"Americans are notoriously uninformed about faiths other than their own..."
Posted on 12/13/2007 10:05:49 PM PST by dano1
Mike Huckabee insists he spoke out of ignorance, not malice against the faith of a Republican rival, Mitt Romney, when he asked, “Don’t Mormons believe that Jesus and the devil are brothers?”
...Mr. Huckabee’s confessed ignorance about Mormonism is widely shared.
(snip)
In Mormon theology, God is literally the father of all beings, and all beings once existed in a “premortal” state as “spirit beings,” said Robert L. Millet a professor of religion at Brigham Young University, a Mormon institution in Provo, Utah. Jesus was God’s first-born son, and everyone who came after that, including Satan could be considered the siblings of Jesus, he said.
(snip)
One of the most basic differences between Mormonism and traditional Christianity is the conception of God. Mormons believe that God has a body of flesh and bone, in human form, and that Jesus does, too...
(snip)
Smith, a farmer’s son, lived in upstate New York when the area was gripped with religious revival, ferment and theological argument. As a young man, Smith said he was visited by an angel, Moroni, and shown a set of golden plates written in Reformed Egyptian, which he translated into the Book of Mormon.
The Book of Mormon is one of the faith’s spiritual foundations, and tells of a visit by Jesus to North America. Other scriptures distinct to Mormonism are the Pearl of Great Price, said to be the writings of Moses and Abraham, as well as Smith; and the Doctrine and Covenants, a collection of revelations to Smith and subsequent presidents of the church. Mormons believe that God continues to send new apostles and prophets who may receive new revelations.
Mormon scripture also includes the Bible, and Mormons prefer the King James version. They say the Bible is the word of God...(snip)
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
"Americans are notoriously uninformed about faiths other than their own..."
Laurie Goodstein=Mormon expert?
lol...ok
i am sure going to bone up on Mormons after all this...next time they knock on the door...they are coming in to yack
They got to where they avoided me in college. I knew more than they liked having read The Book of Mormon, Pearl of Great Price, Doctrine and Covenants, and much of their Sunday School literature for new converts. (My brother joined them for awhile and a good friend in high school was an LDS missionary. He later became a speaker about differences between LDS beliefs and Christianity, among other problems he found. Last I knew, he was a minister.
They vanished at my first, simple questions. Things like, “if the early settlers of North America brought cattle, chickens, and horses with them, why were none of these species present in the 1600s?”
I know enough about their beliefs to know they are not my own. I do not hate them. On the contrary, one of my best friends is an LDS. We’ve discussed things in the past and are still friends.
Values.
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
(official web site)
I Have a Question
How can Jesus and Lucifer be spirit brothers when their characters and purposes are so utterly opposed?
Jess L. Christensen, Institute of Religion director at Utah State University, Logan, Utah: On first hearing, the doctrine that Lucifer and our Lord, Jesus Christ, are brothers may seem surprising to some — especially to those unacquainted with latter-day revelations. But both the scriptures and the prophets affirm that Jesus Christ and Lucifer are indeed offspring of our Heavenly Father and, therefore, spirit brothers. Jesus Christ was with the Father from the beginning. Lucifer, too, was an angel “who was in authority in the presence of God,” a “son of the morning.” (See Isa. 14:12; D&C 76:25–27.) Both Jesus and Lucifer were strong leaders with great knowledge and influence. But as the Firstborn of the Father, Jesus was Lucifer’s older brother. (See Col. 1:15; D&C 93:21.)
...That brothers would make dramatically different choices is not unusual.
...We can only imagine the sorrow of our Heavenly Father as he watched a loved son (Lucifer) incite and lead a rebellion and lose his opportunity for exaltation. But we can also imagine the Father’s love and rejoicing as he welcomed back the beloved son (Jesus) who had valiantly and perfectly fought the battles of life and brought about the great Atonement through his suffering and death.
Huckabee has been doing very well. His recent Mormon gaffe was surprising however, but I doubt it will affect his support much.
In Mormon theology...Satan could be considered the siblings of Jesus, he said.
So then Huckabee was correct, even according to the Mormon theologian? Then why was he attacked when he asked the question? And for the record, it's a legalistic answer avoiding the fact that Jesus IS God, not a biological son of God's and brother to Lucifer.
Romney may be a nice person, he may end up being the president, but it does not change the fact that Mormonism is different than Christianity.
so why the big hullabaloo here and elsewhere that Huckster is a bigot (i loathe that word...I see Sharpton’s hairdew when I hear that word)
i have noticed that some here bashing Huckleberry the most are laughably...well known Christian haters getting in some free shots I reckon
is it more than that?
thanks
again....why is it a gaffe if it’s in their doctrine?
we have folks here linking proof it is
can someone refute it?
i’d like to see it
I don’t think that it was actually a gaffe.
The doctrine sounds somewhat like Arianism. It also sounds like a conflation of Christ and the Archangels, Lucifer being one of them, and indeed, the brighest of them before his Fall. In fact the story reminds me of John Milton’s Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained, Milton being an Arian toward the end of his career.
-— So then Huckabee was correct, even according to the Mormon theologian? Then why was he attacked when he asked the question? -—
Huckabee was not correct. He asked it as a question. He asked it as a question in order to foster religious division for his own political gain.
Huckabee was ignorant....yet he spoke. He knew exactly what he was doing. He is a shameful republican.
He absolutely was. Either you don't know LDS doctrine and can't believe they'd teach such a thing, or you do and don't want people to know they teach such a thing.
That would be correct. A mortal being could only provide his own death as sacrifice for the payment of his own sins thus being eternally separated from the Creator. A perfect mortal (non exist) could die on behalf of one other person as payment for sin since the perfect one would not have to die for their self. Only a Perfect, Eternal, being could take and bear the sins of the whole world, bear the wrath for that sin, and be forsaken by the Father.
"Why do you call Me good? No one is good but God".
If Romney serves a Christ that is not considered the One and True God, the Creator of the universe and all that is in it, then he serves the wrong Jesus.
The essence of his question was accurate...no matter how you'd care to spin it. His motivation for asking is an entirely different issue.
“next time they knock on the door...they are coming in to yack”
Check out their training first.
http://exposeromney.com/pages/Video_LDS.html#A_Millet_Milk
http://www.mormonwiki.org/Lying_for_the_Lord
Huckabee then attacks Mormonism out of total ignorance. What an ignoramus.
-— He absolutely was. Either you don’t know LDS doctrine and can’t believe they’d teach such a thing, or you do and don’t want people to know they teach such a thing. -—
You are in fact incorrect on all three counts.
He did not state it. He asked it as a question.
See if you can get your head around this. I ask the question, “Are blacks mistrustful of whites?” That I ask the question doesn’t make me correct. I haven’t supplied the answer and in the normal course of events this might be an innocent question.
If I ask the same question in the public political sphere when I am running against black man it will be rightly assumed that I am playing the race card or that I’m a dope or both. In any case I would open myself to attack.
Look, I have little knowledge of Mormon doctrine. But since Huckabee apologized, he clearly say it as a misstep.
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