Hello friends!

[Inquistive]

Hello.

I have just come on here to respectfully ask some questions but first I would like to know if that is okay? If it is not the I bid you adieu.

I have conversed with multiple Mormon missionaries on the street and even in my house so in no way would I consider myself hostile, just when I ask a question they come back with a question which doesn't really answer what I need to know.

So if anybody would you like to assist me either on here in privately please let me know if this is not okay please let me know and I will never darken your doorsteps again!

If you would like to know anything about me please ask and a possible an answer to a main question - I am a Christian.

Many Thanks for your assistance I will check back later.

Grace be with you.

[FunkyTown]

We're always open to answering questions, but it's always best to ask them publicly so you can get a better answer.

If you're looking for private answers, you might want to go to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and ask there. :)

Usually, when someone comes on and asks to have private conversations, it has worked out poorly. We even had one guy who got involved in MSN conversations and was an identity thief. It would be silly to get involved in private conversations with someone you don't know.

[Inquistive]

Thanks and not to worry I am not clever enough to try any ID theft just wasn't sure of the preferred method and like I say when I speak to missionaries I don't get my questions answered!

I will start off slowly sorry if any questions have previously been answered.

Do you consider yourself a separate religion from Christianity or another faith denomination within Christianity such Baptist or Methodist?

Where does the word Mormon come from?

Are you an exclusivist religion?

What are your opinions on Christians that are not Mormons?

What are your opinions to Jehovah's Witnesses?

Thanks and there are more to come!

[FunkyTown]

Thanks and not to worry I am not clever enough to try any ID theft just wasn't sure of the preferred method and like I say when I speak to missionaries I don't get my questions answered!

I will start off slowly sorry if any questions have previously been answered.

Do you consider yourself a separate religion from Christianity or another faith denomination within Christianity such Baptist or Methodist?

Where does the word Mormon come from?

Are you an exclusivist religion?

What are your opinions on Christians that are not Mormons?

What are your opinions to Jehovah's Witnesses?

Thanks and there are more to come!

In order:

Do you consider yourself a separate religion from Christianity or another faith denomination within Christianity such Baptist or Methodist?

Christianity is a blanket term, meaning 'To believe in Christ'. Many Catholics say Baptists are going to hell for not believing the scriptural teaching of one church, or that Peter was the rock upon which the church would be built. Many Baptists think Catholics are going to Hell for idolatry. Not really my place. I believe in Christ. That makes me a Christian.

Are you an exclusivist religion?

Religious exclusivism asserts that one religion is true and that all others are in error. If this is what you're asking, then every denomination of Christendom believes they are correct and all others are in error on certain doctrinal points. Seventh Day Adventists would say that anyone who doesn't worship on Saturday was incorrect. Depending on your religion, you might say that praying to saints was incorrect, or that the idea of continuing revelation was incorrect, or that the idea miracles in the modern day was incorrect. In this way, we are all exclusivist. So, 'Yes'. I believe that we have the correct doctrine. If I believed that the Southern Baptists had all the correct doctrine, I would be Southern Baptist. If I believed the Anglicans had all correct doctrine, I would be Anglican. I get the feeling that isn't really what you're asking, however.

What are your opinions on Christians that are not Mormons?

I believe they are worshipping Christ according to what they know. I don't believe they have all truth, however.

What are your opinions to Jehovah's Witnesses?

I have none. I haven't studied their doctrine enough to give an intelligent rebuttal on their faith.

[FunkyTown]

Oh! And I forgot the question:

Where does the term 'Mormon' come from?

It comes from the Book of Mormon: Another testament of Jesus Christ. Because we believe that the Book of Mormon is inspired by God, the term 'Mormon' was originally meant as an insult and a way of segregating our beliefs from the others in the region. It would be similar to calling Catholics Maccabeesians. We've since run with it, though, and many people in the church accept the name as it does bring one of the unique aspects of our religion.

Edited March 23, 2011 by FunkyTown

[Inquistive]

Thanks for those.

Just to pick up on the "however's"

Back to exclusivsm I am referring to the Book of Mormon in this case do you believe that if we don't have the Book of Mormon we are not saved? What does the Book of Mormon have to offer which the bible doesn't and why?

When you say "truth" what other truths do you need than what Jesus tells us in "I am the way the truth and life" so what is the need for more teachings?

Again sorry if this has previously been covered.

[FunkyTown]

Thanks for those.

Just to pick up on the "however's"

Back to exclusivsm I am referring to the Book of Mormon in this case do you believe that if we don't have the Book of Mormon we are not saved? What does the Book of Mormon have to offer which the bible doesn't and why?

