The LDS (Mormon) magazine 'Ensign' for March is full of christian ideas and thoughts.

[why_me]

The LDS magazine Ensign is on the web for March 2009. I see a lot of great Christian stuff in this magazine. It seems that Mormons are christian. Anyone reading this magazine would come to the same conclusion. Just look at the articles and enjoy the christian spirit.

lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=ccb1d48fa58db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=93c16c667a6af110VgnVCM100000176f620a____&locale=0

 

[majick275]

stop the missionary efforts here. you are a heretic to both faiths. this is NOT the place to peddle mormon publications. it also inaccurate to assert that mormons are christian because the content of a magazine they publish

 

[ckempston]

The LDS magazine Ensign is on the web for March 2009. I see a lot of great Christian stuff in this magazine. It seems that Mormons are christian. Anyone reading this magazine would come to the same conclusion. Just look at the articles and enjoy the christian spirit.

lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=ccb1d48fa58db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=93c16c667a6af110VgnVCM100000176f620a____&locale=0

Agreeing on some points does not a Christian make. Muslims and Christians believe similarly in a number of areas; same thing with Buddhists. That does not make either of these groups Christian.

 

[zerinus]

The LDS magazine Ensign is on the web for March 2009. I see a lot of great Christian stuff in this magazine. It seems that Mormons are christian. Anyone reading this magazine would come to the same conclusion. Just look at the articles and enjoy the christian spirit.

lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=ccb1d48fa58db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=93c16c667a6af110VgnVCM100000176f620a____&locale=0

A PDF version of that can be seen here, which is a lot more readable than the HTML version.

zerinus

 

[RebeccaJ]

whyme, you silly, the first article quotes the BoM (not Christian scripture), says some normal stuff about prayer, and then tells people to pray for mormon missionaries and their success. Why do you think anyone here wants to do this? Followed by ideas for home teachers, which, there are maybe 5 people on this entire forum who actively home teach.

The 2nd article is about a woman who left catholicism for mormonism. and ends with a warning about us about losing the power of “idividual revelation”. Which, is a false mormon teaching.

The 4th article is about transitioning from young women’s to relief society, which is wholly a mormon cultural reference.

The 5th article is about relief society women doing the meaningless busy work of the mormon church.

The 6th article is about brainwashing mormon children.

The 7th article is about the errorneous beliefs or mormons, which are entirely, non-Christian.

etc. etc. etc.

The Ensign is not a Christian publication, not matter how much you would like it to be.

 

[rmcmullan]

The 5th article is about relief society women doing the meaningless busy work of the mormon church.

Better watch that, RebeccaJ, you don’t want my darling wife to start posting here! My dear Mom belonged to the CWO (Catholic Women’s Org), I doubt you’d be as dismissive of them.

 

[JLFuller]

Agreeing on some points does not a Christian make. Muslims and Christians believe similarly in a number of areas; same thing with Buddhists. That does not make either of these groups Christian.

I suppose many believe that Christian means believing in the Triniatarian view of the nature of God. We don’t. We believe in God the Father, His son Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost and all are seperate and distinct personages but one in purpose. Apparantly to some that means we are not Christian. If that floats your boat then so be it. We believe in Jesus Christ who is the son of God the Father just like it says in the NT. He is our Savior and through whom all people are saved and no one can be saved without him. We believe in grace as the means by which we will inherit the Kingdom of God and not through anything we do ourselves. It is a gift and it is free. We believe you must be born again to understand the things of God. Being born again means being baptized by immersion and recieving the Holy Ghost by the laying on off hands by one who has the authority to do so and then living Christ’s commandments. We believe no man takes this authority on himself. It has to be confered by another who has authority to do so. We do not believe the protestants have that authority. The Pope gave no such power to Luther when he split off and neither do any of the others who followed him. I could go on but we are Christians because we follow Jesus Christ to the best of our ability and according to the Word as we understand it.

