so i am a practicing christian, southern baptist living in salt lake city utah. i know a lot about the mormon religion and i knwo what they belive, what their books say and what their "prophets" teqach. so here is what im wondering... do u think it is a cult? or did some guy really "see" god and read gold plates out of a dark hat... twice... and it be different both times but still have followers? is it of god to not allow everyone into their church? is it of god to belive the exact opposite of what the bible says? and do you think mormons are christians? and if so, will they get to heaven just be being "good" people or do u think they still need to accept christ into their heart?
2006-10-12 04:30:25 · 16 answers · asked by lpxerounderground 3 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
*They believe: If our Father and God should be disposed to walk through these aisles, we should not know Him from one of the congregation. You would see a man and that is all you would know about Him.
**They believe that God the Father has many wives.
***They believe God the Father is now on a planet near the star Kolob, with his wives having spiritual children.
****They teach that Satan and Jesus are spirit brothers.
*****They believe that the spirit children who didn't fight valiantly during the battle in heaven... are the babies born with black skin.
******They believe if they are obedient to the laws and ordinances of the gospel they will become gods with a planet of their own.
Those aren't bible believing born again spirit baptized real christians that have just been discribed.
It is a religious cult and everyone of them is hell bound on their way to see there false prophet in hell followed by the lake of fire should they decide to continue in their ways of not following the real Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour.
Being "good" isn't the standard for entry to heaven. If a person stands before God and thinks that their righteousness or good deeds or the way they lived their life will gain them a right standing before God they are mistaken.
+But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
|| A filthy rag was a rag that was used to cover sores that had puss and blood on them and then were discarded where they fell. Can you just look at the site of this rag and the smell that comes off of it. Well that is our righteousness. We have no righteousness. Jesus Christ better be your only hope or you have no hope. ||
++For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.
+++Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
|| I have noticed on a country path where many have traveled the area is widened, maybe even enough for a few horses or even a 4x4. There are also smaller foot paths that not so many people have gone down. These paths are smaller because few have found them. The path that is small is available for everyone to take but only few have traveled it. This is how it is with following Jesus Christ who is called the Word of God. Few follow Him but all can if they want to. Most travel down the broad path to destruction though. So many are destroyed and few are saved. The King of kings and Lord of lords doesn't want any to perish though. ||
++++The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
|| As far as what their false prophet said he saw...||
+++++And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.
2006-10-12 05:06:55 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 4⤋
I thought you said you " know a lot about the mormon religion and i knwo what they belive, what their books say and what their "prophets" teqach." Your questions are not even on the right track to being correct...I am sorry.
Yes, Joseph Smith REALLY saw God the Father and Jesus Christ, they spoke to him and instructed him on organizing the true church, Christ's church. Jospeh translated golden tablets (they were not gold by the way, just had the appearance of gold) through use of the Urim and Thummim...and his translation was not done two different times and it was NEVER changed other than grammatical errors and into different languages. We allow any who are willing to come to church, we do have certain standards of whom can attend the temple because they are standards the Lord has set forth, for it is His holy house.
We believe the Bible to be the word of God, as far as it is translated correctly. (That means we believe the bible, Joseph Smith correctly expounded upon some verses in the bible, DID NOT change them, just explained them more clearly through the Spirit of the Lord.) I am not sure why you think we believe the exact opposite, I would like to know what doctrine you are referring to...we are studying the bible in sunday school right now.
By the way, NONE of us will get into "heaven" by just being good or EVEN only accepting Christ into our heart. That's not the whole thing. Accepting Christ as our Savior is of course a huge important step, but there are other things that must be done to gain salvation, such as: baptism, repentance, temple covenants, entering into the new & everlasting covenant of marriage, keeping the commandments, and much more...
Also, any organized religious group can be categorized as a "cult" - yes even you wonderful Christians and Baptists!
2006-10-12 13:56:55 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
All religions are made for good reasons, yet all of them have the potential of being cults.
Saying that "Mormonism is a cult" is a generalization. It would be more accurate to say that "Some Mormon communities are cults." The same can be said for all religions.
I have read the book of Mormon and found that is it no less contradictory than the traditional bible.
Everyone who believes in Christ is, by definition, is a Christian. It does not mean that they believe in Christ the same way or interpret the bible all in one accord. That is why there are so many denominations broken off from the Catholic church, including Baptist.
Accepting Christ into ones heart can mean different things to different people as well. The wonderful thing about God making us all wonderfully unique from each other, is that we are all going to experience God differently.
To some people, accepting Christ is simply being a good person, because that is what Christ would want us to do and that is the life he showed us through his living example.
To others, accepting Christ means a verbal acknowledgment and a daily reminder to consciously be sure that Christ it the focus of their lives.
