Ask Mormons
This will be a new interactive feature where Catholics can ask questions they wish to find out a Mormon perspective on. Mormon readers are then welcome to respond informally through comments or they can submit a more polished response to the blog authors’ private email forum for consideration as a new blog entry.
Note that message boards such as FAIR’s LDS Dialogue and Discussion forum are often better suited for getting an informal level response to your question. However, the debate culture of such forums is suspicious of sincerely asked questions. If you are looking for an expert response, but not a protracted conversation to your question consider emailing FAIR’s list of volunteer apologists. Also consider getting in touch, on a local level, with Mormon missionaries or friendly Mormons after church services to learn more about Mormon religion, albeit in a relatively high pressure environment.
Note that this page is under construction. It is hoped it will be expanded to include more information about the various popular Mormon forums that welcome discussion with Catholics. Of interest is how each fits different needs, what kind of exchanges they are looking for, and include some Catholic feedback about what their experience on those forums have been. The same information is sought for local Mormon-Catholic interaction.
Regardless of other forums available for asking questions and discussing or dialoguing, we hope here at M&C that we will be able to fulfill a niche. We hope that conversations will be much more informative, structured, and charitable than what seems to typical elsewhere. We will look for technological ways and encourage charitable contributors, so as to facillitate this type of discussion.
Please use the comment section to ask questions and please be patient for answers while our readership is currently low and our blog authors are few.
September 14th, 2006 at 12:37 pm
I understand that it is Mormon doctrine that the husband must call the wife into the highest celestial kingdom in order for them to receive exaltation.
If the husband becomes a non-believer, is it justified for the wife to seek a divorce since this would influence her place in the afterlife?
October 9th, 2006 at 7:24 pm
About the father of God
Sorry for my english.
I wanna know about the doctrine of the LDS church that tells God was a man like us and had a father. And about we becoming gods. I think this part of the doctrine goes against Isaiah 43:10. I am asking this because my girlfriend is mormon and I love her. But if dont become mormon she will break with me. I want to believe but some parts contradicts the Holy Bible and I’m having some dificults on it.
I will be very grateful if you answer my question.
December 8th, 2006 at 9:34 am
On this feast of the Immaculate Conception I thought it might be a good time to ask if the Mormon Church has any official doctrine on the events surrounding Mary’s conception of Christ? That, and I just wanted to see if people still visit this site.
March 1st, 2007 at 8:33 pm
While I know polygamy has been temporarily suspended, why is it ok in CK? Why can a man be sealed to more than one wife, but a woman to only one man. Polygamy, no matter where it takes place, attacks the inherant dignity afforded each person.
March 6th, 2007 at 4:13 am
Kevin,
Sorry for my late and brief response, I don’t get much time to monitor this site these days.
My short answer is that a woman that was married more than once in this lifetime is typically posthumously sealed to all her husbands. I am guessing that polygyny has been more practiced in Mormon and biblical history than has polyandry because of economic factors. Historically some men have been in more of a position to provide for multiple wives than vice versa.
I can only speak for myself, but I regard Abraham, Brigham Young, and their wives as more honorable and dignified because they were willing to raise up a righteous posterity through unpopular, yet authorized means. I will imagine that the sacrifices of men and women to be obedient to righteous principles will be rewarded in the next life.
I personally don’t spend much time wondering about what conditions will be like in the Celestial Kingdom, but I am pleased that the mutual consent of all parties involved will be necessary for whatever arrangement is arrived at.
The best treatment, in my opinion, of this admittedly speculative subject is Eugene England, “On Fidelity, Polygamy, and Celestial Marriage,” Dialogue 20/4 (Winter 1987): 138-154.
It is found on-line at:
http://content.lib.utah.edu/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/dialogue&CISOPTR=20301&REC=18
May 19th, 2007 at 9:37 pm
On the Mormon theology of man becoming god… In Catholic belief of the Sacred Species of the Holy Eucharist…if we partake in the sacrament of eating the actual body and blood of Christ, would we not then, become gods? having ingested the physical manifestation of Christ?
