Can someone please explain Mormonism to me?

Question

I really dont understand it, but very curious. I'm not converting, just wondering.

Answer 1

Mormonism is a religion originating in the early 1800s. Mormonism is an unofficial name used to refer to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (also called Mormon Church). Mormonism refers to the doctrines taught by Joseph Smith and the succeeding prophets and leaders of the Church, but those doctrines are believed to be eternal and part of the original gospel preached by Jesus Christ.

Joseph Smith was raised in northwestern New York, where he reported a number of heavenly visions and visitations by angels. In his First Vision, while he was an adolescent during the early 1820s, Joseph saw God the Father and Jesus Christ. Joseph also received a set of Golden Plates from an angel, and dictated a translation of those plates, which he published in 1830 as the Book of Mormon.

According to Smith and his close associate Oliver Cowdery, an angel also gave the both of them the authority to baptize and to build up a new church, meant to be a restoration of 1st century Christianity. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, originally called the Church of Christ, was formed in the month of April 1830 in Manchester or Fayette, New York, but soon after the conversion of a Church of Christ (Campbellite) minister named Sidney Rigdon in Kirtland, Ohio, most of its members moved to Ohio in 1831.

Mormons believe that families are bound together in the afterlife. They also believe that one can attain a god-like state in heaven. They often go door to door to proselytize and distribute Mormon literature like The Book of Mormon. Some small sects still practice polygamous marriage but it's no longer part of the official, major church practice. They also have special underwear, check it out: http://www.mormon-underwear.com/

Answer 2

I am a Mormon. I hope I can answer your question in as simple and easy manner as possible. I have read some of the other answers, and the one that tells of Joseph Smith's visions is pretty good. Joseph Smith is the person that heavenly Father and Jesus chose to restore the true church upon the face of the earth.It is set up the same way as it was when Jesus established it. We have prophets,seers, and revelators just as they did then. We have the power of the Priesthood and enjoy the gifts of the Spirit(as do some other churches). We know that Christ died for us and took upon Himself our sins. He made the Atonement for us, and through Him, we have access to heavenly Father. It is through Jesus that we have the promise of being ressurrected and the hope of eternal life with Him and the Father. We are NOT a cult as some would have you belive. A cult takes away your right to make your own decisions. We know that you are responsible for making your own decisions,and that you will be held accountable for them. If you would like to know more, call the nearest LDS church near you, and ask to have the missionaries come to visit you. God bless you!....quizkid

Answer 3

Many of my family are Mormon. Go ahead and look into it. But it isn't a religion for women, unless the idea of being eternally pregnant appeals to you. Or having to rely on your husband to call you out from the grave so you can be with him in all eternity. He must call you by a secret name, and lets just hope he doesn't happen to forget your name. And you are married for eternity.

Jesus said there would be no marriage in heaven, when asked about a woman who was married on earth to five different men. But we will be like the angels.

Oh, and The Mormon mother of God, was not a virgin, but was with Elohim in the normal manner, they believe that Heavenly Father is a physical man just like us. Sorry, Ancient Christianity believes she was a Virgin! And was concieved of Jesus by the Holy Spirit...not flesh! So there Jesus isn't the same person.

Oh, and by the way...they believe that Jesus and Satan, are like brothers. Satan is a created angel. Jesus is God. Not brothers. Nope.

This is all what they believe, but they won't tell you these things initially. They give their information in degrees. All at once would make you balk, and for good reason. It just doesn't make sence.

You don't have to be married to make it to the highest level in heaven. Paul stated it was better to not be married at all.

Answer 4

Definitely don't go to www.saintsalive.org, they aren't Mormon and will only fill you with lies. If you want to know about the religion you need to get it from the horses mouth. Try mormon.org, it will give you a great overview. If you want more information I believe there is a way to request it from that site.

Bottom line is, they believe that God sent his Son, Jesus, to die for mankind so they may be resurrected and redeemed from their sins. They believe that God, as he did in times of old, continues to speak through a prophet, in order to provide guideance to mankind; their church is set up pretty similar to the way Jesus set up the church when he was on the earth.

