Bridge of Reason

  “For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do.” 2 Nephi 25:23 As we continue to look at Elder Dunn’s recent talk to General Conference, we see that his theme follows that common Mormon mantra – do more and be better. As someone who was once part of a group that emphasised the need to save ourselves, I feel for those, like the Mormons, who are constantly being told to try harder, work longer and jump higher to please God. Following his illustration of how the British Men’s Cycling Team achieved success, Elder Dunn suggests that Mormons can follow suit by breaking the different areas of their lives into parts and then they should consider how they may be one percent better in those areas. By implementing this strategy, he says, Mormons will make significant gains in their striving to be perfect; and perfect they must b...

If you honestly believed that God had called a Prophet to represent Him on the earth today, you would unquestionably hang on his every word. For, to heed the words of the Prophet, is surely to heed the very words of God Himself. The Church of the Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believe that God has given them such a Prophet. Each year at their semi-annual General Conference, run-of-the-mill Mormons get very excited wondering what new revelation the Prophet and leaders of their Church may bring. Same Old I have to say, as a non-member of the Church, unless I am missing something, I did not hear anything new at this month’s Conference. It was just the same old things. There was a sustaining of the leadership, a lot of ‘we are the true Church’, much talk about repentance and the need to try harder and, of course, the obligatory announcement that new temples are to be built – but nothing that I identified as new revelation. This does not seem to concern the faithful. After each General C...

  ‘ A   rose   by   any   other   name   would   smell   as   sweet ’ is a famous line from William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. This is one of many phrases taken from his plays that are employed in modern parlance. This particular line is used to indicate that things are what they are, no matter what name you give them. What’s in a name? Three years ago this month, Russell M. Nelson, president of the Mormon church , made an announcement to the Faithful. He said the ‘ " Lord has impressed upon my mind the importance of the name he has revealed for his church." That name, he said, was given by God to the Prophet Joseph Smith in 1838. “For thus shall my church be called in the last days, even The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.” [1] Thus, after years of being known as Mormons, using the name Mormon for their websites, and releasing documentaries like ‘Meet the Mormons’, the name was now to be abandoned. When I h...

I do so want this to be true because then we can merge our literature into one mega-tract we can hand out to everyone. Salt Lake City, Utah - In an unprecedented merger, expected to have massive ramifications for spirituality in America, several major off-brand sects of Christianity have all joined together into one monolithic faith. The Spoof : Merger creates new Church of America funny satire story

The original vision and claim of Mormonism was that: “After his death, Jesus continued to lead his Church by revelation to his apostles and prophets...They taught the truth and recorded these teachings in the scriptures. In this way, the truths about the plan of God were taught clearly without confusion. Because of the wickedness of the people, the apostles and many of the righteous Church members were killed. The Lord took the priesthood authority and his Church from the earth. There was no longer a church on earth directed by revelation. Because men relied on human wisdom to understand the scriptures, many plain and simple truths were lost. The [Mormon] Church is led today by a prophet and twelve apostles. The Lord has called these men in our day just as he did in Bible times. They receive revelation from God and have his priesthood authority...We follow the guidance and direction the Lord gives us through them” (Mormon Missionary Discussion 3, 1986, pp.4, 6, 12) Consequently Mormon...