help understanding LDS

[libby]

I'm not sure I understand LDS beliefs, so please correct me if I'm wrong here, either in the question or the presuppositions that led to it.
We are all "spirit children" of God in the spiritual 'realm'. However, I understand that LDS believe God has a physical body, so #1- can someone explain that? Do we have physical bodies in the spirit world, too?
#2- if we are all literal children of God, does that mean we are marrying and parenting our literal brothers and sisters in this world? If not, please set me straight.
#3-if yes, are we brothers and sisters again when we return to the spirit world, or are we still husbands and wives? Which is what I thought the "sealing" for eternity was about.

[ItalianScallion (Premo)]

Originally Posted by libby

I'm not sure I understand LDS beliefs, so please correct me if I'm wrong here, either in the question or the presuppositions that led to it.
We are all "spirit children" of God in the spiritual 'realm'. However, I understand that LDS believe God has a physical body, so #1- can someone explain that? Do we have physical bodies in the spirit world, too?
#2- if we are all literal children of God, does that mean we are marrying and parenting our literal brothers and sisters in this world? If not, please set me straight.
#3-if yes, are we brothers and sisters again when we return to the spirit world, or are we still husbands and wives? Which is what I thought the "sealing" for eternity was about.

1) According to the Bible, we're not all children of God. Only believers are considered to be children of God. Although God is spiritual and doesn't have a physical body, Jesus will have a physical body in Heaven because He became man while on earth, rose bodily from the dead AND back to Heaven. Plus, He said He was physical in (Luke 24v39) & (Revelation 1 v 13).

LDS folks believe that God was once a man then worked his way to deity (not true of course) and that's why they say he is physical. We will have physical bodies in heaven but they will be immortal & imperishable.

2) We all are technically cousins since we came from Adam & Eve but, after considerable time goes by, it isn't considered incest. Before the blood line became sinful, a man marrying a niece or a sister was common & normal. Think about where Cains' wife came from.

3) According to the Bible, we will all be "married to Christ" so, in Heaven, we'll be considered brothers & sisters in Christ. The Pharisees & Saducees had the same question and Jesus answered it: "...There will be no marrying or giving in marriage. We'll be like the angels..." (Matthew 22v29). That's also why the marriage vows state: "Till death do you part". The earthly marriage ends at death.

Here's some of the LDS beliefs about God that contradict Scripture:

God was once a man and became God by his good works and man can become a god if he is obedient enough. Heavenly Father lives in heaven with the 'heavenly mother' (Mary) through whom he had sexual relations and Jesus was born. They say they don’t believe that father & Mary had intercourse but their book of Mormon implies they did.

They say that Jesus is NOT to be worshipped by anyone as heavenly father is.

They believe that we all were spiritual beings before we were born.

They believe that they will be given their own planet where polygamy will be OK and many kids will be born through it.

They believe most people will get to heaven and only a few will not. Then they will progress to godhood. They believe that some people will be sent to Hell but it will be temporary (except for the devil and other bad angels). Eventually they will be released from Hell after they get to hear and accept the Gospel if they didn’t get the chance on earth.

I can give Scriptures to contradict all of these if you'd like...

[libby]

Originally Posted by ItalianScallion

1) According to the Bible, we're not all children of God. Only believers are considered to be children of God. Although God is spiritual and doesn't have a physical body, Jesus will have a physical body in Heaven because He became man while on earth, rose bodily from the dead AND back to Heaven. Plus, He said He was physical in (Luke 24v39) & (Revelation 1 v 13).

LDS folks believe that God was once a man then worked his way to deity (not true of course) and that's why they say he is physical. We will have physical bodies in heaven but they will be immortal & imperishable.

2) We all are technically cousins since we came from Adam & Eve but, after considerable time goes by, it isn't considered incest. Before the blood line became sinful, a man marrying a niece or a sister was common & normal. Think about where Cains' wife came from.