 

[ckempston]

I suppose many believe that Christian means believing in the Triniatarian view of the nature of God. We don’t. We believe in God the Father, His son Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost and all are seperate and distinct personages but one in purpose. Apparantly to some that means we are not Christian. If that floats your boat then so be it. We believe in Jesus Christ who is the son of God the Father just like it says in the NT. He is our Savior and through whom all people are saved and no one can be saved without him. We believe in grace as the means by which we will inherit the Kingdom of God and not through anything we do ourselves. It is a gift and it is free. We believe you must be born again to understand the things of God. Being born again means being baptized by immersion and recieving the Holy Ghost by the laying on off hands by one who has the authority to do so and then living Christ’s commandments. We believe no man takes this authority on himself. It has to be confered by another who has authority to do so. We do not believe the protestants have that authority. The Pope gave no such power to Luther when he split off and neither do any of the others who followed him. I could go on but we are Christians because we follow Jesus Christ to the best of our ability and according to the Word as we understand it.

Oh, come now! You have not even scratched the surface of your heresy. You believe that Jesus Christ is a created being, and that God the Father himself was once a man who was “promoted” to godhood, and that when Mormons die, they can similarly be promoted to godhood and get put in charge of their own little universes. Of course, this ridiculous teaching isn’t exactly popular with outsiders, so I can see why you would be reluctant to bring it up.

 

[RebeccaJ]

Better watch that, RebeccaJ, you don’t want my darling wife to start posting here! My dear Mom belonged to the CWO (Catholic Women’s Org), I doubt you’d be as dismissive of them.

I don’t fear your wife.

I don’t have any experience with a Catholic women’s organization, so I don’t have an opinion about them. I do know, that no one has to join one, and those that are in these organizations are there because they want to be.

RS, I have attended. Pointless, and irritating, and in your church, compulsive. Roll taking and 100% visiting teaching, and snoopy neighbors on your doorstep if you aren’t interested.

 

[why_me]

I don’t fear your wife.

I don’t have any experience with a Catholic women’s organization, so I don’t have an opinion about them. I do know, that no one has to join one, and those that are in these organizations are there because they want to be.

RS, I have attended. Pointless, and irritating, and in your church, compulsive. Roll taking and 100% visiting teaching, and snoopy neighbors on your doorstep if you aren’t interested.

Actually, Relief Society is all about community and sisterhood. Nothing wrong in that. It is also about sharing the gospel. Now of course, one can argue it is the lds gospel but still, it would be great if catholic women had organizations that stressed lay sisterhood and gospel sharing. And maybe the catholic church does. You are just being negative as usual. Visiting teaching is all about caring and charity toward one another. And many lds women look forward to the home visit by their assigned sisters. Nothing wrong in that.

 

[why_me]

whyme, you silly, the first article quotes the BoM (not Christian scripture), says some normal stuff about prayer, and then tells people to pray for mormon missionaries and their success. Why do you think anyone here wants to do this? Followed by ideas for home teachers, which, there are maybe 5 people on this entire forum who actively home teach.

The 2nd article is about a woman who left catholicism for mormonism. and ends with a warning about us about losing the power of “idividual revelation”. Which, is a false mormon teaching.

The 4th article is about transitioning from young women’s to relief society, which is wholly a mormon cultural reference.

The 5th article is about relief society women doing the meaningless busy work of the mormon church.

The 6th article is about brainwashing mormon children.

The 7th article is about the errorneous beliefs or mormons, which are entirely, non-Christian.

etc. etc. etc.

The Ensign is not a Christian publication, not matter how much you would like it to be.

The first article is from the leader of the lds church. He has a great article about praying to heavenly father in faith. Headings such as ‘Strength in Prayer’ Accepting his Invitation’ and ‘Faith in Action’ seem very christian to me.

The second article is about Walking by Faith and Not by Sight. It is an article about a blind woman and how she loves the gospel of Jesus Christ and the light that this gospel gives her. Seems very christian to me.

Then we have a poem, a nice poem called Hand in Hand. It is a lovely poem about marriage. Catholics can learn something about marriage from this poem. In fact, everyone can. It seems christian to me.

The next article is about young women entering Relief Society for the first time. It says that what is important is that we share the same heavenly father regardless of age difference or any other difference that we may have.

And then later we have an article about the plan of salvation. It seems christian to me. Now of course all faiths can have different plans of salvation. Heck, the protestants and catholics disagree on this too. But still, the article seems christian to me.

And then we have an article about the parable of the ten virgins and another article about becoming self-reliant, spiritually and physically by seeing ourselves as children of god regardless of circumstance, culture or location. It seems chrisian to me.

