Built Upon a Foundation

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First Principles and Ordinances

“…faith is waking up each day striving to follow the example of the Savior and repentance is kneeling down each night, seeking forgiveness for where you have fallen short in your strivings.”

Last week we discussed the Third Article of Faith, which focuses on our belief that all mankind may be saved if they are obedient to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel.
This week, we’ll move onto the Fourth Article of Faith:

....Read the rest of the post "First Principles and Ordinances" on Sieverkropp.com today.



Starting the first of the year, I will be writing exclusively on Sieverkropp.com

The Sin of Adam

Last week in my Ask a Mormon series I began talking about the core beliefs of my Church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  I shared with you the First Article of Faith and what it means to me.  If you didn't read that post, you can read it here.

This week I want to continue in that vein and discuss with you the Second Article of Faith.

"We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam's transgression." Second Article of Faith
 

This Article of Faith is one that may be a bit different from the beliefs of many Christian denominations.  We believe that children are born innocent and perfect.  That is, we do not believe in Original Sin--the belief that because Adam and Eve partook of the forbidden fruit each of us is born imperfect. 

This  belief leads to a few practices that are very different from many Christian denominations.  One such difference is that we do not practice infant baptism.  A prophet in ancient America recorded it this way in the Book of Mormon,

"For behold that all little children are alive in Christ, and also all they that are without the law.  For the power of redemption cometh on all them that have no law; wherefore, he that is not condemned, or he that is under no condemnation, cannot repent; and unto such, baptism availeth nothing."  Moroni 8:22
 

Our belief is that children are perfect, and therefore do not need to repent or be baptized.  To me, it is inconceivable that a 6 month old baby could be thought to know right from wrong.  And if he doesn't know right from wrong, how could he repent?  And if he can't repent, why does he need to be baptized for the remission of sins?

Because of this belief children in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are baptized when they reach the age of accountability--in other words--when they are old enough to be expected to know right from wrong.  The Church has stated that that age is 8 years old. 

We believe that because of the fall of Adam and Eve sin and death entered the world, but that it was a necessary part of God's plan, because we came to this earth to learn, grow and make the decisions that will lead us back to God.  There must be opposition in all things, good and evil. 

However, we do not believe that we are automatically sinful at birth because Adam made a choice.  We are sinful when we reach the age that we know right from wrong and we choose wrong (and we all choose wrong!).  Therefore, we believe we will be punished for our own sins, and not for Adam's transgression.

This, I believe, is one of the greatest reasons that our Heavenly Father placed us in families.  It is our responsibility as parents to take the time when our children are young to teach them right from wrong.  To direct and guide them while they are innocent so when they are old enough to choose right from wrong, that they will choose correctly. 

Question: How important is it to teach and guide children when they are young to make correct decisions?




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Twitter: @Skropp2

We Believe in God...

As part of my Ask a Mormon series, I wanted to share with you the core beliefs of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. 

In 1842, Joseph Smith was asked to explain the beliefs of the Church by the editor of the Chicago Democrat newspaper, John Wentworth.  From this request we were given what is now referred to as the Articles of Faith.  A succinct overview of the core beliefs of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

There are thirteen Articles of Faith.  As we go through them here, you will, no doubt, find that my beliefs and yours (if you are not LDS) are different in many ways.  But I am confident that you will find that in several ways they are not as varied as you may have thought. 

This week lets look at the first Article of Faith. 

"We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost."
 

Pretty straight forward, eh?  I could probably end it right there, and it would be understood fairly well.  But lets look at it a bit.

For those who have heard that we do not believe in Jesus Christ, there it is.  Joseph Smith, when asked what we believed, the first thing he did was express our belief in God the Father, His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost.   

We refer to these three as the Godhead. 

We believe that God is the Supreme Ruler of the Universe and the Father of our spirits.

We believe that Jesus Christ is the literal Son of God and the Savior of the world.  We believe that He was perfect and sinless and that through His atonement, crucifixion, and resurrection all of us are able to return to live with our Father in Heaven and our families eternally. 

We believe that the Holy Ghost testifies of all truth.  We believe that it is his influence that leads people to choose the right and follow the example of the Savior.  We believe that it is through the influence of the Holy Ghost that we are able to receive guidance and inspiration from a loving Heavenly Father.

We believe that the Father, Son and Holy Ghost are three seperate and distinct beings.  We do not subscribe to the view that the Father, Son and Holy Ghost are one being.  We believe that the Father and Son have seperate, tangible, perfected, bodies.  We believe that the Holy Ghost is a personage of spirit, but is in the form of a man.  (D&C 130:22).

We do believe that the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are one, but we believe that they are one in unity and purpose.

I could cite dozens of scriptural examples that lead me to this belief, but allow me to share just a couple. 

Before His crucifixion, Christ prayed to the Father.  In this intercessory prayer recorded in John 17, He talks about being one with the Father.  He says,

"...Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are. "  John 17:11
 

So, unless Christ was praying that the twelve apostles all become one blob, instead of twelve seperate individuals, we believe that Christ was talking about being one in unity and purpose. 

By this we mean that the purposes of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost are the same.  They all desire the same thing, that we all gain immortality and eternal life (see Moses 1:39). 

James E. Talmage, a former member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in the 1900's stated in his book, Articles of Faith,

"This unity is a type of completeness; the mind of any one one member of the Trinity is the mind of the others; seeing as each of them does with the eye of perfection, they see and understand alike.  Under any given conditions each would act in the same way, guided by the same principles of unerring justice and equity."  Chapter 2, "God and the Holy Trinity"
 

In conclusion, we believe in God the Father, His Son, Jesus Christ and in the Holy Ghost.  We believe they are one in purpose, we believe they are perfect.  We believe the Father and the Son have seperate, distinct, perfected bodies.  We worship the Father as our Eternal Father and the Ruler of the Universe.  We worship the Son as our Savior, Redeemer and the only way whereby a man may be saved (Acts 4:12). 

I hope that sharing these core beliefs of my faith will strengthen your faith, as well as increasing that understanding that you and I have about our respective faiths.  In doing so we may become better friends, neighbors, and citizens! 


As always, if you have a question about Mormons--our beliefs, culture, etc, feel free to leave it in the comments section of the Ask a Mormon page on this blog!

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 Twitter: @Skropp2