August 6th, 2007 at 11:08 am
In reply Mary Ann’s comment –
I do think you’re onto something there! I’m having that same discussion with a Catholic friend of mine, and I came across an article in the Catechism which seems to agree with what you just said:
460 The Word became flesh to make us “partakers of the divine nature”: [2 Pt 1:4] “For this is why the Word became man, and the Son of God became the Son of man: so that man, by entering into communion with the Word and thus receiving divine sonship, might become a son of God.” [St. Irenaeus, Adv. haeres. 3, 19, 1: PG 7/1, 939] “For the Son of God became man so that we might become God.” [St. Athanasius, De inc. 54, 3: PG 25, 192B] “The only-begotten Son of God, wanting to make us sharers in his divinity, assumed our nature, so that he, made man, might make men gods.” [St. Thomas Aquinas, Opusc. 57, 1-4] [1265, 1391, 1988]
As far as I know, there hasn’t been any statement made to disagree with that by anyone else in the Catholic Church since, and I believe it’s still a tenant of Eastern Orthodox traditions.
August 6th, 2007 at 11:10 am
(sorry to double-post)
I just realized though — the striking similiarity between that third quote and the famous couplet:
“For the Son of God became man so that we might become God.”
compared to
“As man is, God once was; as God is, man may become.” The second part of the couplet almost exactly matches the first quote…
July 3rd, 2008 at 7:31 pm
The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat? So Jesus said to them, “Amen, Amen I say unto you unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day; for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live forever.”
Taking Communion is not saying that you will become a God. Catholics believe that nothing can, has been, or will be equal to God. God gives us eternal life in heaven. The Eucharist is food for the soul. In order to take Communion you must be in a state of Grace. That means you must have had a recent confession, be in good standing with the Church and have attended Mass on all Holy Days and Sundays.
September 25th, 2008 at 11:25 pm
I’m dateing a mormon girl she said if we are going to get marrie she wants me to become an active member for aleast one year so we can get marrie i said that i agree not just for her to get marrie to me cause i willing to learn about her religion too so i need to know how i can become a active member and what that means?
September 26th, 2008 at 11:24 am
I have an interesting question for anyone who can answer. I have looked through this website and found the cenarios between Catholic and Mormon marriages to be a strain at best often times leading to dischord and divorce at worst. I have found no site or post that explains a Pagan/Wiccan and a Morman relationship. From what I’ve read, if two people who at least both believe in the same god (even though they don’t worship him the same way) can’t find a way to find the middle ground with religion and raising a family… how can a Wiccan and a Mormon make it work?
February 19th, 2009 at 9:11 pm
I have read many conflicting opionions about Mormons dating/marrying non-Mormons. I just want to say that if two young people are in love and they beleive in the same God, The Most Holy Trinity, that they should marry and work together. I don’t beleive it is right for there to be such an imposing restriction on Mormon youth to date and marry only fellow Mormons. Catholics have just as high moral standards and strict rules and traditions that we follow, very similar to the Mormon church. Personally I want my children to be free to fall in love and marry the person of their choice, regardless of religion, with an open mind and an accepting heart, as long as the two of them are willing to work together and help each other.
March 4th, 2009 at 5:18 pm
the problem is that Mormons and Christian people don’t worship the same exact God because LDS fails to recognize Jesus Christ in his completeness. Sure the Church is named after Jesus Christ but that doesn’t mean much when the belief system focuses on God the Father being the main God. There is no Main God. This is One God in Three Divine Persons. Just like I am One person with Three major parts: Mind, Body, Soul. So in actuality we were created in the exact likeness of God. This is something the LDS Church doesn’t understand. Everything in the LDS Church is physical. I say that because the Eternal Marriage in the Temple as understood by the LDS Church means that you will be physically together for eternity which isn’t the point of Heaven. The point of Heaven is that we worship God and Praise God alone for all Eternity and sharing in His abundant Happiness. Not if a particular someone is attached to me at the hip or not. Don’t get me wrong – I love my husband to an extent that no words will ever be able to even begin to explain. But I don’t believe that at all. I believe we will be together – united in Praising and Worshiping God the Blessed Trinity forever. Besides just because you are Sealed in the Temple doesn’t mean you will actually be in the Celestial Kingdom together. Because where you go is based on what you do and how you believe. so a Sealing in the Temple doesn’t like reserve a spot for you in the Celestial Kingdom. No one will tell you that outright but that is what is being believed.
for anyone considering a Mixed-Marriage, don’t….. it will only break your heart and his (or vice-versa) in the end. You will say she/he doesn’t understand or respect your belief and all and he/she will argue back the same thing. Then you get the children involved. That’s where it’s just all screwed up.