I think that you are just being negative Rebecca.

 

[RebeccaJ]

The first article is from the leader of the lds church. He has a great article about praying to heavenly father in faith. Headings such as ‘Strength in Prayer’ Accepting his Invitation’ and ‘Faith in Action’ seem very christian to me.

The second article is about Walking by Faith and Not by Sight. It is an article about a blind woman and how she loves the gospel of Jesus Christ and the light that this gospel gives her. Seems very christian to me.

Then we have a poem, a nice poem called Hand in Hand. It is a lovely poem about marriage. Catholics can learn something about marriage from this poem. In fact, everyone can. It seems christian to me.

The next article is about young women entering Relief Society for the first time. It says that what is important is that we share the same heavenly father regardless of age difference or any other difference that we may have.

And then later we have an article about the plan of salvation. It seems christian to me. Now of course all faiths can have different plans of salvation. Heck, the protestants and catholics disagree on this too. But still, the article seems christian to me.

And then we have an article about the parable of the ten virgins and another article about becoming self-reliant, spiritually and physically by seeing ourselves as children of god regardless of circumstance, culture or location. It seems chrisian to me.

I think that you are just being negative Rebecca.

Think what you will. It is not a Christian publication. The gospel it is talking about is not the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is a mormon facsimile.

 

[why_me]

Agreeing on some points does not a Christian make. Muslims and Christians believe similarly in a number of areas; same thing with Buddhists. That does not make either of these groups Christian.

Of course, a baptist can say the same about the catholic church etc and etc. It just goes on and on. The problem with christianity is that no faith can agree on anything except their belief in the father, the son and the holy ghost.

 

[ckempston]

Of course, a baptist can say the same about the catholic church etc and etc. It just goes on and on. The problem with christianity is that no faith can agree on anything except their belief in the father, the son and the holy ghost.

Which, it just so happens, the Mormons DO NOT agree with Christianity. You believe in a non-existent Son, because you believe he was created. You believe God physically had sex with Mary, and you don’t believe the Father is eternal, let alone the rest of the godhead. You do not believe anything even remotely close to Christianity. At least Catholics and Baptists can say that they agree on the Trinity, and (with the minor exception with the deutero-canonicals) what constitutes the Word of God. At least neither Baptists nor Catholics believe in “another gospel” in contradiction to the Apostle Paul’s statement in Galatians, or totally unsupported archaeological claims such as the Native Americans being Nephites or whatever the fictional story in the BoM calls them.

 

[rmcmullan]

I don’t fear your wife.

Well that’s because you don’t know her! She’s very sweet and helpful and service-oriented, yes, but she can be scary to in her own way. Oh, and she does enjoy reading The Ensign.

I don’t have any experience with a Catholic women’s organization, so I don’t have an opinion about them. I do know, that no one has to join one, and those that are in these organizations are there because they want to be.

Sounds like you’d better stay away from them, I doubt you’d enjoy them.

RS, I have attended. Pointless, and irritating, and in your church, compulsive. Roll taking and 100% visiting teaching, and snoopy neighbors on your doorstep if you aren’t interested.

Again, it’s your horrible attitude that’s preventing you from seeing the beauty. I hope you don’t have a problem with compassionate service. If you feel you’re too stressed to give it, maybe you should be receiving it. And visiting teaching as you know is just a way of helping. It’s odd you think they’re a threat. Frankly, I’m not too fond of having home teachers so I asked them not to come and I haven’t seen them for years. I know who they are and I see them often but I don’t need the in home visits. Most RS sisters enjoy them but you could be an exception and that’s okay. Just speak up.

Anyhow, lots of churches have both their own publications and women’s organization.

It is not a Christian publication. The gospel it is talking about is not the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is a mormon facsimile.

And that’s just silly. No one is saying that any Catholic publication is not Christian and only a fascimile after the philosophy of the Roman Pope. That would just be rude. So why are you so rude to us? You lift the pope over the prophet and I don’t mind that since that is what you believe. But what’s the point of all your ramblings? It’s mostly “My Pope can beat your Prophet!” Or “Jesus loves the Pope but hates the Prophet!”.

You’re not under an obligation to be accomodating I know but then we could fulfill the purpose of this forum which is to compare and contrast different beliefs. Not to insult non-catholic ones.

