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

Do You Worship Joseph Smith?

Do You Worship Joseph Smith?

I can't tell you how many times I've been asked that question.

Short Answer: No, we do not.

Because of my sarcastic nature, my usual response is something along the lines of:

I don't know, do you worship Moses, Abraham or Isaiah?



Photo copyright Intellectual Reserve, Inc. 

I respond that way because to us, as Latter-day Saints, Joseph Smith was the same as Moses, Abraham, Isaiah and every other Biblical prophet. He was a man, chosen by God to lead His Church. He received inspiration and revelation. But he was a man. He made mistakes, he was mortal, and he is certainly NOT someone to worship.

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints explained it well when he said:  

"We do not worship Joseph Smith. We do not baptize in his name. We do not pray to Joseph Smith. We do not administer the Sacrament in his name. To even SAY that carries the deep offense of such a suggestion. Our faith is in Christ. And salvation is in Him only. There IS no other name given under Heaven whereby a man can be saved." (New Mission Presidents Seminar, 2004.  Provo Missionary Training Center)

We revere Joseph Smith as a prophet, but only a prophet.

The Real Question

It seems to mean that when people ask me if I worship Joseph Smith, the real question they are asking me is: Do you worship Jesus Christ?

For Mormons, as with all Christians, there is only one one man that came to earth, lived a perfect life and atoned for the sins of all mankind, and that is Jesus Christ.

Here is what Peter said about how we are saved:

"Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved."  (Acts 4:12)
 

King Benjamin, a ruler and prophet in ancient America said this of Christ over 100 years before His birth:

"And moreover, I say unto you, that there shall be no other name given nor any other way nor means whereby salvation can come unto the children of men, only in and through the name of Christ, the Lord Omnipotent." (Mosiah 3:17)
 

The Prophet Joseph Smith himself said:

"The fundamental principles of our religion are the testimony of the Apostles and Prophets concerning Jesus Christ, that He died, was buried, and rose again the third day, and ascended into heaven; and all other things which pertain to our religion are only appendages to it." (Teachings of the Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith, Chpt. 3)
 

Thomas S. Monson, Prophet and President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints today has said:

 "With all my heart and the fervency of my soul, I lift up my voice in testimony as a special witness and declare that God does live. Jesus is His Son, the Only Begotten of the Father in the flesh. He is our Redeemer; He is our Mediator with the Father. He it was who died on the cross to atone for our sins. He became the firstfruits of the Resurrection. Because He died, all shall live again. “Oh, sweet the joy this sentence gives: ‘I know that my Redeemer lives!’” May the whole world know it and live by that knowledge" (General Conference, April 2007)
 

I hope this post, as well as the quotes from the scriptures and modern day prophets will serve to explain that not only do we not worship Joseph Smith, but we very clearly worship Jesus Christ.  I know that my salvation is in and through Jesus Christ as no one else!  I am eternally grateful for His atoning sacrifice that allows me the opportunity to be forgiven of my sins and return to live with my Father in Heaven after this life with my family!





Question: Which church leaders, ministers, saints, prophets, etc do you revere for their dedication to the cause of the Gospel?



Thanks for taking the time to understand my faith and how it influences me daily. Please share these posts with others.

Also, please visit the Ask a Mormon page on this blog and submit any questions you have about Mormons. I'd love to answer them!

Twitter: @Skropp2

3 Talks You Should Read Before Church Starts!

There is so much we do at Church every Sunday.  Meetings, talks, prayers, lessons, etc.  We visit with friends, we study the scriptures, we share testimonies.  But what is the real reason we get all gussied up every Sunday? 

"It is expedient that the church meet together often to partake of bread and wine in the remembrance of the Lord Jesus."
                              ~D&C 20:75

The main reason we attend church every single Sunday is to renew our baptismal covenants and receive a remission of our sins through the ordiance of the Sacrament as administered by authorized priesthood holders.  



We often hear talks about the Sacrament and what it should mean to us each Sunday.
Here are three of my favorite talks about the Sacrament. I hope you find them helpful and inspiring!

1. The Purifying Power of Gethsemane - Elder Bruce R. McConkie

2. Understanding the Lord's Sacrament - Elder David B. Haight

3.  The Sacrament and Covenant-Making - W. Cole Durham, Jr.

May we remember the real meaning for attending our Sunday meetings this week.




What is your favorite talk about the Sacrament?

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Photo courtesy of rprata, Some Rights Reserved.

5 Lessons Learned with Heavy Eyes

In Part 1 of this Easter post, I went over the experience of Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane, and how Peter, James, and John were unable to stay awake.  And I posed the question of why you think the writers of the four Gospels found their inability to keep their eyes open eternally important. 

May I offer up one opinion? Take it for what you think it’s worth, I’m just a 20-something guy doing my best to understand the things of the Spirit to the best of my ability.  If there are better observations or explanations, please, please share them with me!

Jesus Christ was a teacher.  He came to teach, to expound; to unfold the mysteries of God to our understanding.  I believe (again, my limited understanding…) that this experience with these three Apostles was Christ’s final attempt to teach them about His role and about the Atonement. 

I want to share a few of the lessons that I think “Peter and the two sons of Zebedee” (Matt. 26:37) most likely learned from this experience, and the lessons that you and I ought to learn from it as well. 

