Sarpedon

hmm, while most christians would be theologically off put by that, I can't see that it contradicts the bible, as the bible has little to say as to where god came from.

Of course, something not being in the Bible has never stopped them before.

Chili

Really tho, you have to give then credit for being smart enough not to be the but of their joke as just another one like them.

What I think is most pityable is that their lack of confidence makes them have one year of food supply in storage. This in itself is not so bad if that would be a money equivalent in the bank, but are the really supposed to eat old food all the time?

trendkill

A Mormon would probably tell you that it is in the Bible. Matthew 5:48--"Be ye therefore perfect, even as your father in Heaven is perfect". This is an oft-quoted verse among Mormons, who take it as a literal command to become like God.

Huon

Joseph Smith (1805-1844) was the "Founding Father" of Mormonism, 170 years ago, or so. It is very interesting to see that :

1 - There are Mormons almost everywhere in the Roman Empire (oh, sorry, the USA ans some places in Europe).
2 - However, most of the citizens do not know anything about this religion, except its name, which is not the name that the believers give to themselves.

Could we imagine a comparison between this (not so small) sect, and another sect which began in the Roman Empire around 40 CE. In 210 CE, 170 years later, what could the local citizens say about this sect, except that they were usually called Christians and had had a leader, Marcion, who lived somewhere in Utah or Pontus, according to various sources.

aa5874

This is an odd comparison.

1. Marcion did NOT exist around 40 CE.

2. The Marcionites WORSHIPED the PHANTOM not Marcion.

aa5874

It is very remarkable that Marcion's Phantom, Marcion's Ghost story, was able to pose such a serious threat to the Jesus cult which should have been Established about 110 years before by the supposed Apostles and Paul ALL over the Roman Empire and in Major cities like Rome and Corinth.

Marcion's Phantom Ghost story became extremely popular during Marcion's OWN lifetime so much so that the Marcionites would RIDICULE the Jesus cult of Christians and LAUGH at them.

["First Apology" Marcion's Phantom Ghost story must have been extremely Plausible and Believable by Christians of antiquity.

Christians of antiquity really took Myth Fables of Ghost stories EXTREMELY seriously.

Huon

1. I have never written that Marcion existed around 40 CE. Everybody knows that he existed around 150 CE. What I wanted to say is this : The present Mormons live 170 years after the beginning of their religion. Around 210 CE, the Marcionites lived 170 years (more or less) after the beginning of their religion.

2. The Marcionites did not worship Marcion. They had respect, admiration, but not worship. The present Catholics do not consider Benedict as their God, if this comparison is worthy. And I do NOT consider the question of the content of the worship by the Marcionites.

Huon

aa5874, what I wanted to say is simply this :

My opinion is that around 210 CE, the "ordinary" Romans had not a good knowledge of the content of the religion of the Christians. And they did not care much.

And in 2012 CE, the "ordinary" Europeans have not a good knowledge of the content of the religion of the Mormons. And they do not care much.

Ojuice5001

A related question that I've been wondering: Is there a Mormon name for God (the Father of Jesus, the one who sent the angel Moroni; that God)? I mean a name like Yahweh or Jehovah, but something originally Mormon, a name for God that only the Mormons use.

sotto voce

I think that's incorrect on both counts, if only because Christianity was not, like other religions, recognised and absorbed by the state machine, yet was persistent. I think that ordinary plebeians realised that Christianity gave ordinary people an ability to withstand the endemic corruption of the police state in which they lived. It presented them with a choice of opposing the state— though not for the sake of opposition— and going to a possible eternity of reward; or, acceding to the state, and going to a possible eternity of unwanted reward.

To be fair, it's not all that easy to keep up with the changes of content of the publicity, if not the policy, of Mormons. But most Europeans know that the USA is home to some crazy cults; and they know that Christianity (Protestantism) is the real deal, and Mormonism, like all those other cults, is opposed to it.