I have to talk to my husband tonight and decide what he wants to do as far as our Marriage goes. Because in the Catholic Church – if he doesn’t agree to raise the children Catholic and won’t marry me in the Catholic Church – we have to separate because I am not married to him in the eyes of God. So he needs to decide what he wants to do.
April 17th, 2009 at 4:04 pm
Thank you for the work you are doing to help everyone learn about Catholicism and Mormonism. I have been blessed to publish my first book last week titled “Catholic Roots, Mormon Harvest” (Cedar Fort). “Catholic Roots, Mormon Harvest” is the captivating story of the conversion of my wife and I from Catholicism to Mormonism with comparisons of 40 key doctrines between both religions that drove our life-changing decision. The book delivers a unique journey of how we were able to retain the spiritual roots from our Catholic upbringing, while enriching our lives with a harvest of peace and joy that comes from membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints—hence the title of the book. You can learn more about the book at http://www.catholic2lds.com. The book is immediately available on Amazon and other book retailers. God bless you all on whatever spiritual journey you are on towards a closer relationship with Jesus Christ.
July 2nd, 2009 at 9:07 pm
Please excuse the interjection here. I’m LDS, though not any kind of extremely educated one, but more than many. And I am sorry that I’m not that eloquent of a speaker, per se…
There is one recurring theme in many of the questions here that has an answer that hasn’t been mentioned…
In “Mormon” terms, it’s captured by the phrase: Eternal Progression. It is one of the core concepts. And it actually fits with pretty much all religions, though it’s not always stated that way. Some religions, and it usually ends up being an “Eastern Philosophy” refer to it as a “continuous personal improvement.”
It is a problem to say that something is “Good enough” when it comes to religious things. Everybody always has room for improvement. Much of that is the failings of the natural body, and some of it is worsened by the spreading of the concept that some things are just normal and you can’t do anything about it. The fact is, if you talk to someone you hold in very high regards, they’ll tell you there are lots of things that they need to improve on. There always are. And if you’re honest with yourself, there are a lot of them.
So in the LDS church, we understand that when you pass into the next world, many things are still the same (you don’t change just because your body itself isn’t there), including your ability to learn, though some things may be more difficult without this world’s experiences (made easier once we get resurrected and have our bodies back, and perfected). So where does it end? I mean, do things stop when you die? Even in the Catholic religion, they believe that when you get to heaven, you don’t just sit around and play a harp for the next 200 billion years. No, you’ll work, you’ll serve God. Guess what? You’ll continue to learn during this time…
And where does that end? I mean, scientists in this world are more and more learning the nature of the universe, and there are things out there (not getting into it) where they are learning how to create matter from energy. Mathematicians have been able to break things down to the point of coming up with a unified theory (string theory) that points to one thing: The universe itself is alive, and we exist on its plane. Thus, something is controlling everything, right? And as scientists are learning, it is possible to create a brane (as it’s called), which would then be its own universe. Scientists, then, are basically learning stuff that supports the concept of a single extremely knowledgable person being the source of everything. To create that universe, He had to come from somewhere else…
To answer an above point: The Creator of this Universe is The Creator. You can’t re-create what soemone has created already. That Being is God for this Universe. As far as you’re concerned anybody else that may have existed doesn’t matter; your God is your God, and there are no others. He is in control here, no one else.
The big problem with scientists is that scientists focus on just the one aspect of life, the physical. A good scientist could still be a wife beater. Knowledge is power, but it’s the spiritual guidance that’s crucial. If you have weak morals, what you do with that knowledge could be scary. (Same reason I wouldn’t want an atheist for a president; what’s to stop him from nuking someone else if he has no belief that what he does really matters in the eternities?)
