Unraveling the true essence of being a Christian, one hilarious twist at a time!

[Hound of Heaven]

In the Sunday afternoon session of conference last month, President Nelson delivered a talk titled "Rejoice in the Gift of Priesthood Keys." Nelson hilariously emphasizes the sheer significance of priesthood keys, now that they've been restored to the earth by the legendary Prophet Joseph Smith. And get this, only members of the LDS faith have the exclusive privilege of using these keys to exercise the almighty authority of God right here on good ol' planet Earth. Talk about a power move! After being away from the church for ages, I stumbled upon this talk and couldn't help but chuckle at the idea that Nelson might be suggesting that Christians aren't really Christians just because they don't have access to priesthood keys. During the talk, he had the audience envisioning a world where priesthood keys didn't exist and how that would turn their lives upside down. Well, according to him, the LDS church would be nothing more than a teaching and humanitarian organization if those priesthood keys hadn't been restored here on earth. Can you imagine that? Just a regular old organization, without any divine powers. Quite the downgrade, I must say! Well, it seems like he's implying that other Christian churches might just be more like self-help organizations than actual churches. Quite the interesting perspective, I must say! I find myself utterly perplexed by the audacity exhibited in this speech. It seems that this gentleman is boldly proclaiming to the entire world that the LDS faith is the one and only true form of Christianity on this planet. Yet, throughout his time on Earth, he has also made it clear that the LDS faith is simply another Christian denomination. Quite the contradiction, wouldn't you agree?

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/stu ... n?lang=eng

[huckelberry]

I find myself utterly perplexed by the audacity exhibited in this speech. It seems that this gentleman is boldly proclaiming to the entire world that the LDS faith is the one and only true form of Christianity on this planet. Yet, throughout his time on Earth, he has also made it clear that the LDS faith is simply another Christian denomination. Quite the contradiction, wouldn't you agree?

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/stu ... n?lang=eng

Hound, I think your description of the talk is clear enough that I am unlikely to listen to it first hand. It sounds like the Mormonism I grew up in. Nothing there in is surprising. Doctrine One, LDS is the only true church and priesthood power is the foundation. It has been a bit over 50 years since I was involved so I am occasionally puzzled by differences that I hear on occasion. Well differences are not frequent but I hear a more fundamentalist lean in people's observations than was my experience in the 60s David O. McKay era.

Puzzled, I find myself clueless as to what you might mean, "He has made it clear that the LDS faith is simply another Christian denomination." I have no idea what LDS faith you refer to. Or perhaps I should ask what sort of LDS ideas are you thinking of?

[Hound of Heaven]

Even though many Mormon church leaders openly claim to be Christians, I don't think the term "Christian" has any real meaning to Mormons. Christianity does not provide anything that can help one achieve eternal advancement, either on earth or in the spirit realm according to Mormonism, which includes returning to heavenly father and enjoying an infinite life of progress and sex to populate worlds without end. In my opinion, President Nelson would undoubtedly affirm his Christian faith if we were to meet him. Do you think it's fair to say that a Mormon's understanding of Christianity pales in comparison to that of Christians of other denominations, such as Presbyterians or Methodists?

[IWMP]

In the Sunday afternoon session of conference last month, President Nelson delivered a talk titled "Rejoice in the Gift of Priesthood Keys." Nelson hilariously emphasizes the sheer significance of priesthood keys, now that they've been restored to the earth by the legendary Prophet Joseph Smith. And get this, only members of the LDS faith have the exclusive privilege of using these keys to exercise the almighty authority of God right here on good ol' planet Earth. Talk about a power move! After being away from the church for ages, I stumbled upon this talk and couldn't help but chuckle at the idea that Nelson might be suggesting that Christians aren't really Christians just because they don't have access to priesthood keys.

I thought this was always the case.

