abqfriend

So very true-there is Power! I find that I have to schedule myself time reading Sacred Scripture or it gets lost in my daily life of other things less important. It is like trying to live your day without your electricity hooked up. I need the direct current of reading Sacred Scripture. Indeed there is Power!

Yes, I know much about RCIA Classes. I would encourage you to talk to the priest you mention about such classes. Many have found them helpful. As this is an LDS site, my guess is that you, like myself are exploring the LDS faith as well. May our Heavenly Father bless your efforts as you seek truth.

Yes, it is easy to get caught up in a very minor point or what you feel may be a discrepency in Sacred Scripture-and miss the major message being presented. I do not believe that Sacred Scripture/Bible is full of errors in matters of faith. I have begun my study of the Book of Mormon and Doctrine and Covenants---I am Roman Catholic. It is easy to question minor points and miss the major points being brought out in my reading. It is very easy to get caught up in the trap of majoring in minors rather than majoring in the major things of the Sacred Texts of faith. -Carol

I am a Roman Catholic. We have our church which is where we have our worship. Reverance is a key. People come early to pray and meditate. There is little or no talking in our church. The sacrament is considered very holy to us and once the service starts-reverance is the key. Members have been asked to refrain from talking among themselves. This request is printed in our bulletin. If members wish to speak to each other-they are asked to do so outside the church proper. We have fellowship halls for talking and fellowship. Our church is strictly for worship of God as we understand God. It is not a place for chatter or catching up on the local news. I have never attended an LDS church, but when I do, one of the things I would look for in the Sacrament Service is a sense fo deep reverance for the sacrament. -Carol

I am Roman Catholic. The official position of my church and many other Christian churches is that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is not a Christian Church as they differ on their understanding of Father-Son-and Holy Ghost. Christian Churches in general use the Nicean Creed as their base of defining who is or who is not a Christian. They believe this creed or statement of faith is a summary of Biblical teachings as they see it-thus -if a church falls out of that criteria-they are not Christian. Source: Nicene Creed - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The concept of "Trinity" to which is the focus of the Nicean Creed has been one of disagreement for centuries-especially in the early church. Many of the bishops/leaders of the early church argued for centuries about this topic. Thus- Both Catholics and LDS considers each other's baptism to be invalid. Neither recognizes the sacraments of the other. I personally believe that LDS members are Christian. As has been previously stated the LDS Church has Jesus Christ at the center of your focus of faith and doctrine as you interpret it. To me, that is what is important.

I have read the book and own it. I do not think much of it. Much of the author's criticism on Sacred Scripture/The Bible is that it has errors in translation from centuries ago. Don't waste your money on this book-as I did, but if you must-read it will eyes wide open that he is only given his-view of Sacred Scripture/The Bible. Many scholars disagree with him. In reading his book-someone with a weak faith-may surmise that Sacred Scripture/The Bible is nothing more than false writings and full of error. Such is not the case-Sacred Scripture/The Bible has have been here for many many centuries-and Bart Erdman's writings--only a few years. In his introduction he states-page 7- "What good does it do to say the words are inspired by God if most people have no access to these words, but only more or less clumsy renderings of these words into a language such as English that has nothing to do with the original words. " He goes on to say: "We have only error -ridden copies and the vast majority of these are centuries removed from the original and different from them." Give me the bedrock of Sacred Scripture/The Bible over the views of this author.

I am Roman Catholic. My husband and I study Sacred Scripture/The Bible daily. In our faith tradition-there is a 3 year cycle of readings that are the same readings world-wide within our faith tradition. Our focus is on those readings. I am also reading some of the Book of Mormon and Doctrine and Covenants. -I have a more difficult time reading those-but I am learning. Turning off the TV and the computer helps. My husband has terminal cancer-so some of the Sacred Scripture passages that we read is focused on God's love and the promise of the resurrection. -Carol

I would agree. The site is awesome and full of information put into an orderly and easy to understand format-thanks for posting the link. -Carol

It is amazing that nearly 2000 years ago, we had a calendar with 365 days in it. Today we use the Gregorian Calender from 1582 onward which is a more accurate calendar than the Julian calendar on which it is based: . Here is a quote from Wikipedia on the difference-a bit complicated: "The changes made by Gregory corrected the drift in the civil calendar which arose because the mean Julian calendar year (exactly 365 1/4 days) was slightly too long, causing the vernal equinox, and consequently the date on which Easter was being celebrated, to drift slowly forward in relation to the civil calendar and the seasons. The Gregorian calendar system dropped 10 days to bring the calendar back into synchronization with the seasons and, to keep it there, adopted the following leap year rule: Every year that is exactly divisible by four is a leap year, except for years that are exactly divisible by 100; the centurial years that are exactly divisible by 400 are still leap years. For example, the year 1900 was not a leap year; the year 2000 was a leap year. In the Julian calendar, all years exactly divisible by 4 are leap years." Source: Gregorian calendar - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and the Roman Catholic Church have obvious differences but I am glad to see that both churches are taking the same stand on this issue. -Carol

