Christian and Mormon opinion about communication with god?

Question

Everyone knows there is an ongoing debate between Mormons and Traditional Christians. Mormons know their faith is true because god lets them know it is. Traditional Christians also have a personal relationship with god that tells them that they are true. It is apparent that someone is getting incorrect messages from god, but who?

Both groups are sure that they are communicating with god, and their message is genuine. Is it right for one group to be punished in the end, when they strongly believed the were doing gods will?

Is it right for god to allow "something else" to impersonate him, weather it be satan or imagination, and then punish those who were tricked by the impersonator?

Ihalmiut- You completely skirted the question.

Answer 1

I'm going to go with choice C...neither of them are absolutely correct.

I will take the Mormon side on this one...as their view is not that everyone else who did not believe as them will be punished. That religion is not as into the hell fire and brimstone idea as other "traditional Christians" are.

Answer 2

Your question is a genuine one and a difficult one to answer but I would like to tell you what I have learned.
Do you have to be Mormon, Jewish, Christian, Muslim or something else to have a relationship with God? The answer is NO.
What separates Mormons from "Traditional" Christians is that Mormonism encompasses a more complex and thorough view of the history and purpose of the Human Existence, the purpose of why Jesus Christ had to come and what his actions did for the entire human race.

Mormonism also recognizes that there is a differentiation between raw emotion and revelation. For example, many "Traditional Christians" base their claims of spiritual experiences based on raw emotion, i.e. "speaking in unknown, unintelligable, untranslatable tounges and jumping hollering and running around shouting "I feel Jesus" during worship service."

Mormonism also recognizes Satans ability to decieve and coerce people into believing that their raw emotion is a spiritual experience OR even appear as an angel of light.

To answer the question of who is getting the incorrect message, Christ taught simply that "By their fruits ye shall know them." In other words, by their actions ye shall know them.

How will you know that their fruits are of Christ, ask yourself, What did Christ do? Did he take money and say " I will pray for you if you make a donation, or did he go to the lower of society and bring them out of their spiritual, physical and emotional bondage and ask only one thing in return, do unto others as you have seem me do unto you."

As for punishment, will someone be punished for being decieved? I would say that is dependant on what the fruits of that deception was. Did that person commit a crime?

Make no mistake however, both Mormons and "Traditional Christians" can definately let their imaginations get away from them. They may not say that they will get 73 virgins for wearing a suicide bomb, but I have seen and heard some really bizarre "out-there like pluto" statements from both sides.

So in conclusion, just because you belong to one religion or the other, does not mean you will get a message from God automatically you need to learn the componets of self mastery and the means by which God communicates. So Study, Ponder, Pray... Ask questions and be patient till the answer comes.

Hope that helps

Answer 3

I was raised mormon. I didn't know that Christians and Mormons were so different and at such odds, until I was 17... I suppose I was somewhat sheltered. Anyway, when I began to listen to praise and worship music, not knowing it was against the church I grew up in, (till others said something), I began to feel very called to live my entire life for God, and the spreading of His love and His gospel. However, I couldn't do that very well if I was only allotted 1 year of missionary service. I could have gotten married afterward and become a "couple's missionary" but I wanted more time alone with God before I did so.... I just found that nomatter how much I loved the church, I could not stay. For one, people were becoming increasingly against how I desired to worship. I got cirtain... messages, on where and how I needed to serve Him... and so I did. It was only after this, that I found out how different the denominations out there were and it was very disturbing to me... it wasn't just difference in manner of worship, or in the way they do things, people were terribly concerned with knowing all truth... perfectly. Well...... ya just can't DO that! People are not perfect YET!!

Anyway... to know whether or not God is speaking to you is this:

1. You will know things you cannot know on your own. The "vehicle" through which information is manifested to you may be physical, so that you will be more able to remember.... also write your "messages" down and be prepared to do what you need to do.

2. What you "hear" will be in accordance with the abundance of blessing He desires for you.

3. Even if it is something to warn you, there will be given information that will help you be safe and to escape as you put your trust in God and not a imperfect mankind (who will often make you fear or lead astray).

