Posted on 10/08/2011 11:37:24 AM PDT by wmfights
Not for me...I won't (knowingly) vote for a Mormon or a muzlim or any number of other Religious folks...
Something like 83% of Americans identify themselves as Christians...
One can only take someone at their word that they made Jesus Christ their Lord...However, I can't see a born again, bible reading, bible believing Christian continuing to be a Mormon, or a Catholic or a muzlim when the bible teaches AGAINST these religions...
Sure, some folks are on the fringe and don't spend time in the scriptures but still trust Jesus for their salvation regardless of their environment but Romney is supposed to be one of the uppity-ups in the Mormon hierarchy...He knows exactly what they teach...
I suspect Pastor Jeffrees figures the same way...
LOL, by your definition there were no Christians on earth for 16 centuries if Catholics aren’t Christian ( i assume Greek Catholics are treated like Latin Catholics )
“I always like to use the analogy of Jim Caviezel [In Mel Gibson's ‘The Passion of The Christ’]. Like the Mormon Jesus, he dressed the part, spoke the same words (in the original language, no less), and was referred to as Jesus Christ within a specific context, but it makes all the difference in the world whether one worships and depends upon him for their salvation or the genuine article.”
_____________________________________________________
Just what was it about this Christ in Mel Gibson's work that didn't help you to be closer to Christ? I'm sorry I'm lost. Reading the New Testament would make me see a lot of what Gibson saw.
I remember once (many many years ago) I took my little sister to see the movie version of Jesus Christ Superstar. At the end she cried, then when I asked her why she was crying thnking to myself that finally she gets it and is closer to accepting Christ, she told me, “well, I didn't expect Him to die!”
I think that most Christians are a little like this, not that they didn't expect him to die but that they really understand very little about Christ. My point is, if they know that Christ loves them and they love Him how necessary is it to know ALL about Him.
I don't think Mel Gibson is a false Christ or even presents a false Christ. You can't tell the story of the Gospel and not make a mistake here and there, even the Gospel writers did that. When the Holy Ghost touches your heart and bears witness of the Christ to your heart there can be no denying it, nobody can tell you you are worshiping the wrong Christ when that happens.
Tomorrow I will go with my wife to her LDS church. Tomorrow is their Fast day. On fast day they refrain from eating for 24 hours and then give the money they saved or perhaps many times the money they saved from not eating to a special offering to help poor people. This is above and beyond their 10% before taxes. Anyway, when you don't know what is going on the meeting seems kind of hoky, but if you listen you can't help but notice that sometimes the air is thick with the presence of the Holy Ghost bearing witness of Christ when they get up and speak their little "testimonies". That's all they do on fast Sunday is members get up and "bear" their testimony of Christ. I can tell you that you don't have to be a Mormon to know that these people know Christ. After watching Gibsons movie I realize that somewhere inside of Gibson is a Christian heart. It may not be perfect, none of us has that but it is Christian all the same.
Of course there were Christians...Your religion has recorded them, lied about them and called them heretics and murdered many of them...Burned their Bibles...
These people were Christians of 'the Book'...And they refused to bow to your popes and your religion of Constantine...They've been there since Jesus started his church...
Most of those “Christians” left evidence of their heterodox beliefs, so we can know with certainty that no orthodox Christian group would accept them today. Of course, you can say that that evidence is all lies, but then again you can invent any version of history you want to, if you’re prepared to denounce all the evidence to the contrary as “invented” or “made up” or “lies”. Every cult does that.
We know for a fact that your religion has doctored and outright invented some of it's historical records to make people believe that yours is the church Jesus started...
We know that those your religion calls heretics refused to bow down to your popes and religion...It's not too far of a stretch to believe that your religion also made up stories making those so called heretics out to reject the words of God in their religious practices...
There is some history that says otherwise...
And then considering that the scriptures soundly condemn your religion, the choice is easy for me...
I agree, and would note that Rick Perry did NOT respond to the question. This was a Pastor who spoke at the event being asked directly what his RELIGIOUS beliefs are.
Bill Bennett made a BIG deal about this. But if a reporter who wasn’t Catholic asked Bill Bennett if he could go with Bill to his church and take communion, would Bill Bennett say “sure”, or would he would he tell the reporter that he wasn’t allowed to do so?
Perhaps another way to say it is that MormonISM does not teach Christianity, however, surely there are some Christians among the Mormon population. IOW, there must be some lousy Mormons who might "accidentally" be passable Christians in Spite of their professed faith. :)
With no other choice but to not vote, I think I could put a person's Mormon "faith" aside if the person nevertheless had a worldview that mimicked that of a Christian in the important areas. For example, I haven't heard yet what Romney's precise view on nominating SCOTUS justices is. If his answer convinced me he was motivated to nominate an anti-Roe candidate then that would be helpful for me on election day.
What you bring up is a rather interesting and difficult issue; when is someone simply off the theological reservation and when is he an unsaved heretic? I suppose this is why it is important that we don't judge others. We are commanded not to have anything to do with people who profess a saving knowledge but live a licentious life style. But beyond that we are simply warned of tares. This must be one of the most difficult things to grapple with because it affects who we listen to, make friends with, give our fund to, etc.
Yes I agree. Most of the time we can't know the private details of the lives of public figures (Weiner exception notwithstanding :) so with candidates we might be better off going with policy, as I took your approach to be.
We really don't know who is saved and who isn't. Thankfully we don't have to take a theological exam, but I believe knowing who the Jesus Christ is that you have Faith in is probably important.
I believe Romney's professed mormonism is something to consider just as obama's attending Rev. Wright's church and what it taught was when considering whether or not to vote for him. It's easy to present a flawed view that someone is a bigot for weighing this and deciding not to vote for him on the basis of this but it's not. For example if a conservative Jew was running for POTUS under the same criteria I would consider his beliefs as sound and have no concern voting for him.
However, a belief system that teaches that god evolves from man, that Jesus is the half brother of Satan, and that men will evolve into gods and be given worlds to rule over is not sound. A candidate that believes these things I question their judgment.
I don't know if I would question their judgment as much as realize that the Holy Spirit has not reveal that truth to them. Romney still yet may 1) get his doctrine straighten out, 2) become a believer, or 3) fall into the abyss. But everything is controlled by God and I wouldn't necessarily question a candidate's judgment based on their theology. Everyone is blinded by the ruler of this world until if and when God opens their eyes. The wisdom from above and the wisdom of this world are mutually exclusive.
case in point
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.