Having A Day Job With A Church Sponsored Institution Does Not Preclude One From Practicing Apologetics
Some individuals who practice LDS apologetics happen to be employed by institutions sponsored by the Church: The primary institution being Brigham Young University. In this situation, their “day job” involves researching or teaching subjects which may or may not relate to subjects of interest to apologetics…which ought not to surprise anyone at all. Thus, critics attempt to argue that some LDS apologists, particularly BYU professors, are “paid” for their apologetic efforts. Critics congratulate themselves for achieving a firm understanding of the obvious: Individuals who happen to have a “day job” with a Church sponsored institution receive their paycheck from that same institution. Having a “day job” with a Church sponsored institution does not preclude one from practicing apologetics.
Do Not Call Us Mormons Or Lds Church Leaders Of Faith Ask
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– Leaders of the Utah-based Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Thursday called on people to stop referring to the faith as Mormonism, although the church acknowledged one of its central texts would still be called the Book of Mormon.
An online guide accompanying a pronouncement from the church president also asked people to stop referring to followers of the religion as Mormons and not to use the name LDS as a shorthand way of describing the faith.
The Lord has impressed upon my mind the importance of the name He has revealed for His Church, even The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, church President Russell Nelson said in a statement. We have work before us to bring ourselves in harmony with His will.
Leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have long proclaimed their faith as Christian and fought any association with polygamy, which was practiced by early members of the church before they abandoned it more than 100 years ago.
Their latest campaign is related to those twin goals, said professor Patrick Mason, the chair of Mormon studies at Claremont Graduate University.
For many years now, the church has wanted to insist that it is a Christian church, Mason said, and a common formulation, especially among evangelical Christians, is that Mormons are not Christians.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has about 16 million followers worldwide.
Mormons And Family Life
The survey confirms that family life is very important to most Mormons. Four out of five Mormons believe that being a good parent is one of the most important goals in life, and roughly three out of four Mormons put having a successful marriage in this category. This puts family concerns significantly above career concerns, having free time and even living a very religious life as priorities for Mormons.
Two-thirds of Mormon adults are married, compared with 52% of the general public.3 More than four out of five married Mormons are married to another Mormon. By comparison, 81% of married Protestants are married to another Protestant, and 78% of married Catholics are married to another Catholic, according to the Pew Forums 2007 U.S. Religious Landscape Survey.
Nearly six-in-ten Mormons say that the more satisfying kind of marriage is one where the husband provides for the family and the wife takes care of the house and children, while 38% say that a marriage where the husband and wife both have jobs and both take care of the house and children is preferable. Among the general public, the balance of opinion on this question is reversed 30% prefer a marriage where the husband is the sole breadwinner, while 62% prefer a marriage in which both husband and wife work.
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Read A Brief Summary Of This Topic
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , also called Mormonism, church that traces its origins to a religion founded by Joseph Smith in the United States in 1830. The term Mormon, often used to refer to members of this church, comes from the Book of Mormon, which was published by Smith in 1830 use of the term is discouraged by the church. Now an international movement, the church is characterized by a unique understanding of the Godhead, emphasis on family life, belief in continuing revelation, desire for order, respect for authority, and missionary work. Its members obey strict prohibitions on alcohol, tobacco, coffee, and tea and promote education and a vigorous work ethic.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, and had more than 16 million members by the early 21st century. A significant portion of the churchs members live in the United States and the rest in Latin America, Canada, Europe, Africa, the Philippines, and parts of Oceania.
Another Mormon denomination, the Community of Christ , is headquartered in Independence, Missouri, and had a membership of approximately 250,000 in the early 21st century.
Since You Can’t Prove Religion Is Apologetics A Waste Of Time
Dallin H. Oaks spoke to this concern:
The lack of decisive scientific proofs of scriptural truths does not preclude gospel defenders from counterarguments of that nature. When opponents attack the Church or its doctrines with so-called proofs, loyal defenders will counter with material of a comparable nature to defend.
And, Neal A. Maxwell noted that God would provide fascinating additions to our understanding:
There will be a convergence of discoveries to make plain and plausible what the modern prophets have been saying all along do not expect incontrovertible proof to come in this way, but neither will the Church be outdone by hostile or pseudo-scholars.
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Difference Between Mormons And Lds
The Mormon sect is sometimes referred to as LDS, which stands for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Most LDS members call themselves Mormons. However, there are exceptions to this. There are also some differences between the practices of some of the sub-branches of the LDS and mainstream Mormonism. We will discuss these exceptions and differences in this article.
Cosmology And Plan Of Salvation
The Mormon cosmology and plan of salvation include the doctrines of a pre-mortal life, an earthly mortal existence, three degrees of heaven, and exaltation.
According to these doctrines, every human spirit is a spiritual child of a Heavenly Father, and each has the potential to continue to learn, grow, and progress in the eternities, eventually achieving eternal life, which is to become one with God in the same way that Jesus Christ is one with the Father, thus allowing the children of God to become divine beings – that is, gods – themselves. This view on the doctrine of theosis is also referred to as becoming a “joint-heir with Christ”. The process by which this is accomplished is called exaltation, a doctrine which includes the reunification of the mortal family after the resurrection and the ability to have spirit children in the afterlife and inherit a portion of God’s kingdom. To obtain this state of godhood, the church teaches that one must have faith in Jesus Christ, repent of his or her sins, strive to keep the commandments faithfully, and participate in a sequence of ceremonial covenants called ordinances, which include baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, the endowment, and celestial marriage.
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Being Mormon During A Mormon Moment
Many Mormons say that the way their religion is portrayed in television and movies hurts societys image of Mormons in general. Far fewer say their image is helped by the portrayal of Mormons in entertainment media.
But Mormons are less negative in their assessment of the news medias treatment of Mormonism. About half of those surveyed say that coverage of Mormons and Mormonism by American news organizations is generally fair, though a significant minority says news coverage of Mormonism is unfair.
The survey also finds that despite the large number of Mormons who feel that Mormons are misunderstood and discriminated against, the overwhelming majority are satisfied in their own lives and content with their communities. Nearly nine-in-ten Mormons say they are satisfied with the way things are going in their own life more than say the same among the general public . And 92% of Mormons rate their communities as excellent or good places to live. Mormons are more positive about their communities than is the public as a whole, among whom 81% rate their communities as excellent or good places to live. Community satisfaction is higher among Mormons who reside in the western part of the U.S. than among those living elsewhere, and it is especially high among Mormons who reside in Utah .
Mormon Beliefs About Jesus Versus Christian Beliefs About Jesus: Mormons Worship The Jesus Christ Of The Bible
It would be enlightening for any Latter-day Saint to read this description of the “Mormon Jesus” in the left column and see just how much of this is recognizable as church doctrine. The list is taken from page One Nation Under Gods, p. 378 . This claim is repeated in the author’s later work Becoming GodsThe “Mormon Jesus” versus the “Traditional Jesus”.
| The “mainstream Christian” author’s misrepresentation of “Mormon Beliefs About Jesus” | Jesus Christ, as He is actually viewed by Latter-day Saints | For more information… |
|---|---|---|
| A literal son of a god and his wife. |
|
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The Objective Of Apologetics Is To Provide Answers To Critical Questions By Searching For Criticism To Answer Surfacing Sources Evaluating Logic/hidden Assumptions And Forming A Coherent Well
Everyone can be an apologist. But not everyone knows exactly how to. The goal of apologetics is to respond to objections so that people can gain a clearer understanding of Latter-day Saint doctrine and purpose. The goal of apologetics is to provide reasons for belief and clarify the assertions of critics. Its goal is to either push against false information by providing new, supportive information or to incorporate and reconcile the information with an already existing paradigm. It is to sustain , defend , or build up the kingdom of God.Apologists may be broken into two types, those that practice positive apologetics and those that practice negative apologetics. Positive apologetic provides arguments in support of the Churchsubstantiating different truth claims through scholarly research and negative apologetics provides responses to criticisms against the Church. Positive apologists generally have education in the field that they are substantiating claims relevant to criticized areas of scripture, history, and science. There are many faithful Latter-day Saints authorities that are highly educated in the fields of history, population genetics, Egyptology, Middle Eastern studies, ancient languages, etc. in order to provide vigorous defenses of the faith. Negative apologists are generally those that cite the experts and are looking to disseminate their findings into a personal sphere of influence.
Similarities On Both Religion
Adventists have views that are very opposed to Mormon doctrines. Understanding how they vary necessitates a process of learning about each denominations views. There are views about hell, heaven, and salvation that distinguishes each sect.
Although it might seem fair to think that Adventists and Mormons are similar, their beliefs are incompatible.
Other religions like Jehovas Witness Have much more in common Read About It Here
Because of what they do outside of the church, it is acceptable to compare Adventists with Mormons. One thing they both have in common is that they all go door-to-door. They usually walk door to door in pairs, dressed appropriately in ties, dress shirts, long dress skirts, and other formal clothes. They also have something to hand out at the door when they go door-to-door. Because of their appearance, it would seem fair to assume they are all the same. The similarities between the two religions make it easy to mix up Adventist and Mormon.
Even Baptism is a similar function
Differences
Although there are some parallels between Adventists and Mormons, their views are vastly different.
Mormons and Adventists share beliefs in prophecy, the trinity, the Bible, and many other things, according to the Mormons official website . The Mormons view the Book of Mormon as just another testament of Jesus Christ, which is a unique belief.
Ellen G. Whites books, according to Adventists, are the witness of Jesus Christ.
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Facts About Adventist Religion
- The Seventh-day Adventist Church, founded in 1863, is a Protestant organization with approximately 20 million adherents worldwide, including 1.2 million in the US and Canada.
- Unlike other Christian organizations and faith groups, the Seventh-day Church observes Saturday as its holy day. Saturday to be a day of rest, meaningful family time, and charitable work for Adventists.
- Since the founding of the first Adventist school in the 1850s, the Adventist Church has put a high value on education, establishing a global reach of schools with over 1.8 million students enrolled in over 7,500 institutions.
Restorationism And Prophetic Leadership
The LDS Church teaches that, subsequent to the death of Jesus and his original apostles, his church, along with the authority to act in Jesus Christs name and the churchs attendant spiritual gifts, were lost, due to a combination of external persecutions and internal heresies. The restorationas represented by the church began by Joseph Smithrefers to a return of the authentic priesthood power, spiritual gifts, ordinances, living prophets and revelation of the primitive Church of Christ. This restoration is associated with a number of events which are understood to have been necessary to re-establish the early Christian church found in the New Testament, and to prepare the earth for the Second Coming of Jesus. In particular, Latter-day Saints believe that angels appeared to Joseph Smith and a limited number of his associates, and bestowed various priesthood authorities on them.
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Things You Should Know About Mormonism
This article is one of many informative articles in Joe Carters 9 Things You Should Know series.
In more than half of the states in the U.S., Mormonism is the fastest-growing religion. Although Mormons consider their church to a restorationist movement within Christianity , Mormonism differs radically from the orthodox Christian teachings and beliefs. Here are nine things you should know about Mormon beliefs:
1. In 1838, Joseph Smith claims he was told in a revelation that the church should be called The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Members of the New Testament church were called saints , which is why Mormons call themselves Latter-day Saints. As Gordon B. Hinckley, prior president of the LDS church, explains: They were former-day Saints. We are the Latter-day Saints. It is that simple. Hinckley adds that they are often called Mormons as a nickname given because they believe in the Book of Mormon as the word of God.
2. Mormonism has four written books of scripture: The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ , the Doctrine and Covenants ), The Pearl of Great Price , and the King James Version of the Bible
9. Mormons believe in a universal salvation for everyone from death . But after the body is reunited with the spirit, humans go to different places:
The Scriptural Pattern For Prayer
The Bible gives us the pattern for our prayers in the Lord’s Prayer found in Matthew 6:9-13 and Luke 11:2-4. In these accounts the Lord teaches us to address our prayers to “Our Father which art in heaven.” The Lord also instructed us on several occasions to ask in his name:
“And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.” John 14:13-14. “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.” John 15:16.And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you. Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full. John 16:23-24.
In the Book of Mormon Jesus also taught the Nephites to pray to our Heavenly Father in his name:
“Therefore ye must always pray unto the Father in my name And whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, which is right, believing that ye shall receive, behold it shall be given unto you.” “And they shall believe in me, that I am Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and shall pray unto the Father in my name.” And verily I say unto you, whatsoever things ye shall ask the Father in my name shall be given unto you.
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