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Church Of Christ Vs Mormon

Christian Vs Mormon Practices

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Christians believe that all people should strive to follow Christ’s commands and example in their everyday actions. For many, this includes obedience to the Ten Commandments of the Old Testament. Other Christian practices include acts of piety such as prayer and Bible reading. Christians assemble for communal worship on Sunday, the day of the resurrection, though other liturgical practices often occur outside this setting. Scripture readings are drawn from the Old and New Testaments, but especially the Gospels.

Mormons wear ceremonial temple garments under their daily clothes and perform baptisms for the dead, and other ordinances by proxy, in temples and doing attendant genealogical research. A dietary code called the Word of Wisdom, currently requiring abstinence from alcohol, tobacco, coffee, tea, and illegal drugs caffeinated soft drinks are left to individual discretion. Virtually all Christians hold special ceremonies or rites, often called sacraments. The Mormons call these ceremonies ordinances. The three main ordinances practices by Mormons are Baptism, Confirmation, Sacraments, Endowments and Sealings. While Mormons are expected to confess their sins directly to God as repentance, some Christians confess their sins to a priest.

Are Mormon Marriages Different Is Divorce Allowed

Mormon marriages are different from most marriages because they are considered eternal. If a husband and wife are sealed together in the temple, they can be together on into the celestial kingdom. However, the church does have a process for annulment and sees divorce as an unfortunately necessary evil. In Mormon President Gordon Hinckley’s words: “There is now and again a legitimate cause for divorce. I am not one to say that it is never justified. But I say without hesitation that this plague among us, which seems to be growing everywhere, is not of God, but rather is the work of the adversary of righteousness and peace and truth.”

Just as a civil marriage does not automatically translate into a temple sealing for a Mormon couple, a civil divorce does not unseal them. If a divorcing couple wishes to become unsealed, they must receive a cancellation of sealing, which requires approval from high-ranking church officials. A Mormon woman must receive a cancellation of sealing prior to remarrying if she wishes her next marriage to be sealed in the temple. However, because men are permitted to be sealed to more than one woman, they do not have to cancel a previous sealing in order to remarry in the temple.

Basic Beliefs And Practices

The most referenced statement of basic beliefs is the Articles of Faith, as given by Joseph Smith to a questioning reporter of his day. This brief recitation by Joseph Smith establishes the basic beliefs of Mormonism, and is not intended to be exhaustive.

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Why Is Family Life So Central To Latter

  • about genealogy and the Mormon archives.

Mormons believe that the family is an eternal unit and central to God’s plan. In fact, eternal progression toward Godhood is limited to those who marry for time and eternity in a ceremony conducted by a properly ordained member of the LDS priesthood in a Mormon temple. Church President Hinckley has also stressed the importance of the family during mortal life, saying, “If you want to reform a nation, you begin with families, with parents who teach their children principles and values that are positive and affirmative and will lead them to worthwhile endeavors. That is the basic failure that has taken place in America. And we are making a tremendous effort to bring about greater solidarity in families. Parents have no greater responsibility in this world than the bringing up of their children in the right way, and they will have no greater satisfaction as the years pass than to see those children grow in integrity and honesty and make something of their lives, adding to society because they are a part of it.” To strengthen families, many Mormons observe “family home evening.” This is one night a week — generally Monday — that a family spends together praying, learning about scripture, sharing things from their lives, and playing games or engaging in other fun at-home activities.

What Do Followers Believe

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The church follows 13 articles of faith, the first of which states that members believe in God the Father, his son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost. However, the church is non-Trinitarian: they are understood as three separate beings.

Salvation or individual exaltation requires repentance of ones own sins , baptism through immersion, confirmation and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, through the laying on of hands.

Members believe in three realms of existence: the premortal, mortal, and postmortal world. Souls move from the premortal, through mortal existence, into the spirit world, then to a resurrected state. Hence they live with God before and after their time on earth life is an intermediate stage of trial and improvement. The postmortal world is comprised of three kingdoms of glory: celestial, terrestrial, and telestial.

Exaltation, or eternal life, is salvation in the Celestial Kingdom. This is a doctrine of human theosis humans can become as God, if they choose to fulfil Gods plan.

Gods plan is seen as working through the family unit. Human beings, in marriage, partner with God to provide a mortal experience for Gods children. This is why members tend to have larger-than-average families.

The spirit world is believed to have a physical existence: families live together for ever there, so long as their relationships were sealed in the temple .

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Historical Differences Between The Churches

The RLDS Church was founded by the confederation of a number of smaller groups that declined to migrate with Brigham Young to Utah Territory or follow any of the others vying to become the successor to Joseph Smith. Prior to the 1860 Amboy Conference, in which the church was formally “reorganized” into the RLDS Church, numerous doctrinal differences were espoused by the leaders of the various splinter groups. Following the reorganization, these differences were solidified into a litany of what might now be called “wedge issues” that would distinguish it from Young’s LDS Church in Utah.

