‘Society’ Tagged Posts

The Book Of Mormon Is Based On Facts Or Fiction?

So really what is the biggest contention between the Christians as the world knows them and the doctrine of the Mormons? Basically what it comes dow...

 

So really what is the biggest contention between the Christians as the world knows them and the doctrine of the Mormons? Basically what it comes down to is that Mormons do not consider themselves as Christians as this world knows them. Mormons do believe that Christ is the son of God whereas Christians will relate that he is not only the son of God but God himself where as the Mormons break the two into two separate being

According to the Mormons even though Christ is called the Father it does not make him God. They do not deny that he is the author of our salvation as many quotations will be taken from the King James version by the Mormons in respect to Jesus making reference to his Father on a continuous basis.

Why do Mormons believe they are Christians when you don’t accept the Bible as the final authority and rely on writings besides the Bible?

It must be pointed out that it is important for people to realize that the Mormons do not refer to being Christians as the Orthodox Christians of todays world. One may refer to Christians as they were in the New Testament days.

One of the arguments put forth by a Christian is that the Mormons do not rely just on the Holy Bible but on writings aside from this book like that of the Book of Mormon for example. What they will refer is that they believe that part of the Scripture is correct but that some of it has been misconstrued and not translated properly and is also missing some of the teachings. They will ask who knows which Bible is correct or what translation and who makes the interpretation. They will point out that there have been many versions of the Bible written over the years.

So the Mormons argument is that there has been no complete Bible since the end of the apostles and the fact that early Christians did not even have the Bible to rely on at that time as the final word of God. They say that the Bible itself will tell you that it does not lie that it is incomplete and they will also point out that the apostle John was of the same mind according to their interpretation regarding this matter.

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Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormons Exposed

 

To most of us it seems like the Mormons have been around forever. They actually date back to the 1820s. In 1823 a young lad by the name of Joseph Smith sought Gods wisdom as to what church he should belong to. Some speculate that he went into the woods to do this while others claim that he did it from his bedroom. He states that the Angel Maroni summoned him and called him by name and stipulated to him that he had great works for God to do. He was directed to finding some golden plates where the instructions and historical episodes that had taken place centuries ago. Joseph claimed that the everlasting gospel was contained on these plates.

Joseph apparently was able to locate these plates through a vision. The plates were buried in a hill called Mora. The instructions also included that he was not to remove the plates nor was he to show them to anyone. The story goes that the next day Joseph was so exhausted from these visions that his father had to send him back home from work. During that time he collapsed. and apparently the Angel Maroni appeared to him again and repeated the message. Joseph told his father about these happenings.

Ironically Joseph’s father believed him and sent him to where he was to find the plates. Apparently Joseph found them as per instructions and buried them again for a period of four years. The Angel Maroni returned and instructed Joseph and every year he made a pilgrimage to this site. Then in 1827 Joseph came up with the plates but was forced to hide them because of those that wanted to sell them.

Apparently during this translation time other people did witness these plates as there are testimonies in the book of Mormon concerning this. After Joseph finished translating the gold plates then the book of Mormon came into being.

It is ironic that with Josephs three years of formal education that the book was very complex and articulate. Joseph claimed that it was the power of God that gave him the ability to be able to do this. According to the story Joseph would just concentrate and have a great deal of faith. Due to the difficulty of the translation it was said that Joseph would sit with the plates and verbally give the translation. His wife gives quite an account of this tim and states that Joseph was working on this book and how he would be able to return to where he left off with no problem. One would think that this would take many years to do but apparently the translation only talk a matter of three months and there were several scribes that would write as Joseph dictated.

One of these scribes was Oliver Cowdery that upheld the validity of the book with great fevor, to the point where he stipulated that by only obeying the book of Mormons would one get into the kingdom of heaven.

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Mormon Christians – How Can They Be If They Don’t Use The Cross

 

There is no argument that the Mormons will not use the cross as a symbol of Christianity. What they will argue with is because of this it does not make them any less of being a Christian. It must be remembered that the early Christians did not use the cross as a symbol either and the answer to this is because the believer must look beyond the cross and to the resurrection. Emphasis should not be put on the suffering aspects but on the joy and promise of life.

Its quite ironic that the Mormons have the very same complaint as the Christians in that stating Christians will play with words in order to attack the doctrine of the Latter Day Saints. The whole premise comes down with respect to this issue that suffering is respected and remembered and sacrifice is as well.

