Why are Catholics so interested in the LDS faith?

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BJ_Colbert

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I am amazed at the study time put in by members of the Catholic Church to prove the LDS Church wrong.
Why do Catholics spend so much time and money buying and reading all things pro and con(mostly con)about the " Mormon "Church?
I am interested on the surface about the basic beliefs of the Catholic Church, just to be able to converse with my husband and understand the basic concepts of his Catholic faith, but I would never dig as deeply into it as some of these forum posters have delved into the LDS church.
So why is it so important to you? If it is just curiosity, why not ask the questions and accept the answers given by LDS, why tell them they are lying and don’t know their own religion as well as you Catholics know it.
Do you attend LDS meetings every Sunday for your entire life? How is it you claim to know more than a practicing Mormon?
Just curious…that is all…no offense intended BJ
 
Hi BJ,
We are very interested in exposing the LDS faith because:
  1. Mormons specifically target Catholics for conversion.
  2. Mormons consistently spread vicious falsehoods about the Catholic faith and Christianity in general. (That was one of the first things that made me doubt the LDS leaders - I heard some slanderous lies from the GA’s)
  3. LDS are deceptive - they misrepresent the Church’s history and doctrines to investigators and other non-members. It isn’t until the investigator is already baptised that he begins to learn what the Church really teaches. That’s one reason convert retention rates are so low.
As a former LDS missionary I can tell you that the “Elders” are instructed that Catholics are easy targets. LDS missionaries are also very active in predominantly Catholic countries, trying to lure gullible people away from the faith of their fathers.

We are just defending the truth and informing the unsuspecting. Hopefully those who read these forums will not fall for the missionaries’ tricks.

God love you,
Paul
 
Some of us have asked questions about various LDS subjects and have received non-answers. I became interested in the Book of Abraham after hearing about the controversy surrounding it. I read an explanation by an LDS church member and found it very puzzling. When I asked about it on another thread, I got nastiness in return.

If one receives non-answers, one continues to ask.
 
Interesting question. For myself, the reasons are very straightforward. The LDS church is growing at what seems to be an exponential rate. It sends ‘missionaries’ to nations that are traditionally Catholic. It claims that I, as a Catholic, belong to an apostate organization. Based on these factors alone, it is incumbent on me, I believe, to seriously investigate the claims of the LDS–indeed, the more interesting question, to me, is how could any Catholic NOT be interested in the LDS faith.

Moreover, what I have found is that, the deeper one looks into the LDS organization, the evidence for the validity of its beliefs (e.g., the validity of the BOM, the trustworthiness of Smith) is seriously and gravely lacking. This makes its growth particularly perplexing to me…who isn’t drawn to a paradox?
 
BJ Colbert:
So why is it so important to you?
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1 Peter 3:15: but in your hearts reverence Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to make a defense to any one who calls you to account for the hope that is in you, yet do it with gentleness and reverence;

It isn’t only Mormon beliefs that we research and argue against.
 
Wow! Thank you very much, these answers are all very interesting.

I am more inclined to ignor attacks on my religion as pure ignorance, rather than study the religion that is attacking it, so thoroughly.

So, what you are saying basically, is that the LDS Church is making great inroads into converting Catholics, and so you feel you must defend your faith by proving ours wrong.
Kind of like the war between the Protestants and the Catholics in Ireland.

I understand now why some of the attacks on LDS in this forum are quite vicious. It is because you feel threatened by us and it is imperative to your survival to prove us wrong.

All this time I thought it was simply an exchange of ideas and learning about each others faith. Big misunderstanding thanks for setting me straight.
BJ
 
Actually, let me restate something. I don’t think the growth of the LDS movement is a ‘paradox’…I think (presume) that potential converts, and many members, are largely in the dark about the serious problems for LDS apologists. So its growth, in my view, is not a paradox-it’s a function of either ignorance or duplicity or both.
 
Kind of like the war between the Protestants and the Catholics in Ireland.
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No,this isn’t what I’m saying nor is it an apt analogy.
 
