Not to create a debate or anything, but I’d like to set the record straight regarding Edward F. Murphy’s letter about Mormons.
Mormons - or more accurately members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints - are indeed Christians. His name is right in the name of the church.
Dictionary.com defines Christian as “of, pertaining to, or derived from Jesus Christ or His teachings: a Christian faith.”
We believe that our church is that same church organized by Christ in ancient times now restored in these, the latter days.
I believe that fits the definition. As for the specific comments made - Yes, we believe Christ is not the only son of God; we believe that we are all sons and daughters of God. We don’t believe in multiple gods. There is only one true God and “thou shalt have no other gods before me.” That being said, Christ as the only begotten of Him has the power of God through Him.
And, to be brief, we do indeed believe that we will become like unto God after this life.
Oh, and of distancing ourselves from Christianity, I’m not sure I understand what you mean. In our early beginnings we were known as the Church of Christ, and since then are known as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. We have always been oriented around Jesus of Nazareth and His teachings.
For more information visit mormon.org
Keith Heiner
Mesa
Mr. Murphy should do some research before making an opinion statement with allegations that are old misconceptions. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints has always taught that Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of God, born to a mortal woman. His birth and life were with a divine purpose to be the Savior of the world. There is no other such being. His other statements about the church are misleading as well.
The church’s teaching regarding all human beings is that we are created in God’s image and are spirit children of God.
That implies that all men are sons and all women are daughters of divine parenthood. This also implies divine potential. How could it be otherwise? The church has always taught that all people can be saved through faith in Jesus Christ and his gospel. We are Christians in every sense of the word. These doctrines are explained on the church’s websites and research is easy to do.
Charles Brown
Mesa
Slabside posted at 2:16 pm on Mon, Oct 10, 2011.
No, they are not.
truth posted at 2:35 pm on Mon, Oct 10, 2011.
What I don't understand why is there so much hate between faith based organizations. their actions do not seem to follow their belief.
Dale Whiting posted at 2:44 pm on Mon, Oct 10, 2011.
It's not that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has attempted to distance itself from conventional Christianity. But rather conventional Christianity has distanced itself from Christ. And in that distancing, conventional Christianity has also distanced their belief in the God of the Old Testament, New Testament and yes, even the Koran from His relationship with His creations especially human kind.
This distancing by Christians has been noted by others. The one whose noticing has most impressed me is a now rather infamous lecturer and professor of religion teaching at the Divinity School at Cambridge, England. He was a truely multifacited human being, one capable of studying a wide variety of topics. As a religion professor in Trinity College, he studied the Christian Scriptures. Coming to a conclusion that conventional Christianity had gotten the concept of the Trinity, one God in three different forms, all wrong, he documented his conclusions in his diary and sealed it up. Critizing the Council of Nice was not going to be productive. The Nicean Creed was a compromise crafted to gain unity among those whose understanding of Christ's teachings have become currupted by other religious thought.
But this professor at Trinity College did become famous for his other studies. We know him more for the things he did in his spare time. He invented the Calculus and all of today's modern laws of physics, reasoning his way through what he observed arround him. Mormons believe that he was inspired in both his religious studies and his studies of the world around him, all being created by and through the actions of Jesus Christ.
Today we know this great man as Sir Isaac Newton. And there our countless others like him, all being moved by the Spirit to discover truth in whatever sphere they might enter. This list includes all of the great reformers from Luther on down the line, each adding a bit of restored understanding.
Sure, there are differences today between what sciences understands and what religion teaches. But someone once said that Truth is independent of the sphere in which it is placed. And all truth may be circumscribed into one great whole. This means that if one sees a difference between science and religion now, the problem is that either science has gotten it wrong, or religion has gotten it wrong, or both have gotten it wrong and there is more to be discovered. The man saying this was Joseph Smith, Jr. And the very first article of faith he transcribed says:
"We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost." That makes his followers Christians, real Christians.
