Beliefs Of Latter Day Saints

Cultural And Moral Issues

Mormons tend to hold conservative views on social issues. Two-thirds say that homosexuality should be discouraged by society, while 26% say it should be accepted by society. Among the general public, by contrast, a majority says that homosexuality should be accepted by society , compared with 33% who say it should be discouraged.

Mormons conservatism also extends to a variety of other moral issues. Nearly eight-in-ten say that sex between unmarried adults is morally wrong, far higher than the 35% of the general public who hold the same view. Three-quarters of Mormons say that having an abortion is morally wrong . And 54% of Mormons say that drinking alcohol is morally problematic, more than three times the percentage of all U.S. adults who express moral reservations about drinking alcohol .

Polygamy was officially banned by the LDS Church in 1890, and the survey finds little acceptance of polygamy among Mormons. Nearly nine-in-ten say it is morally wrong, 11% of Mormons say polygamy is not a moral issue and 2% say it is morally acceptable.

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Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , also called Mormonism, church that traces its origins to a religion founded by Joseph Smith in the United States in 1830. The term Mormon, often used to refer to members of this church, comes from the Book of Mormon, which was published by Smith in 1830 use of the term is discouraged by the church. Now an international movement, the church is characterized by a unique understanding of the Godhead, emphasis on family life, belief in continuing revelation, desire for order, respect for authority, and missionary work. Its members obey strict prohibitions on alcohol, tobacco, coffee, and tea and promote education and a vigorous work ethic.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, and had more than 16 million members by the early 21st century. A significant portion of the churchs members live in the United States and the rest in Latin America, Canada, Europe, Africa, the Philippines, and parts of Oceania.

Another Mormon denomination, the Community of Christ , is headquartered in Independence, Missouri, and had a membership of approximately 250,000 in the early 21st century.

Beliefs About How We Worship God

• Sunday services are reverent and reflective. We have no drums, rock bands, or speaking in tongues during our church services. I personally like Christian rock music, but we enjoy that at other times and focus our Sunday worship time in a more reflective and less distracting way.
• Families are encouraged to study the Bible and Book of Mormon together every day. We have a program called Come, Follow Me where all members of the church study the same gospel topic on the same schedule. As an example, at the time of writing, were studying Genesis 6-11 in the Old Testament.
• We have robust youth programs for children and teens. Children participate in the primary where they are taught the gospel at a basic level. Youth in the church have regular activities, adult leaders who spend time with them, and dedicated Sunday meetings to focus on their individual needs.

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The Book Of Mormon: Another Testament Of Jesus Christ

The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ was translated by Joseph Smith, Jr. from an ancient record written on gold plates. It is a historic and doctrinal record of the ancient inhabitants of the Americas, who are the progenators of todays Native Americans. The book reveals that native North, Central, and South Americans are descendants of two main groups one that came to Mesoamerica at the time of the Tower of Babel, and another from Israel around 600 B.C. The record is a history of two main branches of the latter group, the Nephites and Lamanites.

The plates record the significant preachings, wars, and main events of their history. The pinnacle of the record is Christs visitation and ministry to the Nephites following his crucifixion. The record ends after the Lamanites destroy the entire Nephite civilization hundreds of years later. The records namesake, Mormon, abridged the golden plates from many various records he kept. He passed them on to his son Moroni, who buried them in a hill side and revealed their location to Joseph Smith many hundreds of years later as an angel. The Book of Mormon is the main scriptural reference for Latter-day Saints, and is sometimes referred to as the keystone to their religion. It supplements the Bible as another testament of Jesus Christ. To learn more about the Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ, visit mormon.org.

The Mormon Doctrine Of Salvation

Salvation is eternal life. For Mormons the ideal of salvation is to live forever as a family in the highest heaven of the celestial kingdom.

Mormons believe that human beings get salvation both through the grace of God and their own actions.

Part of the work of salvation has been done by the atonement of Jesus Christ, in that all human beings are guaranteed resurrection, but to attain the full quality of eternal life, human beings also have work to do.

Mormons believe that people arrive in this world without sin, but that they soon misbehave and need to be saved from the consequences of their own actions.