The more I read your posts, the more contradictory you seem. Sometimes you seem quite genuine, other times mocking… I just can’t figure you out.
BJ Colbert:
I am more inclined to ignor attacks on my religion as pure ignorance, rather than study the religion that is attacking it, so thoroughly.
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I would disagree about your assessment of yourself…
BJ Colbert:
So, what you are saying basically, is that the LDS Church is making great inroads into converting Catholics, and so you feel you must defend your faith by proving ours wrong.
Kind of like the war between the Protestants and the Catholics in Ireland.
Click to expand...
The war?? We’re at war now ? And what is happening in Ireland is a LOT more complicated…
BJ Colbert:
I understand now why some of the attacks on LDS in this forum are quite vicious. It is because you feel threatened by us and it is imperative to your survival to prove us wrong.
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Survival ? hmm… let me think about that one… NO.
BJ Colbert:
All this time I thought it was simply an exchange of ideas and learning about each others faith. Big misunderstanding thanks for setting me straight.
BJ
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You have a long ways to go I think…

I apologize ahead of time for my sarcasm… I don’t post often, but I usually I try to be more charitable… For some reason I felt I needed to speak my mind
 
BJ Colbert:
Wow! Thank you very much, these answers are all very interesting.

I am more inclined to ignor attacks on my religion as pure ignorance, rather than study the religion that is attacking it, so thoroughly.

So, what you are saying basically, is that the LDS Church is making great inroads into converting Catholics, and so you feel you must defend your faith by proving ours wrong.
Kind of like the war between the Protestants and the Catholics in Ireland.

I understand now why some of the attacks on LDS in this forum are quite vicious. It is because you feel threatened by us and it is imperative to your survival to prove us wrong.

All this time I thought it was simply an exchange of ideas and learning about each others faith. Big misunderstanding thanks for setting me straight.
BJ
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Well, I had asked a simple question about the Book of Abraham, and this was your response of Aug. 14:

Maybe sounds a little bit like the Pope who decided Mary was assumed into heaven since he didn’t know where her body was after 100s of years. And since there were rumors and folk tales floating around, he as Pope had the power to make it official and since then all Catholics have believed this bit of folklore and made Mary the object of their devotion.
Sounds like hokus pokus and nothing in the Bible to back it up. Simply the imaginations of man and the Pope to make it official. That is just my view, of the devotion to Mary over Jesus Christ her Son. She was a virgin of great beauty and purity,and was chosen by God to be the Mother of His Son Jesus Christ, other than that the Bible does not elaborate on her life or her death. All other speculation is just that, Speculation.
BJ

Well, if this is to be an exchange of ideas, then I do not see the point of off-topic, rude remarks. This kind of answer to a question does not foster a mutual exchange of ideas in a Christian atmosphere. What do you imagine that people think when a question receives a reply such as the one above? Most would think that there is no real answer, and that the only defense is sidestepping and tu quoques.

I am still looking for information regarding the BoA, and would appreciate a Christian, sensible reply.

We all have planks in our eyes; some of us don’t realize it.
 
I am not interested in it.

(Side note: for those of you who know that I have sponsored a couple of ex-Mormons into the Catholic Faith over the last couple of years, just pure coincidence…I wasn’t seeking Mormons; the three of them came to me.)
 
Christian Science, the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (known now as the Communities of Christ) and Unitarian-Universalism seldom come up on these forums: these are DECLINING denominations which seldom come up in the news as topical subjects and which seldom target the Roman Catholic or Protestant churches for missionizing.

Hence, some of the causes for the interest in the LDS Church: it is a fast-growing church, frequently in the news, which makes claims directly challenging those made by the mainstream Christian bodies, and which targets those with a Christian heritage for conversion.

BTW: Cathoolics are rather oversensitized to the idea that any sort of disagreement or even divergence from what they believe to be the truth is an ‘attack’. I think it is unfair to suggest that the LDS Church actively spends much time ‘attacking the Catholic Church’. The theology of the LDS Church is inimical to that of traditional Christianity and therefore those who accept the tenets of Mormonism inevitably contradict the tenets of Christianity in explicating their own views–but this is not, of itself, an ‘attack’. And Mormons who are former Catholics often tell horror stories, not all of these fully creditable or truly representative of how Catholicism is lived and practiced generally, but this also is not an attack. At worst it is a self-serving way of justifying themselves; at best, an account of some real and possibly tragic event in their own lives. And Catholics who are former Mormons are likely as not prone to engage in similar tale-telling, for similar reasons.
 
BJ Colbert:
Wow! Thank you very much, these answers are all very interesting.

