Questions about the LDS (Mormon) faith

[sewingmama]

Is there a way to make sure these proxy baptisms are not performed on a person(like myself) or a family member? I have no LDS family members if that helps....

]

 

Short answer is not really. Even after death you will not be forced to accept any specific religion - so even if the Mormon's do baptise you it will be of little significance if you don't accept the ordinance. Even after death you still have your free agency and get to choose which religion you belong to and how you want to worship God.

 

Besides - if you don't believe the LDS doctrines to be "true" then it doesn't really matter what they do because it won't mean anything in heaven anyway and won't affect you.

[Xuzi]

Is there a way to make sure these proxy baptisms are not performed on a person(like myself) or a family member? I have no LDS family members if that helps....

No, there isn't. If a decendent of yours some day joins the LDS church, they may do your Temple work for you after you are passed. They won't know whether or not you'll have accepted the gospel in the Spirit World, so they'll do the work "just in case". You'd still be under no obligation to accept it. :) We believe that eventually *everyone* will have the opportunity to recieve the Temple Ordinances prior to Judgement Day.

[Evergreen State Sue]

Hope that was clear. Now I'm waiting for you to ask what happens to the children of these couples :D

 

Well, I hope that means they are all one big happy family!

[dangermom]

 

Is there a way to make sure these proxy baptisms are not performed on a person(like myself) or a family member? I have no LDS family members if that helps....

Well, if any of your children decide to become LDS, you can tell them not to. Otherwise I wouldn't worry about it; the chances are quite low unless your descendants are LDS. Edited January 1, 2011 by dangermom

[Xuzi]

Well, I hope that means they are all one big happy family!

Most deffinately! I think it's a common misconception that Eternal Families means a bunch of individual nuclear families living in some Celestialized neighborhood. :lol: We will be the family of Christ, all serving Him and learning from Him and growing to become more and more like Him throughout Eternity (because how could He not rub off on you after all that time :tongue_smilie:). The Sealing Ordinance is more than just husband to wife or parents to children. It's also husband and wife to God, and children to grandparents, and brothers to sisters, and aunts to nieces, etc. etc. Each Sealing is another stitch in a tapestry that will become a vast web of family connections, with Christ at it's very heart.

[Evergreen State Sue]

 

2. Yes Lucifer/Satan is God's son as we all are God's children. We refer to Jesus Christ as our elder brother - the firstborn of God the Father, so in that sense Satan was Jesus's brother. We believe that God is the literal father of all our spirits - Jesus Christ and Satan included. Satan turned out to be the wayward child or the black sheep of the family if you will :)

 

 

 

Asking this as respectful as I can . . . what makes Jesus Christ so special in your faith if he is just a child of God's just like we all are? Is there anything different besides being the firstborn?

[AngieW in Texas]

That's interesting about hsing not being all that common among LDS members. I know 4 LDS families in my hs group. These are just the families I actually know are LDS. I'm sure there are others I don't know about. It could be that there are more LDS families in our area or that our group is THE inclusive group in the area. Most hs groups around here have statement of faith requirements.

Edited January 1, 2011 by AngieW in Texas

[snipsnsnailsx5]

Is there a way to make sure these proxy baptisms are not performed on a person(like myself) or a family member? I have no LDS family members if that helps....

 

For a proxy baptism to be peformed, there has to be permission from the eldest living releative in order of spouse, child, sibling... (right?). So random people cannot be baptized by proxy unless the person baptizing was given permission by the living relative.

I.e. I couldn't be baptized for my deceased grandmother unless her oldest living daughter gave her permission. But when my parents die, being the oldest child, I can have them baptized by proxy.

 

BUT as was said earlier in this thread, we don't believe a baptism for the dead is forcing anything on them, but rather giving them a choice. If somehow a distant LDS relative of yours gets permission and baptizes in proxy for you after you've passed on - you still have the chance to say "wait, I don't want that" in the spirit world. ;)

[Amira]

Is there a way to make sure these proxy baptisms are not performed on a person(like myself) or a family member? I have no LDS family members if that helps....

 

I know others have answered this, but I just wanted to reassure you that proxy baptisms are only supposed to be done for your own ancestors and relatives. We have plenty of work just doing the work for our own relatives. There are some instances where members have done baptisms for people to whom they are not related, but it's rare and discouraged. If you have no Mormon relatives, your family should not be on anyone's list.

