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Ask the member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints AKA Interrogate the Mormon — Page 21

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Warbler said:

RicOlie_2 said:

All three of us could PM him a link. ;)

 If you and Ender wish to, fine.  But I will not.

 I'm pretty sure he's teasing.

I must add that I am glad my church is addressing these sorts of things head on.  As Anctufaalb as pointed out with his letter, people armed with Google now apparently know everything, and I'm glad my church is willing to better educate folks on controversial matters.

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Ah, here to witness, my friend?  Perhaps you already know the answer to a rhetorical question, and are planning on showing me how I'm wrong with something like Ephesians 2:8-9?  If my guess is wrong, I do apologize, and if I am right, take no offense at my perceptiveness.  It's a question I've heard many times before...usually from those wanting to provide answers rather than ask genuine questions.

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It is a wonderful topic and one of my favorites, but it will take some time to explain it properly, and I haven't had much time lately.  I will answer when I can.  I'll try not to forget, but if I do, feel free to remind me.

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Interesting thread.

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He seems to be on a Darth Ender Bender... he's searching out threads started by him and replying to all of them for the sake of replying.

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Possessed said:

He seems to be on a Darth Ender Bender... he's searching out threads started by him and replying to all of them for the sake of replying.

 Thanks, Ric.

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TV's Frink said:

 Thanks, Ric.

TV's Frink said:

That's not a question.

 Nice to be in good company then.

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Among so many religions in the entire history of the planet, how do the  Mormons  know they are the true only religion or path to God? Since all religions claim to be the true one I would like to hear the Mormons reasons on that one.

<span>The statement below is true
The statement above is false</span>

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like all other religions, it probably comes down to one word: faith.

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Warbler said:

like all other religions, it probably comes down to one word: faith.

 Well yeah, but I want to know the specifics of that religion to sustain such point, I would like to know which arguments sustain that faith :P

<span>The statement below is true
The statement above is false</span>

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moviefreakedmind said:

how do Mormons believe you get to heaven?

 I still haven't had the time to really sit down for a good write up, but in summary, "We believe that through the atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the gospel."  Article of Faith 3.

http://www.mormon.org/beliefs/articles-of-faith 

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dclarkg said:

Among so many religions in the entire history of the planet, how do the  Mormons  know they are the true only religion or path to God? Since all religions claim to be the true one I would like to hear the Mormons reasons on that one.

 Let me ask you a couple of questions and we will go from there.  Are you religious?  If so, what are you?

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darth_ender said:

 Let me ask you a couple of questions and we will go from there.  Are you religious?  If so, what are you?

 I don't see how that's relevant for my original question (or the answer itself) but ok. I'm not religious, I was raised on a mild-devoted Catholic home but it never got into me.

<span>The statement below is true
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Something I'm curious about, and I hope I don't offend you because this is a genuine question, but how is the history of polygamy in the church (and with Joseph Smith specifically) viewed by mormons today? 

I know that mormons don't practice this now, and I'm not accusing anyone of that, but I'm curious about how it is viewed by the church. Like, does the church say that it's wrong now but it wasn't back then, or do they condemn it altogether, even in the case of Joseph Smith? etc. etc. 

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dclarkg said:

darth_ender said:

 Let me ask you a couple of questions and we will go from there.  Are you religious?  If so, what are you?

 I don't see how that's relevant for my original question (or the answer itself) but ok. I'm not religious, I was raised on a mild-devoted Catholic home but it never got into me.

 Well, many churches consider themselves to have the fullest truth.  How would my church's claim differ from others in acceptability?

But I will say, we claim that we have genuine priesthood and prophetic leadership, modern day revelation, and approval from God justifying our position.  Of course many dispute this, but that is our claim, and what I believe.  We believe that after Christ and his apostles died, there was a Great Apostasy wherein the full truth was lost and needed to be restored.  We believe it has been.

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gizzy2000 said:

Something I'm curious about, and I hope I don't offend you because this is a genuine question, but how is the history of polygamy in the church (and with Joseph Smith specifically) viewed by mormons today? 

I know that mormons don't practice this now, and I'm not accusing anyone of that, but I'm curious about how it is viewed by the church. Like, does the church say that it's wrong now but it wasn't back then, or do they condemn it altogether, even in the case of Joseph Smith? etc. etc. 

 No offense taken.  We certainly acknowledge it as a practice.  We believe it was divinely inspired for a temporary period of time, but that most of the time it is contrary to the commandments of God.  We now oppose it, and any practitioner today is swiftly excommunicated.

EDIT: Oh, I should add that some have a hard time coming to grips with it.  My wife, for instance, really doesn't like the idea that it was ever practiced.  But historical record is clear: it was.

Also, it is worth noting that for a long time, the Community of Christ, formerly called the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (second largest, though substantially smaller, branch in the LDS movement) spent years denying it was ever practiced.  I am not sure if they still do, but if they have changed their tune, it would only be a recent thing.  But they honestly are pretty prone to gloss over our common movement's history while we are more willing to embrace it, the good and the bad and the ugly.

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moviefreakedmind said:

how do Mormons believe you get to heaven?

 In greater detail, but still briefer than would be just, we believe that all men fall short of the glory of God.  As sinners, we do not deserve to enter the perfection of heaven.  But through Jesus Christ, we can be forgiven of our sins.  We must accept him and his atonement, acknowledging that we cannot make it on our own.  But while this may sound very much like Protestant doctrine, we do differ in this particular: we do believe good works are necessary.  Protestants have called us non-Christian for this, but we believe that we accept Christ's grace through faith on our part, and that faith and good works are tied together.  If someone does not exercise good works, they are not exercising enough faith to truly accept Christ.  Thus, a believer may have accepted Christ and lived a good life, only later to turn against what he knew to be true and live a lifestyle of sin, inconsistent with God's commandments, and lose the salvation he had before already secured.  But it must be remembered at all times, at no point does anyone deserve or earn his or her salvation.  It is the gift of God through our relationship through Christ, and if we are sincere in our desire to maintain that relationship, we must live a good life.

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darth_ender said:

If someone does not exercise good works, they are not exercising enough faith to truly accept Christ.

I think this is specifically where we differ - the idea that there's an "enough faith" threshold necessary. Protestants believe that good works and faith go hand in hand, though, because good works are the result of faith.

 

ROTJ Storyboard Reconstruction Project

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While we're on that topic, why do so many Protestants condemn what the Catholic Church teaches on that subject if our beliefs on it are so darn similar? Not to mention that James summarizes the Catholic teaching exactly and we still get criticized for being "unbiblical."

I'm not directing that at any one person, and my question was mostly rhetorical, but it bugs me that so many of our differences are only imagined.

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Why does one have to accept Jesus in order to get into heaven, where one can eat ice cream all day and never get fat?