Welcome! I'm so thrilled you're here! If you have ever had questions about Mormon beliefs, lifestyle or doctrine, please feel to join us in the chat in the comments section of this post RIGHT NOW (Today from 10:00 AM to 11:45 AM MST)!
Due to my experiences in the earlier two forums mentioned in the static announcement at the top of my blog, I have developed the following guidelines...
1. This chat should be positive and uplifting, gentle and kind, so as to invite The Spirit of The Lord. We are all trying to emmulate the life of Christ and let's demonstrate that here today.
2. Please refrain from criticizing others beliefs, religions or religious leaders. This can cause contention and ..."fools lips enter into contention." Proverbs 18:6.
3. Name-calling, sarasm, insulting, and slander have no place here and will cause the offending participant to be banned from the discussion.
4. If a comment takes away from the spirit of the meeting, I, as the blog author, reserve the right to delete it.
Okay, now that the hard part is taken care of, let's get to it! If you've never done a chat in the comments section of a blog, simply click on the "_ COMMENTS" link at the bottom of this post and when the new window opens, leave your comment in the box. You can leave your name or ask anonymously. To view my response or others' comments and questions, just refresh your page as often as desired, or you can check the box below the comment box that says "email follow-up comments to...". If time does not allow me to get to your question or comment, I would invite you to please leave it in the "Blog Frog" forum near the top of my right sidebar. Just click on the forum thread entitled "Questions About Mormonism - Sept. 15". Again, thank you for visiting and I hope you will feel free to join in!
If you liked this post and would like to join me here on a regular basis via email or other reader, please...
Subscribe
(You'll be helping to pay for at least one of the nine kid's college tuition.)
OR... bookmark or share this post by clicking the "Add This" button below... Thank you for your visit!
Due to my experiences in the earlier two forums mentioned in the static announcement at the top of my blog, I have developed the following guidelines...
1. This chat should be positive and uplifting, gentle and kind, so as to invite The Spirit of The Lord. We are all trying to emmulate the life of Christ and let's demonstrate that here today.
2. Please refrain from criticizing others beliefs, religions or religious leaders. This can cause contention and ..."fools lips enter into contention." Proverbs 18:6.
3. Name-calling, sarasm, insulting, and slander have no place here and will cause the offending participant to be banned from the discussion.
4. If a comment takes away from the spirit of the meeting, I, as the blog author, reserve the right to delete it.
Okay, now that the hard part is taken care of, let's get to it! If you've never done a chat in the comments section of a blog, simply click on the "_ COMMENTS" link at the bottom of this post and when the new window opens, leave your comment in the box. You can leave your name or ask anonymously. To view my response or others' comments and questions, just refresh your page as often as desired, or you can check the box below the comment box that says "email follow-up comments to...". If time does not allow me to get to your question or comment, I would invite you to please leave it in the "Blog Frog" forum near the top of my right sidebar. Just click on the forum thread entitled "Questions About Mormonism - Sept. 15". Again, thank you for visiting and I hope you will feel free to join in!
If you liked this post and would like to join me here on a regular basis via email or other reader, please...
Subscribe(You'll be helping to pay for at least one of the nine kid's college tuition.)
OR... bookmark or share this post by clicking the "Add This" button below... Thank you for your visit!
37 comments:
Okay, we are live! Anyone out there?
Hi, I'm here!
My question is this: If you are satisfied with your mormon beliefs, why would you want to be known as a christian at all?
I had a question on the original thread that wasn't answered, so I guess I can ask that one again. Sorry my morning was really busy so this is the first I have been able to get on.
So my question is, do you know of any historians outside of the Mormon faith that have documented things about Joseph Smith's life?
By that I mean there were people who lived at the time of Christ but were not Christians who verified His existence. Do you know of anyone who has written about him from an outsider's perspective.
I don't doubt that he lived, I just think it would be interesting to see what others have to say.
Keesler Chaos, what a great question. Sitting here thinking about it right now, I would have to say that I think it is important for people all over to world to try to find common ground, and Mormons can find common ground with other Christians by sharing some of the same beliefs. It seems that it is easier to talk about Jesus Christ with neighbors and friends if they know I believe in Him, too. Christ is the center of our religion and beliefs and He is so central to the plan of salvation. It would just seem so incomplete for people to think we are not Christian, when He is that important to our lifestyle and belief system. Does that answer your question? Thank you for asking!
