www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life Parish Life & Evangelization Mormoms Are Coming

I once worked briefly with a Mormon, who told me that Mormons used water (instead of wine, or grape juice) in their communion services. Is this true?
-Wolfgang

DNA tests shake the Book of Mormon's foundations
Evidence of ancestry at odds with teachings

By WILLIAM LOBDELL
Los Angeles Times

With this coming from the LA TIMES is interesting too. It is a good tool to use with these misionaries.

http://www.concordmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060316/REPOSITORY/603160369/1013/48HOURS

Mormonism is a very evil religion, and deceptive for all involved. Of course, they do not see any problem with the hypothesis that Jesus and Satan are really borthers, and many other such heresies. Just as Islamists, they are also hard to convert...in a purely natural sense...then, again, conversion is a super-natural occurance! my 2 cents, mik

yes, quite true. take it from one who;
1. served the bread and water to the congregation at Sacrament Meeting (church service) as a Deacon.
2. prepared the bread and water as a Teacher.
3. said the prayers of blessing over the bread and water as a Priest.
Much Love,
Jonn

I know I said this before, but it really affected me:

When I was a kid, Jehovah's Witnesses used to come around door to door and ask people to remove Christmas lights and decorations. My dad was very religious, but he really loved to decorate for Christmas - that's how he shared his joy. A lot of our neighbors were mean to the JW people, but my dad was very nice to them. He'd tell them what he believed and why he wasn't going to do what they asked. He was firm and polite and friendly and he didn't get an argument back, which surprised me. My mom offered them hot chocolate and cookies, just like she did anyone else who came around before Christmas - friends and family dropped by our house as a rather daily occurrence and she always had some ready.

One of the girls from school who was a JW and whose family used to go around with the group told me that they liked coming to my house.
They knew they couldn't convert us and they really stopped trying, but we treated them like neighbors. And, hey, it was cold out there and they appreciated someone offering them warm refreshments.

I figure, be kind but be firm. Also, it's really none of my business, but I wonder why your wife would invite people over who seem to have you feeling in an awkward position. My husband and I generally confer before issuing social invitations to our home and it's an easy thing to do that keeps the peace. It's different if someone just shows up at the door, of course!

one, on the JW's. frankly, it is none of anyone's business if you decorate your house for Christmas. last time I checked, we had freedom of expression in this country, this is not Taliban Afghanistan, nor is it Iran. I am miffed that a JW would even indulge in such behaviour. I have a close friend who is a JW, and years ago, his JW parents took me into their home when I was a nineteen year old kid caught in the middle of a situation where my roomate skipped town,he had the lease, and I was booted( d@#$%d if my Mormon ward raised a finger to help).
On the Mormon thing: Ray, you did not say who these Mormons are who are coming Sunday. my suspicion is that they are missionaries. they are trained to present Mormonism with proof texts from Scripture, and if you are expecting a nice little ecumenical coffee klatsch, you need to be in for a wake up call. keep it friendly. you may even want to get a few books on Mormonism (Kingdom of the Cults by Walter Martin, call your nearest Christian bookstore if the library doesn't have it) it may be a tad late to really bone up on the subject, but you need to know. a good Evangelical Protestant friend trained in the subject may also be a guest that day, if possible. I have found that the vast majority of Catholics are too ignorant on the subject of cults, even more abysmally ignorant as they are on the Faith, by and large. the average Priest is one of those who feels that it is nice that people are interested in spirituality, of any sort,so there isn't any real harm. this is how cults suck in Catholics, because of all this ecumenical crap that keeps us ignorant of the Holy Faith just so we can all believe in something, no matter what.
Much Love,
Jonn

oh, Ray. I did not mean that you are ignorant, you are not. but by and large, most Catholics haven't a clue about anything, and the Priests must be held accountable for not being teachers to their flock.
Much Love,
Jonn

The Mormons came and went.
Simple: I just didn't answer the door!

I usually tell the Mormons that I admire their family values, but don't find their origins, prophet, and scriptures credible. They usually wish me a good day after that, and leave.

Glory to Jesus Christ!

Aw. Yeah, last time they came to my door we exchanged some friendly chitchat about the weather in Utah, and they went on their way. Frankly, it was dinnertime and I didn't feel like getting into a religious discussion just then. I should have invited them back, I guess.
What that we Catholics evangelized the way they do.

But if you ever do want to hae a discussion with them, you don't need to get into the intricacies of Mormon theology, which is pretty complicated and convoluted.

The "Achilles heel" of Mormonism is their Great Apostasy doctrine, and that's what you want to focus on. What it says is that by the 3rd century A.D., the Christian Church, which had of course been the LDS church, completely apostasized and became the Catholic Church.

Politely bring up this belief, and politely ask the following questions:

1. How does the Great Apostasy theory square with Christ's promise that the Holy Spirit would always be with the Church, and that the gates of hell would never prevail against it?

Make sure to bring up scriptures like Matthew 16:16-18, and 2 Timothy 3:15 that calls the Church the "pillar and foundation of the truth." Ask them which church this was referring to between the 3rd through the 19th centuries.

2. Why did Jesus wait 1,800 years to reestablish His Church? Where was the "true Church" in the meantime?

3. Where is the evidence of this "Great Apostasy"? If foreign and heretical doctrines were being introduced into the Church, surely someone would have addressed them in writing as they did other heresies. The ancient Romans studied Christianity in order to better refute it... surely they would have noticed a "great apostasy" happening and would have written about it, as well as the holy Fathers of the Church.

The cool thing about the LDS is, if they conclude that Mormonism is false, then the next logical step is to become Catholic. :-) I've had LDS people I know tell me that if they weren't LDS, they'd be Catholic.

And of course before engaging them in discussion, prayer beforehand is a must, but I'm sure I don't have to tell you that.

God bless,

Karen

Or offer them coffee and a cigarette when they come


But seriously, this thread has gotten me to do a lot of reading on them. There are some very interesting ex-Mormon websites out of there.

Most of these ex-Mormons consider the LDS to be a cult. Also, according to one of these sites, the Salt Lake City newspaper has been reporting that their numbers are quite down all over the world.

And the temple they announced to build in Kyiv back in 1998 hasn't even broken gound yet. Glory to God!

-uc

UC,

I hadn't thought of that. Cigarettes and coffee seem like a great idea. I think we can help some mormons find the truth if we are kind and honest with them.

CDL

Last time a Mormon missionary came to my door I propositioned him...that fixed his little red wagon

On a sad note last month a Mormon missionary was shot to death on the street in Chesapeake VA because someone thought he had witnessed a drug deal.

Yeah Mormons & JW's are a pain int he neck knowcking on ppl's doors, but how much better off would we be if more Orthodox Christians and Catholics were commited enough to spend thier
free time evangelizing?

Oh, you are BAD! :p

How about offering to allow the Mormons to venerate some Holy Icons?

Or inviting them to make the Sign of the Cross?

Or, inviting them to come back in the morning after having fasted and drink some Holy Water?

Or invite them to face East in front of your Icon corner and pray the Prayer of St. Ephrem, complete with Prostrations of course. (Afterall, who has pews at home?)