Summary of my Mormonism research

In the world today there are many religious groups who claim to follow Christ. These groups, however, seem to have drastically different, and sometimes directly contradictory, belief systems. The first question we need to ask ourselves is, is it appropriate to give the label 'Christian' to all groups that claim to follow Christ? In China today there is a religious group called "Lightning from the East" who believe that Jesus is alive and well in the person of a Chinese peasant woman, so does that make it's adherents "Christians'? While there may be some cynical atheists who see all religious expressions as equally insane, most people would intuitively recognize that there must be some reasonable boundary drawn between those who are authentically Christian, and those who need to revise their belief system. I suggest that there are two standards that might be used a preliminary gauges of authenticity:

  1. Are the theological teachings of the group, and their teachings regarding the person of Christ, consistent with the writings of the New Testament?
  2. Are the actions of the group consistent with what we should expect from a Spirit-Lead church?

In our investigation of various groups, we must recall that there will always be exceptions to the rules. It is important not to make mountains out of mole-hills by emphasizing exceptional cases, but to investigate common trends, noting the exceptions. There will always be somebody who does not understand the theology of the group, or who acts out of character for the group, so it is important to ensure that we have some basis on which to claim that 'the group believes...', or 'people in the group act...'.

With these guiding thoughts in mind, it is possible to investigate all groups who claim the title 'Christian', and measure whether the title is warranted, or simply adopted. A truly telling study would be the investigation of all groups, but that investigation is beyond the time commitment of most people. There are plenty of good books, founded on scholarly research, that investigate various groups, both those that have traditionally been considered authentically Christian, and those that have traditionally been assumed to have simply taken on the title presumptuously.

This section represents the research of one group, Mormonism, who claims the title 'Christian'. Both questions addressed above will be investigated, as well as various other aspects of their theology that stuck out in my research. My reason for researching Mormonism is simply that there are many Mormons where I live, supplying regular opportunity to interact with them. It seemed like a good idea to learn the process of theological research by applying that process to a group that I will likely interact with, as opposed to a group that I may never meet in person.

This was originally written as a short book on the subject, so I keep talking about it being a book, rather than a web site. I am currently in the prossess of 'internetting' it.

Table of Contents

  1. Theological Reasons
    1. Does God get hungry?
      1. "Seeing" God
        1. Poetry
        2. Physical manifestations
        3. Visions
      2. One problem passage
      3. The Bible describes God
    2. It's a gift, but you have to pay for it
      1. Salvation, Exaltation; what's the difference?
      2. Heaven, or Heavens?
        1. Only two afterlife options
        2. Working for Heaven
    3. Not one, Not two, but three Gods
    4. And, that's not all...
  2. The Book of Mormon
    1. Where it came from
    2. Translational considerations
    3. Historical considerations
    4. Where did you dig that up?
    5. Wait a minute, I thought you said...
  3. Joseph Smith and the Mormon Church
    1. Just who was that Joe guy?
      1. Joseph Smith, Prophet
      2. Joseph Smith, Translator
      3. The bigger picture of the problem
    2. Hi, I’m from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
      1. Why can't we all just get along?
      2. God told me...
      3. Surgeon general's warning
  4. Other Philosophical Reasons
    1. Gods many, and Lords many
    2. A really, really, really, really old universe
    3. As I gaze into my crystal ball...
    4. Will the real God please stand up

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