From what I saw on a Mormon do entary is that while the LDS has high rates of conversion, it has a hard time keeping people in the faith. Many of the people who convert to Mormonism tend to drop out of the faith within their first year from what I recall.
Mormons believe that we there is one God (big G). That being said there are other 'gods' (little g) in the sense that they are godlike but not the same as God himself.
That whole business about mormons ruling their own planet is also very speculative doctrine even within mormon circles. For one consider the mormon heaven is actually right here on earth after the end of the world.
This seems like a good list of differences between the LDS and more orthodox Christianity.
http://www.carm.org/lds/lds_doctrines.htm
I believe Joseph Smith lied about many things.
For example; there was a time when a traveling 'museum' passed by Smith's town with old Egyptian artifacts and scrolls. Smith bought the scrolls off of the travelers and claimed that they were the "Lost book of Abraham". He then proceeded to 'decipher' the scrolls. His translation produced new stories, and doctrines. Amazed at his feat, and since no one at that time could interpret the hieroglyphics (to provide counterpoint), his followers' belief that Smith was a prophet was reaffirmed.
It turned out the scrolls were nothing more than common Egyptian death rite passages. Smith lied about the whole thing! The 'Book of Abraham' however, is still considered an integral piece of inspired literature as far as the LDS church is concerned - even though enough evidence exists to discredit the book's origin.
Having said that I would also concur with the notion that many mormons have an admirable code of conduct and sense of morality.
As a side note semi-related to the topic...
I never understood modern religions. Though I may not personally believe in anything written by man (supposedly interpreted from God), I can at least *see* why people place their faith in scripture that is quite old.
Yet, the LDS are how old? Scientologists? LDS was founded in 1830 (quick google)...guess people were more gullible then.
Its that part of it I dont understand...some guy gets a wild hair up his ass, claims he has the Word from God, and people follow him like lemmings.
Are people that desperate for direction and meaning to life that they would latch on to any faux-prophet in the general vicinity promising salvation?
Must be a shallow existence. But thats my opinion, anyway.
Perhaps existence was so bleak during that time that they craved something new to believe in. Hope can be very powerful.
You are wrong on those accounts. That is one way in which the English versions of the Bible have been incorrectly interpreted, and today's false prophets teach. The original text never says there is only one God, in fact it acknowledges other God's. Jehovah however told Moses the Hebrew's would worship no other God! It never says that man cannot achieve becoming a God. I think it does imply we can.
This story may or may not be true. Isn't it as likely that the Urban Myth of this story should be questioned for validity?
Any hard evidence?
People believed Joseph Smith because he was really young and uneducated when The Book of Mormon was produced. That and the revelations he pretty much got on a monthly basis for the next 10 years.
HBO has story of Mormons on Real sports
I've never felt religion as we know it was meant to be complicated.....
Maybe by answering this question, we can understand each other's views better,"You see that MAN over there?"
Yeah I think there is. And I have heard about that. Although he could have mistranslated it, I don't think the was lying about everything.
I personally believe that for me, the reason I can see why people follow Mormonism or any other new religion is that I have to believe that God still gives revelations. He/she didn't stop after Jesus died. It's impossible. There is just no way that can happen. I think that's why I think some people rally around new religions.
On the subject of disproving religions, I think that if hard evidence existed to disprove aspects of the Bible or Koran, lots of people wouldn't believe it. I think there probably is hard evidence to disprove things in the Bible right now that nobody talks about.
Funny, those Hebrew-speaking Jews don't seem to find multiple gods in the text either.
The remnant of the scroll's that Smith's wife kept. They survived a fire. Ironically, I believe they are housed in a museum in Chicago.
What do you think got Adam and Eve kicked out of the Garden of Eden?
Obviously their disobedience... but what were they trying to do, as suggested by Lucifer? They were trying to become GODlike.
Lucifer's downfall, amidst his vainity, was attributed to the same cause.
See a pattern? It's one GOD doesn't like. So why would the LDS church suggest that we as humans can become gods? GOD has already imparted immortality to our spirits - but that was given to us the day GOD created Adam - it is not something that we have to strive to attain. What we do with that immortality is another matter altogether. Besides, the GOD of the traditional biblical canon does not promise us the allure of becoming like Him, He gives us the promise of an eternity with Him - for His glory and not our own.
