posted
So... I'm into religion. I like learning about it. I like to read a little bit about the different flavors and then ask people about them. My favorite way to learn is by listening to people who truly believe in the belief set they believe in and asking questions.
That being said, I'm not eager to 'join' any organized religion. I like where I am right now, just sort of floating around - learning what I can.
Since I joined this forum, I've heard a lot of 'Mormon Speak' (please know I do not mean this in a derogatory way at all).
I went to the website and expressed my interest in it. Next Thursday, I'm going to have some visitors (elders) over to talk about it with me.
I guess my question is really, is it wrong to have set this up when I have no conscious desire to ascribe to the religion? I really just want to know more about it because I'm pretty clueless... Is that the wrong reason to have inquired and invited people to my home?
Posts: 1355 | Registered: Jul 2006
| IP: Logged |
posted
It's not wrong at all. Missionaries often get invites for that reason. Let them know that you're just looking for information and that you want to learn about it. I hope you have a good discussion with them.
Posts: 862 | Registered: Oct 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
When I was on my mission I taught several people who weren't interested in joining he church; it's part of the job description. I always appreciated knowing up front, though. If you start the conversation with a statement similar to the one you started this thread with, it'll make for a better teaching/learning atmosphere. Just be totally up front about what your interests are, where they come from, and what you want to achieve with the discussion.
Also be prepared for them to ask you to put forth some effort. They'll ask you to read and pray about the Book of Mormon. They'll probably invite you to church or to an activity. They'll ask if they can come back for another discussion. Think about how much effort you want to put into the investigation and prepare honest answers to those invitations. It'll make your experience (and the missionaries') much better.
Posts: 2926 | Registered: Sep 2005
| IP: Logged |
quote:Originally posted by SenojRetep: They'll ask you to read and pray about the Book of Mormon.
What do you mean they'd ask you to pray about it? I find my own interests in religion are very close to CMC's, and it just seems like it would be awkward to be asked to pray about a religion I am interested in learning about but not necessarily joining.
Then again, this may just be because I was raised to, essentially, keep praying to myself, and have nearly abandoned it in my later life.
That being said, I would love to read the Book of Mormon sometime.
Posts: 3852 | Registered: Feb 2002
| IP: Logged |
posted
One of the tenants of Mormon belief is that everyone can know for themselves that the Book of Mormon is true. The way they can know is outlined in Moroni 10:3-5:
quote: 3 Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your chearts. 4 And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost. 5 And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.
posted
Javert, I think you can order a Book of Mormon without the missionaries bringing it.
It isn't wrong to ask for them just to listen - that's usually why people call. It's very rare that someone knows they want to join on the first visit.
Posts: 26077 | Registered: Mar 2000
| IP: Logged |
quote:Originally posted by Javert: What do you mean they'd ask you to pray about it? I find my own interests in religion are very close to CMC's, and it just seems like it would be awkward to be asked to pray about a religion I am interested in learning about but not necessarily joining.
It might be a little awkward. That's why I wanted to make sure cmc knew about the question beforehand. The reason missionaries ask investigators to pray about the Book of Mormon is that, in general, Mormons treat prayer as the surest way to establish truth. We believe that God is interested in our questions, and that He will give honest answers. Thus, if one is wondering whether the Book of Mormon is inspired by God, there's no one better to ask than God Himself.
quote:That being said, I would love to read the Book of Mormon sometime.
posted
I actually ran into a similar siuation a long time ago when I was in high School. I couple of guys stopped by my house and they talked with me about it a bit and I told them that I would be interested in learning more but wasn't going to convert. They said they would be happy to stop by anyway and just talk with me about it a bit. It was actually a really cool experience and they were extremely friendly even though I was always upfront about my intentions of just learning new things about religion. Morons have a great sense of reality and their mission work is very awe inspiring.
Hope you enjoyed speaking with the missionaries as much as I did back in the day.
Posts: 871 | Registered: Jul 2006
| IP: Logged |
posted
Thanks, everyone, for the input! I'll check back next week and let you know how it all goes...
Posts: 1355 | Registered: Jul 2006
| IP: Logged |
posted
How's that bitter, misanthropic approach to winning converts to atheism working out, KoM?
Two nice Mormon missionaries came by several times in the past year. I made an appointment for them to come by once, and we had nice talk about Mormonism and faith in general. They cleared up some misconceptions that remained with me despite years at Hatrack.
B34N, you typed 'Morons' instead of 'Mormons'.
Posts: 6316 | Registered: Jun 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
Just from B34N's posts and from what I know of B34N - I'm guessing's it's a typo. I could be wrong, but that's what I think.
Posts: 1355 | Registered: Jul 2006
| IP: Logged |
Missionaries are delighted to teach people about our faith, whether they are just wanting information or if they are interested in joining.
