Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site vax135.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxr!mhuxt!mhuxv!mhuxh!mhuxi!vax135!gks From: gks@vax135.UUCP (Ken Swanson) Newsgroups: net.religion Subject: Mormonism (part 3 of 4) Message-ID: <997@vax135.UUCP> Date: Tue, 9-Apr-85 10:03:53 EST Article-I.D.: vax135.997 Posted: Tue Apr 9 10:03:53 1985 Date-Received: Wed, 10-Apr-85 06:36:32 EST Organization: AT&T Bell Labs, Holmdel, NJ Lines: 215 This is the 3rd of 4 postings on the teachings and history of Mormonism (Doctrine of God, Doctrine of Man, Doctrine of Salvation, Brief History of Mormonism). The following information was excerpted from a tract, "The Mormon Mystique," published by the American Tract Society of Garland, Texas. All referenced Mormon documents were either written by Joseph Smith (founder of Mormonism) or by one of his authorized disciples, or were published by the Mormon church. See the end of this posting for an article posted recently to net.religion by Rich Wales on Mormon reference works for more information about the references in the following excerpts. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Mormon Doctrine --------------- "I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book." Joseph Smith DOCUMENTARY HISTORY OF THE CHURCH, Vol. IV, p. 161 "Every word of God is flawless; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him. Do not add to his words, or he will rebuke you and prove you a liar." Proverbs 30:5-6 1. Doctrine of Salvation Mormonism: Christ's blood shed on the cross only provides for the universal resurrection of all people and does not pay for personal sin (THIRD ARTICLE OF FAITH; JOURNAL OF DISCOURSES, V. 3, p. 247; MORMON DOCTRINE, pp. 62, 669). Bible: The blood of Christ was shed on the cross for the cleansing and forgiveness of sin (Heb 9:14,22; I John 1:7). * Mormonism: Christ's "blood" shed in the Garden of Gethsemane (Luke 22:44) atones for most personal sin (CHURCH NEWS, Oct. 9, 1982, p. 19). Bible: Christ paid for sin in His body on the cross (I Pet 2:24). * Mormonism: The gospel includes "all of the laws, principles, rites, ordinances, acts, powers, authorities, and keys necessary to exalt men in the highest heaven hereafter" (MORMON DOCTRINE, p. 331). Bible: The biblical Gospel includes Christ dying for sins, his burial, and his verified resurrection from the dead (I Cor 15:1-8). The Gospel does not include laws (Rom 3:19-24), or ordinances (Col 2:16-17), or works (Tit 3:5-7). * Mormonism: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints (Mormons) restored the true gospel to the earth through Joseph Smith, and the true gospel is found only in it today (MORMON DOCTRINE, p. 334; TEACHINGS OF THE PROPHET JOSEPH SMITH, p. 119). Bible: Christ promised that the true church would never disappear from the earth (Matt 16:18), and Paul warned that any gospel apart from the Gospel of faith in Jesus Christ which he preached was not true (Gal 1:6-9; 3:22-24). * Mormonism: Mormon "salvation" comes through a combination of faith, baptism in the church, and works (MORMON DOCTRINE, pp. 669- 670; ENSIGN, Nov. 1982, p. 61). Bible: Biblical salvation comes by grace through personal faith in Jesus Christ as Savior disregarding all works (Eph 2:8-9). * Mormonism: Eternal life (the power to attain godhood and have children in heaven) can only be achieved through obedience to the Mormon church and having one's marriage sealed in a Temple ceremony by the Mormon priesthood (JOURNAL OF DISCOURSES, V. 11, pp. 221, 269; MORMON DOCTRINE, p. 411). Bible: Eternal life is entering into an eternal knowledge of and fellowship with God and is achieved by personal faith in Christ as Savior (John 17:3; Rom 5:21, 6:23; I John 5:11-13). --------------------------------------------------------------------- From: wales@ucla-cs.UUCP Newsgroups: net.religion Subject: Material on Mormons by Mormons Date: Tue, 2-Apr-85 14:30:18 EST Robert D. Zarcone asked for some pointers to addi- tional readings on the LDS (Mormon) church. I am posting my reply to the net, rather than mailing it directly to Mr. Zarcone, because I think it may be of general interest. "Mormonism" is a very difficult subject to write on totally objectively, since the way the writer views the topic is almost certainly going to be heavily colored by his/her opinion. This is certainly true of the anti- Mormon literature, and -- without minimizing my own pro-Mormon view in any way -- I will freely admit that most literature about my church written by members thereof is very openly pro-Mormon. Regarding doctrinal sources, I would first direct you to the volumes we use as scripture. These are the Bible (we use the King James Version in English-speaking countries), the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Cove- nants, and the Pearl of Great Price. Our most important non-scriptural doctrinal works would probably be the two volumes "Jesus the Christ" and "The Articles of Faith", both written by James E. Talmage in the early 1900's. For a general treatment of our history, I would suggest "The Mormon