Protestantism

» Shawn Landis - The truth is out there

As corny as it may be to use this line from the X-Files, Brian Tubbs has done several posts lately trying to figure out what the Mormons believe.

I do not know whether he has done research on the topic, but there are plenty of Mormon writers on this site (even if they don't write in the actual topic area) who can fill him in on the beliefs.

Now, his criticism is that they use the terms evangelicals use. This is not wrong as many of the terms are the same but applied in a different way. Some terms like the Trinity disappear entirely and the Godhead is substituted.

But, the truth is, Mormon theology is not hidden. There's plenty of information out there about what they currently believe. This is not to say the beliefs haven't changed over time, Brigham Young said some things that were really out there.
But if he is willing to have a reasonable discussion and drop his Baptist bias against members of the faith, I am willing to take him up on this one. If for nother reason than to drive more traffic to *my* articles in the Mormonism section (and maybe a few to my mmorpg related articles).

Oh yeah, and feel free to join in. Let's try to keep it civil though. Remember this is a discussion, not an attempt at conversion, but it is designed merely to be an exchange of theological viewpoints.

» Brian Tubbs - The truth is out there

In response to The truth is out there posted by landiss77:

Hi Shawn, I wouldn't have addressed the Mormon issue, if I weren't ready and willing to have some discussions here at the Protestantism site. As for my "Baptist bias," everyone has a bias. That ain't something unique with Baptists. :-) And I can't make any promises about my bias, but I welcome any input, comments, etc. that you may have. We don't have to agree.

As for my research....yes, I have combed through the official Latter-Day saint website, have read parts of the Book of Mormon, and a few articles from LDS believers. That doesn't constitute exhaustive research, of course, but I'm at least done some homework.

Lastly, I'm not "tryin got figure out what the Mormons believe," I'm trying to encourage Mormons or those more familiar with Mormon theology to step forward and take part in the discussions.

» pink101 - The truth is out there

In response to The truth is out there posted by BrianTubbs:
.
Brian posts:
And I can't make any promises about my bias, but I welcome any input, comments, etc. that you may have. We don't have to agree.
.
But, Shawn, you should know that if you disagree with Brian, he might not participate in any future discussions with you.
.

-- posted by pink101

» Shawn Landis - The truth is out there

In response to The truth is out there posted by landiss77:

He's the one who wanted this :P

Besides, he can read my biography just as easily as I can read his.

Not to point one of my articles again, but I also covered why Mormon doctrine is hard to pin down, because unlike the Catholics, there is no official canon.

There are two reasons for this -- one, and the one Mormons will point out is their belief in continuing revelation. The canon isn't closed. The second is more political in nature -- it allows them to reverse prior statements or at least ignore them.

The best example of this is the ban on blacks holding the priesthood which lasted until 1978. The reason was that people of African descent carried the curse of Cain and had been 'fence sitters' in the pre-existence or some other explanation similar to that.

The language perpetuating dark skin as a curse from God is perpetuated in both the Pearl of Great Price and the Book of Mormon.

And believe me, Mormons will jump on me just as surely as they will him.

» Brian Tubbs - The truth is out there

In response to The truth is out there posted by pink101:

Pink, I can't believe you would say that. How many times have you and I disagreed? And we still continue to discuss issues.

That said, are we going to discuss Mormonism or my "bias" and discussion board participation?