Oct
26
2009
Poor Wayfaring Man
The “Covenanting with the Lord” program, discussed in the previous post, is interesting to me because it puts to the test the promises of the Lord found in LDS scripture, and the beliefs of the mainstream LDS Church regarding those promises. It is anchored in the concept of testimony, relying on a person’s ability to discern the promptings of the Holy Ghost to come up with solutions to a given problem. Once a solution is found, especially if it requires divine intervention, it is presented to the Lord for ratification (and miracles).
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no comments | tags: Covenanting with the Lord, Covenants, criticism, general authorities, Holy Ghost, LDS missionary work, LDS spirituality, Mormon Doctrine, obedience, spiritual discernment, testimony | posted in List Item 01, List Item 06, List Item 10, Mormon Culture, Mormon Doctrine, Mormon Stories
Oct
25
2009
Poor Wayfaring Man
I have had experiences with testimony. Lots of them. Here is Example 3:
When I had been proselyting as a missionary for just about three months, my Mission President (the volunteer LDS clergy supervising the activities of the entire mission) assigned me to work in a new city with a partner (i.e., a “companion”) who was in the final month of his two-year term of missionary service. The Mission President met with me to tell me I was chosen for the assignment because this missionary needed a faithful, enthusiastic companion to try a new method of proselyting that had the potential to usher in a surge of baptisms in the mission. It was called “Covenanting with the Lord”.
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1 comment | tags: answers to prayer, Book of Mormon, Covenanting with the Lord, Covenants, doctrine & covenants, LDS missionary work, mission statistics, Mormon Doctrine, spiritual discernment, testimony | posted in List Item 01, List Item 06, List Item 10, Mormon Culture, Mormon Doctrine, Mormon Stories
Oct
24
2009
Poor Wayfaring Man
I have had experiences with testimony. Lots of them. Here is Example 2:
When I was 18 years old, I realized that I was mere months away from high school graduation, and that I was expected to follow through on my lifelong plan to go on a two-year mission for the LDS Church, during which time I would work to persuade people to join the Church. I decided that I should prepare for my mission by making an effort to learn more about the Church than I had learned in Sunday school and daily seminary classes.
I found a book on my dad’s bookshelf titled Indian Origins and the Book of Mormon. Continue reading
no comments | tags: answers to prayer, Book of Mormon historicity, burning bosom, doctrine & covenants, Holy Ghost, Indians and the BOM, LDS Church Sunday curriculum, LDS missionary work, Mormon History, spiritual discernment, stupor of thought, testimony | posted in List Item 01, List Item 10, List Item 23, Mormon Culture, Mormon Doctrine, Mormon Stories
Oct
23
2009
Poor Wayfaring Man
I have had experiences with testimony. Lots of them. Here is Example 1:
When I was a child, maybe 8 or 9 years old, I thought up the concept of reincarnation. I didn’t know it by name, and I didn’t know that anybody else had ever thought of it. What I did know is that I got a real charge out of contemplating the possibility that my soul could inhabit another body and I could live another life again after this one was over. The feeling I felt as I put the theory together in my mind was something I hadn’t felt before. It was a spine-tingling, euphoric, exciting sensation. Everything seemed to make sense at that moment, and for that moment I felt a sense of clarity, confidence, and peace about my future that overwhelmed my usual petty concerns and fears. I still remember it.
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no comments | tags: answers to prayer, false doctrine, Holy Ghost, Mormon Doctrine, philosophies of men, reincarnation, spiritual discernment, testimony, The Gospel | posted in List Item 01, List Item 10, List Item 24, Mormon Doctrine, Mormon Stories
Oct
22
2009
Poor Wayfaring Man
Every member of the LDS Church knows the importance of developing a strong personal or “spiritual” conviction (a “testimony”) regarding certain facts surrounding the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. A testimony is considered a gift from God, delivered to a person by the Holy Ghost, a spirit-messenger of God, who communicates through a spiritual power that manifests itself in different ways to different people, typically as difficult-to-define sensations and thoughts. Every member is expected to have a testimony of at least the following key facts:
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no comments | tags: Apostasy, Bible historicity, birth control, Book of Mormon historicity, caffeine, early Christiantiy, evolution, gay marriage, Heavenly Father, Holy Ghost, Jesus Christ, LDS spirituality, Mormon Doctrine, orthodoxy enforcement, polygamy, pornography, pri, Priesthood, priesthood healings, prophets, spiritual discernment, testimony, The True Church | posted in List Item 01, List Item 10, Mormon Culture, Mormon Doctrine
Oct
20
2009
Poor Wayfaring Man
In 1844, in the wake of the Prophet Joseph Smith’s murder at the hands of a mob in a Carthage, Illinois jail, he was eulogized by a very close friend, John Taylor, with the following statement:
“Joseph Smith, the Prophet and Seer of the Lord, has done more, save Jesus only, for the salvation of men in this world, than any other man that ever lived in it.”
