Welcome to the weekly "Questions About Mormonism" Live Chat. Thank you so much for being here. If you'd like to participate, just click on the "COMMENTS" link below this post and leave your comment in the box in the new window. I'll be sitting right here by my computer to answer! Please feel free to join in, even if you've been a "lurker" previously! (For all previous chats, please click HERE.)
For inspiration this morning, I have posted the following artistic rendition of The Savior and His mother entitled "Mother" by Liz Lemon Swindle...
If you are unfamiliar with our beliefs, I have also included our "Thirteen Articles of Faith" as follows...
1. We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost.
2. We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam’s transgression.
3. We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel.
4. We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are: first,Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second, Repentance; third, Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; fourth, Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost.
5. We believe that a man must be called of God, by prophecy, and by the laying on of hands by those who are in authority, to preach the Gospel and administer in the ordinances thereof.
6. We believe in the same organization that existed in the Primitive Church, namely, apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists, and so forth.
7. We believe in the gift of tongues, prophecy, revelation, visions, healing, interpretation of tongues, and so forth.
8. 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.
9. We believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God.
10. We believe in the literal gathering of Israel and in the restoration of the Ten Tribes; that Zion (the New Jerusalem) will be built upon the American continent; that Christ will reign personally upon the earth; and, that the earth will be renewed and receive its paradisiacal glory.
11. We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may.
12. We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law.
13. We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul—We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.
1. We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost.
2. We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam’s transgression.
3. We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel.
4. We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are: first,Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second, Repentance; third, Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; fourth, Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost.
5. We believe that a man must be called of God, by prophecy, and by the laying on of hands by those who are in authority, to preach the Gospel and administer in the ordinances thereof.
6. We believe in the same organization that existed in the Primitive Church, namely, apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists, and so forth.
7. We believe in the gift of tongues, prophecy, revelation, visions, healing, interpretation of tongues, and so forth.
8. 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.
9. We believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God.
10. We believe in the literal gathering of Israel and in the restoration of the Ten Tribes; that Zion (the New Jerusalem) will be built upon the American continent; that Christ will reign personally upon the earth; and, that the earth will be renewed and receive its paradisiacal glory.
11. We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may.
12. We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law.
13. We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul—We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.
-Joseph Smith
Please uphold the following guidelines while participating in this chat:
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.
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What a beautiful idea. Thank you for being willing to share the gospel with others in whatever way you can.
ReplyDeleteWhy thank you very much, NatureGirl! Are you of the LDS faith?
ReplyDeleteThank-you for answering me earlier this morning, :)
ReplyDeleteYou're so welcome, Beth! Thanks for coming to the chat. How are things?
ReplyDeleteI printed off the talk from Elder Holland to read over later.
ReplyDeleteBeth, great! I think you are really going to get a lot out of it. It explains so much, and even I, who have been an active member for 17 years, learned things I never knew about why the belief in the trinity came into being.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteThe "trinity" just baffles me to no end..I could think about it for a very long time and still come out just as confused,lol. I'm so glad you pointed this article out as I see it come 2007, a time when we were already going to another church...boy if we would have held out a little longer! :)
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, I will read the link....
ReplyDeleteSo Beth, do you and your husband have children?
ReplyDeleteAnon-I'm not sure to whom you were asking to read that article, but I can tell it comes from Jack Chick-which tells me it's going to be anti material..and believe you me, I have had enough of anti-Mormon material and don't care to read anymore. :) but thank-you anyways.
ReplyDeleteYes, we have 4 children...all boys..and we have a Grandbaby who just turned 1..a boy too!
ReplyDeleteWow! A grand baby! I can't wait until that day I become a grandma! So what do your children think about going back to the Mormon church?
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, I read through the comic strip, and because many of our beliefs are misrepresented there, I am going to delete your comment and the link. I am here to help people to understand what Mormons really believe, not to pass on rumors on my blog that have been circulated by those who have a vendetta against the church.
ReplyDeleteThe oldest is 20 (Grandbaby's Daddy), and he has talked of going back, but I don't know if he's serious or joking around (he's into drinking, tattoo's, piercings..the complete opposite of everything we taught him..sigh), Son #2 is in college and speaks of the church on a postive note. Son #3, just goes with the flow, so I don't forsee any troubles there..now son #4..I don't know..he hasn't said either way. The younger 2 have seen me reading the BOM and I ordered from the church an issue of the Ensign and they've seen that and haven't said anything.
ReplyDeleteI don't mean for it to be "anti material". I was involved with the discussion last week, and I did a little more research on what you believe. This is just something that I ran across that I thought you might want to know about.
ReplyDeleteIF (and I do mean if) I believed a false doctrine, I would want somebody to tell me the truth. That's all I'm trying to do, and I don't mean to offend anybody.
Oh, and anonymous, to be honest, I only read through half the comic strip, and it was enough to make me sick knowing that people are spreading those rumors about The Mormons. I didn't need to read to the end for this reason.
ReplyDeleteAs far as I can think at the moment, EVERYTHING that I believe is stated in both Old and New Testament. There is so much in the Book of Mormon that is alien from the Bible, that the Bible says nothing about at all. What do you do with that?
ReplyDeleteBeth, do you have regular family prayers with your sons and husband?
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, I got pretty riled up by the link your posted, and I'm sorry. I appreciate your kind response to Beth and if you have a particular question about what we believe regarding what you read, I would be more than happy to answer it.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, have you read The Book of Mormon all the way through?