Cass, you know, I'm sure that there are people who have written about Joseph Smith who weren't Mormon, but I have never read anything other than biographies written by those who knew him who were Mormon, his mother, and other members of our faith.
Please don't take this as mean or harsh, because it isn't meant to be that way.
How do you feel about people who claim Christ as their Savior, but are not Mormon? Do you feel the need to witness to them?
Cass, although I haven't read it, there is a biography of Joseph Smith in the Penguin Lives series:
http://www.amazon.com/Joseph-Smith-Penguin-Robert-Remini/dp/067003083X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1253032062&sr=8-1
I also own a 1942 book called Joseph Smith: An American Prophet by John Henry Evans, who is not LDS.
I don't know of any sources contemporary to Joseph Smith who weren't LDS, though. What a great question!
Hey Mrs. Mordecai! Great to see you on this chat! Thanks for your input!
Thanks Mrs. Mordecai! I'll have to see if I can find one of those.
Cass, sorry I addressed Mrs. Mordecai before your comment. Somehow hers came in first in my email.
Cass, we are so happy when anyone has accepted Jesus Christ as their savior and we know they will be blessed for that. However, Mormons feel that we have additional information that can help everyone and we enthusiastically wish to share that with all. As one of our apostles said, it is like having a friend over to visit, and getting out a large, cold pitcher of orange juice and pouring yourself a glass, but not offering them any. We believe we have something so wonderful and we want to share it will all. For this reason, we send out our 19-year-old sons on two-year missions to preach the gospel to all the world...at our own expense.
I so admire you for doing this.
I have two questions...
Do Mormons baptise infants?
Do Mormons have communion (or the Lord's Supper?
Anita
Hey Jen!
Thanks for doing this.
My question is about the Atonement. I have the Book of Mormon that the missionaries brought this morning, and a KJV Bible.
Can you please direct me to the passages that describe the Atonement?
Anita, you are so sweet! Thank you! No, Anita, mormons do not baptize infants. In The Bible, when Jesus explains that baptism is required for salvation, He almost always prefaces it with the word "repent" and be baptized. We do not believe that little children have the capacity to sin, therefore cannot repent. We baptize our children when they are 8 years old, an age we believe they can choose right from wrong.
To address your second question, we partake of what is called a "sacrament" each Sunday during our services. We have three meetings back to back on Sunday and this particular meeting is called sacrament meeting because the sacrament is the most important part. It is similar to communion in that we partake of bread and water in remembrance of the body and blood of Christ which was shed for us.
Does that answer your question?
Michelle, are you the Michelle I so enjoyed speaking with in MckMama's forum? Wow, your question is a deep one. There are SOOOOO many references to the atonement in The Bible and in The Book of Mormon, so why don't I do this. I will give you a link to a topical guide which can refer you to many of the places where the atonement is mentioned in your set of scriptures. Here it is.....
http://scriptures.lds.org/en/tg/j/25
Does this help?
How do you hang onto your belief in the truth of the book of mormon when it has been proven false by archeology?
Keesler Chaos, I do not believe it has been proven false by archeology. The reason I can hold on to my beliefs is because I have received a witness from The Holy Ghost that The Book of Mormon is true and that it is another testament of Jesus Christ. All the science in the world can't take away what The Holy Ghost has witnessed to me. I think many Christians could say the same about their personal beliefs. It has never been proven that Jesus Christ was the savior of the world, but we know it to be true, probably because of a feeling in our hearts. It is the same with my belief in The Book of Mormon.
The very same! Thanks...going to check the link out now.
So Michelle, did the missionaries stay and visit with you? If so, how did your visit go?
Jen, thanks so much.
I just went over and took a look...I didn't see anything that referenced the Garden of Gethsemane as a part of the Atonement, or the Resurrection. Can you please explain that to me, and where that comes from?
Thanks for answering.
Just to clarify...
Are all children baptised at 8 or only if they choose to be?
And
If I understand correctly, the scramental bread and water are seen as symbols of Christ body and blood.
Jen - they did come. They were only able to stay a few minutes...we expected that they would call and set up a time, and they just showed up. My husband was getting ready for work, and my two year old was extremely distracting. We set up another time for them to come, tomorrow.