Welcome to this great site and on-line community. I happen to be a Catholic and am a member of this community and- I feel at home. Welcome-you are among caring people. -Carol

Paul in his letter to the Church at Corinth complained of how people were coming to the Sacrament or the Breaking of Bread. So the problem in one degree or another goes back 2000 years. The Church at Corinth had a problem about how people were coming to the sacrament, but their problems were much more severe in comparison to what you are mentioning. The problem-if I read the initial post correctly-- is one of when to have a time of deep reverence and respect and when it is ok to meet and greet friends and build up your faith community with fellowship. I am a Roman Catholic and not a member of the LDS Church, but on what the church should be about-if your are talking about the physical church and the worship service itself which we call liturgy,--- it should be approached with deep respect and reverence. We have a social hall outside our church for people to gather after the service where they can socialize, exchange recipes, etc. Our church has many church activities which promote fellowship of the members. The worship service is approached with deep reverence. Unfortunately in many Catholic churches, people no longer come in Sunday best. Some look like they are squeezing in church between rounds of golf. I see that as a trend in many Christian churches nationwide. As an outsider or "investigator"-what I see as one of the strengths of the LDS church-is Sunday Best. I hope you keep up Sunday Best. Sunday Best can foster a greater reverence on approaching worship especially on reception of the Sacrament. -Carol

Please feel free to share my message. You are doing a great service to your Church in reaching out to a hurting world. -Carol

Hi, My husband and I are Roman Catholic. I have been on-line here for a while and sharing with my husband on what I find. We have read parts of the Book of Mormon and Doctrine and Covenants. We are supporters of BYU-TV. We axiously await their updated series on the Study of the Book of Mormon which begins Mid-July this year. You might say I/we are on-line investigators at this point. I agree with one poster who said that personal contact is important-with a missiionary or visiting an LDS Church-we have yet to do either. I think that on-line Missionary Work-or as some would call it-Evangelism-sharing your faith journey/beliefs is one exellent way in sharing your message of hope and love to a hurting world. So-I fully support such an idea. The LDS Church has been at the forefront of using the media in a very positive light in sharing its message. The LDS web site LDS.Org is a wealth of information. I have downloaded the audio MP3 of the Book of Mormon and Doctrine and Covenants-sometimes I just enjoy listening to the spoken word. So-on-line Missionary Work---Keep doing it! God bless your efforts at reaching a hurting world. -Carol

Hi, My husband and I are Roman Catholic. There are a lot of anti web sites and literature against our faith tradition as well. So the anti sites are not confined to anti-LDS web sites. I do not think one is converted to a given faith with an anti approach. There are many misconceptins about what members of the LDS Church believe, as there are about my own faith tradition. Anti web sites will not go away. For some, it is easier to attack someone than to learn about them and their beliefs and get to know them and find some common ground for discussions of faith. One huge strength that the LDS church has is its Missionary efforts! Sacred Scripture/The Bible tells us to go out two-by-two in reaching others-but few churches-including my own do that. Getting to know another person on their faith journey and allowing them to get to know you in sharing your faith journey/beliefs is a gradual approach. So-skip the anti sites-they will not go away. Reach out to others in a personal loving manner with your message and you will go far in furthering the work of the Church. -Carol

I am not a member of the LDS Church, so I do not know much on the topic of Baptism for the dead. I do know that it was practiced by at least one early church-The congregation in Corinth. Paul did not condemn such a practice-but used it as one example of our hope of the resurrection. As Paul condemned many of the practices or tolerations of the church at Corinth, I believe that he probably viewed Baptism for the dead in a positive light. I am aware that Baptism for the dead is an important doctrine of the LDS Church. Are there any other Sacred Scripture/Bible passages where the practice is mentioned explicitly? -Carol

Hi Traveler-I enjoyed your post-and that Truth is an endless journey. Hopefully as we go through life and on our journey of faith- and life-we will come closer to those ultimate truths. Thanks for your post.

