What does a ‘good’ person look like? How do I know if I’m good?

A really great self-examination can be found in Alma 5, where Alma asks a series of questions to get you introspecting. If you come up short, there is guidance to help you repent and turn your life around.

When I was in high school, I realized something: I have always been taught that Joseph Smith revealed the truth about God. Everybody else in the world also believes they have the truth about God, so what made me so sure I was right? And if I was wrong, the thought that I may cease to exist once I died was a thought that filled me with indescribable horror.

My dad helped me understand that if the Book of Mormon is true, then what I’ve been taught about Jesus Christ and the resurrection is also true. If it’s not true, then any number of things could be true. He pointed out a scripture that is very familiar to those acquainted with the Book of Mormon: Moroni 10:3-5. This scripture asks us to pray about the truthfulness of the teachings in the Book of Mormon. I had heard this scripture countless times, but for the first time I realized that this scripture wasn’t talking about somebody else; it was talking about me.

For the first time in my life I was motivated to believe because I decided to believe, and not because it was part of my culture. I did as the scripture recommended and asked God. The first thing I felt was that I needed to be more diligent in finding out what, exactly, the Book of Mormon says by reading it more diligently. I did so, and slowly my doubts evaporated as the spirit of God added one bit of confidence to another. Now I know that the Book of Mormon is true because of my own experience. My great question of the soul was answered.

That’s the debate within Mormonism. Some believe in a spirit “birth”, others believe (like Joseph taught) that spirits are uncreated and eternal. I line up with the latter, who believe that there was never a time when the Son was not. Like the Book of Mormon title page makes clear: “Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God”. Those who believe in a beginning moment of self-awareness, I believe, go beyond a sure foundation.

Likewise, those who talk about an infinite regression of Gods before God the Father go beyond a sure foundation and into a realm of speculation. A good friend of mine once observed that we Mormons like to dwell on what’s “possible”, but he wished we would focus more on what’s “probable”. I agree. Reading through the Sermon in the Grove in its entirety shows that Joseph Smith is clearly teaching about a “Head God”, which seems to contradict this idea of an infinite regression of Gods. (But traditional ideas still persist).

You really need to read “My Take on Joseph Smith’s King Follet Sermon”, including the comments: http://latterdayspence.blogspot.com/2009/07/my-take-on-joseph-smiths-king-follet.html

I can certainly appreciate what you’re saying about wanting people to understand that there are differences between your branch of Christianity and ours. I’m glad that we’ve gotten to the root of the issue. Because it certainly is a valid point, and ironically enough, no one understands that better than the Mormons, who, let me tell you, spend a good deal of effort trying not to be mistaken for the fundamentalist Mormon polygamist sects, who are generally considered a “branch” of Mormonism (not unlike how Mormonism is a “branch” of Christianity, or how Christianity is a “branch” of Monotheism).

In the case of the other Mormon sects, we wouldn’t care what they called themselves, just as long as everyone understands that we are not the same.

Which, let me also tell you, is a very real issue with the word “Mormon”. Mormonism is so uncommon and young in the world, that I would venture to say that most strangers I meet don’t understand that there are different sects. I can’t tell you how many times while knocking on doors as a missionary (or in my life) that people have literally thought I belonged to an FLDS sect, and practiced polygamy, because I called myself a “Mormon”.

What has never happened to me, however, is being mistaken for an Evangelical Christian or a Catholic or an Episcopalian or a Lutheran. When people ask me what religion I am, I say “Mormon” or “LDS”, because that gives the most information about me. (I imagine “Restorationist Christian” or “Christian” or “Monotheist” would be 100% correct as well, but you see how it doesn’t quite fully answer the question.) You needn’t worry about our purposely trying to be mistaken for any sort of Christian other than our own. We flaunt our differences. We believe that we are unique in the Christian world–we have more scriptures! Additional revelation!

Here we may come to the root of the issue. If I’m in the United States, and I ask somewhat what religion they are, and they say “Christian”, I assume something like “nondenominational Christian” or “Evangelical Christian” or “born-again Christian” or something along those lines. I don’t assume that because I think those are the only “true Christians”, just because everyone else refers to themselves more specifically: Catholic, Presbyterian, Jehovah’s Witness, Greek Orthodox, Mormon, etc.

(Incidentally, when I lived in Jerusalem, I assumed that people who answered “Christian” were Greek Orthodox, and when I was in Egypt, people who answered “Christian” were probably Coptic.)

Which–and this is what I’ve been trying to get at– is probably why the only people I have ever heard take issue with my classifying my religion as “Christian” are those who do not generally feel the need to classify themselves more specifically. Namely, Evangelical Christians (who, I’ve been told, don’t usually use the word “Evangelical” to refer to themselves amongst themselves).

So, Kimo, I’m interested to know if Evangelical Christians being mistaken for Mormons, or vice versa, is a common problem, in your experience?