The differences enumerated below characterize the major differences between Community of Christ and the LDS Church.

Salvation Beliefs Between Mormons And Christians

Christianity

Evangelical Christians believe that salvation is the free gift of God that a person is justified by faith alone, based on Christs substitutionary atonement on the cross . Further, the Bible teaches that all people are sinful and unable to save themselves , and therefore it is only by Gods intervening grace that any can be brought back into a right relationship with God.

Mormonism

Mormons hold to a very complex and distinct system of views on salvation. On one level, Mormons believe in the universal salvation of all people through the work of Jesus Christ. This is often referred to as universal or general salvation in Mormon literature.

On the individual level, Mormons believe that salvation is acquired through gospel obedience. That is, through faith, repentance, baptism, receiving the Holy Spirit, and then successfully completing mortal probation by living a righteous life. Together, this enables them to progress in their eternal progression.

The Holy Spirit

Christianity

Christians hold that the Holy Spirit is the third person of the trinity, and as such He has a personality and has existed eternally. He is, and always has been God.

Mormonism

The Atonement

Christianity

Christians hold that the atonement was Gods gracious work in Christ, who stood in the place for sinful man and absorbed the just penalty for sin . Christs work on the cross satisfied Gods justice and allowed man to be reconciled to God.

Mormonism

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What Is The Difference Between The Catholic Religion And The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter

This is one of the many questions we get asked as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints! So, what is the answer? Here below we will cover a few of the main differences and similarities. If you have any more questions or insights, please contact us!

1. First of all, we are both Christians! Both churches believe in Christ as their saving Redeemer! However, Latter-Day Saints believe that Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost are three separate beings, one in purpose. The Catholic church believes in the Trinity, which are these three beings, but only as one person. They believe that Jesus Christ has all power as well but is a spirit and does not have a physical body.

2. Baptism

Members of our faith can be baptized at age 8 and older. We perform baptisms only by full immersion in the water by a male figure in the church, who is a worthy holder of the Priesthood, the power and authority of God. Members of the Catholic church can be baptized at any age by way of sprinkling, pouring, or full immersion in the water, done by the Priest.

3. Scriptures

4. Personal Revelation and Church leaders

5. The Sacrament

While reading, you probably noticed that there are lots of similarities! Although many religions have significant differences, we shouldnt let these differences keep us from being united. We are all brothers and sisters, children of our loving Heavenly Father. Thank you so much for reading and dont forget, GOD LOVES YOU!!

Events At The Organization

Christian vs. Mormon Debate Review

By later accounts, the April 6 organizational meeting was a charismatic event, in which members of the congregation had visions, prophesied, spoke in tongues, ecstatically shouted praises to the Lord, and fainted. At this meeting, the church formally ordained a lay ministry, with the priesthood offices of deacon, teacher, priest, and elder. Smith and Cowdery, according to their 1831 account, were each ordained as “an apostle of Jesus Christ, an elder of the church”. This account was edited in 1835 to state that Smith was ordained the “First Elder”, and Oliver Cowdery was ordained the “Second Elder”.

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Community Of Christ Transformation Since 1960

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Significant doctrinal, organizational, and attitudinal changes in Community of Christ since 1960 have narrowed the similarities that remain between it and the LDS Church. While the doctrine and belief system of the LDS Church is highly centralized, systematic, and static, Community of Christ has adopted an adaptive, decentralized, and progressive approach to doctrine. In 1997, Community of Christ initiated a three-year period of transformation entitled Transformation 2000″, that was seen by its president W. Grant McMurray as the culmination of a series of changes dating back to 1960. McMurray identified these changes as a movement away from a belief that the denomination was “the restored church” and towards a position within mainstream Christianity. At the World Conference of 2000, by vote of 1,979 to 561, the name of the church was changed from the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints to Community of Christ. In so doing, the church was attempting to distance itself from comparisons with the LDS Church and in the process transform itself into a unique body among mainstream Christian denominations.

Mormon Doctrine Vs Christianity The Doctrine Of God

Christianity

The doctrine of God is traditionally called theology proper. The Bible teaches, and Christians believe, in one God who is the Creator of heaven and earth. That He is sovereign and self-existent and immutable and good. Christians believe that God is triune. That is, God is one and has eternally exists in three persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Mormonism

Mormons views about God have varied widely over their short history. In the early years, Mormon leader Brigham Young taught that Adam was the father of the spirit of Jesus, and that Adam is God. Mormons today do not believe this and many have disputed whether Brigham Young was properly understood.

However, Mormons indisputably teach a doctrine called eternal progression. They teach that God was once a man and was capable of physical death, but He progressed to become God the Father. Mormons teach that we also can become gods.