I am more inclined to ignor attacks on my religion as pure ignorance, rather than study the religion that is attacking it, so thoroughly.

So, what you are saying basically, is that the LDS Church is making great inroads into converting Catholics, and so you feel you must defend your faith by proving ours wrong.
Kind of like the war between the Protestants and the Catholics in Ireland.

I understand now why some of the attacks on LDS in this forum are quite vicious. It is because you feel threatened by us and it is imperative to your survival to prove us wrong.

All this time I thought it was simply an exchange of ideas and learning about each others faith. Big misunderstanding thanks for setting me straight.
BJ
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BJ, why do you launch these bitter sarcastic attacks? You accuse those who disagree with you as ignorant and yet you are one of those who has had to learn about your own religion here. Many of us are former LDS (so apparently the Catholic church is making such great inroads in converting Mormons that LDS membes feel a need to go to CATHOLIC ANSWERS and defend their faith…) Many of us taught missionary discussions, seminary, institute, priesthood, gospel doctrine, etc. We feel that we can give accurate answers to CATHOLICS who are curious about things. We also feel able to provide accurate answers to curious Mormons who chose to come to CATHOLIC ANSWERS to ask questions.

I am tired of the dissembling, supressing, and outright falsifying of the “orwellian” “Packerite” wannabe missionaries who think that this forum exists for them to seek converts in. Let those who are seeking to join with the LDS church go the many LDS websites and there receive instruction in a mannner that is intended for would be converts.

Here is a Catholic site for the preaching of the Catholic doctrine. The LDS church uses it’s own sites to vigorously defend the “Mormon” faith. To call out the Catholic church for doing the same is absolute hypocrisy especially for a church that has repeatedly referred to ours as the great and abonimable church of the devil.

I find your lack of civility disturbing and uncalled for. :mad:

Now… I do hope that the Lord will bless you and your family with joy regardless of what church (es) you chose to attend. Peace be with you.
 
I grew up with Mormons. My best friends are Mormon. I want to understand their faith more. I knew very very little about the Mormon church for a long time, but after a crisis of faith in my own life, I investigated it very thoroughly with the intent of converting.

The more I learned, the more I realized it was wrong. (sorry, don’t want to step on any toes, but that’s my personal experience). I was very sincerely intent on getting baptized into the church, but I wanted to receive a testimony first. The missionaries were patient and understood that desire and were very supportive.

But the more we talked about “the great apostasy”, the less sense it made. People kept telling me why the Catholic Church was apostate, and I’d ask them what belief of ours made them feel that way. They’d tell me that we didn’t believe in three separate persons (Father, Son, Holy Spirit). I’d tell them that we did (which we do).

They’d tell me that worship Mary. I’d tell them that we don’t.

They’d tell me that Arius was excommunicated in the 4th century for believing in the Godhead. I’d tell them they were wrong.

Basically, every single time a Mormon missionary or someone else in the LDS faith had a reason why they believed the Catholic Church was apostate, it was a belief that we don’t actually have. So much of the LDS faith hinges on the notion that a restoration of the church is necessary because of apostasy, but trying to find out just what is apostate about Catholicism always leads to a bunch of dead ends.

In the end, I learned so much about Catholicism due to their questions and challenges that I realized where I really belonged, and where God’s true church really is. If I weren’t the kind of person who investigate historical facts that are told to me (rather than just accepting what someone else tells me) I wouldn’t know much at all about real Catholic history, just the distortions of our history presented by missionaries (who I don’t believe are intentionally distorting the truth, they just don’t know the true history of the church). If I weren’t raised to be knowledgable about my Catholic faith, I wouldn’t have realized that what I was told about Catholicism by the missionaries was innaccurate.

I’d probably be Mormon.

Additionally, whenever I asked a question about the history of the Mormon church, it was like the missionaries had to get permission first before they could answer. When I asked about polygamy, they just dodged the question. When I asked for a clarification of eternal progression, none was offered. The missionaries I met were great guys, and they tried very hard to be helpful and forthcoming. But they simply didn’t have any answers.

Meanwhile, Catholicism has always had an answer, always had a response.

My continued interest in Mormonism is due to my friends. I know they’re going to ask why I won’t convert. I don’t want to hurt anybody, but I have to be honest with them too. I just want to keep my faith and my friends too (and admittedly, I wouldn’t mind showing them what they’re missing).
 
