The Church of the Latter-Day Saints of Jesus Christ is viewed by many as nothing more than a different form of evangelical Christianity. After all, LDS theology seems to appear to share many similarities with that of Christianity at first glance. Both speak of Jesus Christ as savior of the world, both talk about repentance and forgiveness, both believe in some sort of afterlife where the righteous are rewarded and the unrighteous condemned, both advocate for a strong commitment to good morals, and both include a Father God, Son, and Holy Spirit. These similarities, however, are only apparent on the surface. Just because both religious groups attend a Sunday morning service each week, pray to Jesus, read the Bible, and maybe even call themselves Christians, does not mean they are simply different expressions of the same religion. A closer look at the doctrines of both the LDS church and Christianity will establish that, at the heart of it, the religion popularly known as Mormonism is quite distinct from Christianity.
One area of doctrinal difference between Mormonism and Christianity is regarding the question of the eternality of the universe. This essay will consider the traditional Christian doctrine of creatio ex nihilo and compare it with the teachings of the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith to see that there is no hope of reconciling these diverging viewpoints, pointing out areas of concern with respect to the LDS position. Furthermore, by considering what the natural
Latter day saints are just your typical Mormons there group is scarce and not very many exist at least not big in numbers but they are slowly growing and are welcome to take in more members .they don’t ask for a lot when you join besides faith, repentance and baptism. When you marry you marry for life it is believed in this religion that trust in god is also trust in your marriage and should not be broken in any way if you marry you stay married and it is for life they also don’t want to see children get hurt in the case of a broken marriage . This religion also practices polygamy in some forms but members were not reported to have more than four or five wives and it was a choice you did not have to be a polygamist . Latter Day Saints believe the bible to be the word of god so long as it is translated correctly in proper context they also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God . They believe in Baptism for the dead but only for members who have died in close relative to another member and has also taken seriously both there faith and studies for the religion
One of the many decisions that has to made in life is what, if any, religion they will practice. Christianity, the belief in God, and Jesus as his son, or Judaism, to follow the direction of the Torah are some of the major religions that a person may choose. This decision may be one of the biggest decisions of a person’s life, and each religion has similarities and differences, and pro’s and cons. Two of the major religions, Judaism and Christianity, are alike in their inspiration of sacred texts, but are different in their identity of Jesus, and practice of worship.
Mormonism, the largest church to originate on American soil is not without its own burdens to bear. As one of the younger religions, one that strayed from the foundations of the other already established religions in the United States, it is often viewed with negativity and mockery. Modern day social media, television, news articles and movies often exploit Mormon beliefs. They twist and exaggerated certain facets of the Mormon way of life. This framing of their belief system by the media leads the public opinion toward viewing this representation as a true depiction of the Mormons. Some of the more extreme behaviors exhibited by members that have separated from the main group are used against the entire faith by the media, so in turn this extremist view has become a Mormon stereotype.
One of the largest struggles for members in the church is animosity of non-members. On one hand, many express their dislike of the LDS church without even knowing what Sacrament Meeting is or the full the title of the “Mormon church” (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints). On the other hand, there are a number supposed experts about Mormon doctrine. Some have belonged to the Church themselves at one point, leaving after finding unresolved dissonance between their beliefs and the Gospel. Others are often learned scholars, criticizing the Mormon doctrine to prove their own views. The following paper involves the latter of the two in an analysis of Ezekiel 37:15-17, a Biblical scripture that the LDS Church believes to refer to The Book of Mormon.
People and religion are a part of everyday life. The world is sure to be empty without the existence of God’s creation. When people and religion are viewed as different, the history, beliefs, and practice are formed unrealistically by outsider, more so than an insider. In an interview with a LDS, the author attempts to write and summarize a Mormon‘s journey through life with God and others.