Good luck, and don't listen to haters. I respect all religions and people, as should we all.

Answer 5

What Do Mormons Believe: The Primary Differences Between Mormonism & Christianity


What Do Mormons Believe: Divine Authority
The Mormon church uses two sources as its primary authorities: the Book of Mormon and the Bible. The Doctrine and Covenants and The Pearl of Great Price are also viewed as divinely authoritative. The Christian church uses the Holy Bible alone as its authority from God. Joseph Smith is not recognized as a prophet.

What Do Mormons Believe: The Nature of God
The Mormon church sees God as the Supreme Being of the universe. However, He gradually acquired that position over a long period of time by living a perfect and righteous life. God the Father has a body (flesh and bones). The Christian church proclaims God as eternally and infinitely supreme. He is the same today as always. He is a spirit Being.

What Do Mormons Believe: The Nature of Man
The Mormon church teaches that humans exist as spirit beings before their birth. At physical birth, bodies are given to these spirits. They are also given an opportunity for free-will choice. The physical world represents a period of probation. The status of a person in the afterlife is determined by the way that person lived their life on Earth. If the person lived by a satisfactory standard, (including the fulfillment of Mormon temple obligations) that person has the potential to become a god in the after-life. They can also produce "spirit children" to populate a world of his own (like God did with the earth). The Christian church holds that humans do not exist as spirits prior to being born into the world. Humans cannot attain godhood or populate other worlds with "spirit children."

What Do Mormons Believe: The Nature of Jesus Christ
The Mormon church views Jesus and Satan as spirit brothers and sons of God. God put forth His plan of salvation for the world, and Satan proposed his own plan. Jesus accepted the Father's plan and offered to implement it as the Savior. The Father chose Jesus, and the spirit of Jesus was given a body through the virgin Mary. He was crucified on a Roman cross, and rose from the dead three days later to establish His deity. The character and life of Jesus is attainable by anyone who performs at such a righteous level. The Christian church teaches that Jesus Christ has existed eternally as the Son of God, the second "person" of the Trinity. Jesus took on human flesh about 2000 years ago and was born into the world through the virgin Mary. He was crucified on a Roman cross for our sins, and rose from the dead three days later to establish His deity.

What Do Mormons Believe: How do we Achieve Salvation
The Mormon church holds that Jesus Christ overcame physical death and guaranteed physical resurrection to all mankind. However, spiritual death can only be avoided through personal obedience of God's commandments. Forgiveness of sins requires faith, repentance and baptism by an approved Mormon priest. The practice of baptism for the dead is an extension of this belief, in which Mormons are baptized in proxy for those who have died without proper baptism. The Christian church teaches that we are unable to live a life righteous enough to meet God's perfectly holy standard. Therefore, we establish a relationship with God by faith in the work of Christ on the cross, not by our own works. Baptism and good deeds are acts of obedience to God, but not the means for gaining eternal salvation.

What Do Mormons Believe: Life After Death
The Mormon church maintains that although there is temporary punishment for those that are most wicked, Jesus Christ will establish a new kingdom that will consist of three levels: the celestial kingdom, the terrestrial kingdom, and the telestial kingdom. The Christian church holds that there are only two possible fates after death, heaven or hell. These locations are final, both physically and spiritually.

Answer 6

PLEASE don't listen to Felicitas....
there are several "sub" cultures to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints....for example FLDS, Latter-day Church of Christ (Kingston clan), RLDS, True and Living Church of Jesus Christ of Saints of the Last Days, Centennial Park Group, ect ect...I could go on. A lot of people get them confused b/c all of them refer to themselves as "mormons" when in fact they are not (i.e. the Amy Smart case). One of the prime differences between the real LDS church and others is that we do not practice polygamy and it is against the church to do so. Sooo with that being said here's the basic gist of what the LDS church (mormons) believe:

