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Mormonism

ehabsolimanehabsoliman
edited May 2005 in Faith Issues
PEACE FOR EVERYBODY , I HAVE A COLLEAGUE IN MY JOB HIS A MORMON AND START TELLING ME THAT THEY BELEIVE IN SAINTS AND JESUS AND HE TOLD ME A VERY WEIRED THING THAT JESUS CHRIST VISIT UNITED STATE AND HE TEACHED .
SO ANY BODY KNOW WHAT IS THE MORON BELIEVES ?
ARE THEY CHRISTIAN OR NOT ? ???
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Comments

  • littlecopt1234littlecopt1234
    i only know that the mormons say to read the book of mormons if you don't have time to read the Bible, which is weird cuz why wouldn't you have time for the Bible, but you would have time for the book of mormons?

    sorry thats all i know
  • Unknown
    its kind of a confusing issue mormons say they do belive in the christian faith but we don't belive there under the christian faith neither do the catholics,protestants ect..
  • ehabsolimanehabsoliman
    that's another wired thing ,but what about jesus visiting to U.S.A ?
  • ehabsolimanehabsoliman
    anybody has a book or website or something ,because a lot of ppl need to know and maybe we gona make a lecture in the church about them , so i need more information.
  • littlecopt1234littlecopt1234
    do they believe He just recently came to the U.S.? or in the time of His ministry, and i'll try to look for any links.
  • littlecopt1234littlecopt1234
    i found this link:

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/mormon/

    i think its pretty good, like an introduction, the history, beliefs, and other stuff.

    hope it helps
  • ehabsolimanehabsoliman
    thank's a lot littlecopt ::) ::)
  • ehabsolimanehabsoliman
    it's very good site, but did not tell the whole truth about theire belifes so they can attract christian ppls first .
  • littlecopt1234littlecopt1234
    [quote author=love and peace. link=board=2;threadid=1690;start=0#msg26070 date=1116964134]
    it's very good site, but did not tell the whole truth about theire belifes so they can attract christian ppls first .


    What do you mean?
  • ehabsolimanehabsoliman
    ok what i heard is, to attract ppls they tell you they r christian and
    they belive in jesus christ and every thing like when this guy know i am orthodox he told me they believe in saints and some good stuff like they r paying like 50% or more from their income or salary to the church not 10 % ,and after that they try to get you buy wired belifes.
  • littlecopt1234littlecopt1234
    I found this, I hope it helps

    http://lds.about.com/library/weekly/previousyears/aa022598.htm
  • Unknown
    arent mormons the ones that come door to door or is that jehovas witness... i learned about the 2 religions.. both are reall weird. I know that one of them i dunno which thinks Jesus died on a pole... not a cross everyone... a POLE! so im gessin insted of wearin a cross they were um... a pole? ;)
  • littlecopt1234littlecopt1234
    haha I don't know who believes Christ was CRUCIFIED on a pole ???, but i think the Jehovah's Witness' go door to door
  • Marianne87Marianne87
    I think the Jehoav's witness believe in the pole too, because even their church's (or w/e it is..is called) doesn't have a cross but just something like a pole.
  • Unknown
    I had actually just learned about that religion in my sunday school class. My teacher said that they claim that they are christians but they're really not. Their book or as they call it "their bible" is actually just like a fairytale. its actually very funny cuz my teacher read us some of the stuff they have in their book and everybody just started laughing cuz it was so weird. The mormons beleive that the way of actually getting to heaven is by making as many ppl join their religion.
    Pretty weird. ::)
    oh yea and they do go from house to house cuz that has happened to alot of people that i know. They actually start a conversation with you by talking to u about a matter that has nothing to do with the religion like war or w/e...and then they slowly bring up the subject of the religion into the conversation. Next thing u know ur whole conversation is about that religion. It very interesting how persuasive they are. ;)

    sorry for the long post

    Pray for me


  • Unknown
    [quote author=love and peace. link=board=2;threadid=1690;start=0#msg26083 date=1116966098]
    ok what i heard is, to attract ppls they tell you they r christian and
    they belive in jesus christ and every thing like when this guy know i am orthodox he told me they believe in saints and some good stuff like they r paying like 50% or more from their income or salary to the church not 10 % ,and after that they try to get you buy wired belifes.