There are other methods as well.
None of them are is right or wrong, unless it is followed blindly because they were simply told to do it but that is not the method that works for them because God made their personalities work better to do it another way.
2006-10-12 11:56:21 · answer #3 · answered by thezaylady 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Interesting...a practicing baptist publicly belittling the beliefs of others, judging them as not having accepted Christ, and inviting others to do the same. That aside...
No we are not a cult in the sense that you are trying to imply.
Joseph Smith testifies that he saw and did the things that he said he did. Many millions of people have also received a witness from the Holy Ghost as to the truthfulness of this work.
We allow anyone to enter our churches. Only worthy members who are spritually prepared are allowed to enter the Temple.
Yes, we are Christians and your opinion does not change that.
We are not trying to get to heaven by being "good" people. We are trying to live the Gospel of Jesus Christ, keep his commandments, and have faith that through Christ's atonement and grace we will get to Heaven.
Perhaps you should concern yourself with your own actions and salvation and leave the judgement of others to Christ.
2006-10-12 17:55:22 · answer #4 · answered by whapingmon 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Well you claim to know a lot about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints but by your comments I can see that you really don't. I have been a member of the church for over 21 years and I have never been taught anything that is not in line with what was taught in the bible. Many "Born Agains" however claim that to know who is going to heaven and who isn't when the bible teaches that the father has committed all judgment to the Son. I would suggest that you open your heart and your mind, read the Book of Mormon and pray with real intent and the holy spirit will reveal the truth to you.
2006-10-12 11:42:27 · answer #5 · answered by Ethan M 5 · 5⤊ 1⤋
It is no more or less a cult than another religion, in my opinion. Southern Baptists CERTAINLY do not allow everyone into their church.
I think the hallmarks of a cult are force/coercion and isolation. Mormons witness and attempt to win converts, just like Christians do, but they do not coerce or blackmail people, and they spend time with people who are different from them, so I wouldn't call them cultists.
They don't believe the exact opposite of what the Bible says - they choose some things to believe and live by, and they choose other things to change or ignore, just like Christians do.
2006-10-12 11:37:39 · answer #6 · answered by LisaT 5 · 4⤊ 1⤋
We belive in the Bible. I read it with my husband evey night. The Book of Mormon is not a replacement for it at all. I dont see how I'm part of a cult. I go to church on Sundays to worship the Lord and give praise for Jesus Christ dying on the cross for me so that I can be saved through him. My husband and I work M-F like everyone else and dont live in some secret, secluded society, like most cults do. Most of my friends are not Mormon. I dont try to pretend to know who is going to heaven and you shouldn't either. Only God judges us at the end. We allow anyone in our church who wants to come. It's open to the public. If you live in Salt Lake then you'd know that. We do not worship Joseph Smith at all. If you went into our church you would see pictures of Jesus Christ everywhere because he is who we focus on. The correct name of our church is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Mormon is a nickname that people have the church in the early days. If you looked up the definition of a cult, all religons would fall under the term. Either way with over 12 million members world wide, and being the 4th largest church in the US, it would be a pretty big cult. You obviously do not know about our religon at all like you are claiming.
2006-10-12 11:34:15 · answer #7 · answered by Melissa 7 · 4⤊ 1⤋
According to Joseph Smith God has not always been God, but was a man first who became a God. The Scriptures clearly state that God has always been God. (Deut. 4:39, Psalms 93:2, Isaiah 40:28, Romans 16:26) To teach that God was at one time not God is clearly a false doctrine.
The Mormons believe that after the apostles had died that their followers changed their teaching, and not until Joseph Smith received his vision in 1820 was the apostolic teaching restored. This would mean that the gates of hell had prevailed against the Church for almost two millenniums. This is contrary to what Jesus had promised in Matthew 16:18, plus it makes the apostles failures in trying to establish the first disciples after them. According to the Latter Day Saints, we are suppose to believe that the Mormons knew the true apostolic teaching more than the disciples who heard their teaching first hand.
Thus, the Mormon church is a non-Christian cult.
2006-10-12 12:00:19 · answer #8 · answered by The Question Man 3 · 0⤊ 4⤋
It's not considered a cult since they have "12 million" in the states it's a religion but it's not Christian in my opinion.
2006-10-12 11:33:43 · answer #9 · answered by STAR POWER=) 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Religion.
How about talk to a Mormon. We do accept Christ into our hearts, we are Christians. Anyone, I repeat anyone can become a member of our church. Everyone is welcome in our churches.
I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet and did see Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ in the grove of trees. I know that the Book of Mormon is true and a companion to the bible (not a replacement).
2006-10-12 11:32:01 · answer #10 · answered by topher 4 · 4⤊ 2⤋