Another difference between the LDS Church and the Christian Church revolves around how the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit are defined. They believe that, “God the Eternal Father was once a mortal man…He became God—an exalted being—through obedience to the same eternal Gospel truths that we are given opportunity today to obey”(Hunter 104). Doug Adams, a Bible teacher at Berean Christian High School, stated that, “The Father in the LDS church is not eternal, spirit, nor immutable. The LDS church also teaches that the Father lived on another planet called Kolob. The Father had
The writings, known as the Book of Mormon, describe how some Israelites traveled to the Americas to become the indigenous tribes (Gutjahr 7). The books and Joseph’s teachings laid out a faith that seemed radically different than any other. But Mormonism shares roots with other religions; it began as a form of Trinitarian Christianity. Like Christianity, it builds on Judaism; Mormonism also connects with the Jewish history as the Book of Mormon describes the families of a lost tribe of Israel. Like Protestantism, Mormonism can be considered a reformed version of Christianity. Mormonism, in fact, has much in common with Islam—both have Abrahamic roots and a modern prophet and sacred text. Mormon ideas may seem radical in some areas, but are Christian in many fundamental aspects. Mormons believe in God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, although they see them as separate beings. They accept the Old and New Testament as the work of God, and believe in many Christian ideas such as sin, divine revelation, and God’s eventual return. The main difference, then, is simply that Mormonism is newer than other religions, and thus assumed to be invalid. As Noah Feldman summarizes, “Antiquity
Mormonism is a religion created by Joseph Smith on April 6, 1830(The Mormon Trail), its believers are referred to as Mormons and practice the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS Church) (The Mormon Trail). Smith believed himself to be a prophet destined to “restore the original pure church the Christians in the Book of Mormon had created (Manifest Destiny and Westward Expansion).” However, he was killed by a mob in Illinois but was replaced by his successor, Brigham Young. Their beliefs include a particular set of deity, afterlife, and they practice polygamy, which is one of the reasons the Mormons sought religious freedom.
Mormonism is known as one of the most successful (in present time) and government involved religions from the 1800’s. Joseph Smith, who had much curiosity in religion, and what was real and what was made up, founded the religion. He claimed that Jesus Christ and God himself visited him and that they told him, .all denominations have strayed from the truth and that he should not join any of them. After that event, he didn’t think much of it and moved on through his life. Once he told his father of his vision, he was scorned, and went to seek forgiveness. When praying for his sins to be relinquished he received a vision by the angel named Moroni, who spoke of a book written on gold plates and buried in a nearby hillside. As Smith went to the gold plates, he continued translating what became the Book of
Latter Day Saints also known as “Mormons”, they are followers of Jesus Christ. They believe that Jesus
This book attempt to show the common ground between Christianity and Mormonism by examining the individual areas of Scripture, God, Christ, the Trinity and Salvation. The summation of the author’s findings is that although there are great differences there is also much common ground that can be used to strengthen our relationship together and bring unity to the ecumenical community.
In the two-part series, The Mormons, this four hour documentary by Frontline and the American Experience examines the development and growth of the Mormon faith. The documentary explores both the history and the present reality of the Mormon faith, allowing the viewer inside the compelling and often misunderstood religion. The first part of this documentary explores the birth of Mormonism and the history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints under the charismatic leadership of Joseph Smith, while the second segment studies the contemporary Mormon Church (including the discussion of Mormon missionaries, homosexuality, and the role of women). Although I was aware of some of the history of Mormonism (my mom was raised in the LDS
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.
Mormons and Christians can agree on that Jesus Christ died for our sins and that Christ is the way to salvation. As written in Claiming Christ by Robert L. Millet and Gerald R. McDermott, “they agree that Jesus was Gully God and that his life and death are critical to human salvation. Both groups claim that human beings must trust in Jesus and make him our Lord. Both say that we are to have a personal relationship with Jesus” (16).
Mormonism is a name meaning the spiritual principles of followers of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as well known as Mormons. Mormonism defines the guidelines of the Church that were reestablished to the world by the Prophet Joseph Smith. If you would ask the question “what is Mormonism” to a member, there’s a high change they would respond by acknowledging their love of Jesus Christ, he is the dominant part of the religion. Where can you find a continuing participant of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, well they're instituted at every level of civilization. For instance, in a charity, business, education, science, political parties, government, news media, and lastly the entertainment productions. The originator of The Church, Joseph Smith, wrote, “the essential philosophies of our religion are regarding Jesus christ, he died and was buried, rose again and on the third day ascended into the heavens; all supplementary things which relate to our religion is only accessories to it.”The main beliefs and practices of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are that Jesus Christ is the redeemer of the earth and the Son of our