To live close to God, a person must have dealt with all the sins in their life. People have a choice of what sins they commit, and they have a free choice of what to do to put things right.

For a Mormon to achieve salvation they must do the following:

• Believe in Jesus Christ.
• Be baptised into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
• Receive the gift of the Holy Ghost through the laying on of hands by a person with priesthood authority.
• Endure the tests of their life on earth.
• Follow the teachings of Christ and his Apostles.
• Keep God’s commandments.
• Undo any wrongs they may commit.
• Treat other people in the way they would want to be treated.

To reach the highest level of glory, a person must also have been sealed in an eternal in a Mormon temple.

The third of the Mormon Articles of Faith contains the core of the Mormon doctrine of Salvation:

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Why Is The Mormon Temple Central To The Faith What Happens In The Temple Why Can’t Non

• Take a virtual tour of a Mormon temple.

The Mormon temple is considered an earthly point of contact with higher spheres of being. Mormons believe that God is present in the temple space. This makes it a sacred place set aside to learn things that allow individuals to progress toward becoming like God — the temple ordinances, especially celestial marriage, make “eternal progression toward Godhood” possible. The family unit is central to Mormonism, and the primary ritual function of the temple is to perform ceremonies that seal families together, thus allowing them to dwell together for eternity when they pass on to the celestial kingdom. The specific rituals supporting this function are — in which a husband, wife and children are officially bound together — and baptism for the dead — through which individuals who died without accepting the Latter-day Saints’ Gospel and no longer possess the physical body required for baptism are represented by living proxies, thereby granting them the opportunity to join their families in the celestial kingdom.

Prove All Things Hold Fast That Which Is Good

The FOUNDATION of Mormon beliefs is the ROCK OF REVELATION. 10 for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. The Bible has been a primary source of Gods relationship with His people, laws of God, and beliefs. PILLARS of Mormon beliefs are Gods holy PROPHETS. There have never been a people that God recognized as His own without communicating with them. The Bible offers us 4,000 years of the association of God with His people. Yet, outside of this one church none have ever had a prophet to assure the people they are walking on the path of light and life.

The CHURCH OF CHRIST exists only when there is a prophet of God on earth to stand at the head. When the church was first organized by Joseph Smith on April 6, 1830according to the law of the land: freedom of religionit was organized by a prophet of God who was called of God and ordained to that office under the hands of angels. The church was soon organized with the same officers of the Melchisedec Priesthood as was the Church of Christ throughout time including under Jesus. 11 And he gave some, apostles and some, prophets and some, evangelists and some, pastors and teachers 12 FOR the perfecting of the saints, FOR the work of the ministry, FOR the edifying of the body of Christ: 13 TILL we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

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The Church Was Persecuted For Their Religious Beliefs

LDS beliefs were often at odds with the established religions of the day. First in New York, then Ohio, and finally Missouri, citizens and local governments violently persecuted Mormons, primarily for their religious beliefs, but also because of perceptions that the church was directed in a dictatorial fashion and that some of its tenets were illegal.

In 1838, the governor of Missouri issued an order for them to be driven from the state or exterminated. They then settled in Nauvoo, Illinois, but within a few years once again faced violent persecution, which led to the death of Joseph Smith at the hands of a mob who stormed a prison where he was being held.

Mormons And Family Life

The survey confirms that family life is very important to most Mormons. Four out of five Mormons believe that being a good parent is one of the most important goals in life, and roughly three out of four Mormons put having a successful marriage in this category. This puts family concerns significantly above career concerns, having free time and even living a very religious life as priorities for Mormons.

Two-thirds of Mormon adults are married, compared with 52% of the general public.3 More than four out of five married Mormons are married to another Mormon. By comparison, 81% of married Protestants are married to another Protestant, and 78% of married Catholics are married to another Catholic, according to the Pew Forums 2007 U.S. Religious Landscape Survey.

Nearly six-in-ten Mormons say that the more satisfying kind of marriage is one where the husband provides for the family and the wife takes care of the house and children, while 38% say that a marriage where the husband and wife both have jobs and both take care of the house and children is preferable. Among the general public, the balance of opinion on this question is reversed 30% prefer a marriage where the husband is the sole breadwinner, while 62% prefer a marriage in which both husband and wife work.

