Author Topic: The Philosophy of Mormonism-Core Beliefs  (Read 3739 times)

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The Philosophy of Mormonism-Core Beliefs
« on: June 29, 2014, 10:31:14 pm »
Representatives of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are often asked whether the Church is becoming more “mainstream” over time.

If the term “mainstream” means that Latter-day Saints are increasingly viewed as a contributing, relevant and significant part of society — particularly in the United States, where there are now some six million members — then, of course, the answer is “yes.” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, founded in New York State in 1830 with just six members, is today the fourth largest church in the United States by independent estimates.

It follows that its members are found at every level of society — in business and agriculture, in education and the sciences, in political parties and in government, in the entertainment industry and in the news media. In fact, people are much more likely to be familiar with individual Latter-day Saints as friends, neighbors and working colleagues than they are with the Church institution itself or with its teachings. This also applies in many other nations outside the United States.

If being described as “mainstream” means the Church loses the very distinctiveness of the beliefs that are at the heart of its message, the answer is different. While respecting the divergent views of other people of faith, Church leaders want to be clear about the beliefs that help define Latter-day Saints.

The following are some of the more important differences in belief and practice between The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and other Christian churches.

Restoration

Because Latter-day Saints believe that divine apostolic authority was lost from the earth after the death of the ancient apostles, a restoration of that authority was necessary. Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believe that restoration began in the early 1800s with revelations to the young Joseph Smith.

Trinity

Among the most important differences with other Christian churches are those concerning the nature of God and Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. Together, these form what is commonly referred to as the Holy Trinity in many churches and as the Godhead by Latter-day Saints.

Modern prophets, continuing revelation and new scriptures

Latter-day Saints believe that God still speaks to humankind, that He has called new apostles and prophets and that revelation flows today as it did anciently. Further, many of those revelations have been formally incorporated into new volumes of scripture. These include the Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ; the Doctrine and Covenants, a collection of revelations to Joseph Smith and subsequent presidents of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; and the Pearl of Great Price, which includes the writings of Moses and Abraham as well as modern writings of Joseph Smith.

Plan of salvation

Latter-day Saint theology embraces what Mormons refer to as the “plan of salvation.” The topic covers the pre-mortal state of all mankind, the reasons why God created the world, the nature and purpose of our life here and what future awaits us in the next life.

Temples and their purpose

The primary purpose of temple work is to “seal” or unite families together, with the expectation that those relationships continue beyond death. The same temple rites can be performed for those who have died. There is no counterpart to temple practices in other Christian churches.

Missionary program

This is a difference in practice rather than in doctrinal belief, since many Christian churches send out missionaries to preach the gospel. However, the missionary program of the Church is distinctive and recognizable for the sheer number and distribution of missionaries, for the length and variety of their service, and for their appearance and their preaching of a restored gospel.

Lay ministry

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has no full-time professional clergy at the congregational level. Even at the highest levels of the Church, leaders who are called as full-time apostles forsake their more remunerative professions in order to serve a lifetime calling as “special witnesses of Jesus Christ” and to oversee the Church worldwide.

Health practices

Abstinence from alcohol among religious faiths is not unique to Latter-day Saints. However, among Latter-day Saints abstinence from alcohol is expected to be total, as is the abstinence from tobacco, tea and coffee.

Links:http://www.sacred-texts.com/mor/som/som07.htm
http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/aaronic-priesthood

https://www.lds.org/manual/true-to-the-faith?lang=eng- Everything you wanted to know about Mormonism and afraid to ask
« Last Edit: June 29, 2014, 10:35:45 pm by Trigger »

Offline 240B

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Re: The Philosophy of Mormonism-Core Beliefs
« Reply #1 on: June 29, 2014, 10:34:29 pm »
Oh my God. Are we starting this stuff up again? This place really is becomming the second coming of FreeRepublic.
 
I had to check the URL to make sure I was at the right place.
You cannot "COEXIST" with people who want to kill you.
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Re: The Philosophy of Mormonism-Core Beliefs
« Reply #2 on: June 29, 2014, 10:36:24 pm »
Oh my God. Are we starting this stuff up again? This place really is becomming the second coming of FreeRepublic.
 