-We believe God to be our Heavenly Father who wants us to return to him.
-Jesus Christ is the son of God who was sent here to redeem us so that we may repent.
-If we keep the commandments and through the atonement of Christ we can return to live with God.
-We believe the Bible to be the word of God as well as the Book of Mormon (another testiment of Christ)
-The Church of Jesus Christ has been restored to Earth and The priesthood authority of God exists in His Church today, just as it did in the original Church.
-God reveals His will to prophets today, just as He did anciently.
-Our current Prophet is Gordon B. Hinckley (a sweet sweet man!!)
-We believe our lives have sacred purposes and that our families can be together forever.
-And we also believe that by serving others, we can experience joy and draw closer to God.


Hope this is helpful!!!

Answer 7

What is your address? I need it so I can send the mormon missionaries that keep bothering me over to your place.

Answer 8

Mormonism teaches that God used to be a man on another world and that he became a god by following the laws and ordinances of his god on his home world. He brought his wife to this world, a woman he had married on the other world. She is essentially a goddess.

In his present god-state, he rules our world. He has a body of flesh and bones. Since god and his wife are both exalted persons, they each possess physical bodies. In their exalted states as deities, they produce spirit children that grow and mature in the spiritual realm. The first spirit born was Jesus. Afterwards, Lucifer was born along with the rest of us. So, Mormonism teaches that we all pre-existed in the spirit realm--having been produced from the union of god and his goddess wife. Therefore, we all existed in spirit form before coming down and entering the bodies of human babies that are being born on earth. During this ‘compression' into the infant state, the memories of our pre-existence is 'veiled.'

God the father, who is called Elohim, was concerned for the future salvation of the people on earth. In the heavenly realm, the Father had a plan for the salvation of the world. Jesus endorsed the Father's plan. Lucifer did not. Lucifer became jealous and rebelled. In his rebellion, he convinced a large portion of the spirits existing in heaven to side with him and oppose god. God, being more powerful then they, cursed these rebellious spirits to become demons. They can never be born in human bodies.

The remaining spirits sided with God. Since they chose the better way, when it comes time for them to live on earth, they have the privilege of being born in races and locations that are relative to their condition and choice made in the spirit realm.1

In the Mormon plan of salvation, there needed to be a savior: Jesus. But Jesus was a spirit in heaven. For him to be born on earth, Brigham Young, the second prophet of the Mormon church, said that instead of letting any other man do it, God the Father did it with Mary. He said that the birth of our savior was as natural as the birth of our parents. Essentially, what this means is that Brigham Young taught that god the father came down and had relations with Mary, his spirit daughter, to produce the body of Jesus. Though many Mormons will not entertain such incestuous thoughts about God and Mary, this is what Brigham Young taught, and as far as we know, this has not been denied by the Mormon church.

Nevertheless, Jesus was born, got married, and had children.2 He died on the cross and paid for sins--but not on the cross only. According to Mormonism, the atonement of Christ was not only on the cross. It began in the Garden of Gethsemane before he went to the cross.

In Mormonism, men and women have the potential of becoming gods. President Lorenzo Snow said, "As god once was, man is. As God is, man may become." In order to reach this exalted state of godhood, a person must first become a good Mormon, pay a full ten percent tithe to the Mormon church, follow various laws and ordinances of the church, and be found worthy. At this point, they receive a temple recommend whereupon the Mormon is allowed to enter the sacred temples in order to go through a set of secret rituals: baptism for the dead, celestial marriage, and various oaths of secrecy and commitment. Additionally, four secret handshakes are taught so the believing Mormon, upon entering the third level of Mormon heaven, can shake hands with god in a certain pattern. This celestial ritual is for the purpose of permitting entrance into the highest level of heaven.3 For those who achieve this highest of heavens, exaltation to godhood awaits them. Then he or she will be permitted to have his or her own planet and be the god of his own world, and the Mormon system will be expanded to other planets.

https://carm.org/mormonism

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0b0UQaBJQRg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3BqLZ8UoZk

Answer 9

I know enough to stay away from them.

Answer 10

These guys do a pretty good job: