Mormons have you ever thought?

Question

This is a question for Mormons (I guess non Mormons can reply whether my assertion is correct or not.)

Have you ever thought that the reason so much anomosity develops towards the LDS Church is because you attempt to make it look like mainstream Christianity and hide your differences instead of being open about them?Other groups like the JW's, SDA's have no problem saying where they differ from mainstream Christian doctrine.

Can you see that trying to present yourself as such and not openly admitting your differences especially to those you try to convert make it seem deceptive and this deceptivness is what brings about the anti Mormon backlash?(the only LDS member I have seen on this board which will tell you there are differences is Miranda)

Your crediblity would be greatly enhanced instead of telling people they are wrong about what you believe tell them why they are wrong and what exactly your belief is on the topic. Face it head on. If you are proud of it don't hide.

I have no problem with anyone believing what they believe, my problem is with deceptivness into trying to make it what it is not or hiding things.

Mormon 4 Jesus would you like to express some of your misrepresented differences and how you actually differ? and what was expressed incorrectly.

Answer 1

I have to agree. From conversations with Mormons and reading the differences are only disclosed once you've joined the church. One of the excuses I've heard is that "they're not ready for that yet". :(

Answer 2

I'm a Mormon who is also puzzled by where you seem to be drawing your information from.

I've answered quite a few questions on YahooAnswers about the Mormon faith. I have never once claimed that the Mormon Church is "mainstream" Christianity. I have, on several occasions, made comparisons between Mormon doctrine and general Christian doctrine (i.e. the differences between the Mormon concept of the Godhead and the standard Christian concept of the Trinity). When I come across a statement that claims we as Mormons believe one thing, and I know we really believe something else, I answer with some sort of (hopefully) polite "No, we don't really believe that, we believe..." response.

And I know that I am not the only Mormon here who does so.

Now, I'll admit that we probably haven't run into each other before (I admit your username doesn't ring a bell), which would certainly explain why I have my feelings on this subject and you have yours. If you'd like, you can follow the answers that I give in the R&S section by making note of my profile (you can even click on my profile, then click on the "Add to My Contacts" link right above my icon, if you'd like), and keeping an eye on the "Answers" list near the bottom.

Answer 3

I don't try to hide the differeneces in the gospel and have no problem discussing them with others if they truly want to know. Some people just want to get into an argument over it and it is pointless. Too much of the church relies on a person's faith and testimony that cannot be shared with somone unwilling to accept it. I openly state that as a member of the LDS church, I don't believe in the trinity, I know that the Book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ. We believe that our prophets and apostles receive modern day revelation from Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. At one time in the early history of the church a part of the members did practice polygamy, but we haven't for over 100 years. These are the main differences from main stream Christianity, there are others, but most of them are sacred and that is why we do not share them with those who would not respect the symbolism and those that aren't ready/worthy to receive them.

Answer 4

1 Corithians12:3 Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.
4 Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.
5 And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord.
6 And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all.

As Paul says in this scripture there are differences but that we should remember that we serve the same Lord. In fact we do base missionary work on discussion of differences. If you listen to the missionary lessons it is based on (1) living prophets (2) modern day revelation (3) additional scripture including the Book of Mormon (4) the restoration of priesthood authority. That's pretty head-on. The reason to be a "mainstream" church is so that people will know that we love the Savior too. That we share with them the values He taught.

Answer 5

The reason that there is animosity is because Mormons are quick to say "We're right, and the rest of you may have some good things, but you're not teaching 100% truth".

We claim that Jesus Christ is the Head of our church and leads it through revelation and prophets. If we're right, then everyone else is wrong.

The other Christian churches say "we teach different things, but your church is pretty much the same as my church". ......um.....they can't both be right.

It's interesting that you place the blame on Mormons, while many "mainstream christians" run around saying that we're not Christian.

I'M MORMON. I BELIEVE IN JESUS CHRIST. I BELIEVE THAT HE IS MY PERSONAL SAVIOR AND REDEEMER.

Are you, as a Christian, running around telling everyone that your church condoned the killing of Canaanite men, women, children, and animals??? If you believe in the Old testament, then you also believe that. Is that a "hidden Christian doctrine"?

It's so far from the core of what you believe that it's not even worth discussing unless you're getting into deep and thorough studying.

We are proud of our faith. Proud of our beliefs, and do not hide them.

We believe in God, Jesus Christ, and all of the prophets and their writings that have been and will be revealed to man.

We have some different doctrines that other Christian churches (after all, they all do....otherwise they'd be the same church). We're not exactly shy about the Book of Mormon thing now are we??? Prophets? Joseph Smith? Massive differences that we're massivly open about.

Answer 6

I am a mormon and very willing to discus the differences in my beliefs and those of "mainstream" christanity. If I feel like the person I am talking to really has a desire to know. There is a lot of false propaganda out there about things that I hold sacred...sacred not secret. There are a lot of people who really don't want the truth but to cause contention and self doubt in others. I respect the beliefs of others. This is the biggest difference in Mormons and other Christians...I speak from other exsperiance. When you are a Christian you have your choice of sects. Most people go to a specific church for worldly reasons. Fo example..my family were always Baptist. We moved to a small town which only had one church which was Methodist. Well now my family goes to the Methodist church. Their beliefs haven't changed but this church is more convienent. A lot of Christians I know are that was. Go one place for a wile and then move, get offended, or for any of a million reasons you can just decide to go to another church. After all a Christian is a Christian right? No one claims to be Mormon out of convience. You only become a member of my church because you feel like God spoke directly to you and told you this is right. This is a true blessing but also makes your worldly life harder at times. It was so much easier to be a good Bapist than it is to be a good Mormon. But I KNOW with my entire being, in my heart and soul that this is God's church. Of course I want my famly and friends to know that as well but I still respect the free will they have. so why can't non Mormons have that same respect for us? Sorry this is so long. There are no big secrets on my church but there are some things that are so sacred we don't talk of them to just anyone. God Bless

Answer 7

I have to admit this sounds more like a rant than a question, but I'll do the best I can to provide some feedback. As a lifelong member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I would say that some of our beliefs aren't like "Mainstream" Christianity. I agree with you there. I'm not trying to hide that. I'm not trying to deceive anyone. If anyone wishes to discuss my beliefs with me, then I'll do the best I can to answer their questions truthfully. I have no reason to lie about anything. So for you to imply that all LDS sidestep questions and don't tell the truth, etc...I think that's an exaggerated generalization.