 

If someone you are related to does happen to become a Mormon, then that relative needs to get permission from close living relations of an ancestor before performing the baptism. I know this practice can sound horribly presumptuous, but we don't mean it to be, and as others have mentioned, we certainly do not think these baptisms are binding just because we performed them.

[snipsnsnailsx5]

That's interesting about hsing not being all that common among LDS members. I know 4 LDS families in my hs group. These are just the families I actually know are LDS. I'm sure there are others I don't know about. It could be that there are more LDS families in our area or that our group is THE inclusive group in the area. Most hs groups around here have statement of faith requirements.

 

Yes I've already seen two statement of faith requirements in the co-ops locally since I've been homeschooling only for a few months now. The first co-op's statement of faith was pretty specific and totally was opposite the LDS faith. It made me feel actually like it was purposeful, so I didn't feel very welcome there and stopped going after awhile.

Another family I know of went to a private school, but when the directors at the school found out they were Mormon, they were told basically that they probably wouldn't feel comfortable having their children attend their because their beliefs were so different (not so much, but whatever). So I don't know if the family decided to not have their kids go there anymore, or if the school "kicked them out".

[MrsBasil]

I know others have answered this, but I just wanted to reassure you that proxy baptisms are only supposed to be done for your own ancestors and relatives. We have plenty of work just doing the work for our own relatives. There are some instances where members have done baptisms for people to whom they are not related, but it's rare and discouraged. If you have no Mormon relatives, your family should not be on anyone's list.

 

If someone you are related to does happen to become a Mormon, then that relative needs to get permission from close living relations of an ancestor before performing the baptism. I know this practice can sound horribly presumptuous, but we don't mean it to be, and as others have mentioned, we certainly do not think these baptisms are binding just because we performed them.

 

Thanks to everyone who answered!

Thanks for this complete explanation. I misunderstood the original explanation just enough to be a bit...:confused:!

 

Thanks again, I think I understand this practive a bit better now.

[Amira]

Asking this as respectful as I can . . . what makes Jesus Christ so special in your faith if he is just a child of God's just like we all are? Is there anything different besides being the firstborn?

 

He is far more than just the firstborn Son of God. He is divine, He is our Savior, and He was the only person who could have, as both God and man, atoned for our sins so we could return to God. He wasn't just the nice older brother. A friend of mine who converted to the LDS Church from another Christian denomination was often frustrated that Mormons so often refer to Jesus as an elder brother. He is far more than that, but sometimes we make Him sound like He is only that, and that is unfortunate. He is an integral part of the Godhead, even if we believe the Godhead consists of three separate beings.

[ondreeuh]

I was curious about the LDS faith/culture and read a book that answered many of my questions- Contemporary Mormonism, written by a woman within the faith. I came away with a much better understanding. I have to say, I'm envious of those who have a supportive, like-minded community, whatever they believe.

[ElizaG]

My questions are about the doctrines of the Great Apostasy and Restoration. As I understand it, Mormons believe that the Church disappeared completely from the earth for over 1700 years, from around the time of the death of the last apostle until the apparitions to Joseph Smith in the 1820's. As a Catholic, I don't see it this way, but would like to understand your beliefs better.

 

1) Is there some teaching that explains why God allowed this complete apostasy to happen in the first place?

 

2) Why did He choose to remedy the situation in 1830, rather than at some other time? Why in America, rather than the Middle East? And why Joseph Smith?

 

Please take all the time you need in replying. I don't want to intrude on anyone's New Years plans. :001_smile: Just something I've always wondered about.

[Lawana]

I was curious about the LDS faith/culture and read a book that answered many of my questions- Contemporary Mormonism, written by a woman within the faith. I came away with a much better understanding. I have to say, I'm envious of those who have a supportive, like-minded community, whatever they believe.

Yeah, well, it works great as long as you accept and agree with official doctrine and are, as you say, like-minded. It doesn't go so well if you happen to have serious doubts or ask too many hard questions, or don't fit the expected mold. Speaking only from personal experience, of course.

[Evergreen State Sue]

He is far more than just the firstborn Son of God. He is divine, He is our Savior, and He was the only person who could have, as both God and man, atoned for our sins so we could return to God. He wasn't just the nice older brother. A friend of mine who converted to the LDS Church from another Christian denomination was often frustrated that Mormons so often refer to Jesus as an elder brother. He is far more than that, but sometimes we make Him sound like He is only that, and that is unfortunate. He is an integral part of the Godhead, even if we believe the Godhead consists of three separate beings.

