Questions from a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormon)

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adf417 said:
At what moment in time did this phenomenon (individuals needing to choose among “true” churches) begin? - please be precise.
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The old testament describes Israelites worshipping according to the ways of the Cananites, so it seems that this process of people trying to guess the correct religion based on available data has been going on a long time
 
TechieGuy said:
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adf417:
At what moment in time did this phenomenon (individuals needing to choose among “true” churches) begin? - please be precise.
Click to expand...
The old testament describes Israelites worshipping according to the ways of the Cananites, so it seems that this process of people trying to guess the correct religion based on available data has been going on a long time
Click to expand...
Now you are conflating “chruch” with “religion”. I was under the impression you agreed Jesus started a church and belived in that one church. Sorry for musunderstanding you. I really don’t know how to convince you or someone who Jesus is or what he did if you don’t believe in the Word. That would be the first step.

Peace!!!
 
CommanderSouth said:
I do believe the apostasy was at least complete enough for priesthood authority to be withdrawn from the earth, though I am not able to say, a date or even a specific time.
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Why do you believe this? Where did the concept come from for you individually?
CommanderSouth said:
I think there is enough leeway in what constitutes prevail. I can understand the idea regarding the apostasy being Satan prevailing, but since the church was restored in LDS doctrine, I do feel you can harmonize the restoration with Satan not prevailing overall against the church.
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pre·vail

### Dictionary result for prevail

/prəˈvāl/

verb

1. prove more powerful than opposing forces; be victorious.
The word prevail seems to me can’t be a little of both, but more of an either/or. Either the gates of hell prevailed or they did not.

Christ told us the gates of hell would not prevail against His Church. To believe the gates of hell did would be as though Christ lied to His people. Do you believe this is possible?

As another poster said, look to the history of the Church. Read the New Testament with a desire to learn the truth. I converted to the Catholic Church several years ago from a mainline protestant church. In reading the New Testament with an informed mind it all made sense. It wasn’t about select verses or passages, it was the life of Jesus Christ, his time on earth, and what he left for his people. Reading St Paul’s letters, understanding his role in the church, is eye opening in confirming the Catholic faith.
 
So perhaps my approach will be different than others. I’ll make a couple of posts. I’ll make an effort to meet you where you are or try to go in your back door to get to your front door 🥳.
CommanderSouth said:
That being said, I know the halmark of conversion in the LDS faith is the gaining of a testimony through personal revelation. WIth that in mind, how would I be able to know the Catholic church is the true church?
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I can see where you are coming from here, and I have a suggestion. I’d really look at Jesuit/Ignatian spirituality. Sometimes you hear about Jesuits in a bad light. Some are very progressive and have lost their way. At the same time the Pope is a Jesuit, and, at it’s core, the Jesuit ideas represent some great things about Catholicism. It was founded by St. Ignatius some others in 1540 partially in response to the protestant reformation. The unique thing about their spirituality is “Finding God in All Things”. So you could think of it as everything in your life has the potential for a personal revelation…I mean it isn’t quite the same thing…but it is relevant.


Another aspect of Jesuit spirituality that might be relevant and might help is something called imagination prayer. I think it would be relevant to your notion of personal revelation. It is where you pray by visualizing part of the gospel story, and you try to put yourself in the gospel story. Try to see what God is telling you in this process. From the link I’ll give below:
Visualize the event as if you were making a movie. Pay attention to the details: sights, sounds, tastes, smells, and feelings of the event. Lose yourself in the story;
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Another suggestion is to watch a good movie…I’m going for “baby steps” here. It is called “The Mission”. If nothing else it is a good movie with good actors (e.g. Robert De Niro, Jeremy Irons, Liam Neeson, etc). It is based on the Jesuit Missions in South America in the 1700s. I think generally, an LDS member may relate to it because their interest in missions and outreach to native American people. You’d also learn something about the Catholic missionary efforts. It is a beautiful movie.

 
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