Joseph Smith’s respect for other churches

[Anonymous]

Quote:

Poppyseed wrote:

Knowing more about a subject doesn’t necessarily make one prideful. And if someone does know more about particular subject, I am not sure they should be embarrassed about that or diminish the significance of that just so that everyone feels equal. Aren’t we all trying to gain more wisdom? Isn’t that the goal?

I like the analogy of circles. Assume a circle could encompass all you know, but only that. Now imagine as your knowledge grows the circle must grow with it. And as it does its circumference expands proportionally, exposing you to more and more of what you don’t know. For this reason, I believe knowledge and education should only lead you to increase your humility. All else is vanity and will result in distracting you from further discoveries, IMO.

[Anonymous]

I remember going to my friend’s Bat Mitzvah ceremony when I was about 13 years old. I felt very similarly to how I did in church and was confused. Later, probably in a bishop-youth interview or temple-baptisms interview, I asked my bishop about it because I was confused. I thought you were only supposed to feel the spirit in Mormon churches. I can’t remember his response. I know that he wasn’t condemning of other faiths. Still, the fact that I was confused by feeling at peace in a synagogue is a little sad. I’ve been trying to sort out how much of my youthful impressions of what the church taught was

a) my interpretations as a child, recognizing that children tend to the black & white

b) what is predominately taught in the church, regardless of truth or doctrine(?)

c) influenced by my parents (TBM converts’) understanding of the gospel

I know that I tend towards an almost agnostic or panthesitic attitude in regards to religion these days. I really like the Jain principle of Anekāntavāda. My World Reliigions professor at BYU says Mormons can’t believe in such principles. However, I know that my current beliefs, whether they be truly Mormon or not, do at least sprout from Mormonism. I’m not sure what that says for my place in the church, or desire to raise a Mormon family.

[Anonymous]

There’s one major thing that’s changed with the “sects” (I don’t like referring to other churches by that name, but anyway) since Joseph Smith had his vision… they tend to work together. Sure, there’s a massive gap between the RCs and Protestants now, but Methodists, Presbyterians and Baptists etc work together frequently these days on large numbers of issues, and agree to differ rather than having big fights with one another like they did in the 19th century. In a number of western countries, the tendency amongst denominations is towards co-operation and merger, not more split offs.

I certainly think that it would be a good thing if there was co-operation, with say, charitable works and so on.

Quote:

I seem to see and hear a couple conflicting messages at times at church as to whether we are like other christian churches or we are not

I got to church for the first time in a long while today, and one of the things that struck me is how many LDS hymns could be found in other churches. Flicking through the hymnbook to pass the time (and because I didn’t feel like being conspicuous), I noticed a number of hymns by Wesley for example. “Onward Christian Soldiers” is in the hymnal too.

There are other things that Mormons differ radically from most other churches on of course, like revealed scriptures, prophets, theology, temples etc, but it’s still recognizably like the “sect” I was raised in.

[Anonymous]

SamBee wrote:

I got to church for the first time in a long while today, and one of the things that struck me is how many LDS hymns could be found in other churches. Flicking through the hymnbook to pass the time (and because I didn’t feel like being conspicuous), I noticed a number of hymns by Wesley for example. “Onward Christian Soldiers” is in the hymnal too.

SamBee, I went to some other churches to check them out, and had a similar feeling when I recognized so many hymns. I never realized how many of them are standard. I found that kinda neat.

I think traveling to other churches can be a good way to realize how much we share and have in common with others, instead of thinking we are the one true church and have a monopoly on all good things.

Mark Twain wrote:

Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.

I think that applies to traveling to other churches also.

[Anonymous]

Quote:

Mark Twain wrote:

Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.

I think that applies to traveling to other churches also.

I also think that’s a GREAT benefit of missions to other countries and/or cultures. Not all missionaries return with the full effects of that benefit, but I know thousands who have.

[Anonymous]

I don’t know if the concept has ever penetrated Mormonism, but amongst some of the more happy-clappy churches, there is this word “churchianity” that they use frequently –

http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Churchianity

Quote:

Any practices of Christianity that are viewed as placing a larger emphasis on the habits of church life or the institutional traditions of the church than on theology and spiritual teachings; The quality of being too church-focused.

[Anonymous]

SamBee wrote:

I don’t know if the concept has ever penetrated Mormonism, but amongst some of the more happy-clappy churches, there is this word “churchianity” that they use frequently –

http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Churchianity

Quote:

Any practices of Christianity that are viewed as placing a larger emphasis on the habits of church life or the institutional traditions of the church than on theology and spiritual teachings; The quality of being too church-focused.

Sam…I really like this quote. Great find.

I think when I feel my experience in my ward is too much “churchianity” – I can think of how I can change my focus to make sure I don’t fall in line with that. I have been able to do that the past 6 months…find ways to focus on my relationship with my God, regardless of what others do.

[Anonymous]

As I understand it, the emphasis in “churchianity” is on form, not practice, and group behavior, but not the beliefs (or even behavior) of the church going individuals. So someone goes to all the church functions, but doesn’t try to live a more Christian life, or they do what’s expected of them, but haven’t experienced that inner change or still do certain things which are not very Christian.

I’ve not heard this word used in Mormonism, but I’m sure Mormons are as guilty of it as people in any other church. The more mainstream a denomination, the more likely you are to find such people. I would also suspect it’s more common in places with a large Mormon population, as opposed to places where Mormons are a minority.

[Author]

Posts