 

[zerinus]

Which, it just so happens, the Mormons DO NOT agree with Christianity.

You mean with apostate Christianity.

You believe in a non-existent Son, because you believe he was created.

First of all, being created does not make anything non-existent. Secondly, our scriptures teach that Jesus is eternal and has always been God.

You believe God physically had sex with Mary, and you don’t believe the Father is eternal, let alone the rest of the godhead.

We believe that the Father is eternal, and we don’t believe that He had sex with Mary.

You do not believe anything even remotely close to Christianity.

You mean apostate Christianity. What we believe in is biblical Christianity, which I agree diverges considerably from apostate Christianity.

At least Catholics and Baptists can say that they agree on the Trinity, and . . . what constitutes the Word of God.

Trinitarianism is a byproduct of apostate Christianity, and does not remotely resemble what is taught in the Word of God.

At least neither Baptists nor Catholics believe in “another gospel” in contradiction to the Apostle Paul’s statement in Galatians, . . .

The Trinitarianism that you believe in is “another gospel” as far as the teachings of Paul is concerned—and indeed the whole of the Bible.

. . . or totally unsupported archaeological claims such as the Native Americans being Nephites or whatever the fictional story in the BoM calls them.

If your faith is based on archaeology, then you have no faith, because you can use archaeology to disprove the Bible as much as the Book of Mormon.

zerinus

 

[ckempston]

You mean with apostate Christianity.

No, not so much.

First of all, being created does not make anything non-existent. Secondly, our scriptures teach that Jesus is eternal and has always been God.

There is no “created son of God” in the Trinity, therefore, it is nonexistent.

We believe that the Father is eternal, and we don’t believe that He had sex with Mary.

Then why did Joseph Smith say God was once a man? Why did he teach that we could become Gods and rule over our own little universes? This is so well documented, it is beyond ludicrous for any Mormon to deny it.

i4m.com/think/leaders/god_was_man.htm

You mean apostate Christianity. What we believe in is biblical Christianity, which I agree diverges considerably from apostate Christianity.

No, you don’t believe in Biblical Christianity. You don’t even believe the Bible is reliable.

Trinitarianism is a byproduct of apostate Christianity, and does not remotely resemble what is taught in the Word of God.

Do you have any evidence to back this up?

The Trinitarianism that you believe in is “another gospel” as far as the teachings of Paul is concerned—and indeed the whole of the Bible.

No, Trinitarianism is an explanation of the nature of God. Mormonism is a complete change of the nature of God from what is contained in the Bible. Besides, you make this claim based on…oh, that’s right, your historically unsupported work of fiction called the Book of Mormon (and a couple other fictional writings).

If your faith is based on archaeology, then you have no faith, because you can use archaeology to disprove the Bible as much as the Book of Mormon.

zerinus

What a totally illogical, and totally incorrect, statement. Archaeology supports many of the events in the Bible, even if on some events it is silent. Unfortunately for Mormonism, archaeology is completely silent on events the BoM, because nothing contained in it ever happened.

 

[LDSGuy]

i too link to non-Catholic websites when I try to explain what Catholics REALLY believe…

Mormon Christianity is highly Biblical and none of our beliefs contradict the Bible. Jesus Christ is our Savior, and we are baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. We understand God differently from you, however we do believe that our Church restored true Christianity on earth, and that Jesus Christ is at the center of our Christian Church.

 

[ckempston]

i too link to non-Catholic websites when I try to explain what Catholics REALLY believe…

Mormon Christianity is highly Biblical and none of our beliefs contradict the Bible. Jesus Christ is our Savior, and we are baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. We understand God differently from you, however we do believe that our Church restored true Christianity on earth, and that Jesus Christ is at the center of our Christian Church.

Nice non-answer. The fact of the matter is that Mormons do believe these things; they are just not popular with outsiders and prove beyond any shadow of a doubt that Mormons are not Christian.

Just give me a straight yes or no answer: Did one of your prophets say that God was once a man, and that man can become gods?

 

[LDSGuy]

Deification, also called theosis, is not only believed in by Latter-day Saints, but Orthodox Christians as well. In fact, Saint Athanasius stated “God became man so that man might become God.” We believe that God will always be our God, and that we can become like Him through the restored, original Gospel of Jesus Christ.