God Archive
by Whitney M., member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons), and student at Brigham Young University (BYU).
The Love of God the Father
We learn that scripture, even though it can be written about what happened to someone else, still applies to our lives and God’s blessings described therein can be our blessings also. I’ve just read the inspired account of Moses’ vision of God and encounter with Satan, as recorded in a modern volume of scripture known as The Pearl of Great Price: Book of Moses.
What Moses learned in his vision about God, his relationship with Him, and the blessings and strength in that relationship as a child of God, can also be applied to myself. The first part of this revelation that affects my relationship with God are the words endless, without end, and never cease. This beginning part of the revelation teaches me about the steadfastnesss of God and reminds me of the promise that our Heavenly... Read the rest of this entry »
When people struggle to know whether or not God and Jesus Christ are real, they often ask in frustration, “Why doesn’t God just show Himself?” It sometimes seems to them that if He wants them to believe in Him, that would be the simplest way.
Why doesn’t God just show Himself? To understand the answer to this question, we first have to examine why we came to earth. For members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, whose members are sometimes called Mormons, the explanation of life’s purpose begins even before birth. What happened to us before we were born explains why God seldom shows Himself today.
Mormon beliefs tell of a time before the world was created. God created our spirits. This is one reason Mormons consider God to be literally their Heavenly Father. Our spirits weren’t housed in bodies yet, although they had that form, but we did have our personalities, talents, and interests. In other words, we were uniquely ourselves.... Read the rest of this entry »
Mormons (a nickname for members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) believe that God knows everything and sees the future. Mormons also believe we have free will—the right to choose for ourselves. To some people, these seem to be contradictory ideas. If God knows everything that will happen, doesn’t that mean it is all predestined and out of our control?
To understand how we can have free will and still have a God who knows the future, we need to have a clear understanding of our relationship with God. Let’s begin with what Mormonism teaches about our life as God’s children and then learn why He gave us free will.
Mormon beliefs tell us that God created our spirits and we lived with Him before our births. We didn’t have bodies, but we were ourselves. We spent time with God, getting to know Him. He also got to know us and this is important to understanding the answer to the question.
When it was time to come to earth, God promised... Read the rest of this entry »
Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, who are often called Mormons by others, believe that Jesus Christ will return to earth one day. Mormons focus on what we know about that time and leave the rest to God.
Jesus Christ will return to Earth.
“Four matters are indisputable to Latter-day Saints: (1) The Savior will return to the earth in power and great glory to reign personally during a millennium of righteousness and peace. (2) At the time of His coming there will be a destruction of the wicked and a resurrection of the righteous. (3) No one knows the time of His coming, but (4) the faithful are taught to study the signs of it and to be prepared for it. (See Dallin H. Oaks, “Preparation for the Second Coming,” Liahona, May 2004, 7–10)
Let’s look first at the first and second principles Elder Oaks mentioned. Mormons believe in the Second Coming. We can over cover what will happen briefly in this article. For a more detailed... Read the rest of this entry »
When people talk about Mormonism, they often focus in on small things that are not important, aren’t taught currently, aren’t even practiced today. By doing so they miss an opportunity to understand Mormonism as it lives today and even as it was originally taught.
The atonement of Jesus Christ is central to Mormonism.
To understand Mormonism, you must focus on core doctrines, those things which are canonized as official doctrine and taught consistently. While church practices sometimes change, truth does not.
There are a few guidelines that can help you evaluate whether or not a teaching is a core doctrine—or even a true doctrine of Mormonism.
First, it is important to understand that every word spoken by a prophet is not necessarily doctrine, particularly in the earliest days of the church. In the beginnings, the church was run much more informally. People talked among themselves and sometimes others took notes and published those conversations... Read the rest of this entry »
Dallin Oaks, apostle for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, speaks at Chapman University on religious freedom and the Constitution.
On February 4, Dallin H. Oaks, an apostle of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and a former state Supreme Court justice spoke at Chapman University School of Law on religious freedom and it’s constitutional history and importance. The Mormon apostle focused on why the constitutional guarantee of religious freedom is important to the future of the United States and on the dangers of religious relativism.
The speech, which received a standing ovation, focused on four main points, that were summarized in this way near the end of his talk:
Religious teachings and religious organizations are valuable and important to our free society and therefore deserving of their special protection.
Religious freedom undergirds the origin and existence of this country and is the dominating civil liberty.
The guarantee... Read the rest of this entry »
Elder Dallin H. Oaks, member of the Quorum of the Twelve apostles, spoke at Harvard Law School on 26 February 2010. This speech was part of the annual Mormonism 101 series. In the talk, Elder Oaks addressed a number of basic
principles of Mormonism, explaining that a survey showed few people really knew anything at all about Mormons, and what they did know was wrong or misunderstood. Read the rest of this entry »
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In the strictest sense, the word exmormon simply refers to someone who chose to end his membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Members of the Church are sometimes referred to informally as Mormons, and so an ex-mormon is a former Mormon. However, the term is more commonly used to refer not to people who simply left and moved on, but to those who then devote themselves to attacking the church.
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Recently, Elder Russell M. Ballard spoke to graduating students at Brigham Young University, a school owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Members of this church are often informally known as Mormons. He counseled them in ways to discuss their religion with others, pointing out
that most topics of greatest interest to detractors are not critical elements of the current religion, but are fringe elements or practices no longer carried out. He advised them to keep the discussions focused on the core of the religion, the elements that affect salvation, rather than those that are merely interesting intellectual discussion points. Read the rest of this entry »
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The Pew Forum, which is not affiliated with the Church in any way, did a study of Mormons in the United States. One aspect of Mormons in their personal lives involved their feelings about and relationships with God.
The study found that every Mormon surveyed believed in God, which was higher than any other religion previously
surveyed. In addition, nine out of ten were absolutely certain of God’s existence. Ninety-one percent of Mormons believe God is someone you can have a relationship with. All these figures are well above the normal for other groups. Read the rest of this entry »
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