Hot answers tagged lds
33
Your premise is invalid, as the warning in Revelation cannot be honestly interpreted as referring to anything beyond Revelation itself. "The Bible" did not exist back then. The very concept of "the Bible" did not even exist back then. Each sacred writing was its own book; they weren't compiled into a collection until centuries later. In addition, John ...
24
The term was originally used as a way to separate Latter-Day Saints from other Christians, due to their belief in the Book of Mormon as well as the Bible. (Much like the term "Christian", which was first used by Jews in the early Apostolic period to distinguish this sect of Judaism, who believed that Christ had already come, from the more respectable, ...
21
Prophecy about Jesus' return within 56 years
Per the History of the Church, vol. 2, p. 189, he said
...and go forth to prune the vineyard for the last time, or the coming of the Lord, which was nigh--even fifty-six years should wind up the scene.
That was in 1891.
Prophecy that the temple would be built in Missouri within Smith's Generation
...
16
Mormons do not believe in creation ex nihilo, as traditional Christian doctrine does. So to ask who created the universe in Mormonism is asking the wrong question.
Rather, Mormons believe that god arranged pre-existing matter in creation. The matter always existed; creation was an act of organizing the matter.
From Ancient Views of Creation and Doctrine ...
16
I'm surprised this hasn't been asked here yet. Mormon services are a bit different, as you discovered. In the United States, there is generally a block of 3 meetings back-to-back including a sunday school, a mens' and women's time for instruction, and a sacrament meeting where the general congregation meets together. It sounds like the first meeting you ...
15
You basically have three sub-questions here, so let me attempt to answer them in order.
Why do christians have to promote their beliefs to other people?
For two principal reasons: because we were commanded to at several different places in the Bible, and as an act of love. The Gospel improves the lives of those who live its principles, and we want to ...
15
The LDS theological view is that God, the Eternal Father, created all spirits, including Jesus the Firstborn, Lucifer, and all the rest of us, as His spirit children. Further, God is a separate being from Jesus and the Holy Ghost, who are all individual personages.
These three beings constitute the godhead, which is different from the usual Trinity belief.
...
15
This question was answered directly by Gordon B. Hinckley, who was the most recent president of the church before the current one. In an article in 2005, he wrote:
Following the renovation of the Mesa Arizona Temple some years ago,
clergy of other religions were invited to tour it on the first day of
the open house period. Hundreds responded. In ...
13
I agree 100% with Mason Wheeler, but I thought I could clarify something.
The LDS faith does not claim to add to the Bible. The only additions in their version of the King James Version of the Bible is in the form of footnotes and reference information. If that is considered adding to the Bible, then most denominations are guilty.
The Book of Mormon is a ...
13
What is considered scripture
The Standard Works
The LDS Church accepts 4 volumes as "standard works" of scripture:
The KJV Bible
The Book of Mormon
The Pearl of Great Price
The Doctrine and Covenants
Each book is esteemed basically equally with the others as pertaining to their scriptural value. Of course, Mormons will emphasize the Book of Mormon ...
12
The core idea behind this doctrine (usually referred to as "Exaltation") is that the LDS church teaches that our spirits are literal children of God. Offspring are the same species as the parent, and can thus grow and develop to become like the parent. The idea of God once being a man, or man becoming a god, are extensions of this doctrine. This is often ...
12
The term "Elder" actually has two (related) meanings among Latter-Day Saints: first, it's an office in the Priesthood, which all worthy male members can attain. It doesn't imply any leadership, just certain duties, responsibilities, and privileges associated with being an Elder in the Priesthood. All missionaries must be found worthy to be ordained an ...
12
The "pastor" in an LDS congregation is called a Bishop, and his role in meetings can be understood rather literally as that of episkopos, or overseer. Instead of preaching a sermon himself, the Bishop calls upon members of the congregation to prepare and then present the sermons in coming weeks. The Bishop presides at the meeting and he or one of his ...
12
The symbol has no specific meaning within LDS theology, and there are no teachings regarding it. According to an article found among the Wikipedia page's sources, the pentagram symbol actually has a long history in Christian and Jewish art and architecture, and only first began to be associated with Satanism and the occult in the 1850s. By this point, the ...
