Church of Heavenly Father

[_zeezrom]

Why Me told me that Jesus Christ is emphasized more than Heavenly Father in church magazines. He said this in response to my comment that children in primary are confused about who we worship - Jesus or Heavenly Father.

I would like to point out that if you do a Friend magazine search on www.lds.org for the words
"Heavenly Father" you will get 2,516 hits. Similarly, if you do a search for "Jesus Christ" you get 2,162 hits. By the way, the search for "Jesus Christ" also returned "Christ" and "Jesus".

Face it, when you sit in a primary sharing time, you will hear the words "Heavenly Father" more than "Jesus Christ".

You may find similar statistics in F&TM. Note as well that some people (out of respect?) use the phrase, "I'm so thankful for the atonement" more than some phrase with the name Jesus Christ in it.

In all honesty, I was a little confused as a youth which we place more importance - Jesus or Heavenly Father.

Now I'm seeing why the idea of Jesus being God Himself come down to earth as being so interesting to me. It is so new and possibly simpler for a monotheist.

Zee.

[_zeezrom]

PS - let me add this as a possible reason for some of the confusion for children:

An adult says, "we should do what God commands of us." To the child, who is this "God"? Jesus or Heavenly Father? Similarly, the confusion may stem from the word Lord.

[_MCB]

PS - let me add this as a possible reason for some of the confusion for children:

An adult says, "we should do what God commands of us." To the child, who is this "God"? Jesus or Heavenly Father? Similarly, the confusion may stem from the word Lord.

And to make the misunderstandings worse, Mormonism teaches that they are distinct from each other. Confused kids, AND adults.

[_why me]

Mormons recognize that Jesus was the son of god who attoned for our sins. When Mormons pray they pray to heavenly father. I have also seen catholic priests pray to the father also. I have also seen protestant evangelicals pray to the father.

I have no idea what your problem is. Perhaps you are nitpicking a little too much. For catholics, the trinity is a mystery. Mysteries can be very confusing. For Mormons, there are three distinct personages. What is so confusing about that?

In the ensign there are many articles about jesus attoning for our sins. And yes, there is also mentioning of heavenly father. What is the problem?

[_zeezrom]

What is the problem?

It is trying to figure out who we develop a relationship with.

"I have a relationship with God."

I think a lot of children grow up thinking they are building a relationship with HF.

[_zeezrom]

On a side note, I looked into "a personal relationship with Jesus".

Is this important for Christians? How important? Is it important for Mormons?

I did a search on www.lds.org and found:

Chauncey C. Riddle said,

First and last, true religion is a personal relationship with our Savior, Jesus Christ. Prayer is the key to establishing that relationship.

I have to be honest with you here. I've always felt my conversations with HF gave me more of a relationship with HF, not Jesus. Jesus was a side note when I thought about repentance. Am I alone in this line of thinking??

Elder W. Don Ladd said,

The most important thing we can do—young or old—is develop a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

President James E. Faust said,

[we should have] a daily acknowledgment of His divinity. To have a daily, personal relationship with the Master, we must be His disciples.

I'm sorry to say I have been confused all my life about who I'm supposed to have a relationship with. I have sort of been a polygamist - building a relationship with HF and Jesus. I talk to HF (as a distinct being) and I think of Jesus in my heart when I'm troubled etc. Crazy. I must be going insane. I'm likely the only one thinking this way....

[_Yoda]

Hey, Zee, maybe this will help. I posted this on the other thread in response to your comments about this issue there:

Heavenly Father and Jesus are one in purpose. Jesus Christ is the God of this earth. He is who we pray to. He is our "Heavenly Father".

Christ prayed to Elohim (Heavenly Father) on the cross because that is who He answered to. But God the Father gave Christ stewardship over this earth. Christ created it. We are His "children". He is our steward.

[_zeezrom]

Hey, Zee, maybe this will help. I posted this on the other thread in response to your comments about this issue there:

Heavenly Father and Jesus are one in purpose. Jesus Christ is the God of this earth. He is who we pray to. He is our "Heavenly Father".

Christ prayed to Elohim (Heavenly Father) on the cross because that is who He answered to. But God the Father gave Christ stewardship over this earth. Christ created it. We are His "children". He is our steward.

When our children learn about Heavenly Father, who are they learning about? The real HF or Christ?

So, when you pray, you are thinking about Jesus as the being you are talking to?

[_Yoda]

Hey, Zee, maybe this will help. I posted this on the other thread in response to your comments about this issue there:

Heavenly Father and Jesus are one in purpose. Jesus Christ is the God of this earth. He is who we pray to. He is our "Heavenly Father".

Christ prayed to Elohim (Heavenly Father) on the cross because that is who He answered to. But God the Father gave Christ stewardship over this earth. Christ created it. We are His "children". He is our steward.

When our children learn about Heavenly Father, who are they learning about? The real HF or Christ?

So, when you pray, you are thinking about Jesus as the being you are talking to?

in my opinion, they should be learning about Christ. I think it gets very conflated and confused.

I pray to Jesus.

[_zeezrom]

in my opinion, they should be learning about Christ. I think it gets very conflated and confused.

I pray to Jesus.

Thank you for sharing, Liz! So I'm not alone in thinking this is confusing! I was starting to wonder....

Really?! You pray to Jesus. This is mind blowing.

I'll have to consider this over the weekend.