Amen Germit! I'll take curtain #1. I don't know why anyone would want to be a god anyway. I think it's kind of funny that important people in the LDS faith have been recorded to say that they didn't think the religion taught that men can become Gods (Gordon B. Hinkley) yet there's all sorts of literature published by the Mormon church and even manuals about it! Either old Gordon was way under-studied about his own religious beliefs, or he was trying to cover it up--something about a teaching that the God we serve is really nothing special, just a glorified man--does horrible things for the conversion rates I'm sure. I think if people really knew a lot of this stuff they too would choose curtain #1...sadly too many people fall for the warm, fuzzy, family oriented church that bears a striking resemblance to Christianity. I'm sad for these people...

I agree that describes things a little clearer than I did. Thanks Lautensack!

I totally get what you're saying and I've wondered about that myself. Why would Jesus pray to God if Jesus was God? Well, I think that everything Christ did on this earth, He did to be an example for us. Of course God would not need to pray to Himself, but He knew that prayer is essential for us, therefore He not only showed us the "right" way to pray, but prayed often Himself. You see, even though Jesus was God, God was still in heaven as well so therefore Jesus was not just talking to himself...although He was...see what I mean about it being a bit complex? Luckily, we don't have to fully understand to be saved.

Oh and thanks for the compliment. I have seen two souls become saved, two of my siblings.

And I didn't notice the capitalization, so don't worry. I know you didn't mean any disrespect.

Oh, I see, I understand now.

Well, the trinity is a complex thing to explain, but let me give it a try...I apologize in advance if I don't do a very good job.

We believe..(or at least I do) that God the Father is spirit, but that He is capable of doing all things, so He became a man (Jesus...who by the way already existed with God from the beginning) and came to earth to save us from sin. I've heard people ask the question "While Jesus was on earth, how could God have been in heaven?" Well, He was. God can do all things, He can be all places at once. The idea that He could be spirit and have a body is not that strange. God the Father is sinless, He is never even tempted to sin...However, Jesus, being on earth in a fleshly body, was tempted to sin, but never did. He didn't sin because He is God. No human being can go through life without sinning. This is one of the purposes of the Bible...to show us our need for a savior. So, while I admit to you that God and Jesus can exist separately in body, they are always united, not only in purpose but in identity. We don't believe that Jesus and God are two separate Gods because they are the same God. This is hard for us to understand because our minds simply can't comprehend it. As lowly humans we are constantly tempted to humanize God, to make him fallible and limit the power he really has. When we do this we completely miss out on the knowledge of who God really is.

Wow, I hope that makes sense. I'm trying to do too many things at once and I know I've rambled on like crazy.

I'm guessing by the "floating around as spirits" question you're referring to the fact that we won't receive our glorified bodies until after the judgment? So until then, maybe we'll "float around as spirits" and maybe God has something else in mind. Not entirely sure.

Also, the LDS don't believe that Christ was physically resurrected? I mean with his body? I was not aware of that. Christ was resurrected with his body to SHOW that he was God. People had been brought back to life before, Christ did it with Lazarus, so people were familiar with it being a rare possibility. However, no one had ever resurrected themself. This showed that He had control over His own life, when He would die and that He could rise back from the dead.

If He hadn't risen with His body, it wouldn't have shown the world that He was God, but rather people would have thought Him to be a ghost, or worst yet a God who wasn't infinite and did not have the power to raise up His dead body.

Again, just my take on things. Thanks for giving me a better idea of the LDS beliefs and teachings, Amanda!

No Christian has ever answered your question on what happens when we die?? That's insane.

Well, let me give it a try. If we are indeed Christians and have accepted Christ as our savior, we go to heaven and await the day of Judgment where we will be judged according to our deeds here on earth. Since we know we'll already spend eternity in heaven, the significance of Judgment day is to determine HOW we'll spend our time in heaven. We will be rewarded according to our deeds.

The family issue: NO, there is no marriage in heaven, but that doesn't mean that we will never see them again. If our spouse is also a Christian then he/she will also go to heaven, and I believe we will still have a very special love for them. However, we will no longer have a need for sex or romantic love , so marriage is a bit unnecessary. We will still love our spouses and our children, but our main focus will be our love for the Lord. No, this is not thoroughly covered in the Bible, so this is more my take on things. If I'm
horribly wrong, let me know.

I totally agree, Soy Yo!!

Great post, Sharon. I had never read that quote from Brigham Young before and am once more amazed by the differences between Mormonism and Christianity. I thank you for all this education on the subject!

I can't really speak for Lautensack, but I think the "finite God" comment came from the LDS belief that there were many gods before God became exalted. If He did not create those other gods, but they in fact were all once men themselves, then God cannot be infinite, because He has not always existed.

Just my take on it, if I'm wrong, let me know :-) Not trying to speak for anyone.

I enjoyed watching the debate, but thought it might have been nice if there would have been a stricter moderator that didn't allow them to get off topic quite as much. I like debates that force the participants to answer the questions asked instead of trying to weasel out of them. Not to mention any names of course...(Dr. Tanner)

Anyway, I'm getting used to the new commenting system. For those who don't know, I'm the commenter formerly known as poetchick.