I don't see how we would be trying to hide anything when we send out more missionaries than most Christian faiths out there. And yes, the LDS church is a Christian faith. According to your definition, it may not be "mainstream", but the faith is centered around Jesus Christ as the Savior, and the Son of God. That, in the simplest of terms, is Christian, unless you are grasping for straws trying to exclude a particular faith.

Call me naive if you want. But I'm not hiding anything. The notion that all LDS members try to deceive everyone else is a little offensive, I must say.

Answer 8

Thanks for the compliment!!! I try to tell it like it is, and not tell anyone that it's all the same. That's what makes us each individuals, and each religion different. We are different, but that doesn't make any religion totally wrong or right.

There is a quote that I really like. It's from our prophet. It pretty much sums up what I think too, so here it is!! “We are a peculiar people. There is a wholesomeness about you that is beautiful and wonderful. We don’t smoke, we don’t drink, we don’t even take tea or coffee. That is strange for a lot of people. We do vicarious work for the dead. We teach that marriage in the house of the Lord is for time and for all eternity, that families can actually be forever. We are a peculiar people, and thank heavens we are. If the world continues to go in the direction it is going, families breaking up, pornography everywhere, drugs and things of that kind, we will become an even more peculiar people. God has blessed us generously and kindly and greatly. How thankful we ought to be” (fireside, Sydney, Australia, 14 May 1997).

We don't really ever say that we are mainstream in our beliefs. The missionaries tell you up front that our beliefs about God and Christ are different then other Christian sects, but that the fundamental belief in Christ as our savior is the same.

We do believe that it is through Christ we are saved, it's His grace that will save us. Does that mean that we believe that just believing in Him will save us? No. We believe that hinges on our humility to accept and admit that we have done wrong, and ask for forgiveness.

I don't claim to be the same as any other religion, we aren't. I won't lie about what I believe in, and I don't think we as a church need to either. If you can't accept our differences, that is your problem. I have no beef with other religions, and I think it's wonderful for everyone to believe in something. Faith is a wonderful thing. We all just need to learn that every persons faith is their own.

But us believing something different from mainstream doesn't mean we aren't Christian. Our beliefs may not be the same, but belief is belief, and that should count for something.

Here's an interesting site. I've posted it many times, so it shouldn't be new to most of you out there. But it really is a good one to answer questions. It even talks about the differences between LDS belief and other faiths.

Answer 9

"We believe in living prophets and apostles, and as far as I know, we are the only Christian church tat does. " That statement scares me...most Christian churches do. It is not a dividing point with the two churches, it is a unifier.

At the heart of this is what does it mean to be Christian. 2000 years ago Christian meant that you stepped out of the norm, conformed yourself to the cause of Christ, did your best to follow his teachings and trusted in his authority as FINAL. Mormans to not believe that. They are Diests, they believe Man can add to the word of God and make it better and continue to reveal new things. That is convienient, call yourself a bishop and say "god revealed to me" and you can woo the masses.

Christians live in conformity (as best we can) to the word of God and we believe it has been unchanged for 1900 years. We believe in the divine inspiration of Scripture, but that inspiration stopped shortly after the life and death of Jesus.

Mormons are great citizens, as such I think Romney is a good candidate. I think Mormons are decieved, but sometimes Christians are as well. What we need is good interfaith dialog and discussion.

Answer 10

Even Mormoms call themselves Christians. The word Christians start with Christ, meaning we believe in Christ, one of the Holy Trinity; God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. We do not believe in another book written by another person who thinks he has contact with God and in fact this person reminds me of Mohammad who also said that he had a contact with God. In the actual Bible, the person whom you all believe did not exist. It is sad to see you all like this because you all look very serious in what you believe and yet what you believe is deviated. Yet you still want to believe. So when are you all going to find out the real truth for yourselves instead of bicycling around telling people the truth when it is a lie ?

Answer 11

The Mormons believe we all lived in Heaven with Heavenly Father, several Heavenly Mothers, and 20 Billion Heavenly Siblings. Then there was a war. The good guys won and were born White. The bad guys lost and became demons. Those who were neutral or did not fight bravely were born with non-white skin. The bravest of the brave were born to Mormon families.

We all know that Romney must have been a "Valliant Warrior" in the "War in Heaven" during the "Pre-Existence". How else could he have been born "White and Delightsome" to an LDS family here on Earth? Heck, he was probably one of the Commanding Generals . Now , America needs a President with valuable military experience like that to get us through our war in Iraq. Could you please ask "The One and Only True Prophet", Gordon Hinkley, to please release those valuable records to the public? We need to know what battles he fought in. How many medals he won. How many of the "Less Valliant Soldiers" he recommended being born with black skin when they got their chance to be born on Earth. Was Al Sharpton one of THEM ? How about Jesse Jackson? Mormons, this is your chance to show the world the light of the everlasting gospel. Dont miss out. We have General Romney running for president of the USA and we need you badly right now!