LDS Christmas card, Christian? you decide!

[Mom_of_5]

My DD sister-in-law lives with us. She was baptized LDS many years ago and out of respect to his (their) father, my now Catholic husband leaves her name on the LDS roles. Each month she gets a letter from a “sister” at the ward and each Christmas she gets a card signed by the Bishop and 2 other officers of the church. This years card just arrived. Each year the card is rather “unreligious” in the Christian sense, however, this years surpasses all the rest.

On the front of the card: a picture of a young Joseph Smith sitting holding a book, (probably BOM) he is looking up to the sky in a very regal manner. The Temple is in the background.

The message, inside right side: "As you embrace the gospel that Joseph Smith restored to this earth over a century ago, your home will be blessed. It is our sincerest hope that peace and happiness be with you and your family this Christmas season and thoughout the coming New Year. Merry Christmas! "

On the left side of the card is a quote : “And I have sent forth the fullness of my gospel by the hand of my servant Joseph…”

Doctrine & Covenants 35:17

As you can see, the birth of Jesus, or the “reason for the season” was not mentioned…

Love and Peace

Mom of 5

 

[catsrus]

Doesn’t surprise me in the least. Each mormon home I’ve been in, (all 3 of them - ) have had pictures of js hanging around as we do pictures of Jesus and His Holy Mother.
I was once told by a mormon that “there is no salvation without joseph smith”.
On that sad note, their “Christmas” card is what I would expect.

 

[flameburns623]

On a quick ‘google’ of the topic, I could find only one company which specialises in printing personalised Christmas cards with LDS themes. There are probably more, but they don’t turn up readily. The company I found seems to have a relatively limited selection to choose from this year. On the other hand, Deseret Books has mass-produced Christmas cards which depict Christ and Biblical themes. See the following:

deseretbook.com/store/product?sku=4919661

deseretbook.com/store/product?sku=4919666

deseretbook.com/store/product?sku=4955274

deseretbook.com/store/product?sku=4655494

There are pages and pages of more cards, some religiously themed, some ‘fun’, some blank inside. I think it’s rather off-the-mark to suggest that Joseph Smith gets more ‘play’ in the LDS Church than does Jesus Christ. I’ve been in many more than three LDS homes and nearly all have pictures of Jesus, other Biblical images, images drawn from the Book of Mormon (including pictures of Christ’s supposed visit to the Americas, Christ blessing the Nephite’s children, etcetera). While Mormonism doesn’t employ imagery in quite the same way that RCC piety employs it, there is much artwork in LDS publications and in their chapels, homes, historical sites, and so forth. One can always charge the LDS Church–fairly, I think–with presenting a mistaken understanding of Jesus Christ and His work on earth. But don’t say that Mormons don’t honor Him or depict Him lavishly. It simply isn’t true.

 

[Jayson]

Did you read the christmas card while wearing a hat on your face?

 

[flameburns623]

MomofFive:

On the front of the card: a picture of a young Joseph Smith sitting holding a book, (probably BOM) he is looking up to the sky in a very regal manner. The Temple is in the background.

The message, inside right side: "As you embrace the gospel that Joseph Smith restored to this earth over a century ago, your home will be blessed. It is our sincerest hope that peace and happiness be with you and your family this Christmas season and thoughout the coming New Year. Merry Christmas! "

Another thing worthy of note. This year, December 23 marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Joseph Smith. (This per LDS members on another forum). One might not be surprised to find him featured this year on Christmas cards, given this fact and the proximity of his own birth to the day of Christmas.

 

[puzzleannie]

a card designed by an LDS church official is by definition no going to be Christian, because by definition this is not a Christian denomination. Mormons do not acknowledge the divinity of Jesus, the Trinity, or his place in the Trinity. Rather ask yourself does the card express the belief and sentiments of those sending it and those receiving it.

 

[catsrus]

originally posted by** flameburns623**
I’ve been in many more than three LDS homes

Good for you. Being a “fmr lds”, as you are, I would expect so.
I was speaking only from my own experience and I believe I made that clear!
The point I made remains that lds see js as important as, if not more so, than Jesus.
The PR now is to show emphasis on Jesus because that is considered “mainstream”. But, the “theology” remains and “mainstream”, it is not.

 

[amgid]

puzzleannie:

a card designed by an LDS church official is by definition no going to be Christian, because by definition this is not a Christian denomination. Mormons do not acknowledge the divinity of Jesus, the Trinity, or his place in the Trinity. Rather ask yourself does the card express the belief and sentiments of those sending it and those receiving it.