When you say "truth" what other truths do you need than what Jesus tells us in "I am the way the truth and life" so what is the need for more teachings?

Again sorry if this has previously been covered.

First question:

do you believe that if we don't have the Book of Mormon we are not saved?

Not really my department. I'm not a judge in Israel. Christ is the foundation of our religion. Is he the foundation of yours? I'd bring that particular question to God rather than some random guy on the internet.

What does the Book of Mormon have to offer which the bible doesn't and why?

Clarification. Do you believe in Infant baptism? Some denominations do. Do you believe we should only worship on a Sunday? Some denominations do. Do you believe you know the exact date of the second coming? Some denominations do. With so many denominations arguing so many points that so many feel are very important, is it any wonder God gave us further guidance?

The book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ and brings clarification to many of the questions that have dogged various Christian denominations. Because God continues to guide us, continues to teach us and continues to let us know His will, He has provided us with these scriptures as if out of the dust itself, just as Isaiah prophesied.

When you say "truth" what other truths do you need than what Jesus tells us in "I am the way the truth and life" so what is the need for more teachings?

Again sorry if this has previously been covered.

I'm going out on a limb here, but have you read the bible? You do know that there is more in the Bible than the sentence "I am the way, the truth and the life."

Do you read those sentences too? If you do, why?

When you know why you read anything other than that single sentence over and over again, you'll know why the question you're asking is absurd.

I wish you well on your journey to get closer to Christ. I apologize that I answered your final question with another question, but that's because it was disingenuous. You were asking a question not because you wanted to know the answer, but because you thought you were going to catch us in a trap. That is something that the Saviour himself avoided with the Pharisees.

[Blackmarch]

Welcome! I'd be happy to answer any questions as well as I can.

Thanks and not to worry I am not clever enough to try any ID theft just wasn't sure of the preferred method and like I say when I speak to missionaries I don't get my questions answered!

I will start off slowly sorry if any questions have previously been answered.

Do you consider yourself a separate religion from Christianity or another faith denomination within Christianity such Baptist or Methodist?

We follow Christ. We are not a subset or a stem off from any other sect, altho sometimes we get lumped under protestantism and/or Reformationist very loosely by some individuals.

Where does the word Mormon come from?

Mormon was a prophet that existed in ancient america around the early 400s(AD), he was a descendant from a group that had left Jerusalem around 600 BC. He also collected and abridged his peoples' spiritual writings, which contains the account of when Christ visited them shortly after he left the Jews after his resurrection. Later he would be sent as an angel to Jospeh Smith and instruct him, as well as eventually give him that abridgement to be translated as another witness of Christ to have as well as the bible. We have that as the Book of Mormon.

People started calling the individuals that belonged to our church and who believed the Book of mormon to be true as Mormons (much in a similar manner that members of the early church were called Christians in a negative manner by those outside their faith).

Are you an exclusivist religion?

not quite sure what you mean here. We stick to our guns, if we believe something is wrong (like homosexuality) then We'll preach that it is wrong and someone who practiced that actively would not be able to become any sort of leader within the church.

Everyone is welcome to come sit in on the church church meetings, altho if they started preaching stuff that our church believes is false or started causing a problem (like actively trying to disrupt the meeting) or something they would be escorted out from the meeting.

What are your opinions on Christians that are not Mormons?

some try following christ truly, others in word only. If they want to be able to have all the blessings that are in the Gospel then that can only be found through this church, either in this life or the next life.

What are your opinions to Jehovah's Witnesses?

I don't have much of one one way the other. I don't agree with all their doctrines, but they do share some beliefs. I've had great discussions with some and some great bible bashes with others.

Thanks and there are more to come!

Great :) Edited March 23, 2011 by Blackmarch

[Blackmarch]

Thanks for those.

Just to pick up on the "however's"

Back to exclusivsm I am referring to the Book of Mormon in this case do you believe that if we don't have the Book of Mormon we are not saved? What does the Book of Mormon have to offer which the bible doesn't and why?

When you say "truth" what other truths do you need than what Jesus tells us in "I am the way the truth and life" so what is the need for more teachings?

Again sorry if this has previously been covered.

we need the book of mormon because the gospel is like a door and the bible is 1 hinge of that door, the book of mormon is a second hinge, which makes that door work properly.

Some of the things that it helps clarify that the bible does not do much of-

What the resurrection is.

Things Christ has tasked us to do such as baptism and why.

Prayer.

Repentance.

It teaches tons more on Christ's Atonement, how it works, what it means and etc...

It solidifies the teachings of faith

It provides more of God's word to learn from.

It also sets straight many things in the bible that the various sects have taken in their own direction.