I am amazed at the study time put in by members of the Catholic Church to prove the LDS Church wrong.
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For me, it was to understand and out of curiosity as the motive (not to prove wrong). And it was not a lot of time compared to bible study and study of Catholicism. I had someone who had been a friend for most my life drop right out of it over a dinner conversation quite some time after I became Catholic. I wanted to know what the deal was about LDS that might have caused what happened, since it was over religion. Also, it is in my nature to study things. Mormonism is not the only one. However, it was higher on my list because of the failed friendship and because of the strange things the missionaries said when they came to my door. I wanted to find out the truth of what it was/said. I have also spent time trying to understand Islam, Bahai, JW, things like these.
 
BJ Colbert:
Wow! Thank you very much, these answers are all very interesting.

I am more inclined to ignor attacks on my religion as pure ignorance, rather than study the religion that is attacking it, so thoroughly.

So, what you are saying basically, is that the LDS Church is making great inroads into converting Catholics, and so you feel you must defend your faith by proving ours wrong.
Kind of like the war between the Protestants and the Catholics in Ireland.

I understand now why some of the attacks on LDS in this forum are quite vicious. It is because you feel threatened by us and it is imperative to your survival to prove us wrong.

All this time I thought it was simply an exchange of ideas and learning about each others faith. Big misunderstanding thanks for setting me straight.
BJ
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Well, I find the Shakers (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakers) fascinating, as well as the Amish (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amish)), too, but I don’t accept their distinctive doctrines, any more than I do those of the LDS. There just doesn’t seem to be sufficient objective evidence to support those, either. So, I’m not just picking on the “poor” Mormons. We just don’t have any forums (yet) on Catholic Answers to discuss *those * particular theologies, probably because they’re not actively proselytizing Catholics.
 
I should probably mention that I’ve also put a great deal of time into studying various Eastern religions and philosophies – Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism.

I also read Nietzche which could be considered an almost religious philosophy at times (Thus Spoke Zarathustra is a great book in fact, in spite of his many misguided conclusions). And I’ve studied philosophy and theology for years.

Mormonism is interesting because it is still young enough to really look at it’s origins, but old enough that you can see some of the long-term results of its doctrine as well. They can inspire an almost fanatical zeal in the church members, but so can Scientology, Zoroastrianism and The Heaven’s Gate people who castrated themselves and then committed suicide so they could all go to heaven on the tail of a comet.

Stories of individuals “testifying” to the validity of the LDS faith or scripture are meaningless unless they have more than just “I felt it was true” to back themselves up.
 
BJ Colbert:
I am amazed at the study time put in by members of the Catholic Church to prove the LDS Church wrong.
Why do Catholics spend so much time and money buying and reading all things pro and con(mostly con)about the " Mormon "Church?
I am interested on the surface about the basic beliefs of the Catholic Church, just to be able to converse with my husband and understand the basic concepts of his Catholic faith, but I would never dig as deeply into it as some of these forum posters have delved into the LDS church.
So why is it so important to you? If it is just curiosity, why not ask the questions and accept the answers given by LDS, why tell them they are lying and don’t know their own religion as well as you Catholics know it.
Do you attend LDS meetings every Sunday for your entire life? How is it you claim to know more than a practicing Mormon?
Just curious…that is all…no offense intended BJ
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I think most Catholics who are interested in the LDS faith are so because they have some personal experience with Mormonism that has greatly affected their lives, i.e., an LDS spouse, friend, parents, former LDS, etc.

The bottom line, however, is this: the LDS church claims that it is the restoration of the church that apostacized and became the Catholic Church. Intended or not, this is a direct attack on the Catholic Church, and therefore must be challenged. It is a matter of truth and falsehood, and this issue must be discussed and exposed in all detail. Most LDS take for granted that there was an apostacy without really looking into early church history. If LDS make the claim that the Catholic Church is apostate, then they shouldn’t be upset when Catholics respond with a strenuous defense. This is more than just a friendly discussion–it is a matter of finding truth and exposing falsehood.
 
How about it’s because we want to expose the Truth vs. their truths?
 
I invest time looking into various groups. I try to get my facts about them from the source.
Here is an old thread which I looked on the LDS home page for hours and cited everything I put down.
 
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