KEN-JENNINGS wrote:
confused wrote:
I null voted.
As someone else stated the name in TV ads is Church of Jesus Christ. But to consider them christians, they would have to believe Jesus is the son of God, not a prophet or golem.
For wacky religions, I'd forward Jehovah's Witnesses and Seventh Day Adventists.
I actually talk to a JW about once a week. He stopped by one day, and I figured I would give him some time to explain himself and the religion to me. After he left the first time, I remember thinking to myself that most of the information I had heard about Jehovah's seemed to be off base. He actually stopped by again today and I had a nice chat with him. He knows that I am atheist and I know he is JW and it does not stop us from talking about our respective worldviews. I enjoy very much talking to him and listening to him explain his view of the world from his own religious experience (although I have to disagree with his biblical 'proof' of the existence of God).
Weamo8 - You are a converted Mormon? What was the appeal of the LDS church as opposed to any others? I am truly interested, seeing as this (LDS Church) is the newest mainstream Christian religion (less than 200 years old). I wonder how they convince you that Joseph Smith truly was intrepreting the word of God through manifestations.
As far as Seventh Day Adventists, yeah Ellen White was a complete nutjob. Much like I view Joseph Smith.
Interestingly, I talked to a JW last week too. I was trimming around my yard and saw two missionaries walking by. I went over and offered them a drink (non-alchoholic). I talked to them for quite some time. Incredibly nice people. I think, as a Mormon, I have become much more empathetic to misunderstood religions. Those two missionaries seemed about as Christian as it gets.
Ken: One of the things that has always impressed me about Mormons is that they dont tell you to just believe them. They always push the fact that it is up to you, and that you have to have a personal testimony or you will not do what is right for the right reasons.
Mormons believe that Jesus Christ lives and you have to develop a personal relationship with him. If you believe in God, wouldnt he be the best source to find the truth?
At a low point in my life, I started out by praying to God to ask if there was a God. When I did this I felt a very strange/good feeling that I had never felt before. Maybe I felt God's influence, or maybe my body released some chemical that it never had before, and never has since. Regardless, it was more than enough to keep me willing to explore the idea.
That is how it all started anyways. I dont want to go into it too much further, because many of the reasons I am a Christian are from experiences I have never told another person... not even my wife or parents. I am certainly not going to go over them with a bunch of chuckle-headed strangers. Dont cast your pearls before swine right? (just kidding).
Anyways, why Mormonism? It is the only Christian religion that makes sense to me. The doctrine is very deep, and very logical. It is the only religion I have ever encountered that has a clear reason for why we are here and what our purpose is. It is the only religion that accounts for every human being on earth. (I still wonder how other Christians account for Baptisms for the dead. I guess they just gloss over that part of the Bible.) It is the only religion I have ever encountered that has logical explanations for why bad things happen to good people. I would like to know how other religions explain how God didnt create evil. Where did Satan come from. How is it fair that we were created imperfect by God, yet God holds that against us and sends us to hell? I would like another religion to explain that to me. Mormonism is truly the only form of Christianity that will ever make sense to me.
There are some miraculous experiences of Joseph Smith and others that seem hard to swallow in todays world, but they all seem quite tame compared to some of the miracles of the Bible and such. Joseph Smith suffered and lost everything in his life over and over for what he believed. He even had some of his children killed over it. He was constantly thrown in prison, and, in the end was murdered for what he said he saw. He was either a prophet, or a nutcase to be sure.
Joseph Smith had two other witnesses to the translation of the Book of Mormon. Both had huge fallings out with Joseph Smith, and both left the Church cursing his name. Neither ever denied the Book of Mormon. In fact, one, at the end of his life traveled accross the country to get rebaptized into the Church. He was rebaptized but died shortly after. The other took legal action against someone who suggested that he had denied the Book of Mormon. I have always wondered why, if it isnt true... why didnt they deny it and crush Joseph Smith. They could have so easily, and they had such good motivation to do so.
This e-mail is long, and is turning into gibberish. I am not trying to convert you Ken, I am simply answering your question. The reason I believe in God is nothing I could ever explain in words. That is the simple brilliance of faith. Faith seems completely ridiculous, and like a total copp-out unless you experience it. You can only understand the power of Faith if you experience it, because logically, it is bunk.
Humans are an anomaly. Some believe in magical mutations, others believe in a magical God. From the experiences of my life, I have had too many experiences with a magical God to ever deny Christ.
I know that in posting this I am opening myself to ridicule, but I honestly dont care. I have no shame in what I believe. I am grateful for what I know and the things I have experienced.
In short Ken, I really dont know how to answer your question.
