The "Others" part II

Hello again,

I don't know how many of you read last week's installment of the "Others", but I thought I'd shoot back for part 2. Once again...

Much of the information will be processed from a book called "Rose Book of Bible Charts, Maps and Timelines". The book takes a chapter to walk through some of the deviations from normal/orthodox Christianity.

So let's get going. This week we're going to be taking a look at the Mormon faith.

The Mormon faith was founded in 1830 in New York by Joseph Smith Jr. (1805-1844). They are currently headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah. The picture above is the Mormon Temple in downtown Salt Lake City. In addition to the King James Version of the Bible, the Mormons use the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price as their "holy books". In addition to that the teachings of Mormon prophets and other LDS "general authorities" are considered authoritative and treated as the words of God.

Theology
The Mormons believe that God the father was once a man, but he "progressed" to godhood. He has a physical body, as does his wife (Heavenly mother). There is no trinity. The Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost are three separate gods. Worthy men may one day become gods themselves. I have heard (unconfirmed) that the Mormon church recently amended this belief to say that men may one day becomes stewards of their own planet rather than gods of their own planet. Ultimately Joseph Smith taught that individual men may become gods of their own planet.

Christology
Jesus is a separate god from the Father (Elohim). He was created as a spirit child by the Father and Mother in Heaven, and is the "elder brother" of all men and spirit beings. His body was created through sexual union between Elohim and Mary. Jesus was married. His death on the cross does not provide full atonement for all sin, but does provide everyone with resurrection. The LDS main page talks about Jesus as the son of God, the savior of the world, etc. It says "If you follow his example as closely as possible, you will not only find joy in your life, but you will some day return to live with Him and your Father in Heaven".

Pneumatology (Holy Spirit)
The "holy spirit" is different from the "Holy Ghost" according to the Mormons. The "holy spirit" is not God, but is an influence or electricity-like emanation from God (or "light of Christ). The LDS website states

“And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the

Holy Ghost

Also called the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God, and the Comforter. He witnesses, or testifies of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and reveals and teaches the truth.

Holy Ghost?” ( Moroni 10:4)."

If you've ever spoken to a Mormon missionary, one of the key points that they make is that if you read the book of Mormon and seek out the Holy Ghost, he will show you that it is true.

Soteriology (Salvation)
Resurrected by grace, but saved (exalted to godhood) by works, including faithfulness to church leaders, Mormon baptism, tithing, ordination, marriage, and secret temple rituals. There is no eternal life without Mormon membership. The Mormons believe that after death you continue the process of learning and progressing. According to this, "Those who choose not to follow Christ and do not repent will be unhappy."

Death
Eventually nearly everyone goes to one of three separate heavenly "kingdoms" with some achieving godhood. Apostates and murderers go to "outer darkness".

Other Beliefs
Mormons believe that they should abstain from alcohol, tobacco, coffee or tea (anything caffeinated).

Baptism of the dead--Baptizing young Mormons on behalf of dead non-Mormons
Two year missionary commitment is encouraged
Door to door evangelsim is encouraged
Secret temple rituals exist, but are only available to members in good standing
People of African ancestry were not granted full access to Mormon priesthood and privileges until 1978

The Mormons believe in something called the Great Apostasy which basically teaches that when all of the disciples died the priesthood authority died with them. When that happened, error and corruption snuck into the church. This period is known as the Great Apostasy. When Joseph Smith found the golden tablets (the book of Mormon), this ended the period of the Great Apostasy. Now that the priesthood is restored all is well (according to the Mormons).


There is so much more, but I don't know how much of it I would be able to put in a blog. Again, my desire is to provide some basic beliefs of each of these groups. If you are having trouble identifying the differences between what they (the Mormons and Jdubs) believe and what Christianity believes A) read the Bible and B) talk to me and we can work through the main things.

There has been a surge of effort since the winter games for the Mormons to be more "Christian". Their website is very neutral and does not describe the extent of Mormonism that is reality. When speaking with Mormons, many of them don't know everything that the church teaches so they may not be able to answer all of your questions. Here are some resources on Mormon beliefs and Christian apologetics to Mormons:

Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry
Kind of wacky, but still interesting
Yet another ex-Mormon resource website (there are lots of these)
And finally, Wikipedia

The "Others"

I've been getting a lot of questions from students, parents and staff about some of the other groups out there that like to claim the name of Christ, but don't quite like to follow the stuff that's in the Bible. Over the next few months I will post a series of reviews on some of these "cults" of Christianity as we would call them.

Much of the information will be processed from a book called "Rose Book of Bible Charts, Maps and Timelines". The book takes a chapter to walk through some of the deviations from normal/orthodox Christianity.

The first group we'll take a stab at is the Jehovah's Witnesses:

The Jehovah's Witness organization was founded by Charles Taze Russell (1852-1916) in Pennsylvania in 1879. They are currently headquartered in Brooklyn, New York. The Jehovah's Witnesses use a tranlsation of the bible called the "New World Translation", which is the only acceptable version. They have other publications that they use for life and practice called "Reasoning from the Scriptures, You Can Live Forever In Paradise on Earth, Watchtower Magazine and Awake Magazine". These publications offer direction, discovery and truth for the JW's and they are considered to be "from God".

Theology
The JW's believe that there is one God, called Jehovah. There is no Trinity. They believe that Jesus is the first created being. This is important because normal/orthodox Christianity believes that Jesus is uncreated and eternally existing (Col 1:15-20).

Christology
They believe that Jesus is not God. Before he lived on earth he was Michael, the archangel. Jehovah made the universe through him. On earth he was a man who lived a perfect life. After dying on a stake (not a cross), he was resurrected as a spirit; his body was destroyed. Jesus is not coming again; he "returned" invisibly in 1914 in spirit. Very soon, he and the angels will destroy all non-Jehovah's Witnesses.

Pneumatology (Holy Spirit)
The Jw's believe that there is an impersonal, "holy spirit" that is not God, but rather an invisible, active force from Jehovah.

Soteriology (salvation)
They believe that you must be baptized as a Jehovah's Witness in order to be saved. Most followers must earn everlasting life on earth by "door-to-door work". Salvation in Heaven is limited to 144,000 "anointed ones". This number is already reached. The rest will spend eternity in paradise on earth.


Death

The 144,000 live as spirits in heeaven. The rest of the righteous, "the great crowd" live on earth and must obey God perfectly for 1,000 years or be annihilated.


There are some quirky beliefs that the JW's hold to. Active members are encouraged to distribute literature door-to-door as many of us have experienced first hand. Once a year they celebrate the Lord's Evening Meal (communion), but only the anointed ones may partake. They do not observe birthdays or holidays. They are forbidden to vote, salute the flag, work in teh military or accept blood transfusions.

There are currently (as of 2006) about 16 million Jehovah's Witnesses , of those 6.7 million are considered true members (determined by who performs door-to-door work).

For more information check here

Next week... Mormons