The Nicene and Apostles' Creeds are Mormon to the Core

Public forum to discuss questions about Mormon history and doctrine.
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SamBee
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Joined: 14 Mar 2010, 04:55

Re: The Nicene and Apostles' Creeds are Mormon to the Core

Post by SamBee »

just me wrote:The history of Christianity is so fascinating and actually full of this very problem---what do the words mean?

People would read the same gospel and derive very different meanings from it. :o
Christians were also being put to death. It was a unique time.
One guy decided that his beliefs were "orthodox" and all other beliefs were "heterodox."
He also picked which gospels to use to form the Bible. The "four pillars" are what he picked because they aligned well with his beliefs and he felt they disproved the heretics.
Then they banned all other gospels and wanted them burned.

All because people dared to interpret words in their own way.
Not one "guy", but a whole lot of them, pretty well organized.

By the way not all the other gospels are equally good.
DASH1730 "An Area Authority...[was] asked...who...would go to the Telestial kingdom. His answer: "murderers, adulterers and a lot of surprised Mormons!"'
1ST PRES 1978 "[LDS] believe...there is truth in many religions and philosophies...good and great religious leaders... have raised the spiritual, moral, and ethical awareness of their people. When we speak of The [LDS] as the only true church...it is...authorized to administer the ordinances...by Jesus Christ... we do not mean... it is the only teacher of truth."
Old-Timer
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Re: The Nicene and Apostles' Creeds are Mormon to the Core

Post by Old-Timer »

Sam, the kind of trinitarianism I think you mean isn't explicit in the two creeds that are the focus of this post. These creeds simply speak of three Gods (Father, Son and Holy Spirit), and the way they are described isn't in opposition to Mormon theology.
I see through my glass, darkly - as I play my saxophone in harmony with the other instruments in God's orchestra. (h/t Elder Joseph Wirthlin)

Even if people view many things differently, the core Gospel principles (LOVE; belief in the unseen but hoped; self-reflective change; symbolic cleansing; striving to recognize the will of the divine; never giving up) are universal.

"For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong." H. L. Mencken
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SamBee
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Joined: 14 Mar 2010, 04:55

Re: The Nicene and Apostles' Creeds are Mormon to the Core

Post by SamBee »

The Nicene Creed says -
Πιστεύομεν εἰς ἕνα θεὸν Πατέρα παντοκράτορα, πάντων ὁρατῶν τε και ἀοράτων ποιητήν.
We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of all things visible and invisible.
Not three gods. The Greek is unambiguous too -"ena theon".

I think it is quite clear that while nearly all churches refer to God as "father", that "only son" in the Apostles' Creed suggests something quite, quite different to Mormonism. I don't just think it means only begotten ("Monogenos"), but goes against the whole spirit children thing. (Other mainstream creeds of the fourth century make this more explicit.)

The fact we say Lucifer/Satan is one of God's spirit children, and a brother of Jesus, sends the majority of Christians crazy.
DASH1730 "An Area Authority...[was] asked...who...would go to the Telestial kingdom. His answer: "murderers, adulterers and a lot of surprised Mormons!"'
1ST PRES 1978 "[LDS] believe...there is truth in many religions and philosophies...good and great religious leaders... have raised the spiritual, moral, and ethical awareness of their people. When we speak of The [LDS] as the only true church...it is...authorized to administer the ordinances...by Jesus Christ... we do not mean... it is the only teacher of truth."
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