Do other religions have some bit of truth to them?

[Starlite]

The very fact that we have been taught... "all truth shall be....circumscribed in one" tells us that there is truth all about us, not just in the gospel of Mormon religion. That's okay, we are all brothers and sisters and our Father in Heaven not only sends revelations to us, but to others, in the form of thoughts and inspirations, etc. Here is a great talk with all you need to know about the question posed in this forum, and it is found in the Teachings of the Prophets, Brigham Young, 1977

Its quite direct:

“Mormonism,” so-called, embraces every principle pertaining to life and salvation, for time and eternity. No matter who has it. If the infidel has got truth it belongs to “Mormonism.” The truth and sound doctrine possessed by the sectarian world, and they have a great deal, all belong to this Church. As for their morality, many of them are, morally, just as good as we are. All that is good, lovely, and praiseworthy belongs to this Church and Kingdom. “Mormonism” includes all truth. There is no truth but what belongs to the Gospel. It is life, eternal life; it is bliss; it is the fulness of all things in the gods and in the eternities of the gods (DBY, 3).

In a word, if “Mormonism” is not my life, I do not know that I have any. I do not understand anything else, for it embraces everything that comes within the range of the understanding of man. If it does not circumscribe every thing that is in heaven and on earth, it is not what it purports to be (DBY, 2).

I want to say to my friends that we believe in all good. If you can find a truth in heaven, earth or hell, it belongs to our doctrine. We believe it; it is ours; we claim it (DBY, 2).

[The gospel] embraces all morality, all virtue, all light, all intelligence, all greatness, and all goodness. It introduces a system of laws and ordinances (DBY, 3).

Such a plan incorporates every system of true doctrine on the earth, whether it be ecclesiastical, moral, philosophical, or civil; it incorporates all good laws that have been made from the days of Adam until now; it swallows up the laws of nations, for it exceeds them all in knowledge and purity, it circumscribes the doctrines of the day, and takes from the right and the left, and brings all truth together in one system, and leaves the chaff to be scattered hither and thither (DBY, 3–4).

It is our duty and calling, as ministers of the same salvation and Gospel, to gather every item of truth and reject every error. Whether a truth be found with professed infidels, or with the Universalists, or the Church of Rome, or the Methodists, the Church of England, the Presbyterians, the Baptists, the Quakers, the Shakers, or any other of the various and numerous different sects and parties, all of whom have more or less truth, it is the business of the Elders of this Church (Jesus, their Elder Brother, being at their head) to gather up all the truths in the world pertaining to life and salvation, to the Gospel we preach, … to the sciences, and to philosophy, wherever it may be found in every nation, kindred, tongue, and people and bring it to Zion (DBY, 248)."    End quote.

 

.....It is our duty....our calling....he tells us. it is sobering; not to be taken lightly. I'm always personally saddened, sometimes disgusted when I read other forums, riddled and cankered with swears and offensive speech...and far too lighthearted in a non respectful way. I'm so happy to find a forum that is more true to the nature of the gift of being a member of the Lord's church and to have the gospel so generously given to us.

[CV75]

12 hours ago, Rob Osborn said:

Im curious what you think of these verses which describe the white stone given to those of the celestial world'

10 Then the white stone mentioned in Revelation 2:17, will become a Urim and Thummim to each individual who receives one, whereby things pertaining to a higher order of kingdoms will be made known;
11 And a white stone is given to each of those who come into the celestial kingdom, whereon is a new name written, which no man knoweth save he that receiveth it. The new name is the key word." (D&C 130:10-11)

According to these verses there are higher orders of kingdoms above the celestial glory. Logically, one could progress higher in the eternities. Eternal progression is a heavenly principle. All those who keep their second estate (all the saved) will have glory added upon their heads forever and ever-

 

"26 And they who keep their first estate shall be added upon; and they who keep not their first estate shall not have glory in the same kingdom with those who keep their first estate; and they who keep their second estate shall have glory added upon their heads for ever and ever." (Abraham 3:26)

As for the terrestrial kingdom, it has some issues as we define it. Here is a short list of issues that dont make sense-

1. Those who die without law. This makes no sense, if they die without law they cant be judged by law and are thus not condemned. 

2. We know that terrestrial heirs reign on earth with Christ for the millennium. We also know that in the spirit world they repented, accepted Christ and his gospel and were washed clean. So then, at the beginning of the millennium they are quickened and dwell with Christ for the thousand years on the earth building the kingdom with Christ. So then why at the end of the millennium are they booted off the planet to inherit some other lower world?

3. The terrestrial receive the presence of the Son in their kingdom but not the presence of the Father. This supposedly happens after resurrection and the crowing of glories. So, Christ having the same glory as the Father is somehow able to dwell with the terrestrials but not the Father? Is the Fathers glory just that much better that they cant endure his presence but they can endure the Sons for all eternity? Why is Christ going to dwell in that kingdom for eternity, or is it just a part time cameo like appearance thing every so often? I thought Christ was supposed to receive his crown and reign alongside the Father never to go out again in the celestial kingdom.

 

 

RE: the white stone:

“The higher order of kingdoms” is their own, as in, “I live in the higher order of kingdoms, and the things pertaining to this order are made known to be via this white stone I have been given.”

So it doesn’t necessarily mean “there are higher orders of kingdoms above the celestial glory,” especially if you include exaltation. Progression means the expanding continuation of the seeds, which is what exaltation entails. One might speculate that, when living in the presence of the Father in His kingdom, that He has other generations of exalted kingdoms He wants to introduce us to as cooperative neighbors or partners with other exalted kingdoms.

RE: Abraham 3:

From the perspective of the pre-mortal world, verses 26-28 speaks only of the segregation of those who decided to proceed without bodies, and those who decided to proceed with bodies, in terms of glory. Those keeping the first estate by choosing the second estate shall have their glory (body) added, and shall keep this glory (body) forever and ever. Those not keeping the first estate, and so not choosing the second estate only don't get a body.

After passing into this second estate, or the estate with a body, there are yet other estates or sub-estates: probationary (with a mortal body); post-mortal (with a mortal spirit only); resurrected (post-mortal spirit with a post mortal body and glory), etc. In each estate it is possible to keep our estate (our bodies and glory) in various degrees or order of repair, through faithfulness and obedience.

This is why the conditions you listed (people die without law; there is a terrestrial resurrection; the Christ directs the ministrations to the terrestrial world, not the Father), but certainly not your conclusions about those conditions, make perfect sense to me.

The Father does not descend (by virtue of sharing a portion of His fulness through delegation to the Son and His angels) into the terrestrial world, and the Christ does not descend into the telestial world (only holy angels do). The ministrations to each kingdom is bound and limited by the delegated medium through which they are served (e.g. Christ, Holy Spirit), so the inhabitants cannot possibly pass from one resurrected kingdom to the next. Christ will give the terrestrials no more than a portion of the Father’s (or His) fulness, and the angels will give the telestials no more than a portion of that.

[Blackmarch]

On December 27, 2016 at 8:10 PM, Larry Cotrell said:

There are bits of truth here and there throughout religions because Satan knows that the more truth something has, the more convincing of a lie it is.

"Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." 

That is true. Also consider that Christ visited other people which would have influenced things... As well that God also had prophets before the israelites all the way up to adam who taught of christ who would have been a very top important figure. Also man tends to copy more than invent, so when people broke away from gods teachings they still would use what they already knew to set up their own things. There are truths in many religions, whether if someone was humble enough to get some touch of the spirit, or as a remnant from older times.