I started investigating the church because it seemed interesting to me. I wanted to understand how so many very smart people could believe what seemed like some odd things to me at that time. I found out. The more I learned, the more interested I became. Now I are one too. It's awesomely cool, and I love it.
Posts: 6246 | Registered: Aug 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
For some reason, this thread popped into my mind and I realized I'd not updated...
Well, ashamedly, I didn't answer the door the first time they came. I got nervous, I don't really know why, I just did. I had a Baptist neighbor filling my head with all this stuff about how 'they are a Cult' and how she was going to pray for me and how I needed to make sure that I was strong for myself and how the Book of Mormon is a perversion of the Bible and I got all flustered and I didn't know what to do with myself. So, like a loser, I didn't open the door.
I was certain I'd secured a spot for myself right next to that devious, red, horned creature. So I called. And apologized. And then eventually set a new meeting time...
It ended up great. Two young guys came out to talk. Neither had cars, so someone else also came out with them. He was a convert, so it was really cool to hear what he had to say, too. We sat out on the lawn at talked for probably about 2 hours. It was great. I played the advocate on some things - all those points that neighbor had made, I asked them about. Plus I just asked about the things I was curious about and got set straight on some of the common (maybe common?) misconceptions people have. I also really liked how they didn't tell me I was wrong or bad because of the ideas that seem true to me - they explained why they believe what they believe and listened earnestly when I explained what I believe.
The only 'bad' thing was that I think I got a phone call about every other day for months after that... All in all, a great 'meeting' (not sure what else to call it) and any skepticism I may have had was pretty much put to rest. PLUS I went back and talked to my neighbor for about an hour after that and explained stuff to her. I don't know how much she actually listened, or heard me, but it was pretty cool.
Posts: 1355 | Registered: Jul 2006
| IP: Logged |
posted
Wow. Pretty wild reading through this thread, because I had forgotten it was old. Coming across your own comments and not realizing they're yours is pretty freaky.
Very interesting to see comments I made about religion two years ago, given the transformation I've gone through.
Glad you had a good experience with the missionaries.
Posts: 3852 | Registered: Feb 2002
| IP: Logged |
posted
I met with the Jehovah's Witnesses most weeks for a couple of years. They seemed pretty happy about having someone to teach, even though I did very little to progress. I did learn a lot about the Bible. I mean, we study the Bible all the time in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but there is a certain curriculum and point of view on things. I learned how much of our doctrine really is supported in the Bible, which thing I had never suppposed.
Posts: 11017 | Registered: Apr 2003
| IP: Logged |
quote:Originally posted by pooka: which thing I had never suppposed.
*grins at pooka's use of LDS scriptural language in a post about studying the Bible w/ the Jehovah's Witnesses*
edit to add link in case anyone wants to know what I'm talking about.
Oh, and cmc, sorry for the derail and thanks for the update -- I'm glad it was a positive experience for you.
Posts: 3149 | Registered: Jul 2005
| IP: Logged |
quote:Originally posted by Javert: Wow. Pretty wild reading through this thread, because I had forgotten it was old. Coming across your own comments and not realizing they're yours is pretty freaky.
The real question is, before you saw that the comment was yours, were you thinking "Wow, this is the smartest guy on the forum! He said exactly what I would have said!" or were you thinking "Man, this guy is such a dope. I'm going to set him straight!"
Posts: 3580 | Registered: Aug 2005
| IP: Logged |
posted
I always think my old comments sound doofus, lol! I don't know if that's because I'm progressing in wisdom and percipience so rapidly that any past post is necessarily dimmer than today's or what. Posts: 6246 | Registered: Aug 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
Is the Book of Mormon like an editted Bible, a replacement for it, or a Bible supplement?
Like does it consist of the 'normal' Bible with some added chapters? Are there edits all through out? Or is it a separate book and Mormons use the Bible as well?
My apologies if my wording offends anyone, I mean no offense by it I'm just curious.
Posts: 3295 | Registered: Jun 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
It contains a small amount of text from the Bible, but is mostly original and separate. They also consider the Bible to be valid scripture "as far as it is translated correctly."
Posts: 3275 | Registered: May 2007
| IP: Logged |
quote:Originally posted by Scott R: One of the tenants of Mormon belief is that everyone can know for themselves that the Book of Mormon is true. The way they can know is outlined in Moroni 10:3-5:
Exactly how many people does your belief house? Posts: 1423 | Registered: Sep 2003
| IP: Logged |
quote:Originally posted by Javert: Wow. Pretty wild reading through this thread, because I had forgotten it was old. Coming across your own comments and not realizing they're yours is pretty freaky.
The real question is, before you saw that the comment was yours, were you thinking "Wow, this is the smartest guy on the forum! He said exactly what I would have said!" or were you thinking "Man, this guy is such a dope. I'm going to set him straight!"
