 4:35 pm …back soon

ADDITION…Originally Posted by dj dave
*Catholics believe there is only One True God - do you believe there are more than one true God? Because if Jehovah is the One True God - and yet Jesus is another god… what does that make Him, a false god? Or a second true God?

Catholics believe there is only One True God - do you believe there are more than one true God?*—ALL YELLOWBIRD’S COMMENTS–NOT MINE.

(This is where my comment starts)

Jesus also said that there was one “only true God” and separated from himself
Jo 17:3 “3 This means everlasting life, their taking in knowledge of you, the only true God, and of the one whom you sent forth, Jesus Christ.”

By the way, I was looking at all the questions everybody was asking and it was quite confusing to know where to start. Therefore I am going to ask everybody to ask just 2 questions each (for now) that they really want answers to and I will answer them in the order they appear under this post
 
I WAS QUOTING yellowbird…YOU NUT! Look at it again…back soon

By the way, I was looking at all the questions everybody was asking and it was quite confusing to know where to start. Therefore I am going to ask everybody to ask just 2 questions each (for now) that they really want answers to and I will answer them in the order they appear under this post
OK, I found the quote.

Sorry about the confusion. Dave? you didn’t use the quote function on this forum, or even put quotes around yellowbird’s words. You need to do that when quoting a previous poster in order to be clear; several pages elapsed, and there was nothing in your post itself to indicate that you were quoting anybody else.

You are new, and sometimes it takes a little bit of time to figure these things out. The most important thing to remember (and really, all you need to know, though there are bunch of other bells and whistles you can use) is that you need to put a bracket “” then the word ‘quote’, then the opposite bracket ‘]’ before something you want to quote, and then when you are through with that quote, place a bracket “,” then a forward slash “/,” the word 'quote," followed by a bracket. Like this: .

I would give you an illustration of this, but doing so would just give you this:
40.png
dianaiad:
see the problem?
.

However, if you answer this post, and hit the ‘preview post’ button rather than 'submit reply," you’ll see what the quote signals look like.

All this, of course, is by way of me saying “it’s your fault I screwed up.”

So there. 😉
 
OK, I found the quote.

Sorry about the confusion. Dave? you didn’t use the quote function on this forum, or even put quotes around yellowbird’s words. You need to do that when quoting a previous poster in order to be clear; several pages elapsed, and there was nothing in your post itself to indicate that you were quoting anybody else.

You are new, and sometimes it takes a little bit of time to figure these things out. The most important thing to remember (and really, all you need to know, though there are bunch of other bells and whistles you can use) is that you need to put a bracket “” then the word ‘quote’, then the opposite bracket ‘]’ before something you want to quote, and then when you are through with that quote, place a bracket “,” then a forward slash “/,” the word 'quote," followed by a bracket. Like this:
.

I would give you an illustration of this, but doing so would just give you this:

.

However, if you answer this post, and hit the ‘preview post’ button rather than 'submit reply," you’ll see what the quote signals look like.

All this, of course, is by way of me saying “it’s your fault I screwed up.”

So there. 😉

Ps 130:3

2 questions? …I’m waiting
 
Thank you. It is interesting to see the reasoning behind the idea.
“It is interesting to see the reasoning behind the idea.?”…

That was an exceptional explanation from Greek Scholars. It leaves no doubt about Colossians 1:15-20 --and that many sources claim that Jesus was created. Also, did you follow the link to Rev 3:14
web.archive.org/web/20040602203344/hector3000.future.easyspace.com/arche.htm ? Before I forget, those links quoted

[en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beliefs...39;s_Witnesses](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beliefs...39;s_Witnesses)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jehovah’s_Witnesses
watchtowerinformationserv…tness-beliefs

were pretty much correct regarding Jehovah’s Witnesses…now, the only thing you might want is the Scriptural reasons. Just ask.
 
.
40.png
dianaiad:
I would give you an illustration of this, but doing so would just give you this:

.

However, if you answer this post, and hit the ‘preview post’ button rather than 'submit reply," you’ll see what the quote signals look like.

All this, of course, is by way of me saying “it’s your fault I screwed up.”

So there. 😉
Ps 130:3

2 questions? …I’m waiting
Ps. 130:4.

I gave you a list:
40.png
dianaiad:
Where did we come from?
why are we here?
Where are we going?
Who is God?
Who is Jesus?
Who is the Holy Ghost? (is there one?)
Is there an afterlife?
What is it going to be like?
Who goes there?
What is the entire purpose of creation?
Is there going to be a 'second coming," and if so, how important is it to you in your everyday theology? What are your beliefs about it?

Ok, once we have those little items out of the way, let’s get to the Inquiring people want to know stuff:

How is your church organized (wait…do you call it a ‘church,’ or something else?)
Who makes the decisions?
What is your stand on marriage, divorce, remarriage?
How about interfaith dating and marriage?
What happens to someone who leaves your faith for another one, in terms of family and associations?
What sort of activities are expected of members in terms of religious matters; daily, weekly, monthly?
What is your stand on abortion?
…I think I remember that Jehovah’s Witnesses are adamant pacifists and absolutely non-political; are there any exceptions to that?

Do you have health laws (other than the not taking blood products thing, which I know about)
Any dietary restrictions?
What about education?
Baptism and communion: do you have them? How important are they in your belief system? How are they taken care of?

I’ve heard that you practice a form of 'shunning." How does that work, if it does at all?
Pick any two, preferably related. The first two on the list will do fine.
 
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