Paid ministry in the LDS Church. Yes or no.

[_Jason Bourne]

And one wonders why people have problems with the mental gymnastics of so many apologists.

[_Yoda]

Paid ministry in the LDS Church. Yes or no.

No. Those who are paid aren't really the ministry. They aren't typically directly involved face to face with shepherding the flock which is too big for so few to handle.

The wiki definition is: "In Christian churches, a minister is someone who is authorized by a church or religious organization to perform functions such as teaching of beliefs; leading services such as weddings, baptisms or funerals; or otherwise providing spiritual guidance to the community. The term is taken from Latin minister “servant, attendant”, which itself was derived from minus “less.”

Notice the differentiation between those who perform the functions day in and day out from the actual leadership. Obviously the prophets and apostles do some of those things, but often so do the leadership of other churches who authorize ministers. Notice also the derivation of the word implying a lesser functionary.

Again from the wiki:

Etymologically, a minister is a person of ‘lower’ status, a ‘servant’. The word goes back via Old French ministre to Latin minister ‘servant, attendant’, which was derived from minus ‘less’."

So there you have it. The LDS Church has no paid ministry.

I think that a more accurate statement is that the LDS Church has no local paid ministry.

[_Phaedrus Ut]

The paid ministry of the church would include the First Presidency, The Quorum of the Twelve, The Presidency of the Seventy, The First and Second Quorum of the Seventy, The Presiding Bishopric, and the Presiding Patriarch.

The Third through Eighth Quorums of the Seventy aren't paid positions and neither are the general presidencies of the Young Men, Women, Relief Society, Sunday School and Primary. In times past the leaders for the Young men and Sunday school came from General Authorities but that changed in 2004.


Phaedrus

[_Themis]

And one wonders why people have problems with the mental gymnastics of so many apologists.

What confuses my is that he might be dumb enough to think anyone is buying his BS. Even as a non-believer I think being honest is important.

[_Buffalo]

So bcspace, are you going to repent of lying? We all know who the father of lies is.

[_Equality]

Is there ANY yes-no question that a Mormon apologist can answer candidly without equivocating, dissembling, spinning, or obfuscating?

[_schreech]

Is there ANY yes-no question that a Mormon apologist can answer candidly without equivocating, dissembling, spinning, or obfuscating?

Well, that would really depend on what you mean by a yes/no question. Most questions can't be answered so simply and you are just trying to pigeon-hole them into answering the question the way you want them to answer by providing only 2 options. Yes/no questions are nothing more than a red-herring and they choose to not follow you down that rabbit hole. They have dealt with that old "chestnut" many times...Yes and No can take on many meanings depending on your understanding of the context of the question being asked - Yes can even mean No depending on the context...

In other words. NO, they can't.

[_bcspace]

Is there ANY yes-no question that a Mormon apologist can answer candidly without equivocating, dissembling, spinning, or obfuscating?

Yes. As you can see, I answered "No" above to this question and provided an explanation that frankly Q.E.D.'s all opposition to it.

I think that a more accurate statement is that the LDS Church has no local paid ministry.

Considering the standard definition of ministry, which I provided, that would not be accurate at all.

[_Jason Bourne]

BC can't seem to admit that something the Church says may actually be wrong (other than the world wide flood). It is die on every hill for BC.

BC, the Church pays some of its ministry at the top. To say otherwise is a lie. TO say they are not ministering because they are not working on a local level is specious that is unless you admit they have no religious purpose to their call and are just simply business managers.

[_schreech]

Yes. As you can see, I answered "No" above to this question and provided an explanation that frankly Q.E.D.'s all opposition to it.

Considering the standard definition of ministry, which I provided, that would not be accurate at all.

Lol. Look what I found, published, on LDS.org:

"A new prophet of God has been raised up for this present day!

He is one in a line of inspired men divinely called to minister now and to bring a new revelation from heaven to every man, woman, and child who will hear...

With this new line of prophets to guide us, we bring salvation again to all mankind. We testify that God indeed has spoken in these last days, and that we are his ministers." - http://www.LDS.org/ensign/1973/01/another-prophet-now-has-come?lang=eng&query=minister+prophet


"Elder Holland Ministers in Middle East" - http://www.LDS.org/church/news/elder-holland-ministers-in-middle-east?lang=eng&query=minister


“While other forums—such as general conference coverage—provide members with the teachings of the Brethren, Brother Romney said that the site’s goal is to show the ministry of latter-day prophets and apostles. He said that instead of just focusing on the teachings, the site also focuses on the people who have been taught.

"These men go about doing good. Their job is to represent the Savior and minister as He would minister,” Brother Romney said." - http://www.LDS.org/church/news/prophets-and-apostles-speak-today-site-reports-on-modern-ministry?lang=eng&query=minister


"During times of crisis, an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ ministers to Heavenly Father’s children both temporally and spiritually." - http://www.LDS.org/study/prophets-speak-today/unto-all-the-world/elder-holland-ministers-in-korea-and-japan?lang=eng&query=minister+apostles


"Elder David A. Bednar reflects on the role of Apostles in today’s world and on his personal ministry as an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ." - http://www.LDS.org/study/prophets/speak-today/elder-bednar-ministry-of-an-apostle-video?lang=eng&query=ministry


"Ministry. The work of the ministry is to do the work of the Lord on the earth—to represent the Lord among the people, preach the gospel, and administer the ordinances thereof. The chosen servants and appointed officers in the Church of Jesus Christ are put on earth by him to conduct the work necessary for the salvation of mankind. A minister “called of God, as was Aaron” (Heb. 5:4), and endowed with the holy priesthood, represents the Lord when he is performing his official duties, and is the Lord’s agent. Therefore, what he does “according to the will of the Lord is the Lord’s business” (D&C 64:29). The Lord has given apostles, prophets, evangelists, high priests, seventies, elders, bishops, priests, teachers, deacons, helps and governments “for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ” (the Church), until all have reached the spiritual stature of Christ, the whole body being “fitly joined together” by that which every part supplieth." - http://www.LDS.org/scriptures/bd/ministry?lang=eng&query=ministry

Once again you fail miserably because of your simplistic, legalistic (childish) and pathetically bureaucratic view of LDS "doctrine". You are more of an apostate than I am considering I don't go around spreading such false "doctrine"...