12
According to the Encyclopedia of Mormonism, chapter summaries first appeared in an edition published in 1920, under the editorship of James E. Talmage, of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, but the chapter summaries in modern printings of the Book of Mormon, as well as the footnotes and cross-references, date to the 1981 printing, which was "edited by a ...
11
LDS understanding of the nature of the Father and the Son is drawn from the First Vision, Joseph Smith's first-hand account of an encounter with them as an answer to his prayer to learn the truth about God and religion:
I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me. ... When ...
11
The problem is that the Bible doesn't really have an infallible table of contents. So, while there is nothing in the Bible definitively suggesting that there is another set of infallible documents inspired by God which relate to the Old Testament, the Bible also doesn't exclude that possibility either.
Because I have seen multiple comments on this, I ...
11
Super short summery:
No it is not like sola fide.
Now really long answer:
Are LDS saved by faith? Yes absolutely. The thing to understand here is that death and the Resurrection are viewed differently in LDS doctrine. Latter-day Saints believe EVERYONE will be brought back into the presence of God, because of the sacrifice of His Son Jesus Christ. Now this ...
11
The "temple garments," as they're commonly known, serve as a constant physical reminder of the covenants that the person wearing them have made. They are associated with the temple ceremonies, as you noted in the question. These ceremonies were revealed to Joseph Smith, and as they are not meant for the world in general, the details have not been published ...
11
There seems to be two questions here. First, "why are LDS temple ceremonies kept secret, seeing as how Old Testament temple ceremonies were not?"
The simple answer is that the Old Testament temples operated under the Law of Moses and were administered by the Levitical priesthood, whereas modern temples operate under the Law of the Gospel and are ...
10
I'm answering this only because of the year I spent in a Mormon (LDS) church. If anyone who is LDS would like to post a different answer, please do. This is based only on what I observed and learned during that time.
There are actually a few reasons for the emphasis on family. The first section below is presented to add emphasis to the "meat" of the ...
10
First question:
Mormons can be Masons, and in fact many early leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints were Masons. In the early days of restoration, political control of the local Masonic lodge was part of the contention between Mormons in Nauvoo, Illinois and their neighbors. The political role that Masonry played at that time ...
10
I will risk an answer, though I too hold these things to be very sacred. I will also offer this disclaimer: This is my understanding, having been a life-long member of the LDS church. If a lack of references and citations means this answer needs to be deleted, I fully understand.
My question is, according to LDS teaching, when does a person have to ...
10
The reason behind Young's rise to prominence is found in an understanding of the organization known as the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and Young's role in it.
Young joined the church in 1832, 2 years after the church was organized and after the publication of the Book of Mormon, therefore he had no part in the initial roots of Mormonism. In 1834, Joseph ...
10
The Lord had commanded Joseph Smith to reveal the manuscripts to no one who was not involved in the translation. Martin petitioned Joseph three times to show the manuscripts to his (Martin's) wife, and each time Joseph took the issue to the Lord.
The Harris family was wealthy, and Martin was helping pay for the publication of the Book of Mormon. His wife ...
10
Well, so the big hidden question here is "what comprises an LDS sunday service?". A related question covers some of this, so I'll just summarize. In your average "Sacrament meeting", you'll typically have:
1 who presides at the meeting
1 who conducts the meeting (may be the same as the one presiding)
1 who leads the music
1 who plays the piano/organ
2+ ...
10
The testimonies of these "lists of witnesses" is included in the introduction to the Book of Mormon, in which they explain what they saw and experienced.
From the testimony of the Three Witnesses:
And we also testify that we have seen the engravings which are upon
the plates; and they have been shown unto us by the power of God, and
not of man. And ...
10
To understand the answer, it's important to understand the actual invitation. It can be found in the last chapter of the Book of Mormon:
Moroni 10: 4-5
4 And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye
would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these
things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere ...
10
There is no official LDS doctrine on the subject, and the idea that everyone gets to choose where they want to end up makes no sense anyway. Obviously, some people get born into better circumstances than others, and with people being more likely to want to choose better circumstances than worse ones, clearly there are not enough "good births" to go around, ...
9
If you listen to LDS teachers or read their doctrines you will see the very conscientiously worded phrase "the only God and his Son" rather than "God and his only Son." It's the same set of words but the dots are connected differently.
The difference seems to hang on the word "only". What does it connect to?
It appears that the operative phrase in John ...
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