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No Other Truth Out There?

There is a danger among many LDS members today... they may think... 'We have the Truth so we cannot tolerate anything less than a message from the Prophet or what anyone else has to say'. To me this is self-righteous bologna. First of all, truth come from God (period). Yes, we have the fullness of the Gospel, but this does not mean we have to tune out everyone else just because they do not have a Book of Mormon in their home. We must learn to respect the good in others and find the Truth. This thread has been started for us to examine the close relationships between other religions and the LDS Doctrine with a end to learn the following points:

1. We need to respect other's beliefs, we can be kind to the JW that may knock at our door...
2. We can observe the religious customs of others so far as they do not cause 'injury' to our own beliefs
3. We can avoid arguing with people from other religions since no one is converted this way
4. We will be judged as to how well we loved our neighbor

There Truth No

I will quote Bro. Nighhawlk because he gave an excellent quote in another thread:

"Of course, the problem is that we are commanded to be different from the world, in every way. We are commanded to live a patriarchal order in our homes, to live a different type of health code, to be a more moral, honest, and upright people.

But in reality, we don't. We are just like everyone else, at least on the average. There are exceptions, many of them. People who have fully embraced the eternal principles."

I agree 100% with this quote and what you just said. Sometimes we fall in thinking we have the only Truth therefore, the rest are not good, are not in our 'standards' when in reality our actions speak so loud that they cannot hear what we are saying. A JW may be living a life more righteously than an LDS who profess to have the Truth but doesn't live it. Who do all think stay in comdemnation?. I am hearing from Pres. Hinckley constantly 'Lets be kind, let's be good' even in prayer as Farseer quoted in another thread this was heard in General;l Conference""... help us to be honest, to be kind, and to be more helpful...". What is going between our LDS membership? Are we becoming so self-righteous that we cannot live in harmony with other people who profess other Faiths?. Just by having the truth is not a ticket to the Celestial Kingdom is what we do with that Truth what it counts in the end, not what Bro such and such said or what Pres. Hinckley said but what we did in our lives, how we treated our families, how we treated our neighboors, how we live our lives according to the teachings of our Savior Jesus Christ. Humility was one of his most remarkable characteristics. We need to be more tolerated about other's people religions, we need to be more loving people, in few words "Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. "Matthew 5:16.

No Other Truth Out There? Studies Doctrine Mormon

I have chosen to awaken this thread because I think it is very important for discussion and growth. I am going to mention near death experiences here but it is NOT the focus of the discussion. I mention it only because of the feeling people (who have experienced near death) say is the feeling they have upon return - to do good - to do good to all men - not a specific Religion only. Often I think we may be caught up too much and do not really see ALL people of this earth as Children of our Heavenly Father and how much He really loves them.

There Truth No

The we are right and thus everybody else is wrong attitude is a very bad position to take. The Lord has revealed much of his word to different people over the ages. We have slightly more information than the rest of the Christian world, that is all. There is much that we do not yet have ourselves so we cannot claim we have it all yet.

I think of the focus on missionary work right now. This is a constant subject in our area and how we are falling short of expectations. Convert baptisms are almost non existent and the ones we get are usually relatives of part member families. I've been pondering the lack of converts and why people are not joining the church. We have the desire to share our testimonies, give Books of Mormon away but we just don't get much results. I think people get the impression we are telling them we are right and you are wrong so you need to change and do as we say.
Well, that does not work. People don't like to be told they are wrong. If somehow we could switch our focus so people get the impression we are expanding on what they already have, rather than trying to change them, I think we'll get better results.

There Truth No

This is something I do a lot of thinking about, because I've got a lot of friends on other forums that aren't LDS, and don't have any desire to be. Yet they respect my beliefs and views.

I think that we too often view the church as a social club. We want our friends and family to join so that they can be 'part of the club.' I bet that if we spent more time living our lives according to the gospel, respecting people for who they are, and less time trying to prove our friends wrong, and show them why our church is so much better then theirs, that we would convert a lot more people than we currently are.

No Other Truth Out There?

We could also make the point that certain individuals and groups have more truth than most LDS in some areas...

I think we should remember too that some things that were of old revealed have not been re-revealed and yet may still linger in the customs or beliefs of the world.

Truth is a powerful concept. I can well understand why it is compared to a sharp sword! Satan despises it, few can withstand it and even faithful Saints will reject it if that "line upon line" approach is not taken (which depends upon them too).

It seems as if there is something within us that must alter to prepare us to be ready to receive truth before we can accept it...but that might be another thread

Dubhdara.

No Truth There

This whole subject is why I read so many different types of things, including information about other religions. Personally, I am very interested in (but haven't followed through on studying) such things as the I Ching, the Tae Te Ching, and the Baghavad Gita. I believe that there is much wisdom and truth contained within them, and within the religions that use them as scripture.

A good example of what I think is the proper attitude is Hugh Nibley. If you have ever read any of his works, you will know that he refers to all sorts of traditions, wisdom literature, and even ancient religions to teach eternal Gospel oriented principles.

I remember reading that ALL knowledge of truth comes from God. If that is true, then we should all be aware of what is happening in science, what types of principles are coming forth, new developments in technology, etc.

It seems to me that if we are supposed to be humble, it is a VERY BAD thing to assume that we have all the truth, and other people have nothing to teach us.

No Truth There Mormon Doctrine Studies

I see it this way. When we die I'm pretty much sure that the Lord will not have a VIP section for LDS members, we ALL will go through the same process, I personally think God will care little what religion you are, but how many good works have you done here on Earth. We are NOT better than anybody else, and we have to make sure to not portrait that, we are trying our best to live the Gospel.