 

So you do believe that Jesus was fully man on earth and fully God. So the reference to Jesus, Satan and us being brothers and sisters are only because we are also created by God, not that we are also God. Correct? Do you believe that you also can become God like Jesus in the afterlife?

 

Thank you. This thread really helps me understand more about the LDS faith. I appreciate your answers.

[Amira]

1) Is there some teaching that explains why God allowed this complete apostasy to happen in the first place?

 

2) Why did He choose to remedy the situation in 1830, rather than at some other time? Why in America, rather than the Middle East? And why Joseph Smith?

 

Please take all the time you need in replying. I don't want to intrude on anyone's New Years plans. :001_smile: Just something I've always wondered about.

 

The reason why I think the apostasy happened was that the Christian church gradually lost a few of the early teachings of Jesus. As the Church was persecuted and the apostles killed, priesthood authority was lost. And then as the Church became more integrally related to Rome, there were other influences on the Church and some important doctrines were forgotten or changed. There were good reasons for many of those changes, but it was still different from what Jesus taught.

 

It is certainly not that I think the Church itself was wrong, but that it simply became incomplete. For me, there is evidence of this incompleteness in all the different sects of Christianity, in the rift between the Roman Catholilc Church and Orthodox churches, and in the Reformation. I think many Christians were trying for centuries to return to Jesus's original teachings.

 

Of course I believe God could have kept this from happening. But as many of mentioned in this thread, Mormons are firm believers in free will. If people choose to fall away, God won't stop them. We believe there will be another time when many will fall away in the future, and God won't stop them then either. However, I do not believe that God's plan will be frustrated by any person's choice. So in that way, I believe God allowed the apostasy to happen for whatever reason of His own.

 

I don't know why the Restoration happened in the 1800s in the United States with Joseph Smith. Some Mormons speculate that the setting was right. Even though the LDS Church was very unpopular in the beginning, it still was able to take root in America and spread to many other parts of the world. I believe that Joseph Smith was called as a prophet, but I don't know that he was the only person who could have done what he did. Maybe another time and place and person would have worked too. But I don't think that there is any one time or place or person who would have made more sense than any other.

 

I'm just hanging around watching movies and enjoying this thread, so don't worry about intruding. And I'm sure someone else will have more to add later.

[Amira]

So you do believe that Jesus was fully man on earth and fully God. So the reference to Jesus, Satan and us being brothers and sisters are only because we are also created by God, not that we are also God. Correct? Do you believe that you also can become God like Jesus in the afterlife?

 

Thank you. This thread really helps me understand more about the LDS faith. I appreciate your answers.

 

Yes, He was a man as Mary's son and God as God's son. And yes, we are brothers and sisters because we are created by God. Satan is certainly not God and never can be.

 

No, I do not believe I can become God like Jesus in the afterlife. He is far greater than I could ever be. But I do believe, and this is hard to explain, so bear with me, that I can become like God in many ways, and even possibly have many divine roles and attributes, but I will never be God.

 

This is a fuzzy doctrine in the Church and you'll run into a variety of interpretations. My answer may not be right, but it's the way I look at it. I believe we all have great potential for growth and development after we die and our goal is to always become more like God.

[Forget-Me-Not]

Pages back on this thread I thought it was mentioned that a man can be sealed with more than one woman but a woman only one man.

 

Well, we're delving into some of the minutiae of family history work here, but technically a woman CAN be sealed to more than one man if the sealings are done posthumously. For example, if I go back to my great-great-great grandmother and discover that she was widowed and married a second (or more) time, I can have her sealed to ALL her husbands. If we're talking women who are currently living, they can only be sealed to one man.

 

Asking this as respectful as I can . . . what makes Jesus Christ so special in your faith if he is just a child of God's just like we all are? Is there anything different besides being the firstborn?

 

We believe that we're all SPIRIT children of our Father in Heaven. He is the literal father of our Spirits.

 

We believe that Jesus Christ is the only BEGOTTEN son of the Father. Meaning that he had the DNA of both Mary and of God the Father. Now--because I know it's coming--yes we definitely believe he was born to the VIRGIN Mary. We aren't given details on how the two pieces of genetic material came together to form the being known as Jesus Christ. But we know that God the Father is the Father both of Jesus' spirit AND his body.

 

Taking a step further, we believe that because Jesus had both attributes of God and man, he was the only one who qualified to offer himself as a sacrifice for the sins of all mankind, and the only one who could have survived the ordeal in the Garden of Eden.

