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The Decline of Mormonism

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  • The Decline of Mormonism

    Mormonism has had its hay day, but those days are over. People grow up intellectually. They don't buy into modern "prophets" who supposedly speak for God. They've seen the Koresh and Jones debacles. They are far more sophisticated than early credulous followers of Joe Smith - education does count. Here are some reasons Mormonism is on its way out:

    1. The internet has exposed many things about Mormonism that stop people dead in their tracks if they are considering it as a religious choice.
    2. Mormonism does not appeal to those with any intellectual capabilities. It appeals to the "gut" and to the "warm fuzzyists," but not to thinking people.
    3. Mormonism stands or falls with Joseph Smith - and he has been proven to be a liar, a womanizer (look at the "essays") and somebody that people of today really don't consider to be the idolatrous object worthy of praise which Mormons have always imputed to Smith.
    4. Young people on the whole aren't into the restrictions and demands Mormonism imposes.
    5. White Disneyworld type temples turn off a lot of people in today's economy where you have so many homeless and needy.
    6. Thanks to Newnamenoah, Mormon temple rites have been exposed and are seen by many as a Masonic-based charade. Freemasonry was the model of the temple rites, and it's in decline as well.

    That's just some of the things I can think of off the top of my head.
    Last edited by Doctrine Matters; 07-26-2015, 11:47 AM.

  • #2
    Actually, there are still a lot of converts into mormonism. However I think Mormonism has made an attempt to go more "mainstream" so much so that it looks like Catholicism to outsiders and that's where its majority of new converts come from (cafeteria catholics.) It also sort of makes the attempt to bury its cult like past, so much so that no one really denies its so called secrets, it just kind of rolls with the mains stream now it appears.
    A happy family is but an earlier heaven.
    George Bernard Shaw

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    • #3
      Mormonism is still booming numbers-wise so it remains to be seen whether these will play out. Roger Olson's (a Baptist who does not consider Mormons Christians) prediction is interesting. He thinks Mormonism will head in a more orthodox direction in coming decades.

      http://www.christianpost.com/news/ba...vation-140518/
      "I am not angered that the Moral Majority boys campaign against abortion. I am angry when the same men who say, "Save OUR children" bellow "Build more and bigger bombers." That's right! Blast the children in other nations into eternity, or limbless misery as they lay crippled from "OUR" bombers! This does not jell." - Leonard Ravenhill

      Comment


      • #4
        Originally posted by KingsGambit View Post
        Mormonism is still booming numbers-wise so it remains to be seen whether these will play out. Roger Olson's (a Baptist who does not consider Mormons Christians) prediction is interesting. He thinks Mormonism will head in a more orthodox direction in coming decades.

        http://www.christianpost.com/news/ba...vation-140518/
        Like lose the sci-fi/fantasy element of human aliens that can turn into gods given the right conditions? Wait, did I just make another joke about aliens with superpowers that look just like humans?
        If it weren't for the Resurrection of Jesus, we'd all be in DEEP TROUBLE!

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        • #5
          Originally posted by Christianbookworm View Post
          Like lose the sci-fi/fantasy element of human aliens that can turn into gods given the right conditions? Wait, did I just make another joke about aliens with superpowers that look just like humans?
          That would be a good start, yes.

          I think it's highly unlikely, but there is a precedent for an entire cult going orthodox (the Worldwide Church of God becoming Grace Communion International). However, it was much, much smaller than the LDS.
          "I am not angered that the Moral Majority boys campaign against abortion. I am angry when the same men who say, "Save OUR children" bellow "Build more and bigger bombers." That's right! Blast the children in other nations into eternity, or limbless misery as they lay crippled from "OUR" bombers! This does not jell." - Leonard Ravenhill

          Comment


          • #6
            Originally posted by Catholicity View Post
            Actually, there are still a lot of converts into mormonism. However I think Mormonism has made an attempt to go more "mainstream" so much so that it looks like Catholicism to outsiders and that's where its majority of new converts come from (cafeteria catholics.) It also sort of makes the attempt to bury its cult like past, so much so that no one really denies its so called secrets, it just kind of rolls with the mains stream now it appears.
            The average convert lasts less than a year. The "growth" is mostly in third world countries where Mormon "missionaries" capitalize on the hard work of Christian missionaries who have preached the Gospel. My daughter and family do missionary work in Zambia and the Mormons will come in and lure the poor new Christians away. Also, Mormons tend to have more children than non-Mormons, and new babies are projected by the cult to be members, and are counted as such, even though they aren't baptized until age 8. If a person does not show up at a LDS Chapel for years and years, he is still counted as a member, even though he has left and is attending the Calvary Chapel down the street - a person must resign formerly to get off the membership rolls.
            Last edited by Doctrine Matters; 08-02-2015, 02:31 PM.

