Mormonism - A Catholic Perspective

[Jerry_Parker]

Blue Lake and Ben,

*You wrote, Blue Lake: ** * There are different factions of Mormonism. The most serious one is they deny the Trinity. They have many ceremonial rites which do not stand up to the word of God. In fact, the Mormon bible * is where their teachings come from.You may want to look up their doctrine. Also pray for them.​

Good words, Blue Lake! May we all take them to heart. The Book of Mormon is only a small part of where Mormons doctrines come from (the writings that embody Joseph Smith Junior’s purported “revelations” in the Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price being much more explicit and wild), but Mormons revere the BoM as they do no other book on earth. Thus, one who deals with them seriously, must know this book for himself, as maddeningly boring and as excruciatingly silly and pretentious as it is to read. The other “Mormon sacred books” (aside from the Bible) one can handle more at second hand, but the BoM one must read, at least once.

Mormons become quite disconcerted when you pray for and with them. They prefer to lead others in prayer. But a Christian’s prayer is more efficacious than a Mormon’s ever can be, because Christians pray to the God (Father, Son, and Holy Ghost: the Holy Trinity) Who “really Is there”. Never let a Mormon lead you, a Christian, in prayer; politely insist that you or another Christian lead in prayer! Then, pray for them in their absence, too. They need it!

Do not mock them and engage in idle chatter about Utah miners, whores, and such things, Ben. Do not fob off ignorance about their history and ways as if you knew better, about Kentucky and all that. This will get you nowhere and will alienate them. Most Christians have no idea how well educated (not just indoctrinated, but that too) Mormons tend to be. A Christian never gets anywhere with such banter about Kentucky, miners, whores, holy underwear, and all the rest of that kind of thing! Be earnest, but not “holier-than-thou” with them. It is not an argument with them that is to be won; it is their souls, immortal and precious, which are to be won.

Pax, Jerry Parker*

 

[BenjaminLumen]

Benjamin Lumen,

I do not question the motives that have inspired your postings to this C.A. foruj, but you do make some grievous errors about socio-historical aspects of L.D.S. Mormonism, to such an extent that Mormons simply would dismiss you as uninformed. The best advice that I can give you, to strengthen your understanding of Mormonism and to witness to the L.D.S. better, is to read up on the history of Mormonism from serious accounts of it, from various standpoints.

A fun way to start is to read an history of Mormonism from the R.L.D.S. Mormon standpoint! Inez Smith Davis wrote a marvellously readable account of Mormonism titled “The Story of the Church” which went through many editions, easily findable on Amazon.com or other national Amazon WWW sites. Of course, she defends the R.L.D.S. from what the L.D.S. have to say of Mormonism, but her account is a good one, and is especially gripping in her account of what happened after Joseph Smith’s assassination as the Mormons split ranks and many went to Utah, others remaining in the Midwest and spreading elsewhere.

You will find in the pages of Davis’ book, and in others, too, of course, that Kentucky had very little to do with early Mormonism. There are plenty of serious scholarly accounts of Mormon history, so I won’t bother to mention any in particular.

The L.D.S. Mormons in Utah really had little to do with the nominally Christian miners (and their whores) who poured into Utah in the latter part of the 19th century. Mostly, Mormons simply kept apart from them.

Anyway, good luck in doing such reading and to witnessing responsably, as a faithful and informed Catholic, to Mormons!

Pax, Jerry Parker

I don’t know, I certainly believe what you say about me being misinformed but, I am going to hold onto this idea for the time being as it humors me. No I take your point, My humor may have been a little much.

Blessings,
Benjamin

 

[BenjaminLumen]

Blue Lake and Ben,

You wrote, Blue Lake: ** * There are different factions of Mormonism. The most serious one is they deny the Trinity. They have many ceremonial rites which do not stand up to the word of God. In fact, the Mormon bible * is where their teachings come from.You may want to look up their doctrine. Also pray for them.​

Good words, Blue Lake! May we all take them to heart. The Book of Mormon is only a small part of where Mormons doctrines come from (the writings that embody Joseph Smith Junior’s purported “revelations” in the Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price being much more explicit and wild), but Mormons revere the BoM as they do no other book on earth. Thus, one who deals with them seriously, must know this book for himself, as maddeningly boring and as excruciatingly silly and pretentious as it is to read. The other “Mormon sacred books” (aside from the Bible) one can handle more at second hand, but the BoM one must read, at least once.

Mormons become quite disconcerted when you pray for and with them. They prefer to lead others in prayer. But a Christian’s prayer is more efficacious than a Mormon’s ever can be, because Christians pray to the God (Father, Son, and Holy Ghost: the Holy Trinity) Who “really Is there”. Never let a Mormon lead you, a Christian, in prayer; politely insist that you or another Christian lead in prayer! Then, pray for them in their absence, too. They need it!

Do not mock them and engage in idle chatter about Utah miners, whores, and such things, Ben. Do not fob off ignorance about their history and ways as if you knew better, about Kentucky and all that. This will get you nowhere and will alienate them. Most Christians have no idea how well educated (not just indoctrinated, but that too) Mormons tend to be. A Christian never gets anywhere with such banter about Kentucky, miners, whores, holy underwear, and all the rest of that kind of thing! Be earnest, but not “holier-than-thou” with them. It is not an argument with them that is to be won; it is their souls, immortal and precious, which are to be won.

Pax, Jerry Parker]

I agree, I may have been somewhat facetious, of course, but I will take the point twice hit upon. My Brother is Mormon, so… No they have a Mormon Church smack dab in the middle of a Babtist town. No I root for the Mormons in that context, because its funny.

Well the Mormons are my pawns to destroy the Babtists. Mwuahahahahaha, Just kidding again. No if I can get the Mormons to overrun the Babtists, then eventually we should have a Catholic Church in the HomeTown of my Youth.

Apologizing ahead of time, Ben puts his finger in his cheek and pulls. aaaaaww.

 

[Jerry_Parker]

Benjamin Lumen,

**You wrote in the second of two consecutive postings: ** *I agree, I may have been somewhat facetious, of course, but I will take the point twice hit upon. My Brother is Mormon, so… No they have a Mormon Church smack dab in the middle of a Babtist town. No I root for the Mormons in that context, because its funny.

Well the Mormons are my pawns to destroy the Babtists. Mwuahahahahaha, Just kidding again. No if I can get the Mormons to overrun the Babtists, then eventually we should have a Catholic Church in the HomeTown of my Youth. Apologizing ahead of time, Ben puts his finger in his cheek and pulls. aaaaaww. *​

Aha! Benjamin, the mischievous elf (with a L.D.S. Mormon brother elf!), you reveal your true colours! Well, since you are evangelising someone in your own family, I can assume, I think, that you will deal with him lovably and that you will apply the humour and the other elements of your approach with an affectionately light touch. Still, you ought to inform yourself, as I suggested in an earlier posting, more about the genuine history and origins (as well, of course, as teachings) of Mormonism, so that you deal with your brother on a level that is appropriately candid and truthful.

Oh, your poor beleaguered brother lives in what is, apart from himself, an all Baptist town. Arr-r-r-rgh! That is a fate almost worse than death! I would not wish living in an all Baptist town on much of anyone, not even on a lot of Baptists whom I’ve known! Well, those Baptists, for sure, will be “on his case” in their own twistedly Fundy Christian way.

There is a cute film about a young Mormon guy in a somewhat similar circumstance, Baptists at Our Barbecue (HaleSmith Entertainment), based on the comic novel of the same title by Robert Farrell Smith. Needless to say, the Baptists would like to barbecue the attractive, marriageable, young bachelor (who is looking to get married peacefully on such unpromising turf) rather than to sizzle-‘n’-flip the burgher patties or to roast the chicken! The lad just wants to get married and to live in harmony in his town, where everyone, militantly, is either Baptist or L.D.S. Mormon, always “at hammar and tongs” theo-battling each other. The town is name Longwinded (gotta love that name!), appropriate for a place of which the denizens are all sectaries (Baptists) or cultists (Mormons). You might enjoy reading the novel or acquiring the video to see it yourself, for a few laughs from your brother’s standpoint. It might be better for Bro’ Elf not to see this film or to read the book, since it only would nurse his feelings of self-pity at his own plight!