However, the look of the future must be placed on the resurrection and that it really should not be remembered that Christ went through the torture and humiliation. This is not what the emphasis should be put on.

To put their argument in a common picture they have used examples. For example if an individual had a loved one that was struck by a car and killed then they wouldn’t put pictures of cars on their wall to remember the. loved ones by.

And this has given new status to the next staggering statement we made, that there ought to be one church. Time was when the churches rejoiced in diversity, when they said, we are enriched by our differences, when the standard approach to conflict was, God has taken account of all the individual traits of men and therefore does not require the same patterns for any set of men. All of us can speak for him and with him and by him. We need not worry.

In the final closure of this part of the argument is the Mormons will put great emphasis on not worshiping graven images which they feel that the cross is a well but in the same breath they tell you that it is not wrong to have pictures for example or even a statue but it must be remembered that they are not the object of worship.

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What You Must Know About Mormon Christians

 

One of the latest great debates when it comes to Mormons is determining if their religion is Mormon or Christian or is one and the same thing. In the eyes of the Mormon the answer to that question is yes. There has been a great attempt in the last little while for the Mormons to stand on the grounds of Christianity more so than they have in the past.

It is interesting to note that in 1982 the book of Mormon’s name was given a name with reference to the Testament of Jesus Christ.

Then in 1995 the official letterhead changed to take on a larger stance of the Jesus Christ of latter-day Saints. Even one of the leaders states that the church talks a lot more now about Jesus Christ than it used to because they want to show people that they are Christians.

It would appear on the surface a great effort is put into convincing nonbelievers that the Mormons stand on the very same basis that Christianity does. On the surface it may seem this way although when one begins to become well-versed in the Mormon religion they see the vast differences.

It would seem that there are even differences of the union of Christianity amongst the leaders in the congregation of the Mormons themselves. Interestingly enough a past president stated that he definitely was a Christian and had prayer through Christ and tried to follow him and when asked further whether he believes in the traditional Christ his answer was no he didn’t. He states that the non-Mormons are not speaking of the same Christ whom he believes in. At the beginning of Mormonism they took a great stance against being classed as a Christian denomination for the simple reason that they believed that there was a great apostasy that included all of the Christians and they did not want to be counted as part of that.

Joseph Smiths claim was that the Latter-day Saints Church was the only true church. Brigham Youngs comment about Christians is that the current day Christians are not the Christians that are defined in the New Testament. He even goes on to say that Catholics and Protestants are nothing less than the whore of Babylon. Then again another leader goes on to say that the darkness of the apostasy still is the same today except for those that have come to know what he calls the restored gospel which is of course the Joseph Smith Doctrine.

It is easy to see when one looks over all the explanations of what these leaders stand for that they certainly do not equate themselves as what society sees Christianity as.

Most of the Mormons believe that the Christians of today are selfish and do not maintain the law according to the Mormons. They claim that they never criticize other beliefs and yet they have made some pretty staunch statements against Christians. So this again is just one more fallacy of the religion itself when it comes to making one statement at one time and then totally changing at another time.

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Samurai and the Japanese History

 

The Samurai is the name of a warrior class of people that emerged many centuries ago in Japan. We find that the Samurai have been featured via a number of silver screen flicks, comic books and theatre plays in recent years. The history of the Samurai seems to be equally as fascinating for children as well as adults.

To understand the development of Samurai art we must first understand how this warrior class came into being. It was in the 12th century when Japan was suppressed in clashes between two powerful local clans known as the Taira and the Minamato. It was during this time that the Japanese system of rule known as Shogunate with the Shogun on top was formed.

The second powerful position in the Shogunate was Daimyo, which was much the same as the rank of Dukes in Europe. Samurai were the warriors of Daimyo. Usually each Samurai had a master and if he misses one because of the compelled suicide of his master, he was named Ronin.

The Samurai caste had many special advantages which was not allowed for the common people. They were licensed to carry two swords while the common people were restricted from carrying any. They were even allowed to decapitate any ordinary citizen who came to hurt them.

The Samurai tribe itself was categorized into three classes – the administrators who were known as housemen, soldiers who were allowed to fight on horse back named mounted Samurai and the foot soldiers.

Over the years the role of the Samurai changed as they now became independent farmers who were restricted to the citadels. They were also entitled to a certain percentage of the rice tax based on their ranks. The code of ethics followed by the Samurai class was known as Bushido which meant the way of the warrior. It was based around obedience towards their leader which was the daimyo.

