AboutCindy Beggs Expertise Although I am not a member of the LDS Church, I can answer most of your general questions re: the LDS faith. Please no LDS bashing. I have a love for the Church's history.
Experience Although I am not a member of the LDS faith, I have been facinated with the Church's history for over 30 years.
Organizations Mount St. Mary's Alumni
Publications Master's Thesis in Mount St. Mary's Library in Los Angeles, CA.
Education/Credentials Bachelor's degree in Liberal Arts. Minors: Religious Studies and psychology. Master's degree in the Humanities/Cultural Studies.
Question LDS say that they believe the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are three different persons, but one in purpose. I keep on hearing many Christians accusing them of being polytheistic in a bad tone, and say that although they only worship one, they're still polytheistic.
What I don't understand is: Would this disqualify all Christians also? Why not use this same argument against them. From research, I find that many scholars believe that before the Babylonians captured Jerusalem, Judaism wasn't strictly Monotheistic but rather practiced Ethical Monotheism. Some scholars also say that there are traces of other gods possibly existing, not to be worshipped, in the Hebrew Bible before the time of the Babylonians. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henotheistic#Judaism I've also heard criticisms from Jews and Muslims saying that Christians aren't monotheistic. Some of them say that some denominations of Hinduism believe in one God who shows himself in all the forms of the Hindu gods, but are still polytheistic. These critics say that there's no difference between mainstream Trinity Christians saying that one person takes the form of the three and these certain Hindus saying the same thing about their central God. If one says that the LDS are bad for this, why not use the same criticism for all of Christianity, and possibly every religion that comes from the Hebrew Bible because of what scholars say about Judaism before the Babylonian Captivity?
Answer It is my belief that those in the Christian church sometimes point the finger when it is pointing back at them. To answer your questions - yes, Judaism wasn't stricktly monotheistic. Here are a few websites for you to visit about the LDS Church and polytheism you might want to visit. Just type in any search engine something like, "LDS Polytheism." I wouldn't consider the LDS Church monotheistic. They believe that a person could become a god of their own and that worthy Mormons will inhabit planets of their own and begat spirit children with the man as the god. This is just one example. So to answer your question - I would say that Christianity is more monotheistic right now as it stands than the LDS Church is. Hope this helps. Cindy
