AboutHannah Expertise I can answer questions concerning standard doctrines, scriptures, curiousities, Mormon culture and society. I will not respond to debates. I'm sorry, but there are some things that I simply will not answer, not because I don't want to, but there are some things that the LDS people do not discuss casually--it's only talked about within the temple. Though I am a member, I do not believe that anyone could convert anyone to a religion over something as impersonal as the internet. So I won't even try to.
Experience I have been a member of the LDS church for 8 years. Though I'm still a young person, I can answer most things about the church.
Question Please explain Salvation and how you know Joseph Smith was the true prophet. Do you study LDS Religion a lot?
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Well, what exactly do you have to "believe" about Jesus to be saved?
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But what if the person didn't "leave" Jesus, what if the church the mormon started going to was a Bible only Christian Church and the person still totally believed in Jesus?
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Is it true according to Mormon doctrine that if a person leaves the Mormon Church to belong to another church (non-mormon) they will go to Hell? Thanks.
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Short Answer: Essentially, yes.
Long Answer: It depends. If someone left the church, they'd be "denying Christ," which is one of the only "hell-worthy" sins. However, one needs to thoroughly know Christ in order to deny Him. So, you'd have to be pretty-darn faithful and then fall.
Rough, but something's got to be punishable. Life isn't a party.
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Depends. It depends on what the other Church taught. Some things of Christian Churches' perceptions of Jesus aren't what his is at all. It really depends on the Church, the circumstances and intent of the heart.
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Nothin'. Being saved is a free gift--the after life according to the LDS religion is a complex place. Not even the prophet could explain everything about it. Maybe I'll make a webpage on Plan of Salvation 101, because this seems to be a very commonly asked question. If you want, just ask and I'll explain the whole plan to you. But it's long.
No, salvation's a free gift for just getting to this Earth. However, knowing Christ and then denying Him is like throwing the gift back at the person. That's the sin.
Answer 1st Question: Salvation
The whole plan of salvation, in as small of a nutshell as it can be made into:
In the beginning, before God created the Heaven and the Earth, there was a discussion in heaven. God needed to find a way for His children (aka us) to get back to Heaven. So, He told us that we wouldn’t be perfect in life, and indeed did not have the capabilities to be perfect. Someone would have to pay for the sins. Because we could not pay for them. This someone, had to be perfect: without a flaw or a blemish—presumably because they could not have any sins for which they needed to atone for themselves. Christ, our eldest spirit brother, and Lucifer, the Son of the Morning, were the ones that volunteered to bring us back to Heavenly Father.
The difference was that where Christ was willing to do it with no credit to Himself—all of the glory to Heavenly Father (just as it should be), Lucifer’s catch was that He, not God, would be the one to receive the Glory. He would be the one who would be heralded as a God.
1/3 of the Spirits in Heaven agreed with Lucifer, the other 2/3 agreed with Heavenly Father, Jesus and stuff. There was a war in Heaven. Some people say that it was a verbal war: others believe that it was a full out war. I’m in the latter group, but that’s irrelevant what I think. Anyways, so, Christ, God and the Archangels (especially Michael), led the 2/3 to victory. Satan and his 1/3 were cast out of Heaven, and as a punishment, they will never receive bodies, they will stay spirits for ever, and because of that, they resent those who made the choice to come to Earth. Everyone who is on Earth was part of the 2/3 who followed Christ. Satan will now do anything possible to keep us from returning to heaven, because he’s jealous and resentful.
So, then we come to Earth, Christ comes to earth after that, he atones for our sins, he died, gets resurrected, and we know that story. In the interest of brevity, we’ll leave that for another day. So, then after that, we get to the After Life.
In the After Life, first the partial judgment will take place. The partial judgment is where we are placed in Spirit Paradise, or Spirit Prison. What’s unique about the spirit world is that there’s a “bridge” between the two halves. If a person in Spirit Prison realizes the error of their ways, and repents, they can “bridge over” into Paradise. People in paradise go to spirit prison on occasion to teach the spirit how they can get to paradise, and what they need to do to change.
Then there’s the resurrection. Depending on how good you are, this will change when you’ll get resurrected, but not if you’ll get resurrected. Everyone will get resurrected eventually (that is, of course, everyone who ever had a body in the first place). Christ already paid for the resurrection, you’ll get it. It’s already been paid for.
Then there’s the final judgment. The difference between final and partial is that…well final is final. No moving up, no arguing, you go where you’re told to go. There’re four places: three kingdoms and one…not kingdom. There’s the Celestial Kingdom, the Terrestrial Kingdom and the Telestial Kingdom, and then there’s Outer-darkness. Those who "inherit" (meaning, "go to") the Celestial Kingdom are the very righteous who will, among other blessings, live in the prescience of Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. Those who inherit the Terrestrial Kingdom were righteous, but they weren't quite there as well as those who were not really righteous, but they weren't really bad either. They will live in the presence of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, but NOT in the presence of Heavenly Father. Thirdly, the Telestial are those who were not righteous as well as some levels of wicked. They will live in the presence of The Holy Spirit, but not in the presence of Jesus Christ or Heavenly Father.
Fourth, Outer-darkness, which is a nice way of saying Hell. This is where Satan and his followers reside. Even if you have been resurrected, you can still be sent to Outer-darkness. However, Outer-Darkness is for those who deny the Holy Spirit or Jesus Christ when they had testimony of them, as well as those who commit serious sins that they refuse to repent of.
There’s the plan of Salvation in a nutshell.
2nd Question: I know that Joseph Smith is a prophet because I know. It’s like knowing that 2+2=4. I mean, it’s as though it’d be absolutely crazy to try and deny it. It’s just truth. I know because I have asked, and I have felt it. I know. It’s in my being. I asked in prayer and in thought when I was about 12 or 13 years old (14 at the oldest), and I received an undeniable assurance. And now, without a doubt in my heart, I know he was a prophet. I have no logical persuasions for you. Because, though Joseph Smith never did anything un-prophetly, he was just a young man. To quote the words of Blaise Pascal, “The heart has its reasons which reason knows not of.”
3rd Question: Okay, well I’ve practiced the LDS religion my entire life, and we’re kind of known for studying our religion. Morning seminary in high school, Institute in College, Sunday School every week, personal scripture study, family scripture study, family home evening. We’re kind of famous for it. And those are pretty much the only studies you CAN do in the LDS religion. We don’t have theology degrees or divinity schools, because we’re a lei ministry, and we believe that God wants us to gain secular and spiritual knowledge. So we have other jobs, no paid pastors, no paid old ladies who teach Sunday School. So, pretty much the only studying you can do, I do.
I hope I answered your questions, and I understood what you were asking.
