God never promised life would be easy. In fact, trials are one reason we were sent here to live on earth. Through our trials, we learn to trust God and to
turn to Him for comfort and hope. A new website by the Mormons offers counsel and inspiration for those seeking to hold on to hope in the most difficult of circumstances. (more…)
In the strictest sense, the word exmormon simply refers to someone who chose to end his membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Members of the Church are sometimes referred to informally as Mormons, and so an ex-mormon is a former Mormon. However, the term is more commonly used to refer not to people who simply left and moved on, but to those who then devote themselves to attacking the church.
The Mormons are sometimes seen as having a great many restrictive rules. Mormons themselves know that within the rules are many opportunities for freedom, and that these rules actually make them freer than those with no rules.
An often-used example of freedom within structure is the sonnet. A sonnet is a poem with very strict rules.
Shakespeare’s sonnets each contained fourteen lines. Every line had ten syllables written in iambic pentameter. Despite this very strict structure, Shakespeare managed to come up with 154 sonnets, all different, and many other people have also created sonnets based on this formula. The structure does not prevent people from being creative and writing something close to their heart. Rather, it actually frees the author. By having the structure in place, the poet is free to focus all his attention on the message and wording of the poem, which, after all, is the point of a poem. (more…)
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as Mormons, are transcribing and putting online a large number of Swedish records, constituting the largest indexing project they have undertaken. The final project will put 200 years of parish records online to assist genealogists in their research. This is a critical project because almost
every Swedish person since 1608 has had a church record. When the record is complete, genealogists will be able to search some 400 million names at no cost. The original records will be available through a private firm, which may charge, but the transcribed records will be available through the Mormons free. The work will be done by Swedish-speaking volunteers, both Mormon and non-Mormon who care about genealogy. (more…)
Recently, Elder Russell M. Ballard spoke to graduating students at Brigham Young University, a school owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Members of this church are often informally known as Mormons. He counseled them in ways to discuss their religion with others, pointing out
that most topics of greatest interest to detractors are not critical elements of the current religion, but are fringe elements or practices no longer carried out. He advised them to keep the discussions focused on the core of the religion, the elements that affect salvation, rather than those that are merely interesting intellectual discussion points. (more…)
This question is often asked by evangelicals, and is, in general, a misunderstanding of the Mormon teachings on what happens after death and how we control that.
Many evangelicals teach that a person gets to heaven by being “saved.” This involves the act of accepting Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. At the same time, they teach that acts cannot get you into Heaven. The Mormons also believe that a person must accept Jesus Christ as His Savior in order to return to God’s presence after death. Both groups agree that at least one act is required of all of us in order to be with God.
The confusion over the number of acts required to be saved comes from the differences in terminology used by Mormons. Mormons believe everyone is saved through the atonement of Jesus Christ, even if they never accept Jesus Christ as their Savior. However, grace and eternal life, to a Mormon, are not the same thing. To understand this complex issue, let’s look at several essential points.
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Mormons are rather known for being a meeting people. They have meetings and they have meetings to plan meetings. But what do they do at all these meetings?
The most important meeting is Sacrament Meeting. This is held each Sunday and is the primary worship service. Because Mormons are run by a lay clergy, the bishop, who is the equivalent of a pastor, does not give the sermon each week. Every part of the meeting is done by someone donating his time and talents. (more…)
People often ask why Mormons don’t have female priesthood leaders. Today, there are still many churches, including The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, that do not have women in the priesthood, having noted from their study of the Bible that this was not the way it was done. Jesus had many women who followed Him, and whom He pointed out as outstanding examples of gospel living, but He didn’t select any of them to be His apostles. It was not that He considered them unable to do the work, or unworthy of the role; it was simply not the role assigned to women by God. (more…)
In the Catholic faith, canonization is the official recognition that someone is a saint and was so even prior to the
official recognition. A process is followed to allow the church to determine who is a saint.
Mormons (the nickname for members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) do not follow this process. The term saint is used in the official name of the church and denotes, as used in the Bible, a community of people who followed God. (more…)
Joseph Smith received very little formal education as a child and young man. He was largely educated by his parents, due to a lack of schools available. In all, he attended formal schooling only about three years. In addition, he was tutored by an angel named Moroni in spiritual things for several years prior to beginning his work. Despite this, by the time of his early death, he had become well-educated in many fields, including Hebrew. (more…)
