The Book of Mormon

No, not the musical! This last Sunday we covered a rather controversial denomination- Mormonism. It's important to note that, like many other denominations, there are multiple factions within it- some more fundamentalist than others. And it's usually the fundamentalist portions that get the most press- so don't base your understandings just on those news stories (in this case, that would be Warren Jeffs and his polygamous, statutory rape filled division)!

The primary portion of the Mormon faith are called the Latter Day Saints or LDS (which is certainly easier to say than the full name of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints). And while our Mormon Bingo was a fun way to discuss a large variety of different topics, breaking up a complex discussion into bite-sized nuggets was not the easiest way to digest the history and belief system of this church. So rather than going through each of our topics and rewriting them, I'm going to direct you to a couple of websites:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Church_of_Jesus_Christ_of_Latter-day_Saints

http://www.mormon.org/

Any time you're looking into a topic, but especially when looking at a belief system, it's important to research from at least two different viewpoints: inside knowledge and an outside perspective. Insiders tend to know the traditions, the nuances, and the culture of a faith; outsiders often have a better grasp of some of the more questionable aspects of it.

If you need some prompting to help you get through the reading, see if you can find the answers to the following categories (our Bingo categories). You may need to click through some of the links on the wiki site to find them all.

Matter * Marriage * Caffeine * Godhead * Missions * Adam-God Theory * Kolob * Book of Mormon * True Religion * Priesthood * Exaltation * Baptism of the Dead * Family Genealogy * Importance of Human Agency * Path to Salvation * Polygamy * Books of Scripture * Presidents * Protestant or Catholic? * Tribes of Israel * Nauvoo * Excommunication * Prepping * Beards * Customs of Prayer * Moroni * CTR * 3 Levels of Heaven * Ordinances * Seminary * Modesty * Undergarments * Temple Openness * Divine Revelation * Tithing * Creeds * Service

The remaining question, after reading through those websites, will likely be where you fall within a debate that continues to rage: Are Mormons Christians? LDS believers consider them firmly within the Christian church, and are offended when someone suggests otherwise- and some Christians agree. But other Christians feel that, even though Jesus is a part of their belief system, there are too many differences for them to be "Christian." So... what do you think?

5 Minutes of God Time: How Great Thou Art by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir