Tuesday, June 14, 2011

MITT ROMNEY -- GOP FRONT-RUNNER. SMART. HOLLYWOOD HANDSOME. BUT STILL A MORMON.

Some bizarre Mormon beliefs: Multiple wives, multiple heavens, multiple worlds. Say what?

Published on June 14, 2011
By Verne Strickland

What did our various presidents give us in terms of the religion thing?

To name a few – JFK, to his credit, gave us Catholicism 101, then had to do a crash landing to survive the fall-out. Bubba Clinton, while not known for his  immersion in things spiritual, nonetheless can be credited with teaching us what the meaning of “is” is.  Obama somehow conjured up a weird hybrid belief system of Islam and Christianity. And now Mitt Romney has gotten us vaguely aware of Mormonism.

I say vaguely aware because he doesn’t talk about it much. Most Mormons don’t talk about it much. That leaves all the rest of us feeling a little fidgety and uncomfortable about the whole subject, which seems to be based on pluralism – lots of wives, lots of gods, lots of worlds, and lots of heavens.

It’s all . . . well, different, isn’t it?

If Governor Romney hadn’t done so well in the ratings with his imminent bid to become the next president of the United States, all the curiosity about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints would have pretty much stayed on the back burner.

But it’s too late for that.

We’ve learned a lot. I have, at least. And it’s been an adventure into stuff that is a cross between fairy tales and doctored carbon copies of the Holy Bible. In any other racket it would be written off as plagiarism.
I can’t say I am any less confused. I just know more. I want to share some of my new store of knowledge with you.

I like Mitt Romney. All in all, he seems a class act. But there are gaps in his resume.  He’s not really owning up to his Mormon connections, which are deep.

Having learned just enough about Mormonism to embarrass myself at an upscale cocktail party, I can understand why the Mitt would keep it under wraps. But we will take care of that for him.

I can take comfort in the knowledge that my little sandlot blog about Mormonism will have absolutely no effect on the Governor’s political future, which the crystal ball boys are convinced is the envy of everybody else in the chase.

Let's explore just two or three curious LDS (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints) or Mormon beliefs described in scripture in the Book of Mormon. They are, trust me . . . bizarre. Even this first description of The Book of Mormon will leave Christians and Jews scratching their heads. 


The Book of Mormon

"The Book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ and confirms the truths found in the Bible."   (VS: The first challenge would have to come here. The Book of Mormon actually deviates wildly from the truths found in the Holy Bible, as you will see as we continue. How are these vast differences reconciled? They are not. But they are cleverly obscured.)





 The Nature of God
God


While most religions believe in God, Mormons believe in God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit as separate beings. They also believe that God, Jesus and resurrected beings have bodies of “flesh and bone.”

 1 There are two kinds of beings in heaven, namely: Angels, who are resurrected personages, having bodies of flesh and bones—
2 For instance, Jesus said: Handle me and see, for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.
3 Secondly: the spirits of just men made perfect, they who are not resurrected, but inherit the same glory.
4 When a messenger comes saying he has a message from God, offer him your hand and request him to shake hands with you.
5 If he be an angel he will do so, and you will feel his hand.
D&C 130: 22-23
22 The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man’s; the Son also; but the Holy Ghost has not a body of flesh and bones, but is a personage of Spirit. Were it not so, the Holy Ghost could not dwell in us.
23 A man may receive the Holy Ghost, and it may descend upon him and not tarry with him.

  Priesthood
Priesthood

In the LDS religion any worthy male can be given the priesthood and is given specific duties. Black people were not allowed to have the priesthood until 1978. Females are not allowed to have the priesthood.
D&C 107: 1-5
1 There are, in the church, two priesthoods, namely, the Melchizedek and Aaronic, including the Levitical Priesthood.
2 Why the first is called the Melchizedek Priesthood is because Melchizedek was such a great high priest.
3 Before his day it was called the Holy Priesthood, after the Order of the Son of God.
4 But out of respect or reverence to the name of the Supreme Being, to avoid the too frequent repetition of his name, they, the church, in ancient days, called that priesthood after Melchizedek, or the Melchizedek Priesthood.
5 All other authorities or offices in the church are appendages to this priesthood.

Official Declaration – 2, 1978
Aware of the promises made by the prophets and presidents of the Church who have preceded us that at some time, in God’s eternal plan, all of our brethren who are worthy may receive the priesthood, and witnessing the faithfulness of those from whom the priesthood has been withheld, we have pleaded long and earnestly in behalf of these, our faithful brethren, spending many hours in the Upper Room of the Temple supplicating the Lord for divine guidance.

 Multiple Heavens
Heavens-1

In LDS doctrine there are three heavens: the Celestial Kingdom, Terrestrial Kingdom, and Telestial Kingdom. The Celestial is the highest, where God and the ones who followed his law reside. The Terrestrial is the middle, where people who followed the Law of Moses reside. The Telestial is the lowest, where the ones who followed carnal law reside.
D&C 76: 94-98
94 They who dwell in his presence are the church of the Firstborn; and they see as they are seen, and know as they are known, having received of his fulness and of his grace;
95 And he makes them equal in power, and in might, and in dominion.
96 And the glory of the celestial is one, even as the glory of the sun is one.
97 And the glory of the terrestrial is one, even as the glory of the moon is one.
98 And the glory of the telestial is one, even as the glory of the stars is one; for as one star differs from another star in glory, even so differs one from another in glory in the telestial world.

 Spirits

Ghost

This one is very unique to the LDS faith. Basically, everyone on earth now was a spirit in the pre-existence. When we die, our spirits are separated from our bodies and if we were good they go to “spirit paradise.” If we were bad they go to “spirit prison.” The spirit world exists as a place for spirits to go while awaiting the second coming.
D&C 138: 8-14
8 “By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison;
9 “Which sometime were disobedient, when once the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.” (1 Peter 3:18—20.)
10 “For for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.” (1 Peter 4:6.)
11 As I pondered over these things which are written, the eyes of my understanding were opened, and the Spirit of the Lord rested upon me, and I saw the hosts of the dead, both small and great.
12 And there were gathered together in one place an innumerable company of the spirits of the just, who had been faithful in the testimony of Jesus while they lived in mortality;
13 And who had offered sacrifice in the similitude of the great sacrifice of the Son of God, and had suffered tribulation in their Redeemer’s name.
14 All these had departed the mortal life, firm in the hope of a glorious resurrection, through the grace of God the Father and his Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ.

http://lds.org/scriptures/bofm?lang=eng


VS: Don't know about you, friends, but I think Governor Mitt may have a tough sell on this stuff -- if the GBM (Great Big Media) cover the issue and don't back off. We plan to more information on what we may as well continue to call 'bizarre' Mormon beliefs in another USA DOT COM exclusive report very soon.

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