RationalHuman posted at 3:36 pm on Mon, Oct 10, 2011.
truth asked:
"What I don't understand why is there so much hate between faith based organizations"
Because they all preach division and hate. Name the holy book and I will show you multiple verses preaching division and hate (mostly based on which belief the "heathens" have).
Dale wrote:
"But rather conventional Christianity has distanced itself from Christ."
Oh Dale, you and your misconceptions.
ALL Christian demoninations, including the Latter-Day Saints, do this.
"conventional Christianity has also distanced their belief in the God of the Old Testament"
Good thing, too...because things like rape, slavery, and murdering children for being disobedient...our culture considers these monstrous crimes. So much for a Christian nation!
Shall I quote Ghandi?
"I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. They are so unlike your Christ."
Accuracy posted at 4:11 pm on Mon, Oct 10, 2011.
Slabside posted: “No, they are not.”
Very true Slabside. In the fact that the Mormon Church basic beliefs place it outside the standard doctrines of Christianity. And that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) is not another Protestant (Chrictian) religion.
Mormonism teaches that the God to whom they pray is but one of a whole series of gods who at one time were mortal then progressed to godhood.
Mormons believe posthumous baptism by proxy . . . known as LDS concept of baptism for the dead. Proxy baptisms are performed in Mormon temples with members immersing themselves in a baptismal pool as proxies for others.
Performed in Mormon temples, baptism for the dead (vicarious baptism or proxy baptism) is the religious practice of baptizing a living person on behalf of an individual who is dead; members immersing themselves, so that the living person is acting as the deceased person's proxy.
This is not the practice of Christianity.
Rich posted at 4:21 pm on Mon, Oct 10, 2011.
Swore I wouldn't participate in this silliness anymore, but this just calls for a quote: "The last Christian died on the cross" Friedrich Nietzsche . And Dale not Nice, Nicea, and the fact that Newton was an Arian at heart is rather irrelevant, most of the best people are.
downtownresident posted at 5:37 pm on Mon, Oct 10, 2011.
I'm not religious, but...........................I believe that Mormonism is a cult, in a Christian disguise. Pure and simple. Latter day saints??????? I have a problem with their lack of embracing minorities, too. There seems to be a caste system here.
I'm sure that there are many, many Mormons who are wonderful people.
RationalHuman posted at 6:00 pm on Mon, Oct 10, 2011.
"I believe that Mormonism is a cult."
Technically, it is...and so is every other Christian sect.
"I have a problem with their lack of embracing minorities, too."
You have a problem only when Mormons do it? Did you even know that the KKK is a Christian organization, and that you MUST be a Christian to be a member?
"There seems to be a caste system here."
Again, name a religion that DOESN'T have a caste system.
At it's simplest we have the "saved" and the "unsaved".
So far everything negative said about Mormons can be applied to every other Christian sect to some degree...is that all you've got?
JMJ posted at 6:41 pm on Mon, Oct 10, 2011.
The "divine potential" is what gets me.
Explain to me how closed the Mormon religion stays to outsiders. In public entities in the east valley, non-"saints" are almost always passed over for "saints" even thos "saints" with less experience. Must be because of their "divine potential". The rest of us don't measure up to "divine potential", I suppose...?
Mormons are a minority tyranny if they get into positions of power, and they are exclusionists, picking their own over others. Why this hasn't been exposed is beyond me.
Oh, wait. That's right: The University of Phoenix was taken to EEOC for promoting Mormons over others in their organization. They then put together stopgap measures and checks and balances to prove to EEOC that they were not going to continue to do that, so everyone would have "equal opportunity".
That doesn't happen in other Mormon-run, public entities. The same stuff keeps happening, and no one steps in to correct it. No one wants to take on the "saints" or point out these obvious flaws.
The Mormon, regular-joe families with whom I have interacted are wonderful people. The Mormons in charge of organizations look out for their own. Period.
I dislike that FACT about Mormons, because I have seen it, first hand. I regret the day I went to work in a Mormon organization. There is no opportunity, unless you're Mormon.