Okay Michelle, another long, involved answer that can best be answered by referring to the following article. In addition to quotes from the scriptures, there are a lot of quotes by early prophets in our church who are speaking by modern-day revelation, so I don't know if that is what you are looking for. Here it is...
http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hideNav=1&locale=0&sourceId=2002329ab628c010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&vgnextoid=f318118dd536c010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD
Anita, most children I know are baptized at the age of 8. I have never met a child who isn't extremely excited about their baptism. They certainly are not forced to be baptized, but no child that I have ever known has not wanted to be baptized.
Yes, Anita, the bread and water are symbols of Christ's body and blood. When we partake of the sacrament, we are promising that we will continue to be his disciples and we are promised that if we are faithful in that, we will have His Spirit to be with us.
Jen - in the New Testament, the Garden of Gethsemane is mentioned only twice, in the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. Mark. Not very much time is spent on the events there, and they are mentioned nowhere else in the New Testament as part of the Atonement. It seems to me that to include the Garden as part of the Atonement is to be reading something into the text that is not there.
When you look at the Old Testament, and the picture of the animal sacrifice that was the representation of the Atonement that was to come through Christ, it is always that the animal bore the sins of the person by giving its life. Nowhere is the picture given of sweating blood or mental agony as part of the symbolism. I'm a little confused as to how that can be drawn from the testimony that was given to us through the Bible.
Also, the Bible, elsewhere in the New Testament, point very clearly to the death of Christ alone, with the shedding of blood, providing our atonement...on the cross.
Please prayerfully consider 1 Corinthians 15:1-3, Romans 5:8, Romans 5:10, Hebrews 9:22, Galatians 6:14, Philippians 2:8, and 1 Peter 2:24.
I'm a little confused on this.
I guess I should let you know that I am Catholic and most of my questions, including the 2 previous ones, are ones that we get asked because our beliefs tend to be different from the Protestant religions that are predominate in the South.
What are Mormon beliefs on artifical birth control and infertility treatments such as IVF?
Thought of another related to my previous questions.
When do children begin to participate in taking the sacrament?
Michelle, Mormons believe not only The Bible to be the word of God, but also The Book of Mormon, The Doctrine and Covenants and The Pearl of Great Price. We also believe in modern-day revelation to prophets, as existed during Biblical times. We use all of this information to help us learn about Christ and how He atoned for our sins, not only The Bible.
So, Jen, just to clarify, when those other sources begin to teach something that is contradictory to what is taught in the Bible, and what was revealed to the original apostles, that Mormonism recognizes such as Paul, then the teachings of the Bible are discarded to make allowance for the newer teachings brought by the Prophets and such?
Anita, I thought you might be catholic, because the communion process, with which you seemed to be familiar, is very similar to the sacrament process.
As far as IVF treatments, there is nothing against that in the Mormon beliefs.
You question about birth control can be answered by referring you to the following article....
http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?locale=0&sourceId=a545d326b221c010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD
Anita, it is my personal belief that if a mother is healthy and of sound mind, and she desires to raise her children unto The Lord, there is no reason to limit the number she bears. I, personally, do nothing to stop the spirits Heavenly Father sends from coming into my home to receive bodies. It is my wish that I might raise them and help return them to live in the presense of God.
Michelle, let me share on of our principle beliefs, which should help you understand where we are coming from. Joseph Smith wrote 13 "Articles of Faith" to help others understand more about our beliefs. The 8th Article of Faith states....
"We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly; we also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God."
Okay, Ladies, I have SOOOO loved chatting with you. If you have any further questions, I would ask that you leave them in The Blog Frog forum on my upper right sidebar, in the thread entitled "Questions About Mormonism - Sept. 15". I will get to them during the week, and because we had such a great turn-out here today, I will schedule another live chat like this, same place, same time, a week from today. Thank you so, so much for coming and it was wonderful to get to know each and every one of you a little bit better! :D
Oh, Anita, I left out one of your questions. Children begin to partake of the sacrament as soon as they can start eating solid foods. They learn the meaning of it as they become older.
Okay, since I answered one last question, let this be the end of the live chat starting....now. :) Come next week!
Thank you so much for the post! I have a dear friend who is Mormon and I very much appreciate understanding what she believes.
Blessings,
Vikki
Well done Sister. Loved reading the questions and answers! And yes, the Spirit was unrestrained. You did good!
Anita, the URL regarding Mormon beliefs on birth control did not go through completely. You can try this one....
http://tinyurl.com/pemhs5
If any other links are bad, please let me know and I will post them here in a different format. Thank you!
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