It was brought forth specifically to bring both the Jew and Gentil back to Christ as since the times of Christ many intrepretations of what Christ has said has arisen and have caused all to go down different paths.

It's the test that will seperate those who are humbly seeking God, and those who are not.

[NeuroTypical]

what other truths do you need than what Jesus tells us in "I am the way the truth and life" so what is the need for more teachings?

I'm sort of with Funky on this, but I don't believe you're being disingenuous. I do believe that various parts of Christianity are doing themselves a great injustice when they ignore all the other teachings in the Bible. For example, despite a new testament so very full of Jesus and His Apostles telling folks what to do and not do, and how to live and not live, it amazes me how passionately some Christians will argue against the notion that God wants anything out of them.

Inquisitive, I hope you don't feel attacked here (although Funky sort of does think you're here to tear us apart rather than understand us, so he's sort of attacking...). But maybe you can understand that we Mormons believe that God's commandments exist, and that we should indeed strive to follow them. You want a truth besides Jesus declaring who He is and what He represents? I would submit that other important truths include how we go about following Him and availing ourselves of what He has to offer.

LM

[mnn727]

To add to what Loudmouth_Mormon has said about following commandments and living how Christ taught us to live.

I see it something like this: Some Churches teach a Gospel ABOUT Jesus Christ, We teach the Gospel OF Jesus Christ

Just to give you my two cents:

Do you consider yourself a separate religion from Christianity or another faith denomination within Christianity such Baptist or Methodist?

We are a restorationist denomination of Christianity

Where does the word Mormon come from?

Its the Prophets name that compiled the book of Scripture that we now call The Book of Mormon

Are you an exclusivist religion?

No, we believe most people can reach heaven

What are your opinions on Christians that are not Mormons?

Many people do the best they can with what they have. I admire honest followers of other religions and one of my greatest heros is Mother Teresa

What are your opinions to Jehovah's Witnesses?

Same as other religions. I admire those that follow their beliefs. We do have some doctrinal differences with them just as we do with other religions

Edited March 23, 2011 by mnn727

[Inquistive]

Sorry for the late replies had work to do!

WOW so much to take in! I will address the best I can.

FAO FunkyTown

Sorry I didn’t want any aggressiveness I just think these are valid points if anyone wants to make a reasonable choice of faith.

I know you are not the judge of Israel so why when Mormon missionaries act like that when you try to discuss with them about the Book despite you already saying that you already believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour?

In reference to the clarification -

Yes I believe in infant baptism as we are all born with sin so why not start mortal life the right way? I also believe that baptism is also for adults who are born again. It is also a way of dedicating the child to God as Abraham did.

No I believe God can be worshipped anytime, any place.

No no one knows that exact date "not even the angels in heaven" knows the date only "the father"

Can you clarify the alleged section of Isaiah which prophesied the Book the Mormon?

I don’t know how it works over the pond but we have something call ecumenical partnerships in which churches off all denominations including Catholics come together to worship and work as one church united in Christ under the leadership of the Holy Spirit, the Mormon Church did not want to be part of it.

The bible does not need clarification and any that is needed is given by the Spirit living within us. The main gospel truths are agreed on by all denominations is the main one as in John 3:16 - For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. That doesn’t need clarifying?

Oh and yes I have read the bible and currently studying it for a course I am doing. Have you read it or is it just The Book of Mormon that you read as that is the only thing ever pushed by missionaries so to a non Christian wouldn’t the bible be a better start if its another testament as it would be like reading Return of the King before the Fellowship of the ring – wouldn’t make sense?!

I had to laugh at the remark about the Pharisee’s – can I just “clarify” that the Pharisee’s where religious leaders that walked around town dressed up in fancy robes claiming they knew all the truths? Reminds me something that?

FAO Blackmarch.

Hello and thank you for the welcome.

I would have thought if anything Mormonism would come under Reformationist as Joseph Smith had his encounter or revelation during a reform?

As stated about with regards to exculsivsm the Book of Mormon. And judging by your answer about your church then that would be yes.

The Bible teaches us how to prayer the Lords Prayer and in verses Philippians 4:6-7, Ephesians 6:18, Romans 8:26, 1 John 1:9, 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, James 4:3, Matthew 6:5-8, John 14:13-14, Mark 11:22-25

The Bible teaches about Baptism Acts 22:16, 1 Corinthians 12:13, Acts 2:38, Matthew 28:19

Christ atonement – he died for our sins, what else is there to say?

The teachings of faith seems clear enough to me. Accept Christ as your Lord and saviour and you will be free and made right with God and come into relationship with him.

I don’t know any Christian who doesn’t want Jews to accept Christ? He is The King of the Jews their messiah and Muslims as Christ died for all.