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The Gift Of The Priesthood And Ordination To A Particular Priesthood Office

In addition to being called by God, Latter Day Saint theology holds that a person must be given priesthood authority by one who currently holds it. While calling represents a general call to receive priesthood authority, a person is not thought to actually possess the priesthood to which they have been called until it is formally conferred or endowed to that person through a sacred ceremony.

Mormons generally understand priesthood authority to be given in one of two ways: as part of a priesthood ordination ceremony, or through the endowment ceremony. After a person has received the priesthood, a person may be ordained numerous times to various particular offices within the church. Receiving the priesthood is considered to be a saving ordinance.

Requirement of priesthood succession

Gift of the priesthood through an ordination ceremony

The most common and well-recognized manner through which a Latter Day Saint receives the priesthood is as part of a priesthood ordination ceremony. Typically, in an ordination ceremony, before a person is ordained for the first time to a particular office such as elder, deacon, teacher, or priest, the person performing the ceremony will lay their hands upon the recipient’s head and in the name of Jesus Christ and by the authority of his priesthood confer upon the recipient the Aaronic or Melchizedek priesthood.

Gift of the priesthood through the endowment ceremony

Why Is Family Life So Central To Latter

• about genealogy and the Mormon archives.

Mormons believe that the family is an eternal unit and central to Godâs plan. In fact, eternal progression toward Godhood is limited to those who marry for time and eternity in a ceremony conducted by a properly ordained member of the LDS priesthood in a Mormon temple. Church President Hinckley has also stressed the importance of the family during mortal life, saying, âIf you want to reform a nation, you begin with families, with parents who teach their children principles and values that are positive and affirmative and will lead them to worthwhile endeavors. That is the basic failure that has taken place in America. And we are making a tremendous effort to bring about greater solidarity in families. Parents have no greater responsibility in this world than the bringing up of their children in the right way, and they will have no greater satisfaction as the years pass than to see those children grow in integrity and honesty and make something of their lives, adding to society because they are a part of it.â To strengthen families, many Mormons observe âfamily home evening.â This is one night a week â generally Monday â that a family spends together praying, learning about scripture, sharing things from their lives, and playing games or engaging in other fun at-home activities.

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The Holy Ghost Will Reveal To Mankind The Truth Of All Things

As in ancient times, the Lord has promised that men need not rely on the words and testimonies of others to know that the Church of Jesus Christ has been restored. Men have been promised that they can each receive his own witness that this is true. One such promise is located near the end of the Book of Mormon:

“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 them in your hearts.

“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.

“And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.”

Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believe the true gospel has been restored to the earth, and that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is that church. They believe that each individual member has prayed to receive a witness from the Holy Ghost of that truth and that anyone who prays sincerely to that effect will receive the same answer directly from the Lord.

What Is The Divorce Rate In The Lds Church

Roughly twenty percent of Catholic males and twenty-three percent of Catholic women have been divorced at some point in their lives. There are around 14 percent of Latter-day Saint males and 19 percent of Latter-day Saint women who have been divorced. People who regularly attend church are less likely to have been divorced, regardless of the organization they belong to.

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Religious Beliefs And Practices

The survey confirms that Mormons are highly religious. About eight-in-ten say that religion is very important in their lives. A similar number says they pray every day. And upwards of three-quarters say they attend religious services at least once a week. More than two-thirds of Mormons fit all three of these descriptions, saying that religion is very important to them, that they pray every day and that they go to church every week. By this measure, Mormons exhibit higher levels of religious commitment than many other religious groups, including white evangelical Protestants.

Mormons are also firm believers in the teachings of their church. Asked whether they believe wholeheartedly in all the teachings of the LDS Church or whether they find some of the teachings of the church hard to believe, three-quarters of the Mormons surveyed say they believe wholeheartedly in all the churchs teachings.

LDS Church leaders encourage Mormons to keep a supply of food in storage in case of catastrophe, recommending that at least three months of supplies be kept on hand. Eight-in-ten Mormons say they keep a supply of food in storage, including 58% who keep at least a three-months supply.