Anyway, good luck in dealing (lovingly however humourously) with your L.D.S. Mormon brother! Name him here, and Catholic Answers folk can pray for his conversion, for his immortal soul, which, as a long-ago once-Mormon, I ardently would urge.

Pax, Jerry Parker

 

[TheosisM]

What is wrong with my Take on Mormonism?? But I am interested in how proselytiseing for our Catholic Faith is somehow effect by my take on Mormonism?

Because if you appear as if you receive your information on Mormonism from anti-Mormon websites, or if you show that you don’t understand their actua history, then the Mormons you’re attempting to proselyte will most likely ignore you. Similarly, if a non-Catholic attempted to proselyte me and they talked about how Catholics worship statues, think Mary is a goddess, or believe that the Pope can never sin or is always right, then I would ignore them. The best thing to do is begin with actual Mormon sources for their beliefs, then move on to critical sources so you can sort through what they say (many ‘anti-Mormon’ websites have a lot of incorrect information, just like how many anti-Catholic websites have a lot of incorrect information).

 

[revertfromLDS]

If the arbitrary nature of God as viewed in Mormon doctrine seems heavily evident in their belief in the apostacy, you should look into their belief in “the curse of Laman” with respect to black people! “Revelation” wasn’t received stating blacks (descendents bearing said curse) could receive the Aaronic Priesthood (aka basic voting membership in their congregation) until GET THIS 1986!!! Also, since they don’t believe in the triune God and also hold that saints progress toward ultimately becoming gods just as Elohim with their own little plot in a solar system based around a star called “Kolob”, maybe it was some other “god” that gave them this revelation that polygamy isn’t REALLY the will of God afterall and maybe it was one of these gods also that delivered the Equal Rights message to the Aaronic Priesthood some 25 years after the United States (the great country in which God decided to start his “true” church in these “latter days”) had already taken actions to ensure their equal treatment in our society once and for all!

PEACE!

 

[tqualey]

Hi, Revertfrom LDS,

Welcome to Catholic Answer Forum… I think you will find this link to be a real source of information, insights and blessings.

The anti-Trinitarian nature of LDS is probably the most serious - but, truly, the idea that polygymy is what God wants is amazing to me because of the way it degrades marriage and dehumanizes women. There was a raid in Texas last year because of suspected sexual abuse of children (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YFZ_Ranch) through underage marriage.

If the arbitrary nature of God as viewed in Mormon doctrine seems heavily evident in their belief in the apostacy, you should look into their belief in “the curse of Laman” with respect to black people! “Revelation” wasn’t received stating blacks (descendents bearing said curse) could receive the Aaronic Priesthood (aka basic voting membership in their congregation) until GET THIS 1986!!! Also, since they don’t believe in the triune God and also hold that saints progress toward ultimately becoming gods just as Elohim with their own little plot in a solar system based around a star called “Kolob”, maybe it was some other “god” that gave them this revelation that polygamy isn’t REALLY the will of God afterall and maybe it was one of these gods also that delivered the Equal Rights message to the Aaronic Priesthood some 25 years after the United States (the great country in which God decided to start his “true” church in these “latter days”) had already taken actions to ensure their equal treatment in our society once and for all!

PEACE!

No easy answers on this - but, the LDS ideas on Blacks, women and becoming god are so out of synch with the teachings of Christ that I just do not see how anyone who accepts Christ as the True God and True Man can have anything to do with the LDS.

God bless

 

[Irish_Kathy]

transporter.com/Mormonism/index.htm