    thats exactly what happened to my brother. Do they take a class for making people join their religion?
    well I heard that they believed that some guy (not Jesus Christ) came and buried gold in the U.S. and now they can't find it. ha ha ha thats way to funny.
  • littlecopt1234littlecopt1234
    [quote author=gurl-servant link=board=2;threadid=1690;start=15#msg26102 date=1116976010]
    I had actually just learned about that religion in my sunday school class. My teacher said that they claim that they are christians but they're really not. Their book or as they call it "their bible" is actually just like a fairytale. its actually very funny cuz my teacher read us some of the stuff they have in their book and everybody just started laughing cuz it was so weird. The mormons beleive that the way of actually getting to heaven is by making as many ppl join their religion.
    Pretty weird. ::)
    oh yea and they do go from house to house cuz that has happened to alot of people that i know. They actually start a conversation with you by talking to u about a matter that has nothing to do with the religion like war or w/e...and then they slowly bring up the subject of the religion into the conversation. Next thing u know ur whole conversation is about that religion. It very interesting how persuasive they are. ;)

    sorry for the long post

    Pray for me

    Aparrently I was wrong when i said it was the Jehovah's Witness' who go around door to door. Sorry.

  • Unknown
    [quote author=littlecopt1234 link=board=2;threadid=1690;start=15#msg26104 date=1116976646]
    [quote author=gurl-servant link=board=2;threadid=1690;start=15#msg26102 date=1116976010]
    I had actually just learned about that religion in my sunday school class. My teacher said that they claim that they are christians but they're really not. Their book or as they call it "their bible" is actually just like a fairytale. its actually very funny cuz my teacher read us some of the stuff they have in their book and everybody just started laughing cuz it was so weird. The mormons beleive that the way of actually getting to heaven is by making as many ppl join their religion.
    Pretty weird. ::)
    oh yea and they do go from house to house cuz that has happened to alot of people that i know. They actually start a conversation with you by talking to u about a matter that has nothing to do with the religion like war or w/e...and then they slowly bring up the subject of the religion into the conversation. Next thing u know ur whole conversation is about that religion. It very interesting how persuasive they are. ;)

    sorry for the long post

    Pray for me

    Aparrently I was wrong when i said it was the Jehovah's Witness' who go around door to door. Sorry.




    Why did u do that? ???
  • littlecopt1234littlecopt1234
    I said that because before i had said that Jehovah's Witness" went door to door
  • pureplaya434pureplaya434
    ok guys here is some info about mormons written by an greek orthodox priest but it all corners the same information



    Foundations

    The founder of Mormonism, Joseph Smith, was born in Vermont in 1805. As a youth Smith is described by Mormons as "honest and sincere, devout and intelligent...humbly seeking the truth."3 According to other sources, however, he was "a poorly educated, superstitious youth" who "made extensive use of divining rods and peek stones" as he accompanied his father on expeditions in search of buried treasure.4 As a young man he was much involved in various psychic and occult activities. Objective investigators have concluded that he was probably a teenage psychopath:

    "In his self-hypnosis, ideas from the subconscious replaced critical thinking. His abnormal temperament revealed itself in a capacity for clairvoyance. Repeated experiments in this pressed clear, conscious thinking more and more into the background, and the dividing line between the real world of the senses and the world of dreams disappeared almost completely."5

    Smith’s youth coincided with a period of Protestant revival among a multiplicity of sects. In response to his prayer to be guided towards the true religion, Smith claimed to have a series of visions, beginning in 1820. The two "Personages" in his first vision were interpreted to be God the Father and God the Son, and the message was that he should join none of the existing churches, none of them was right, "but that at some future time the fullness of the gospel would be made known to him." Four years later Smith prayed for another divine manifestation, and a "heavenly being," calling himself Moroni, appeared to him and told him of some gold plates, engraved with "the fullness of the everlasting gospel," buried in a nearby hill. They were written in an ancient language, and Joseph Smith was chosen to have "the glorious privilege of translating the characters on the plates and becoming the instrument in God’s hands in restoring the gospel and re-establishing the Church."6 Besides the plates, Moroni told him, "lay two crystals joined together by a silver frame and fastened to a pectoral: the ancient Urim and Thummim of the Jewish high priest, a sort of divine pair of spectacles, with which to decipher the writing on the plates."7 Smith’s translation was first published in 1830 and titled the Book of Mormon.

    Soon after the publication of his "scripture," Joseph Smith proclaimed himself a "latter-day" prophet equal to the prophets of the Old Testament and began to gather a following which, by the time of his murder ("martyrdom," in Mormon history) at the hands of an angry mob in 1844, numbered at least ten thousand.

