Category: Mormon Theology
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Do I Not Understand Your Religion?
One complaint often made against Christians who are critical of Mormonism is that they just don’t “understand” Mormonism. It’s almost as if the Mormon is assuming that a person must be a Latter-day Saint in order to be accurate in any assessement of the religion. When the Mormon makes a statement saying “you just don’t…
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Moroni’s Promise (Defined)
Moroni’s Promise. Moroni 10:4 in the Book of Mormon reads, “And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith if Christ,…
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Mercy (Defined)
Mercy. God gives a reprieve for justice to only those sinners who earn this right by keeping their end of the agreement and doing good works. As thirteenth President Ezra Taft Benson explained, “We go to our chapels each week to worship the Lord and renew our covenants by partaking of the sacrament. We thereby…
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Marriage Definition (Defined)
Marriage. A requirement for a couple to go to become exalted. As one church manual put it, “Consider this fact: Your marriage is a laboratory for godhood” (Achieving a Celestial Marriage, 1976, p. 65). According to Joseph Smith, “Except a man and his wife enter into an everlasting covenant and be married for eternity, while in…
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Lorenzo Snow Couplet (Defined)
Lorenzo Snow Couplet. Lorenzo Snow, the fifth president and prophet of the mainstream sect of Mormonism, is famous both in and outside of Mormonism for his couplet: “As man is God once was, as God is man may be.” This short couplet summarizes the traditional understanding of what Joseph Smith taught in the “Sermon in…
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Jesus (Defined)
Jesus. Known in the pre-existence as Jehovah. One of three gods in the Mormon godhead. The spirit brother of Lucifer and elder brother of the human race, Jesus was the literal firstborn (the Only Begotten) son to Heavenly Father and Heavenly Mother. He became a God in the pre-existence prior to experiencing mortality. He worked…
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Jehovah (Defined)
Jehovah. The name given to the premortal Jesus, the son of Elohim. Apostle James Talmage said, “It is to be remembered that the Personage most generally designated in the Old Testament as God or the Lord, is He who in the mortal state was known as Jesus Christ, and in the antemortal state as Jehovah” (Articles of Faith,…
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Intelligences (Defined)
Intelligences. Mentioned in the Standard Works only in Abraham 3:21-22. It can refer to either the pre-existent spirit offspring of God or individual eternal entities that existed before the pre-existence. At one time every person existed as an intelligence. Joseph Smith stated, “Man was also in the beginning with God. Intelligence, or the light of truth,…
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Holy Spirit (Defined)
Holy Spirit. According to Apostle John Widtsoe, “The agent, means, or influence by which the will, power, and intelligence of God, and the Godhead … may be transmitted through space” (Evidences and Reconciliations, 76). Apostle Parley P. Pratt taught the Holy Spirit was a “divine substance or fluid,” which filled Jesus Christ (Key to the Science of Theology, 1855…
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Holy Ghost (Defined)
Holy Ghost. Third member of the godhead sometimes described as the Holy Spirit and sometimes described as distinct from the Holy Spirit. Mormon Apostle John Widtsoe stated, “The Holy Ghost, sometimes called the Comforter, is the third member of the Godhead, and is a personage, distinct from the Holy Spirit. As a personage, the Holy Ghost…
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Heavenly Mother (Defined)
Heavenly Mother.
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Grand Council (Defined)
Grand Council. Also referred to as “Council of the Gods” that took place in the pre-existence. According to Joseph Smith, this was the place where “in the beginning, the head of the Gods called a council of the Gods; and they came together and concocted a plan to create the world and people it” (Teachings…
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Grace (Defined)
Grace. Generally refers to the general salvation everyone receives by being born onto this earth, through the work of Jesus and His atonement. Exaltation, or individual salvation, requires many works. As twelfth President Spencer W. Kimball said, “One of the most fallacious doctrines originated by Satan and propounded by man is that man is saved alone by…
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Black (Priesthood Ban) (Defined)
Blacks. Before 1978, LDS leaders claimed that African Americans and others with dark skin could not hold the Mormon priesthood because they were cursed.
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God the Father (Defined)
God the Father. Also known as Heavenly Father or Elohim. He was once a righteous human in another realm who died and then became God of this world. He has a tangible body of flesh and bones (D&C 130:22). According to Joseph Smith, “I will go back to the beginning before the world was, to…
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Gift of the Holy Ghost (Defined)
Gift of the Holy Ghost. Fullness of blessings available to LDS members after water baptism. The Holy Ghost remains with those who stay worthy, though he will withdraw when the commandments are not kept. Return to dictionary here.
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Gethsemane (Defined)
Gethsemane. Traditionally, according to LDS leaders, this the place where the heart of the atonement took place. Apostle Bruce R. McConkie explained, “Where and under what circumstances was the atoning sacrifice of the Son of God made? Was it on the Cross of Calvary or in the Garden of Gethsemane? It is to the Cross of…
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Forgiveness (Defined)
Forgiveness. Received only after a member repents of all sins and keeps all the commandments. D&C 1:32 says, “Nevertheless, he that repents and does the commandments of the Lord shall be forgiven.” D&C 82:7 adds, “And now, verily I say unto you, I, the Lord, will not lay any sin to your charge; go your…
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Family (Defined)
Family. Meant to be a unit into eternity. One church manual said, “Only in and through the family unit can we obtain eternal life” (Doctrines of the Gospel Student Manual Religion 231 and 232, 1986, p. 78). First Presidency member James Faust explained to a general conference audience, “The Savior’s supernal gift to mankind gave us the…
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First Estate (Defined)
First Estate. The premortal life.Return to dictionary here.