tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post1223215004135618023..comments2024-03-28T00:17:55.823+00:00Comments on Bruce Charlton's Notions: Problems with Mormon theology? Practice and theory.Bruce Charltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09615189090601688535noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-40250616347923472182012-07-14T03:34:17.122+01:002012-07-14T03:34:17.122+01:00Practice is what matters though.
If you had a lo...Practice is what matters though. <br /><br />If you had a lovely theory but the facts didn't bear it out would you then stick to the theory regardless? That would be unwise. <br /><br />While I see the point about the reduction in seriousness of salvation, it's worth considering Mormons believe the War in Heaven is about choice. <br /><br />Making it so that one 'chooses' God due to fear of eternal damnation is, in the Mormon view, an actual reducer in the very thing the War in Heaven is about,a free choice. <br /><br />You should choose not out of fear, but out of conscious decision making to follow God's dictates. <br /><br />Also, conversion in Mormonism is based on experience. People have assumptions about whether that is good or bad, but in my view spiritual experience is really the ultimate for what should be motivating people spiritually. <br /><br />It makes no sense otherwise. Dry arguments are for academics, and other modes of deciding seem somehow <i>political</i> for lack of a better term. <br /><br />Unlike the previous commenter, I do not hope that Mormonism be Christianized, but rather that Christianity be Mormonized.Lordy!noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-16470717160487006282012-07-12T21:07:43.044+01:002012-07-12T21:07:43.044+01:00Thank you for your perspectives. Your raise issue...Thank you for your perspectives. Your raise issues that I struggle with perpetually. I am a closeted Christian of orthodox persuasion who continues to loiter among the Mormons maily for family reasons (my family roots in Mormonism go back six generations, and leaving the fold would be prohibitively complicated). I have to keep a number of heresies to myself (my belief in original sin, my skepticism regarding the historicity of the Book of Mormon, etc.) The question of whether or not Mormonism qualifies as Christian is one that is very close to me, and one that is frankly not easy to answer. Mormons believe in the virgin birth, in the resurrection, and in the divine sonship of Jesus Christ. They tend to a fairly literal reading of the Bible, especially of the New Testament. This things by themselves ought to qualify Mormons as Christians (certainly more than many liberal churches that are actually post-Christian). They reject the Nicene Creed as unbiblical (actually, there have been other Christian groups that have done that also). Their liturgy is simple, but includes the "sacrament"--what most churches call "communion"--which has always struck me as the most genuinely Christian part of Mormon worship.<br />My own personal arguments with my native church aside, I think that Mormon thought tends way too far in a Pelagian direction. This leads to a rather diminished concept of grace. Whenever grace comes up in a sermon or in a discussion, invariable 2 Nephi 25:23 will be quoted: "...for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do." And, invariable, the last phrase will be emphasized. Also, since Mormonism has traditionally rejected ex nihilo creation, the concept of grace is further diminished. (I have come to see the creation, something out of nothing, as a wonderful example of God's grace, because He did not have to do it.) But I remain hopeful that Mormonism will be Christianized over time. I already see some movement in that direction.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com