    Their reputation badly compromised, most of the community then elected to follow Brigham Young — Smith’s successor as "Prophet, Seer and Revelator" — and, after an arduous trek, settled in the Utah territory, with Salt Lake City as their religious capital. Today, 75 % of the population is Mormon. Visitors to the city’s Temple Square — the "Vatican" of Mormonism — may tour an elaborate complex, complete with films, dioramas, and lectures on Mormon history and theology, based on the Book of Mormon and revelations of later "prophets."



    Origins

    Reading very much in the style of the King James Version of the Bible (indeed, there are whole passages lifted from the KJV), the Book of Mormon is purported to have been written c. 600 B.C. to 421 A.D. by various "prophet-historians." It tells the rather fantastic story of a Jewish prophet Lehi, living in the reign of King Zedekiah (2 Chron. 36:10), who was instructed by the Lord to take his people and leave Jerusalem. They sailed to the shores of Central or South America where they established a great civilization. Lehi’s eldest son Laman was rebellious, and he and a group of followers broke away from the youngest son Nephi, who had earlier been chosen by God to rule over his brothers. Nephi exhorted his people to respect the law of Moses and also prophesied the coming of Christ. Other prophets followed Nephi, and their teachings and prophecies were added to the collection of engraved metal plates — containing the law of Moses and writings of earlier prophets — which had been brought from Jerusalem. After Christ’s Ascension, according to this Mormon history, He appeared also to these people of the New World. "Here, to, he ordained disciples and gave them authority to carry on his work."8 His appearance ushered in two centuries of harmony between the Nephites and Lamanites, but then they began again to fight. The last Nephite prophet, Mormon, seeing that his people were being destroyed, took all the engraved plates and abridges them into the plates of Mormon. After his death in battle, his son Moroni, the sole survivor of the Nephites, added some of his own writings and then buried the plates in a hill, "so that they would be preserved until the Lord was ready to bring them forth in the latter days."9

    Historically, The Book of Mormon is not supported by any archaeological evidence and has no correspondence to what is known of pre-Columbian civilizations. Mormon adherents seem untroubled by this fact, believing that it’s "just a matter of time" before such evidence is uncovered. Their claim that the American Indians are descendants of the Lamanites is likewise unfounded; they are of Mongolian stock, not Semitic.



    Beliefs

    Theologically, the Mormons’ "gospel" is equally false. A close study of the Mormon belief-system shows it to be an amalgam of many heresies, although its doctrine of the Trinity appears to be unique. They teach that Father, Son and Holy Spirit do not comprise one divine being in essence, but are actually three "gods," who have a highly developed, perfectly human nature. God the Father is "Elohim," who has "a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man’s" (Smith: Doctrine and Covenant 130:22). Brigham Young identifies God the Father as Adam, and Mormons teach that is was not through the in-dwelling of the Holy Spirit but through the physical union of this immortal Adam-God and the mortal Virgin Mary that God the Son, "Jehovah" or Jesus Christ, was born in the flesh. He had earlier been begotten of the Father as a spirit, together with a multitude of spiritual beings who are all waiting to be born of earthly men in order that they might eventually become gods even as their "elder brother" Jesus Christ.

    To become gods. This fundamental aim of all faithful Mormons was clearly spelled out by Brigham Young who wrote: "Gods exist, and we had better strive to be prepared to be one of them" (Journals of Discourse); or again, in the words of former president of the Mormon Church, Lorenzo Snow: "As man is, God once was; as God is, man may become."

    These statements alone are very revealing; they show Mormonism to be polytheistic, and contain in a nut-shell the Mormon belief in eternal progression and preexistence — none of which find any place in Christian theology. According to these heretical doctrines, "Elohim" is the supreme God of this world, but there also exist other gods of other worlds. Before we were born in the flesh we lived as spirits in the presence of this Father of Spirits, and "what we did there influenced our lives here, just as what we do here will reward or retard us in the life hereafter."10

    Mormons place great emphasis on marriage. It is only through marriage sealed in the Temple ("celestial" marriage "for time and eternity") that one is eligible to attain the highest glory. It is also the duty of good Mormons to have children, so as to provide bodies for existing spirits, for this earthly sojourn is a necessary stage in the progress towards godhead. Error begets error, and on the basis of these teachings, Mormons have rationally inferred that Christ must have been married (to the two Marys and Martha!) and conceived children, otherwise He could not have attained divinity.

