This thread is not discussing what Mormons believe in a very subjective way. Perhaps that is because many of the posters enjoy arguing points of interest that really have very little value in helping us come to an understanding of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
For this reason I thought I would like to help others understand why the nickname, "Mormon" is attached to members of the Church. It is quite simple. Because of the coming forth of The Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Christ, those who have been taught the Bible is the only book from which we should learn about God, have maligned the Church saying we have added to the Bible......interesting understanding, since the Book of Mormon was written on the Western Continent and is a record of the peoples who migrated from Jerusalem to this Continent. The Bible was written on the Eastern Continent and contains the Old Testament (covenant, namely the Law of Moses) and the New Testament, (covenant, baptism). The Law of Moses was to teach the people about the coming of the Savior in the Meridian of time...hence the law of sacrifice was practiced. When Christ came, He fulfilled the Law of Moses and gave the people the gospel, which included the doctrines of faith, repentance, baptism for the remission of sins and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost. Forgiveness was made possible through the atoning sacrifice of the Savior, that all mankind need not suffer for their own sins to satisfy the demands of justice, but through the atoning sacrifice of the Savior they could be forgiven and receive eternal life, conditioned on acceptance of Jesus Christ and His ultimate sacrifice for sin.
The Book of Mormon is another witness that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. It is known also as the Stick of Joseph, as is the Bible known as the Stick of Judah. The Book of Mormon and Bible together, represent two Continents and their people and God's dealings with each Nation. The gospel is plainly taught in the Book of Mormon, that same gospel Christ taught to the people in the New Testament. Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is essential before anyone can come to an understanding of the gospel. (James 1:5--6) The correct name of the church is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Latter-day Saints is to distinguish the Church from the former day saints of the New Testament. The Church is not a break off of any Protestant religion, nor is it a group that protested Catholicism. The Church was restored to the earth through heavenly messengers. God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph Smith, as did Peter, James and John; and John the Baptist and restored all that had been lost through apostasy. The priesthood authority was restored by Peter, James and John who restored the Melchizedek priesthood, and John the Baptist restored the Aaronic priesthood, that all of the saving ordinances of the gospel could be properly administered and acknowledged by God, enabling man to receive the fulness of the gospel which opened the doors to eternal life and exaltation through their obedience to the laws and ordinances of the gospel. Salvation is two-fold. 1.Resurrection from the grave is the free gift of salvation to all mankind! 1 Cor. 15:22 As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. 2. Exaltation and Eternal life is granted to those who learn obedience to the laws and ordinances of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Matt. 5:48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father in Heaven is perfect.
Tell me about the God who is the Father of the gods who rule this portion of the universe, i.e. where Earth is. Who is the Father of the Father of these gods?
A conservative is someone who believes that firefighters, teachers, and police officers are overpaid.
"Wesley told the early Methodists to gain all they could and save all they could so that they could give all they could. It means that I consider my money to belong to God and I see myself as one of the hungry people who needs to get fed with God’s money. If I really have put all my trust in Jesus Christ as savior and Lord, then nothing I have is really my own anymore."
Republicans experience suffering the way they experience all their virtues, i.e. vicariously.
According to "just war" standards of Christian theology, if Saddam Hussein killed 30,000 Iraqis, and the Iraq War killed 120,00, how was the War "just"?
the Book of Mormon does NOT specify why today's church is the only gateway to achieve the presence of God.
if anyone would like to quote an explanation from the BoM why God would confine human ability to "get in good with God" to nothing more than "sucking up to LDS church leaders"...
then please, give it your best shot.
as to questions in general...
why wasn't the path Heavenly Father used to achieve exaltation good enough for you and I?
why did Heavenly Father have to create a whole new path to exaltation?
why is Heavenly Father's absenteeism:
(with regards to who created the priestood ban, why wasn't it lifted sooner, and why wasn't the MARK of curse lifted with the curse itself)
(with regards to telling the church to officially throw church resources behind prop8 OR quit having members crawl on their belly under the radar)
(with regards to Brigham Young flatulating complete LIES about Native Americans being responsible for Mountain Meadows Massacre... if BY didn't know who did it, then keep his trap shut, this kind of 'speaking in ignorance' is the only thing LDS presidents know how to do)
considered worthy of respect?
why should everyone feel compelled to worship this kind of incompetence?
it's perfectly fine that church members feel this way...
but why should everyone else?
not a rhetorical question.
how does that feel to be a lawnmower man? must be a real rush.
The OP was little more than proselytizing. There was no evidence offered to back up any claims, just a list of beliefs stated as fact. I'd like to se some real proof of these Hebrews visiting the Americas during the BoM timeline. I'd like to see evidence of horses living here during that era, of a vast Iron Age civilization, and many other things that we have no evicence for. Until you can come up with something to validate your statements you might as well not be making statements in the first place.
"When you walk, you might like to take the hand of a child. She will receive your concentration and stability, and you will receive her freshness and innocence." -Tich Naht Hanh
Not only is there no evidence of the BOM claims that people of Jerusalem came to this continent long ago-there is mountains of evidence to disprove it. Those honest people, without agendas know that it was Europeans and only recently that invaded this continent and that the native Americans ("Indians") were INDIGENOUS to this continent-they are not mormon ancestors that migrated here long ago. Only fools believe such obvious nonsense.
