Comparison Of Jehovah's Witnesses And The Mormons

In 1844, Joseph Smith, ecclesiastical leader of the Latter-day Saints and presidential candidate, was murdered by an angry mob. This mob was fostered by the release of a newspaper questioning Smith’s practices (including polygamy), qualifications, and intentions for his potential presidency. More than 150 years later, Mitt Romney, a member of the LDS Church, launched a presidential campaign and garnered forty-two percent of the popular vote. Although these two candidates share a faith, their political roles and views are substantially different. This is representative of the significant changes in the relationship between the Mormon church and the U.S. government.

Introduction: The term "image of God" occurs three times in the Bible. In Genesis 1:26-27 and 9:6, we find out that man is created in the image of God. In 2 Cor. 4:4 we see the phrase used in reference to Jesus who is the "image of God." There is no exact understanding of what the phrase means, but we can generalize. It would seem that the first two verses refer to God's character and attributes that are reflected in people. The term cannot be a reference to a physical appearance of God since Jesus says in John 4:24 that God is Spirit, and in Luke 24:39 Spirit does not have flesh and bones. Therefore, we can conclude that the image of God deals with humanity's reflection of

What does it mean to be created in the image of God? This question has haunted humanity for thousands of years. If we were created in His image then how exactly did we fall. The first section of the text speaks to this very question by conducting an analysis of the creation account in the book of Genesis. The text begins by noting that the creation of man was intentional and specific. Man was not an afterthought or accident. In face scripture states that man was “very good.” Scripture also notes that the creation of man was not an evolutionary event, given that this theory would deny the formation of man from the dust and the breath of life that was given by God specifically for man.

No one has ever been able to articulate just what makes a cult, and what makes a religion different. Yet most people, when listing mainstream religions, name Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism, among others. These religions have existed for thousands of years and have millions of followers; they have thus earned a degree of respect even from outsiders. However, Mormonism—the tradition of the Latter Day Saints movement—is considered strange, and by some, a cult. In the modern age, many consider its very premise a hoax. Mark Twain criticized the Mormon holy scripture, calling it “chloroform in print” (Turner 229), and Jacob Weisberg (editor of the Washington Post) called Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism, “an obvious con man” (Ostling xv). Yet

“Persecution is not an original feature in any religion; but it is always the strongly marked feature of all religions established by law,” Thomas Paine (Like Success). Under the first amendment, people are ensured the freedom of establishing a religion and allows the religious group to have the free exercise thereof, but millions of individuals are still persecuted because of their religious preferences (Bill of Rights Institute). The many who wish to serve and worship their God peacefully are often the main subjects of ridicule. More often than not these are Jehovah’s Witnesses.

I pondered over this question for a few minutes, and I came to the conclusion that yes; some beliefs are better than other beliefs. There are several different types of beliefs some good and some bad, to name a couple. There are many different types of religious beliefs, like Baptist who believe that we should worship on Sunday and then there is Seventh Day Adventist who believes that we should serve the Lord on the Sabbath Day which is Saturday.

What would the world be like if no one performed benevolent acts? Kindness can be defined as being a friendly person by helping others out. Ezra Taft Benson once said, “One who is kind is sympathetic and gentle with others. He is considerate of others’ feelings and courteous in his behavior. He has a helpful nature. Kindness pardons others’ weaknesses and faults. Kindness is extended to all – to the aged and the young, to animals, to those low of station as well as the high.” Ezra Taft Benson was the United States President of the Mormon Church. He led the Mormon Church to the best of its ability with his love for Mormon beliefs. The legacy Ezra Taft Benson left behind affected Mormons throughout the United States from 1985 continuing until

The Mormon religion is very unique in many of its doctrine. While technically a Protestant faith, the Mormons generally share more doctrine with the Catholics. Because of its unique nature, I will be analyzing the Mormon faith, its history, organization, and doctrine, in comparison with the beliefs held by both Catholics and Protestants.

Throughout human history, people have had faith in a higher power. In the course of thousands of years, each different group has proclaimed its beliefs to be true. Compared to the existence of mankind or Christianity, the religion in which I grew up, Mormonism, is relatively new. By contrasting the Church’s doctrine with my knowledge of world history and my encounters with people of other religions, I have become curious about defining morals, ethics, and supposedly divine truths across religious foundations and then seeing where I stand in the mix of it all. I’ve read thousands of pages of religious texts from the Bible to the Qur’an to Confucian teachings in my attempt to define right and wrong, truth and lies, good and evil. But I’ve truly

I was raised in the Mormon church. A church where caffeine, R movies, alcohol, tattoos, coffee, pre-marital sex, and many other things are considered major sins. This type of environment seen as riotous and uplifting to some is toxic to others. From an early age I can remember trying to fake sick or hide so that I wouldn’t have to go to church. I was being constantly told everything I was doing was wrong, and that I needed to conform to church standards. Many of my friends distanced themselves because their parents pegged me as a bad influence. If I was seen drinking coffee or an energy drink in public by another member, rumors would soon swirl and it would be as if the entire congregation had been there and seen it themselves.

Another note about the symbolic theology— it is also important to know that the statement of “who God is” is not untrue, but the truth is beyond that true statement. As a result of that recognition, we often use parables and metaphors to see if we can make it less “beyond” and more humanly understandable. I would guess it is because there is a limited number of people, or probably none, who are lucky enough to have a physical encounter with God, for we are all living in the End Time. Therefore, “see for yourself” does not work here and we have to rely on symbolic descriptions. However, the problem generated from the symbolism is “misleading” as mentioned previously. (Ware, 2002) Take myself as an example, a lot of times I can understand the

Verse 1, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” The deity of Christ is presented in the opening verse of this Gospel. There is nothing in this gospel linking Jesus as man to David or Abraham. He is not linked to the nation of Israel or the tribe of Judah, but comes on the scene as the eternal God, manifest in the flesh. The record of His birth is not covered here; no nativity scene, no shepherds keeping watch over their flocks by night, no angelic host making the annunciation of His birth to the shepherds. The book opens in eternity with the eternal God.

As a result, fellowship, prayer, Bible study, worship, and most importantly salvation in its purest form can be discerned and acted upon correctly. In addition, a further understanding can be thus gained regarding the person of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. Finally, heresies and heretical groups or beliefs can lead God’s followers astray from the truth and create an improper understanding, and thus relationship with God. Positions past and present have, and are, attempting to mislead Christians about the Trinity. A skewed view of the Trinity can result in a view of God as either divinely apart from creation or simply a better version of all the best attributes of humans. Some positions even take away from the Divinity of Jesus Christ. All of these views severely diminish who God is and alters a proper and true relationship and worship. It is a necessity that these errant views be exposed as a hindrance to God in order not to mislead God’s followers. Likewise a Biblically sound explanation of the Trinity is needed. As a result, a true and pure knowledge of the concept of the Trinity is crucially needed to understand God and be obedient to the Bible.

It’s incredible how two religions can be so different yet so similar. Whether it be the various branches of Christianity, the Chinese religions, or even Judaism and Islam, they have so much in common when you work down to the roots of the religions. For starters, I will be comparing Islam and Baha’i.

In the beginning of the Bible in the Book of Genesis, it is revealed to use in 1:26-27 that God has created man in his image. The text verbatim states “Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness…So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” From this distinct text we can clearly conclude that when ad created man and woman, they were destined to be in God’s image and carry his image throughout his creation. Today we can see that many of us do not live in God’s image due to society becoming more secularized as it progresses through the years, however as Christians we can verse this by living in God’s image in our chosen vocations, churches, and even in the