So it’s a test? If I choose not to accept the Book of Mormon I have then lost my salvation?

FAO Loudmouth

Hi thanks for your reply.

No I didn’t come on as I stated in a hostile way but feel I am now on the defensive which I feel when I speak to missionaries.

I have to disagree with your thoughts on God wanting something in return as I think that Christ’s birth, death and resurrection would mean nothing if that was the case. Example your dad has you then says “right son go get a job and give me all your money that’s why I had you” where is the love between parent and child? God showed us his through the death of Christ

However on the other side.

Christians don’t just think right I am saved I will sit here happily with my bible in my self righteousness. Christians preach and teach the Gospel message because they want to and not because they have to and through good deeds. By “loving our neighbour” shows Gods love. My wife works full time on a voluntary basis at Christian run homeless shelter with many others. Why? Because they want to not because they have to and that is another way of showing Gods love for us.

I preach the gospel to those who want to hear it. Paul preached to those who wanted to hear it he didn’t drag a crowd round him they came of their own free will, God wants us to love him for the sacrifice he gave us through Christ and his grace has seen his church grow nicely for the past 2000+ years.

Christians don’t just pick a verse and think that’s it I was using that as an example as Timothy tells us “All scripture(the bible) is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness”

Phew! – thanks for reading if you don’t lose track on the way and I think I have covered everything.

[Inquistive]

Hi Mnn727.

Thanks for your reply.

Just a quick question on this Are you an exclusivist religion?

No, we believe most people can reach heaven

Who are most and what standards would you personally believe or the mormon church believe you need to get to heaven?

[NeuroTypical]

Hi "inquisitive",

For someone who is only "here to respectfully ask some questions", you certainly seem interested in arguing with our answers!

Please be aware - we're not interested in arguing with you. The people who fund this site have made it a place where mormons can talk about what they believe and why they believe it. Not defend it from people critical of our beliefs.

If you want to push your point of view, or point out why we're wrong, you'll have to go somewhere else. I can suggest Mormon Dialogue and Discussion Board (run by LDS) and mormondiscussions.com (run by critics).

Happy choosing.

Edited March 23, 2011 by Loudmouth_Mormon

[mnn727]

Hi Mnn727.

Thanks for your reply.

Just a quick question on this Are you an exclusivist religion?

No, we believe most people can reach heaven

Who are most and what standards would you personally believe or the mormon church believe you need to get to heaven?

There is only 1 unforgivable sin according to the Bible, all else will reach heaven, not all will be exalted.

[jayanna]

Well, I would just like to point out that when you talk about Christians you are talking about us.

We are the Church of Jesus Christ

He directs it, literally, so no we would not be interested in forming another church.

“All scripture(the bible) is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness”

The (the bible) that you added in...is something you added in

That scripture describes perfectly the reason we need the Book of Mormon. And yes, we study the Bible. Daily.

And, dude, you are supposed to shine a light, not point a finger....

Like Loudmouth says, take this elsewhere.

[bytebear]

We believe that God's plan is one where we not only believe in Jesus Christ but enter into covenant with God. Those who believe will receive salvation. This is, I believe where you are in your life. But we believe that Christ established a church, and gave authority (called priesthood) through Peter and the other apostles to continue to run the church in His absence. We believe that authority was lost somewhere and the Church authority was lost. Christianity continued of course, through the Catholic and Orthodox churches, and later the reformation. But it wasn't until God chose Joseph Smith as a prophet, was the church and the priesthood re-established. That is why we call it a restoration. Now, we have the priesthood, and can continue the work of God which is to prepare for the second coming, and build the kingdom of God. So, we have no problem with those who find peace in Jesus, and we believe they will be rewarded, but we believe there are greater rewards and important works that we are engaged in.

It's up to you to learn and I recommend reading the Book of Mormon and see if it has a purpose. But, I think it is shortsighted to dismiss it based on your current understanding of Mormonism which is clearly incomplete.

[FunkyTown]

Sorry for the late replies had work to do!

WOW so much to take in! I will address the best I can.

FAO FunkyTown

Sorry I didn’t want any aggressiveness I just think these are valid points if anyone wants to make a reasonable choice of faith.

I know you are not the judge of Israel so why when Mormon missionaries act like that when you try to discuss with them about the Book despite you already saying that you already believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour?

In reference to the clarification -

Yes I believe in infant baptism as we are all born with sin so why not start mortal life the right way? I also believe that baptism is also for adults who are born again. It is also a way of dedicating the child to God as Abraham did.

No I believe God can be worshipped anytime, any place.