Then this quote form Elder Boyd K. Packer should interest you:

Most notable in the Topical Guide are the 18 pages, single-spaced, small print, under the heading “Jesus Christ,” the most comprehensive compilation of scriptural information on the name Jesus Christ that has ever been assembled in the history of the world. Follow these references, and you will open the door to whose Church this is, what it teaches and by what authority, all anchored to the sacred name of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Messiah, the Redeemer, our Lord.

That quote is from this article in the November 2005 issue of the Ensign. I recommend you to read the whole article. The references to Jesus Christ in the Topical Guide that Elder Packer had mentioned is here. Feel free to explore them for yourself.

amgid

 

[UtahMaggie]

Mom of 5:

My DD sister-in-law lives with us. She was baptized LDS many years ago and out of respect to his (their) father, my now Catholic husband leaves her name on the LDS roles. Each month she gets a letter from a “sister” at the ward and each Christmas she gets a card signed by the Bishop and 2 other officers of the church. This years card just arrived. Each year the card is rather “unreligious” in the Christian sense, however, this years surpasses all the rest.

On the front of the card: a picture of a young Joseph Smith sitting holding a book, (probably BOM) he is looking up to the sky in a very regal manner. The Temple is in the background.

The message, inside right side: "As you embrace the gospel that Joseph Smith restored to this earth over a century ago, your home will be blessed. It is our sincerest hope that peace and happiness be with you and your family this Christmas season and thoughout the coming New Year. Merry Christmas! "

On the left side of the card is a quote : “And I have sent forth the fullness of my gospel by the hand of my servant Joseph…”

Doctrine & Covenants 35:17

As you can see, the birth of Jesus, or the “reason for the season” was not mentioned…

Love and Peace

Mom of 5

The “gospel that Joseph Smith restored” is the Book of Mormon. I have to agree that this does not sound like a Christian card.

 

[Mom_of_5]

Jayson:

Did you read the christmas card while wearing a hat on your face?

NO! The web site on the back of the card is ww.ramahgreetings.com

It really does not matter how many very religious cards there are to be purchased with the true meaning of Christmas, these LDS folks made the decision to send a very LDS card with no mention of the true meaning of Christmas. On the above web site, there are a few cards with Mary and Joseph and Christ child. I don’t know what the message was, but most of the cards were very LDS in nature. One card has Joseph and Emma reading a book. Emma left LDS along with her son and formed another church. She was very outspoken on polygamy and not happy that her hubby took more wives. Bet she’d love to be on a christmas card with Joseph. Hope this card company did’t sell many of those. Joseph Smith’s 200th birthday? We are celebrating our church founders over 2000th birthday. Not much of a comparison.

Love and peace

Mom of 5

 

[Jayson]

Mom of 5:

NO! The web site on the back of the card is ww.ramahgreetings.com

It was an obscure Joke.

"Isaac found Joseph sitting at a table with a hat over his face, uttering long Biblical phrases. Emma sat behind a curtain, hidden from Joseph, while she wrote down the words Joseph was speaking. On the table-top in front of Joseph sat some square object concealed by a cloth. When Joseph removed his hat from his face, Isaac could see two stones in the hat, similar to the stones Joseph had used in divining the location of the “buried Spanish treasure.”

I should try reading the bible out of a hat.

 

[Mom_of_5]

Jayson, thank you! I really do have a fairly good sense of humor, but I didn’t “get it” this time…What a picture you paint of the “translation” of BOM. As Catholics, we have some pretty awesome “miracles” as well. Mary’s image in the taco?

Love and peace

 

[Socrates]

Jayson:

It was an obscure Joke.

"Isaac found Joseph sitting at a table with a hat over his face, uttering long Biblical phrases. Emma sat behind a curtain, hidden from Joseph, while she wrote down the words Joseph was speaking. On the table-top in front of Joseph sat some square object concealed by a cloth. When Joseph removed his hat from his face, Isaac could see two stones in the hat, similar to the stones Joseph had used in divining the location of the “buried Spanish treasure.”

I should try reading the bible out of a hat.

Hey, Rocky! Watch me pull a scripture out of my hat!
http://www.talkinghouse.com/realtors/celebrity_voices/intro_outro_pages/bullwinkle2.jpg

 

[ahimsaman72]

puzzleannie:

a card designed by an LDS church official is by definition no going to be Christian, because by definition this is not a Christian denomination. Mormons do not acknowledge the divinity of Jesus, the Trinity, or his place in the Trinity. Rather ask yourself does the card express the belief and sentiments of those sending it and those receiving it.

