Posted on 10/28/2011 8:00:34 AM PDT by Colofornian
Straight out of one the most prominent 20th century books published by a Mormon "prophet" -- the nephew of Mormon founder Joseph Smith:
"We expect to have our wives and husbands in eternity...I expect this; I look for nothing else. Without it I could not be happy. The thought or belief that I should be denied this privilege hereafter would make me miserable from this moment. I never could be happy again that I shall enjoy the society of my wives and children in eternity. If I had not this hope, I should be of all men most unhappy..." (Gospel Doctrine, 2:58)
So, Jesus alone isn't enough. Besides, historic Christian belief is that Christian couples can live eternally together in heaven...just not as husband and wife. [Mormons tend to forget that when discussing "eternal marriage"]
Joseph F. Smith went on to distort 1 Cor. 15:19 -- a passage about eternal life beyond this earth -- to include polygamy. Note Smith said "wives." Joseph F. Smith had half a dozen wives well into the 20th century!
He added five wives after he married his 16 yo cousin at age 21! (Source: Church History: Selections from the Encyclopedia of Mormonism, ed. by Daniel H. Ludlow, 1992, p. 521).
This book was published by The First Presidency in 1971 -- the highest ranking hierarchists in the Mormon church. Furthermore, a 1996 Mormon church book specifically sanctioned it: In 1996, Joseph F. Smiths Gospel Doctrine book was again officially sanctioned from the official Salt Lake City church publishing division in its book, Our Heritage: A Brief History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. P. 106 of the book: When Lorenzo Snow died in October, 1901, Joseph F. Smith became the sixth President of the Church. He was well known for his ability to expound and defend gospel truths. His sermons and writings were compiled into a volume titled Gospel Doctrine, which has become one of the important doctrinal texts of the Church.
Previous FREEPER 'Twilight' threads:
* Mormon imagery runs deep in Twilight
* Mormon Women, Twilight, and Internalized Sexism
The "Speaking of ghosts" includes coverage of pix of "ghosts" @ a Salt Lake City hospital and strange phenomenon @ the Mormon Missionary Training Center.
Mormons invite posters to tell their own "ghost stories."
The "Utah Ghosts" mentions the location of the Mountain Meadows Massacre and one Freepers own experience there @ night...and mentions a Porter Rockwell location. Rockwell was a "bodyguard" for Mormon "prophets" -- a recognized mass murderer.
In before the FAIR/FARMS Harry Potter excuses.
Here's a few more for you:
Mormon Bookstore Unshelves Twilight Series, Despite Meyer's Sex=Bad Message
Twilight #8 (Christian commentary on the Chapter 8 of the first book in the series)
Winguardium levioso
Rifftrax: Sparkly Vampires
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1BDeKOFbZY&feature=results_main&playnext=1&list=PLB03DDA41BA0A89A1
hocus pocus
levioSAH!
Have you read “The Shack”? I loved that book!!! After I read it, I bought ten copies and gave it away to friends and relatives.
This whole thread needs a Riddikulus spell.
Ah, so that’s why my wand sputters with that spell!
There’s nothing more pathetic than older women who think the Bella-Edward story is romantic.
Why is this no surprise? From a review of "The Shack"...
The author, William Young, uses the power of story to explain the nature and character of God without becoming too heady or scholarly.
My favorite example of this is found in the last paragraphs of chapter 12. Jesus is talking with Mack about how seekers find him and that he is not trying to make anyone a Christian. "I am not a Christian," Jesus says. Mack asks him if this means that all roads lead to God. Listen to this brilliant response:
Most roads don't lead to anywhere. What it does mean is that I will travel any road to find you.
The Twilight series is not in any way unique in presenting a view of the world that is not based in reality or particularly Christian. In fact, there are few fiction books out there for teens that are.
Of the popular authors writing popular books for teens, Twilight does have one of the best moral underpinnings. You can complain because it isn’t Christian-based, but the characters speak of morality, they talk of virtue, the books show a struggle between good and evil where good not only can triumph, but does so by being good and virtuous.
No problem with people who ban all these books from their children. My daughter read Twilight, but lost interest. Of course, she’s more of a BF Saul fan (horror murder novels).
What are the competition? Harry Potter, with wizards and warlocks and while nobody seems to sleep around there is no talk about not doing so. The House of Night novels by PC Cast — where the good guys are vampires, the bad guys are vampires but also conservative christians, where they imply that the Virgin Mary is just another manifestation of a pagan Goddess, where the kids regularly have sex, and homosexuality is the norm.
How about Patterson? His “Maximum Ride” novels are about genetic experiments gone wrong; there are no good religious characters, it is all about global warming and saving the planet and the evil people are corporations and meglomaniac billionares.
OK, I guess there’s something to be said for the fact that I have read all the books in all these series that I just mentioned. Of them, Twilight was the least well-written, but it was enjoyable enough. I find so long as I don’t look to fiction for validation of my worldview, I can enjoy stuff like this.
Of course, I’m also a big fan of the Ender’s series, which in no way reflects a christian or particularly religious world view; I also love all sorts of science fiction, which rarely deals kindly with my belief system.
I’m certainly not as steeped in mormonism at the poster of this thread, but I am somewhat familier with the tenets of the faith, and I don’t remember anything particularly “mormon” about Twilight. In fact, I remember reading a couple of reviews where mormons trashed the book as not being very good in that regard.
But unfortunately, Bella survived the plunge.
I agree with the snark about Bella. But in fairness, it’s not really a sexist book — Edward couldn’t continue his life without Bella either.
And you do know that this is kind of the plot of Romeo and Julliet. Not saying that makes it good, just that Twilight isn’t the first book to imply that a couple in love is inexorably intertwined and cannot survive without each other.
Bella is a spineless sop of a character - useless without her man - defenseless until HE gives her power.
Hermione was smarter, worked harder, and fought harder than almost any other character in the books. Militarily and strategically she was the backbone of Harry's efforts against Voldemort.
Having read both series I consider the Harry Potter books to be a triumph of literary fiction and I consider the Twilight books to be teen relationship softcore - a half step up from a “romance” novel.
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