Since Mormons are "Latter Day Saints"?

Question

Do they believe in the sanctity of the, i suppose, former day saints? Do Mormons believe that the Saints of the old Church are sanctified.

This is an actual question about an actual religion. If you just want to bash the Mormons or call them a cult just hit the key a couple times, get your 2 pts. and leave. I honestly don't care if you don't like the Mormons, go away.

Answer 1

Good question skalite5. This shows how a slight difference in vocabulary can make a vast difference in understanding.

The LDS religion (aka Mormons) uses the word "saint" only in the sense that the Bible does. I.e. to mean any believer. It does not imply unusual purity or santification as it does in some other religions. (Examples: Eph 1:1, Col 1:2, Eph 1:15, Philp 4:22, etc. The list could go on and on.)

The LDS Church teaches that they are a restoration to primative Christianity. (This is what all "restoration" Christian religions believe, btw. The Church of Christ is another example.)

Thus the name of the Church is "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day (i.e. later days or maybe "last days") Saints" to show that they consider themselves a restoration and continuation of the original Christian church that Jesus established. That original Church would be "the Church of Jesus Christ of former day (or primative day?) saints" in the minds of an LDS believer. This is the true meaning and understanding of the name of the LDS Church.

And, yes, Mormons believe these "old saints" (i.e. original believers) are "sanctified" if they believed in Jesus, repented, and were baptized. Same as today.

Answer 2

Good Question. They seem to have a thing for Abraham. There is a "Book of Abraham" included in the Pearl of Great Price. Joseph Smith purchased 2 mummies from a travelling circus along with their funarary texts written in Egyptian on scrolls. He proceded to "Translate" the Egyptian writings into the "Book of Abraham" claiming it was an origional document written by Abraham and Joseph over 4000 years old. This pre dates the Dead Sea Scrolls by over 2000 years.Back then, nobody could read Egyptian and the claim stood up till the origional papyrii were re discovered in a Museum basement. Now we can read Egyptian very clearly and the Book of Abraham has been proven to be a fraud. (Not Bashing, just stating facts)
There is also a book of Moses.
I am not sure how the former day saints would fit into the picture here. They are obviously given some credibility.
The Jeredites allegedly came to the Americas in 600 B.C.
They seem to have some credibility.

Answer 3

ya its true. if you just look at scriptures talking about the latter days youll see were in that time right now, like the saviors words of there shall be many earthquakes in diverse places. there were 200 different earthquakes around the world just last month! the only ones on the news though are the ones that kill people.theres much more stuff like that. wars rumors of wars etc its an awesome subject to study on. if you really are interested in it. one sign joseph smith foretold was that the year before christ comes there will be no rainbows in the sky. theres lots in the bible but also in additional scriptures from the church. explained more specific The prophets have warned that the earth will experience great turmoil, wickedness, war, and suffering. The prophet Daniel said that the time before the Second Coming would be a time of trouble such as the earth has never known (see Daniel 12:1). The Lord said, “The love of men shall wax cold, and iniquity shall abound” (D&C 45:27). “And all things shall be in commotion; and … fear shall come upon all people” (D&C 88:91). We can expect earthquakes, disease, famines, great storms, lightnings, and thunder (see Matthew 24:7; D&C 88:90). Hailstorms will destroy the crops of the earth (see D&C 29:16). Jesus told his disciples that war would fill the earth: “Ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars. … For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom” (Matthew 24:6–7). These wars will continue until a great and final war, the most destructive the world has known. In the midst of this war the Savior will appear. (See Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, p. 732.) Many of these signs are being fulfilled. Wickedness is everywhere. Nations are constantly at war. Earthquakes and other calamities are occurring. Many people now suffer from devastating storms, drought, hunger, and diseases. We can be certain that these calamities will become more severe before the more on the links but to answer your last question yes i do believe we are in the latter days. latter years maybe is a better term. but i suppose its to emphasize how short time there really is. there have been fulfilled prophecies and in short time more and more will be fulfilled. i believe we are close enough to call it days even if its 200 years from now. that is such a short time for god. oh and if you want my guess im sure it will happen within 300 years but even possible in our life time that is why its important to watch the signs

Answer 4

Better take what you can get, but you're correct about latter vs former. They consider the "former" as the followers of the Jesus movement, but not necessarily all the 'saints' that were canonized after the death of christ. How St George, Utah was named is a mystery to me.

The Latter day group are specifically designated by and to those who are baptized into the lds faith.

Answer 5

I guess so, since they were in the Church of Jesus Christ. They had prophets and apostles and the priesthood and all that.

edit:
In selecting a Chinese character to represent the first syllable of Mo-Men, almost any one of 30 Chinese characters that are read as "Mo" could have been chosen. Let us quote from Professor Blair's research:

The symbol that was actually selected is the character specifically used to represent a like sounding syllable in foreign words. When not used to render a meaningless syllable of a foreign word, this character suggests "smoothing something with the hand." (If one were to take this literal rendering seriously, one could explain "Mo-Men" as meaning "hand-smoothed Gateway, " or "way smoothed by hands." Further, interpolation might suggest that it was the bleeding hands of Jesus Christ that smoothed the way to Salvation!)

What the crafty enemies of the Restored Church have done is to pervert the facts in such a way that only those knowing Chinese can see their fraud. From the thirty characters which have been reading Mo, they substituted the one which means "devil" (and which is not the one used by the Church) and then propagated the lie that in Chinese the word "Mormon" means "Devil's gate," or "Gateway to Hell."

Answer 6

That's an interesting question. I'll be sure to look back to see the answers.

No mormon bashing from me. Although I do not agree with their beliefs, I have the utmost respect for the ones I have met. The ones I know are very kind, generous, hard working people.

Answer 7

The Old saints must be baptized into Mormonism. The have a small industry dedicated to surrogate baptism of the deceased.

Answer 8

Main Entry: sanc·ti·fy
Pronunciation: -"fI
Function: transitive verb
Inflected Form(s): -fied; -fy·ing
Etymology: Middle English seintefien, sanctifien, from Anglo-French seintefier, sanctifier, from Late Latin sanctificare, from Latin sanctus sacred -- more at SAINT
1 : to set apart to a sacred purpose or to religious use : CONSECRATE
2 : to free from sin : PURIFY
3 a : to impart or impute sacredness, inviolability, or respect to b : to give moral or social sanction to
4 : to make productive of holiness or piety


Yes, I believe that they very much were "set apart" as followers of Jesus Christ. I believe that they reveranced Him greatly and followed His commandments. I believe that they would be "freed from sin" because they followed His commandments.

Answer 9

Well, I have the benefit to know Chinese and the characters or scripts that name Mormon is literally a meaning for 'devilish door' or a 'enormous door'. or a 'massage or rub door'. Chinese believe every name has a meaning and the name given to Mormon does not sound good.

Answer 10

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