Letter: No such thing as a Mormon church

9 comments:

• abimopectore posted at 10:02 am on Fri, Mar 2, 2012.

  Posts: 168

  If there is a God, why would he stay silent until 1830? Why would he let nearly a couple of thousand of years go by before God spoke again? Why would he abandon his initial effort in Jesus of Nazareth so quickly that would lead to such apostasy?

  This claim alone is ridiculous and should make everyone suspicious of it. There is no realistic basis for this especially in light of the advancement of humanity. To say that the God of the Bible was "hijacked" by western cultural thought through the centuries is to IGNORE human development (i.e., development of thought and culture) through the centuries. There couldn't be a more preposterous claim than this that insults the intelligence of man. Humanity was given mental capacity to reason and that is what humanity's done through the centuries of human development. These claims are not based on any rational logical reason less any historical acumen. Joseph Smith made claims that just don't add up to any truth.

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• samkat posted at 6:03 pm on Thu, Mar 1, 2012.

  Posts: 1175

  Dale: you hit on a key irritant with me. Who gave these presumptous SOBs the right to baptise anyone without their express permission? I am not a mormon by choice while alive and I certainly have no desire to have them monkeying around with my name after I am gone. If I was not a mormon alive, I definitely and not going to be one after I am gone.

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• Accuracy posted at 4:51 pm on Thu, Mar 1, 2012.

  Posts: 1988

  Dale Whiting’s question: …. “just who is the group referred to as "the sons of God?"

  Brigham Young for one . . . who declared: "Intelligent beings are organized to become Gods, even the Sons of God, to dwell in the presence of the Gods" (Discourses of Brigham Young, p.245).

  Nothing to do with these words. “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:” (John 1:12)

  Dale Whiting’s other question: “And where does Santan fit in?”

  While not telling people the particulars of its gospel; The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, actually does teach that Jesus and Satan were brothers. What happened according to (and in the LDS Church-published manual Gospel Principles) is this; In the pre-existence, God the Father convened a “Grand Council” in which two of his sons, Jesus and Satan, came forward and presented alternative plans for the salvation of humankind.

  Mormons also believe posthumous baptism by proxy . . . known as LDS concept of baptism for the dead. Proxy baptisms are performed in Mormon temples with members immersing themselves in a baptismal pool as proxies for others.
  Performed in Mormon temples, baptism for the dead, vicarious baptism or proxy baptism is the religious practice of baptizing a living person on behalf of an individual who is dead; members immersing themselves, so that the living person is acting as the deceased person's proxy.

  This is not the practice of Christianity.
  

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• Dale Whiting posted at 12:31 pm on Thu, Mar 1, 2012.

  Posts: 3705

  Accuracy,

  Those 3,913 changes in the Book of Mormon which you refer to are spelling errors, punctuation improvements and organizing into chapter and verse.

  But consider this from Chapter 1 of the Book of Job:

  6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them.

  7 And the Lord said unto Satan, "Whence comest thou?" Then Satan answered the Lord, and said, "From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it."

  8 And the Lord said unto Satan, "Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?"

  Now Accuracy, just who is the group referred to as "the sons of God?" And what is the relationship between the God whose sons these are and the Lord before whom they present themselves? And where does Santan fit in?

  I have never heard or read an explanation of these simple questions from anyone outside of the LDS church.

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• Accuracy posted at 11:35 am on Thu, Mar 1, 2012.

  Posts: 1988

  Like many others in the Valley, I live in a neighborhood where there is a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints close by – within blocks. Mormon churches do not have large outside signs like Christian churches typically do. And in the Mormon Church there is no paid ministry, no professional clergy, as is common in other churches. Just their leaders, and the bicycling Mormon Missionaries outside of the churches.
  
  It would be interesting though to read the original edition of the 1830 Book of Mormon by Joseph Smith. Written before the 3,913 changes in the Book of Mormon. The present Book of Mormon teaches one God, not plural gods as in the Encyclopedia of Mormonism. Believing in many gods, the Mormon Church teaches that the God to whom they pray is but one of a whole series of gods who at one time were mortal then progressed to godhood.

  “The God Makers” is a shocking exposure of this and what the Mormon Church really believes. Alone with “Decker's Complete Handbook on Mormonism”, Fast Facts on False Teachings”, and “What You Need to Know About Masons”. These books reveal the subtle dangers and deception of the fastest-growing religious cult in America.

  Not to mention the book “The Truth About The Godmakers” written by a Mormon. It’s the book that the Mormons call “The ‘Real’ God Makers”.
  

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• Dale Whiting posted at 6:09 pm on Wed, Feb 29, 2012.

  Posts: 3705

  Yes, Accuracy,

  Believing that Christianity was hyjacked by Western cultural thinking, even before the time of Constantine, and believing it is the "restored church," naturally its doctrines lie outside the standard hyjacked doctrines of Christianity. Mormons refer to this phenomina as the "Great Apostacy."

  Want to learn more about this hyjacking? For starters, FSTV [DirecTV channel 348], is now replaying a documentary by a former Catholic priest. The piece is entitled "Constantine's Sword." It does a nice job of explaining from a Catholic perspective just how Constantine hyjacked Christianity and how it has stayed hyjacked for most of the last two millenia.

  If Constantine's Sword catches your interest, the next step is to ask for those bicycling Mormon Missionaries to pay you a visit in your home. Try phoning 480 964 7164. Or better yet, stop by the Visitors Center on the south side of Main Street just east of Mesa Drive and watch a few movies. Open seven days each week, at the Visitor's Center all of the missionaries there are young ladies, some from overseas! It is a life changing experience!

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• Accuracy posted at 12:18 pm on Wed, Feb 29, 2012.

  Posts: 1988

  Wayne Whitlock..... Citysearch® can help you find Mormon Churches in Phoenix and the Valley. True, they are all listed as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (or LDS Church, colloquially known as the Mormon church)

  CLINK ON: http://phoenix.citysearch.com/listings/phoenix_az_metro/mormon_churches/81948_3816

  Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and the Mormon Church, claims to be a divine restoration of Christ's true church, and claims its basic beliefs place it outside the standard doctrines of Christianity.

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• Dale Whiting posted at 7:19 am on Wed, Feb 29, 2012.

  Posts: 3705

  To be factually correct, when first organized in New York State in 1830 under the direction of Joseph Smith, Jr. it was the "Church of Christ" and did not adopt the full name "Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" until some years later. The Book of Mormon was first printed in 1830. Those who have adopted this book as scripture have been popularly know as Mormons ever since.

  Those of you who are members of today's "Church of Christ," know this. The idea of using that name was adopted from early Mormon members who did not migrate west but who stayed behind in Ohio and eventually reorganized themselves.

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• samkat posted at 6:06 pm on Tue, Feb 28, 2012.

  Posts: 1175

  Look around every neighborhood and you will find an LDS chuch (aka Mormon).

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