hays@apcisea.UUCP (JOHN HAYS) (11/20/86)
The following is from a little card that was brought to my attention:
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17 Points of the True Church
1. Christ organized the Church. Eph. 4:11-14
2. The true church must bear the name of Jesus Christ. Eph. 5:23
3. The true church must have a foundation of Apostles and Prophets. Eph. 2:19-20
4. The true church must have the same organization as Christ's Church. Eph. 4:11-14
5. The true church must claim divine authority. Heb 5:4-10
6. The true church must have no paid ministry. Isa. 45:13, 1 Peter 5:2
7. The true church must baptize by immersion. Matt. 3:13-16
8. The true church must bestow the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hans. Acts 8:14-17
9. The true church must practice divine healing. Mark 3:14-15
10. The true church must teach that God and Jesus Christ are separate and distinct individuals. John 17:11 and John 20:17
11. The true church must teach that God and Jesus Christ have bodies of flesh and bone. Luke 24:36-39 and Acts 1:9-11
12. The officers must be called by God. Heb. 5:4, Exodus 28:1, Exodus 40:13-16
13. The true church must claim revelation from God. Amos 3:7
14. The true church must be a missionary church. Matt 28:19-20
15. The true church must be a restored church. Acts 3:19-20
16. The true church must practice baptism for the dead. 1 Cor. 15-16 and 29
17. By their fruits ye shall know them. Matt. 7:20
Why are these things important? Hebrews 13:8
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Question: Do you know of a church that meets these qualifications?
John
...!uw-beaver!apcisea!hays
...!decvax!wanginst!apollo!apcisea!hays
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Standard Disclaimer
[I can't verify all points, but a number of these are distinctive
interpretations of the Mormons, so one assumes both that they were
the source of the card and consider that they meet all of the
criteria. --clh]christian@topaz.UUCP (11/23/86)
Given your list, I'd hazard that you're looking at either the Mormon church, or the Reorganized Mormon church (located in, I think, St. Louis). While most of the proper Orthodox buzzwords are there, I know of *no* Orthodox Christian church that practices baptism for the dead but the LDS bunch. By the way, the ordering of the list also suggests Mormon to me, probably from all that time I spent living in Mormonland-by-the-Lake, Salt Lake City. [In addition, the concept of the Father and Son as separate people with their own bodies, and the idea that the Church had died out and had to be refounded, are both characteristic Mormon interpretations. --clh]
tgt@cbosgd.UUCP (Tim Thompson) (11/24/86)
[long quotation from original article omitted --clh]
Could someone tell me of a good source of information that would let me
learn more about the Mormons? I've heard disturbing things about their
origins and the things they believe in, but I'd like to know if there
is one definitive source that would tell me where they differ from
the "mainstream" Christian religions.
I've thought about trying to purchase a copy of The Book of Mormon. Would
this be a wise idea as a fairly "young-in-understanding" Christian such
as myself, or could it possibly lead me astray by presenting false teachings
in such a light as to make them seem true?
Any and all comments/replies/suggestions are welcome.
Thanks,
Tim Thompson
cbosgd!tgt
Romans 8:28
--
Timothy G. Thompson AT&T Network Systems Columbus, Ohio
cbosgd!tgt
DISCLAIMER: These ramblings are my own. However, a thousand monkeys pounding
on a thousand typewriters would eventually produce the exact same thing!!
[It sounds to me like Mike Sellers has volunteered to provide this information.
Perhaps you might want to ask questions of him via computer mail -- he
is tekecs!mikes -- and summarize to this group anything that you think would
be of general interest. I would suggest that you take a look in a good
library, e.g. OSU. However be very careful -- LDS history arouses
strong passions. A lot of the books by orthodox Christians on the LDS Church
are unreliable because their hostility leads them to believe every negative
rumor they heard. --clh]homeier@aero.UUCP (11/29/86)
In article <7281@topaz.RUTGERS.EDU> tgt@cbosgd.UUCP (Tim Thompson) writes: >Could someone tell me of a good source of information that would let me >learn more about the Mormons? I've heard disturbing things about their >origins and the things they believe in, but I'd like to know if there >is one definitive source that would tell me where they differ from >the "mainstream" Christian religions. I recommend "The Kingdom of the Cults". It is a little old by now, but is still the definitive work covering several cults such as the Mormons. It will provide you with a doctrine-by-doctrine comparison of the Mormons with standard, mainstream Christianity. This is done in what I think is the best possible way, by taking actual quotes from Mormon literature, and countering them with quotes from Scripture. >I've thought about trying to purchase a copy of The Book of Mormon. Would >this be a wise idea as a fairly "young-in-understanding" Christian such >as myself, or could it possibly lead me astray by presenting false teachings >in such a light as to make them seem true? I do NOT recommend buying and reading The Book of Mormon. If you are fairly young in the Lord, I suggest that your fill your mind with the sweet milk of the Word of God, our precious Bible, as Peter the Apostle says: "Therefore, laying aside all malice, all guile, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious." (1 Peter 2:1-3) When our Treasury department trains new employees to search for counterfeit bills, they begin by showing them thousands and thousands of real bills. They become so accustomed to what is "right" that when something that is "wrong" comes along, they automatically recognize it. Even so, I believe that the best way for us to prepare ourselves to recognize error is to become intimately acquainted with the Truth Himself, Jesus Christ. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Peter Homeier ______ Arpanet: homeier@aerospace / o \_/ UUCP: ..!ihnp4!trwrb!aero!homeier \___)__/ \ The Aerospace Corporation, M1-108 El Segundo, CA 90245 Disclaimer: Anything expressed above is my personal opinion, and not the position of the Aerospace Corporation. [There has been a fair amount of discussion about the LDS Church now, but remarkably little actual information. I'd like to accept further discussion only if there is some actual information about LDS doctrines or practice. Because of the amount of misinformation on the subject, I encourage you to pass things by tekecs!mikes before posting. I'd also like to encourage what scholars call "sympathetic" accounts. That doesn't mean that you have to agree, but you have to make a serious attempt to appreciate where they are coming from. People whose first priority is to show why something is wrong, rather than understand it, normally end up producing propaganda, no matter how well intentioned. This is a general comment, and should not be construed as editorializing on Peter's intentions in this article. --clh]