LDS Members----What makes you diffrent?

Question

What makes you diffrent form other religions? Also what is The Second Comming? What is the meaning of it

Answer 1

I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. There are a lot of differences, yet also a lot of similarities to most other Christian religions. We believe that Jesus Christ is our savior and redeemer. We believe in his Atonement and that it is only through him that we can be saved. We believe in the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly. We also believe the Book of Mormon to be another testament of Jesus Christ written by people who lived on the American continent. We believe God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost to be three seperate beings. They are separate beings, but one in purpose. We believe that there fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored to this earth through Joseph Smith. We have a living prophet on this earth today along with twelve apostles. Just like the prophets of old, we believe that our prophet is chosen of God and leads his church today. We believe that families can be sealed for time and all eternity, that marriage doesn't have to end in "death do you part".
The Second Coming is when Jesus Christ will again come to the earth in full eternal power and glory. We believe he will reign upon the earth and that Satan will be bound. In the Bible, and also in the Book of Mormon, he tells us that he will come again. We believe that all will be ressurected to their mortal bodies which is the gift of immortality which was promised to all through Christ. We believe that after all have been ressurected and the world has come to an end that we will be judged for our works here on earth. Depending on our actions here on earth and the state of our heart we will go to one of the three degrees of glory. The highest degree is known as the celestial kingdom. It is here that we believe those who have strived thier hardest and done what God has asked of them will recieve eternal life, or basically we will live in the presence of God.
We believe in baptism by immersion. We also don't believe in the baptism of infants because they are not yet accountable for what they do. We believe that they aren't accountable for thier sins until the age of 8. We believe that all people will be held accountable for thier own sins and not for Adam's transgression. To find out more, visit mormon.org or lds.org

The following are the 13 Articles of Faith which basically summerize our beliefs.

We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost.


We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam's transgression.


We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel.


We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are: first, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second, Repentance; third, Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; fourth, Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost.


We believe that a man must be called of God, by prophecy, and by the laying on of hands by those who are in authority, to preach the Gospel and administer in the ordinances thereof.


We believe in the same organization that existed in the Primitive Church, namely, apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists, and so forth.


We believe in the gift of tongues, prophecy, revelation, visions, healing, interpretation of tongues, and so forth.


We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly; we also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God.


We believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God.


We believe in the literal gathering of Israel and in the restoration of the Ten Tribes; that Zion (the New Jerusalem) will be built upon the American continent; that Christ will reign personally upon the earth; and, that the earth will be renewed and receive its paradisiacal glory.


We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may.


We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law.


We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul—We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.

I believe the Book of Mormon is true and I am extremely happy to be apart of this Church.

I hope this has helped.

Answer 2

What great answers - sally, troll, cookie, lovin' life...myself was pretty good too...
Something else that sets us apart from other religions - along with the Priesthood, we believe that power can bind families and marriages together throughout eternity - in other words, your marriage and family unit does not end when you die...we are the only religion holding the proper Priesthood keys, powers and rights for that sacred and wonderful blessing of eternal family.
That is one HUGE reason I am a member, my family and husband mean everything to me and I could not imagine being without them through all eternity!
Cookie brought up an interesting point about deja vu...I have always thought that we 'saw' our lives before we came to this earth...and then the "veil" was put over us so we could not remember the pre-existance...but sometimes we remember little deja vu moments we 'saw' before we came to earth...that's just my own little theory. I also think we were separated into our familiy units - maybe even chose some of our family members - like I feel like I "chose" my mom and my grandpa to be mine.
Second Coming - when Christ comes to earth again and everyone living a Terrestrial lifestyle or better will live with him in the millenium - not "EVERYONE" will be there, but there will be mormons, catholics, baptists, anyone living a Terrestrial or better lifestyle.

Answer 3

I'm 'inactive' but what makes them different is they're interpretation of christianity, they have modern day prophets, they have a "more accurate" book than the bible, but still believe the bible as far as it is translated correctly, they have something called "the plan of salvation" which is basically the where and why of this life, no bishops or prophets or anything are paid to do what they do, they don't use the cross because it symbolizes Jesus' death, and they want to remember his ressurection rather than his death....there's are too many differences to say simply...

but anyway, the second coming is when they believe Christ will come to earth again, to rule for "The millenium" where everyone will be ressurected.... EVERYONE....and supposedly live in happiness.....the last few items of business will be finished on earth.... And then everyone will be judged and sent to whatever heavenly kingdom they've supposedly earned......

Answer 4

I'll add my two cents in, even though the LDS answers have pretty much covered it.

I think there are a couple of over riding differences that most anti-Mormon's have problems with. First, we believe that we all existed spiritually before we existed physically and as such we are all spirit brothers and sisters. And since we know that Satan also existed in Heaven for a time, that means that Lucifer was our spirit brother. Even Christians who don't go around bashing us have a problem with that one. But it makes sense to me. The second main difference we have from other Christians is that we believe that because God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and that He is a God of order, His true church will have (does have) the authority to act in His name - through the Priesthood, just as the prophets in OT times did, and just as Peter did in the NT. Protestant faiths believe that that authority was given to believers after Peter's death and that the Priesthood isn't needed anymore. Catholics believe that that authority resides in the Pope.
We also believe that because we are all God's children, and that He loves us all, that He didn't just speak to the Jews but He spoke to all those who believed upon Him. Some of these other groups, what we normally call "other sheep", wrote down their experiences with Him. One of those groups were brought to the Americas from Jerusalem by God, and in time their record was written and eventually given to Joseph Smith to translate into English through the use of the Priesthood which was restored again by God through those who last had the keys/the authority/the Priesthood. Because that record was translated by a Holy power, it does not contain the typical translation errors found in other Holy Writ which was/is translated from one language to another by man and his understanding of language. It is because of this, that it has been said that this book - The Book of Mormon, is the most correct book on earth and that a man will get nearer to God by abiding by it's precepts than by any other book. A lot of other Christians have a big problem with this, and think that we have either added to or replaced the Bible with the Book of Mormon. This isn't true, but for some it doesn't matter how much we tell them we still believe in the Bible, they don't believe us.


The Second Coming refers to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, which is mentioned many times in the Bible. I would suggest you start there. The meaning of it, or the purpose of it is to eventually bring about the Judgement of all mankind - of course I am skipping a LOT of what will actually take place during that time, but as I've said you should start in the Bible.

Answer 5

I will tell you the three differences that I think are most important. First of all, we have a more fully developed doctrine of something called the pre-mortal life. This doctrine is something that expands the way we think about life. Instead of just showing up sometime during your mother's pregnancy, or at birth, we believe that the spirits of all people who have ever lived on earth have already progressed to a certain level, an adult or mature level, before coming to earth. We believe that in the pre-mortal life, we also were raised in courts of glory and we all developed spiritually, emotionally, physically, etc., and with those talents we developed we wanted to keep learning and growing to become more like our Heavenly Father. So the earth was created to help all of the children of God learn how to progress and grow, to learn by contrast and personal experience, in order to understand what true joy was about and the importance of righteous principles. The pre-mortal life is such an important doctrine that we are immensely dedicated to the importance of families. We believe that family ties extend not only beyond the grave, but also before this life even began. The feeling of deja vu is just a reminder that we are on the right track, that we are living life in a manner that will repeat certain lessons or things we wanted to learn.
Second, there is something called Priesthood authority which we believe is the authority of God to act in His name. We believe this is an actual power that is used by worthy men to bless others and help build the Kingdom of God. It is also the same power of Jesus Christ, delegated down through the prophets of the ages by the laying on of hands. We believe there was an interruption of this special authority of God, but that it was restored by Jesus Christ's apostles Peter, James, and John about 1800 years after they lived on the earth, and that men and in the Church today, if they live worthy, can also be recipients of the Priesthood. (Women have similar rights and privileges but are not Priesthood holders - however, they have every blessing that men have according to our temples - which is a lesson in itself.)
Three - the gift of the Holy Ghost is a unique and priceless gift that is bestowed upon all those who are baptized and confirmed members of the Church of Jesus Christ. This is the Comforter that is spoken of in the Bible. If we pray, read scriptures, and live worthy of that companionship, we can have that gift every day of our lives. It will teach us and help us to discern good from evil.
There is always more, of course, but you can check out the websites given by ACTIVE Mormons, like www.lds.org
Have a happy day, and I send you a gummy bear.
P.S. I think there are already other answers here about the Second Coming, but basically it is when Jesus Christ will come to rule and reign over the earth during the Milennium. Some people think the Milennium has already started, but there are still several events which need to happen, and we are in the winding-up years of the history of the earth.

