How to tell the cult group from the Church? Know the truth!

Christian Messenger (India's Evangelical Newspaper) ^ | Sept. 12, 2009 | Sheba Devaraj

[Retired COB]

Like I said, I'm more than happy with just one.

I still didn't see the reference where it says no more than one. As a matter of fact if you take your deceased brother's wife in accordance with the Scripture and are already married, you have been directed to have more than one wife.

[ejonesie22]

A Mitt Supporter. Facts are a waste.

[greyfoxx39]

Figures. A little envy at the numbers goin’ on there? Myth supporters on FR are fewer and fewer.

[ejonesie22]

The ones that are left are holding their own though. Amazing.

[greyfoxx39]

The ones that are left are holding their own though. Amazing.

The twooo believers. Are they still blasting JR?

[ejonesie22]

They avoid it like the plague until it is presented right in front of them.

It really is funny, they will call all those opposing Mitt idiots for not thinking he is a Conservative stalwart, or haters and bigots because the ONLY reason we can oppose the great Conservative is his faith (forget Romney Care, guns, abortions yada yada yada...) as if they are not saying that about the Boss as well...

[Tennessee Nana]

I recall an awful lot of people in the Old Testament having multiple wives. I believe that it was encouraged by God - “Be fruitful and multiply”.
__________________________________________________

Got scripture for that amazing comment ???

Well, never you mind little Grasshopper...Nana has...

Who was God speaking to ???

Well let’s read the Bible, shall we ???

Yes, we shall...

Gen 1:26 ¶ And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

Gen 1:27 So God created man in his [own] image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

Gen 1:28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. Genesis 1:26-28

OK so God made male and female...and told them to “be fruitful and multiply”..

But how many of each was he talking to ???

Gen 2:7 And the LORD God formed man [of] the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

Gen 2:8 ¶ And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. Genesis 2:7, 8

OK that was ONE man...

Gen 2:20 And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.

Gen 2:21 And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;

Gen 2:22 And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.

Gen 2:23 And Adam said, This [is] now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. Gennesis 2:20-23

And that was ONE woman..

ONE man and ONE woman that God told to be fruitful and multiply...

ONE man and ONE woman... the set number in a marriage...

Gen 2:24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his WIFE: and they shall be one flesh. Genesis 2:24

And He never told anyone to take more than one wife and then “Be fruitful and multiply”....

However He did say “Thou shalt not commit adaultry” Exodus 20:14

OK that was Bible 101...

Now for Biology 101....

To be fruitful and multiply takes one man and one woman...Every time...

If a man has 2 or more wives he will not multiply any faster than if those women all had their own husbands...

One man, ten “wives” = 10 babies (OK 11, one set of twins)

Ten men ten wives (one each) = ten babies (11, one set of twins..

Only a mormon would attempt to say more children will be produced by one old senile man hogging all the young girls while nine young fertile men go without...

[Retired COB]

Only a mormon would attempt to say more children will be produced by one old senile man hogging all the young girls while nine young fertile men go without...

I'm still not convinced.....most farmers I know only have one bull and bunches of cows.

[FastCoyote]

[As an anti-mormon you continue to be obsessed with all things LDS. I am continually surprised that this website which is conservative and freedom loving continues to promote thru loose moderation attacks on any religion.]

Except my opposition is as much political as it is also religious, having come from experience here in Nevada. Besides Harry Reid I also follow corrupt Mormons like Lance Malone and Dario Herrera. That certainly doesn’t mean other religions have no corrupt politicians, only that in this petri dish some of the signs point in well defined directions. Romney and Gibbons and Hatch are similar.

[Colofornian]

As a matter of fact if you take your deceased brother's wife in accordance with the Scripture and are already married, you have been directed to have more than one wife.

Taking your brother's wife as a wife (caretaking could be another matter) was intended for widowers.

How do we know this? These injunctions from Lev. 18:18 and 20:21:
Do NOT take your wife's sister as a rival wife and have sexual relations with her while your wife is living. (Lev. 18:18)
If a man marries his brother's wife, it is an act of impurity; he has dishonored his brother. (Lev. 20:21)

Can that be any clearer for you?

I still didn't see the reference where it says no more than one

OK, let's go back to basic Biblical math. Let's say you lived as a young single man in an African culture without a Bible translation in your language -- a culture that had some polygamy in its heritage. And let's say you had a village mentor -- an almost father-like figure -- who had seen a Bible in another language at one time, and read parts of it.

You approach him and ask him for marital advice. And he says to you: "The sacred book said, 'a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.' And the god-man also said, 'Haven't you read that at the beginning the Creator 'made them male and female,' and said, 'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh'? So they are no longer two, but one."

And you say, "So I become 'one flesh' with the wife I marry, right?" (And the mentor says "Yes, that is my counsel.")

And you then say, "But the book doesn't say non-leaders can't have two wives, does it?"

And the village counselor says, "I told you the book's math. I never said anything about the 3 becoming 1 flesh. I never said anything about the 3 now to be regarded as 1. And I only talked about husband, singular, wife, singular. So why do you ask about a limited plural that the sacred book never talked about? The sacred book knows of no such thing of one wife becoming one flesh with a sister wife. Elsewise, on what grounds would the Americans ever oppose lesbian 'marriages?'"