A strange practice of committing suicide named Suppuku existed among them. They considered it as a honourable way of death and was performed at the battle field or outside the battle as a formal function. Eventually, the age of battles came to an end and the Samurai class dissolved in the mainstream of the Japanese life.

The colourful history of the Samurai plus the reverence they received through the film media and other such publications made them to be known on a global level. For many non-Japanese people the concept of a Samurai was very intriguing. The sheer discipline and the code of ethics followed by the Samurai was something beyond belief for the rest of the world.

The Samurai tribe not only influenced the Japanese history but also made impacts on the art and culture of the country. Their life and culture stimulated the artists to illustrate them through various art forms and just like the Samurai fables, these artistic expressions also were intriguing to the masses around the world.

Japan’s Buddhist art provides an interesting insight into the history of Buddhism in Japan. If you would like to know more about Japanese Samurai art click on the preceding links.

Spiritual Travel Is Not A New Concept

 

Many of us have traveled extensively but have at the end of our travels come away feeling less than satisfied which is why it makes sense to find out a little bit more about how spiritual travel can provide that feeling of fulfillment. If you have had your fill of cathedrals from the Gothic era and the sight of another Madonna does not uplift your spirits then you need to find an alternative solution which can take the form of traveling to find spiritual solace.

Gay spirituality travel is more than a catch phrase meant to make you seek some far off destination. As a matter of fact, traveling for spiritual reasons is not new because from the very earliest times in our history people have made pilgrimages. Traveling for religious purposes is not a new concept and as far back as in the early 16th century Spanish nationals (Jesuits) used to travel to places such as Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina to build missions where natives would be educated in the Christian religion.

Today, however if you want to travel to find spiritual awakening there are as many different options available to you can imagine and these options provide you with a chance to visit places other than the Vatican and Yucatan and Egypt. If you wish to enjoy solitary spiritual upliftment then it pays to take in a few idyllic places such as Buddhist monasteries that are mostly situated in Asia with a few also located in the USA and in Europe.

For the real Buddhist spiritual travel experience you ought to consider making Bodhgaya (located in Bihar in India). This is the very place where the revered Lord Buddha sat and obtained enlightenment beneath a huge Bodhi tree. Today, this place has seen a huge Mahabodi Temple complex being constructed here and which is inhabited by Buddhist monks from every part of the world.

This place is exceptional as it provides utmost serenity and it is truly very peaceful. You will come across monks from every corner of the world who too sits beneath a gigantic carved statue of Lord Buddha and who read from the Holy Scriptures and indulge in serious contemplation.

The best way to fly into Bodhgaya is to take a flight from Kolkata to Gaya airport. However, if you want to fly in from the rest of India you will need to deplane at Patna airport that is almost a hundred kilometers away from there. A train journey is the more relaxed and cheaper mode of transport and all it requires is to get off at Gaya from where Bodhgaya is not far away.

For those who are planning to travel from the rest of India the closest airport is Patna which is also the capital of Bihar and which is 87 miles from the town of Bodhgaya. You can also choose to travel by train which will mean getting off at Gaya that is close to Bodhgaya and which means traveling at leisure and for considerably less cost.

For those of you who wish to enjoy special gay retreats then a trip to Bodhgaya is certainly a good option and the best time to visit here is after September and before the summer months begin. The best time to come here is however between November and the month of February while months between June and September are the worst times which is when the monsoons hit this part of the world.

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Understanding Mormonism and The LDS Church Ideas

 

Understanding the Mormon church can be quite a difficult task because what seems to be on the surface is really not what it is when one starts to study it further. Many individuals will say that they are not aware of the Mormon church but if you have any knowledge of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints then yes you do know of the Mormons.

This was an organization that was actually formed in 1830. The biggest stance of this particular church is that they believe that they are the only restored Church of Christ and this was all to have taken place through a revelation of Joseph Smith there past leader. What the Mormons believe is that prior to the formation of this church that the entire world was caught up in massive religious confusion called the great apostasy. This was a time where people were living in darkness and it wasn’t till the Mormon church came along where their church put things back on track again.

One of the frustrations that the Mormon Church runs into is that they believe that too often there is misinformation about them and this is leading people to many misconceptions. This is the reason that most individuals that are not of the Mormon belief don’t understand what position they take in Christianity or their doctrine. In many ways the Mormon church uses the same vocabulary as what the Christian church believes as well. The biggest out of many discrepancies according to the Christian belief is that they believe that Joseph Smith was a God himself.

One of the things that the Mormon Church believe or promote is that there are many other religions that share the same doctrines as theirs and therefore are entitled to the same salvation. They will often in their approach to preaching their beliefs will encourage individuals to embrace the true Church of Jesus Christ. This not necessarily referring to the Church person with whom they are talking to but to the Latter-day Saints Church because they believe that this is the one that Jesus restored through Joseph Smith. They firmly believe that this is the concept that Jesus taught when he was here on earth and therefore has to be the true church.

It’s interesting to note that after the supposed prophecy of Joseph Smith he wrote 13 articles on faith. What these articles pertain to are now what the basic Mormon beliefs center on. Basically the beliefs are broke down into several categories such as the Church of Jesus Christ, gospel and principles, family purpose ,and the life and nature of God. The Mormons believe that after the last apostle died that there was no authority left to lead the Church and that all of the doctrines that Jesus had taught were changed over the years and eventually this led into living in darkness.

Naturally everybody is entitled to their own opinions and their own beliefs. The same is applicable to the Mormons. If they so choose to follow the doctrine of Joseph Smith then they have that right. Christianity in its authority takes offense that the Church of Latter-Day Saints is standing on the basics of Christianity and yet have taken all those basics and misconstrued them into what they feel is the true gospel.

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Explore The Conflicts Of Mormonism vs Christianity

 

For individuals that are not too well versed in either the Mormon religion or Christianity as society knows it they will often wonder what are the differences between these two religions. According to the Mormons they will consider themselves as the true Christians and the only church that is going to be recognized by God himself. First of all it must be remembered that the whole Mormon religion is based on Joseph Smiths vision that he purported to have in 1820 where to celestial beings appeared to him during this vision. It was declared to Joseph that that there was no true religion on earth and that he was going to be chosen to institute the new church religion.

One of the things that must be realized is that Christians believe that God is the spirit whereas Joseph taught that God himself was once a man and through his good way of living became a God. Joseph also uses the term God as plural and further believes that that man can and will become gods if they are to live their life the way that the Church of latter-day Saints promote. The Christians believe that Jesus is Lord of all and creator of all the Mormons will tell you that this was the spirit brother of Lucifer

There is no way that you would ever get any Mormon to tell you that the Bible was the only book to be depended on. The Mormons have several books written by man and the most distinctive one is a book of Mormon which was written on the teachings of Joseph Smith. So as far as they are concerned this book is the only one that should be depended on. Most Mormons although they will refer to the holy Bible for some resources but this is most often for convenience and as a way to prove that they are true Christians. There are several other books that they will depend on as well and this is “The Doctrine and Covenants” and the “Pearl of great Price”.

In the book “Doctrines and Covenants” it will have the revelations of polygamy. It’s interesting to note though that this revelation of polygamy did not come about until after the government was threatening to take action against the Mormon church for their stance on this subject.

The book “Pearl of great Price” suggested to the revelation that was used to make sure that the black society did not enter into the priesthood of the Mormons which means according to the Mormons that they could never become gods.

To add to all of these interesting takes of the Mormons one has to take a close look at their viewpoint . This becomes interesting in that they believe that there are several level to heaven, if fact there are basically three .Depending on your life here on earth will dictate which department or level of heaven that you will be able to go to. Their vision of how they are going to appear before God is wearing fig leaf aprons and holding all the good works that they have done while here on earth in their hands. It would seem that no matter what sins were committed here on earth everyone will have some type of good standing in heaven although it might take some longer than others to get there.

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The Great LDS Temple Paradox – Mormon Christians Uncovered

 

The great arguments among the Christians and the Mormons is that the Mormons will not accept the Christian creeds. The belief here is that the very same reasons that exclude the Mormons or the Latter Day Saints from Christianity as it is known today also excludes the original Christians of the New Testament .what is the big reference here is to the nicean creed or any other creeds that came after the Bible.

As far as using other books beside the Bible an argument of the Mormons are Christians will be quick to point out that the early Christians were not either. They will bring to the point the name of the New Testament itself which indicates that it was a new volume of Scripture. The consensus is that there are many new volumes regarding this Scripture. They will note that many of the early Christians did give credence to the Gospel of Matthew but that there were Jewish writings as well and there are other books accepted by the early Christians that are not being used today such as the book of Enoch. So the bottom line comes down to that if the society of Christianity is not going to accept the Mormons as being Christians of today then they have to put what were called Christians in the biblical days into the same category as being non-Christian.

Wasn’t it just in the past few years the mormons have started to pretend to be Christians in order to better fit into society?

It has to be taken into consideration that many years ago that the Mormons made no claim to be part of the Christian religion. The argument now being raised by Christians is that the Mormons have taken a opposite approach to this because they want to be able to fit into society and a better way. The argument from the seniors of the Mormon church denied this and stated that they have changed nothing since their inception back in the beginning when Joseph Smith puts the church of latter day saints together.

In respect to this argument they will make several references to Joseph Smith’s prophecies and writing they will further go on to say that the concept that Mormons are definitely Christians are accepted by anyone that is familiar with the Church of Mormons should be pointed out that many of the writings of the Mormons will make it very clear that they had no intention of becoming just another Church of America.

It is believed that the inception of this church was based on Joseph Smiths vision that God wanted him to bring a new church to earth because none that were here were correct. Great exception is taken to the fact that many Christians will refer to theMormons as being a form of cult. Any individual that is part of Mormonism holds a high caliber of respect for Joseph Smith. It must be remembered that he has been accepted as being a prophet of the religion and is the only one that had the right to set the tone for what the church would stand for. The Mormons profess of a letter from a past congressmen who have heard Joseph Smith preach and found no discourse with Christianity. It is writings like this that they will heavily dependent on in support their claims

The real problem comes down to where it is almost a play on words when trying to discern just exactly what the Mormons do stand for and what they do not. There is no doubt that they believe in many segments of the Bible however in respect to Joseph Smiths teaching there have been additions and exceptions and this is where the argument from the Christian standpoint comes into play that there now are no exceptions to what is written in the Bible

In respect to the argument that Mormons are now referring to Jesus Christ more than what they did years ago it is pointed out that Ted Jones who was a Baptist missionary brought up the very same complaint back in 1912 therefore if it was evident then that the Mormons were relying on the term Christianity certainly is not something that has been just surfacing in the last few years.

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The Latter Day Saints Records – All About Mormon Christians

 

Almost every Mormon will answer the question are Mormons Christians with an addict yes.

It can become quite complex when trying to sort out just what do the Mormons believe. On the surface it seems like they are in tune with what Christianity teaches. They believe that Jesus is the Redeemer and the son of God and that his atonement was for all mankind. They will refer to the holy Bible in this regard but then they also depend on another book very strongly over and above the Bible. This is called the book of Mormon. In this book it is declared that their job is to convince the Jews and gentiles that Jesus is the Christ.

According to the Latter-day Saints Church which is the Mormon church Joseph Smith is the one and only prophet that God chose to reveal his new church to. Now its interesting to note about how they promote Joseph as they make the statement that the fundamental principles of their church is simply that Christ was buried arose again the third day and then went on to Heaven. The problem is though that they will say that anything else that is added to this is an appendage. This is something that goes against Christianity as it stands upon the premise that there is to be nothing added extra to God’s holy Word which is contained in the holy Bible.

Another controversy with the Mormons is that they have the strong stand on what they feel that a Christian is which is of course is only within their religion according to them. They also will not tell you that they believe that it is possible that one can still be a Christian and have a different point of view to theirs.

It’s really interesting to see how they will take the Scripture and apply it to their belief they will point out that the term Christian or Christians is only spoken up three times in the New Testament the interpretation of a Christian is in their eyes one that follows Christ.

The Mormons have difficulty understanding why Christians will only depend on the one specific book being the Holy Bible. Their argument is that it is inconclusive and that a lot of its information was lost over the years and that it also has not been historical proven. This is their explanation of needing the book written by their prophet Joseph Smith.

They also promote that the word Christian has been used somewhat loosely over the many many years. So in as a word in itself it is really not all that clear. The Mormons who will resort back to history in many cases to stand on their beliefs and to put down some of the beliefs of the Christians as we know it today. They believe that many of the Christian teachings and practices are not true and are in many ways lacking many of the truths and are inadequate to put it as simple as possible. They will tell you that a Christian is a person who accepts Jesus Christ as their Lord. This again sounds just exactly as what a Christian would tell you. The difference is that there will be an appendage to this on the behalf of the Mormons where it will not be with the Christians.

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