Mormons believe that gods, angles, people an devils are all fundamentally of the same substance, but that are merely at different places in the eternal progression.

The Deity of Christ

Christianity

Christians believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the second member of the trinity. When Jesus was born, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. . Christians hold that Christ has existed eternally and is truly God. Colossians 2:9 says: For in Him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily.

Mormonism

Christianity and Mormonism Views on The Trinity

Christianity

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Use Of Cross And Other Symbols

Community of Christ utilizes the symbol of the Christian cross on its buildings and temples. The LDS Church currently does not use the cross on the grounds that “because the Savior lives, we do not use the symbol of His death as the symbol of our faith”, although this aversion to the cross only became dominant in the 20th century. Rather than a cross, the logo of the LDS Church features the Christus statue as a symbol.

Many temples of the LDS Church include a statue of the Angel Moroni on a spire, but the church does not consider Moroni to be an official symbol and “has no policy regarding the use of statues of the angel Moroni atop temples”, but rather includes or excludes a statue from each temple based on local circumstances. Community of Christ does not use the Angel Moroni as a symbol.

In the United States, the Veterans Affairs emblem for headstones for LDS Church members is a stylized Angel Moroni. For Community of Christ members, the VA emblem is a stylized representation of a child standing between a lion and a lamb, which is an official logo of Community of Christ.

Today, the Community of Christ continues to reject polygamy. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints opposes the practice of polygamy, and its church presidents have repeatedly emphasized that the Church and its members are no longer authorized to enter into plural marriage.

Difference Between Mormons And Lds

Are Mormons Christians

The Mormon sect is sometimes referred to as LDS, which stands for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Most LDS members call themselves Mormons. However, there are exceptions to this. There are also some differences between the practices of some of the sub-branches of the LDS and mainstream Mormonism. We will discuss these exceptions and differences in this article.

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What Are The Key Differences Between Mormonism And Christianity

Sean McDowell June 18, 2012

Mormonism is everywhere. The Republican nominee for president is a Mormon, there is a play on Broadway about the Book of Mormon and the LDS Church has launched a multimillion-dollar ad campaign called Im a Mormon. In light of the recent interest in Mormonism, it will be helpful to compare and contrast some of the key differences between Mormonism and Christianity.

Mormonism puts a heavy burden of works on its followers. Although there are some passages that talk about grace and free salvation , the overwhelming emphasis in the Mormon scriptures is on earning salvation through obedience to commandments and refraining from sin. For example, Alma 5:27 says, Have ye walked, keeping yourselves blameless before God? Could ye say, if ye were called to die at this time, within yourselves, that ye have been sufficiently humble? The next passage says you must be entirely stripped of pride or you cannot meet God.

The view of faith in the Mormon scriptures differs from the Bible. Alma 32:17 says, Yea,there are many who do say: If thou wilt show unto us a sign from heaven, then we shall know of a surety then we shall believe. Now I ask, is this faith? Behold, I say unto you, Nay for if a man knoweth a thing he hath no cause to believe, for he knoweth it. In other words, faith involves believing something we do not know. If we knew it, there would be no need for faith.

Comparison Of The Community Of Christ And The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter

Community of Christ ) and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are two denominations that share a common heritage in the Church of Christ founded by Joseph Smith on April 6, 1830. Since Smith’s death in 1844, they have evolved separately in belief and practices. The LDS Church is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, and claims more than 16 million members worldwide Community of Christ is headquartered in Independence, Missouri, and reports a worldwide membership of approximately 250,000.

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What Are Some Of The Rituals Of The Faith What Are The Restrictions And Prohibitions

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The rituals of the Mormon faith include ceremonies performed in the temple — endowment, baptism of the dead, celestial marriage and family sealings — plus several ceremonies that take place in Mormon chapels. The naming and blessing of infants — performed by a priesthood holder, often the baby’s father — takes place in the chapel. Baptisms are held in the chapels when Mormon children turn 8 years old or when an adult converts to the faith. Family and friends generally attend both of these rituals. The Latter-day Saints also have a practice of annointing and blessing the sick if an ill individual so desires.

Like other Christians, Mormons celebrate Christmas and Easter as their two most important religious holidays. The Latter-day Saints also observe Pioneer Day on July 24, marking the date the first Mormon pioneers arrived in Utah’s Salt Lake Valley in 1847. It is around the time of this holiday that the church presents its elaborate history pageant at the Hill Cumorah in Palmyra, N.Y., where Joseph Smith found the golden plates.

Mormons are advised not to get tattoos and to limit body piercings to a single pair of plain earrings for women. They also follow a general dress code that teaches that modest dress not only shows respect for one’s own body and for God, but also has a positive effect on spirituality and behavior.

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