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

[RebeccaJ]

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.

Theosis and Mormon exaltation are two different things.

 

[Jerusha]

Until I see reports that they are going for the guts in examination of conscience, using Helaman 4, I refuse to even take a look.

See, Rebecca, I am making slow progress. It is like looking for diamonds in a pig-pen.

 

[ckempston]

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.

Yet another non-answer. Why do you feel the need to skirt around the question?

As Rebecca pointed out, the Mormon belief and the Christian belief are two different things. The Bible itself says we will share in the divine nature and be exalted; however, the Mormon claim goes far beyond this and even says that God himself was once a mortal man.

 

[RebeccaJ]

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.

Good for her.

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

Please stop telling me what I do and don’t enjoy.

Again, it’s your horrible attitude that’s preventing you from seeing the beauty.

It is my experience. I don’t need you making excuses for what my experiences are.

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.

I don’t believe they are a threat. Again, putting words into my mouth. Do you have an opinion that doesn’t involve telling me what I think, believe or feel?

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

Yes they do. That is not the topic.

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!”.

Your religion is false. Your prophets are false. This thread was created for nothing more than proselyting.

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.

These are my experiences and beliefs. No more insulting than Mormon replies stating all of Christianity, including Catholicism, are apostate beliefs and Mormon lies are a restoration of truth.

All of your replies are the usual Mormon diversion, hypocritical nonsense.

 

[LDSGuy]

Yet another non-answer. Why do you feel the need to skirt around the question?

As Rebecca pointed out, the Mormon belief and the Christian belief are two different things. The Bible itself says we will share in the divine nature and be exalted; however, the Mormon claim goes far beyond this and even says that God himself was once a mortal man.

we also believe that we will become joint-heirs with Christ and that Jesus Christ allows us to be exalted. Our position is very biblical.

 

[rmcmullan]

Good for her.
Your religion is false. Your prophets are false. This thread was created for nothing more than proselyting.

You see, this is what I am talking about. So hostile! Jesus loves the Pope and hates the Prophet. The Pope is the Angel and the Prophet is the Devil. Emperor Constantine rules and Joseph Smith drools. The Nicene Creed vs the Articles of Faith.

Again, I repeat my point, if you could forgive and forget you’d purge yourself of all this bitterness. And you’d see that the Ensign and the publications of many other non-Catholic churches have much worthwhile in them.

 

[RebeccaJ]

You see, this is what I am talking about. So hostile! Jesus loves the Pope and hates the Prophet. The Pope is the Angel and the Prophet is the Devil. Emperor Constantine rules and Joseph Smith drools. The Nicene Creed vs the Articles of Faith.

Look you’re not my bishop. You’re not my spiritual advisor. You are some stranger on the internet who keeps putting words into my mouth. I said none of this.

Again, I repeat my point, if you could forgive and forget you’d purge yourself of all this bitterness.

And again telling me how I feel.

And you’d see that the Ensign and the publications of many other non-Catholic churches have much worthwhile in them.

I never said anything about any other publication BUT the Ensign. So, what’s your point?

 

[Benadam]

In order to have a sincere exchange of ideas they have to be attached to agreed upon words. This is very difficult given the radically different ideas attached to words used in common between Christians and Mormons

 

[Jerusha]

This is very difficult given the radically different ideas attached to words used in common between Christians and Mormons

LOL That is why I see so much condemnation of Mormonism in the Book of Mormon.

 

[Benadam]

LOL That is why I see so much condemnation of Mormonism in the Book of Mormon.

Interesting thought.

 

[Jerusha]

No, actually, I believe that Solomon Spalding, who wrote the core text, was at heart a Catholic. Then it was perverted by rabid anti-Catholics. But his original text shines through, despite their efforts.

 

[zaffiroborant]

Well I went and read the whole March Ensign. Not really very impressed overall, it reminds me of the JW books I have. Lots of emotional stories, with characters like the “prominent judge” really more a collection of anecdotes about vaguely defined people. Much of it like the women who discovered she could have meaningful conversations with her kids at bed time (who knew?) maybe the moms who have done just this as far back as moms loved and knew their kids. Nothing new here and nothing that hasn’t been presented else where like the JW books I mentioned and often better than the Ensign.

Frankly the articles by Monson and particularly Beck left me totally underwhlemed. This is the 3rd thing by Beck and I think I’ll skip her from now on.

The one part that stood out with me in a kind of “you’re not serious” “yuck” kind of way was the advice following one article.

"Read the section titled “Reaching Out.” Identify activities to which family members could invite others so friendships can develop. Draw pictures of a few of these activities. Choose someone the family could invite to an activity and extend the invitation. Remember to continue your friendship even if some are not interested in the gospel."*

Looks like “friendship” is something you do, not a relationship and it is initiated to serve some purpose other than just being friends. Weird and distasteful.

I]*Reaching Out

The scriptures are full of invitations to repent, be baptized, and follow Christ. Alma, for example, said, “I speak by way of invitation, saying: Come and be baptized unto repentance, that ye also may be partakers of the fruit of the tree of life” (Alma 5:62). Our invitations may be a little different from Alma’s, but they can be important small steps in bringing people to partake of the gospel.

We may begin by inviting people to our home, a sporting event, a Church activity, or a service project. Small steps to fellowship others will eventually lead to spiritual conversations, invitations to attend Church, and interest in listening to the missionaries. Remember that sharing the gospel is a process, not an event. Our example is critical, but it is not the end. We must have the courage to reach out because people will not usually invite themselves.