 

(and I guess it warrants mentioning here, if it's not clear, that we believe that both God the Father and Jesus Christ have physical bodies. We believe the Holy Ghost is only Spirit however)

Edited January 1, 2011 by LemonPie

[Forget-Me-Not]

So you do believe that Jesus was fully man on earth and fully God. So the reference to Jesus, Satan and us being brothers and sisters are only because we are also created by God, not that we are also God. Correct? Do you believe that you also can become God like Jesus in the afterlife?

 

Thank you. This thread really helps me understand more about the LDS faith. I appreciate your answers.

 

We believe that Jesus and Satan are spirit brothers, whereas Jesus is the literal physical offspring of God, as I outlined in my last post.

 

As for the afterlife. . . there is a lot we don't know. We believe that through the Atonement of Christ ALL people qualify for immortality, but only a select portion who have proven themselves worthy will qualify for Exaltation--which is defined as living in the presence of God and continuing as families (you can read more HERE). We've been promised blessings beyond our mortal comprehension, and as such we don't have an exact idea of what they entail. But we do believe in eternal progression.

[sewingmama]

So you do believe that Jesus was fully man on earth and fully God. So the reference to Jesus, Satan and us being brothers and sisters are only because we are also created by God, not that we are also God. Correct? Do you believe that you also can become God like Jesus in the afterlife?

 

 

One of the beliefs of the LDS church is summed up in this statement from one of our former prophets Lorenzo Snow - As man now is, God once was; as God now is, man may be. We believe that God the Father started out like us - on an earth, trialled and tested, found worthy and attained Godhood. The purpose of our life is to do the same. It says very plainly in the Bible that we should become perfect like unto God and Jesus - this is a literal commandment. We are all created in the image of God -we all have the divine potential to become as he is - a God.

 

We do not believe that we are God's now -but we can be if we do what God requires of us and perfect ourselves. This of course will not be completed in our natural lifetime - we believe we are eternal beings and it will take who knows how long after we die to obtain this Godhood -but we can eventually do it - it's the ultimate goal.

[sewingmama]

Why did He choose to remedy the situation in 1830, rather than at some other time? Why in America, rather than the Middle East? And why Joseph Smith?

 

God chose Joseph Smith because he asked the right question - he wanted to know which church he should join - which was the right one - so he prayed and asked God. God answered him and said "None of them":) And then poor Joseph got a lot more then he bargained for :lol:

 

Seriously though - America was chosen because it's religious liberty would allow the church to take hold and grow. Joseph was chosen because he was young, clean and open minded. He had implicit faith that God would answer his prayers and he did not have any pre-existing false beliefs - he was receptive to hearing the truth. Joseph was chosen for this task (foreordained) before he was born - God already knew the type of person he would be and knew he would complete the task he was given. At the time there was much religeous debate over which church was the correct one and who had the truth - I guess God felt it was the perfect time to enlighten everybody:D

 

The Apostacy happened because after the apostles died the truth became distorted and mixed up with the teachings of men. The laws and ordinances were changed and the everlasting covenant that Jesus Christ gave to the people in those days was broken. The gospel became lost because it was changed. When there were no prophets there was no revelation -man was not looking to God for the answers they were looking to themselves and so the doctrines of the true gospel were mixed up with man's interpretations.

 

It took a 14 year old boy asking God which was the right church to get an answer - he knew to whom to ask the question - he asked God himself - and he got an answer with a personal visit from God the Father and Jesus Christ themselves :D

[TXMary2]

I have been skimming this thread with interest. My husband's mother comes from a long line of Mormons. My dear MIL describes herself as having "escaped" the LDS church and has nothing good to say. My questions stem from what I have heard from her and her experiences/things she witnessed.

 

Didn't Joseph Smith predict that Jesus would return back in the 1800's? If so, how was his not returning explained/resolved?

 

Is it true children have no sin until they are 8 years old?

 

I am sure I have more questions, but those are things I remember MIL talking about. Also, MIL says Joseph Smith was a pedophile and I have heard reference to that before, but don't recall from where specifically. Where does this accusation come from?

Edited January 1, 2011 by TXMary2

[HSmomNY]

Didn't Joseph Smith predict that Jesus would return back in the 1800's?

 

I have been in the church all my life, we are taught that no one knows when Christ will return, not even the angels in heaven. Can you give me any references for that prophesy? I have never heard it.

 

Is it true children have no sin until they are 8 years old?

 

Before the age of eight children are not accountable so they satan has no hold on them, they are clean.

 

 

Also, MIL says Joseph Smith was a pedophile and I have heard reference to that before, but don't recall from where specifically. Where does this accusation come from?

