Mormons & End Times

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Try2BeHumble

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Hello All,

I was wondering what are Mormons beliefs on the end times? I read this one article:
http://mormonbeliefs.org/mormon_bel...salvation/do-mormons-believe-in-the-end-times

I have a question about if Mormons belief in the Rapture. The article mentions this statement: “There is one doctrine commonly held by Evangelicals which is not biblical, is of recent origin, and which members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints reject. That is the idea of a pre-tribulation rapture. The Bible says that the righteous will be caught up to meet Christ, and that of two in a field, one will be taken and one left. The Bible also speaks of those who teach in the name of Christ, whom the Savior will disown, and five virgins who will be unprepared. Visions of the future offered by John the Beloved in the Book of Revelation, and other portrayals of the end days are frightening, it is true, but the Lord has promised to protect those who wait upon Him.”

If anyone can shed light on this it would be greatly appreciated. If anyone is looking for a good Bible study on end times Daniel by Beth Moore is a great one. 🙂
 
I am not sure what you are asking.

Mormons’, like Catholics, do not believe in the Rapture.
 
Try2BeHumble said:
If anyone is looking for a good Bible study on end times Daniel by Beth Moore is a great one. 🙂
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You might want to read “The Rapture Trap” by Paul Thigpen. That is a pretty good explanation of the Catholic position.
 
Try2BeHumble said:
Hello All,

I was wondering what are Mormons beliefs on the end times? I read this one article:
http://mormonbeliefs.org/mormon_bel...salvation/do-mormons-believe-in-the-end-times

I have a question about if Mormons belief in the Rapture. The article mentions this statement: “There is one doctrine commonly held by Evangelicals which is not biblical, is of recent origin, and which members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints reject. That is the idea of a pre-tribulation rapture. The Bible says that the righteous will be caught up to meet Christ, and that of two in a field, one will be taken and one left. The Bible also speaks of those who teach in the name of Christ, whom the Savior will disown, and five virgins who will be unprepared. Visions of the future offered by John the Beloved in the Book of Revelation, and other portrayals of the end days are frightening, it is true, but the Lord has promised to protect those who wait upon Him.”

If anyone can shed light on this it would be greatly appreciated. If anyone is looking for a good Bible study on end times Daniel by Beth Moore is a great one. 🙂
Click to expand...
Mormons have similar beliefs regarding the Last Days as Evangelicals, but do not believe in the rapture.

To add to your reading list, “The Rapture Exposed: The Message of Hope in the Book of Revelation” by Barbara R. Rossing. I also recommend it for LDS and former LDS, as it covers some of what LDS believe because of the similarities to Evangelical belief.
 
Confirming here that Mormons don’t believe in the rapture, particularly in any Hollywood-type fashion.
 
The main similarity between LDS and Evangelical lies in their shared interpretation of Revelations. Both coming from 19th century view of Revelations as a predictor of End Times, or Last Days. Prophecies of things to come. Also, taking very literally a literary work that is rich in symbolism. There is a strong focus among both LDS and Evangelical on doomsday ideas for End Times/Last Days.

Compared to the Catholic view, which is that Revelations reveals the times in which it was written, with a few prophecies concerning Christ’s return. That in literary genre, it is resistance writing. The doom described is for the persecutors of early Christians. The justice for the martyrs is not found in civil courts but in God’s Judgement. So we see also how a struggling and extremely persecuted community approached that persecution: with Hope, for Justice of the crimes against them, in Christ; a looking to Christ’s return and the life to come (heaven). We also see a strong vein of liturgy, thus an understanding that early Christians were a Eucharist people.
 
Oh yeah, to add to the reading list. 😃 “Brazos Theological Commentary on the Bible: Revelations”
 
In some ways Mormonism resembles evangelicalism, and in some way Catholicism (though it is obviously neither of these).

It resembles Catholicism in that all Mormon churches are actually different branches of the same organization. Congregations are assigned (for the most part) geographically. There is an organization hierarchy, centralized authority, and the words of centralized leaders do carry weight. Both faiths also believe in the essentialness of spirituals rituals (Catholics call them “sacraments”, Mormons “ordinances”).

Mormonism resembles Evangelicals in that day-to-day worship is non-liturgical, and the faith stresses the individual’s need to pray and have faith themselves. Both emphasize sharing God’s Word and how it’s affected your life with others.
 
jane_doe said:
Mormonism resembles Evangelicals in that day-to-day worship is non-liturgical, and the faith stresses the individual’s need to pray and have faith themselves. Both emphasize sharing God’s Word and how it’s affected your life with others.
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Just to be clear, while Catholicism is obviously liturgical, it also stresses the individual’s need to pray and have faith themselves, and we also emphasize sharing God’s Word and how it has affected our lives with others.
 
LivingWaters7 said:
Just to be clear, while Catholicism is obviously liturgical, it also stresses the individual’s need to pray and have faith themselves, and we also emphasize sharing God’s Word and how it has affected our lives with others.
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Thank you for that clarification. I didn’t mean otherwise, but can be bad with words at points.
 
As many of you have said it depends on interpetation literal or figurative etc. I liked how this article explained Catholics and the Rapture.uscatholic.org/articles/201407/do-catholics-believe-rapture-29196

"When most Christians think of the Rapture today, they imagine the redeemed being snatched up to heaven by Christ as if they have a one-way ticket. But when Paul spoke of being carried off to meet Christ in the clouds, it was not for the purpose of flying away to heaven but to welcome the Lord and return with him in glory. This moment represents the culmination of God’s plan, the great Eschaton, for which all Christians pray when they cry out, “Thy kingdom come.” Our very baptism reminded us of this day: “When the Lord comes, may you go out to meet him with all the saints of the heavenly kingdom.”
 
