bytor2112

Um....... I thought it might be helpful to understand the trinity...no?? My answers were yes, yes, yes, yes and yes...we need to understand the nature of God in order to undertand the plan of salvation....so maybe E

Athanasian Creed -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Whosoever will be saved, before all things it is necessary that he hold the catholic faith; 2. Which faith except every one do keep whole and undefiled, without doubt he shall perish everlastingly. 3. And the catholic faith is this: That we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity; 4. Neither confounding the persons nor dividing the substance. 5. For there is one person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Spirit. 6. But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit is all one, the glory equal, the majesty coeternal. 7. Such as the Father is, such is the Son, and such is the Holy Spirit. 8. The Father uncreated, the Son uncreated, and the Holy Spirit uncreated. 9. The Father incomprehensible, the Son incomprehensible, and the Holy Spirit incomprehensible. 10. The Father eternal, the Son eternal, and the Holy Spirit eternal. 11. And yet they are not three eternals but one eternal. 12. As also there are not three uncreated nor three incomprehensible, but one uncreated and one incomprehensible. 13. So likewise the Father is almighty, the Son almighty, and the Holy Spirit almighty. 14. And yet they are not three almighties, but one almighty. 15. So the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God; 16. And yet they are not three Gods, but one God. 17. So likewise the Father is Lord, the Son Lord, and the Holy Spirit Lord; 18. And yet they are not three Lords but one Lord. 19. For like as we are compelled by the Christian verity to acknowledge every Person by himself to be God and Lord; 20. So are we forbidden by the catholic religion to say; There are three Gods or three Lords. 21. The Father is made of none, neither created nor begotten. 22. The Son is of the Father alone; not made nor created, but begotten. 23. The Holy Spirit is of the Father and of the Son; neither made, nor created, nor begotten, but proceeding. 24. So there is one Father, not three Fathers; one Son, not three Sons; one Holy Spirit, not three Holy Spirits. 25. And in this Trinity none is afore or after another; none is greater or less than another. 26. But the whole three persons are coeternal, and coequal. 27. So that in all things, as aforesaid, the Unity in Trinity and the Trinity in Unity is to be worshipped. 28. He therefore that will be saved must thus think of the Trinity. 29. Furthermore it is necessary to everlasting salvation that he also believe rightly the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ. 30. For the right faith is that we believe and confess that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and man. 31. God of the substance of the Father, begotten before the worlds; and man of substance of His mother, born in the world. 32. Perfect God and perfect man, of a reasonable soul and human flesh subsisting. 33. Equal to the Father as touching His Godhead, and inferior to the Father as touching His manhood. 34. Who, although He is God and man, yet He is not two, but one Christ. 35. One, not by conversion of the Godhead into flesh, but by taking of that manhood into God. 36. One altogether, not by confusion of substance, but by unity of person. 37. For as the reasonable soul and flesh is one man, so God and man is one Christ; 38. Who suffered for our salvation, descended into hell, rose again the third day from the dead; 39. He ascended into heaven, He sits on the right hand of the Father, God, Almighty; 40. From thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead. 41. At whose coming all men shall rise again with their bodies; 42. and shall give account of their own works. 43. And they that have done good shall go into life everlasting and they that have done evil into everlasting fire. 44. This is the catholic faith, which except a man believe faithfully he cannot be saved.

What is working in a Christian when they do evil? Did the grace of God abandon them or did they make a choice? We....LDS Christians......don't do "good" works to boast......we love to obey the commandments....we love the Lord...." if you love me keep my commandments". We do it because we love our fellow man. When we screw up...we repent and endeavor to change.... From a favorite hymn: As I have loved you, Love one another. This new commandment: Love one another. By this shall men know Ye are my disciples, If ye have love One to another.

From our good friend and Apostle Paul: 1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: 4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. 5 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. 6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. 8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. 9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. 10 And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. 12 Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. 13 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. Salvation is in Christ....without his atoning sacrifice...we cannot return to the Father. It is indeed by his "grace" that we are saved. But we can choose to do good or evil...it happens every day....... regardless of religious affiliation....and we are not powerless. Christ took upon him the sins of all mankind....paid the price for our sin on conditions of repentance....without that we would be eternally seperated from God. But since their is an atonement and a remission of sins made possible by Christ....I will not be judged for Adam's transgression but will be judged for my own sins.......and whether or not I ".....live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.