 

Honestly this is the first I have ever heard that accusation. But it does say the the D&C that Joseph Smith's name would be had for good and evil all over the world, so I guess I should not be too suprised.

Edited January 1, 2011 by HSmomNY

[mytwomonkeys]

I have been skimming this thread with interest. My husband's mother comes from a long line of Moroms.

 

yes, i'm in a similar situation. my father was raise reorganized LDS (not sure what the difference is?). my mom is not LDS, so they settled on presbyterian after they were married. anyway, my grandmother & aunt still attend their home church in PA, which is reorganized LDS. i've always wondered what the difference was. this thread is interesting for sure! OP (or someone else??), do you know what the difference is with reorganized?

[Melinda]

I'm another LDS, born and raised. Happy to chime in if I can help. :)

 

Edited January 1, 2011 by Melinda

[HSmomNY]

my father was raise reorganized LDS (not sure what the difference is?). ... i've always wondered what the difference was. ...do you know what the difference is with reorganized?

 

The reorgnized LDS church - now called the Community of Christ is a different church from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ( ie. Mormon). Think Roman Catholic and Luthern. Very different scriptures, doctrine and practice. I am not a member of the Community of Christ so I will not speculate on their teachings but I know they have a very different cannon of scriptures from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

 

They do have a web site http://www.cofchrist.org/

and so do we http://lds.org/?lang=eng

 

if that helps. :001_smile:

[mytwomonkeys]

my father was raise reorganized LDS (not sure what the difference is?). ... i've always wondered what the difference was. ...do you know what the difference is with reorganized?

 

The reorgnized LDS church - now called the Community of Christ is a different church from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ( ie. Mormon). Think Roman Catholic and Luthern. Very different scriptures, doctrine and practice. I am not a member of the Community of Christ so I will not speculate on their teachings but I know they have a very different cannon of scriptures from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

 

They do have a web site http://www.cofchrist.org/

and so do we http://lds.org/?lang=eng

 

if that helps. :001_smile:

 

thank you. yes, i know they are different - i just wasn't sure how. your comparison of lutheran and catholic helped though. my dad's side of the family doesn't tell me much when i've asked questions. my questioning may feel like judgment instead of curiosity though (which it truly isn't meant to come across that way), so i simply stopped asking a long time ago :) thanks for trying to explain though, i appreciate it....and thanks for the links.

[HSmomNY]

the link posted by Melinda is to a very anti-LDS web site.

Not a church web site.

Just thought you would like to know.

[Melinda]

the link posted by Melinda is to a very anti-LDS web site.

Not a church web site.

Just thought you would like to know.

 

OOPS! I am so sorry. I scanned it and thought it highlighted the differences. Edited to remove it.

[jenn1129]

thank you for "putting yourselves out there". i appreciate your honesty and candor. i have a couple of questions.

 

1. i have read that when you are married, the wife is given a secret name by the husband, so he can pull her to the otherside when she dies. why is this needed? if he doesn't call her, can she still go to the other side? what about single women?

 

2. i have a question about the 2 unforgivable sins. i think one is rejecting the Holy spirit. what if you reject Jesus but believe the Holy Spirit? and the other unforgivable sin is murder. what if the murder was in self defense? or involuntary(ie. car accident you caused)? and why is murder unforgivable when other heinous crimes are forgivable?

 

tia~

[TXMary2]

Didn't Joseph Smith predict that Jesus would return back in the 1800's?

 

I have been in the church all my life, we are taught that no one knows when Christ will return, not even the angels in heaven. Can you give me any references for that prophesy? I have never heard it.

 

Is it true children have no sin until they are 8 years old?

 

Before the age of eight children are not accountable so they satan has no hold on them, they are clean.

 

 

Also, MIL says Joseph Smith was a pedophile and I have heard reference to that before, but don't recall from where specifically. Where does this accusation come from?

 

Honestly this is the first I have ever heard that accusation. But it does say the the D&C that Joseph Smith's name would be had for good and evil all over the world, so I guess I should not be too suprised.

 

I will have to ask MIL on the first one. Regarding children, why 8 years old - is there something special about age 8 - ie: why not 7 or 9?

 

OK, just asked DH and he says the pedophile thing is because Joseph Smith married very young girls. How old were his wives and how many did he have? DH doesn't know for sure and MIL lives in CA so it is too early for me to call her :)

Edited January 1, 2011 by TXMary2

[HSmomNY]

Regarding children, why 8 years old - is there something special about age 8 - ie: why not 7 or 9?