I am not a member of the LDS, but I have read this thread and your posts. I encourage you in your efforts in working with your Church in your journey of faith. Many of us have faith journey's with ups and downs. I am a Catholic, but greatly interested in the LDS Church. Reading your posts has been an encouragement to me. You have a caring community to which you belong and will belong in a more complete way after your Baptism. Blessings to you on your journey of faith and your return to your Church.

I am a Roman Catholic and an active member of this site. You might call me a cyber-investigator at this point. I have a great interest in the LDS Church. I signed up on the site you mention. The site is great-but very slow to load. It has bandwidth problems-in my opinion. The site took a very long time to load on my computer. I did join, but the site needs to incease it's bandwidth. This site loads quickly, The site you mention-loads very slowly. The site is interesting, but it is frustrating that the pages load so very slowly. That is usually a bandwidth issue. My web browser sometimes times out waiting for the site to load. -so my advise to the site-and I will email them-is what I would believe to be a bandwidth issue. -Update- from the site itself-The site mentioned is aware of their problem -and is trying to have the problem corrected with their web hosting service. I posted my concern on the site mentioned, so hopefully the problem will be corrected soon. --it is a great site too-and shows much hard work by the site owners. -Carol

I agree, that ultimately one has to make a change, but help from other caring persons-especially Christian persons maybe helpful. Going it alone-can be very difficult. I do not know much about the LDS Church-but I know you are a very caring community-you help each other. The LDS Church is know for being of a positive support to its members-that is one of it's stengths. Addictions can be overcome-but sometimes help is needed from others-especially the faith community to which that member belongs. Here are two links as provided by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints that may be helpful. Addiction Recovery Program Addiction Recovery Support Groups

The word "feminist" is a word in our society with many meanings. Some of these meanings are emphasized by the secular media. We get one view of what a feminist is. If a feminist is a woman who wants equal rights in her place of work and be thought of as equal in society -I have no problem with that. Women should not be second class citizens in our society-as they are in other societies. I am not an LDS member. In my church, as in yours-there are different roles for both men and women. In my religious tradition-women cannot be priests. I believe it is the same in yours. In society-women bear children, men cannot. Does that man a woman is inferior?-I do not think so. I do not see the role of a woman being less than the role of a man. Their roles are different-but is one inferior to the other?---I do not think so. Society trys to make us think that--but such is not the case. So-can a Feminist and a Mormon Co-exist? I am not a Mormon-but I think the answer is yes -depending upon how that person defines feminist.

Very good Video -and the entire series is excellent. I am not a member of the LDS Church-but-- I am glad that members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints are posting such good videos on YouTube. Such videos help share the beliefs and history of The LDS Church to those who may never be exposed to it in any other way. A great way to share your message!

I am not LDS-so forgive my ignorance on the subject. I do not know much about celstial glory. I have much to learn about the LDS view on God our Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ his Son and the Holy Spirit. So forgive my not knowing-but I am hear to learn. For me -my goal is to be Christ like-in loving others -in the here and now. Keeping the 10 Commandments is what I strive to do-I only am partly successful. I sin often, but perhaps less now than in the past. I have a very long way to go before I am perfect-definately not in this life. I believe in a forgiving God and a loving God as well as a just God. The late Mother Theresa of Calcutta is one example of a person I wish to follow--ever so poorly. Her best sermon-were actions of love toward others. I think the late Gordon B Hinckley is another. His talk on the "Be-Attitudes" -was totally inspiring. His life was one of service to his Church and to his fellow man. They may have never met, but they both shared much in common--their focus was on loving others and in trying to be Christ like by their words and actions.

I am not LDS, but I have found that one's faith community-such as the LDS Church can be helpful in a person's understanding of Sacred Scripture/The Bible. I am a Roman Catholic, so my Church helps me understand Sacred Scripture. The leadership of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints can be helpful in instructing a member in understanding the Sacred Scriptures of your faith tradition. Most faith traditions have publications by that faith tradition to instruct the members of the faith community. So-when you have what you consider a difficult Biblical passage or a passage from The Book of Mormon or Doctrine and Covenants-seek the guidance of the leadership of your faith community. There are many excellent resources that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints makes available to its members in helping the members live their faith to the fullest!

A person can change an attitude or behavior-but sometimes that person needs the help of others. Addictions are powerful things. Addiction to alcohol, pornography and drugs to name three. Sometimes a person will require the help of others including those in the medical community or mental health profession to help that person overcome an addiction. The loving help of a faith community such as a church can be a positive force in helping that person overcome an attitude or behavior. Members and the leadership of a given faith community can help another member overcome a behavior or addiction. Ultimately-we may believe that such help is from God-but God is working within that faith community and with the medical or mental health professionals in bringing about a change of behavior or attitude of the person.