A lot of people will concentrate on just the spirit, too. Gnostics believed that the body was evil and needed to be shunned, instead of being a gift and an important part of your eternal being. (You still have to learn to control your body, of course.) The Resurrection is to restore your body after this life is over. It must be very important then, right? (Side note- If the body is important, and if it’s something that is a huge gift to us… Why would you think that God himself, before creating everything else, wouldn’t have created Himself a body, presuming He didn’t already have one?)
And it seems most religions also push people to separate the “mind” part of it; that is, separate the science from the rest of it. Think about this though: What God has created is bound by laws; the science of these laws are not in opposition to God, then. He either used it or created it. Thus if something does not make literal sense by those laws, it probably is being looked at wrong.
It’s in the details of this all that things seem confusing without the whole picture. But if you can understand that the entire point of existence (previous world, this world, next world…) is to learn and grow and constantly improve, then the rest of it will make more sense.
So back to the Eternal Progression thing…
What is the goal and hope of a good parent? To raise their children so that they will one day be great people and parents themselves. And a parent takes great joy in watching their children become great ones.
Heck- What is the goal of a roboticist? To make a robot that eventually be able to do everything a human can do, with the complete experience. And a roboticist takes great joy whenever a robot of his progresses and becomes greater.
So what do you think our Heavenly Father’s ultimate goal is? He’s our spiritual parent. In every reasonable way, He is our physical parent too. We know He wants us to be as good as we can be, and if He wants us to keep getting better and learning more and more… Where would it end? To us it is perfectly reasonable to think that He wants us to one day be able to have the same joy of becoming parents to our own universe of children. And so the cycle goes.
And on a separate note:
Being a person who finds it easier to grasp concepts through metaphor, I’ll offer this to answer the Trinity/Gods concept:
Let’s say you have the ultimately perfect President of your country. He is able to see absolutely everything that is going on for what it truly is. And He has the perfect grand plan to fix everything. Not just the country, but the world. And the people in his country know it. Most people in the world are coming to see it too. He finds a vice-president whom he knows joins him completely in his entire vision of the future, who knows it in every detail, and who is able to carry out the execution of the plans perfectly as well. This president can then tell everyone that “When my VP tells you something, it’s coming from me.” Since it’s all coming from the President’s mind, his power, and his vision, then the VP telling you something is still the President telling it to you. It’s the Office of the President, which you just refer to as the President. And it’s all coming from the President.
Substitute “God” for “President,” and you get the idea. Heavenly Father’s son, Jesus, is the perfect one, the one whom He trusts infinitely, and the one who He knew He could send to Earth to represent Him. Thus when you refer to Jesus, or when something comes from Jesus, or when you’re talking with Jesus, you’re talking with God himself. They’re still two individuals, but they are so completely in accordance in every way, that there is no distinction between them except that they are in two separate bodies. Add into that the Holy Ghost, with the same concept (except that it takes a non-corporeal entity to enter into a physical one: your heart)…
Jesus said to “Know me.” Thus, it must be possible, right? And so how does a fuzzy concept of Someone that is everywhere and nowhere and in one tiny place all at the same time fit into that? Sorry, but to me that’s not possible. It makes no sense. But to me, you read the Bible with the above understanding instead, and I don’t see how there’s any confusion. Indeed, in many places, it is pretty clear. Jesus standing on the right hand side of God while the Holy Ghost is elsewhere in the form of a dove… That’s 3 beings, though exactly one in purpose, with the two in perfect service to the one.
And of course, that’s just how I see it.
Oh, and a quick note on the Eucharist: When Jesus gave his Apostles the Sacrament and told them what to say, it was very specifically worded. “…In rememberance of the body of thy Son…” “…In rememberance of the blood of thy Son…” Two separate prayers both specifically written. The key phrase being “In rememberance.” It’s a representation, not actual flesh and blood. And that’s where lies the distinction that our religion sees.
I’m sorry, I know this is a lot to digest in one sitting.
I didn’t intend to go on and on like this. I just hope it helps someone, at least to understand where some people are coming from.
Please understand as well that it ultimately comes down to you and your feelings. Pray and ask for specific wisdom through the Holy Ghost on individual topics, with of course an open mind, and ponder individual items… The Holy Ghost will tell you whether it’s true or not. I’ve found for myself that if something is mostly true, I’ll be told that it’s only “mostly” true, and I can break it down from there and find out where the root of the truth lies. Then, follow your conscience.