 

Because God Said so...:)

 

25And again, inasmuch as aparents have children in Zion, or in any of her bstakes which are organized, that cteach them not to understand the ddoctrine of repentance, faith in Christ the Son of the living God, and of baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of the hands, when eeight years old, the fsin be upon the heads of the parents.

[TXMary2]

Regarding children, why 8 years old - is there something special about age 8 - ie: why not 7 or 9?

 

Because God Said so...:)

 

25And again, inasmuch as aparents have children in Zion, or in any of her bstakes which are organized, that cteach them not to understand the ddoctrine of repentance, faith in Christ the Son of the living God, and of baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of the hands, when eeight years old, the fsin be upon the heads of the parents.

 

OK. Is that from the Book of Mormon? Edited to add: Are the children sinless or just not accountable? If they are sinless what sin is upon the head of the parents?

Edited January 1, 2011 by TXMary2

[Gretchen in NJ]

Preparedness. It's extremely useful to have extra food on hand in the event of a natural disaster cutting off food supplies, or a sudden jobloss cutting off your income. It's not necessarily a doctrine or "Saving" belief, but it's deffinately a very well established LDS practice.

Preparedness is one idea I respect Mormons for having. I also heard that Mormons talk about keeping your body healthy. Is that true?

 

Holy moley, I cannot even keep up with this. :svengo:

I know what you mean. I am still on page 3.:svengo:

[HSmomNY]

nope the Doctrine and Covenants - a collection of modern revelations

:001_smile:

[HSmomNY]

no blessing will be denided to a rightous women who did not have the oppertunity to marry a rightous man in this life.

[TXMary2]

nope the Doctrine and Covenants - a collection of modern revelations

:001_smile:

 

Who wrote the Doctrine and Covenants?

 

Regarding my first question about Joseph Smith predicting the return of Jesus, I made the mistake of Googling it since I can't call MIL just yet and :tongue_smilie:I am sorry I did that! I don't have time to wade through it all. So, let me just ask, how does the LDS church handle/resolve/address the false prophesies he made, with respect to Deuteronomy 18:20-22?

[TravelingChris]

If a homeschooling group had the Apostle's Creed as their statement of faith, would you all not join? I understand that simply saying that a group is Christian without defining what is meant by Christian can lead to confusion, so what about the Apostle's Creed? One group I am associated with has that as a statement of faith.

[Julie in Austin]

That's interesting about hsing not being all that common among LDS members. I know 4 LDS families in my hs group. These are just the families I actually know are LDS. I'm sure there are others I don't know about. It could be that there are more LDS families in our area or that our group is THE inclusive group in the area. Most hs groups around here have statement of faith requirements.

 

Waving, since I think I'm one of those four . . . we have a huge LDS population here for a variety of reasons, so I think we are somewhat unrepresentative in the Austin area . . . but also note that our hs group comprises maybe 10 LDS congregations, which means that the average LDS person in our group has no other hser in her congregation or the one next door. To her, that feels like 'not a lot of other LDS homeschoolers.' :001_smile:

 

 

Also, MIL says Joseph Smith was a pedophile and I have heard reference to that before, but don't recall from where specifically.

 

Joseph Smith married a 14-yo. Given the cultural contexts, this was not pedophilia. I believe this is where that accusation comes from, however.

 

1. i have read that when you are married, the wife is given a secret name by the husband, so he can pull her to the otherside when she dies. why is this needed? if he doesn't call her, can she still go to the other side? what about single women?

 

I think this falls under the category of people (not you, but wherever you heard this from) grossly misrepresenting what happens in the temple, which puts LDS in a somewhat awkward position in that we have agreed not to discuss details of that ceremony outside of the temple, so I can't just say to you, "no, actually, what happens is . . . and what it means is . . ." Suffice it to say that a husband can not stop his wife from going to heaven!

 

If a homeschooling group had the Apostle's Creed as their statement of faith, would you all not join?

 

I wouldn't because I would not want to be a part of a hs group that limited membership based on religious beliefs, but not because of the content of that creed: as long as 'catholic' is understood as small-c catholic (=universal), I don't actually have a problem with the content. I suspect other LDS would respond differently to this question.