    One wonders how a religion claiming authority from Jesus Christ Himself could be so far outside the mainstream of Christianity. Based on Joseph Smith’s first revelation, that "all religions are in error," Mormons believe that the great "falling away" foretold in Scripture (2 Thess. 2:3) occurred very soon after the deaths of the Twelve apostles, and apart from a branch in the New World, which remained faithful for another 200 years, the Church quite literally disappeared until its revival by Joseph Smith. This view of Church history flatly contradicts Christ’s promise: I will build My Church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it (Matt. 16:18), and allows Mormons to deny the validity of the Ecumenical Councils where such fundamental Christian doctrines as the nature of the Trinity were elucidated. As for the Bible, Mormons believe it only "as far as it is translated correctly."

    For all its far-fetched teachings, Mormonism is in some respects very rational (a sign, perhaps, of its human origin). The fact that the world lay in darkness for so many centuries, providing no opportunity for salvation, inspired the Mormon practice of vicarious baptism for the dead. This allows a person to be baptized and commute the "grace" to a deceased relative, thereby providing the relative an entry into "salvation" (i.e. progress towards becoming a god). This explains the avid interest devout Mormons have in their family genealogies, trying to "save" as many relatives as possible. The seriousness of their research accounts for Salt Lake City’s 5-storey Family History Library with its more than 1200 branches in 44 countries.

    One of Mormonism’s greatest weaknesses lies in the fallibility and contradictions of its prophets. The Book of Mormon, for example, contains a passage from the Epistle to the Hebrews — God is the same yesterday, today and forever, and in Him there is no variableness neither shadow of changing (Mormon 9:9) — and other passages from Holy Scripture are contradicted by the revelations of Joseph Smith, Brigham Young and later prophets. New revelations can replace older revelations. Young is said to have claimed that he could "write revelations as fast as a dog trots."11

    No less than four new doctrines and practices were introduced by the "Prophet" in the winter of 1841-42. The most radical was polygamy or the "great and glorious principle of plural marriage." Smith’s revelation on this subject was initially met with such resistance that the practice was kept secret for several years before it was committed to writing in 1843. Smith went so far as to tell his friend Heber Kimball that if he did not take a "plural wife," he would lose his apostleship and be damned.12 (During the last five years of his life, Smith lived in polygamy with some twenty wives.) In 1890 a Federal law forced the Mormons to abandon polygamy, and they substituted the practice of "celestial marriages."

    Mormon doctrine regarding blacks has also undergone revision. They had always taught that blacks were the descendants of the murderer Cain, and therefore they were inferior to whites and were not admitted into the Mormon priesthood. As the civil rights issue gained prominence, this teaching became a liability. In 1978, however, Mormon Church president Spencer Kimball announced that he had received a new revelation, and that the Mormon Church was now free to ordain blacks.

    Here one might also point out the Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, and many other prominent figures in early Mormon history were Freemasons (although it appears that Mormon lodges were regarded with some distrust — if not hostility — by a majority of Masons); scholars have shown some similarity between certain aspects of Masonic ritual and the "temple rites" of Mormonism.

    These are not the issues and doctrines which Mormons are eager to divulge to prospective converts. Door-to-door missionaries instead play on the "family-oriented" aspects of Mormonism, offering a profound but worldly psychological security within the context of a false version of early Christian history and an exotic theology.



    With a clearer understanding of what Mormonism teaches, we can be better prepared when a Mormon missionary comes to our door — not only to defend ourselves against his arguments, but also to challenge his understanding of the Scriptures, the history of the Church and the nature of God, and invite him to examine the eternal truths of the Orthodox Faith, a Faith which, like its Head, Jesus Christ, is yesterday, today and forever the same.
    By Fr. Alexey Young

    Happy Reading!

    [coptic]agapy[/coptic]
    [coptic] Jpictoferoc[/coptic]

    P.S the mromons do go door to door but the denomination famous for this practice are the jehovas witness
  • estephanos111estephanos111
    Hey everyone,
    We had a talk a few years ago about Mormons by Anba Suriel, who has studied in depth.

    Here are a few points that stuck in my mind because they were so weird (I dont know how they could claim they are Christian):

    They believe that Jesus and Satan are brothers and had a fight to see who would save the world, and Jesus won

    They also beleive that God had a physical relationship with St. Mary and that Jesus is 23 chromosomes man and 23 chromosomes God.

    After Jesus ascended and was covered by the cloud, He went to USA.

    They also believe that any mormon that fulfills the law and excels can become a god over his own planet (that is how God became God over us).

    These heresies and complete doctine changes were made by Joseph Smith who claimed he had a vision of an angel who told him the truth and gave him a book tha was in code. He somehow managed to decipher it and came up with this.

    Thats some of the weird stuff they believe. I wouldn't consider them Christian at all, its just a deception they use.