No no one knows that exact date "not even the angels in heaven" knows the date only "the father"

Can you clarify the alleged section of Isaiah which prophesied the Book the Mormon?

I don’t know how it works over the pond but we have something call ecumenical partnerships in which churches off all denominations including Catholics come together to worship and work as one church united in Christ under the leadership of the Holy Spirit, the Mormon Church did not want to be part of it.

The bible does not need clarification and any that is needed is given by the Spirit living within us. The main gospel truths are agreed on by all denominations is the main one as in John 3:16 - For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. That doesn’t need clarifying?

Oh and yes I have read the bible and currently studying it for a course I am doing. Have you read it or is it just The Book of Mormon that you read as that is the only thing ever pushed by missionaries so to a non Christian wouldn’t the bible be a better start if its another testament as it would be like reading Return of the King before the Fellowship of the ring – wouldn’t make sense?!

I had to laugh at the remark about the Pharisee’s – can I just “clarify” that the Pharisee’s where religious leaders that walked around town dressed up in fancy robes claiming they knew all the truths? Reminds me something that?

I think you misunderstood what I was saying. I wasn't asking your beliefs, nor arguing any point of doctrine. Placing what you believe is interesting, but ultimately irrelevant to the topic at hand. I was pointing out that many Christian denominations disagree with you on all of those points you made. Some quite vocally. If that's the case, then are you arguing that the churches who disagree with you on those points are not led by the spirit where they disagree with you?

And lastly, in reference to Pharisaical behaviour, the sins of the Pharisees wasn't their legalism/claim to know all truths. They were condemned for the following:

1. Not practicing what they preach.

In Matthew 23:3-4, Jesus said the folks should do what the Pharisees taught. But not do what they did because they didn’t practice what they preached. Further, they would lay all kinds of burdens on the shoulders of other people but wouldn’t lift the finger to lift these burdens themselves. Now don’t read into this. Jesus didn’t rebuke them for laying heavy burdens on anyone. He rebuked them for not lifting the heavy burdens themselves.

2. They were self-seeking.

According to Matthew 23:5-15, Jesus says the Pharisees weren’t doing what they did out of humble service to God so that He might be glorified. They were doing things so others might see them and praise them for being so spiritual. Again, Jesus didn’t rebuke them for being legalistic about what they taught or practiced but for their motivation behind what they did and taught. This self-seeking led to some pretty awful results. First, their self-seeking caused them to lead a double life. On the one hand, they were taking advantage of widows. On the other, they were making long prayers for a pretense. The second negative consequence was their self-seeking caused them to make followers of themselves instead of followers of God. Thus, when they found a proselyte, the person did not get in a right relationship with God but became twice the child of hell as the Pharisees.

3. They were dishonest.

Perhaps Matthew 23:16-22 is where some folks find legalism. Certainly, they are drawing a bunch of lines on when to actually keep their word. But Jesus is not rebuking them for their lines. He is rebuking them for their dishonesty. He wants them to simply tell the truth, not make up rules about when they have to tell the truth. Further, notice that this issue of line drawing is not about adding burdens of greater weight about telling the truth but about trying to figure out how to get out of the real height of honesty God demands. I find it interesting that so many want to ridicule the Pharisees for making serving God harder, when here they were trying to get out of what God had commanded.

4. Disobeying the weightier matters of the law.

In Matthew 23:23-24, Jesus rebuked them for attending to minor details while they disregarded the more important parts of the law. I find this one intriguing too because many like to use the figures of speech used in these verses to claim Jesus rebuked the Pharisees for legalism. This is odd since they are actually trying to avoid keeping the law here. We should notice something pointed in these verses. Jesus did not rebuke them for keeping minor details. In fact, he says they should have done that. Rather, He rebuked them because they did not keep the weightier matters. He did not rebuke them for straining the gnats. He rebuked them for swallowing the camels. But what was Jesus’ overall complaint for them? It was not that they were getting too legalistic with God’s law. It was that they were not legalistic enough. They weren’t keeping the Law well enough.

5. Hypocrisy

In Matthew 23:25-32, Jesus got down to the major rebuke against the Pharisees. I know we expect it to finally be legalism. But, it’s not. It’s hypocrisy. In actuality, we already saw this building in the other rebukes, but now Jesus just spells it out, repeatedly calling them hypocrites. They simply worked on the outside and not on the inside. This doesn’t mean the outside doesn’t matter. Rather, Jesus explains if we get the heart right, then the outside will follow. The Pharisees, however, since they were self-seeking were only focused on whatever would make them look good, not would actually let them be good. Sadly, this hypocrisy led to one major consequence. When real men of God came in their midst, they persecuted and even killed them.

