The Great Apostasy [Mormonism labels ALL Protestant, Catholic & Orthodox churches 'apostate']

Mormonism Research Ministry ^ | Aaron Shafovaloff

[Colofornian]

From the article:
Around the world the fame of Christ spreads. Men and women lift their hands to praise the name of Jesus, worshiping him as the King of kings and Lord of lords. Full of the Holy Spirit, they lift him up as their savior, redeemer, and advocate. His gospel is preached, his word is believed, and his death and resurrection are celebrated in the Lord's Supper. Millions are baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, trusting in the person and work of Christ for forgiveness of sins, eternal life, and the transformation of their heart. Hundreds of millions of Christians gather to fellowship over the risen Christ.

Yet Mormonism pats these Christians on the heads and pities them. The "one true church", Mormonism says, is found nowhere in non-Mormon Christendom. The gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit is found nowhere outside Mormonism. The God of Mormonism recognizes no missionary work, no baptism, and no communion outside The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as authorized. Despite patronizing us with the uninteresting affirmation that all religion has some truth in it, Mormonism still teaches that God told Joseph Smith:

"I was answered that I must join none of them, for they were all wrong; and the Personage who addressed me said that all their creeds were an abomination in his sight; that those professors were all corrupt; that: 'they draw near to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me, they teach for doctrines the commandments of men, having a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof.'" (Joseph Smith—History)
Mormonism teaches that Christ's church fell into what has been described as a complete and universal apostasy.

[Colofornian]

So here we have a Mormon church that claims...:
a. gift of indwelling HS to be found NOWHERE outside of Mormonism;
b. It ALONE is the "one living & true church on the face of the earth" (D&C 1:30)
c. No missionary work outside of Mormonism is recognized as divinely authorized
d. No baptism outside of Mormonism is recognized as divinely authorized
e. No communion outside of Mormonism is recognized as divinely authorized
f. No spiritual gifts outside of Mormonism is recognized as divinely given
g. Although the apostle Paul wrote about prophetic gifts to the Corinthians (which is distinct from any official "OFFICE" of prophet as we find in the Old Testament), Mormonism claims no one but their top etchelon speaks prophetically any more as guided by the Holy Spirit. [Ironically, many Mormon apologists and writers have attempted to belittle Christianity for saying God doesn't reveal revelations any more; yet, these very advocates of Mormonism have "bottled up" God from speaking to anyone beyond a few who happen to live in Salt Lake City!]

[Colofornian]

[See also the bullet-point list in the article with the lead in of: "Today, Mormonism associates the Great Apostasy with a..."]

[Greetings_Puny_Humans]

It’s always incredible to me how arrogant the LDS is on these matters, and yet they wear magic underwear and believe in the stupidest of things, such as the Book of Abraham known-forgery and planet Kolob with its polygamous god. You only need 5 minutes on the internet to prove ol’ Joey Smith a fraud.

[Colofornian]

From the article: Charles R. Harrell writes in This Is My Doctrine: LDS characterizations of other religions as the “church of the devil” have significantly diminished. In 1990, for example, the mock representation of Protestant ministers as hirelings of Satan was removed from the LDS temple ceremony.

I find it rather hard to believe that the true God would authorize such a temple ceremony as what was practiced by Mormons thru 1990...and also their previous temple ceremony practiced thru either 1926 or early 1927 -- where during the Mormon Temple Endowment, Mormons would swear the "Law of Vengeance Oath":
[This reconstruction of the endowment, which drew on various accounts of the ceremony, was published in 1931. The text appears to describe the pre-1927 endowment and thus was already outdated by the time it was published. The temple referred to in this text is the Salt Lake Temple].

LAW OF VENGEANCE: "You and each of you do solemnly promise and vow that you will pray, and never cease to pray, and never cease to importune high heaven to avenge the blood of the prophets on this nation, and that you will teach this to your children and your children's children unto the third and fourth generation." "All bow your heads and say yes."

Source: LDS Endowment: 1931 Account

[Colofornian]

From the article: ecclesia semper reformans, semper reformanda - "the church is always reformed and always reforming."

Has the historic Christian church always been in need of ongoing reformation? Of course! Yet this article discloses what is wrong with the Mormon prooftexting of certain Bible verses to claim there would be a complete apostasy.