    (Its probably written somewhere in CopticChris434's post)

    Pray for me
    Steve
  • Marianne87Marianne87

    No less than four new doctrines and practices were introduced by the "Prophet" in the winter of 1841-42. The most radical was polygamy or the "great and glorious principle of plural marriage." Smith’s revelation on this subject was initially met with such resistance that the practice was kept secret for several years before it was committed to writing in 1843. Smith went so far as to tell his friend Heber Kimball that if he did not take a "plural wife," he would lose his apostleship and be damned.12 (During the last five years of his life, Smith lived in polygamy with some twenty wives.) In 1890 a Federal law forced the Mormons to abandon polygamy, and they substituted the practice of "celestial marriages."

    I just a show on TV yesterday about that polygamy thing. They not just marry more than one wife, but also young children (as young as 14 or 16 i think) are forced to get married to older men and are forced to stay home, not to have an education or even a job, their only job is to take care of their children, and obey their husbands. They do claim that men are superior to women, and the only job of the women is to obey their men. They also wear special kinds of clothing, and they are a very closed community who don't welcome outsiders (I don't knw how that is, even thou they welcome people to come to their religion), the show featured people in Colorado City here in USA.
    Just wanted to add that to it, it's kinda of very sad and weried to see things like that happening.
  • Coptic servantCoptic servant
    Hey guys...

    I found a website that goes into a lot of detail (it's from an online encyclopedia)...if anyone wants to read it...

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mormons

    hope i helped in some way...

    Sinful Servant

    P.S. i see a lot of commercials about this religion...i always thought they were a bit weird...
  • ehabsolimanehabsoliman
    they believe to get a lot of children like most of them get like 7 or 8 kids, and they make you sign an agreement that you accept death if you convert to any other religion.
  • Unknown
    Mormons believe in a special type of "magic underwear"; they wear it at all times except when they bathe. It apparantly protects them....this alone should be sufficient in the conclusion that this satanic cult is not worth being taken seriously by anyone...

    As mentioned earlier they also believe that if you live like a good mormon, and make sure you wear your magic underwear at all times, that you will become a god, and get to run your own planet like Jesus did. You even get to write your own retarded version of the book or mormons and you get to send that down to your own retarded planet.

    I think we have better things to do than investigate retarded cults...like being more educated in our Orthodoxy.

    Peace.
  • Coptic servantCoptic servant
    wow...

    sounds more like a video game than a cult...

    ...a very stupid cult, i might add...

    peace,
    Sinful Servant
  • u_stole_my_nameu_stole_my_name
    yes...quite stupid, indeed......if I were to pick a false religion, I'd at least pick one a little bit more appealing....like Buddhism or Hinduism. :-X
  • ehabsolimanehabsoliman
    YOU TOTALY RIGHT EQBAL, BUT I OPEN THIS TOPIC CAUZ TEENAGER IN MY CHURCH AND MAYBE IN A LOT OF CHURCH IN U.S.A START TO ASK ABOUT THEM ,SO IF WE DID NOT GIVE THEM THE RIGHT ANSWER AND VISION OF OUR ORTHODOX BELIEVES THEY START TO ASK OUTSIDE AND MAYBE THEY GOT THE WRONG OR UNEXCEPTABLE ANSWER ;)
  • mike_henainmike_henain
    In the Name of Christ the Lord. Amen.

    Well I definietly think it is a weird cult. Here are the basics about the mormons.

    They believe that the Bible was corrupted over time (God forbid). It all started with Joseph Smith a son of a gold miner who always seeked gold and treasures. At some point of his life he decided to spread around a lie that he has seen a vision and saw both God the Father and God the Son who told him that all religions were corrupt and he should start his own church.

    He also said that an angel showed him some gold plates that explained "religion" to him.

    He claimed that these golden plates said the following:

    1. God is actually called Elohim and He had many spiritual sons, some of them were Jesus, Adam, and even satan (funny, huh?).

    2. satan rebelled and Jesus was the firstborn, Elohim gave adam a physical body.

    3. Adam marries his sister eve and have kids.

    4. A new civilization appears on north america and the bad people turn black and kill the white people (very racist...)

    Well I have to go but I hope I finish it later...God Bless.

    Mike
  • Unknown

    He claimed that these golden plates said the following:

    1. God is actually called Elohim and He had many spiritual sons, some of them were Jesus, Adam, and even satan (funny, huh?).

    Elohim is actually just the generic Hebrew name for "God" as it is employed in the Old Testament which was ofcourse originally written in Hebrew.

    Peace.

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