4. You will be flooded with a kind of love that doesn't exist here on earth... it actually will heal you!

Answer 4

I like the question. The answer is there are a few people who do know if they are lying and intentionally misleading people, those people will be punished accordingly. It is not our job to judge here on earth, because we do not know the truth for 100% sure nor do we know all about any one person or any one thing. God allows those to impersonate him because of free will. It would be wrong for God to base a judgement off of someone being tricked. However, In ancient scripture before the bible was put together. Jesus says "you will know how good a tree is by the fruit it bares". This suggests that if someone you know and follow is not sprouting good things, it is your responsibility to notice this, and change. Someone who is purely good, will show the most good fruit. The impersonator will be judged based on his actions, but every man since the death of jesus has gods laws imprinted on their hearts. If you go against your heart and do things you know to be wrong, you'll be judged by that.

Answer 5

I used to have the same questions when I was in the Mormon church. I saw everyone in my church adamant that they had the truth, and people in other churches saying the same thing. I've even seen Muslims who believe that they are right and Christians are wrong. Personally for me, it's all b.s. I don't see the point in having faith. Everyone has a different story. Everyone is convinced they are right. There is nothing to prove who is right. Religion is a big p*ssing match and I really don't want to be involved in it.

And no, I don't think it is right to punish one group in the end for having the "wrong answer" or to punish someone who genuinely felt they were doing the right thing. Have you seen the South Park scene where the people are in hell? When they object, due to their religious practices in their lives, they are told they had the wrong answer. When they ask who had the right answer they are told "Mormons, yes Mormon is the correct answer". It's like your eternal fate rests on a multiple choice quiz. I think SP pointed out the ridiculousness of this thought well in that scene. I hate the arrogance of believing that you have the only and most absolute truth. There really is no way to know.

Answer 6

I think the key is having Jesus Christ in your heart and following His word which is the bible, not the Book of Mormon. I'm not real clear on what the big difference is but I do know that Christians work at and pray all the time to be able to follow Him as closely as humanly possible. We don't always get clear signs but between His word and prayer it all works out. God also tests our sincerity and faithfulness because he has the power to get rid of Satan but it's just not in the plan right now. Good question.

Answer 7

From an LDS point of view we believe that everyone has the light of Christ. This can point anyone, even an atheist, to God. People can pray and get answers to prayer no matter what church they attend. What we would dispute as an answer from Heavenly Father is anything that brings up hatred or contention. The Spirit can not abide where there is contention.

Answer 8

dbu - Mormons have self belief in the daddy, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. We merely don't have self belief that they are all one and a similar being. we expect of that God the daddy is a separate guy or woman from the Son and the Holy Ghost. the whole thought-in regards to the Trinity wasn't even created till some 3 hundred advert on the Council of intense-high quality. there's no point out ever of the Trinity in the Bible, previous or New testomony. whilst we pray to God, we pray to Heavenly Father, in the call of Jesus Christ. no count number in case you think of it is a similar God or not, i'm unable to verify for you. yet i've got self belief in Jesus Christ of Galilee, son of Mary, Savior of all mankind. Is that a similar God as you? edit - Morning huge call has a great number of incorrect preparation in her placed up and does not wisely state what we, as LDS, have self belief.

Answer 9

Please see my question about this. It asks basically the same thing, but in a different way. http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Aml9mZ6In_.BMv4RiTo8Q1Hsy6IX?qid=20070722225224AAqfxgc

Your question points to the bottom line problem with Protestantism. Each denomination/sect believes in Christ, neither one believes or teaches the same things, yet each claims to be right.

As an ex-protestant who is now Catholic, I asked the same questions when I was trying to learn my faith. After studying Christian history and learning where our worship and beliefs came from, I saw the truth in Catholicism. Now, I’m not trying preach “catholic” to you; I’m simply making the point that common sense questions like yours demand common sense answers, and when we devote ourselves to an honest study to find the answer, we are led to the truth. Protestantism doesn’t work. If it did, why isn’t there a central unity, and central belief and/or authority governing all of Protestantism? Why all the differences and disagreements among a group where each claims to be right but nothing is the same?

Answer 10

Would it be so bad if people were allowed to pray about which college to attend, and then got different answers? Everyone needs to choose the level of study they are comfortable with. Does it make another college wrong? Does it mean we are done studying once we get to a certain level in school? It's ok to graduate "up" or "over" to a new level. That's how I look at it.