Related to yesterday's post, a friend of mine, a Catholic, told me yesterday that even though he has been Catholic 7 years, he has been going to a Mormon/Church of Latter Day Saints church for 5 years. Say a prayer for him. The Mormons were set up in the 1800s by a chap called 'Prophet' Joseph Smith who 'realised' that the original Priesthood conferred on the Apostles by Christ had died out after they had died and been lost(????). The true Priesthood of Christ died with the Apostles.
It was re-discovered, (after 1800 years!) in himself and the establishment of a new church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints when an 'angel' appeared to him and got him to write a 'guide book,' written on 'golden plates' (???), to accompany the Bible, called the Book of Mormon, which appears to be a bizarre re-writing of the New Testament, with loads chucked out and weirdness chucked in. It's very much a 'born-again' religion and the service seems to involve using bread and water symbolically instead of bread and wine to be consecrated. This is because there are strict dietary laws which forbid tea, coffee, alcohol etc. Say a prayer for him. When I was asking him questions about it the article on the Inquisition was going through my mind. So obviously, I had him handed over to the civil authorities who...
The friend is very vulnerable, impressionable and suffers mental illness. Seriously though, he really now believes that 'prophet' Joseph was the real deal and when I asked him whether he wanted the Book of Mormon, or whether he wanted me to take it away, he said, "No, because I believe what Prophet Joseph says!" Prophet Joseph, I can assure you made a lot of money in Salt Lake City out of his new religion. Say a prayer for my friend. The point is that heretical sects do have a habit of attracting impressionable Catholics, the poor, the depressed, those seeking hope, and heresy destroys true Faith in the individual concerned. The clue is in the book title...The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ. Err...what was wrong with the Four Gospels? What was wrong with the Holy Church's position as Arbiter and Interpreter of Sacred Scripture? Nothing at all. Problem is, and the US, as we know, had a lot of these chaps, every now and then some fruitcake pops up and says, "No! I got it! Everything the other churches have been saying for years was not the truth. Now I got it! Oh yes! The Angel appeared to me and...so on and so forth."
Christ warned us about false prophets leading the lambs and sheep of the Church into destructive or inhumane heresies or ideologies at odds with Holy Church teaching. While the Inquisitions had their bad points, ultimately it was trying to combat heresy and maintain True Faith from the false prophets of the ages, because as I said in the last post, it can be very damaging to souls indeed.
There is an amusing film about a couple of Mormon missionaries called "Latter Day Saints". Does your friend know that Mormons have to wear special underpants? That might put him off.
ReplyDeleteI don't really blog, so I don't have a login or anything but I really wanted to comment on your well-meaning post! So here goes: I'm a Mormon or Member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. All I really want to do is help you understand the truth about my religion. It didn't start with Joseph Smith in the 1800's, it started with Christ our lord and saviour! Christ ordained apostles before his death and after his death they continued on with the organization which He had created. So what happened to them? Well, as you know... there was much persecution among the people and some apostles were killed! (stephen, john etc...) normally when there were less apostles the apostles would gather and call and anoint a new one (Like Mathias as seen in the bible.) they were all spread out and with the lack of communication and more apostles dying... they couldn't get together and call new apostles! so the church leadership faded out! If leadership fades out then the organization fades out and so does the church. Since God is a loving and he cares about us. God visited Joseph Smith (then a young boy at the age of 14) and instructed him to continue on with Gods fore-established organization. Apostles and Prophets were called of God and the organization that existed at the time of Christ exists today! Isn't that amazing! Joseph Smith also received the priesthood (or the power to officiate in the name of God) of God from the hands of the angels Peter, James and John. This priesthood still exists amongst the church today. He was told by Christ to name the church after him so thus today it is known: The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter-Day Saints!
ReplyDeleteNow I've only had time to explain only a few things that you got wrong(I mean no offense) in your blog post. There is alot more that you need to understand and for that I would ask the missionaries that are teaching your friend to help you understand .... or go to our official site at lds.org. It never hurts to learn about another's religion. But I do warn you, don't retrieve your answers from the wrong people! There are so many false statements about mormons out there! don't pay any attention to them! Just go to the source! How would you like it if I learned about your religion by going to someone that hated you and asked them questions about you? there view would obviously be skewed!
Sincerely,
A Happy Mormon
Hello,
ReplyDeleteI'll pray for you friend.
I have a blog that goes into great detail of how Mormonism is wrong, very wrong. I am glad that you are shedding light on how bad Mormonism is. And to that 'Happy Mormon', I feel for man, you need to dig deeper into your religion and see the errors.
I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and live in Salt Lake City. Our faith has a wonderful relationship with The Most Reverend Bishop John C. Wester of the Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City. Though he is devoutly Catholic he builds bridges of respect with all faiths to accomplish the important goals that we all have in common: stop abortion, preserve the sanctity of the natural family, relieve the suffering of God's children and further trust and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ with a desire to keep his commandments. Above all is Charity.
ReplyDeleteI must confess that it hurts my feelings when someone denigrates my faith and speaks of things I hold sacred is such a casual and flippant way. Joseph Smith was a remarkable man who didn't seek for riches, power or fame, who suffered profoundly and was martyred for the cause of truth. What seems to separate us is our belief in the God and our Savior Jesus Christ of the Old and New Testaments, rather than our subscribing to the God of the forth century Nicene Creed.
As Catholics, you know that your detractors misstate your history, your doctrines, your works and your mission. They ridicule you in the most unfair ways. Please remember Charity encompasses kindness even to those who disagree with us. As a Latter-day Saint, I hold that Charity in my heart toward my Catholic brothers and sisters.
I hope we can all realize that as Christians, what unites us is far greater that what divides us and in this world where all of the forces of hell seem to be gathering to destroy us, we can little afford to war between ourselves. Those who are not with our Savior are against him. Let us stand together and be with him, then we can truly say that those who are with us are far greater than those who are against us.
Let me simply say as a Mormon who stood with the Catholics and Evangelicals in support of Proposition 8, when the dust cleared, for whatever reason, we became the principal target of the angry, militant gay avengers. Many Mormons and the Church in general received a vicious beating in behalf of all Christians. Despite the unkind things written here, I want you to know with all my heart, we would do it all again.
ReplyDelete