Facing Facebook, part 3

TR replies:

Having a relationship with Jesus Christ without the teachings of Joseph Smith:

I have never heard a Mormon say that it is impossible to have a relationship with Jesus Christ without the teachings of Joseph Smith, just as I have never heard an evangelical Christian say that it is impossible for a Jew to have a relationship with God without being Christian.

What Joseph Smith brought, according to us, is a restoration of things lost. This, of course, did not make everything that people already knew about Christ irrelevant. It just completed it, in our opinion. While I feel that you can and probably do have a relationship with Christ, I feel that the teachings of Joseph Smith give me a deeper understanding of his mission and what it means than I would have without those teachings. Beyond that, there are certain ordinances that we believe that Christ instituted, as well as the authority to perform those ordinances, that had been lost to the earth until they were restored through Joseph Smith.

Can a person go to heaven without Smith's teachings? Like I said in a different thread, we believe that while everyone will go to heaven, that those teachings and ordinances are necessary to prepare for the greatest gifts that God has to offer. Whether we receive the truths and ordinances in this life or the next one is not important, provided that we receive them. This means everyone has had or will have a chance to see those principles for what they are at least once and will have the ability to choose to follow them or not. If they choose not too, they will still receive some kind of heaven.

Mormons and Masons:

Mormonism claims to be the original Gospel of Jesus Christ as revealed to Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, John the Baptist, The Apostles, and every other Biblical prophet. One thing that Mormons believe was lost from the earth several times, including after the crucifixion, was temple worship (which is worship IN a temple, not worship OF a temple).

Freemasons claim to be, among other things, protectors of the rites of King Solomon's temple (the one in the Bible) as recorded by the temple's stone masons, and passed down to the Knights Templar and others. (If there are any Masons reading, please elaborate and/or correct me.)

As such, it would be expected that Mormon temple ceremonies would have some similarities to some Masonic temple ceremonies.

If you find Masons "chilling", then I don't know what to tell you. Every mason I have met has been pleasant enough.

Mormonism as a corruption of true Christianity:

I could just as easily say that I think Mormonism IS true Christianity, and that everything else is a variation, but that wouldn't get us anywhere. I'm really not here to sell you on the idea my religion being better than your religion.

Mormonism as an "odd" religion:

Mormonism is an odd religion. Just as the Israelites were considered odd by the Babylonians, Christ's followers were considered odd by everyone in ancient Jerusalem, and Protestants were considered odd by Catholics in medieval Europe. Groups are always odd when they're outnumbered.