Now, that’s pretty high praise coming from a Christian. Maybe a little too high? Continue reading
no comments | tags: Apostasy, Brigham Young, Conformity, criticism, Dallin H. Oaks, doctrine & covenants, John Taylor, Joseph Smith, LDS Hymns, LDS morals and ethics, LDS Social Circles, Mormon Doctrine, prophets | posted in List Item 01, List Item 02, List Item 03, List Item 04, List Item 07, List Item 09, List Item 21, List Item 22, List Item 23, List Item 24, Mormon Culture, Mormon Doctrine
Oct
19
2009
Poor Wayfaring Man
There are basically two kinds of people who leave the LDS Church. I will call them “Jack Mormons” and “Apostates”. Apostates are people who leave (or are excommunicated) because they have stopped believing in some or all of the religious tenets of the LDS faith. Jack Mormons are people who leave (or are excommunicated) for reasons other than non-belief, like being unable or unwilling to follow the rules, or because of interpersonal conflicts with other community members.
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no comments | tags: Apostasy, Book of Mormon historicity, Conformity, general authorities, inactivity, jack mormons, Jeffrey R. Holland, LDS Church Sunday curriculum, obedience, orthodoxy vs. orthopraxy, skepticism | posted in List Item 01, List Item 03, List Item 08, List Item 21, List Item 23, List Item 24, Mormon Culture, Mormon Stories
Oct
18
2009
Poor Wayfaring Man
It is a big deal for a member of the LDS Church to walk away. It’s not like simply changing pastors or switching to a more convenient worship service. The LDS Church is not just a place Mormons go on Sundays. It is the central mechanism by which they regulate, plan, and live their lives. On top of being the place where Mormons go for religious instruction, the Church is also the main source of a Mormon’s social connections; the means by which Mormons perform community service; and even a place where Mormons who are struggling financially can obtain food and monetary assistance.
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no comments | tags: baptism, Conformity, Covenants, LDS Fraud, LDS legalism, LDS Social Circles, LDS social pressure, orthodoxy enforcement | posted in List Item 01, List Item 04, List Item 22, List Item 23, List Item 24, Mormon Culture, Mormon Doctrine
Oct
15
2009
Poor Wayfaring Man
When I was a BYU student, one of my professors was a fundamentalist-leaning member of the LDS Church. He took very seriously everything that LDS prophets have taught, from the beginning of the movement to the present. And LDS prophets have taught a lot, particularly in the beginning. Back then, they were real micromanagers, with an opinion on everything, and the expectation that their directions would be obeyed as the Word of God to His People (see e.g., this 1877 sermon, which is full of prophetic advice on domestic matters, including how to properly bake bread and feed children).
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no comments | tags: Brigham Young, doctrine & covenants, FLDS Church, Gordon B. Hinckley, Larry King, LDS PR, Mormon fundamentalism, polygamy, prophets, revelation | posted in List Item 01, List Item 07, List Item 11, List Item 23, List Item 24, Mormon Culture, Mormon Doctrine, Mormon Stories
Oct
8
2009
Poor Wayfaring Man
I was born and raised a Mormon, in the LDS Church. At 19 years of age, I volunteered to be a missionary for the Church and was sent to a foreign country to spread the Gospel for two years. Upon returning home, I was fully committed to Mormonism. I believed that its doctrines were literally heaven-sent, and that it was the one pure source of philosophical, spiritual, religious, and even secular Truth in this world. I liked Mormon social institutions and the support they provided me as I followed the path of Truth. I felt lucky to have been born a Mormon.
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2 comments | tags: BYU, Conformity, criticism, general authorities, Jeffrey R. Holland, skepticism | posted in List Item 01, List Item 03, List Item 04, List Item 08, List Item 11, List Item 18, List Item 22, List Item 23, List Item 24, Mormon Stories