I think John Calvin says it well-- The office of the Spirit promised to us, is not to form new and unheard-of revelations, or to coin a new form of doctrine, by which we may be led away from the received doctrine of the gospel, but to seal on our minds the very doctrine which the gospel recommends. --Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book 1, Chapter 9 And don't you feel the slightest bit uncomfortable suggesting that anyone who leaves the LDS Church as been, "Blinded by the crafiness of men?" Could it not be that some of them found the Word of God (the Bible) compelling? And could this not be attributed, at least in some cases, to God the Holy Spirit sealing on their minds the doctrines found therein? --Erik Erik......I am sorry that you don't understand...I truly wish you did. When I say "apart from scripture", I simply mean confirmation....a way of understanding sacred things....Spirit teaching spirit...witnessing truth....sealing truth. The Bible isn't warning against the Holy Spirit and I and 13 million other members of the LDS church are Christian....just as I believe you and others who profess Christ are Christians..:) I don't feel uncomfortable at all....wrong perhaps ...but not uncomfortable.......I know people leave for a hodge podge of reasons.......I hope they return. Could not it be said the the Holy Spirit seals on the mind ....teaches the mind.... the doctrines of the LDS church? Do you feel that 13,000,000 Saints were decieved by some "unholy" spirit? If you believe that....then you never experienced it. If you had.....you would never have left. If my comment from D & C offended....please accept my apology :) I can be a bit too direct at times and meant no disrespect. You seem like a passionate advocate for your beliefs.....I once believed as you do....former Southern Baptist.

Errr....I meant your son....avatar......you being the Father

Hey Ceeboo, Here are some scriptures that suggest that we did exist before we came here.....that God is the Father of our Spirits and that there was a war in heaven....how was there a war in heaven if we did not exist? From Job 4 Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding. 5 Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it? 6 Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof; 7 When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy? From Jeremiah: 5 Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations From Hebrews: 9 Furthermore we have had afathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? From Revelation: 7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, 8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. 9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

I am guessing that the Son knows the Father very well.......

I believe that God the Father is literally like my earthly Father....except rather than a body of flesh and blood like my earthly Father, he has a glorified body of flesh and bone as does Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit is a personage of Spirit. They are "One God"........yet not the same being.......not three in one in the physical sense.

AnthonyB.......yes. Certainly more united than just one in purpose...that was just a very short answer. I believe that they are inseperably united.......one in every way...thoughts, deeds and desires....everything but substance.

Ceeboo....that avatar is sooooooo funny! Your comment suggests that they are indeed seperate beings......if not one substance. You believe that Christ was literally praying to God who was in heaven? Do you believe that we existed before we came here? Wouldn't a spiritual body be sufficient to prove that he was alive? What will we do in heaven? Thanks Ceeboo!! - Bytor

WARNING: The comments expressed here are to help the reader understand how Bytor and others came to our understandings of the nature of God and are not intended to slight or offend or diminish the sacred beliefs of others :):):) Before I became a member of the LDS church I was a Baptist....Southern Baptist. I was taught about the trinity and I was told that "we couldn't understand it, but we had to believe it". I struggled with how we could be created in the image of God....but yet we didn't seem to be anything like him. We prayed to him as our Father....but he didn't seem like my Father......at least not in the sense that I now view him. Why did we have bodies of flesh and bone if God is a spirit? I just didn't get it. I never understood how God could be in Heaven and on earth at the same time. All of the scriptures where Christ is praying to his Father or referring to his Father just made me more confused. I was also taught that if you didn't accept Jesus Christ you would go to hell.....spend eternity in a literal burning hell. But if you did accept him....you were "saved" and would go to heaven because of the "grace" of Jesus Christ. Yet, if you didn't hear about Jesus before you died...well thats just too bad....especially for your children who died before they could accept him. I would ask....well why are we here and what did I do to deserve to burn in hell......just because I was born? Some vague answers would follow about Adam and Eve and some scriptures from Romans....etc. But I still didn't get it....so if Mother Theresa or some other saintly sole didn't accept Jesus Christ and get saved.......they burn for eternity? Yet some rapist, murderer could confess to accept Christ on his death bed and he was Heaven bound...huh Then I began to wonder...why are there so many different Churches.....and what about the Catholic Church? I mean they were basically the first church...right? I began to think...well the Baptists can't be right...I mean they have only been around since....I'm not sure...the 1700's? Then I learned that all of the Protestant denominations were "breakaways" from the Catholic Church. Well, why would God.....be the author of so much confusion....I mean if it were that easy to return to God or go to heaven......and I didn't have a clue what that meant......by just accepting Christ and him crucified.....then why so many differing beliefs. And if the Catholics were the first....wouldn't that mean they were right or at least as close to right as you could get? And if so....wouldn't that necesarily make everyone else wrong??? It seemed to me that the Protestants kind of watered everything down....yet the Catholics still believed in the trinity and I just didn't understand why anyone...including myself......could believe in a God as described by the Creeds...he seemed so impersonal to me and it just didn't square with the scriptures. Then I found the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints :) It seemed like all my worries were confirmed and my questions were answered......not just by people...but by something I had never experienced....the Holy Spirit. We are son and daughters of a loving Father in Heaven and the families in which we live are a glimpse of the eternal nature of God's plan. We are literally created in his express image and God is not the author of the confusion that exists and existed in my view of all things religious.

No...I think most LDS would disagree with you.....and the Articles of Faith are canonized.

May I ask some respectful questions........:) ? And just for clarification....we believe that Jesus Christ, then Jehova, was the first borne of the Father in the pre-existence and was the only begotten of the Father in the flesh. Literally, Christ is our elder brother. 1. Who was Christ praying to in the Garden of Gethsemenee? Was it himself? While hanging on the cross, why did he ask why God had forsaken him? What does the prayer in John Ch. 17 mean to you? 2. Is it your belief that God and Jesus and the Holy Spirit are of one substance? If so why was Jesus resurected to a fleshly body and not just a Spirit? 3. What do you believe your relationship to God is..... Father and child or just Creator and created? Also what are your views regarding why we are here? Or perhap a better question.......where did you come from.....why are you here....and where are you going when you die? Thanks in advance for your responses......I hope you won't think my questions rude or disrespectful :) that is not my intent. I am just trying to understand. I once believed as you expressed....former Baptist.....but only because I was taught that it was so. Now I have Spiritual witness and confirmation of what I now believe to be true.

I think you nailed it Lutheran....... After the fall men became carnal, sensual, and devilish by nature, and the plan of salvation calls upon them to put off these worldly snares and to put on Christ. Perhaps the term "age of accountability" would be appropriate here. We believe that the age of accountability begins at age 8.......children are then considered able to understand that there decisions have consequences. That is why we do not begin baptism until the age of 8. We believe that because of the fall of Adam....we were seperated from God's presense and sins entered the world. We are not responsible for Adam's trangression....but we are recipients of the effects of the fall and cannot return to God without the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Make sense?

The Holy Spirit teaches the humble and contrite sacred truths........apart from scripture and through scripture. Without the Spirit we are left to our own logic and understanding of the things of God. When people leave the Lord's church and take on "new" understanding....I think that this scripture applies: 71 And again, we saw the terrestrial world, and behold and lo, these are they who are of the terrestrial, whose glory differs from that of the church of the Firstborn who have received the fulness of the Father, even as that of the moon differs from the sun in the firmament. 72 Behold, these are they who died awithout law; 73 And also they who are the aspirits of men kept in prison, whom the Son visited, and preached the gospel unto them, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh; 74 Who received not the testimony of Jesus in the flesh, but afterwards received it. 75 These are they who are honorable men of the earth, who were blinded by the craftiness of men.

More on the Fall......( from The three Pillares of Eternity; Bruce R. McConkie) The atonement is part of the eternal plan of the Father. It came at the appointed time, according to the will of the Father, to do for man that which could not have been done in any other way. The atonement is the child of the fall, and the fall is the father of the atonement. Neither of them, without the other, could have brought to pass the eternal purposes of the Father. The fall of Adam and the atonement of Christ are linked together--inseparably, everlastingly, never to be parted. They are as much a part of the same body as are the head and the heart, and each plays its part in the eternal scheme of things. The fall of Adam brought temporal and spiritual death into the world, and the atonement of Christ ransomed men from these two deaths by bringing to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. This makes the fall as essential a part of the plan of salvation as the very atonement itself. There are, in fact, five things that came into being and continue to exist because of the fall. None of these things would have existed if there had been no fall, and all of them are essential parts of the divine plan of salvation. They are: 1. Temporal death. This is the natural death; it occurs when body and spirit separate; it results in corruption and decay. Because of the atonement of Christ all men will be raised from corruption to incorruption, from mortality to immortality, thence to live everlastingly in a resurrected state. 2. Spiritual death. This is death as pertaining to the things of the Spirit. It is death as pertaining to things of righteousness. It is to be cast out of the presence of the Lord. It is a way of life which is in opposition to that of the Father of us all. Because of the atonement, because the Lord Jesus bore our sins on conditions of repentance, we have power to gain eternal life, which is spiritual life, which is a life of righteousness, which is life in the presence of our God. 3. Mortality. Mortal life comes because of the fall. If there had been no fall, there would be no mortal life of any sort on earth. Mortal life is life where there is death. Death must enter the world to bring mortality into being. 4. Procreation. Before the fall there was no procreation. I repeat, for thus saith the Holy Word, before the fall there was no procreation. Adam and Eve, in their Edenic state, could not have children, nor, as we shall see, could any form of life when first placed on the newly created paradisiacal earth. 5. A probationary estate. We are here to be tried and tested, to see if we will believe the truths of salvation and keep the commandments while we walk by faith. After the fall men became carnal, sensual, and devilish by nature, and the plan of salvation calls upon them to put off these worldly snares and to put on Christ. Now, lest there be any sliver of misunderstanding about any of this, let us reason together on all these things as did they of old. Indeed, let us use the very words they used as they are found in the holy scriptures. "Now is Christ risen from the dead," Paul said as he testified of the atonement. "For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead." Adam brought death, and if he had not fallen there would be no death; and Christ brought the resurrection, and, if there had been no atonement, there would be no resurrection. "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive" (1 Corinthians 15:20–22). Moroni linked the fall and the atonement together in this way. God, he said, "created Adam, and by Adam came the fall of man. And because of the fall of man came Jesus Christ." It is just that simple; the fall is the source and cause and reason for the atonement. "And because of Jesus Christ came the redemption of man" (Mormon 9:12). Salvation is in Christ! "And because of the redemption of man, which came by Jesus Christ," men "are brought back into the presence of the Lord; yea, this is wherein all men are redeemed, because the death of Christ bringeth to pass the resurrection, which bringeth to pass a redemption from an endless sleep" (Mormon 9:13). What did the angel say to King Benjamin? He said, Christ's "blood atoneth for the sins of those who have fallen by the transgression of Adam" (Mosiah 3:11). We are descendants of Adam; we all have a common father. He said, "As in Adam, or by nature, they fall, even so the blood of Christ atoneth for their sins" (Mosiah 3:16). The blessings of the fall have passed upon all men; all can be redeemed because Adam fell and Christ came. He said, "Salvation was, and is, and is to come, in and through the atoning blood of Christ, the Lord Omnipotent" (Mosiah 3:18). There is no other source of salvation from the fall than that which comes through Christ. He said, "The natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord" (Mosiah 3:19). Thus the natural man, which is Adam, is conquered by the perfect man, which is Christ; and thus "all mankind may be saved by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the gospel" (Third Article of Faith). And now, what saith our great and good friend Lehi about all these things? He saith that the Redeemer "cometh to bring salvation unto men. . . . And the way is prepared [for him] from the fall of man, and salvation is free" (2 Nephi 2:3–4). The fall is the foundation upon which the atonement rests. He saith that "after Adam and Eve had partaken of the forbidden fruit they were driven out of the garden of Eden, to till the earth" (2 Nephi 2:19). Their mortal probation and the trials and tests of mortality began after the fall. He saith: And they have brought forth children; yea, even the family of all the earth. [2 Nephi 2:20] Every living soul on earth is a descendant of Adam and Eve. God hath made of one blood all the nations of men. He saith: If Adam had not transgressed he would not have fallen, but he would have remained in the garden of Eden. [2 Nephi 2:22] If Adam had not fallen, he would be there today, six thousand years later, in all the glory and beauty of his immortal nature. Such is the word of holy writ. And next--marvel of marvels and wonder of wonders--Lehi saith, "And all things which were created"--all things means all things; it includes animals and fishes and fowls and creeping things and plants; it includes dinosaurs and whales and ants; it means all things-- All things which were created must have remained in the same state in which they were after they were created; and they must have remained forever, and had no end. [2 Nephi 2:22] There was, we repeat, no death in the world until after Adam fell. And there was, we repeat, no procreation until after the fall. And there was, we repeat, no mortality until after the fall. And so Lehi continues, "And they"--Adam and Eve--"would have had no children" (2 Nephi 2:23). And then, on the foundation so laid, while filled with light and guided by the Spirit, Lehi acclaimed: Adam fell that men might be; and men are that they might have joy. And the Messiah cometh in the fulness of time, that he may redeem the children of men from the fall. [2 Nephi 2:25–26] Truly, as Enoch said: Because that Adam fell, we are; and by his fall came death; and we are made partakers of misery and woe. . . . And men have become carnal, sensual, and devilish, and are shut out from the presence of God. [Moses 6:48, 49] Truly, as Mother Eve said: Were it not for our transgression we never should have had seed and never should have known good and evil, and the joy of our redemption, and the eternal life which God giveth to all the obedient. [Moses 5:11] Truly, salvation comes because of the fall, and it is just as important to believe in the fall as it is to believe in the atonement, and, indeed, it is not possible to believe in the atonement without believing in the fall.

