Common Mormon argument as proof of their "TRUTH"

Angelina5 · #1 Jun 26, '12, 8:40 am

Many LDS members receive personal revelation & guidance from God, which I believe can happen. I, too, received guidance from God when I was LDS. But most will say, the Church MUST be true if I feel the Spirit and God is guiding me.
How do you respond to that argument?

ahs · #2 Jun 26, '12, 8:52 am

I'm not really sure. But I would put private revalation into proper context. Christ established a Church with Autority, and the Holy Spirit acts and guides with respect to this Authority. A private revelation from God can be great (provided it is certainly God and not someone else), but such will always be in synch with the Authority Christ gave His Church.

I'm not sure if I'm getting at what I'm trying to say...private revelation [from God] is not a sign that we are in the "right religion". It's a sign that we have a relationship with God.

One must also beware of false messages...perhaps a different topic.

pablope · #3 Jun 26, '12, 9:00 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by Angelina5

Many LDS members receive personal revelation & guidance from God, which I believe can happen. I, too, received guidance from God when I was LDS. But most will say, the Church MUST be true if I feel the Spirit and God is guiding me.
How do you respond to that argument?

The Bible gives a way to test this spirit.......from 1John 4.....6 We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit[a] of truth and the spirit of falsehood.

St. Paul was called directly by God.....yet, in Gal 1 and 2, he willingly submitted himself and his gospel to the Apostles in Jerusalem.

Cite this from Gal 2: 2 I went in response to a revelation and, meeting privately with those esteemed as leaders, I presented to them the gospel that I preach among the Gentiles. I wanted to be sure I was not running and had not been running my race in vain.

Here, the revelation says to go to the Apostles....not determine for oneself what is truth and what is not.

If they are, then they are contradicting 1John4 and are not following the example of st. Paul.

This is one of the tests of the CC in determining authenticity of a private revelation....the willingness to be obedient to a bishop.....is this spirit willing to do this...submit to a bishop, a successor of the apostles?

Angelina5 · #4 Jun 26, '12, 10:03 am

But then why doesn't God let those people know, through their relationship with Him, that their LDS faith is not the true Gospel of Christ?
I was LDS for 11 tears and loved God, I prayed to Him all the time. So why didn't he let me know until now that the Catholic church is the bride of my beloved Savior?
It would certainly have caused problems within my marriage at the time, if I had come back to Catholicism during my marriage.

followingtheway · #5 Jun 26, '12, 10:46 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by Angelina5

Many LDS members receive personal revelation & guidance from God, which I believe can happen. I, too, received guidance from God when I was LDS. But most will say, the Church MUST be true if I feel the Spirit and God is guiding me.
How do you respond to that argument?

The fact that thousands of religious groups have claimed and are claiming the same thing.

Dorothy · #6 Jun 26, '12, 11:12 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by Angelina5

But then why doesn't God let those people know, through their relationship with Him, that their LDS faith is not the true Gospel of Christ?
I was LDS for 11 tears and loved God, I prayed to Him all the time. So why didn't he let me know until now that the Catholic church is the bride of my beloved Savior?
It would certainly have caused problems within my marriage at the time, if I had come back to Catholicism during my marriage.

God's timing is always right!

CHRISTINE77 · #7 Jun 26, '12, 11:14 am

I think everyone who prays receives guidance from God through the Holy Spirit. Whether you are a Mormon or a Catholic, or other. That is the way we mortals communicate with God.

jschutzm · #8 Jun 26, '12, 11:15 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by Angelina5

Many LDS members receive personal revelation & guidance from God, which I believe can happen. I, too, received guidance from God when I was LDS. But most will say, the Church MUST be true if I feel the Spirit and God is guiding me.
How do you respond to that argument?

Quote:

Originally Posted by ahs

I'm not really sure. But I would put private revalation into proper context. Christ established a Church with Autority, and the Holy Spirit acts and guides with respect to this Authority. A private revelation from God can be great (provided it is certainly God and not someone else), but such will always be in synch with the Authority Christ gave His Church.

I'm not sure if I'm getting at what I'm trying to say...private revelation [from God] is not a sign that we are in the "right religion". It's a sign that we have a relationship with God.

One must also beware of false messages...perhaps a different topic.

This is true. Revelation from God will NEVER reveal to you a totally NEW truth which is contrary or leads you away from the Church which he establishes. This is obvious to Catholics..but less obvious to non-Catholics who are either convinced that their Church community is the right one OR who are questioning WHICH church is correct.

But the point is still important. Revelation from God will never lead you towards a new and totally heretical view, such as that reincarnation is real, etc. - These would be new truths at odds with the original teachings conveyed to both Judaism and Christianity both.

You also have an issue of how to interpret that revelation in light of the truth. That is... sometimes we may not properly understand what we are being shown. Therefore we need to again, interpret things in LIGHT of the deposit of faith given to the early Christians, aka "the early Church forefathers"

This is where I take issue with Mormonism. It RE-Interprets things in a new way which is hard or impossible to reconcile with the original Church forefathers and early deposit of faith.
In other words... it leads one away and creates a NEW deposit of faith.

The bible tells us that we will know fakes and deceivers because they will not teach us what the Apostles did and they will NOT submit to the authority of the Apostles. -- that is... they will teach new traditions and not follow the original deposit of faith.

So personal revelation is great, so long as it REINFORCES the original teachings of the Apostles.
And to know this we need to be well versed in the history of the Church.

And as a well repeated Catholic saying goes: "To be deeply knowledgeable of history is to cease to be Protestant"

thistle · #9 Jun 26, '12, 4:31 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Angelina5

Many LDS members receive personal revelation & guidance from God, which I believe can happen. I, too, received guidance from God when I was LDS. But most will say, the Church MUST be true if I feel the Spirit and God is guiding me.
How do you respond to that argument?

Private revelation cannot contradict the teachings of the Catholic Church which was the only Church established by Christ and given authority in all matters of faith and morals and guided by the Holy Spirit. If any private revelations do contradict the Church then they are clearly false.