And yes, other 'gods' do exist, but not in the sense that you're implying - anything that takes the place of the One True GOD, becomes a god to our corruptible hearts. GOD wants to occupy 1st place in our lives and when we reject Him, we have placed 'other gods' before Him. Furthermore, it is not that inconceivable to suggest that certain demons have masqueraded themselves as gods throughout history (Deimos, Dagon, Ra, Baal etc...). Some of them wield massive amounts of supernatural power, and one of their goals is to detract humanity from attaining a relationship with the ONE and ONLY GOD.
All i know is the Quakers make some damn good oat meal...
AM I RITE?
Other gods are the same as the one true god. They are all just different manifestations. As someone stated before, religion is a personal thing. That's why there are so many of them. It's impossible that just one is right, so then they are all right.
Well, while Duff is preaching today, he doesn't see what we see. I was going to say something rather similar. I'll add that the Judeo-Christian God is simply a different en y than the others. We have no way of knowing who is stronger. I would find it hard to believe that if there was only one true powerful God, that Revelations would speak of "A War in Heaven." There are many theories we could explore, but we simply don't have enough evidence to know the real truth. If you think about mankind as being pieces of an elaborate game of Civilization, with different en ies guiding us... Isn't it funny how the nation founded on Christian principles has always allied itself with the nation of Israel? We have the same God! Could there be some divine intervention there?Other gods are the same as the one true god. They are all just different manifestations. As someone stated before, religion is a personal thing. That's why there are so many of them. It's impossible that just one is right, so then they are all right.
It is faith that tells someone that Jehovah is the only real God. Zeus, Apollo, Thor, Baal, etc. may have been real God's. Just not a God in many people image. The Bible says God created mankind in his image, so why do we envision him as so much more?
So they aren't Gods?
Do some research of the past old meanings of God in Chaldean or Hebrew There are actually more than 20 forms of the word translated to "God" in our Bible. The most common form in Genesis prior to chapter 6 is the plural form! The word implies levels of powers not understood, but also "exceeding." It also meant someone of powerful wealth and position. There is no absolute description of a God being supernatural. The God's could perform Magic. Astrology was also mentioned. The root of these words in Chaldean if I recall correctly is "science!" With our abilities, we would be God's to civilizations of the past. It is very plausible that the "Chariots of the God's" were spaceships, and that God's are just a more advanced life form.
Now if you study the various religions, you find overlapping stories of things like the creation and the flood. Part of the ancient Sumerian text can be interpreted to explain the "missing link" in mankind. It names God's who came to earth, placed the native humans as slaves, and altered us to be better workers for their needs. This is supposable about 60,000 years ago.
Back to the plural God, and incorrect definitions. In the creation, God did not create Adam and Eve, but the Gods created mankind! The proper names are most often misused until the story of Adam, Eve, Cain, and Able. Before that, Adam means mankind, Eve means Woman (life bringer). When God took a rib from Adam, created Eve and giving her to Adam, the text really describes God taking a "curve" from mankind and giving her to Adam. "Rib" does not come from a curved bone, or and description of any anatomy. Maybe mankind recognized women had curves then too? The word used more clearly means "scoop" and it could really be that simply. God pick a woman (scooped from mankind) for Adam from mankind, bringing her to the garden for Adam.
There are numerous fallacies in our Bible. You cannot rely on the way any English version is written. They all have serious flaws. To understand them, you must do some research on the original texts.
And let me guess... the pre-eminent scholars on the ancient Hebrew language in all the world just happen to be predominantly located in Salt Lake City, Utah, right?
I think the mistake the ancient Church fathers made was relying on their faulty English translations.
So there really IS a Flying Spaghetti Monster??
Not at all. Consider this. The King James Bible was translated in the 1600's. The scholars of the time didn't have the resources to properly interpret the Bible to English back then. There is likely political and cultural motivations to have swayed the translators. Today's understanding of ancient languages by modern scholars is far more complete than the few people that translated the Bible then, which I believe was nine. On top of that, they translated it from Greek. Only the New Testament was written in Greek. The old testament was in Hebrew and Chaldean. They translated a translation of the original text, which also could have had revisions from the era of Caesars!
The references to "Gods" being "stronger" than other "Gods" and the other BS being tossed around here like a salad makes me think just how stupid all of this really is.
A bunch of ing adults arguing which superhero is stronger than the other, only they are dead serious about the implications of the conclusion of such an argument.
This is ridiculous.
But I guess thats religion in a nuts ..."My God can beat up your God!"
And the religious wonder why some people choose not to participate in their mass delusion.
If there is a "Flying Purple People Eater" then I would say likely so.
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