Would you like to worship self? Would you like to believe in a God that is almost exactly like humanity? Would you like to be your own savior one day? Then Mormonism is the religion for you! Through the study of Mormonism, I was able to see some stark contrasts with other major world religions. After observing the Mormon beliefs about God, humankind, and creation, I was able to see a related pattern of heretical statements that clearly contradict the doctrinal teachings of the Christian church.
The first theme I saw within Mormonism dealt with its view of God. To Mormons, God (the father) has a bodied existence, a physical body with a soul and mind just as humans have. My next observation about their belief dealt with Jesus’s relation to God.
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Now after identifying who we as humans are in our pre-existence just as Jesus was, the purpose of humanity is held into question. According to Mormon doctrine, people are on earth to demonstrate their obedience to the Father. Unlike the Christian faith, the highest form of heaven (which Christians believe in one heaven) is obtained through by being completely obedient to God and his requests and commands for humanity. In addition, there must be a confession of faith. Now this seems peculiar to me as a Christian, because Mormons claim that they believe and worship the same God as the modern Christian church does. This duty to obey God while on earth is not far fetched, but the thing that is off is the idea that the way to heaven is by following all the rules. This is very contrary to the idea of humanity that Christianity takes in the sense that the doctrinal teachings say that redemption is strictly through the saving grace of God and not based upon the works of man. Now, we must keep in mind that this idea of working towards salvation is only granted after humans enter into their penultimate state on earth. Now this raises questions about …show more content…
After this, he decided that earth was to be a moral proving ground for the matter that he arranged. The final state (after death) is decided based upon how the arranged matter lived its life on earth. This moves into the salvific account of God. There is a salvation through grace, after works are accounted for. This shows that God is not even the ultimate being. If creation was already formed, then who/what formed it initially. God is no longer a powerful being but a superior figure that obtained this specific form of holiness sooner than we did as pre-existing
A homegrown religion originating in the late 1820s, Mormonism arose as a rejection of the existing Christian sects and a return to what the Mormons considered to be pure Christianity. Similarly, the members believed their desire for a new kind of government stemmed from their disillusionment with what they believed was a corrupt government and a desire for the reestablishment of true American values and the original intent of the founding fathers. This sentiment is epitomized by Joseph Smith’s presidential platform, which states “No honest man can doubt for a moment, the glory of American liberty is on the wane; and that calamity and confusion will sooner or later destroy the
Mormonism is a religion created by Joseph Smith on April 6, 1830(The Mormon Trail), its believers are referred to as Mormons and practice the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS Church) (The Mormon Trail). Smith believed himself to be a prophet destined to “restore the original pure church the Christians in the Book of Mormon had created (Manifest Destiny and Westward Expansion).” However, he was killed by a mob in Illinois but was replaced by his successor, Brigham Young. Their beliefs include a particular set of deity, afterlife, and they practice polygamy, which is one of the reasons the Mormons sought religious freedom.
All these differing theological issues pale in comparison to the disagreement that many Christians have with the LDS Church’s origins. In 1830, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints was founded after Joseph Smith claimed to have received a vision of God and Jesus Christ telling him that the true church was not on the earth at that time (Perry). If this is true, it implies that all other Christian religions are false. Prior to the Church’s organization, Joseph Smith published The Book
They believe salvation is by good works. As a result, life on earth tests people to determine what kind of eternal life they will experience."(466 Muck) The Bible says in James 1:2-4, "Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." The book of Mormon doctrine states, "The trials and tests determine where we will spend eternity."(466) The Christians tests are to glorify God. In spite of how God allows Satan to sift a person, the sifting is to build up our faith. Whether or not a person passes or fails a test does not determine the destiny of eternity. According to Romans 10:9, a person eternal destiny depends upon him/her confessing Jesus Christ as their Lord and
This book attempt to show the common ground between Christianity and Mormonism by examining the individual areas of Scripture, God, Christ, the Trinity and Salvation. The summation of the author’s findings is that although there are great differences there is also much common ground that can be used to strengthen our relationship together and bring unity to the ecumenical community.
Christianity is a widespread religion, but many people have never heard of Mormonism, a religion said to have branched from Christianity. However, if you take a closer look at the two faiths, you will find that there are several differences and few similarities.
At first glance, the Mormon worldview appears very similar to the Christian worldview. In fact, the Mormon leadership has done what they could to keep this façade up. In order for the Christians to be able to make an apologetic argument, he or she must first gain an understanding of the truth behind the Mormon worldview.