Yep. That's "all I've got", but it's enough for me.
DemocraticDad posted at 11:41 pm on Mon, Oct 10, 2011.
I believe my original comment on Edward Murphy's letter needs to be repeated.
I said, "Edward, your letter is nothing more than a bigoted attempt to smear a whole group of people. It is DISGUSTING!
In a letter to Touro Synagogue in 1790, George Washington wrote the following to the Jews of Rhode Island, “...the Government of the United States...gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance...” The First Amendment of the Constitution states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof...”
Let's ALL act like TRUE Americans and call for the end of this type of bigoted and hurtful rhetoric.
And by the way, I am NOT a Mormon, but I am a TRUE American who respects the right of every American to worship, or not worship, as they please."
ENOUGH OF THIS religious bickering! Let's all strive to be TRUE Americans, just as our Founding Father's did.
wdgnas posted at 5:05 am on Tue, Oct 11, 2011.
'never really understood religion, cept it seems a good excuse to kill':
ten years after--rock and roll music to the world
sockratties posted at 7:59 am on Tue, Oct 11, 2011.
Silly people, silly argument. Boxers or briefs? Does size matter? My myth is superior to your myth. Choose your own fantasies and quit trying to knock those of your competition. It’s still all about money and power.
samkat posted at 8:25 pm on Tue, Oct 11, 2011.
Dad: They are entitled to practice their form of religion until they start forcing their brand of morality on others.
JMJ posted at 11:17 pm on Tue, Oct 11, 2011.
It works both ways. Practice whatever you want. But don't discriminate against others who are not Mormon, by promoting your friends and/or family members who are Mormon.
That is rampant. It is patently unfair. It is unconstitutional. It's very Mesa.
phxvato1202 posted at 8:09 pm on Wed, Oct 12, 2011.
tonight i saw a video where russell pearce has again lied and claims that the LDS church in salt lake city was in total agreement with his political stances concerning immigration. the lds church denied their backing him and quoted 3 statements that the church holds concerning illegals and immigration. when he made the comments he asked that all the media leave the room but it was recorded and played back to the LDS leaders in salt lake and boy the impression i got from their response came short of publicly calling pearce a liar. So is this the type of mormon that mormons want representing them only because he hates mexicans and will and wants to get rid of them? if so that does say alot about the mormons but based on what i heard there is no way he has the full backing of the mormon church in slat lake and maybe not even in mesa.
Dale Whiting posted at 9:15 am on Fri, Oct 14, 2011.
Looks like our topic has transmuted from the obvious, i.e. whether or not we Latter-day Saints, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are christians to whether or not all Latter-days Saints are obliged to walk in lock-step with church leadership and whether or not leadership is backing Russell Pearce.
Like most others, we Latter-day Saints are a diverse group of people. A few of us, like Harry Reid, are Democrats. Some of us fear change while others understand that change is inevitable and is supposed to work into a Devine plan. Like others who profess to be christians, some of us seek to understand Christ's message. But most of us, like other christians, ignor His message, seek to blame others for their own shortcomings and ignor His teachings, you know "Love one another, turn the other cheek, render unto Ceasar that which is Ceasar's." We hate Muslims, we hate liberals, we hate illegal immigrants. Actually we hate not understanding the world about us. When one learns to love others unconditionally, the world becomes a great place to live.
So, Russell Pearce, "Repent and be converted" to serving your fellow man, not your pocket book. And the rest of you, learn to make Peace on Earth, not war in Afghanistan and Iraq. If we all did that then this christian nation really would move toward become a Christian Nation!
Speaking about the potential Latter-day Saints have to do good in this world, a prominent church leader, one born and raised in Austria, recently said words to the effect that we Latter-day Saints can overcome ethinic, racial, religious and cultural differences which are fueling hatred and bring peace to this earth. That is what LDS leaders are trying to do! And that's Christianity with a capital "C."