Tag: Mormon Church
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When Moroni’s Promise is Broken
Most people who have experienced Mormon proselytizing are familiar with “Moroni’s Promise” found in the Book of Mormon: “And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you 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…
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Sufficiently Humble?
In the August 2015 Ensign magazine is an anonymous article on page 10 titled “We Believe in Being Humble.” On the opposite page are artistic renderings depicting five ways a person “can show humility”: “receiving counsel and correction,” “giving selfless service,” “praying with real intent,” “serving a mission,” and “doing family history work and attending…
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Mormonism:
Jesus Is the Literal “Bodily Offspring” of God the FatherI was just paging through an old book I found at a used bookstore. It’s titled Principles of the Gospel, published in 1961 by the Corporation of the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and contains an opening note to “Brethren” of the armed services from the First Presidency (David O.…
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From the Mailbag (17 Points of the True Church)
Please pray for me as i am trying to leave mormonism. My husband is very active in church and he sent me this. What do you think. Thank you.Connie FROM THE BIBLE: 17 Points of the True Church of Christ [1] Christ organized the Church (Eph 4:11-14)[2] The true church must bear the name of…
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Mormons, Take Courage
In February 2015 a small Facebook group of former Mormons was asked, “What is the #1 or main reason you left the LDS Church? What started your journey out of Mormonism?” This is what they said: “Discovering that it was false. I actually watched a speech by Lyndon Lamborn which opened my eyes.” “Going to…
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Theosis: “The Mormon View Is Altogether Different.”
This has been going on for far too long. BYU Professor Robert Millet, as part of his continuing apologetic for the Mormon doctrine of exaltation (i.e., faithful Mormons becoming Gods), perseveres in asserting that this doctrine did not originate with Mormonism, but was taught by the early (Christian) church fathers. Dr. Millet said as much…
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The Indefensible Book of Mormon
Evangelical professor and author Philip Jenkins, in addition to teaching and authoring books, blogs at The Anxious Bench. He has published an interesting series of articles over the past few months that examine the Book of Mormon as a historical text. The series began when he used the Book of Mormon as an illustration of…
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Mormonism hurts
The topic of the Mormon Church and race has been in the news again this summer. The June anniversary of the Church’s 1978 lifting of the priesthood ban passed mostly unnoticed, but a week and a half later, when the Church announced plans to index the records of 4 million freed slaves, people started talking.…
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Mormon Church-Approved Outreach
Mormon missionaries have been responding to the Broadway show, “The Book of Mormon,” all across the country. The Fresno Bee recently explained that Mormon missionaries stand outside of the theatre before and/or after the show to answer people’s questions and hand out copies of the actual Book of Mormon. This news story stood out to…
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The Temple: The Carrot for Mormon Obedience
Over the past few years I have noticed a correlation between the content given in LDS Church magazines and the assigned readings in the church manual series Teachings of Presidents of the Church. Although it is brought up regularly in church talks and publications, the topic of the temple has been made into the prevailing…
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The Grace Club
My daughter took The Not Even Once Club book off my shelf and wanted me to read it as a bedtime story. I can’t blame her: it has fun and inviting pictures. I told her it was not a book I agreed with. “Why not?” We read through it slowly together. Here were my follow-up discussion…
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Two Views of Eternal Life
Former Mormons who are now Christians say that this 21 minute video has been instrumental in helping them recognize the differences between the biblical view of salvation and the Mormon view of eternal life. It helped them understand what God has done to rescue them — to rescue all of us — from the consequences of our…
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The Wives of Joseph Smith Visit Manti
The annual Christian outreach at the Mormon Miracle Pageant in Manti, Utah concluded about 2 weeks ago. During this year’s outreach, 34 women, dressed in pioneer clothing, each took on the identity of a wife of Joseph Smith. This was a powerful visual representation that helped Mormons better understand what 34 wives actually looks like.…
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Why Mormon Art Sometimes Misrepresents Mormon History
Assistant BYU professor, author, and artist Anthony Sweat created the “feature image” for a new book (From Darkness Unto Light, by Michael Hubbard MacKay and Gerrit J. Dirkmaat) that depicts the translation of the Book of Mormon. His painting includes the historically accurate image of Joseph Smith preparing to gaze into a hat, where his…
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Joseph Smith “Carried Off My Daughter”
Over the years, much has been written about the heartbreak caused by Mormon weddings. The oft-cited cause of this heartbreak is the sacred, exclusive LDS temple wedding that necessarily excludes “unworthy” friends and family from attending. According to Mormonism, marriages must be performed and sealed in a Mormon temple by the proper priesthood authority so…
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How Was Joseph Smith’s Seer Stone Like a Smart Phone?
I know the headline sounds like a lead-in to a joke, but in fact, Mormon apologist Daniel Peterson wrote a “Defending the Faith” column for Deseret News in which he suggested that, though “some critics of Joseph Smith mock the fact that part of the Book of Mormon translation process apparently involved dictating while looking…
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Do Mormons Have Faith in the Bible?
The Mormon Church recognizes four books as scripture: The Book of Mormon, Doctrine & Covenants, Pearl of Great Price, and the Bible. And yet, as noted at the MRM website, Joseph Smith said [of the Bible], “Ignorant translators, careless transcribers, or designing and corrupt priests have committed many errors” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 327).…
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The Pattern of Mormon Temples
Last week I returned from a visit to Utah. While there, I took a tour of the Mormon Church’s newly completed Payson Temple. As is the normal practice for temple open houses, the tour began with a video about Mormon temples. And as is usual for the temple open house videos, the claim is made…
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Mormon Church Essay on Priesthood Ban Banned From Church Classroom
An interesting thing happened to Mormon Sunday school teacher Brian Dawson. The Salt Lake Tribune reports that a student in Mr. Dawson’s youth Sunday school class asked him why his Nigerian wife joined a church that had at one time excluded blacks from the priesthood and Mormon temples. The student wondered where the priesthood ban…