As Jesus ended this discussion, He pointed out the Pharisees would be judged. But He never mentioned legalism. In fact, I’m actually still waiting for a rebuke in the entire New Testament where the Pharisees were actually condemned or rebuked because they were legalists. Seems to me that is merely a modern statement because so many people today want to get away from being held accountable by a real system of law. They seemingly want to make Christianity a kind of free for all that says we are all allowed to do whatever we want in the name of Jesus and no one has the right to draw any lines. After all, look at how Jesus rebuked those pesky Pharisees for their legalism. Yet, I keep trying to find the passage where Jesus actually rebuked them for that.

[Blackmarch]

FAO Blackmarch.

Hello and thank you for the welcome.

I would have thought if anything Mormonism would come under Reformationist as Joseph Smith had his encounter or revelation during a reform?

it doesnt matter to me. depending how you take your reasoning you can come up with a few logical different categories in which to put the LDS church under. But I care not for what man says. We have been painted from the foulest of foul to very revered.

As stated about with regards to exculsivsm the Book of Mormon. And judging by your answer about your church then that would be yes.

The Bible teaches us how to prayer the Lords Prayer and in verses Philippians 4:6-7, Ephesians 6:18, Romans 8:26, 1 John 1:9, 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, James 4:3, Matthew 6:5-8, John 14:13-14, Mark 11:22-25

great so how come everyone has different ideas about praying?

The Bible teaches about Baptism Acts 22:16, 1 Corinthians 12:13, Acts 2:38, Matthew 28:19

for something important as the Gate to the entrance to the kingdom, 4-5 sentences sure doesn't help much.

Christ atonement – he died for our sins, what else is there to say?

For the most important thing ever to grace this universe - and thats it? Ok so then what?

The teachings of faith seems clear enough to me. Accept Christ as your Lord and saviour and you will be free and made right with God and come into relationship with him.

but what does that all mean? What does all that include? I go to 5 different sects and I get 5 different answers, almost always conflicting. Yet all of them use the bible.

I don’t know any Christian who doesn’t want Jews to accept Christ? He is The King of the Jews their messiah and Muslims as Christ died for all.

Sure Christians do, but what about the jews themsleves?

So it’s a test? If I choose not to accept the Book of Mormon I have then lost my salvation?

quite possibly. You have then shown you are unwilling to listen to anything further that God has to instruct you than what you have in the bible. If you can't do that then there is little that God can do for you. Edited March 25, 2011 by Blackmarch

[Inquistive]

Hello,

Again allot to get through! I will head over to the suggested sites thanks for those.

I don’t know where to start but to address this Christian denomination thing I don’t know what sort of churches you have over there but certainly all my Christian friends from various churches all pray the same way and have the same beliefs, I don’t think adding another book of sect will clear any of the "problems" but I don’t see problems I see us all part of the body of Christ and each section of the body has a different job to perform the foot works differently to the hand and that is what the body of Christ is each church has different gifts to offer and in recent history I know here as I mentioned in the ecumenical partnerships the different parts of the body are joing to get as one, but Mormon's as stated don’t join in. Perhaps Christianity over the pond is wayward but it has huge positive effects here despite becoming a largely secular country now. The body can only work if every works together which it is non doing.

My reasons for coming on here are as follows.

I will go through my motives for this exercise. Excuse if it doesn’t flow from the above I wrote this earlier.

I am genuily interested and fascinated by your beliefs, I first came across Mormons when I first became a Christian and spending the majority of my life as a non believer I obviously started a journey which includes which church to attend. My conversion involved meeting the Lord in Saul to Paul type.

I tried various churches before settling and whilst on this journey I bumped in to a couple of your missionaries. I had a brief chat and the invited themselves back in which I agreed.

The came back gave me a Book of Mormon with suggested readings we had a chat and watched the Joseph Smith DVD I should have been alarmed when they looked on at me funny whilst I was having a cup of tea, anyway I was feeling more uncomfortable after watching the DVD they told me to pray for direction and offered to come back I accepted they came back a few days later despite being very insistent on coming the very next day! I prayed and God told me to carry on searching and not to go with them and then as I opened my bible it opened on Matthew 7:15 and continuing to look through Matthew other similar warnings as in a lot of the bible. Coincidence or God guidance?

So when the missionaries returned I stated what I had discovered and had been revealed to me – they certainly did not seem all happy and smiley after that so much so I send my kids upstairs, to be fair it was only one of them who took more of an aggressive approach the other just sat quietly which in this instance Matthew 7:15 spoke for itself! To feel very uncomfortable in my home again and to have to ask them to leave and only after the 2nd time of asking they did! Wasn’t such a good selling point!