The scriptures are from Moroni Ch. 8 and the other is an article of faith:)

We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam’s transgression. 8 Listen to the words of Christ, your Redeemer, your Lord and your God. Behold, I came into the world not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance; the whole need no physician, but they that are sick; wherefore, little children are whole, for they are not capable of committing sin; wherefore the curse of Adam is taken from them in me, that it hath no power over them; and the law of circumcision is done away in me. 9 And after this manner did the Holy Ghost manifest the word of God unto me; wherefore, my beloved son, I know that it is solemn mockery before God, that ye should baptize little children. 10 Behold I say unto you that this thing shall ye teach—repentance and baptism unto those who are accountable and capable of committing sin; yea, teach parents that they must repent and be baptized, and humble themselves as their little children, and they shall all be saved with their little children. 11 And their little achildren need no repentance, neither baptism. Behold, baptism is unto repentance to the fulfilling the commandments unto the remission of sins. 12 But little children are alive in Christ, even from the foundation of the world; if not so, God is a partial God, and also a changeable God, and a respecter to persons; for how many little children have died without baptism! 13 Wherefore, if little children could not be saved without baptism, these must have gone to an endless hell. 14 Behold I say unto you, that he that supposeth that little children need baptism is in the gall of bitterness and in the bonds of iniquity; for he hath neither faith, hope, nor charity; wherefore, should he be cut off while in the thought, he must go down to hell. 15 For awful is the wickedness to suppose that God saveth one child because of baptism, and the other must perish because he hath no baptism. 16 Wo be unto them that shall pervert the ways of the Lord after this manner, for they shall perish except they repent. Behold, I speak with boldness, having authority from God; and I fear not what man can do; for perfect love casteth out all fear. 17 And I am filled with charity, which is everlasting love; wherefore, all children are alike unto me; wherefore, I love little children with a perfect love; and they are all alike and partakers of salvation. 18 For I know that God is not a partial God, neither a changeable being; but he is unchangeable from all eternity to all eternity. 19 Little children cannot repent; wherefore, it is awful wickedness to deny the pure mercies of God unto them, for they are all alive in him because of his mercy. 20 And he that saith that little children need baptism denieth the mercies of Christ, and setteth at naught the atonement of him and the power of his redemption. 21 Wo unto such, for they are in danger of death, hell, and an endless torment. I speak it boldly; God hath commanded me. Listen unto them and give heed, or they stand against you at the judgment-seat of Christ. 22 For behold that all little children are alive in Christ, and also all they that are without the law. For the power of redemption cometh on all them that have no law; wherefore, he that is not condemned, or he that is under no condemnation, cannot repent; and unto such baptism availeth nothing—

I am not sure I follow you........ our understanding of the nature of the Godhead is thus: God the Father.......who is literally our Father and also the Father of Jesus Christ........Jesus Christ....and the Holy Ghost. They are one God. One in every sense......except substance. They are as individual as you and I..... Heavenly Father has a body of flesh and bone as does Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost is a personage of Spirit. Yes......as the primary song goes..."I am trying to be like Jesus...." Absolutely......well said...:) I think perhaps you do not really understand our beliefs. Understanding our relationship with God and the plan of salvation helps one to better understand why we believe the way we do.....and also the fact that we believe that Joseph Smith saw God the Father and Jesus Christ.....two seperate and distinct beings.