It is all the more important to be honest about this considering what day tomorrow is. There is no holiday to celebrate mormon migrations here from the Middle East-because it never happened.
Also, the Old Testament was not written on the "Eastern Continent." It was written in the middle east by black and brown people. Just as the mormon jesus is quite incorrect, jesus was a brotha, not a white man-IF and only if he existed as a man at all. For it is just as likely he is just a composite of other myths, like Mithra, Krishna, etc.-for the man did nothing original, he's a "copycat god" at best.
I quit reading the OP's post when I'd come across 95% nonsense and found no honesty or reason in the first few paragraphs, so I'll end there.
does anyone remember where in the Bible it describes people speaking in tongues without having had a baptism?
when I google it, the results only contain modern day explanations, not the passage from the Bible.
this example completely undermines the entire LDS premise of power and authority of the middle man
God is powerful enough to carry on a relation directly with His own children.
believing that God is too weak to have a direct relationship with everyone, and must have crutches of a middle man human institution is degrading to Heavenly Father's capability.
how does that feel to be a lawnmower man? must be a real rush.
People who make broad claims such as "there is no evidence" that there was a migration from Jerusalem.....I see no evidence that your claim has validity. The Mayan Indians and the numerous ruins of South America are evidence of early migrations to the Western Hemisphere. And the American Indian are the remenants of the Lamanite people spoken of in the Book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon is also evidence of these people and God's dealings with them. There is also a group known as the Jaredites that came to this country 2200 BC. The Nephites came 600 BC.....also read about in the Book of Mormon.
If one reads the Book of Mormon, with real intent to understand the value it has as a Second Witness of Jesus Christ, they will find great wisdom and knowledge. The volume itself bespeaks well of Joseph Smith, a young, unlearned boy of 15....who didn't have the benefit of research or of ancient languages....yet by the power of God he translated the ancient records for our benefit and understanding of Jesus Christ, the Son of God and our Redeemer. And together with the Bible, establish the truth about the Savior, just as Ezekiel 37 tells us it would, and how two nations would be brought together as a testament!
People who make broad claims such as "there is no evidence" that there was a migration from Jerusalem.....I see no evidence that your claim has validity. The Mayan Indians and the numerous ruins of South America are evidence of early migrations to the Western Hemisphere. And the American Indian are the remenants of the Lamanite people spoken of in the Book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon is also evidence of these people and God's dealings with them. There is also a group known as the Jaredites that came to this country 2200 BC. The Nephites came 600 BC.....also read about in the Book of Mormon.
If one reads the Book of Mormon, with real intent to understand the value it has as a Second Witness of Jesus Christ, they will find great wisdom and knowledge. The volume itself bespeaks well of Joseph Smith, a young, unlearned boy of 15....who didn't have the benefit of research or of ancient languages....yet by the power of God he translated the ancient records for our benefit and understanding of Jesus Christ, the Son of God and our Redeemer. And together with the Bible, establish the truth about the Savior, just as Ezekiel 37 tells us it would, and how two nations would be brought together as a testament!
The Book of Mormon is evidence of nothing. You're using circular logic. There's no Hebrew DNA (no elephants, horses, swords, chariots, ect) to be found among the natives of this hemispherre and even the church has backed off the claim that they are the remenants of Lamanites. You also seem to be unaware that Joseph Smith studied both Greek and Hebrew. He "translated" the book at the age of 15? Reread the Joseph Smith story in your quad. Then there's the fact that he used his treasure hunting seer stones and top hat (during the time that he was supposed to be preparing to receive the golden plates and their method of translation) for "finding buried treasure". Give me a break.
"When you walk, you might like to take the hand of a child. She will receive your concentration and stability, and you will receive her freshness and innocence." -Tich Naht Hanh
People who make broad claims such as "there is no evidence" that there was a migration from Jerusalem.....I see no evidence that your claim has validity. The Mayan Indians and the numerous ruins of South America are evidence of early migrations to the Western Hemisphere. And the American Indian are the remenants of the Lamanite people spoken of in the Book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon is also evidence of these people and God's dealings with them. There is also a group known as the Jaredites that came to this country 2200 BC. The Nephites came 600 BC.....also read about in the Book of Mormon.
If one reads the Book of Mormon, with real intent to understand the value it has as a Second Witness of Jesus Christ, they will find great wisdom and knowledge. The volume itself bespeaks well of Joseph Smith, a young, unlearned boy of 15....who didn't have the benefit of research or of ancient languages....yet by the power of God he translated the ancient records for our benefit and understanding of Jesus Christ, the Son of God and our Redeemer. And together with the Bible, establish the truth about the Savior, just as Ezekiel 37 tells us it would, and how two nations would be brought together as a testament!
To say that the Mayans are evidence of migration is quite confusing. They are considered indigenous to that continent. Show me some evidence outside of BOM that they "migrated" from the middle east? The BOM is not evidence of anything other than a con man's success. You cannot say the BOM by itself constitutes anything other than evidence of LDS doctrine. It is not considered evidence of anything by anyone other than mormons. Circular arguments are worthy and impressive in 7th grade. Do you have anything more to prove your claims of these migrations? Why does nobody else believe it to be true?
By your type of argument, because people in Europe exist, therefore they migrated from Siberia and Hokkaido. Yes, that makes sense-impressive argument isn't it.
