HiJolly

Me too. HiJolly

That describes my own position. The two thoughts are in no way oppositional, to me. I believe evolution is the way God created life in all its diversity. For a Church that believes that even murderers and thieves and liars will recieve a Glory in Heaven, I don't think it should matter much to your husband that we say this is THE true Church. Practically speaking. I mean, first of all we believe that the people who never heard the true Gospel will be exalted just like the very best Mormon, if they would have received it, right? And then, even if it was Nero who killed Christians in horrible ways, our theology allow him a place in Heaven. So, seems the whole "one true church" thing shouldn't really make us look all THAT elitist. IMO. HiJolly

Mormon Apologetics & Discussion Board. Apologetics in the classical sense, meaning, defense. It's where the non-Mormon, ex-Mormon, and/or anti-Mormon folks come to play. Some are nice, many are not. It gets rough there. HiJolly

You are welcome! I hear ya about sticking to the Church. It is only because of Heavenly Father's insistence that I remain within the bounds that He has set, that I feel confident in the spirit to receive truth from many sources. By keeping my baptismal & temple covenants He gifts me with discernment that is the key to understanding everything. Thank God for the Gospel of Jesus Christ! HiJolly

Welcome! So glad to meet you. So, do you know there is truth in paganism? I hope so, else I would wonder why you participate. Most LDS don't know much about paganism and its ties to Christianity, and so get weirded out and don't want to talk about it. Plus some wiccans & such are a bit off-the-mark in what they are seeking from the experience, and that can cause trouble. Have you seen Gaia's posts here? She's a cool Mormon person who knows a bit about Wicca . HiJolly

I can think of three, off the top of my head: (1) NT scripture says it is not right to forbid to eat meat. I would assume this includes Fridays. (2) NT scripture says not to forbid to marry. I would assume this includes priests. (3) NT scripture says Christ set His Church up with Apostles. Can it be His Church without them? All this and more is to be found in A Marvelous Work and a Wonder by LeGrande Richards. HiJolly

I would tell your husband, if I had the chance, that it may be time for him to kill the Buddha. Of course, this is a metaphor. It seems he might be well-served to lay aside old and possibly misunderstood teachings (and methods!!!) and learn of God on his own terms. Our Heavenly Father suffers His believers to teach His gospel the best way they know how, despite all their many flaws. There are very good reasons for this, but the experience does tend to leave mangled bodies by the way-side. We must all pick ourselves up and keep our faith in God, NOT in his fallible, sin-ridden believers (like, for example, me ). I am praying for you and your husband -- God bless! HiJolly

Contention is not of God, nor of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. If someone believes in a complete and direct chain of priesthood authority from Christ to the current Pope, I would not feel good about trying to dissuade them from that view. If the Spirit can't do it, neither can I. At least, not without destroying faith in Christ Himself. We should be able to defend our faith, on the basis of what we believe and the evidences for that faith. Attacking other peoples faith in order to justify our own, is not right. Nevertheless, for you personally, I suggest learning about the life and role of Constantine , Emperor of Rome. The problem is not in the unbroken chain of Bishops. It lies in the martyrdom and loss of the apostles, IMO. The time period from 70AD to 313 (or so) AD is the time in which to look for these things. "The conversion of a Roman emperor to Christianity, of Constantine in 312, might not have happened—or, if it had, it would have taken on a totally different meaning—if it had not been preceded, for two generations, by the conversion of Christianity to the culture and ideals of the Roman world" (Peter Brown, The World of Late Antiquity, A.D. 150-750, London and New York, 1971, p. 82). HiJolly

Fair enough! I hope you enjoy your stay here. HiJolly

Ah! A book I happen to own (though I'm afraid it's presently gathering dust...) Thanks! HiJolly

Welcome back! HiJolly

Welcome. Do you say your are an atheist becasue you know God doesn't exist? Or are you a 'soft' atheist? HiJolly

Beautiful! Thank you. HiJolly

I suggest searching through the Gospel Principles manual here. In a nutshell, after this life there is an initial division of souls between Paradise and Prison. It is not stated anywhere I know of just how long that state continues. I think it may be based on individual, personal progression. But I suppose that's conjecture. Paradise and Prison are here(on earth), and possibly other places as well. From there, there is the final judgement into one of two places, heaven or 'outer darkness'. Heaven is quite different from the typical creedal Christian view, in that it includes (at its lowest levels) murderers and rapists & whatnot. The extent and breadth of 'heaven' in the LDS view is truly amazing. It has three basic levels, these are the Celestial Glory, the Terrestrial Glory, and the Telestial Glory. Or, three heavens. HiJolly

It seems I recall a statement from Joseph Smith to that effect --- but I'm not sure about that, so I would love to see it if anyone knows where it might be... HiJolly

Nice post, good points. Btw, you forgot REplenish HiJolly

Avatar4321 and gVr, Ok, it's obvious I need to go back and read Numbers again. I last read it (twice) in the 70's, and back then, it was just tedious. I'll erase that old opinion based on your comments, and put the book into my scripture-reading queue. Thanks for your views! HiJolly

My fav. Mormons do it for eternity HiJolly

That's cool! Sharing the gospel can be scary, but when we act in faith, we have the most beautiful experiences! (usually - ) Shortly after my mission, I moved into a house with two other guys, one of which was a non-member. So, we had to let him know about garments and our Sunday schedule and things - and this started the conversations. He ended up joining the Church, at about the same time I became engaged to my (now) wife. Busy times! What was really cool was that when he was confirmed, he had the experience of a 'rare' initiation, in that he immediately was baptized by fire, spiritually speaking. I had the same gift when I was confirmed at the age of 8. A special thing we shared. HiJolly

Same here. Beautiful, and reminds me of times in my life when this was my situation. I spent 6 months as a Ward Mission Leader - such amazing experiences! HiJolly

Spiritually, of course... HiJolly

Hmmm... on the one hand, the OT book of Numbers. On the other, a large portion of the Book of Mormon book of Alma. toss up? ----no, I think Numbers is way more boring. Just my opinion... HiJolly

Wonderful! Welcome! HiJolly

Sounds like the Church might be good for you. We do believe in good works, but not that they will save us. Mormonism has both practical and spiritual blendings that are truly wonderful. HiJolly

Oh, yes. What a wonderful thing. HiJolly