3) According to the Bible, we will all be "married to Christ" so, in Heaven, we'll be considered brothers & sisters in Christ. The Pharisees & Saducees had the same question and Jesus answered it: "...There will be no marrying or giving in marriage. We'll be like the angels..." (Matthew 22v29). That's also why the marriage vows state: "Till death do you part". The earthly marriage ends at death.

Here's some of the LDS beliefs about God that contradict Scripture:

God was once a man and became God by his good works and man can become a god if he is obedient enough. Heavenly Father lives in heaven with the 'heavenly mother' (Mary) through whom he had sexual relations and Jesus was born. They say they don’t believe that father & Mary had intercourse but their book of Mormon implies they did.

They say that Jesus is NOT to be worshipped by anyone as heavenly father is.

They believe that we all were spiritual beings before we were born.

They believe that they will be given their own planet where polygamy will be OK and many kids will be born through it.

They believe most people will get to heaven and only a few will not. Then they will progress to godhood. They believe that some people will be sent to Hell but it will be temporary (except for the devil and other bad angels). Eventually they will be released from Hell after they get to hear and accept the Gospel if they didn’t get the chance on earth.

I can give Scriptures to contradict all of these if you'd like...

Thanks for posting, IS. I'm fairly well informed on the LDS idea of the nature of man, our purpose and our end.
I do believe their theology is an error, but I think that of you, too, and you think it of me. So I'm not looking to correct them to my way of thinking, just to understand theirs.
If, in the course of a thread here, or somewhere else, someone digs deeper into the nature of God and the purpose of our existence, Glory Be to God!

[ItalianScallion (Premo)]

Originally Posted by libby

Thanks for posting, IS. I'm fairly well informed on the LDS idea of the nature of man, our purpose and our end.
I do believe their theology is an error, but I think that of you, too, and you think it of me. So I'm not looking to correct them to my way of thinking, just to understand theirs.
If, in the course of a thread here, or somewhere else, someone digs deeper into the nature of God and the purpose of our existence, Glory Be to God!

Ok but did I answer your questions?

[libby]

Originally Posted by ItalianScallion

Ok but did I answer your questions?

Well...no. In Catholic-think (and you, too, I presume) there are different species. God is His own species, angels are a different (created) species, and man is still another species that God created.
We are adopted sons and daughters of God, not literal. If we were literal then we would be of the same divine species. Jesus is the only One who can rightfully be both God and Man.
If the LDS God is divine and is the literal father of everyone, then (in Catholic-think) we have to be the same species as Him. (I may think too much of myself and my ability to hammer this out) If we are all a literal family, then we are marrying a brother or sister, not a far removed cousin. We are parenting our brothers and sisters. I don't get that.
Lastly, the biggest thing I can't get past in LDS theology is that an all-knowing, all-loving God sends His Son, who is a literal son, to die for us.
As Trinitarian Christians, we believe it is God who became Man. He did the suffering and dying, He didn't send...His literal Son. (it's hard to make that come out right) I don't understand the worship of a God who offers His child instead of Himself.
Which parent here would opt for their child dying instead of themselves?

[itsbob]

Originally Posted by libby

Well...no. In Catholic-think (and you, too, I presume) there are different species. God is His own species, angels are a different (created) species, and man is still another species that God created.
We are adopted sons and daughters of God, not literal. If we were literal then we would be of the same divine species. Jesus is the only One who can rightfully be both God and Man.
If the LDS God is divine and is the literal father of everyone, then (in Catholic-think) we have to be the same species as Him. (I may think too much of myself and my ability to hammer this out) If we are all a literal family, then we are marrying a brother or sister, not a far removed cousin. We are parenting our brothers and sisters. I don't get that.
Lastly, the biggest thing I can't get past in LDS theology is that an all-knowing, all-loving God sends His Son, who is a literal son, to die for us.
As Trinitarian Christians, we believe it is God who became Man. He did the suffering and dying, He didn't send...His literal Son. (it's hard to make that come out right) I don't understand the worship of a God who offers His child instead of Himself.
Which parent here would opt for their child dying instead of themselves?

