Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
If you identify as a Christian but your beliefs fall outside traditional Christian groups , ie , RCC, EO, Protestants, Quakers, Mormons, JWs, even if you are nominally a member of any such group , what are they, and what do you base diverting from traditional belief on?
I would say that describes me. I don't even like the term Christian because it is associated with those traditional groups, even though my unorthodox beliefs came directly from reading the Bible. I believe that the Bible can be the basis for true spirituality, depending upon how it is read and interpreted.
However, I do think that there is symbolic truth in the doctrines of all of those traditional and popular groups. They would not be as popular as they are without having some truth.
If you identify as a Christian but your beliefs fall outside traditional Christian groups , ie , RCC, EO, Protestants, Quakers, Mormons, JWs, even if you are nominally a member of any such group , what are they, and what do you base diverting from traditional belief on?
Traditional belief left the church. When it became acceptable to OPPRESS, HATE, DISCRIMINATE and even justify KILLING with the scriptures it was no longer the type of people I could associate with.
I first realized this in the 1990s and the killing of doctors in the women health care offices.
Traditional belief left the church. When it became acceptable to OPPRESS, HATE, DISCRIMINATE and even justify KILLING with the scriptures it was no longer the type of people I could associate with.
I first realized this in the 1990s and the killing of doctors in the women health care offices.
Nothing else in those women's health care offices bothered you?
If you identify as a Christian but your beliefs fall outside traditional Christian groups , ie , RCC, EO, Protestants, Quakers, Mormons, JWs, even if you are nominally a member of any such group , what are they, and what do you base diverting from traditional belief on?
I'm not going to go into any kind of detail concerning Mormon beliefs, and I'm sure that if you stop to think about your request, you'll realize what a mistake it would be for me to do so. I'd be happy to answer your second question, though.
Mormons believe that, as Paul predicted would be the case, the Church established by Jesus Christ fell into apostasy fairly early on. Although it's almost impossible to say precisely when this happened, it was almost certainly within the first couple of centuries after Christ's death. We believe that, after that happened, the Church that existed at the time of the Apostles no longer existed. We believe that men changed both the organizational structure of the Church and the doctrines it taught, and did so to such an extent that in explaining his reasons for trying to "reform" the Catholic Church, Martin Luther said, "I have sought nothing beyond reforming the Church in conformity with the Holy Scriptures. The spiritual powers have been not only corrupted by sin, but absolutely destroyed; so that there is now nothing in them but a depraved reason and a will that is the enemy and opponent of God. I simply say that Christianity has ceased to exist among those who should have preserved it.”
A couple of hundred years later, Roger Williams pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America, made an even more profound comment, when he said, “[There is] no regularly constituted church of Christ on earth, nor any person authorized to administer any church ordinance, nor can there be until new Apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church, for whose coming I am seeking.”
We agree with the great Reformers that errors had crept into the Church's teachings, but we disagree with them as to how the original Church could be restored to the earth. Mormonism teaches that the only person to have been in a position to re-establish Jesus Christ's Church was Jesus Christ himself. We believe that He did re-establish His Church, and called a new prophet and apostles to lead it. We also believe that He has continued since that time to direct His Church through revelation to a living prophet.
(By the way, I don't know why you would refer to the Roman Catholic or Eastern Orthodox Churches as "non-traditional." Without them, Christianity would likely have ceased to exist in the world altogether.)
I'm not going to go into any kind of detail concerning Mormon beliefs, and I'm sure that if you stop to think about your request, you'll realize what a mistake it would be for me to do so. I'd be happy to answer your second question, though.
Mormons believe that, as Paul predicted would be the case, the Church established by Jesus Christ fell into apostasy fairly early on. Although it's almost impossible to say precisely when this happened, it was almost certainly within the first couple of centuries after Christ's death. We believe that, after that happened, the Church that existed at the time of the Apostles no longer existed. We believe that men changed both the organizational structure of the Church and the doctrines it taught, and did so to such an extent that in explaining his reasons for trying to "reform" the Catholic Church, Martin Luther said, "I have sought nothing beyond reforming the Church in conformity with the Holy Scriptures. The spiritual powers have been not only corrupted by sin, but absolutely destroyed; so that there is now nothing in them but a depraved reason and a will that is the enemy and opponent of God. I simply say that Christianity has ceased to exist among those who should have preserved it.”
A couple of hundred years later, Roger Williams pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America, made an even more profound comment, when he said, “[There is] no regularly constituted church of Christ on earth, nor any person authorized to administer any church ordinance, nor can there be until new Apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church, for whose coming I am seeking.”
We agree with the great Reformers that errors had crept into the Church's teachings, but we disagree with them as to how the original Church could be restored to the earth. Mormonism teaches that the only person to have been in a position to re-establish Jesus Christ's Church was Jesus Christ himself. We believe that He did re-establish His Church, and called a new prophet and apostles to lead it. We also believe that He has continued since that time to direct His Church through revelation to a living prophet.
(By the way, I don't know why you would refer to the Roman Catholic or Eastern Orthodox Churches as "non-traditional." Without them, Christianity would likely have ceased to exist in the world altogether.)
I have no clue what you are referring to . I specifically listed those churches as the traditional ones I was looking for deviation from.
I have no clue what you are referring to . I specifically listed those churches as the traditional ones I was looking for deviation from.
I'm sorry; I was totally confused! You mentioned Mormons and JWs along with RCC, EO, Protestants and Quakers. Were you saying you consider the LDS Church and the JWs to be "traditional"? If so, I'm really surprised. That almost never happens. You see, I didn't even pick up on the fact that you also mentioned Protestants. I was thinking that you were saying that you were saying the RCC, EO, Quakers, Mormons and JW were the non-traditional groups, and that only Protestantism was "traditional." Mea culpa! I've got to learn to read more carefully.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I've got to learn to read more carefully. 