And, God bless you.
July 2nd, 2009 at 9:39 pm
Oops, forgot one other thing to answer one someone had: Regarding Mary and the immaculate conception.
I read recently that this refers to Mary’s conception, not Jesus’s. Just so that everyone is on the same page here. (I didn’t understand that before)
Namely, the question in how Mormons think lies in the question: How can Jesus be conceived without Mary having had sex?
Think in modern terms: Do you have to have sex with someone to carry their child? Nope. There is artificial insemenation, there is surrogacy (is that a word?), and there is also genetic modification of existing zygotes/gametes and their DNA. Heck, there’s cloning. And God, knowing everything, including way more than we could possibly fathom right now, would surely know about all this.
One crucial point: Sexual drive and concerns about it are all a mortal issue. An angel doesn’t care if they are standing next to you while you’re naked in the shower, for instance. So please strip away your mortal concerns on that aspect of it.
There are certain things which are passed-on by the father. Certain familial traits and blessings must come from him. The woman has no way of controlling if a child is a son or daughter; the Y-chromosome comes strictly from the father. Thus, the scientific explanation of patrilineal heritage; the same Y chromosome gets passed on from father to son.
For Jesus to be a man, he needed that Y chromosome. To be God, his body needed that Divine heritage. We believe that Jesus truly was a literal son of God. What form that took is irrelevant in the grand scheme of things; but the point is that Mary was still a virgin.
Now, the immaculate conception, if I understand it preciesly, is regarding the missing of the sin passed on by Adam and Eve. That is also a source of difference between us; that is: The Fall was necessary in order to fulfill / obey the greater commandment, to multiply and replenish the Earth. And Adam and Eve, both of whom were so righteous that they walked and talked with God (for an indeterminite length of time; it might have been millions of years), eventually had to break that lesser law since they were otherwise breaking the greater law. It was necessary. They made that choice. They had to make that choice. We are to revere them, not look down upon them, for that choice.
If that sin as the Catholics see it was able to be removed, wouldn’t that mean that the person would again live forever?
Side note: Ancient Americans believed that it was the cocoa bean that was the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. I know what chocolate does for me. I’ve heard what effect it has on other people. Makes perfect sense, I think! heh heh
Anyway, in the LDS church, one of our Articles of Faith is that we will be judged for our own sins and not for Adam’s transgressions. (You wouldn’t expect to be held accountable for something your grandfather did before you were born, would you? Well, Adam was our great-great-…-great-grandfather.) Thus, there is no need to baptize babies to remove a sin that isn’t held against them. Babies are innocent. It’s not until a child is old enough to know better that they’re held accountable for their actions. And that also applies to Mary. Mary was simply a very righteous young woman, and one worthy of carrying the responsibility of raising the child that is to become the Savior of the world. Such a righteous person would stand out among others, which is why the comment was made beginning with “Hail Mary…”
As such, the LDS faith reveres Mary, but we don’t pray to her. She was a saint; one who lives as best they can to follow the commandments of God and be as righteous as they can be.
And that’s basically how we see Mary.
Again, sorry for the rambling!
March 8th, 2010 at 11:44 am
It’s not actually my practice to post comments, but I thought I would say that this was outstanding.
-G
Free Energy for Your Home
April 23rd, 2010 at 11:30 am
I’ve starcraft 2 beta, yet all attempts to use it have failed, I have tried ALL mac/pc VMs, crossover, wine and the remaining, all lead to the identical error. So I’ll bide my time and anticipate a mac version to be sent. Kinda thoughtless to send a person who states they personal a mac a laptop beta
. I simply wish they can launch the game quickly!
May 27th, 2010 at 10:06 am
Awesome blog
June 11th, 2010 at 1:57 am
Batch convert videos from LimeWire/ BearFlix/ BearShare/ iMesh to iPOD/ PSP/ Mobile/ Zune or to other video formats
July 30th, 2010 at 12:01 am
Hello! Keep up the good work. That was a interesting update. I would like to hear more about this particular topic. Will be in touch. Greetings from Latvia.