Mormonism makes a mockery of the apostle Paul as an apostle, had a complete apostasy already occurred. For Paul prophesied -- in Ephesians 3:21:
21 Unto him be glory IN THE CHURCH by Christ Jesus THROUGHOUT ALL AGES, WORLD WITHOUT END. Amen.

Question: What part of "in the church"..."throughout all ages"... & "world without end" didn't Joseph Smith & current Mormons not understand?

[donmeaker]

Have they convinced the Roman Catholics? My understanding is that the Roman Catholics hold that the Mormons are heretics.

[Boogieman]

It’s almost a requirement for cults to take that attitude though. They need to convince people that they are the only option, otherwise nobody would comply with their crazy demands.

[aMorePerfectUnion]

CULT OF MORMONIC VERSES PLACEMARKER

(Hey West, I want to be on your list too!)

[Colofornian]

Have they convinced the Roman Catholics? My understanding is that the Roman Catholics hold that the Mormons are heretics.

Good question. Not among the Catholic hierarchy. Unfortunately, at the grassroots level, my experience has been that:
Some FREEPER Catholics have defended Mormonism on FR...despite the reality that Mormonism teaches that the RC church is a completely apostate church with no authority to do anything.

[donmeaker]

Does the Catholic church accept the validity of the Mormons?

[Colofornian]

Does the Catholic church accept the validity of the Mormons?

No.

[stonewall_jackson215]

don’t the mormons also believe that Lucifer is a son of God, and that Xenu took Jesus to visit the navaho before beginning his ministry in Judea?

[Boogieman]

Yes, the One True God forbade the swearing of ANY oaths, much less a vengeance oath.

It’s interesting that the oath was just removed from the service. An oath is binding... just telling people to stop saying it doesn’t relieve anyone from the obligations of oaths they already made. Did the Mormon church ever actually release anyone from the oaths they bound them with?

[old and tired]

Some FREEPER Catholics have defended Mormonism on FR...despite the reality that Mormonism teaches that the RC church is a completely apostate church with no authority to do anything.

I'm not defending Mormonism, however I not offended that Mormons find me, a Roman Catholic, apostate. I find them apostate too. And Lutherans, and Calvinists, and Baptists, and Eastern Orthodox. So what?

Obviously, Mormons are further from my Catholic faith than others since Mormons don't believe in a Triune God. But it's hardly surprising or troubling to me that Mormons would find me apostate. In fact, their faith is so far from my own that I would hope they would.

[Colofornian]

Btw, beyond some FR responses I've seen from Catholics re: Mormonism...

It's really quite interesting that...

...the Mormon church has spent $million of slamming & defaming the worldwide Christian church for generations! Yet when a few online individuals stand up to this extreme disregard & bad-mouthing & intolerance, they become the targets. The very people who claim to not being able to stand intolerance fail to...
...register concerns with the Mormon church over how it brands worldwide Christianity;
...and then fail to see their own intolerance toward those bold enough to critique the Mormon powers who belittle all other churches other than their own.

We've seen an "interesting" mix of FR posters thru the years:

* It's almost like some FReepers have grown up in homes where seemingly any kind of conflict amongst parents was interpreted as "hostility" [maybe their parents WERE hostile to each other before divorcing; yet no need to project that to the point of impugning others' motives, for which they have no special insight]. Therefore, they seem to "read" ALL critiques as problematic.

* Other FReepers have seemed to have been overly propagandized in our "co-exist" culture, where their educations have hand-fed a daily vision of "can't we all get along?". They seemingly live out the left's version of "tolerance" to the point that they can't even see their own intolerance of those who properly critique counterfeit cults.

[Colofornian]

...it's hardly surprising or troubling to me that Mormons would find me apostate. In fact, their faith is so far from my own that I would hope they would.

Excellent fresh observation offered on here...thanks for injecting it!

[svcw]

Let’s just make it simple: mormonism was created and formed by a man who was anti-Christian\Catholic\Orthodox, who was also a con, adulterous pedophile.

[YHAOS]

"Yet Mormonism pats these Christians on the heads and pities them. The "one true church", Mormonism says, is found nowhere in non-Mormon Christendom."

Your point?

[laotzu]

Yet another Christian-bashing thread.

Aren't you liberals supposed to be spitting on soldiers today?