Joseph Smith established the church of Jesus Christ (Mormon Church) in the 1830, New York. It was established due to a lack of churches that wasn’t organized by Jesus Christ (Bushman, 517-18). The church has been growing larger since then, with 6 million members in the U.S. and 14 million members worldwide (Lyon, 622). Mormonism has been known for having different values and norms compared to other Americans, the ones that seemed most interesting and different were their lifestyle choices, and their views on polygamy.
The Utopian society of Mormon’s believed that the legacy, authority, and influence of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, for their perfect world, stems from the highest “reality” that the Church 's beginning was celestial: in other words, the Mormon history is not that of man 's reorganization but of God 's re-establishment of the truth within their perfect Utopian society. Thus, a restoration of the original church of Jesus Christ and the apostles was vital; improvement alone, was not enough. The Mormon members and followers believe that many truths had been lost over history and over time when the power to act in God’s name was taken from the earth. They believed it went with the executions of the apostles. The followers of this movement and community believe that restoration was and is still crucial as a prelude to the second coming of Christ. Today the church has a worldwide community of approximately 15 million members and faithful followers (Utopia and Dystopia).
Mormonism is a religious group part of the main branch of the Latter Day Saints movement, led by Joseph Smith in New York during the 1820s. Mormons believed in the Bible, as well as other scriptures, such as the Book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon was about Jesus’s travels around the Americas. They also believed that it was Christian to have more than one wife, but to non-Mormons this was abhorrent. Many violent outbreaks have occurred with Mormons and their neighboring states. Technically, Mormons didn’t have a choice to move or not. Because of their different religion, they were forced West, all the way from New York to Utah. Utah had a very open government allowing the Mormons to vote and have a say in government decisions. It also provided
First, we will embark on the definition of Christian Orthodoxy by exploring the historical formation of Orthodox Christianity. Second, we will describe in detail the core theological doctrines of reformed Christianity, namely, the doctrine of Scripture Alone, Christology, the doctrine of the Trinity, and Justification by Faith alone. Third, we will look at the History and biography of Mormonism and its leader, Joseph Smith. Fourth, we will discuss Mormon doctrines and its incompatibility with Orthodox Christianity. Finally, we will
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the Mormon church. The website, Mormon.org, has a home page that focusses on education and creating an environment for Mormon followers to meet people of the same faith. Easily accessible from the home page is a link to learn more about the Mormon religion. Clicking on the link pulls up a new page with more links. Through these links, the site aims to inform the visitor about what Mormons believe, what books and texts they follow, and the founding of the religion and church. Each link has title followed by a brief description. For instance, the link “Jesus Christ, Our Savior” is followed by the text, “Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the (ours and yours) Savior of the world. His life and
The typical Mormon lifestyle today consists of attending Sunday services of worship and Sunday School at a local ward made up of around 200-400 members. Belonging to the church community, Mormons grow closer together in order to help one another. Explaining why many Mormon families are generally larger in size, Mormons place a large emphasis on family life and believe both the family and society benefit from church communities. Praying together as a family, as well as many other at home practices are performed to create a family bond. Many Mormons educate themselves on genealogical research in order to save deceased non-Mormon relatives through baptism. In following the revelation given to Joseph Smith, Mormons follow a dietary restriction
In Surprised By Truth, Patrick Madrid discussed the Mormonism, which I found that strange a little bit, but I got the meaning and what is the Mormon lifestyle like? I believe that we are sent to the earth to learn, to discover and practice our agency, have families and follow all of God's commandments, then to return to live with Him. I believe that we came to see if we would be obedient to Gods laws if pressured by satans influences. But most of all, we came to gain a body grow families and discover true joy. Lastly, the purpose of our life is to prepare to meet
Mormonism is a name meaning the spiritual principles of followers of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as well known as Mormons. Mormonism defines the guidelines of the Church that were reestablished to the world by the Prophet Joseph Smith. If you would ask the question “what is Mormonism” to a member, there’s a high change they would respond by acknowledging their love of Jesus Christ, he is the dominant part of the religion. Where can you find a continuing participant of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, well they're instituted at every level of civilization. For instance, in a charity, business, education, science, political parties, government, news media, and lastly the entertainment productions. The originator of The Church, Joseph Smith, wrote, “the essential philosophies of our religion are regarding Jesus christ, he died and was buried, rose again and on the third day ascended into the heavens; all supplementary things which relate to our religion is only accessories to it.”The main beliefs and practices of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are that Jesus Christ is the redeemer of the earth and the Son of our