- Joined
- Jan 8, 2010
- Messages
- 72,126
- Reaction score
- 58,861
- Location
- NE Ohio
- Gender
- Male
- Political Leaning
- Liberal
This stuff is crazier than scientology. I never knew this about the Mormon church. How do they label themselves as Christians?
Because their beliefs regarding Christ is central to their religion, and the story of Christ and his life is rooted in the contents of the New Testament and are essentially the same as any other Christians views, specifically that he is and was the savior and he died for our sins. They just add a little extra fluff contained in the Book of Mormon to the mix, such as the chapter to the story of Christ between his death and his resurrection where he made an appearance in the America's
They don't believe in the virgin birth, they don't believe that Jesus was God the father incarnate, they believe he was a brother (and equal) to satan. They believe that Joseph Smith was greater than Jesus, they believe that Jesus had wives and children and that Joseph Smith was his descendant. They downplay the Holiness of God by stating that he was just a random love child of another god somewhere out there. They believe that we are eternally married even though Jesus specifically states in the Bible that in heaven there is no marriage (and no sex, stating that our bodies will be spirit and "genderless" like the angels). It doesn't represent Christianity at all and is contrary to the Bible assuming the things in the video are true.
I fail to see how it is any crazier than any other religion.
This stuff is crazier than scientology. I never knew this about the Mormon church. How do they label themselves as Christians?
Now you have an idea about how non-believers view your religion.
1) Rituals of eating the flesh and drinking the blood of christ via blessed water/wine and crackers/bread
2) Having 1-sided mental telepathy sessions with a supreme being.
3) sprinkling or dipping yourself in "blessed" water in order to remove "sins".
4) Worshipping a symbol (cross).
5) Cutting off your foreskin.
6) Blaming some natural or man made events on demons or angels.
7) Belief in absolute, god-given morality and laws.
8) Rejecting the findings and observations of reality when in contradiction to holy-book tales.
9) That credulity to certain stories and claims grants preferred seating in an afterlife. And that rejection of those claims results in torment and suffering in an afterlife.
10) That a certain man's death somehow enables a god to absolve others of an otherwise unfortunate fate.
The epiphany of discovering the insanity and craziness of one's own beliefs is both awe inspiring and terrifying.
#2 is actually a two way conversation,
If you want to know what mormons believe, ask a mormon missionary.. they are trained in those things, having had every possible question there is thrown at them.
Likewise, if you want to know what ANY religion believes, ask THEM.
You won't get an accurate description about any religion, sometimes not even their own, by asking most evangelicals or fundamentists...
AND, I once had 2 catholic friends almost get into a fight over what catholics believe....it was a bit funny...
If you want to know what mormons believe, ask a mormon missionary.. they are trained in those things, having had every possible question there is thrown at them.
I have seen a lot of Christians pray. This is how it goes: "Dear Jesus, please give me this that and this other thing, and help my friend so and so with whats going on in her life, blah blah blah blah blah Amen."
From start to finish, they talk the entire time. How can Jesus ever get a word in edgewise?
Even if Jesus is talking to them, it doesn't really count as a two way conversation if they aren't listening.
Your personal experience not withstanding, this is not how all praying goes. A Prayer of petition is just one type of five main types of prayer. Prayers of thanksgiving and supplication are far more common too. This is still just a caricature of what is actually happening. How do you know Jesus doesn't get a word in or that the people praying aren't listening. You don't because you are not apart of these conversations. You are guessing.
As a person who prays I would say no matter how much I talk, God always expresses more.
Ok, you're right, there is also "Dear Jesus, thank you for this food, blah blah blah Amen." And there is "Dear Jesus, you are so great and I am nothing without you blah blah blah Amen." And of course one of my favorites is "Dear Jesus, I have sinned (as if he didn't already know) please forgive me blah blah blah Amen." Which I think should really be classified under petition rather than expiation, since it is in fact a type of petition.
I know that Jesus doesn't get a word in edgewise because it is impolite to interrupt when someone else is talking, and Jesus, being a perfect being would be perfectly polite.
And I know that the people praying aren't listening because they are people, rather than gods, and people can't listen very well while their mouths are moving.
It doesn't matter how much God expresses if his words fall on deaf ears.
This shows how very little of Christianity you know. Jesus was without sin. But he would cut you off if you were making a fool of yourself or preaching incorrectly. He did kind of scream at the money changers in the temple overturning their tables. And he did admonish his disciples when they obviously didn't understand his teachings. Jesus was silent when it was wise to be silent and non silent when it was wise to not be silent. So this kind of goes against your reply there. Your opinion here, though okay to have, is baseless.
Intellectual knowledge and understanding alone is not sufficient to understand Christianity. The reason is is that there is a real relationship (with two way communication) going on.
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?