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freesoulhope
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What inspired the athor of moninism, it doesnt sound in the least bit Christian or of any religion that talks of Yaweh. It sounds like some new age wierdness, can sombody give me some knowlegde on the subject?
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ReinnieR
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Mike_D30
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There’s some threads here, but what you will see is a lot of heated discussion back and forth. I read the book of mormon and spent about one year studying various aspects fo their religion, though I never joined the church.
I would say mormonism is a gnostic version of christian spirituality, mixed with masonic ritual, and other occultic ritual. It most certaily isn’t christian as it goes against almost every precept of Christianity:
Chrisitans believe One God (Trinity) - mormons don’t believe this, the believe God the Father, God the Son, adn the Holy Spirit, are three seperate and distinct Gods, they’re polytheistic.
Chrisitans believe God is a Spirit - mormons believe God is flesh and bone (Brigham Young believed Adam to be God when he was the prophet of their church)
Chrisitans believe God is all knowing - mormons believe God increases in knowledge, adn is an exalted man.
Chrisitans believe God is infinite - mormons believe God the Father had a Father.
Chrisitans believe Jesus Christ was begotten of the Holy Spirit - Mormons believe God had literal sex with Mary to concieve Jesus.
Chrisitans believe Jesus paid the attonement at Calvary on the cross - mormons believe christ paid for sins at gethsemane not on the cross.
Christians believe in not using good luck charms or magical devices. - mormons wear special underpants all the time that guard them from evil.
Chistians believe Jesus was eternal - mormons believe jesus is a spirit baby of God the father. And that Satan was also a spirit baby and not a created angel. making Jesus and satan spirit brothers.
Chrisitans believe man is not a God, and can’t become God - Mormons believe man can become a God and rule their own planet. They believe that Jesus was once a normal man, until he became a God and rules Earth.
Christians do not believe in gnosticism, such as temple rituals, secret handshakes, secret passwords and sacred clothing to protect them. And all this be necesasry to gain entrance into the third level of heaven, which Christians don’t believe in either.
Catholic’s believe the Catholic Church traces its roots all the way back to the Apostles, and is the rightful Church of Apostolic succession, and Christs Church as Christ promised, never was destroyed. - Mormons believe Catholic’s (and Protestants, but moreso Catholic’s) are the Church of Satan, and Christs Church apostasized shortly after the death of the apostles.
The list goes on and on, but I suggest you read for yourself and don’t rely on what I or anyone else has to say.
I’ll attacked for being an "anti-mormon’ for this, but everything I wrote is true. They will spin it with long drawn out explanations and attacks that go no where, it’s one of the tactics they use. If they get attention off of their doctrine people will forget about the inital argument.
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Brian_C
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You didn’t think you were going to let this one slip by, did you??? What in the world is that about???
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Mike_D30
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What do you mean?
Mormons wear magical underpants to guard them from evil, I didn’t make it up. Google Temple Garments, and see what you get, Mormons wear these all the time.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_garment
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Paris_Blues
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I don’t get why the poster put the ISM?
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a_cermak
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There is also a Re-organized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, now called the Community of Christ headquartered in Missouri. They accept the Nicene Creed and reject many of the tenets of Mormonism that set it apart from Christianity. They accept the Book of Mormon as an inspired book, but of lower value than Scripture. They are referred to by LDS members as Protestant Mormons.
I visited Nauvoo a time back. It’s a little town in IL just accross from the Iowa border. It’s where the martyrdom of Joseph Smith occurred and where the LDS and Community of Christ split. The LDS followed Brigham Young, the CC (at the time RLDS) followed Joseph Smith’s son. There’s a historical site there in Nauvoo (plus a huge Catholic Church, St. Peter and Paul I believe) and a new Mormon temple. The thing that amused me was to see two signs, on opposite sides of the street, about 3 feet apart in distance, which pointed in opposite directions to the historic Joseph Smith site. One was from Community of Christ and one from LDS.
I visited Nauvoo a time back. It’s a little town in IL just accross from the Iowa border. It’s where the martyrdom of Joseph Smith occurred and where the LDS and Community of Christ split. The LDS followed Brigham Young, the CC (at the time RLDS) followed Joseph Smith’s son. There’s a historical site there in Nauvoo (plus a huge Catholic Church, St. Peter and Paul I believe) and a new Mormon temple. The thing that amused me was to see two signs, on opposite sides of the street, about 3 feet apart in distance, which pointed in opposite directions to the historic Joseph Smith site. One was from Community of Christ and one from LDS.
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dragonfly
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mike is right!! They don’t tell you this when first get babtised and start going to their church. But after you have entered the temple and are allowed the temple teachings, but MAINLY after you get married in the Temple, the men wear special underwear. Usually the same one everyday!! Washed of course. I don’t have to refer to any references, my mom was mormon, my grandmother, her grandmother, etc… These beleifs truley are “explained” away!! Or “put on hold” when they come to your door!!!
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Brian_C
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Wow, not to make light of another’s beliefs but that’s weird! Special underwear? All sorts of odd pictures are swirling in my head.:whacky:
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Mike_D30
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I don’t want to make light of it either, or insult anyone, it’s their belief system and that’s fine. But I do take offense to mormons saying what they practice is real Christianity, and we all are of the Church of the satan.
Mormon’s have a nice community and the people are typically very pleasant. But what they practice is about as far from Christianity as Hinduism…
The Apostles Creed(~100AD) and Nicean Creed (~300 AD) were invented to counter such gnosticism and heresy that mormons profess today.
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Lapsed
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This about sums it up in my experience, Mike. I don’t think I’d go so far as to call the rank and file Mormons non-Christian, though.
