Let's talk about Mormonism

  • Thread starter Thread starter adamhovey1988
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
gazelam said:
40.png
huck:
Hello,
I have a question for the LDS that I’ve had for years and years. The BOM says:
2 Nephi 26:29": 29 He commandeth that there shall be no priestcrafts; for, behold priestcrafts are that men preach and set themselves up for a light unto the world, that they may get gain and praise of the
world; but they seek not the welfare of Zion. I can understand the Catholics having what they call a pope because the BOM isn’t a part of there sacred scripture, but, why does the LDS church have what they call a prophet?
Click to expand...
Hey Huck,
I’ll provide my 2 cents worth. Ephesians 4:11-13 states:

11 And he [Jesus] gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:

These verses clearly state that prophets are a necessary part of the Church that Jesus founded, and that the intent was to continuing having prophets until a “unity of faith”. There clearly isn’t a unity of faith on the Earth yet so prophets continue to be necessary element of Christ’s Church on the Earth, priestcraft issues aside. Clearly the Prophet shouldn’t be absconding with Church funds. I guess I would reject an argument that says if there is a leader of a church, there must be a practice of priestcraft occurring. I hope this helps…
Click to expand...
Ephesians 4 describes the Church as a Body, that is comprised of individual baptized, who should always seek unity. Each individual is given different gifts which should be used for the good of the Church. St. Paul lists some of the gifts that have been given. There are many more gifts that are given to the faithful. St Paul is not talking only about leaders, or only about men he is talking about all the baptized, including laity and women.

It certainly isn’t a Catholic teaching that gifts of the Spirit, that are given to the baptized, no longer exist in Christ’s Church, are only for clergy and only for men. This includes the gift of prophesy. I don’t think I could view Joseph Smith as using his claimed gift of prophesying as unifying the Church that Jesus established, before his ascension. He is more like Grima Wormtongue, the deceiver who preys on weakness with an eye towards destruction.

Again, we seek understanding of the Bible as a whole. See Jesus’ parable of the ten gold coins for further instruction regarding the gifts that are given to us.
 
Last edited:
adamhovey1988 said:
So, who is the one “mighty and strong”? Why is this person important?
Click to expand...
That’s a good question. I don’t think anyone in the LDS Church knows who this person is. There are a lot of people who left the Church who believed they were the One.
 
I’m from St. Louis and we have lots of Catholic Churches. I was surprised to see so much red on the Map of Missouri, though.
 
Yeah, I’ve been to Missouri quite a few times, since I lived in Illinois and Iowa, although not near the Missouri border. I don’t disagree that there are certainly a lot of Catholics. I think it’s weird, because Catholics, just in general in the United States are the largest single Christian group, yet Catholics are still a minority. Of course, a lot of that has to do with the diversity of Protestant denominations.
 
Yeah, that seems strange to me given the boast about being able to keep the church together. Of course, Catholics are no strangers to schism. I don’t mean to sound rude or anything, but Smith seemed to have a very high opinion of himself as a prophet. But, given what I know about his prophecies, they seem kind of vague, they don’t seem to go into enough detail about what they’re supposed to prophesy. I don’t know, maybe Mormonism just hasn’t been around long enough to have a systematic theology.
 
He had several prophecies that did not come true. I guess he wasn’t much of a prophet.
 
From the LDS point of view, who was the first to call him a prophet? Or did he just fancy himself one?
 
jaygunther said:
He had several prophecies that did not come true. I guess he wasn’t much of a prophet.
Click to expand...
As a result of my membership in the LDS church when reading the BOM and OT I paid attention to what was involved in the job title of prophet. It involved more than just prophecies.
  1. Obtaining God’s word. This entailed fasting and spending time alone in the desert in order to set aside your own viewpoint and get information from a higher source.
  2. Speak truth to power. Abinadi preaching to King Noah, and Elijah’s messages to Ahab and Jezebel are good examples.
  3. Pass on their skills to the people coming after them. Samuel set up the school of the prophets and both Elijah and Elisha were teachers.
 
huck said:
Speak truth to power. Abinadi preaching to King Noah, and Elijah’s messages to Ahab and Jezebel are good examples.
Click to expand...
The part about Abinadi didn’t happen. That was just a made up story.
 
huck said:
As a result of my membership in the LDS church when reading the BOM and OT I paid attention to what was involved in the job title of prophet. It involved more than just prophecies.
Click to expand...
I never said otherwise. I just pointed out one of the things that disqualified him, in my opinion.
 
I sat next to a guy who was proselytizing a woman trapped in the window seat on a business flight to Salt Lake City. He spent the better part of two hours explaining to her how awful Catholics are. I didn’t respond at all, but by and large after that, I don’t want anything to do with them.
 
Sorry you had to go through that. I’d have last my temper and said where he was wrong.
 
I’ve had LDS friends in the past. I’ve been to a Mormon wedding, I’ve visited Utah and was impressed by the beauty of Salt Lake City, the Temple and the friendliness of the people. I find Mormon folk to be kindly and non-confrontational.

I just can’t get my head around the hat and the golden plates, though.
 
I should have pulled out my rosary and started praying, but I was concentrating on not verbally cleaning his clock.
 
I have a T-shirt with Our Lady of Guadalupe on it. From now on, I will wear that or my shirt with the Crucifixion on it when I go across country on a bus or a plane. I’ve never actually gone across country on either one.
 
A good friend of mine died a few days ago that was LDS (brain cancer) and we attended his funeral and sure enough a song was sung about joe smith. I was there for my friend and his family (His son and my daughter are having a child in a month) so I tried to ignore it. But I asked my wife why would they sing a song about a dead prophet when we are there for a funeral? There was more talk about the church than my friend. I was upset by this. But it really must have made them mad when I kneeled at the casket and prayed and did the Sign of the Cross (I didn’t do this to make them mad) But my daughter has now seen what they do and she said the baby will not be blessed or baptized in their church. The baby will be Catholic.
 
I guess there is a difference in thinking about funerals. Elder Packer who was a member of the Quorum of the twelve apostles and who passed away a few years ago said this about funerals:

When the family insists that several family members speak in a funeral, we hear about the deceased instead of about the Atonement, the Resurrection, and the comforting promises revealed in the scriptures. Now it’s all right to have a family member speak at a funeral, but if they do, their remarks should be in keeping with the spirit of the meeting.

I have told my Brethren in that day when my funeral is held, if any of them who speak talk about me, I will raise up and correct them. The gospel is to be preached. I know of no meeting where the congregation is in a better state of readiness to receive revelation and inspiration from a speaker than they are at a funeral. This privilege is being taken away from us because we don’t understand the order of things—the unwritten order of things—that relates to the administration of the Church and the reception of the Spirit.
 
I think a good example of what I think a funeral should be like is Justice Scalia’s funeral. Of course, The Departed was mentioned by name, but the focus of the funeral was on Jesus Christ.
 
By the way, what is Mormon funeral etiquette usually? What happens at a Mormon funeral? Is there variation between the LDS movement denominations with regards to this?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top