 

I wanted to also make one more general comment . . . one thing that can get lost about Mormonism---even in very respectful conversations such as this one--is where our emphasis is. People tend to ask about the 'weird' stuff, and so here we are talking about the weird stuff. (And I'm not denying that there is some 'weird' stuff, at least if your frame of reference is mainstream Christianity!) But if you were to attend one of our Sunday services, you would, yes, hear references to the Book of Mormon and the modern prophet, but they would be used not in a sermon outlining how Satan and Jesus are brothers, but in a sermon about why we should be doing more to help the poor. Or to repent. Or to spend more time praying. Basic Sermon on the Mount stuff.

[Matryoshka]

Homeschooling isn't really very popular among Mormons, but it's not a problem to homeschool either. I've lived in many wards around the country and have only rarely known another LDS homeschooling family in my ward.

 

That's suprising to me - I'm not LDS, but I personally know five LDS homeschooling families - four from the same ward, and I'd be surprised if I'd met every one in the area. I don't live in a place that has a huge number of LDS (at least I don't think so - I'm in MA) - in fact I'd never met anyone who was LDS till I started homeschooling, and now I know lots. :) I recently brought our church's middle schoolers to a sacrament meeting for a field trip (we're studying world religions this year). We didn't stay for the second two hours though. :tongue_smilie:

 

Here's a question I haven't seen asked here yet that I have a hard time wrapping my head around - the people in the Book of Mormon who came from Israel (or somewhere in the Middle East?) to the Americas and whose story (I think?) comprises much of what's in there. When did they come here, how did they get here, and where did they go?

[jenn1129]

I think this falls under the category of people (not you, but wherever you heard this from) grossly misrepresenting what happens in the temple, which puts LDS in a somewhat awkward position in that we have agreed not to discuss details of that ceremony outside of the temple, so I can't just say to you, "no, actually, what happens is . . . and what it means is . . ." Suffice it to say that a husband can not stop his wife from going to heaven!.

 

 

respectfully, why are there secrets in the LDS church? i think it makes LDS an easy target because people tend to think the worse when you are hiding things. Again, i mean no disrespect.

[susankenny]

If a homeschooling group had the Apostle's Creed as their statement of faith, would you all not join? I understand that simply saying that a group is Christian without defining what is meant by Christian can lead to confusion, so what about the Apostle's Creed? One group I am associated with has that as a statement of faith.

 

Well, I'm Christian & I don't believe it the Apostle's Creed. The fact that it says Jesus went to hell for 3 days is heresy to me. If a homeschool group had that as part of their statement of faith, it wouldn't keep me from joining necessarily though...unless we were reciting it or something.

 

Susan

[Julie in Austin]

respectfully, why are there secrets in the LDS church? i think it makes LDS an easy target because people tend to think the worse when you are hiding things. Again, i mean no disrespect.

 

I do not disagree with you that 'secrets' make us easy targets. However, we feel that we have been commanded not to reveal details of the temple ceremonies, so we don't. That said, there is an awful lot of info about the temple that is made publicly available by the church, and those interested could start here.

 

ETA: Here's something I wrote about temple 'secrecy' before that might be helpful.

Edited January 1, 2011 by Julie in Austin

[Xuzi]

That's suprising to me - I'm not LDS, but I personally know five LDS homeschooling families - four from the same ward, and I'd be surprised if I'd met every one in the area. I don't live in a place that has a huge number of LDS (at least I don't think so - I'm in MA) - in fact I'd never met anyone who was LDS till I started homeschooling, and now I know lots. :) I recently brought our church's middle schoolers to a sacrament meeting for a field trip (we're studying world religions this year). We didn't stay for the second two hours though. :tongue_smilie:

 

Here's a question I haven't seen asked here yet that I have a hard time wrapping my head around - the people in the Book of Mormon who came from Israel (or somewhere in the Middle East?) to the Americas and whose story (I think?) comprises much of what's in there. When did they come here, how did they get here, and where did they go?

They came here during the time of the prophet Jeremiah. A man named Lehi had a dream in which an angel told him Jerusalem was going to be destroyed, and to take his family into the wilderness to escape the descruction (they were a righteous family, obviously), so he took his sons and daughters, plus some other families, with him into the wilderness. Much like the Israelites in Moses' day did, they travelled then settled for a while, travelled again and then settled for a while, and eventually (about 11 years or so?) came to the coast, where Lehi's son Nephi also recieved a vision from the Lord and was commanded to build a ship to take his family across the ocean to the Promised Land.