Closer to "Wow, that's almost exactly what I was going to say!" That he was incredibly smart goes without saying. Posts: 3852 | Registered: Feb 2002
| IP: Logged |
quote:Originally posted by Kwea: I believe it is an add on, so to speak, much like the New Testaments is to other Christians.
An upgrade... A patch... A service pack, if you will...
(Please don't take offense, anyone. I'm just a little loopy tonight.)
Honestly, it seems that there are so many misconceptions about the LDS that I would think most Mormon missionaries would be pretty happy to talk about their faith to a non-potential-convert just to have one more person out there who could provide accurate information to others.
Posts: 3826 | Registered: May 2005
| IP: Logged |
quote:Originally posted by Tatiana: I always think my old comments sound doofus, lol! I don't know if that's because I'm progressing in wisdom and percipience so rapidly that any past post is necessarily dimmer than today's or what.
Sometimes I think that, of course: that I'm lame or dense or (horrors) unfunny.
But often I'm surprised at what's posted under my name, and don't think I could repeat the phrasing or originality. It's like another person posted it.
Posts: 6316 | Registered: Jun 2003
| IP: Logged |
quote:...I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.
*sigh* still waiting. Posts: 1314 | Registered: Jan 2006
| IP: Logged |
posted
The Book of Mormon is a religious text that defies easy classification. It can be any number of things to whoever reads it, or at what time in their lives, or for whatever purpose. The more I read it myself the less I am able to explain the magnitude of its significants either to Mormonism or as Scripture.
To start with, it is neither an addition to or a commentary on the Bible. Yet, it is seperate from and often contains commentary about the Bible from both a theological and existential standpoint. What I mean by the latter part is that it sometimes explains what the Bible is as much as what it contains.
Its narrative is what used to be called a morality play and could loosely be called allegory. The Book of Mormon calls it "types and shadows" where what happens in its history is prelude to and warning about the possible future of all civilizations. The two main narrative focus are the destruction of civilization through wickedness and unbelief and the continual preparation of Jesus Christ's coming. A clear two thirds of the Book of Mormon is a pre-Christian examination of prophecy and preparation for Christ's first coming. I believe the reason for this is to teach those who are waiting for the Second Coming to learn from the patience and faith of those who waited for the First.
The Book of Mormon can be an apocalypse in the traditional sense. It represents both knowledge hidden from human kind and a revelation about the Last Days or end of the World as we know it. Where the book of Revelations hides behind metaphore and images, the Book of Mormon seeks to make itself plain about what will happen.
Its traditional primary role has been a sign of the return of G-d’s authority and revelation, or of fraud for those who don't believe:
“. . . this American scripture has exerted influence within the church and reaction outside the church not primarily by virtue of its substance, but rather its manner of appearing, not in the merits of what it says, but what it enacts. Put slightly differently, the history of the Book of Mormon’s place in Mormonism and American religion generally has always been more connected to its status as signifier than signified, or its role as sacred sign rather than its function as persuasive theology.” (Terryl L. Givens, “By the Hand of Mormon,” pg. 64).
Posts: 2207 | Registered: Oct 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
Another way of looking at it is that the Book of Mormon bridges a lot of time between the capture of Jerusalem and the coming of Christ. There is some additional material from both before and after that, but the bulk of it is in that time frame, though in a different setting.
I wouldn't call it apocalyptic, though. Daniel, Ezekiel and Revelation are apocalyptic. I guess there are the quotes from Isaiah. The Book of Mormon has a lot of prophets talking to their children and descendants, much more than what I see in the Bible other than maybe the book of proverbs (only not distilled) or certain of the epistles of Paul. It has a very personal tone to it, because it was the record of the prophets and not necessarily of the temporal rulers.
Posts: 11017 | Registered: Apr 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
I just wish it wasn't so boring at times, because that often hides the power of its words. Honestly, I can't tell if that is because of the writing style of some of its authors (there is a clear difference between Mormon's editing and Moroni's, and the unedited first books), the nature of its history, or by divine design to test the resolve of readers.
There are wonderful textual and literary moments that I think deserve more notice that it gets, but there are parts that make it difficult to read the book from start to finish.
Posts: 2207 | Registered: Oct 2003
| IP: Logged |
Printer-friendly view of this topic
![[Wall Bash]](graemlins/wallbash.gif)
![[Grumble]](graemlins/grumble.gif)
![[Roll Eyes]](rolleyes.gif)
![[Wink]](wink.gif)
![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
![[ROFL]](graemlins/rofl.gif)
The more I learned, the more interested I became. Now I are one too. ![[Laugh]](graemlins/laugh.gif)
![[Confused]](confused.gif)