A great many Mormons I know live Christian virtue a whole lot better than many of the rest of us. I would say the church teaches a lot of non-Christian doctrine, but many of the members are faithful Christians who have been duped into buying Joseph Smith’s false church. It’s best not to confuse the institution with the people.
I was Mormon for about five years. I went to the temple, my family was sealed. I was serving as Elders Quorum President in my ward when I left.
The temple garments (the “sacred underwear”) are a carryover from the masonic apron. It is no “weirder” than Catholics wearing scapulars, and is every bit as misunderstood. Most non-Catholics veiw scapulars much the same way Mormon temple garments are being viewed here.
The garment in and of itself is a symbol, not the power. In order to gain the benefits promised to those who wear the temple garment, the Mormon must be faithful to their temple covenants. The symbols contained in the garment are masonic symbols and they serve specifically to remind the wearer of the covenants made in the temple. Temple garments are viewed by Mormons no more as good luck charms than scapulars are by faithful Catholics.
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Lapsed
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There is actualy nothing in the Apostle’s Creed counter to LDS teachings, though they certainly understand it a little differently. The Nicene Creed, however, is problematic for them.
I believe in God, the Father Almighty
Yes, they do. They call him Elohim
creator of heaven and earth
Through Jehovah (Yahweh) who is the member of their godhead who incarnated as Jesus. Also they believe creation was not ex-nihlo (out of nothing), but rather that God organized eternally existing matter. This is right out of Norse mythology.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord
They do, though their understanding of “only Son” applies specifically to Jesus’ birth from Mary, not his spiritual status.
who was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was burried
This is pretty straight forward. Contrary to common misperception, the Church does not teach that God literally had sex with Mary. A few of the leaders have speculated that this might be the case, but it is not doctrine. As Catholics we should certainly be able to understand the thoughts of a few liberal bishops being mistaken for Church teaching.
he descended to the dead
Where Mormons believe he taught the Gospel to all those in “spirit prison” and those who accepted the Gospel were released. They do believe that the dead can repent.
on the third day he rose again. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father
They take this literally. Jesus is literally enthoroned at the literal right hand of the Father. On the planet Kolob.
No, I’m not kidding.
He will come again to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting.
Of course, they believe theirs to be the true church. They also believe the Holy Spirit to be ontologically distinct from the Father and the Son, though they do believe in the Holy Spirit’s personhood.
They most definitely believe in the communion of the saints and believe that the living can perform meritorious works for the dead who died without benefit of the Mormon gospel. The Mormons call these “ordinances” though it is a concept very similar to the Catholic understanding of the Sacraments. The temples exist primarily to carry out this vicarious work for the dead.
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Mike_D30
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I don’t agree with that, because the Apostles Creed most definitely expresses the Trinity. Any Orthodox or Catholic believes this.
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Mike_D30
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I can agree with that whole-heartedly.
Well this I don’t really agree with either, as Christians gain no power from the scapular. It is just a sign of priesthood authority and dignity. There is not supposed to be any power gained from it. Correct me if I’m wrong but Mormon’s who hold the Aaronic and Melchizidek priesthood, gain power from the garments as a talisman against evil. I spoke with lapsed mormon’s who espoused this.
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Lapsed
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That’s why the Nicene Creed became necessary as it overtly teaches the ontological oneness of the Trinity in order to conteract the gnostic heresies which could read the Apostles’ Creed without being troubled by it.
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Mike_D30
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I agree that the Nicene Creed was developed to make it more clear, that Chrisitans believe in the Trinity, in order to counter heresies (I think Arianism). But I don’t believe that the Apostles Creed doesn’t espouse the Trinity. I think it clearly does teach the Trinity, so it does conflict with Mormonism significantly.
At least from a Catholic standpoint it teaches the Trinity. I have a good book on it, I’ll post an excerpt from it tonight that is much more eloquent than I could ever be.
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Lapsed
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How many Catholics have a firm grasp of scapulars? I’ve met an awful lot who see them as some sort of protective charm and poorly understand the nature of the blessings attatched to the faithful wearing of a scapular. The nature of the blessings of the Mormon temple garments is just as broadly misunderstood among Mormons. Simply because a number of ex-Mormons espouse a certain belief does not mean it is actually what their church teaches.
I’d hate to go to ex-Catholics to receive an accurate picture of Catholic teachings.
Catholics aren’t the only ones who have a problem with poor catechesis.
The temple garments are part of the endowment ceremony in the temple and not directly tied to the Mormons’ two priesthoods. A man must hold the Melchizedek priesthood before he can take out his endowments. Women (who cannot hold either Mormon priesthood) and men both undergo this ordinance and receive the temple garments.
Those who are not faithful in keeping their covenants loose the blessings of the temple. The garments in and of themselves have no special virtue. They are a symbol.
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Lapsed
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I actually see in Mormonism one of Satan’s cleverest frauds. Despite the bizarre theology, there are many, many practices and ideas in Mormonism which closely parallel the teachings of Christ and His Church, but are just different enough to reveal the parody for those with eyes to see.
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Brian_C
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Wow…
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Mike_D30
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WOW just scanning by this again, this is far more interesting than the topic at hand.
How did you come to feel the Mormon Church was false? How did you lose you ‘testimony’ that the Book of Mormon wasn’t true? How did you find your way back to the Catholic Church?
I won’t ask you about priesthood ceremonies because I thnk it would still be wrong to say since you gave an oath to not reveal it, but I would love to pick your brain a bit about your experience within the Mormon Church.
Is your family still in the LDS Church? And how hard was it to convince them it was wrong? And lastly did you feel a certain psychological torture getting out? I’ve heard the indoctrination can be such that getting out can be akin to getting out of a cult, (no offense this is just what I’ve heard from those who left the LDS Church).
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