First off you're talk8ng about different religions.

Understand someone saying they don't understand another's beliefs. I do NOT understand when somebody says "Ours is right, they are wrong".

Religion is all of mans making and interpretation. No way anybody can honestly say I'm right you are wrong.

LDS do belive in life before your mortal being and you earn your way back to God... spirit children pick out their parents and sent here with no knowledge of where they came .

They also believe we didn't ALL come from Adam and Eve. They were the first to sin and create, but they weren't the only ones on the Earth.. if that was the case humanity would have ended in a drooling mass after 3 or 4 generations. The BIBLE only tells the story of the one lineage from Adam and Eve.

There are many things the Mormons believe that make a lot of sense, and their attitude of family centered beliefs can't be beat, regardless of their religious beliefs.

The story of Jesus is a long story about how he came to be here, but generallybhe agreed with Gods will of man having free will and having to earn, through faith, their way back to live with God again.

[libby]

First off you're talk8ng about different religions.

I know that, which is why I tried to differentiate between my definitions of this-and-that, as a Catholic, and what LDS believe.
I agree with you that none of us really KNOWS if we are right. If we knew, by definition, there would be no faith involved.
Catholic theology makes total sense to me, and I believe it to be True. However, others would say the same about their faith, which is why I think that as long as we are earnestly seeking the Truth, even if we are ultimately mistaken, that God has mercy on us, and that by the merits of Jesus Christ, we are saved.
I have no beef or criticism with LDS. Just a person interested in theologies.

[ItalianScallion (Premo)]

Originally Posted by libby

I know that, which is why I tried to differentiate between my definitions of this-and-that, as a Catholic, and what LDS believe. I agree with you that none of us really KNOWS if we are right. If we knew, by definition, there would be no faith involved.
Catholic theology makes total sense to me, and I believe it to be True. However, others would say the same about their faith, which is why I think that as long as we are earnestly seeking the Truth, even if we are ultimately mistaken, that God has mercy on us, and that by the merits of Jesus Christ, we are saved.

I know that Christianity is right and this is why there has to be one standard for truth. God wouldn't leave His people to chance and to wonder about Him. He made the truth clear to us so we could make a clear decision about believing in Him or not. If we didn't have a standard of truth, then any religion could be correct but, since we do, we know that only one is.

The LDS church is very wrong in their idea of who God is. Investigate their fearless leader and who he was and you'll easily see why. Investigate Jesus and who He was and you'll see the difference.

[cheezgrits]

Libby, you're best off seeking information somewhere else, or maybe someone other than the usual "my religion is right, everyone else is wrong" crowd will post with something intelligent and thoughtful on your question.

This is no place to question anything, since IS and Stonethrower and Zguy will tell you nothing except you're wrong and going to hell if you don't believe exactly like they do.

[MMDad]

Originally Posted by cheezgrits

Libby, you're best off seeking information somewhere else, or maybe someone other than the usual "my religion is right, everyone else is wrong" crowd will post with something intelligent and thoughtful on your question.

This is no place to question anything, since IS and Stonethrower and Zguy will tell you nothing except you're wrong and going to hell if you don't believe exactly like they do.

Absolutely true. She had valid questions, but rather than answer anything she got a list of why Mormonism is wrong. It's all IS is capable of. He can't discuss anything, all he can do is pontificate about he's right and everyone else is wrong. Even when Bob tried to explain a little bit, all IS could do is inform everyone how wrong they are.

I'd be happy to answer some of Libby's questions, but not here where it will turn into yet another round of IS damning everyone to hell because he thinks he has all the answers.

IS, in case you actually care to contribute to the conversation, she is NOT asking who is right and wrong. She is only asking what the Mormons believe. That's it. Since you cannot answer, butt out.