Originally Posted by Misshalfway

Ok, Mr. Catholic visitor guy, lets take a look at these questions.......


The short answer is yes. We consider it a restorative effort meaning that authority and truth was lost or changed after the time of Christ and needed to be brought back to the earth thru divine intervention.



No



Usually when they are speaking in any official capacity. Our General Conference is a good example. They speak to the church worldwide twice a year. But if you were chatting with them on the back porch, their words wouldn't necessarily be official.



The process by which the next President of the church is chosen is a mix of an ordered pattern and the will of God. Each person in the 12 is ranked according to the date at which they were called to join the twelve. When the Pres. of the church dies, his counselors return to their numerical place in the 12 and the most senior apostle becomes the next President. God controls who is alive at that point to take on the role. Yes. There is only one President or Senior Apostle on the earth at a time who holds all of the "keys" (authority) and has the permission to use them.



Not sure what you mean by this. Are you talking about varying historical accounts of JS's history? Or do you mean there could be another explanation for his experience?

I will say that we believe that God calls prophets and has done since Adam. These prophets are given spiritual knowledge in the form of dreams, visions, etc. and are commanded to preach and perform the will of God for the people and their time. We also believe that each individual person has the responsibility to pray and discover the truth of such reports for themselves so that each follower has an individual testimony given directly from God to know the truth of these things. It is said that it is impossible to be saved in ignorance. We consider JSmith's experience and calling to be the equivalent of Moses, Abraham, Enoch, etc. And that God spoke to him much the same way and about the same truths as in dispensations before.



We believe that all human beings are the literally spirit children of God the Father. In that sense, we are all literally brothers and sisters. We also believe that there is much truth in the world and that God works thru other religions. In that sense, we also feel a connection to all of mankind.



No. The term "anti-mormon" refers to anyone who is so antagonistic to the church that they literally fight against it. Most of the time, I hear the term in reference to material that is printed or efforts employed to discredit or defame the church and/or its leaders.

We believe that all should have the freedom to worship wherever and whatever they may according to the dictates of conscience and respect any decision not to believe as we do. This belief is stated very clearly in our Articles of Faith. (13 short statements that explain the core of our beliefs.)


I am sure others will add to the conversation as well. Hope that is at least a little helpful.