I have had other conversations with Mormons which ends up answering a question with a question my most recent encounter a Mormon came out with this outrageous sentence “that is if the bible is true” not my words a female Mormon missionaries statement when I mentioned something from the bible. Imagine saying that to or non believer you will have just cemented what they believe!

Other than that things I have read on the internet which some I take with a pinch of salt until this personal testimony of an ex Mormon who I know and unfortunately now an atheist!

“I was a Mormon, I couldn’t do anything I tried to leave but they only way I could was by closing my bank account and moving I don’t believe in anything now”

If the Book of Mormon can have a genuine impact on Christianity then may I suggest that the missionaries have some more courtesy and not condemn the bible.

I am now well involved and training to be a lay preacher and do a lot of voluntary work in the community, I thoroughly enjoy ecumenical worship with all denominations coming together in a different churches with preachers from different denominations preaching the same message afterwards everyone discussing the service and not condemning each other to hell and not even the Catholics!

The body is coming together.

I will now end this discussion as I don’t want anyone to be getting upset with me, but please feel free to contact me and I will continue to linger and if its okay comment on other posts.

Many Thanks for all your time and responses.

God Bless.

[dahlia]

I don’t know any Christian who doesn’t want Jews to accept Christ? He is The King of the Jews their messiah and Muslims as Christ died for all.

Sure Christians do, but what about the jews themsleves?you.

As a Reform Jew for 20 years, I can tell you that the Jews just want Christians to leave them alone. Short of some individual epiphany that leads someone to Christianity (or Buddhism, for that matter), most Jews are not interested in converting - it's not like they don't know about Jesus - they just believe something else. And guess what? They're OK with that. Just as Hindus and Bahais and Sikhs are OK with what they believe. They don't think they are missing something and they don't look to Christ as the answer. Why should they? (I hope SLC won't want me to turn in my baptism certificate for saying that.)

For many secular Jews, it's an issue of not turning your back on people who died or suffered for their religion. But pretty much post WWII, they just want Christians to back off.

[Blackmarch]

Hello,

Again allot to get through! I will head over to the suggested sites thanks for those.

I don’t know where to start but to address this Christian denomination thing I don’t know what sort of churches you have over there but certainly all my Christian friends from various churches all pray the same way and have the same beliefs, I don’t think adding another book of sect will clear any of the "problems" but I don’t see problems I see us all part of the body of Christ and each section of the body has a different job to perform the foot works differently to the hand and that is what the body of Christ is each church has different gifts to offer and in recent history I know here as I mentioned in the ecumenical partnerships the different parts of the body are joing to get as one, but Mormon's as stated don’t join in. Perhaps Christianity over the pond is wayward but it has huge positive effects here despite becoming a largely secular country now. The body can only work if every works together which it is non doing.

Thas nice that you have that.

I see the body of believers as seperate from the body of the church- and why i believe this: When christ set up the church during his life he gave them apostles, prophets, bishops, deacons, evangelists, and etc... and these were described as the body parts.

Furthermore if I were to apply the concept that the different sects were the different body parts talked about in the bible then i would have to say that the body is cancerous. While one or two may say that they do not "need" certain others, many are in conflict in function (for instance i've been with some where baptism is required, others where baptism is only a sign, otheris where baptism is just a personal preference, things like that..).

My reasons for coming on here are as follows.

I will go through my motives for this exercise. Excuse if it doesn’t flow from the above I wrote this earlier.

I am genuily interested and fascinated by your beliefs, I first came across Mormons when I first became a Christian and spending the majority of my life as a non believer I obviously started a journey which includes which church to attend. My conversion involved meeting the Lord in Saul to Paul type.

wow thats awesome! What convinced you that Christ was the savior and that we need to follow him?

I tried various churches before settling and whilst on this journey I bumped in to a couple of your missionaries. I had a brief chat and the invited themselves back in which I agreed.

The came back gave me a Book of Mormon with suggested readings we had a chat and watched the Joseph Smith DVD I should have been alarmed when they looked on at me funny whilst I was having a cup of tea, anyway I was feeling more uncomfortable after watching the DVD they told me to pray for direction and offered to come back I accepted they came back a few days later despite being very insistent on coming the very next day! I prayed and God told me to carry on searching and not to go with them and then as I opened my bible it opened on Matthew 7:15 and continuing to look through Matthew other similar warnings as in a lot of the bible. Coincidence or God guidance?

God's guidance. you did not just only open to Mattew 7:15, you also opened to Matthew 7:16-20.