 

[why_me]

Well I went and read the whole March Ensign. Not really very impressed overall, it reminds me of the JW books I have. Lots of emotional stories, with characters like the “prominent judge” really more a collection of anecdotes about vaguely defined people. Much of it like the women who discovered she could have meaningful conversations with her kids at bed time (who knew?) maybe the moms who have done just this as far back as moms loved and knew their kids. Nothing new here and nothing that hasn’t been presented else where like the JW books I mentioned and often better than the Ensign.

I have read catholic pubications and many can seem a little emotional and faith promoting. It was not my intention to pin prick every article but rather to show that the lds message in that issue was not against christianity but rather meant to bring a person closer to christ. And that was my point. None of the stories and messages were non-christian. Rather, the articles were very faith promoting and written for people to become closer with christ. The article, Likening the Scriptures to Our Personal Lives was a case in point. Now of course, much of it comes from lds modern modern scripture. But certainly if one is a catholic one can disregard the mormon scripture references (Although mormons would also see the message of the article when they read the bible) and see the message as it would relate to the bible.

 

[ckempston]

we also believe that we will become joint-heirs with Christ and that Jesus Christ allows us to be exalted. Our position is very biblical.

Do you feel threatened by my question? Why do you continue to ignore it?

Was God once a man? YES or NO

 

[zerinus]

Do you have any evidence to back this up?

Yes, because it is not there. Trinitarianism is not biblical because it is not found in the Bible. I can’t prove to you that it is not there because it is not there for me to prove to you that it is not there. If you think it is there, it is up to you to tell me where to find it, not expect me to prove to you that it is not there.

zerinus

 

[ckempston]

Yes, because it is not there. Trinitarianism is not biblical because it is not found in the Bible. I can’t prove to you that it is not there because it is not there for me to prove to you that it is not there. If you think it is there, it is up to you to tell me where to find it, not expect me to prove to you that it is not there.

zerinus

Really? And is it in the Bible somewhere that God was once a mortal man?

In any case, which part, specifically, of the Trinity is not in the Bible.

 

[zerinus]

Really? And is it in the Bible somewhere that God was once a mortal man?

That is a dodge. You are changing the subject to divert attention from the one that you can’t handle. And for your information, Mormonism does not teach that God was once a man. It has not been revealed how God came to be, or where He came from. We do not have the answer to that question.

In any case, which part, specifically, of the Trinity is not in the Bible.

There is no “parts” about it. Trinitarianism is not biblical. The Trinitarian theology is not found in the Bible.

zerinus

 

[RebeccaJ]

Really? And is it in the Bible somewhere that God was once a mortal man?

In any case, which part, specifically, of the Trinity is not in the Bible.

That is a dodge. You are changing the subject to divert attention from the one that you can’t handle. And for your information, Mormonism does not teach that God was once a man. It has not been revealed how God came to be, or where He came from. We do not have the answer to that question.

ckempston, zerinus is a new generation of mormons that have gone sola scriptura. But as you can see, there are other mormons here who say they are not sola scriptura.

The mormon church teaches that God was once a man. Zerinus has just chosen to not believe it. Not that I can blame him, but his brand of mormonism is just that, his brand.

“This is the way our Heavenly Father became God. Joseph Smith taught: “It is the first principle of the Gospel to know for a certainty the character of God. . . . He was once a man like us; . . . God himself, the Father of us all, dwelt on an earth, the same as Jesus Christ himself did” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pp. 345-46).”

from: /library/display/0,4945,11-1-13-59,00.htmllds.org

 

[ckempston]

That is a dodge. You are changing the subject to divert attention from the one that you can’t handle. And for your information, Mormonism does not teach that God was once a man. It has not been revealed how God came to be, or where He came from. We do not have the answer to that question.

This is not a dodge at all. Quite the contrary, I asked the question first that you have been avoiding, and now you are simply lying. Several of your prophets have said that God was once mortal and got promoted, and likewise, Mormons can get the same promotion.

There is no “parts” about it. Trinitarianism is not biblical. The Trinitarian theology is not found in the Bible.

zerinus

This is a gross over-simplification because most doctrines are implicit or deduced rather than explicit. The fact that you cannot answer the question about which parts you object to is quite telling. The reason, of course, that you will not point to which part you object to is because you cannot deny any part of the Trinity doctrine without contradicting some passage of scripture. The whole is deduced from the parts, which are explicit in scripture.

 

[PaulDupre]

Yes, because it is not there. Trinitarianism is not biblical because it is not found in the Bible. I can’t prove to you that it is not there because it is not there for me to prove to you that it is not there. If you think it is there, it is up to you to tell me where to find it, not expect me to prove to you that it is not there.

zerinus

Thank you, Zerinus. This is exactly the point I keep making to bukowski about why the Lehites did not encounter indiginous peoples in the Americas, nor did they “intermarry with the locals”, because it is not found in the BoM. The BoM never mentions the people of Lehi interacting with or marrying any indiginous people. Therefore we should take the BoM at face value when it says that God withheld knowledge of the American continents from other nations so that the people of Lehi could have it for their inheritance.

So there was nobody in the Americas (except Coriantumr) when the Lehites got here. So the fanciful idea that the Amerindians have Mongolian, not Hebrew, DNA because the Lehites intermarried with Mongolians goes right out the window.

I’m glad a Mormon supports me in this position.