Welcome to the ULC Minister's Network

Forums » Comparative Religions

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

    • 31 posts
    December 3, 2016 1:46 PM PST

    AKA Mormon or LDS.

     

    Having been, (being in the past tense, I asked to be excommunicated in 1987) a member of the Mormon Church for 16 years. I’m still amazed after 1st contact in1970 how many people think they have knowledge of the Mormon church and their theology and rarely get it right. If I believed they were relatively close I would still be a member. I personally have no axe to grind with them or their members. But like all originations run by human they have basic flaws in which the try direct how their members should live.

    If you have any questions, I would be happy to give you unbiased information.


    This post was edited by Paul Moore at December 15, 2016 7:09 PM PST
  • December 15, 2016 4:47 PM PST
    Hello. How does the church get new members? What "tactics" do they employ?
    • 31 posts
    December 15, 2016 7:03 PM PST

    The simple answerer is no real difference than many other churches I have looked at or friend from other churches. The feel what they have is the greatest gift. So, they invite people they meet, work with, neighbors, etc. to learn more about their church. They do have fulltime missionaries mostly males 18 to 24. Female missionaries must be 21 who are very motivated. The missionaries have a series of lessons (I think 6) they give that talks about the plan of salvation, life in the pre-earthly existence, restoration of the gospel with is the origin of the Book of Mormon, beliefs and about Mormonism. At some point, they invite you to attend church with them and somewhere in the process like in sales try and close the deal.

    You could call them and asks them to come see you and tell you about their church.

    Hope you found this helpful.

    • 31 posts
    December 15, 2016 7:19 PM PST

    I made a Big Mistake on my 3-Dec-16 post (I personally have an axe to grind) which should have been *** I personally have NO axe to grind** I only hope the ones who read when I had the mistake might like back. I have no anger with the Catholic or Mormon chuch, they are just not for me anymore.

     

  • December 15, 2016 8:13 PM PST
    I didn't want my question to sound negative, I am just trying to expand my knowledge of other beliefs. From my very limited knowledge they hold some facets of Christianity as mere guidelines and others very strictly.
    • 31 posts
    December 17, 2016 8:25 PM PST

    I thought your questions was how do they go about getting new member and that is the process I described.

     

    Their basic belief is the war in heaven, Jesus felt Man should have free will to make decisions and Satan felt Man should be forced to obey God. God choose the free will and the others were cast out. We lived as spirits and needed to come to earth and have that experience and free will to follow God will or not. There are three levels in Heaven and the ones that follow God’s will get the highest level. The Book of Mormon is the account of peoples in the Americas as the Bible was to the Middle East roughly during the same time period.  After three days when Jesus returned “he said do not touch me as I have not seen my Father. This is where the believe he was in the Americas doing his ministry. When the Book of Mormon was given to Joseph Smith and was a companion to the Bible the fullness of God’s church could be restored to Earth.

     

    Hope this helps

    • 31 posts
    January 18, 2017 6:11 AM PST

    GM Andrew,

    You are correct, the only thing I would modify would be “Most Mormons also believe that God is one of many” I would say “Mormons” as this basic church doctrine. Mormon doctrine also teaches there three levels in heaven.

    LIFE AFTER DEATH According to Mormon doctrine, at death people either go to spirit prison or to paradise. Mormon spirits go to paradise where they will continue to progress toward godhood, and they also will have opportunities to present the Mormon gospel to the spirits in spirit prison. If the spirits in prison receive the Mormon gospel, they will also receive the benefit of proxy baptism; living Mormons will be baptized on their behalf (this is known as baptism for the dead). With few exceptions, everyone will attain to one of three levels of heaven or heavenly kingdoms:

    The Celestial Kingdom, the Terrestrial Kingdom, and the Telestial Kingdom.