I have heard some really great things about Notre Dame as well:) Really Catholics and LDS have a great deal in common........excellent values. I have the utmost respect for the RCC.....especially the late Pope. Don't know much about the current Pope....I am sure he is awesome:cool:

Check our fairlds.org.......lots of interesting topics and links to the JOD.:)

Hi Brenton, The internet is full of lies and half truths and misunderstandings regarding the Church of Jesus Christ of LatterDay Saints. The thing that you should remember is that we don't ask you to believe what we are saying.......we ask you to pray to find the truth. A conversation.....a sincere, humble and contrite conversation with your Heavenly Father is the best way to find out if the church is indeed the Church of Jesus Christ. The adversary......that is Satan.....will try every trick, use every deception, tell any lie....in order to make you not have that feeling that you described in another thread. Remember how that felt and compare that to how the youtube video makes you feel.

From FAIR: Many traditional Christians envision Peter standing at the "pearly gates." They are uncomfortable with the misunderstanding that Brigham Young said Joseph Smith will take Peter's place. The thoughtful reader, however, will search the entire discourse delivered by Brigham Young and see that this is not what he was teaching. Each dispensation has a prophet at its head. Moses taught in his dispensation that those who looked to the serpent on a pole would live. This was a type (Alma 33:19) or similitude of the Savior. Those who didn't obey Moses and would not look, didn't live. Accepting what Moses said in that dispensation was the "passport" to life. As Christ said: Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father: there is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust. For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me. But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words? (John 5:45-47) If they didn't believe in Moses, he wasn't their "passport." Noah offered "salvation" to those who would join him in the ark. Those who were disobedient and failed to enter the ark were swept off the earth in the flood and ended up in spirit prison (1 Peter 3:20). Again, as the prophet of his dispensation, Noah provided the "passport" for those who accepted the word of God that came through him. In the meridian of time, those who accepted the apostles and prophets and did not reject the message of Jesus Christ were saved. As the Lord said to the apostles, "He that receiveth you receiveth me" (Matt. 10:40). While speaking about our own dispensation, Brigham Young said that people of this dispensation will not enter God's Kingdom without the "consent" and "certificate" of Joseph Smith as a passport to entering where God and Christ are. Brigham Young then explained what he meant: "It is his [Joseph's] mission to see that all the children of men in this last dispensation are saved, that can be, through the redemption" (Journal of Discourses, vol.7, p.289). The "passport," then, that people will need to enter heaven is the same as they have always needed, no matter what dispensation they lived in. To accept Christ is to accept his prophets: without the priesthood authority and inspired teachings of the Lord that have come through Joseph Smith, no one in this dispensation, living or dead, can be redeemed. Anti-Mormon critics distort this view, trying to make it appear that Joseph Smith will be standing by the gate of heaven admitting or rejecting those who seek to enter. This is not the picture that is painted by Brigham Young. He was merely stating that the mission of Joseph Smith, God's prophet, was "to see that all the children of men in the last dispensation are saved, that can be through the redemption." It should be recognized that the Savior is a great delegator. He has delegated to the "head" of each dispensation certain responsibilities, including some preliminary judging responsibilities. For example, in New Testament times the Apostles were told that they will judge the twelve tribes of Israel (Matt 19:28). Literally, then, those of the Twelve Tribes won't "get to Heaven" without the consent of the Apostles. Latter-day Saints do not believe Joseph Smith is the keeper of the gate of heaven, nor the one who determines whether we are saved. Some Christians think they will instead meet Peter at the "pearly gates," but The Book of Mormon teaches who will really be the final "gatekeeper": O then, my beloved brethren, come unto the Lord, the Holy One. Remember that his paths are righteous. Behold, the way for man is narrow, but it lieth in a straight course before him, and the keeper of the gate is the Holy One of Israel; and he employeth no servant there; and there is none other way save it be by the gate; for he cannot be deceived, for the Lord God is his name (2 Nephi 9:41).

They sometimes call for hail mary's at BYU games......