Experience" by Leonard J. Arrington and Davis Bitton (Vintage Books, 1979; ISBN 0-394-74102-1). The authors are the LDS Church's historian and his assistant, respectively; both have been history professors at various universities. This is probably the best book out at this time; although admittedly favorable to the Church, it is definitely not a whitewash. "The Mormon Experience" is not a doctrinal work, and prob- ably won't answer your more in-depth questions about LDS beliefs. As for more-or-less "raw" or "primary" historical sources, there are three important multi-volume works. (1) The seven-volume "History of the Church" is basically Joseph Smith's journal (Volume 7, though, covers the first few years of Brigham Young's leadership). (2) "Comprehensive History of the Church" (also about seven volumes, I think) was written by B. H. Roberts and published around 1930 for the centennial of the Church's founding (6 April 1830). (3) The 25-volume "Journal of Discourses" is a collection of speeches made by various Church leaders primarily during the second half of the 19th century in Utah. With regard to the Journal of Discourses, two points need to be kept clearly in mind: (a) Some of the people who recorded these speeches didn't do a very good job -- things were left out and/or garbled -- and as a re- sult some pretty crazy things (which no Mormon believes or has ever believed) can be found in the Journal of Discourses if you look hard enough. This fact has given anti-Mormon writers no end of enjoyment. :-} (b) Not everyone quoted in the Journal of Discourses was what you might consider an authorized expositor of Church doctrine and practice. It has long been our understanding that only the Lord's prophet (the President of the Church) can make original, authoritative statements regarding Church teachings. We do not, in general, use the Journal of Discourses as a basis for teaching doctrines that are not adequately substantiated elsewhere. As for where you might find any or all of the above: (1) The KJV Bible can, of course, be found essentially anywhere. We did publish our own edition of the KJV in 1979 (no textual changes, but the footnotes, concordance, dictionary, and maps are brand-new). One very useful innovation in the 1979 LDS edition was that the little letters stuck into the body of the text as references to the footnotes start over again with each verse -- rather than each chap- ter as has traditionally been done (i.e., the footnotes in a given chapter are identified something like "1a", "1b", "1c", "2a", "2b", "3a", etc.). (2) The Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and Pearl of Great Price are published by the LDS Church (of course) -- usually all three in a single cover, though the Book of Mormon is published by itself as well. If you can't find these in a nearby library, you should be able to find them through the Church. If you live near a university, I would suggest looking in the phone book under "Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" for an "Institute of Religion" (our college-level supplementary religious instruction program). Most Institutes have sizable LDS libraries and would be more than willing to let you come over and browse through their collections (without applying undue pressure on you to convert, I should add). If there is no Institute in your area, you might start calling other phone-book listings for the Church. You should easily be able to find these books -- either for free or for just a few dollars. If you make contact through full-time missionaries or a local congrega- tion ("ward"), you will probably find that people assume you are interested in converting. If so, great (no smiley-face); if not, just say so. (3) As for the other books listed above (Jesus the Christ, Articles of Faith, and the multi-volume historical works), I would make the same suggestions. Check your local libraries -- particularly university libraries -- and/or a local Institute of Religion. Full-time mis- sionaries should have easy access to copies of "Jesus the Christ" and "Articles of Faith", though probably not to the historical com- pilations. Again, if your intent is not to convert, but simply to find out information, be honest and up-front; most people will re- spect your wishes (though, admittedly, they may hold out hope that you might change your mind after finding out more). I hope this helps some. -- -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Rich Wales University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Computer Science Department 3531 Boelter Hall Los Angeles, California 90024 // USA -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Phone: (213) 825-5683 // +1 213 825 5683 ARPANET: wales@UCLA-LOCUS.ARPA UUCP: ...!{cepu,ihnp4,trwspp,ucbvax}!ucla-cs!wales -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- "UCLA" is a registered trademark of The Regents of the University of California -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- ************************************************************************ Ken Swanson AT&T Bell Labs ... ihnp4!vax135!gks