Citations above: Gen. 2:24; Matthew 19:4-6

Bottom line: There's a certain "slyness" in your question. And what is that slyness? It implies that we only need to legalistically obey that which God tells us NOT to do -- and since God didn't specifically tell us NOT to take a second simultaneous wife (unless you're a church leader), then it "must be OK."

We need to reverse our obedience mindset. Instead of saying to ourselves, "Well, if there's no specific rule in this Bible rulebook, I guess I can do it" -- we need to see God as a Father to be honored -- and if he told us to take a wife (singular) in Gen. 2:24 -- that's our prescription.

And if Jesus His Son repeated that prescription in Matthew 19 just so that we're clear about it, then that's that.

Elsewise, we get into the mindset that if we were to find something obviously immoral that's NOT specifically mentioned in Scripture, then it's OK to do an "end-run" around God's original intentions.

The Bible was never intended to be a "don't list" of everything we're not to do. But it is a prescription for life and living -- both earthly and eternally.

[Saundra Duffy]

“Mormonism and polygamy go hand in hand “

Oh, for God’s sake! What nonsense! This is 2009 last time I checked. It has been a hundred years since plural marriage was practiced by Mormons. Not to mention the lie about the LDS Church being a cult.

Stinks to High Heaven.

P.S. Jesus died for me, too. I’m a Mormon.

[Saundra Duffy]

“The article has an intemperate tone.”

That would be a huge understatement but thanks for noticing.

[Saundra Duffy]

The missionaries probably stopped going to your house because you don’t make any sense.

[Saundra Duffy]

I watched Joel Osteen’s program the other night. It was very uplifting and spiritual. I like him a lot!

[Saundra Duffy]

“Jesus said ‘I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, no one cometh unto the Father except by Me’ and it is clearly stated in Scripture that the Name of Jesus Christ ‘Is above every other name’ and that He is King of kings, Lord of lords and it is by His precious Blood shed for the redemption of our sins, that we are saved and reconciled to Almighty God.”

Amen! Jesus Christ is my Savior, too. (I’m LDS.)

www.mormon.org

[Godzilla]

Oh, for God’s sake! What nonsense! This is 2009 last time I checked. It has been a hundred years since plural marriage was practiced by Mormons.

Has D&C Section 132 been repealed yet. . . . didn't think so.

[sr4402]

The missionaries probably stopped going to your house because you don’t make any sense.

No, both sets of missionaries told me they knew exactly what I was talking about and wanted me to see their Elders. They expected me to contact their Elders and that was the last I heard of them.

[Saundra Duffy]

” . . .they will sure be amongst the first to help out others, unlike most of the main stream religions.”

Thank you. Mormons make service a habit and it is a documented fact.

For example:
http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hideNav=1&locale=0&sourceId=ddf3515e04f5e110VgnVCM100000176f620a____&vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD

[mysterio]

I don’t know what the point is of posting this on a political web site. If the purpose is to create division, I think most of us have learned to brush that off, praise God.

As a Christian myself, I admit I get annoyed at the teamsport-type competition of whose Christian sect is the "real" one. I'm not sure why I clicked on this thread. Probably because I thought "I bet it's another Mormon bash thread" and then had to check. No, I'm not a Mormon.

Anyway, carry on.

[NoRedTape]

YOUR LIFE AS A MORMON
If you should decide to become a member of the LDS church, you should be aware of what your life in the church will be like. Although you will find yourself warmly accepted by a lively community of healthy, active and generally supportive people, many of whom are very happy in Mormonism and could not imagine their lives without it, there is another side:

• You will be continually reminded that to enter the highest degree of heaven (the "Celestial Kingdom"), you will have to go through the endowment ceremony in the temple and have your marriage to your Mormon spouse "sealed." (If your spouse is not Mormon, or if you are not married, you cannot enter the highest degree of heaven.) To get permission to have these ceremonies performed in the temple, you must prove yourself to be a faithful and obedient member of the church and do everything commanded by the church authorities, from the Prophet down to the local level. You will have to undergo a personal "worthiness" interview with the local church authorities inquiring into your private life and your religious and social activities.
  
• You will be expected to donate at least ten percent of your income to the church as tithing. Other donations will be expected as the need arises. You will never see an accounting of how this money is spent, or how much the church receives, or anything at all about its financial condition; the church keeps its finances secret, even from its members.
  
• You will be expected to give up the use of alcohol, tobacco, coffee, and tea.
  
• You will be expected to fulfill any work assignment given to you. These assignments may be teaching, record keeping, janitorial work, cannery or farm work, helping in the Sunday nursery - any job that needs to be done. Each task you perform successfully will make you eligible for others, with more responsibility and more demands upon your time. The members who perform these jobs, even those involving sensitive pastoral counseling, receive no formal training whatsoever (there is no paid, trained clergy). You will be told that God has called you to your assignments. Many Mormons find much of their spare time taken up with church work, trying to fulfill the numerous assignments that have been given them.
  
• You will be expected to be unquestioningly obedient to church authorities in whatever they might tell you to do. "Follow the Brethren" is the slogan, and it means to follow without doubt or question. Discussion of whether a decree from above is correct is discouraged. You will be expected to have faith that the leaders cannot possibly lead you astray. Even if they should tell you something which contradicts what a previous prophet may have said, you will be told "A living prophet takes precedence over a dead prophet." ............................................
  
  ............So much more information HERE...........................