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            • #7
              Originally posted by KingsGambit View Post
              Mormonism is still booming numbers-wise so it remains to be seen whether these will play out. Roger Olson's (a Baptist who does not consider Mormons Christians) prediction is interesting. He thinks Mormonism will head in a more orthodox direction in coming decades.

              http://www.christianpost.com/news/ba...vation-140518/
              I read that article and actually responded to it on Baptist News. It's simply not true. Mormonism hasn't become "more" Christian at all. It retains all of its core doctrines. It still teaches that God is an exalted man from another planet and that Jesus was the first spirit born to "heavenly father" and one of his wives. Satan being the second. Mormonism has simply changed its appearance. Hard liners like Dr. Peterson are no longer in control, and new, more charming, "apologists" have taken their place. It's a white wash. Their doctrinal stance has not changed at all. The Worldwide Church of God actually abandoned Arianism and embraced the Trinity. The Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of LDS has now become more Trinitarian and closer to orthodoxy. The Mormons put on lipstick and everybody thinks they've changed.

              Regarding the cult's growth, see: http://www.mrm.org/fastest-growing-church
              Last edited by Doctrine Matters; 08-02-2015, 02:11 PM.

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              • #8
                From a Free Republic website coverage of a news segment dealing with the issue:

                "From the news segment: A new report quotes an LDS general authority who said more members are falling away today than any time in the past 175 years...according to a recent Reuters article citing LDS General Authority Marlin K. Jensen, for the church as a whole, the record in going in a different direction. Elder Jensen told the news outlet times have changed, and "attrition has accelerated in the last five or 10 years." Some church members ABC 4 talked to said they see the faithful leaving. "I'm from Chile and a lot of people just stop attending, they take it a little bit too casual," said Francisco Jerez, LDS Church member. So how bad is it getting? Right now there are more than 14 million members of the church worldwide. But according to the article, sociologists estimate active membership may as few as only five million."

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                • #9
                  If it was started by a true prophet of God instead of Joseph Smith, they wouldn't need to change their teachings and temple ordinances to keep converts or attract new ones.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    I find it interesting that you equate people growing intellectually to the rejection of modern prophets. Seems odd that a Christian would make the case for increased intelligence necessarily means a rejection of gospel truths.

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                    • #11
                      Originally posted by Janice View Post
                      If it was started by a true prophet of God instead of Joseph Smith, they wouldn't need to change their teachings and temple ordinances to keep converts or attract new ones.
                      Perhaps they need a Paul-like figure to stimulate the religion and make it grow.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Originally posted by Scorching Wizard View Post
                        Perhaps they need a Paul-like figure to stimulate the religion and make it grow.
                        They had one. Two actually. Brigham Young and John Taylor.
                        That's what
                        - She

                        Without a clear-cut definition of sin, morality becomes a mere argument over the best way to train animals
                        - Manya the Holy Szin (The Quintara Marathon)

                        I may not be as old as dirt, but me and dirt are starting to have an awful lot in common
                        - Stephen R. Donaldson

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                        • #13
                          Originally posted by Catherine Aurelia View Post
                          I find it interesting that you equate people growing intellectually to the rejection of modern prophets. Seems odd that a Christian would make the case for increased intelligence necessarily means a rejection of gospel truths.
                          The rejection of "modern prophets" of Mormonism is more about realizing their false doctrines than about growing in intellect. There are no "gospel truths" in Mormonism. Every doctrine pilfered from Christianity is warped by others that make them internally incoherent.
                          That's what
                          - She

                          Without a clear-cut definition of sin, morality becomes a mere argument over the best way to train animals
                          - Manya the Holy Szin (The Quintara Marathon)

                          I may not be as old as dirt, but me and dirt are starting to have an awful lot in common
                          - Stephen R. Donaldson

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Originally posted by KingsGambit View Post
                            Mormonism is still booming numbers-wise so it remains to be seen whether these will play out. Roger Olson's (a Baptist who does not consider Mormons Christians) prediction is interesting. He thinks Mormonism will head in a more orthodox direction in coming decades.

                            http://www.christianpost.com/news/ba...vation-140518/
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                            Last edited by Zymologist; 09-04-2015, 11:36 AM.

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                            • #15
                              Originally posted by Doctrine Matters View Post
                              I read that article and actually responded to it on Baptist News. It's simply not true. Mormonism hasn't become "more" Christian at all. It retains all of its core doctrines. It still teaches that God is an exalted man from another planet and that Jesus was the first spirit born to "heavenly father" and one of his wives. Satan being the second. Mormonism has simply changed its appearance. Hard liners like Dr. Peterson are no longer in control, and new, more charming, "apologists" have taken their place. It's a white wash. Their doctrinal stance has not changed at all. The Worldwide Church of God actually abandoned Arianism and embraced the Trinity. The Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of LDS has now become more Trinitarian and closer to orthodoxy. The Mormons put on lipstick and everybody thinks they've changed.

                              Regarding the cult's growth, see: http://www.mrm.org/fastest-growing-church
                              I tend to agree that it would be difficult to retain the trappings of, really, anything and move toward orthodoxy. Maybe with an extreme form of accomodationism but I just don't see that happening with the majority of believers.
                              "I am not angered that the Moral Majority boys campaign against abortion. I am angry when the same men who say, "Save OUR children" bellow "Build more and bigger bombers." That's right! Blast the children in other nations into eternity, or limbless misery as they lay crippled from "OUR" bombers! This does not jell." - Leonard Ravenhill

                              Comment

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