Catholicism is not nearly as centralized as Mormonism. Our bishops are in communion with Rome, but Rome rarely gets involved. That is a misconception between Mormonism and Catholicism. People tend to forget that what makes the Pope the Pope is that he is the Bishop of Rome, and not the other way around.

Also, for Catholics, the sacramental life is more than just rituals. It’s an actual bestowal of sanctifying grace. That kind of concept does not exist in Mormonism

For Mormons, SLC is definately the center. For Catholics, the Vatican is not nearly as the center as people tend to think. Hard to articulate exactly what I mean.

Also, with our charisms, different orders of religious etc., (IE Beneditine, Franciscan, Carmelit, Dominican on and on) our traditions and cultures are very diverse, reflecting the diversity of the Lord’s creation.

Mormonism tends to be far less diverse.
jane_doe said:
It resembles Catholicism in that all Mormon churches are actually different branches of the same organization. Congregations are assigned (for the most part) geographically. There is an organization hierarchy, centralized authority, and the words of centralized leaders do carry weight. Both faiths also believe in the essentialness of spirituals rituals (Catholics call them “sacraments”, Mormons “ordinances”).
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Marie5890 said:
Also, with our charisms, different orders of religious etc., (IE Beneditine, Franciscan, Carmelit, Dominican on and on) our traditions and cultures are very diverse, reflecting the diversity of the Lord’s creation.
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That’s a good point that I hadn’t thought about is the different orders that Catholicism has compared to Mormonism, Mormonism doesn’t have that. I’m having a hard time understanding ordinances my friend is Mormon and is in the contemplative stage before her ordinances. She said she has to really think about it before going further into the Temple because it is an important step and not something to take lightly. I get that on one level but it sounds like you learn more about the faith as you pass through these different levels. Also she mentioned there is one part of the SLC temple where there is a room only for the 12 leaders? It sounds secretive to me. I mean Catholicism you have different sacraments but you understand that faith as a whole before you begin.
 
Try2BeHumble said:
That’s a good point that I hadn’t thought about is the different orders that Catholicism has compared to Mormonism, Mormonism doesn’t have that. I’m having a hard time understanding ordinances my friend is Mormon and is in the contemplative stage before her ordinances. She said she has to really think about it before going further into the Temple because it is an important step and not something to take lightly. I get that on one level but it sounds like you learn more about the faith as you pass through these different levels. Also she mentioned there is one part of the SLC temple where there is a room only for the 12 leaders? It sounds secretive to me. I mean Catholicism you have different sacraments but you understand that faith as a whole before you begin.
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In Mormonism, there are various ordinances performed by their priesthood, some of which are believed to be “saving” ordinances, or those necessary for exaltation (i.e. becoming gods). These include:

-baptism
-confirmation
-Melchizedek priesthood ordination (for men)
-the Endowment
-Sealing, or eternal marriage

The first three are performed in Mormon chapels all the time, and anyone can witness them. LDS frequently will invite non-member friends to baptisms, usually because they believe the spirit is strong during these ordinances, and they hope they will be influenced to “investigate” the LDS church.

The last two are performed in their temples, which, once dedicated, are not open to non-Mormons, or Mormons that do not have a temple recommend. They don’t talk about the specifics of what goes on in the temple (claiming that it is sacred and therefore they don’t speak of it except in general terms). To attend the temple, they must receive a “recommend” from their local leaders, which is then presented upon entering the temple to actually go beyond the lobby. Presumably your friend believes that in the temple she will make various covenants (which is part of what happens in the endowment).
 
Try2BeHumble said:
That’s a good point that I hadn’t thought about is the different orders that Catholicism has compared to Mormonism, Mormonism doesn’t have that. I’m having a hard time understanding ordinances my friend is Mormon and is in the contemplative stage before her ordinances. She said she has to really think about it before going further into the Temple because it is an important step and not something to take lightly. I get that on one level but it sounds like you learn more about the faith as you pass through these different levels. Also she mentioned there is one part of the SLC temple where there is a room only for the 12 leaders? It sounds secretive to me. I mean Catholicism you have different sacraments but you understand that faith as a whole before you begin.
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I had gone thru the temple, and to be honest, I found it anti-climatic at best. That the build up to it just didnt live up to the actual endowment ceremony. 🤷

Hopefully your friend won’t be disappointed…

The room your friend is referring to is known as the Holy of Holies. It’s my understanding that several of the older temples have one, but most do not.
 
Marie5890 said:
Also, with our charisms, different orders of religious etc., (IE Beneditine, Franciscan, Carmelit, Dominican on and on) our traditions and cultures are very diverse, reflecting the diversity of the Lord’s creation.
.
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What are these different orders?
 
jane_doe said:
To re-phrase my question: what are “orders”? Like really basic definition.
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Here is a simple definition from dictionary.com

“In Christianity, a group of men or women who live under religious vows. The three vows commonly taken are to relinquish all possessions and personal authority (vows of poverty and obedience) and not to engage in sexual relations (a vow of chastity).”

Here is another link that explains different types of orders and function (active or contemplative). I just learned the different functions its a helpful link.

religious-vocation.com/differences_religious_orders.html#.VQOt_xj3arU
 
LivingWaters7 To attend the temple said:
By saving ordinaces aren’t you already saved by baptism? Also for endowments she mentioned that someone prays over you and gives you spiritual gifts I guess influenced by the Holy Spirit? Catholic/Christians already have spiritual gifts when we accept Christ and receive the Holy Spirit ie the fruits and gifts of the Holy Spirit.
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