1.      The Atonement was performed solely by Christ.

a.      The Apostles were asked to stay with Christ and “watch with [Him]” (Matt. 26:38), however, in the end they fell asleep and Christ suffered for each of us by Himself.

2.      Only Christ was able to perform the Atonement.

a.      The Three were to stay there and pray, i.e. stay awake. They were not able.  Only Christ was able to withstand the effects of that evening.  Likewise, only Christ is able to perform the Atonement.

3.      None of us can completely withstand temptation

a.      Christ directed the Three to “pray, that [they] enter not into temptation” (Matt. 26:41). They were not able to do so, but three times fell asleep in the process.  They could not fully overcome the natural man to keep a commandment given them personally by Christ, the Savior.  Only Christ could and did completely withstand temptation.

4.      We are expected to do all we can, and then we are saved solely on His merits.

a.      Each time Christ returned He awoke them and told them again to pray.  He didn’t allow them to just sleep.  Even though He knew it was singularly on His shoulders to perform the Atonement, He expected them to do their level best to stay awake, pray and watch with Him.  But the third time He returned, He judged their efforts to be sufficient and he told them to “sleep on now, and take your rest” (Matt. 26:45).  Likewise throughout our lives we are expected to do our very best to live in a Christ-like manner, and throughout our lives we will fail miserably.  But when our lives are over, if we have done all we can do, Christ will likewise judge our efforts to be sufficient, and we will be saved on His merits.

5.      Our salvation is in Christ’s hands.

a.      Christ sets the terms, and He judges the results.  It is His prerogative because of His valiant, selfless act in the Garden, and consequently, on the cross to set the terms of our salvation agreement.  And it is also His prerogative to judge whether you and I have lived up to that agreement when we pass from this life. 

I am grateful for the inspiration that came to me as I read this part of the Easter experience of my Savior.  I know that He suffered in the Garden and on the cross for me, so that I could be perfected.  I know that He lives!  I am grateful for the lessons that He taught His Apostles and that the Gospel writers were in tune enough with the Spirit to pass on such supernal lessons as these to us.  May each of us learn these 5 Lessons that Peter, James, and John learned with Heavy Eyes!

Happy Easter!

“Oh, sweet the joy this sentence gives: ‘I know that my Redeemer lives!’”

Heavy Hearts, Heavy Eyes

First off, I want to wish you a very Happy Easter!  I hope it is a great weekend, and that each of us will go beyond the candy, eggs, brunch or dinner, and Easter Bunny to reflect upon the real meaning of this, easily the first or second most important holiday period (depending whether you put Christmas first or second). 

Naturally, with this being the week before Easter, I want to talk about Easter in this post.  But I wanted to find a unique perspective to write about.  There will be a million places that we can find a chronological account of what transpired in the last days of our Savior’s life, and each of them will be better accounts than I’m sure I can give.

So I wanted to talk about Heavy Heart, Heavy Eyes. 

Think back to a time when you were dead tired.  I don’t mean a time when you were yawning while watching The Voice or General Conference (Don’t tell me you haven’t yawned during Conference, right or wrong, it happens to the best of us!).  I’m talking about a time where you were sooo tired that you could fall asleep in the middle of doing something. Like when you’re driving down the road and all of a sudden you open your eyes, suddenly realizing you had fallen asleep, and loud music, cold air from the window, or slapping yourself could not keep you from falling asleep.  I hope you pull over and take a quick power nap when it happens!  But I want to talk about that sort of experience from that very first Easter week.

On the night in which He was betrayed, Our Savior ate the Passover meal with the Twelve, instituted the Sacrament, and then went out to the Mount of Olives, to a place now revered as the Garden of Gethsemane.  He left eight of the twelve near the entrance, and took Peter, James and John further into the Garden.  Then he asked them to pray that they would not enter into temptation, and also that they would watch with Him.  With this instruction given he went further into the Garden. 

We know what happened, he prayed, being “exceedingly sorrowful, even unto death” (Matt. 26:38), so much so, that He would plead that the “cup pass from [Him]” (Matt. 26:39).  After the space of an hour He went back to the three Apostles and “findeth them asleep” and asked them why they couldn’t stay up for only an hour and watch with Him.  This happened two more times that Christ, while bearing all the “pains and sicknesses of his people” (Alma 7:11), would come back to find these, His close friends and the chosen leaders of His Church, sleeping “on the job”, so to speak.

Now I’m gonna say something, if Christ asked you to do something, would you?  If He asked you to stand on your head for an hour, by golly, you’d be doing all you could to stand on your head for 60 minutes straight!  I point this out only to illustrate that I don’t believe it was lack of determination that led to the Apostles falling asleep.  I believe they stayed awake as long as they physically could.  They may have stayed awake for 55 minutes, we don’t know.  What we do know is that they were sleeping when the Savior came back to them. 

We all know the story.  We may even look at them sometimes as we read and say, “Geez Peter, couldn’t you stay awake??  Drink a Red Bull! Take a 5-Hour Energy! Run around the edge of the Garden!  DO SOMETHING!!! But don’t fall asleep, crimeny, Christ asked you to stay awake!”  But I pose this question to you:

Why is this experience included in the scriptural account of all four Gospels (albeit very briefly in St. John)?

I invite you to ponder this question, and I will share with you my opinion later on today or early Easter morning.

Photo courtesy of Lyn Gately, Some Rights Reserved