symphonyofdissent

Just as Seminarysnoozer suggests I think fasting is often also meant to cause us to feel empathy on multiple levels. First of all, it helps us to relate to the sacrifices that Christ made for us. Secondly, it helps us to reflect on all of those in the world that are without physical or spiritual nutrition. Thirdly, it makes us more fully appreciate the plenty that we have. All of these are non-physical benefits of fasting.

In regard to questions about entering the temple, I think that its a very individualized process. I know that since I was baptized there have been times where I was not sure if I felt worthy to go to the temple even though I have my limited use recommend. I have had to pray to be able to enter with a clean mind and a pure spirit. The temple is an incredible place and we would not want to enter if we were not living up to our obligations to the lord including the law of tithing. Curtishouse have you visited the grounds of any nearby temples? I recommend it very strongly because there is a powerful spirit there that will help you to feel that it is true.

I see nothing wrong with viewing the work of a prophet as restorative in the sense that he or she responds to excess and moves towards a golden mean of faith. In Joseph Smith's day and still today, many denominations went well too far in the salvation by grace and grace alone direction. Thus, Joseph Smith worked to restore a proper relationship between fulfillment of covenants and the promises of God. It does seem to me like the church has periodically gone too far in the direction of speaking of salvation as something 'earned' but this is quickly righted by a renewed focus on teaching the book of mormon which more fully shows our dependance on the grace of christ than any other earthly book. This shows one of the benefits of having prophets to institute calibrations and changes that redirect the true church on its proper course.

The correct answer to this question is that we do not know! Joseph Smith and others hypothesized that answer was that there was an chain of gods. ( I hold a different view myself but its merely speculative) However, we know nothing about God aside from his encounters with mankind. I suggest Moses 1 in the Pearl of Great Price Moses is asking God to reveal to him the mysteries of the universe. Perhaps he is grappling with exactly these sorts of metaphysical questions. God's response is to tell Moses that he is God and that the mysteries of the universe are his. All that we need to know is that what God is doing for us. He is working to bring to pass our immortality and eternal life which is an incredible thing indeed.

I think that people get wary of the idea that God was once like man, because it implies that God must have once sinned and been flawed like man. Yet, our knowledge of Christ should dispel that notion. Christ was once like man, and yet also lived a sin free life. Indeed, Christians still argue that Christ is an unchanging being despite his having been born in a mortal body and having died and mortal death. We need not believe that God ever sinned or even that he ever was dependent on another higher deity. Indeed, I don't view it that way. In my view, God could have been the first being in this universe to achieve his potential and therefore he desired to share his exalted status with others. This is an area rampant with speculation, but there are many ways to think about this and we are not at all bound to view god as ever having been fallible.

Littlelady I would suggest that you do a bit more reading about ancient near eastern traditions in the time of the old testament and in particular on the concept of the council of the Gods. The plural nouns and verbs used throughout the creation account, the repeated mentions of divine assembly such as Job 1. There are many great LDS sources on this concept, but if you want a protestant source ( and therefore trinitarian) one look to here The Divine Council The introductory essay is especially good at describing the structure of the heavenly court and its function. The point where LDS thought would differ is on the question of whether Christ as Vice regent was the same personage or a distinct one from God the Father.

"Additionally, that there are what seem to be doctrines that contradict the very nature of God. I mean, preferential treatment for one of His children. (please forgive any crudeness, I'm not really sure how to put some of this)" I would like to try to answer this comment by looking to an Old Testament example. Job 1:8. God is speaking to the divine council that assembles around him and he tells them that there is none other like Job on the earth and that he is a perfect and an upright man. God is obviously proud of Job and boasts about his righteousness to others. Does this mean that God loves job more than his other children on the earth? Heaven Forbid! Job is merely the exemplar and the one that is able to be the most righteous on the earth. God wants us all to become righteous like Job which is why he singles Job out for praise and why we have this text to learn from Job's example and character. Likewise, Christ was the advanced spirit child of God. He was the one that brought forward the great plan of salvation. He was one that was able to realize the lesson that we all require mortality to realize: All of our glory and our triumph is really that which comes from God and serves to glorify him. God does not love Jesus more than us. Instead, he used Jesus in order to allow all of us to become like Jesus and our heavenly father. I would also turn your attention to 1 Corinthians 12: 14-30 the lengthy description of how different members of the Church of Christ form different parts of the Body of Christ and yet are equally valued in God's eyes. Does the fact that Peter, Paul or James were called and apostles while others were not given such callings imply that God loves the apostles more than the members, or does the fact that one disciple is called the beloved disciple five times in the gospel of John mean that God plays favorites? Again I would suggest that God uses the strengths in all of us to bring to pass his plan. The goal of said plan is nothing less than the ability for every human being to choose salvation and to achieve their divine potential. Is this helpful?

The way I understand it at least is that Christ was able to do what we need to come to this life to do while in the pre mortal existence. Perhaps his willingness to put himself up as a sacrifice in the pre-mortal council and his willingness to fight alongside God in the war against Satan was enough to lead to his divine status. All of us to some degree or another were incomplete in our progress towards deity and therefore needed to come to earth and to be born. Does that make sense? (This is speculation of course, but its the way I think of it at least.)

As a recent convert to the church ( I was baptized 4 months ago) all I can say is keep looking! That spirit that you have felt will guide you through all the objections and doubts because its a powerful force. God wants to reach out to all of us regardless of our 'education' or access to knowledge and this is why prayer and the spirit can be so powerful. We all have access to the blessings that come from it. In regard to your question, we believe that Jesus was the God of the old testament/Israel Jehovah. As such, he of course is unchanging and fully divine. From the first interaction with mankind, Christ was fully God and fully perfect. Yet, all Christians also believe that christ was a mortal that was born, aged and died. How someone can be born fully human and fully divine is a mystery that I don't think we will be able to fully comprehend in this life.

It seems to me that the problem with the dispute over arianism and the nicene creed is not subordination but the fact that by this point in history the church had moved away from the doctrine of preexistence and the notion of mankind's divine potential. Thus, the church began to view the world in a binary. Something was either of God and therefore absolutely perfect and equal, or created and therefore lesser. This gap was unbridgeable. Therefore, saying that Christ was less than the father would mean that christ was a created being and therefore could not be God. Thus, the distortion is in the fact that the divide between man and God was irrevocably widened by the falling church.

Before becoming a member I was a tea addict so I feel your pain. I was in China last summer and had purchased a bunch of green, black, oolong and pu'erh teas which now sit unused ( 15 different kinds). It's so sad.

White, Green, Black, Oolong, Pu'er ( Chinese special fermented combination of Green, Black and Oolong) teas are all derived from the same tea plant which is viewed as taboo. Herbal and Roobois Teas may be called tea but they are just steeped bushes and herbs and therefore fine.

Wanted to post this link which rebuts some of the main harms that are often talked about in reference to the same sex marriage status currently in place in California. Six Big Lies the Freedom-Haters Are Spreading About Proposition 8 | Lavender Newswire