Unique to Mormonism

[wonbyone]

Paul was being literal when he talked about the armor of God and it is a special pair of underwear.

Sorry I coudn't contain myself!

[digits]

Unique things to Mormonism that had to be restored:

Priesthood was lost... except John might be wandering the earth still.
Mormon's Restored it.

Polygamy from the Old testament was lost with Solomon. Paul was wrong in his letter to Timothy. It was translated incorrectly.
Mormon's restored it in the form of bigamy.

Black people somehow were allowed to hold the priesthood in the early Christian church.
This was wrong. Mormon's properly took this away to restore the white and pure arian church.

The early church had lost it's Masonic rights and rituals.
Mormonism restored the Masonic rights and rituals to the church.

That's a few of the restored items. I could list more.

Digital Inkling

[rogue06]

I'm not sure if any other religion has people living on the Moon (and Sun too IIRC) and even describing their appearance and dress.

[ApologiaPhoenix]

I think on the opposite end, the similiarities between Mormonism and Islam are fascinating.

[JB]

So here, I think, is what we've come up with so far:

• Spirit-siblings
• Creatio ex materia
• Gods before the Father - not a universally held LDS notion, but still prominent and distinctive
• Future embodiment for the Holy Spirit
• Sealing for time and eternity
• Multiplicity of heavenly kingdoms - not sure how to classify this just yet. The concept of degrees of heavenly reward was certainly present, but I don't know enough about American religious history offhand to say whether the threefold major division was there also before Smith's time. It seems probable that this was unique to the Latter-day Saint movement.
• Physical presence of Jesus in the Americas - While interest in the ancient Americas was common in American thought before Joseph Smith, I don't know if any of those previous thinkers ever suggested that Jesus visited the inhabitants of the ancient Americas. If not, that seems sufficiently distinctive.
• Inhabited sun and moon - while this was of course never a major LDS belief, it is most likely something peculiar that was held by at least some early Latter-day Saints. It's by no means generally unique - Lucian of Samosata, in the second century AD, wrote a fictional story that postulated inhabitants on both - but I don't know yet if anyone prior to the LDS suggested anything of the sort in America, so this one gets marked a tentative 'maybe'.

Other things of more questionable uniqueness (I'm adding some):

• Distinctive garments - this one probably has some sort of parallel in pre-LDS American religious history
• Alternative marriage practices - this one is common among early new religious movements in America, though it took different forms
• Racial curse on Ham - this was also fairly common in American Christianity before Joseph Smith's time
• Connection between ancient Americas and Israelites - also popular speculation in American Christianity prior to Joseph Smith
• Baptism for the dead - interestingly, this actually isn't unique. My hometown was founded by a small religious movement that, decades before Joseph Smith was even born, practiced baptism for the dead in a substantially similar way to the LDS practice. I know one scholar has even suggested that the LDS practice of baptism for the dead was adopted from this other movement
• Expansion of the Melchizedek priesthood beyond Jesus - also present in the aforementioned movement, who claimed to participate in that priesthood as well
• Renewal of contemporary prophecy - same as above.
• Visions of the Father and the Son - same as above. At least one member of the aforementioned religious community claimed to have had a vision that included, among other things, beholding the Father and the Son standing side-by-side.

Here's a possibility: were there any Christian groups in America before Joseph Smith's time that claimed new scripture in addition to the Bible?

Also, I think I've heard somewhere that engraven metal plates were known to exist - is that the case? And does anyone know if there was any particular interest in the urim and thummim in 18th- or early 19th-century American religion?

[Sparko]

The rebuilt Temple of God is supposed to be in the USA.

[digits]

There is a unique relationship between Mormon's and seagulls. It think there was a seagull miracle in Mormon history.

One thing that is very unique to mormonism is it's lack of financial accountability. Many churches now open the books publicly or at least to it's members.

Unique theology is the stuff about the garden of eden being in Missouri and all this kind of stuff. It seemed that everywhere Joseph went and everything he touched had some biblical significance. The breathings of the dead that was with a mummy became the book of abraham.

So there is this unique posture that the mormon church has about america and it being special biblically. I find it interesting.

[Bill the Cat]

Adam/God

[Cow Poke]

Adam/God

OC claims that's NOT one of their teachings....

OC - please correct Bill on this.

[Bill the Cat]

OC claims that's NOT one of their teachings....

OC - please correct Bill on this.

It is not now, and is shunned like last week's cold gruel, but it was certainly taught repeatedly and vehemently by BY, and a little by JS. I've got tons of quotes if you need them.

[Cow Poke]

It is not now, and is shunned like last week's cold gruel, but it was certainly taught repeatedly and vehemently by BY, and a little by JS. I've got tons of quotes if you need them.

I'm convinced BTC... but every time there's an issue raised about a questionable teaching, it's "well, that's not OFFICIAL church doctrine" or "he was NOT speaking AS a prophet when he said that" or .... there's always an excuse. Same thing with the racism.

[digits]

Kolob, Kokaubeam, are one of the most remarkable things in the book of Abraham. I think if the Missionaries would just whip out the book of abraham and say let's read chapter 3 together Christianity would be safe.

I am wondering if Mormon astronomers have identified Kolob.

[Bill the Cat]

Kolob, Kokaubeam, are one of the most remarkable things in the book of Abraham. I think if the Missionaries would just whip out the book of abraham and say let's read chapter 3 together Christianity would be safe.

I am wondering if Mormon astronomers have identified Kolob.

http://lds.about.com/library/bl/faq/blkolob.htm

[Cow Poke]

http://lds.about.com/library/bl/faq/blkolob.htm

From that....

"One revolution of Kolob is a day unto the Lord and one day in Kolob is equal to a thousand years on earth."

How incredibly coincidental!

[digits]

Kolob is not the actual place where God lives. It's just nearby.