 

The boat was built, they made it to the Americas, settled and established a civilization there (but it's not ruled out in the Book of Mormon that there were already people there). Almost immediately they were divided in two, with those who still wanted to follow the Lord staying with Nephi's family, and those who did not want to follow the Lord going with Nephi's brothers Laman and Lemual (and so you have references to Nephites and Lamanites all through the Book of Mormon). Over the next several centuries the two factions went back and forth between righteousness and wickedness, with the wicked trying to destroy the righteous. A few centuries after Christ's death the wicked finally prevail, the righteous Nephites are wiped out, and the record ends, with the wicked Lamanites going on their merry way, and the gospel being lost from the land for the next many centuries.

[Xuzi]

OK. Is that from the Book of Mormon? Edited to add: Are the children sinless or just not accountable? If they are sinless what sin is upon the head of the parents?

They are just not accountable, because they are too young to really understand "right" versus "wrong". For example, a 9 month old doesn't know that biting someone is wrong and can cause them pain. It's something that it has to be taught. "The sin being upon the parents" is an onus on parents to be sure we DO teach our children right from wrong. That's not to say that our children's actions could potentially condemn us to Eternal torment, but we WILL have to answer to the Lord for our failure in teaching our children to know right from wrong.

[dangermom]

If a homeschooling group had the Apostle's Creed as their statement of faith, would you all not join? I understand that simply saying that a group is Christian without defining what is meant by Christian can lead to confusion, so what about the Apostle's Creed? One group I am associated with has that as a statement of faith.

I have no problem with the Apostle's Creed, but I as a matter of personal preference I don't join groups that have statements of faith. (Not that that matters, since the groups I've ever run into that did have one had written the statements to keep LDS people out, so I guess it sounds kind of like sour grapes, but even if it was a group I could join, I wouldn't.)

 

TXMary2, I understand your question, but you're going to have to come up with some examples. I think there will be difficulties with that, because you'll find tons of stuff on the Internet, but there will be a lot of misinformation, and several cases where the LDS folks will just disagree with the interpretation of what happened, or we will be of the opinion that not everything has happened yet, and it will get very long. But it's a perfectly good question, just kind of messy. :001_smile:

[Xuzi]

Answers in blue.

 

Who wrote the Doctrine and Covenants?

 

The Doctrine and Covenants is a record of revelations given to the modern prophets, and are the words of Christ that they recieved.

 

Regarding my first question about Joseph Smith predicting the return of Jesus, I made the mistake of Googling it since I can't call MIL just yet and :tongue_smilie:I am sorry I did that! I don't have time to wade through it all. So, let me just ask, how does the LDS church handle/resolve/address the false prophesies he made, with respect to Deuteronomy 18:20-22?

 

I'm not sure of what false prophecies you're referring to, however I do know that Joseph Smith and others in the early days of the church did believe that the Second Coming was imminent, much the same way as the ancient apostles believed His Second Coming was imminent. Of course, in the Lord's time, a thousand years can be considered "imminent".

[MamaSheep]

You do know you'll come back tomorrow afternoon and there will be almost 10 pages to catch up on, right? LOL

 

Sheesh, you were not kidding. Except it's more than 10 pages. You folks have been bottling up a lot of questions! :lol: Next time, don't feel like you have to wait for one of us to start a thread.

 

I've been skimming through, and I'm trying to figure out where to jump in.

 

No, it isn't bugging me that bad. :D I ws just wondering if it was, as a couple of other things are, at all similar to what we Catholics call confession.

 

Thanks for answering though.

 

Har har....:D

 

I just wanted to chime in here with a couple comments about confession. Confession IS a regular part of repentence, but generally a FORMAL confession to a clergy member is not necessary. In general we are expected to confess our sin to God, and to anyone who we might have sinned against. Some sins that are considered very serious must be confessed to your bishop and may result in church disciplinary action (which sounds scary, but is actually geared toward helping the person). And you can confess anything you want to your bishop if you think it will help, such as if you are having a hard time moving past it on your own. So in a way there are some similarities, but we tend to confess directly to God unless we're struggling and need extra help or unless we've done something so serious that God insists that we have that extra help.

[dangermom]

Who wrote the Doctrine and Covenants?

It is a collection of revelations from God (often from Jesus Christ) to--mostly--Joseph Smith. A few sections are revelations to other, later prophets. So for us, it's a collection of modern scripture.

 

Regarding my first question about Joseph Smith predicting the return of Jesus, I made the mistake of Googling it since I can't call MIL just yet and :tongue_smilie:I am sorry I did that! I don't have time to wade through it all. So, let me just ask, how does the LDS church handle/resolve/address the false prophesies he made, with respect to Deuteronomy 18:20-22?

I kind of messed this up--see my last post.