As much as i'd love people to join our church because I know it's God's church... My word does not cut it, and if someone joined because of my words, then they would as easily be lifted out of it by either my words (were I to fall away) or by someone elses words. An individual needs to test the fruit, and needs to find out for themselves if it is indeed Gods word. The Fruit that needs testing is the Book of Mormon, if you want to find out whether Joseph smith was directed by God, or whether he was not.

how do you test out that fruit? You start by studying it.

Now as I don't have exact knowledge of who you met with or why their reasons of choices they made with you , I can't say exactly what they did wrong or right. It's certainly not the way how the missionaries that I was with when I was out in the mission field handled those kind of situations.... Generally we liked it when somoene showed us that scripture because then we got to teach about the next few verses :)

however if it had gone differently I doubt I would have met you and have had this conversation.

So when the missionaries returned I stated what I had discovered and had been revealed to me – they certainly did not seem all happy and smiley after that so much so I send my kids upstairs, to be fair it was only one of them who took more of an aggressive approach the other just sat quietly which in this instance Matthew 7:15 spoke for itself! To feel very uncomfortable in my home again and to have to ask them to leave and only after the 2nd time of asking they did! Wasn’t such a good selling point!

I have had other conversations with Mormons which ends up answering a question with a question my most recent encounter a Mormon came out with this outrageous sentence “that is if the bible is true” not my words a female Mormon missionaries statement when I mentioned something from the bible. Imagine saying that to or non believer you will have just cemented what they believe!

Other than that things I have read on the internet which some I take with a pinch of salt until this personal testimony of an ex Mormon who I know and unfortunately now an atheist!

“I was a Mormon, I couldn’t do anything I tried to leave but they only way I could was by closing my bank account and moving I don’t believe in anything now”

I"ve been in all sorts of places with the church, I've been in different positions, I've been on the path of rightiousness and far off it, and never at any point did the church have any control over me or my account.

If the Book of Mormon can have a genuine impact on Christianity then may I suggest that the missionaries have some more courtesy and not condemn the bible.

how did they condmen the bible. Every missionary i've ran into loves it and i've had missionaries give me great lessons from the bible and the book of mormon, sometimes together, sometimes by itself, and sometimes from other books.

What you've been describing seems to be abnormal from all my experiences

I am now well involved and training to be a lay preacher and do a lot of voluntary work in the community, I thoroughly enjoy ecumenical worship with all denominations coming together in a different churches with preachers from different denominations preaching the same message afterwards everyone discussing the service and not condemning each other to hell and not even the Catholics!

The body is coming together.

congratulations, and I wish you good luck. Remember to be humble, listen to both your heart, and your mind. you also need to work if you want to recieve answers. Sometimes they don't come right away, and sometimes God has to take us through multiple religions and sects, and trials and tribulations before we're humble and spiritually in tune enough to get what we really want.

One of the other nice things I've found with the LDS, is that God has given more revelation of what heaven and hell entails, and what he does so that people can be justly judged.

May I ask what interests you in becoming a preacher?

I will now end this discussion as I don’t want anyone to be getting upset with me, but please feel free to contact me and I will continue to linger and if its okay comment on other posts.

Many Thanks for all your time and responses.

God Bless.

I"m not upset with you in any way, just letting you know why I have chosen what i have chosen.

[The_Phoenix]

Hello.

I have just come on here to respectfully ask some questions but first I would like to know if that is okay? If it is not the I bid you adieu.

I have conversed with multiple Mormon missionaries on the street and even in my house so in no way would I consider myself hostile, just when I ask a question they come back with a question which doesn't really answer what I need to know.

So if anybody would you like to assist me either on here in privately please let me know if this is not okay please let me know and I will never darken your doorsteps again!

If you would like to know anything about me please ask and a possible an answer to a main question - I am a Christian.

Many Thanks for your assistance I will check back later.

Grace be with you.

I could be wrong, but a number of things from your avatar to the use of the word adieu, tells me you are trolling. But that is just me.

[NeuroTypical]

Nah Phoenix - I can't go that far. The old "adieu" criticism from the '80's has got to be one of the most soundly and permanently refuted BoM criticisms in existence. So many very fatal bullets have been put into the head of that horse for the last two decades, that nobody could possibly be beating it today. Even the folks over at the UK based Reachout Trust countercult forums don't bother with it any more - and they were holding tenaciously on to their "coins in south America" criticism the last time I checked.

If anyone still thinks that "adieu" in the BoM is still a criticism that holds water, they would have to have been living in a cave for 20 years. Or maybe be mentally ill. Or possibly they've been locked in a room their whole life with nothing other than a Bible, BoM, and an old box of anti-mormon pamphlets from the 1970's.

Inquisitive couldn't have been referring to it. He can use proper punctuation, speak in complete sentences and upload his own avatar.

[Dr T]

Hello and welcome. :)