I studied Mormonism briefly and don’t remember them denying the divinity of Jesus or his place in the Trinity. Are you sure this is LDS belief? Their belief in eternal progression might obsure some things, but denying the godhood of Christ doesn’t seem right to me. Now, if we were talking Jehovah’s Witnesses that would be a different thing altogether.

Feel free to correct me.

Peace…

 

[Socrates]

ahimsaman72:

I studied Mormonism briefly and don’t remember them denying the divinity of Jesus or his place in the Trinity. Are you sure this is LDS belief? Their belief in eternal progression might obsure some things, but denying the godhood of Christ doesn’t seem right to me. Now, if we were talking Jehovah’s Witnesses that would be a different thing altogether.

Feel free to correct me.

Peace…

LDS theology emphatically denies the Trinity. They believe in God the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, but they are three separate individuals.

 

[ahimsaman72]

Socrates:

LDS theology emphatically denies the Trinity. They believe in God the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, but they are three separate individuals.

Ah, okay. What about the divinity of Jesus? Does that exempt Jesus from his status as Son of God? Wasn’t there an old heresy that denied the Trinity?

Peace…

 

[majick275]

LDS churches and homes frequently display pictures of Jesus and believe him to be the literal son of God. However, They also teach that ALL of us are ALSO literal children of God just like Jesus and that Satan is also our brother. They teach that we all existed forever as intelligences who were then born to God and his wives as spirit children and that we all gathered in council before the physical creation of the earth and decided to follow Jesus plan of salvation. They also teach that we have the potential to eventually grow up to be Gods just like our Father in heaven and have our own worlds to govern in a nver ending progression that has always existed in th epast as well with our own God having a God.

This is why Mormons honestly believe they are Christians and real Christians see they are not.

As to the card, You will often find pictures of the current LDS prophet, first presidency, Moroni, Mormon, Nephi and especially Joseph Smith displayed just as often and just as prominently as Jesus in home sand churches. LDS art, somewhat like EO art id intended to teach and reinforce scripture stories. A church that places such importance on always being led by a prophet would logicaly then produce a lot of art depicting prophetic leadership.

The fact that LDS leaders talk about Christ and the marketing ploy to retitle the BoM another testament of Jesus Christ should not be seen as embracing Christianity or even Christian doctrine in any way shape or form.

This is a manmade cult based on the vain blasphemy that Satan first tried in the garen of Eden. No amount of cards or videos, sound bites, photo ops, etc. can change that.

Stay away from these harmful teachings of evil men like Jospeh Smith and stay true to Christ.

 

[mormon_fool]

I have a few comments for this thread. First a card that has Joseph Smith on it is obviously not a Christmas card. It seems like the card is meant to be a card for December. A lot of stuff happens in December, including the known 200th birthday of Joseph Smith. LDS don’t have to choose between Joseph Smith and Jesus, rather we accept and honor them both. Obviously we esteem the Son of God infinitely more than we do His prophets, but some people will never be happy unless we esteem the prophet as good for nothing.

As a point of comparison, Mary is held in much higher esteem (in some respects) in catholicism than Joseph Smith is in mormonism. When LDS do celebrate most of our commemorations are held “in-house” although everyone is invited. I am not offended by catholic celebrations, I even appreciate the thoughtfulness of being invited to participate. I understand not everybody is happy about getting unwanted invitations, but it is relatively easy to get on a “Do Not Contact” list with the local LDS congregation.

–fool

 

[puzzleannie]

amgid:

Then this quote form Elder Boyd K. Packer should interest you:

That quote is from this article in the November 2005 issue of the Ensign. I recommend you to read the whole article. The references to Jesus Christ in the Topical Guide that Elder Packer had mentioned is here. Feel free to explore them for yourself.

amgid

thank you for the link, I lived and worked with Mormons for many years in my former profession and was required to work closely with them on research projects and the nature of the project required that I be instructed by their leadership on their faith. I am well acquainted with their beliefs, and no, Mormons do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as God, as the Son of God, second person of the Blessed Trinity. the Word, and the only name by which we may be saved.

 

[mormon_fool]

puzzleannie:

thank you for the link, I lived and worked with Mormons for many years in my former profession and was required to work closely with them on research projects and the nature of the project required that I be instructed by their leadership on their faith.

This sounds interesting! What was the project about? I appreciate your willingness to work with us mormons!

I am well acquainted with their beliefs, and no, Mormons do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as God, as the Son of God, second person of the Blessed Trinity. the Word, and the only name by which we may be saved.

Sounds like you are more acquainted with Mormon beliefs than Amgid and I am .

–fool