[IWMP]

Even though many Mormon church leaders openly claim to be Christians, I don't think the term "Christian" has any real meaning to Mormons. Christianity does not provide anything that can help one achieve eternal advancement, either on earth or in the spirit realm according to Mormonism, which includes returning to heavenly father and enjoying an infinite life of progress and sex to populate worlds without end. In my opinion, President Nelson would undoubtedly affirm his Christian faith if we were to meet him. Do you think it's fair to say that a Mormon's understanding of Christianity pales in comparison to that of Christians of other denominations, such as Presbyterians or Methodists?

I feel I can kind of see your point here.
There is a feeling of undermining the true meaning of Christianity. But I have noticed the last few times I've been the the LDS church that there has been more focus on Jesus than how I perceived it previously. I was pleased to see that Sunday school only talked about Jesus when I sat in with my kids. (6y/o has sensory processing difference and ADHD/autistic behaviours, she struggled even with me there). The biggest difference between Mormonism and some Christian denominations (not all) is the atonement and the grace of god. Not to mention the trinity. I didn't know until I visited other churches that some people believe that Jesus has saved Christian and it is done that it is not by people's works that they are saved but by jesus' crucifixion and resurrection. They genuinely believe that as long as they believe in Jesus they are saved. No matter what they do. And from what they share from the Bible, the Bible seems to agree.

I thought that was amazing because to me, I imagine a God that knows everything, whose view of time is very different to ours. We are stuck here in a physical world where we can comprehend 3d objects but can't see them in their entirety without moving the object and creating a mental image or though(for those that can't see images) of what that object is. A dot walking on a 2d plane, it can't perceive the full extent of a 2d object but if it circled around it and touched it it could grasp an idea of what it might be but it wouldn't be able to even comprehend what a 3d object sitting in it's plane of existence would even mean. So God who created everything must be able to see, comprehend and experience everything within that creation. Including time. Out time. I think if you could see all aspects of time and you are living beyond the rules of time then all time would be tangeable and would all exist simultaneously. But then with quantum probability, and allowing us to walk out paths could God see every possible path we took. All choice probabilities existing in one plane accessable by the person who created it. God would know you, ( the Bible says God knows us), he'd already know everything, every choice you make, every choice you could make and didn't make from the beginning to the end. And it is claimed that God loves us knowing all of this. This would mean that if Jesus did something to fulfil the Jewish laws and take the fall for mankind to die on behalf of everyone so that death is accounted for to allow us to live and not have to follow the old laws, and whether he was God in human form, or had an element of god in him or even the son of god or a prophet of god but knowing, then, it is done with the knowledge of everything that is and was and will be and so, if it weren't the case that we were saved regardless of our works, then it would be pointless.

Anyway, I don't know if I expressed what I'm trying to express. I think I might have just verbally projectile vomited all over the place and got confused. Lol hopefully something in there makes sense.

[IWMP]

Even though many Mormon church leaders openly claim to be Christians, I don't think the term "Christian" has any real meaning to Mormons. Christianity does not provide anything that can help one achieve eternal advancement, either on earth or in the spirit realm according to Mormonism, which includes returning to heavenly father and enjoying an infinite life of progress and sex to populate worlds without end. In my opinion, President Nelson would undoubtedly affirm his Christian faith if we were to meet him. Do you think it's fair to say that a Mormon's understanding of Christianity pales in comparison to that of Christians of other denominations, such as Presbyterians or Methodists?

I feel I can kind of see your point here.
There is a feeling of undermining the true meaning of Christianity. But I have noticed the last few times I've been the the LDS church that there has been more focus on Jesus than how I perceived it previously. I was pleased to see that Sunday school only talked about Jesus when I sat in with my kids. (6y/o has sensory processing difference and ADHD/autistic behaviours, she struggled even with me there). The biggest difference between Mormonism and some Christian denominations (not all) is the atonement and the grace of god. Not to mention the trinity. I didn't know until I visited other churches that some people believe that Jesus has saved Christian and it is done that it is not by people's works that they are saved but by jesus' crucifixion and resurrection. They genuinely believe that as long as they believe in Jesus they are saved. No matter what they do. And from what they share from the Bible, the Bible seems to agree.