I wouldn’t say Christians are out to prevent people from considering the LDS Church. Our great country is founded upon the notion of freedom of religion, so prevent is probably too strong a word. I haven’t noticed anyone campaigning against the Mormon church anywhere that I have ever lived. I also can not remember one sermon from the thousands and thousands of sermons I’ve heard that has ever mentioned or addressed Mormonism. From my personal experience, I haven’t seen anyone out campaigning against Mormonism.

The theological differences between Mormonism and Christianity are very big regarding the central issues of the faith (God, Jesus). The biggest difference is that Mormon’s accept “scripture” other than the Bible and consider the Bible flawed and inferior to the book of Mormon, DC, Pearl, etc. All other sects of Christianity follow the Bible as their authority. The differences are outlined pretty well in this link:

http://wri.leaderu.com/mormonism/jesus.html

Speaking for myself, I would want those who are seeking for God to know that there is a difference between LDS and Christianity. I would want them to know this out of Love and a deep desire for them to know God and be part of his family. I certainly don’t know how God will treat Mormon’s other than what has already been written in the Bible about the Gnostics and Judiasers who taught extra stuff that was not in the Bible and contradicted it with respect to who Jesus is. The bottom line is that any concern is out of a deep love for others and wanting them to discover the truth.

Also speaking for myself, I love Mormons but feel a natural concern for them also. The many Mormons I know are truly wonderful loving people who are kind and generous. They probably have the same concern for me if they have deeply held beliefs in Mormonism.

Thanks for mentioning Saint Irenaeus. I looked him up on Wikipedia because I know nothing about him. It seems to me that he was very much against the Gnostics who held beliefs similar to deification. The Bible speaks very clearly against the Gnostics.

Thanks for clarifying that. I also read your blog and found it very interesting and well written. That is a great family pic & an adorable family. I also have two wonderful girls.

As far as the word “created” goes, I’d like to use it to mean when we become self-aware entities or “offspring” spiritual or otherwise (regardless of whether one believes that matter or energy are eternal or created out of nothing). If Mormon’s view Jesus as the spiritual offspring of God and his self-aware state of being has a beginning, then I’d conclude that Mormon’s believe Jesus was created/shaped as a spiritual offspring of God and there is a beginning to his self-aware existence. Christians follow the biblical teaching that Jesus is God and has existed as an all powerful, all knowing, never changing self-aware deity with no beginning and no end. This is drastically different than the Mormon conception of God and Jesus as I understand it.

As I understand it, Mormon’s believe that God the Father was once a spirit child of another God before he became exalted. Is this correct? If so, who was the Father of our “God the Father”? How far back does this progression stretch? Does this mean that our “God the Father” is subject to his Father & Mother?

By the way, here is a link that I just found that has a fair discussion on what we’ve been discussing:

http://wri.leaderu.com/orgs/probe/docs/mormon-god.html

I would like to echo Thaddeus’ comments with regard to personal struggles and that what I have had to deal with doesn’t compare with some things others have to deal with. Most of my struggles have been internal, often brought on by myself, but still very real and difficult to face. For the majority of the time these were tribulations that only I knew about.

However, there are some things that I feel that I can share. First, learning the Russian language as a church missionary when I was 19. Hands down this was the hardest thing that I had ever experienced in my life up to that point. I still remember crying on the third day of my classes when the teacher expected that I answer him in Russian and I didn’t even know the Russian alphabet. I was utterly devastated, frustrated, and felt hopeless and alone. The next part came when I got to Russian and didn’t understand hardly a word, let alone a sentence for about 3 months. Talk about a humbling experience, but you know what I got through it and I learned Russian and actually speak it quite well now. That experience taught me an immense amount about patience, relying on the Lord, and extremely hard work, often for something that I had no desire to do.

The second thing that I would like to share is what I am currently experiencing as a medical student. It is like learning Russian, but rather than feeling inadequate for 6 months, I have felt that way for the last 3 years. Just today I was asked, “Did you even read about pediatric surgery, because it sure doesn’t sound like you did.” Even though I spent 5 hours studying yesterday on top of having a full day of activities. Talk about a hard thing to swallow and just say, “I am sorry, but I don’t know the correct answer.” Looking back on how I have changed, I know that it has made me a better person. For instance, since I often get put down, I try very hard to not put others down. I try hard to build solid friendships with my colleagues, rather than stab them in the back like others sometimes do to impress the residents or supervising physicians. I have become much slower to fight back when I am criticized, at least I think so. Anyway, Abby, I have struggles, sometimes very trying ones where I have “walk in the dark” so to speak and rely on God that it is for my good. In the end, when I look back, I see the good that came out of it and the bad seems to drift away. In this way, I am thankful for my trials, they are a crucial part of who I am and I don’t think I could have grown without them. Thanks for your question.