ReplyDeleteAnon-I'm a former member, who read material..yes from Jack Chick, and others and that was the downfall of us..we left the church believing all that we had heard and read. I've come to the conclusion that I was dead wrong about what I had read! When a person reads "anti" material..it's just that: anti. It's not going to tell you anything positive or anything close to the truth. The best way to come know the truth is to go to the person or thing upfront..which in this case: is the church.
ReplyDeleteI am very sorry. I don't mean at all to offend. Please understand that I'm trying to understand what you believe and why. If you don't want me to continue with the discussion, that's fine. My attitude in being here isn't to stir up trouble.
ReplyDeleteNo, we don't have regular prayers.
ReplyDeleteBeth, thank you for telling us a bit about your history.
ReplyDeleteNo, I haven't, and that's because I don't believe it is inspired of God.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, please, again, I'm sorry for getting riled up. I don't want you to leave. Please ask any question you see fit.
ReplyDeleteAnon-if you don't have a copy of The Book of Mormon please get one..as I have been reading it and have been cross referencing everything with the bible. At the bottom of The Book of Mormon, it will give you the books/sections of the bible to refer too. Time consuming..yes..but I enjoy it.
ReplyDeleteOkay, so some of what is in the link I gave is wrong, right? Which part?
ReplyDeleteBeth, many people of all denominations have family prayer each day. Maybe if you and your husband and children were to try that, you could get answers as to whether you should come back into The Mormon church. Just a thought. What do you think?
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, if you read The Book of Mormon, you will see SOOOO many similarities to The Bible. It's like a second reference to the face that Jesus Christ really lives.
ReplyDeleteDo you believe that I, as a non-mormon, am a child of God and going to Heaven? Please be honest with me. I'm very curious to know your answer.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree..and that is something I will address with my husband. I'm also going to show him the article I printed out to get his input as well.
ReplyDeleteI can say that I myself have been praying about the church..I pray before I begin to study, just to invite the spirit into me so I can understand what it is that I need to know.
Anonymoous, what was said about those with dark skin. That is a rumor that has been circulated and is not taught by the church. That's when I stopped reading. I have many friends of other races, and I don't believe any of them were less valiant than myself.
ReplyDeleteAnd, another question...do you believe in the redeeming power of the blood of Christ?
ReplyDeleteOkay, then ignore that statement. What do you do with the rest of the material?
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, I believe that God will judge each of us by what we know and what opportunties we have in this life. We do believe that the only way to be able to return to live with God is through Jesus Christ, but we also believe that if one never had the opportunity to learn about Jesus Christ, they will have the chance to learn about Him after they die, through missionary work in the spirit world.
ReplyDeleteOh, and Anonymous, I also believe that you are a child of God.
ReplyDeletewhy?
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, we absolutely believe in the redeeming power of the blood of Jesus Christ. We believe that had He not atoned for our sins, we would never be able to abide with God, as no unclean thing can enter the Kingdom of God.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, if you would like to address something specific about the comic strip, please feel free...
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, sorry, I lost you for a bit....Why what?
ReplyDeleteJesus blood has power because it is the blood of His Father, right? The blood of God the Father.
ReplyDeleteWhy do you believe that I am a child of God?
ReplyDeleteOkay, it's time for me to go switch loads of laundry (where does it come from???). I have enjoyed todays chat, and I'm sure I'll be back. I love your blog too! ☺
ReplyDelete-Beth
Well, Anonymous, yes, we believe that Jesus has power because of The Father, but it was Jesus Christ, who was The Son, who spilled his blood for us, not His Father.
ReplyDeleteAnd if it's not true, I'm glad you deleted the link. I wouldn't want to be responsible for spreading any rumors either.
ReplyDeleteBut you have the blood of your earthly father flowing in your veins. Wouldn't it have been the same for Jesus as well?
ReplyDeleteOkay, Anonymous, I have to go pick up my kids from school now, but I will answer your most recent question. I believe you are a child of God because God created you as His spirit child, just as he did me and every other being who has ever lived. I also believe He wants the best for you and wants you to come to live with Him again.
ReplyDeleteOkay, all, it is past 11:45, so I have to depart. If I did not get to your question or if you would like to continue this conversation, please leave your question or comment in the Blog Frog widget thread on my right sidebar entitled Questions About Mormonims 9/29. Thank you so much for coming today and I hope to see you again!
ReplyDeleteI love that picture of the Lord! It's one that I haven't seen before.
ReplyDeleteRitsumei, go to http://ldsart.com . They have a lot of amazing stuff there! To find art of The Savior, go to the New Testament tab.
ReplyDeleteThis just get bigger every week! I have enjoyed scanning through everyone's thoughts/ questions. You do a great job answering!!!! :)
ReplyDeleteHi Jen,
ReplyDeleteI've been following the conversations here and on blogfrog. I'm not a bf community member, so I can't join in the conversation (and not sure I want to with all the negativity). I do, however, want to commend you for your efforts in dispelling myths and lies. I'm LDS and the things people are posting about our religion and beliefs are aggravating and hurtful. Thank you for your Christ-like approach with all of them. You seem like a wonderful person and have amazed me with your patience and kindness in the forums. Thank you for your wonderful example. I'll continue to follow the conversations.
Lindsey
P.S. I have 22 mo. old twin boys. It's quite a ride isn't it:)