    The Celestial Kingdom; Those who are faithful in the things of God, baptism, membership in the Mormon Church, keeping the Word of Wisdom, etc. will live with Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost forever in the Celestial Kingdom, and will have their faithful family members with them (hence the Mormon commercials regarding “Families are Forever”). Those who attain the highest level of the Celestial Kingdom by means of complete faithfulness, which includes temple marriage will become gods: creators of their own planets, and procreators of their own spirit children. (Doctrine and Covenants 76:51-53, 62; 131:1-4)

    The Terrestrial Kingdom; Those who did not receive the Mormon gospel while on Earth but receive it in spirit prison, and those who did receive the Mormon gospel but were not faithful, will inherit this level of heaven. Their family unit will not be retained, and they will be eternally single. Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost will visit them, but Heavenly Father will not. (Doctrine and Covenants 76:73-79; 131:1-4)

    The Telestial Kingdom; This is the lowest of the heavenly kingdoms. The occupants did not receive the Mormon gospel either on Earth or in spirit prison, and they suffer for their sins in hell, though only temporarily. They will be forever single, without their family members. Neither the Father nor Jesus Christ will visit them, but they will be visited by the Holy Ghost (Doctrine and Covenants 76:81-86, 103-106).

    Hell; Mormons believe hell is a place where the future inhabitants of the Telestial Kingdom (the lowest heaven) will suffer for their own sins; though their punishment is not eternal in duration. As Joseph Fielding Smith wrote, "Those who live lives of wickedness may also be heirs of salvation, that is, they too shall be redeemed from death and from hell eventually. These, however, must suffer in hell the torments of the damned until they pay the price of their sinning, for the blood of Christ will not cleanse them" (Doctrines of Salvation, vol. 2, 133-134).

    Outer Darkness; Those who received the Mormon gospel and the Holy Ghost but reject both will be cast into outer darkness. Like the biblical doctrine of an eternal hell, assignment here is for all eternity (Doctrine and Covenants 76:28-35, 44-48).

     

     

     

     

  • July 21, 2017 5:15 AM PDT
    A lot of this thread is slanted pretty badly. LDS theology is evolving and not so simplistic as described here. There is a breadth of interpretation on most subjects, and the descriptions presented cherry-pick a certain interpretation not held by all Saints.

    And Mormonism is a multilayered culture, with Progressive Mormons, True Blue Mormons, New Order Mormons, and even a vital Ex-Mormon community.

    “..I stated that the most prominent difference in sentiment between the Latter-day Saints and sectarians was, that the latter were all circumscribed by some peculiar creed, which deprived its members the privilege of believing anything not contained therein, whereas the Latter-day Saints … are ready to believe all true principles that exist, as they are made manifest from time to time…” 


    Joseph Smith

    The first and fundamental principle of our holy religion is, that we have the right to embrace all, and every item of the truth, without limitation or without being circumscribed or prohibited by the creeds and superstitious notions of men.” 


    Joseph Smith

    In the Church, we embrace all truth, whether it comes from the scientific laboratory or from the revealed word of the Lord. We accept all truth as being part of the gospel. One truth does not contradict another."

    —Russell M. Nelson

    The first and fundamental principle of our holy religion is, that we believe that we have a right to embrace all, and every item of truth, without limitation or without being circumscribed or prohibited by the creeds or superstitious notions of men, or by the dominations of one another, when that truth is clearly demonstrated to our minds, and we have the highest degree of evidence of the same

    Joseph Smith

    “Men and women should become settled in the truth and rounded in a knowledge of the Gospel, depending upon no person for borrowed light, but trusting only upon the Holy Spirit, who is ever the same.” 

    President Joseph F. Smith

    Don't assume things are so rigid as depicted here.
    • 1 posts
    June 30, 2018 11:24 PM PDT

    Church of Jesus is beautifully built for the visits of the church. All he narrated items and top essay writing review have been akin in to account for the comfort of the people who have been coming for the worship and such holy things.

    • 19 posts
    August 24, 2018 9:05 AM PDT

    Part of their "tactics" a few years ago was in running television ads here on the east coast. They (Latter Day Saints and/or something Lutheran something [was never clear to me]) emphasized that their god loved my child more than I loved my child. I, as a mother, was immediately incensed, offended, whatever you want to call it; no one can possibly love my child more than I do. I polled several Christians, different denominations, and none of them thought something "other" or "god" loved their children more than they did, either. So from a PR point of view, that tact was a dismal failure.