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Answering Your Questions Articles
An historic visit to Buenos Aires, Argentina, was made in 1978, by then prophet, seer, and revelator Spencer W. Kimball. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the only Christian sect which claims to be led by a prophet. I had received a personal witness from the Lord that this holy man was who he claimed to be. I was on my Mormon mission, a two year voluntary obligation for many young men in the LDS Church. President Kimball’s visit was part of the preparation for building a Mormon temple in Argentina. Word went out in the mission that we would all make the journey to Buenos Aires to hear him dedicate the country to missionary work and address the members of the LDS Church at Luna Park, a football stadium in Buenos Aires.
Argentina is a country roughly 1/3 the size of the United States. It is so long, that if it were in the northern hemisphere, it would stretch from Canada to the Yucatan. It is located in the southern hemisphere, however,... Read the rest of this article »
To raise children means to help them grow up to be an accepted and helpful member of the community. When Mormons (members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) speak of raising an eternal family, they mean a family that has participated in eternal sealing ordinances and has continued to be faithful to Christ. Mormons believe that family relationships can last forever, not just for this mortal life. Family members who accept the atonement of Jesus Christ and follow His example can be together forever through sacred ordinances performed in Houses of God, His holy temples.
As recorded in the New Testament, Jesus gave Peter the power to have things sealed on earth and sealed in heaven (Matthew 16:19). This sealing power is only given to prophets who are the heads of their particular dispensations, as Peter was the head of the Church after the resurrection of Christ. This power was lost when the original apostles were martyred, but it has been... Read the rest of this article »
Conversion is the process of being born of God. “Born of God” or “born again” refers to the personal spiritual experience through which we receive a forgiveness of sins and a witness from God that if we continue to live the commandments and endure to the end, we will inherit eternal life. The scriptures teach that just as each of us is “born into the world by water, and blood, and the spirit,” so must we be “born again” of water and the Spirit and be cleansed by the blood of Christ (John 3:5; Moses 6:59).
To be born of God implies a sanctifying process by which the old or natural man is supplanted by the new spiritual man who enjoys the companionship of the Holy Ghost and hence is no longer disposed to commit sin (Colossians 3:9-10; Mosiah 3:19; Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 51). When we are born again we are spiritually begotten sons and daughters of God and more specifically of Jesus Christ (Mosiah 5:7; 27:25). The Book of... Read the rest of this article »
I heard that Mormons …
Answering Your Concerns about Mormonism
Since Joseph Smith first began telling others about his Vision of God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, persecution and misinformation have followed Mormons. You may have heard things from friends and family, or from ministers vilifying the Prophet Joseph Smith or claiming that the Book of Mormon is false or unnecessary. Members of the Mormon Church know that they must live surrounded by such false information all their lives, but they have learned the truth about these matters. Below are several questions that converts to the Mormon Church and others often have. This list does not include everything, but does include links to other excellent websites that can give you fuller answers.
Scriptures:
Isn’t the Bible the only word of God?
Why do we need the Book of Mormon?
Doesn’t the Book of Mormon contradict the Bible?
Didn’t the Three Witnesses deny their testimonies about... Read the rest of this article »
Why Do We Need the Book of Mormon?
Some people wonder why we need the Book of Mormon if we already have the Bible. The Bible, they say, is the complete word of God. However, the Bible never claims to be complete, and even today different churches use different Bibles. The Catholic version of the Bible includes 14 books not found in the Protestant Bible, and Eastern Christian Churches have books not found in any Western Bible.
The Book of Mormon helps us more fully understand God’s teachings about Jesus Christ and about salvation through Him. The title page of the Book of Mormon proclaims that its aim is to
“Show unto the remnant of the House of Israel what great things the Lord hath done for their fathers.”
“[T]hat they may know the covenants of the Lord, that they are not cast off forever.”
“And also to the convincing of the Jew and the Gentile that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God, manifesting himself unto all nations.”
The... Read the rest of this article »
Did the Three Witnesses deny their testimonies about the Book of Mormon?
In the introduction to the Book of Mormon there is section entitled “The Testimony of the Three Witnesses” This testimony was given by three men–David Whitmer, Oliver Cowdery, and Martin Harris–each of whom saw the plates from which Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon. According to their account, they gathered with Joseph Smith to pray in the woods and while praying an angel appeared to them and showed them the plates and other artifacts.
Over the next several years, these three witnesses faced many challenges and left the Mormon Church. Two, Harris and Cowdery, later returned, humbly repenting of their mistakes and pride which had led them out of the Mormon Church. Whitmer never rejoined the Mormon Church, but he never denied his testimony. Instead, he claimed that everyone else in the Church had gone wrong, but that the Book of Mormon and his testimony... Read the rest of this article »
Do Mormons Worship Joseph Smith?
Because Mormons frequently discuss the Prophet Joseph Smith, some people get the false impression that they worship him. However, as can be clearly shown from the true name of the Mormon Church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Jesus Christ is the central figure of Mormon belief. For Mormons, Joseph Smith is a prophet just like Moses, Isaiah, or Paul in the Bible. Just as Protestants and Catholics quote the writings of Paul as scripture and as a source of doctrine, Mormons quote the revelations given to Joseph Smith in addition to those scriptures recorded in the Bible.
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Why All the Secrecy About the Mormon Temple? Didn’t Jesus Tell His
Disciples to Preach All His Teachings Openly?
Critics of Mormonism and of Mormon temples in particular like to claim that Mormons have secret teachings that they do not share with new members or others investigating the Mormon Church. They claim that Mormons have secret, unchristian temple rituals. All of these attacks are unfounded. Mormons believe that temple ceremonies are sacred, and just as God commanded the ancient Israelites in the Bible to build a temple for special ceremonies and rituals, so today God has commanded His people to build temples. However, no doctrine is taught in the temple which is not taught publicly, only some of the ordinances and covenants of the temple are kept private to guard their sacred nature.
There were times when Jesus commanded his disciples to keep certain things to themselves. On the Mount of Transfiguration, Peter, James, and... Read the rest of this article »
Was the Prophet Joseph Smith a Lazy, Immoral Person?
Many people have tried to attack the character of Joseph Smith, to make him seem like a liar or a money grubbing charlatan. They think that if they discredit Joseph Smith by pointing out his flaws, then they will discredit his teachings about God and Jesus Christ. Certainly Joseph Smith was not perfect; he was a man. In the New Testament we read, “Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain; and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months” (James 5:17). Joseph Smith commented on this verse referring to himself and said:
I was this morning introduced to a man from the east. After hearing my name, he remarked that I was nothing but a man, indicating by this expression, that he had supposed that a person to whom the Lord should see fit to reveal His will, must be something more than a man. He seemed to have forgotten... Read the rest of this article »
Did Jesus Christ’s Crucifixion End the Need for Temples
When Jesus Christ died on the cross, the veil of the temple was rent in two to symbolize that Jesus Christ’s crucifixion opened the way for all mankind to enter the presence of God. The Gospel of Matthew says, “Behold the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom” (Matthew 27:51). Some people suppose that this meant the temple, and thus Mormon temples, are no longer necessary.
The Apostles of Jesus Christ did not think so, for they continued to visit the temple often after Jesus’ resurrection. In Acts 2:46, we read, “And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart.” As recorded in Acts 3, Peter and John preached and healed at the Temple in Jerusalem, just as Jesus had done. Paul, in his epistles to the early Christians, repeatedly mentions the temple... Read the rest of this article »
