From what I understand as the Christian perspective, we are all creatures of God but not children. What makes us adopted as children of God is baptism, right? So baptism makes us a child of God? And as children of God we would then be allowed to pray to God as “Our Father”. Otherwise I have no right to call him Father because I am only a creature. Let me know if I am correct in my thinking.
And it sure would help to hear from ex-LDS. I thought every person was a child of God because of the pre-existence. We were taught we were spirit children of God. Now that I find there was no pre-existence then that means I am reduced to creature, not child.
Hope I make sense
And I’m not crazy. Just unraveling from all the false teachings.
Hi KendraM,
I’m a former Latter-day Saint. You can see the link to my blog below, feel free to check it out, hopefully it will be helpful to you.
As a Catholic, I believe that we are all children of God because He created us, unlike everything else He created, in His image and likeness. You are definitely not “just a creature” in the Catholic belief. A “pre-mortal existence” is not necessary for that belief. LDS believe that we are all, including Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost, spiritually begotten children of God the Father and His eternal spouse, Heavenly Mother. As I’m sure you know, such a belief is not found within Catholicism.
In Catholicism, God is God (and has eternally been God), and man is man. Through Christ, we can become like God, becoming by grace what God is by nature (I believe Saint Athanasius said that). There is a difference of “kind” or “nature”. In contrast, LDS believe that God and man are the same type of being, with God merely further along in His progression than the rest of us (in addition to the belief that God was once a mortal man that progressed to Godhood, and we follow His example, a belief that is allowable within LDS beliefs).
Through baptism, we become adopted children of Christ, who is God. When we are validly baptized, among other things, we join the Kingdom of God, which is one reason why God wants people baptized from infancy if possible.
As Catholics, we believe that God established His Church anciently, as you read in the New Testament. That Church is a supernatural organization, the Body of Christ. Because it has Christ at its Head, and because the Spirit guides the Church, it cannot fail, it cannot apostatize. Catholics believe that that Church is still here today, and is the Catholic Church. We believe that we carry on the same beliefs and practices as the ancient Christians, and that the priesthood given by Christ was never taken away, but has been blessing the lives of humanity for 2000 years. God still speaks to His children (He never stopped, as the LDS faith would have us believe), and we can all receive guidance from the Lord for our lives. When our Church leaders meet in Councils, they are protected by the Spirit from formally proclaiming doctrinal errors. All Catholic churches, basilicas, chapels, and cathedrals are temples, where the presence of God can be found (there’s always a lamp that continuously burns in the sanctuary to indicate the real, actual presence of Christ), and where sacrifice and other sacramental mysteries are offered by God’s priesthood. Many if not most of the things that I appreciated about Mormonism can be found, in a fuller, more rational and Biblical way, in Catholicism, as you can see above and in my blog.
Hopefully you’ll be able to visit your local Catholic church soon. Many, if not most, Catholic churches will have more than one Mass on Sundays that you could attend to see what it’s like if you haven’t already. Some churches also have Masses every day of the week.
Feel free to ask me any questions/start a thread. Good luck in your journey!
against my will