mikes@tekecs.UUCP (Michael Sellers) (11/24/86)
John oulines 17 points as shown on a card he has or saw, then asks, > > Question: Do you know of a church that meets these qualifications? > > John > > [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] {A note (and yes I am using "{}" since clh is using "[]" :-) : the term "Mormon" when used to describe the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is considered to be a mildly pejoritive term -- not so bad as "nigger", but perhaps in the same league as "honky" or (to some folks) "Xtian". It has been used in the past to highlight the church's differences from other Christian churches, in that we (the LDS church) also use other works considered scripture, chief among them the "Book of Mormon" (I can explain the origin of this name for any interested). Because of this intent often behind the word (emphasising the difference from traditional Christian- ity), the church has been making an effort to have its default name in informal exchange the "LDS church", or "LDS theology", or "LDS" (or "LDSs") when referring to the membership. This emphasises more the fact that yes, we are Christian, and we do believe that these are the "latter days." Within the church, members are often referred to as "saints", in the early NT traditional style. This note may not change what you say or how you think, but it is something to keep in mind.} The LDS church prints up cards used in proselytizing work with these 17 points on them, both as a way of showing a biblical basis for much of LDS doctrine, and as a way to show, in the LDS view, that these things are important and that no other church fulfills them (and therefore the only Christian church that is true to Christ's intents is the LDS church). While each of these points are undenyable, their interpretation and importance --both then and now-- are, like virtually anything else in Christian theology and tradition, dependent on your personal views. One viable view for each of the scriptures cited is the LDS view, though obviously other churches and individuals have interpreted them differently. There is what is sometimes called a "faith-building rumor" (meaning an apocryphal tale that *might* be true, like the story of Job :-) regarding the origin of these 17 points: the story goes that several students at Cal Tech some years back were discussing religion in general (none were LDS). It came out that you ought to be able to deduce from the bible what the characteristics of God's church *should* be like, and then match that against what was out there. One of the guys in the group (reported to have a photographic memory {though as one possessing a highly eidetic memory, I can tell you it isn't all its cracked up to be}) took a bible and a blackboard and went through, page by page, writing down those things that he thought were important characteristics of God's church. This took several weeks of many hours a day to do, but they did it. They all wrote down the points and kept them on 3x5 cards for later reference. Years pass. Eventually some of the guys meet up again, only to find that they had all joined the LDS church, except one who was killed in the war (which war, I hear you ask? Who knows?). I can't vouch for the authenticity of this story, but parts or all of it could be true. Or not. Either way, the 17 points are often used by the LDS church, and I encourage you to read up on them. I will, of course, be more than happy to discuss in this forum any of them that you feel merit discussion (isn't that why we're here?). Mike Sellers ...!tektronix!tekecs!mikes