Re: LDS attacking mainstream Christian beliefs

"Justin Thyme" <pleasedontspamme@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:11h8ptac1iu2581@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

> There are certain Christian sects who believe that baptism by immersion is
> necessary to enter the kingdom of God, there are other Christian sects who
> believe that baptism by sprinkling is sufficient. I consider the two
> beliefs
> completely contradictory,
Hmmm.....

It's unfortunate that you seemed to have avoided answering my question
directly, instead deciding to discuss two different non-LDS beliefs
in an LDS newsgroup.

I guess that leaves me to try to figure out what your answer to my actual
question is. (If I guess wrong, you can certainly correct me.)

As to the example you gave, I wouldn't say that it is completely
contradictory. For those who believe that immersion is "necessary",
certainly the sprinklers would be "wrong". But for those who
sprinkle, it seems certain that they would accept baptism by
immersion, as that would be even more than adequate.

> therefore these Christian sects are also "attacking" each other.
> Likewise there are other differences between every sect,
> some major, some minor - I would therefore see that each
> of these sects are attacking each other in these respects.

Okay, and treating this as an intellectual exercise, you seem
to be agreeing that different views about one topic are
"attacking" each other. You assert it explicitly within
mainstream Christendom, but then it would also be true
by extension when applied to LDS beliefs.

So it appears that you agree with me that LDS assertions
*are* attacking Christian beliefs which teach the contrary.

So thank you for your opinion.

Addressing the baptism issue, however, mainstream Christianity
in general does not regard "baptism" to be a crucial belief for
salvation (although there are certainly exceptions). However,
knowing *who* God is, and whether or not He's the only one
out there, *IS* crucial to salvation. So I'm not nearly so bothered
by differences in belief over baptism as over things like monotheism.

> Is the fact that LDS have a differing view on the nature of God doing any
> more to attack the beliefs of other Christians than other Christians are
> already doing amongst themselves?

Oops, I guess I just answered that.
Some beliefs are crucial, some are secondary.

But thank you for asserting that you consider both to be "attacks".
That was what I was looking for in this thread, after all.

> We would view that at the fundamental level our beliefs are
> similar to those of the rest of Christianity - we view Jesus Christ
> as our Saviour, we seek to emulate him in our thoughts and deeds,
> etc. We also commend others who do the same.

Yes, once again, just like Gregg, you only list the beliefs that
are *common* with the rest of Christendom, making the LDS
church no better than "any other church", trying to avoid mentioning
the unique teachings that separate it out from Christianity and
give it "the fullness of the gospel". You also don't define what
you mean when you say "Christ as our Saviour", as I think it's
pretty clear by anyone who's studied the LDS faith that what
LDS mean by that, and what mainstream Christianity means by
that, are *very* different ideas. Just because you use the same
words, doesn't mean that you believe the same things.

But you bring up an interesting point, Justin... You claim that
the topics I've brought up, the "unique" teachings of Mormonism,
are not listed among the "fundamentals". But what if mainstream
Christians consider certain beliefs to be "fundamentals" even if
you don't believe them to be so? And if those are being contradicted
when LDS preach their beliefs, then there's the "attack".

> While we believe that we are the only church currently on earth
> to possess the true priesthood of God, we also do recognise that
> other Christian churches serve to further the work of the Lord
> on the earth.

Yes, I already knew that. But that wasn't my question.

> We do believe that other churches contain some errors, but then,
> do Baptists also believe the Presbyterian church to contain errors?

Certainly.

> Do Anglicans believe the Catholic church to contain errors?
> Is there any difference between their view of other sects,
> compared to our view? Why then are you using this as an attack on us?

I'm not sure I understand your question.

You seem to be saying that since we have different beliefs than
more than one sect, then we can't disagree with *any* other sect,
and I reject that idea.

Thank you for your response.

Jeff Shirton jshirton at cogeco dot
ca
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
"[T]he gospel is not that man can become god,
but that God became a man." -- James White
Challenge me (Theophilus) for a game of chess at Chessworld.net!

.

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