Answer 6

There are a lot of differences but basically we believe in a living prophet that is alive today as well as dead ones. Every month we get the opportunity to read what he has to say to us in our church magazines called the ENSIGN, The Childrens friend, and The New Era for teens.

2. Our clergy is a lay clergy which means that they do not get a stipend as do pastors in some other churches, rather they are "called" to their position within our church.

3. We believe that the family unit will continue after death, rather than "death do us part," that is why LDS funerals are happier then other funerals.
4. We believe in the Book Of Mormon as well as the Bible. The Book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ. I know that this book is true, and that all the promises and prophecies within its pages will come to pass, if they haven't already.

5. We believe that EVERYONE will be resurrected when the Lord comes again. They will be judged by Christ for their deeds in this life. If you wish to know more check out http://www.lds.org or http:// www. mormon.org

6.The Book of mormon was TRANSLATED by Joseph Smith.




The second coming is when the Lord comes again as foretold by John the revelator who wrote the book of revelation as inspired by Jesus Christ.

Answer 7

What makes me proud to be a member of the church the main is the undeniable fact that it is unquestionably Jesus Christ's church. that's the only real church on earth. particular, others do have some actuality yet no longer all. i'm proud to be a 19 year previous male that's worth to hold the Melchizedek Priesthood. I surely have arranged, surpassed, and blessed the sacrament till now that's the very factor Jesus Christ did whilst He replaced into on earth. it relatively is a real honor. i'm happy there are human beings in this international that have familiar the gospel of Jesus Christ. to those that say no longer proud, it is okay to assert proud. you ought to have considered the final known convention. the version between proud and delight replaced into stated. Proud is being grateful, delight is questioning you're above others for what you have. asserting you're proud to be a member of the church isn't a undesirable factor.

Answer 8

All the LDS Members covered it pretty well, but I just want to add that not_ta_thing_2_say is very confused about our religion. We do not believe several things he mentioned (ie the people that didn't fight valiantly in heavenly war are ones with black skin... there are actually other explanations we have but that is not it.

Answer 9

Mormons say they are preparing for the life after death, what they don't realize is that their conflicting and contridictory doctorine and practices only sets them up for failure.

Why spend 80-some years on earth doing what a church tells you to do and then finding out it's all crap?

Answer 10

myself and lovinlife just about said it all.

Let me add to what they have said. We also believe in the TRUE Jesus Christ.

Latter-day Saints, unlike many other Christian traditions, do not accept the definitions of God as created by the Greek philosophers.

Our beliefs about the Godhead "are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner [stone]." (The Holy Bible, Ephesians 2:20)

Using the apostolic and prophetic teachings as our base, Latter-day Saints believe in the Jesus who was the preexistent Word of the Father; that was the Father of heaven and earth, the Creator of all things from the beginning; that was the God of Abraham , Isaac, and Jacob; that was the Only Begotten Son of God who was born to the virgin Mary in the town of Bethlehem; that was baptized by John; that healed the sick and raised the dead, that walked on water, multiplied loaves and fishes, and performed many other miracles; that set a perfect example for mankind to emulate and that all men and women are commanded to follow his teachings and example in all things.

We believe that Jesus suffered in the garden and on the cross, until he finally died as a willing sacrifice for mankind in order to bring about an infinite atonement through the shedding of his blood. After his death, we believe that he was physically resurrected and that he ascended into the heavens, from which he will come at the end of this world to establish his kingdom upon the earth and eventually to judge both the living and the dead. We believe Jesus is and was the Holy Messiah, the Savior and Redeemer of the world and all those who will follow him. Finally, we believe in the Jesus who is the Christ, the Eternal God, manifesting himself unto all nations.

Now that we have established the identity of the Jesus Christ in whom Latter-day Saints believe, may I ask who is the Jesus in whom you believe?

A dictionary defines a Christian as "one who professes belief in Jesus as Christ or following the religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus," and "one who lives according to the teachings of Jesus." Thus two characteristics identify Christians: First, they profess belief in the Savior, and second, they act in harmony with the Savior's teachings. Faithful members of the Church called Saints or Latter-day Saints, qualify clearly in both characteristics. In our belief and our action, we demonstrate that "Jesus Christ Himself (is) the chief corner stone" of our faith.

Answer 11

the second comming is when christ comes back to earth