I had to check the URL to make sure I was at the right place.

At least we allow you a debate. If we can talk about homosexual priests getting married we can have a serious topic once in a while. Its better to have a religion that believe in Christ unlike the Democrats who have no religion.
« Last Edit: June 29, 2014, 10:47:28 pm by Trigger »

Offline truth_seeker

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Re: The Philosophy of Mormonism-Core Beliefs
« Reply #3 on: June 29, 2014, 11:03:54 pm »
At least we allow you a debate. If we can talk about homosexual priests getting married we can have a serious topic once in a while. Its better to have a religion that believe in Christ unlike the Democrats who have no religion.
I vote for no religion here.
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Offline mountaineer

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Re: The Philosophy of Mormonism-Core Beliefs
« Reply #4 on: June 29, 2014, 11:17:42 pm »
I already know what I believe about LDS and know where to go to find answers to any remaining questions. Not sure whether this thread has any value and thus don't plan to enter into this discussion except to ask that it remain civil and mature.
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Offline ABX

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Re: The Philosophy of Mormonism-Core Beliefs
« Reply #5 on: June 29, 2014, 11:24:41 pm »
I hope I don't need to make more comics.



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Re: The Philosophy of Mormonism-Core Beliefs
« Reply #6 on: June 29, 2014, 11:28:17 pm »
I already know what I believe about LDS and know where to go to find answers to any remaining questions. Not sure whether this thread has any value and thus don't plan to enter into this discussion except to ask that it remain civil and mature.

That is all I ask for is a civil discussion. Some people do not know where to go to find the answers because most of the time they have been given bad information.
« Last Edit: June 29, 2014, 11:29:39 pm by Trigger »

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Re: The Philosophy of Mormonism-Core Beliefs
« Reply #7 on: June 29, 2014, 11:33:18 pm »
I vote for no religion here.

Then vote to eliminate the category of religion from the board.
« Last Edit: June 29, 2014, 11:36:23 pm by Trigger »

Offline mystery-ak

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Re: The Philosophy of Mormonism-Core Beliefs
« Reply #8 on: June 29, 2014, 11:46:53 pm »
I'll see where this is going and if I see one post defaming Mormonism or any other religion it will be locked......and I agree...I may take the whole topic down..... :smokin:
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Re: The Philosophy of Mormonism-Core Beliefs
« Reply #9 on: June 29, 2014, 11:48:29 pm »
I vote for mutual respect and respecting the wishes of Myst and Repub.

I like hearing people - what they believe and why they believe what they believe.
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Re: The Philosophy of Mormonism-Core Beliefs
« Reply #10 on: June 29, 2014, 11:49:13 pm »
I'll see where this is going and if I see one post defaming Mormonism or any other religion it will be locked......and I agree...I may take the whole topic down..... :smokin:

Good Call

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Re: The Philosophy of Mormonism-Core Beliefs
« Reply #11 on: June 29, 2014, 11:55:25 pm »
Quote
Because Latter-day Saints believe that divine apostolic authority was lost from the earth after the death of the ancient apostles, a restoration of that authority was necessary.
In this sense, the Mormons have a point.

I've been doing some light reading on the early Christian church as of late. It's interesting to see how few generations it took for there to see things start to creep into Christianity that weren't in the scriptures and in fact may have contradicted them.

First, you had the Apostles— particularly Peter and John— and their contemporary, Paul, among a few others. This generation wrote the Gospels and other sacred New Testament texts we use today. They either knew Jesus personally or were closely acquainted with those that were.

After them came the Apostolic Fathers. These were writers who knew the Apostles at an advanced age when they themselves were young. They wrote several letters. Among them are Polycarp, Ignatius, Clement of Rome, and others. They shed some interesting insights on the early church. Their writings were consistent with, and drew on, the existing writings.

But then, after the Apostolic Fathers left, you start to see the heretics sweep in. Some, such as the Gnostics and Marcion, were promptly dismissed. Others, though, set precedent that remains even today (their argument that Mary remained a virgin, even though Matthew mentions her other sons, is explained away as Jesus's 'brothers' not meaning 'brothers'; or that lifelong celibacy is superior, even though Jesus says man and women are meant to be together and that very few people are called to celibacy).

Whether or not Joseph Smith and his colleagues should have been recognized as the successors is a totally different issue. Personally, I don't think so.
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Offline 240B

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Re: The Philosophy of Mormonism-Core Beliefs
« Reply #12 on: June 30, 2014, 12:20:52 am »
In the Jewish religion there are two Torahs. There is the written Torah, and what is called the 'Oral Torah'. The written Torah spell out the written laws, the oral Torah, which is based on primarily the Talmud, and in some respects Kabbalah, spells out how the laws are performed in actual life.
 
When the oral Torah is enforced for real, it is quite restrictive and harsh. And some of of the tenets condradict each other. From my own point of view, the advent of Christianity in it's inception had two major goals. One was to open God's favor up to everyone Gentile and Jew alike, not just to religious Jews. Two, was to maintain Jewish tradition, but to throw off the oral Torah and hence much of the power of the Rabbis of the time.
 
From my point of view, original Christians were intended to be Jews, just without the restrictions Jews must live by. They were supposed to be sort of half Jews, in the Jewish camp, but not really full Jews.
 
However, over the centuries Christianity developed it's own oral tradition, and things began to drift. That is why many/most Christians today recognize Saturday as the Sabbath, and yet stubbornly continue to worship on Sunday, and to call it God's day, which is the first day on any calander, not the seventh day.
 
This is part of the diversion between origin and contemporary, which I am attempting (and sadly failing) to draw out.
You cannot "COEXIST" with people who want to kill you.
If they kill their own with no conscience, there is nothing to stop them from killing you.
Rational fear and anger at vicious murderous Islamic terrorists is the same as irrational antisemitism, according to the Leftists.

Offline Chieftain

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Re: The Philosophy of Mormonism-Core Beliefs
« Reply #13 on: June 30, 2014, 12:40:40 am »
And now for a word of warning.

The reason I got canned over at that other site 2 years ago, is because I refused to stand by and allow the open Mormon hating that erupted over there and still goes on to this day.  It was extreme, personally nasty and not only tolerated but encouraged and protected by the staff.

I live in a community that has a large Mormon population and we have a Mormon tabernacle down the street.  These people are my friends and neighbors, and more importantly, fellow native born American citizens just like me.  Many of these people can trace their heritage directly back to the original Mormons who made the trek West on the Oregon trail.  Many have direct relatives who were born on the way.  You do not get any more American than that.

One of the founding principles of the Country is the freedom of religious choice.  We are founded to be a tolerant society that allows people the peaceful worship of their choice.  We do not have an official religion in the United States, and being a safe harbor for free religious practice is a rock bottom founding principle of the Nation.  Religious tolerance means that we do not mock the basic religious tenants of anyone's belief no matter how much you disagree with their views, or how far from your religious views they have strayed, at least in your opinion.

These kind of postings eventually generate ever increasing numbers of hostile and outright threatening comments.  There is always a tendency to play "top this" in the comments section of postings like this, and when things deteriorated at TOS to the point of openly discussion of "the Mormon question", I had enough and started striking back until I was finally banned.  I decided to go down in flames of frickin' glory over this issue and that is exactly what I did.  In fact, you can still go over there and do a keyword search on certain words and up will pop a whole bunch of Mormophobic rants with a large number of descriptive key words assigned. 

My legacy there continues, but I have no desire to do another hair-on-fire exit from the intarwebs over this subject all over again.  I advise everyone to think hard about what you want to say, and be very careful about making this subject the trend du jour here.  I ain't no Mod nor will I ever be, but that does not mean I will sit idly by and watch while a small crew takes this site down the tubes. 

I warn you now I will not tolerate it, and I will do everything I can to disrupt any Mormophobic hateful conversations that get going here at TBR.  Mods be warned, I will bitch about every single sentence and report every post until the offending thread is locked and removed.

I'm not pointing any fingers, nor am I targeting any postings in particular....at least not yet.  The guilty know who they are and will be wise to heed a presently friendly warning.  Let's just not go there.

That is all. 

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Re: The Philosophy of Mormonism-Core Beliefs
« Reply #14 on: June 30, 2014, 12:43:15 am »
And now for a word of warning.

The reason I got canned over at that other site 2 years ago, is because I refused to stand by and allow the open Mormon hating that erupted over there and still goes on to this day.  It was extreme, personally nasty and not only tolerated but encouraged and protected by the staff.

I live in a community that has a large Mormon population and we have a Mormon tabernacle down the street.  These people are my friends and neighbors, and more importantly, fellow native born American citizens just like me.  Many of these people can trace their heritage directly back to the original Mormons who made the trek West on the Oregon trail.  Many have direct relatives who were born on the way.  You do not get any more American than that.

One of the founding principles of the Country is the freedom of religious choice.  We are founded to be a tolerant society that allows people the peaceful worship of their choice.  We do not have an official religion in the United States, and being a safe harbor for free religious practice is a rock bottom founding principle of the Nation.  Religious tolerance means that we do not mock the basic religious tenants of anyone's belief no matter how much you disagree with their views, or how far from your religious views they have strayed, at least in your opinion.

These kind of postings eventually generate ever increasing numbers of hostile and outright threatening comments.  There is always a tendency to play "top this" in the comments section of postings like this, and when things deteriorated at TOS to the point of openly discussion of "the Mormon question", I had enough and started striking back until I was finally banned.  I decided to go down in flames of frickin' glory over this issue and that is exactly what I did.  In fact, you can still go over there and do a keyword search on certain words and up will pop a whole bunch of Mormophobic rants with a large number of descriptive key words assigned. 

My legacy there continues, but I have no desire to do another hair-on-fire exit from the intarwebs over this subject all over again.  I advise everyone to think hard about what you want to say, and be very careful about making this subject the trend du jour here.  I ain't no Mod nor will I ever be, but that does not mean I will sit idly by and watch while a small crew takes this site down the tubes. 

I warn you now I will not tolerate it, and I will do everything I can to disrupt any Mormophobic hateful conversations that get going here at TBR.  Mods be warned, I will bitch about every single sentence and report every post until the offending thread is locked and removed.

I'm not pointing any fingers, nor am I targeting any postings in particular....at least not yet.  The guilty know who they are and will be wise to heed a presently friendly warning.  Let's just not go there.

That is all.

Good Post. Something for everyone to think about and reminded.
« Last Edit: June 30, 2014, 12:43:39 am by Trigger »

Offline mystery-ak

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Re: The Philosophy of Mormonism-Core Beliefs
« Reply #15 on: June 30, 2014, 12:48:27 am »
Not to worry Chief...I will not allow it here.....one post like that and this whole thread gets shut down with no warning.
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Offline Chieftain

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Re: The Philosophy of Mormonism-Core Beliefs
« Reply #16 on: June 30, 2014, 12:49:30 am »
Not to worry Chief...I will not allow it here.....one post like that and this whole thread gets shut down with no warning.

Thanks for the backup on this Myst.  I know I'm not alone on this one.


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Re: The Philosophy of Mormonism-Core Beliefs
« Reply #17 on: June 30, 2014, 01:22:35 am »
And now for a word of warning.

The reason I got canned over at that other site 2 years ago, is because I refused to stand by and allow the open Mormon hating that erupted over there and still goes on to this day.  It was extreme, personally nasty and not only tolerated but encouraged and protected by the staff.

I live in a community that has a large Mormon population and we have a Mormon tabernacle down the street.  These people are my friends and neighbors, and more importantly, fellow native born American citizens just like me.  Many of these people can trace their heritage directly back to the original Mormons who made the trek West on the Oregon trail.  Many have direct relatives who were born on the way.  You do not get any more American than that.

One of the founding principles of the Country is the freedom of religious choice.  We are founded to be a tolerant society that allows people the peaceful worship of their choice.  We do not have an official religion in the United States, and being a safe harbor for free religious practice is a rock bottom founding principle of the Nation.  Religious tolerance means that we do not mock the basic religious tenants of anyone's belief no matter how much you disagree with their views, or how far from your religious views they have strayed, at least in your opinion.

These kind of postings eventually generate ever increasing numbers of hostile and outright threatening comments.  There is always a tendency to play "top this" in the comments section of postings like this, and when things deteriorated at TOS to the point of openly discussion of "the Mormon question", I had enough and started striking back until I was finally banned.  I decided to go down in flames of frickin' glory over this issue and that is exactly what I did.  In fact, you can still go over there and do a keyword search on certain words and up will pop a whole bunch of Mormophobic rants with a large number of descriptive key words assigned. 

My legacy there continues, but I have no desire to do another hair-on-fire exit from the intarwebs over this subject all over again.  I advise everyone to think hard about what you want to say, and be very careful about making this subject the trend du jour here.  I ain't no Mod nor will I ever be, but that does not mean I will sit idly by and watch while a small crew takes this site down the tubes. 

I warn you now I will not tolerate it, and I will do everything I can to disrupt any Mormophobic hateful conversations that get going here at TBR.  Mods be warned, I will bitch about every single sentence and report every post until the offending thread is locked and removed.

I'm not pointing any fingers, nor am I targeting any postings in particular....at least not yet.  The guilty know who they are and will be wise to heed a presently friendly warning.  Let's just not go there.

That is all.

I am a member of the Church and left FR over the same exact thing chief. I sincerely hope that nothing like that happens here and have absolute faith in the word of Myst whan she says she won't allow it to.
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Re: The Philosophy of Mormonism-Core Beliefs
« Reply #18 on: June 30, 2014, 01:27:19 am »
Quote
I've been doing some light reading on the early Christian church as of late. It's interesting to see how few generations it took for there to see things start to creep into Christianity that weren't in the scriptures and in fact may have contradicted them.

It has always been this way and always will be until Jesus comes back and establishes His reign!

There always have been and always will be men who simply cannot be a part of anything unless THEY get to call the tune so to speak.
"I wish it need not have happened in my time," said Frodo.

"So do I," said Gandalf, "and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us."
- J. R. R. Tolkien

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Re: The Philosophy of Mormonism-Core Beliefs
« Reply #19 on: June 30, 2014, 01:37:20 am »
Thanks for the backup on this Myst.  I know I'm not alone on this one.



You're not alone in the least.  There is no mormon hating here.

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Re: The Philosophy of Mormonism-Core Beliefs
« Reply #20 on: June 30, 2014, 02:43:28 am »
You're not alone in the least.  There is no mormon hating here.

And furthermore, we've never seen it during the 2012 election either.

IMO, the 'religion' category is to provide a place where news/changes about a religion can be found.   It's not meant to be a place where you debate the validity of one versus another. 
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Re: The Philosophy of Mormonism-Core Beliefs
« Reply #21 on: June 30, 2014, 04:57:50 am »
I hope I don't need to make more comics.


That was funny at the time.
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Offline kevindavis007

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Re: The Philosophy of Mormonism-Core Beliefs
« Reply #22 on: July 12, 2014, 04:30:06 pm »
I'll see where this is going and if I see one post defaming Mormonism or any other religion it will be locked......and I agree...I may take the whole topic down..... :smokin:


Will that include Islam???
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Re: The Philosophy of Mormonism-Core Beliefs
« Reply #23 on: July 12, 2014, 05:14:59 pm »
I vote for mutual respect and respecting the wishes of Myst and Repub.

I like hearing people - what they believe and why they believe what they believe.

Thanks for your sanity post. Yes, absolutely!

Talk and listen. That's what people do. I like that arrangement. That's why I'm here.

Offline Chieftain

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Re: The Philosophy of Mormonism-Core Beliefs
« Reply #24 on: July 12, 2014, 05:20:14 pm »

Will that include Islam???

We are not talking about Islam.  We are talking about bashing Mormons who are American citizens.

I encourage you to take the time to re-read the post I put up on this earlier.  I was very clear about what I had to say, I do not need to repeat it, and I stand by every word I clearly posted then.  It does not need interpretation, substitution, or any caveats of any sort.