Organization: Virginia Department of Health
Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.christia
Date:         Tue, 26 Jan 1993 21:06:01 -0500
From:         "Michael A. Kline" <MKLINE@VDH.BITNET>
Subject:      Re: Mormon/LDS
              26 Jan 1993 08:08:10 -0800 from <DSROBERTS@BIIVAX.DP.BECKMAN.COM>

This is an old post, but it has some comparisons....

Concerning Mormonism     (3/9/92)

Since we are talking about how Mormonism is "like" Christianity, I
found this little table of comparison. Comments welcome.

CONCERNING THE BIBLE:
 Mormons believe:               Christians believe:
  Unreliable                     Reliable
  Incomplete as it is            Complete as it is
  Adds new revelations to        Rejects new revelations
    God's Word
  Unbiblical theological         Accepts historical, grammatical
    presuppositions utilized       principles utilized in
    in interpretations.            interpretations.

CONCERNING GOD:
 Mormons believe:               Christians believe:
  Tritheism/polytheistic         Trinity/monotheistic
  Physical (evolved man)         Spirit
  Finite                         Infinite
  Morally questionable           Holy
  Organizer of eternal matter    Creator of matter from nothing
  Sexual polygamist              Nonsexual

CONCERNING JESUS:
 Mormons believe:               Christians believe:
  A god                         God
  Created                       Eternal
  Earned Salvation(exaltation   As eternal God neither salvation
   to godhood)                   nor exaltation was required
  Not virgin born               Virgin born
  Polygamist                    Unmarried

CONCERNING SALVATION:
 Mormons believe:               Christians believe:
  By works                       By Grace
  Denies biblical atonement      Affirms atonement
  Possible after death           Impossible after death

CONCERNING SALVATION:
 Mormons believe:               Christians believe:
  "Purgatorial"; 3 celestial     Eternal heaven or hell; no
   kingdoms, almost               purgatory, not
   universalistic                 universalistic

From "CULT WATCH - What You Need to Know About Spiritual Deception"
by John Ankerberg and John Seldon. pp 20-21.

If there is interest in any topic, I can post what they have and start
the discussion from there, adding any comments.

Questions covered are:
Introduction to Mormonism
The Origin and Claims of Mormonism
  What is Mormonism and why is it important?
  How did Mormonism originate and how important are supernatural
    revelation to the founding and sustaining of the Mormon Church?
  How can we know if these revelations were from God or whether
    they originated from some other source?
  Does Mormonism claim to be the only true church on earth?
  Is Mormonism a Christian religion?
  Does the Mormon Church give biblical words an entirely false
    meaning?
Is Mormon Teaching the Same as Biblical and Christian Teaching?
  How do Mormon teachings differ from Christian teachings?
  How does Mormonism view the Christian religion?
  What does Mormonism teach about God?
  What does Mormonism teach about Jesus Christ?
  What do Mormons teach about salvation after death?
  Do Mormons teach that true salvation occurs only by good works and
    personal righteousness?
  What does Mormonism teach about the atoning death of Jesus Christ
    on the cross?
Mormonism - A critical Evaluation.
  Was there a universal apostasy by the early Christian church?
  Is the "first vision" account forming the foundation of the Mormon
    Church really credible?
  What intractable problems face the Book of Mormon?
  Are the Mormon scriptures really the Word of God? If so, why has
    the Church made significant changes in them; why do they contain
    demonstrable errors and undeniable contradictions?
  What is the irreconcilable dilemma for the individual Mormon?
* If the Mormon prophets were divinely inspired, how does the Mormon
    Church explain their false prophecies?
  Why has the Mormon Church ignored the compelling historical research
    of Jerald and Sandra Tanner and why is this important?
Mormonism and the Occult: Should Mormonism be Considered an Occultic
    Religion?
  How important is the concept of inspiration and revelation within
    the Mormon Church?
  Was Joseph Smith an occultist?
  How frequently do spiritist revelations occur within Mormonism and
    how often are the dead contacted?
  What is the true basis of eternal life and how is it found?
  Conclusion

Maks
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