I thought that was amazing because to me, I imagine a God that knows everything, whose view of time is very different to ours. We are stuck here in a physical world where we can comprehend 3d objects but can't see them in their entirety without moving the object and creating a mental image or though(for those that can't see images) of what that object is. A dot walking on a 2d plane, it can't perceive the full extent of a 2d object but if it circled around it and touched it it could grasp an idea of what it might be but it wouldn't be able to even comprehend what a 3d object sitting in it's plane of existence would even mean. So God who created everything must be able to see, comprehend and experience everything within that creation. Including time. Out time. I think if you could see all aspects of time and you are living beyond the rules of time then all time would be tangeable and would all exist simultaneously. But then with quantum probability, and allowing us to walk out paths could God see every possible path we took. All choice probabilities existing in one plane accessable by the person who created it. God would know you, ( the Bible says God knows us), he'd already know everything, every choice you make, every choice you could make and didn't make from the beginning to the end. And it is claimed that God loves us knowing all of this. This would mean that if Jesus did something to fulfil the Jewish laws and take the fall for mankind to die on behalf of everyone so that death is accounted for to allow us to live and not have to follow the old laws, and whether he was God in human form, or had an element of god in him or even the son of god or a prophet of god but knowing, then, it is done with the knowledge of everything that is and was and will be and so, if it weren't the case that we were saved regardless of our works, then it would be pointless.

Anyway, I don't know if I expressed what I'm trying to express. I think I might have just verbally projectile vomited all over the place and got confused. Lol hopefully something in there makes sense.

Oh yeah... I do think Mormons are Christian but perhaps too much focus is misplaced making us/them pretty crap Christians.

[Hound of Heaven]

There is a significant distinction between Mormonism and many Christian denominations when it comes to the methods used to convince individuals of the truthfulness of their teachings. Mormonism uses pride, ego, and arrogance to attract believers. I'm not implying any negative traits about Mormons, but it is worth noting that Mormon doctrine has a way of captivating individuals by appealing to certain emotions. Joseph crafted the structure of Mormonism to attract a specific kind of individual. Someone who is curious, desires to be aware of what lies ahead in order to be ready, someone who finds joy in having knowledge of the future. However, I believe that many Christians are content with not having all the answers regarding the purpose of our existence on earth. Mormonism is a form of elitism. Mormonism offers individuals the opportunity to join a community of people who possess unique abilities that set them apart from others. The belief in Mormonism is that both our spirit and the spirit of the Holy Ghost reside within our bodies, making every Mormon a two-spirit entity. Mormonism instills the belief in one's potential to become a deity, akin to a superhero. I believe Christianity does not engage in such behavior.

If you think Mormons are Christians, I would appreciate it if you could clarify your understanding of what constitutes a Christian. Most Christians who believe in salvation through Jesus Christ anticipate being in the presence of God after death. On the other hand, Mormons believe in universal salvation due to Jesus's earthly ministry and his sacrifice for our sins. From the Mormon perspective, a Christian is not considered more righteous than a Muslim when it comes to salvation. Both are saved and both have the potential to reach the terrestrial kingdom. In Mormonism, it is believed that without the restored gospel, being saved holds no significance, unless one's intention is to be forever separated from God. In my humble opinion, that's why Mormons are so enthusiastic and open about identifying themselves as Christians. Christianity is seen as a stepping stone towards exaltation, rather than being embraced wholeheartedly. Christianity and being Christian have limitations when it comes to reaching heaven. Here's an alternative perspective on the contrasting views of Mormons and Christianity regarding their gospel. Our existence prior to our mortal experience was spent in the celestial realm, alongside our divine parents and beloved family members. There existed a singular gospel in heaven, a solitary set of rules, and a sole priesthood. All the Christian religions present on earth did not exist in the preexistence and will not exist in our postmortal existence. These ideas have emerged from the depths of human hearts, as people have grappled with the interpretation of scriptures for centuries. The religions on Earth are just a small part of our mortal experience. This is how Mormonism justifies anything that doesn't align with its teachings. If people are convinced to follow Christianity, they may be separated from God for eternity. According to Mormonism, Christianity is seen as a tool of Satan.