I was listening to some old music from places East of the Mississippi and it dawned on me forcefully that Mormonism doesn't have a concept of Christian "Mercy."

I know "tender mercies" has become a buzz term for Mormons but it is meaningless. Roughly translated it means "God's blessings." That isn't the same as God's mercy in historical Christian-ese in my opinion.

From my perspective Mormonism hasn't a clue what mercy is. These old songs sing of God overlooking human shortcomings. It is more than some formulaic repentance process for many Christians I believe. While Mormons have hijacked it with the qualifier "tender" it still is just gilding the God blessing lily. It isn't something like the actual concept of Christian mercy.

When Mormons have hope for their lost sheep they don't invoke God's mercy. They probably hope for retaliation for the person to "wake up" to God's commandments ala The Book of Mormon stories of God always chastising those fictional folks.

It is interesting to me that my mother puts my name into a temple box instead of just hoping God will be merciful with me. She doesn't want to confront the reality of my living out my life without coming back around to Mormon realities. And that is where Mormon forced "grace" come into the picture.

They call it grace but it isn't. It is really just doing what you are told to do and buying a pass into Heaven with tithing dollars, teetotaling, and kowtowing a straight and narrow path to grace. God doesn't get to decide.

This is where Mormonism really strays from Christianity. In the Mormon view, our relationship with God is contractual - you do what God says and he is "bound" to abide by the agreement and bless you. If a person is suffering, it is probably because of disobedience. Punishment is deserved and justified, as are rewards.

This doctrine presumes a comprehensible God that is small enough to be put into the Mormon box, whereas most Judaeo/Christian faiths believe that God is infinite, and therefore incomprehensible, and that he acts from reasons and purposes beyond human understanding.

It is the message of Jesus that every individual is valued and loved by God. We don't earn it; we cannot earn it. We only have to accept it.

I think this is why prayers given by Mormons seem to have a lot of nagging and negotiation with God. They're trying to get the best deal possible, unaware that God has already given it.

MarkJ Wrote:
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> I think this is why prayers given by Mormons seem
> to have a lot of nagging and negotiation with God.

I don't remember those. You have an example?

The manner of prayer as instructed by missionaries (at least when I was one) was: 1) Address God, 2) Thank God. 3) Ask God, 4) Close in the name of Christ.

While part 2 could be filled with long recitations of the great things the speaker had, almost a form of humble bragging (thank you Lord for the new Porsche), part 3 is where Mormons seem to go to town. Everything and the kitchen sink would be included - from lost items to be found to asking for enhanced performance in every undertaking from potty training to bar exams. (There is a great quote from Voltaire that covers this.)

To me it always sounded as if the person offering the prayer didn't trust God to know what was needed or to follow through on his work unless repeatedly reminded with painstaking, detailed lists of the scope of work.

The negotiation part was often on the order of "if we get rain, we promise not to drink anymore" type deal. Certainly not unique to Mormonism, but it fits in with transactional perspective Mormons have of their relationship with God.

Mormon prayers just seem more nagging and whiny compared to the (few) prayers I have heard in other demolitions which seem to emphasize more the gratitude and joy of sharing the Spirit.

?

When Christians start talking about mercy and grace, I have to wonder if they have even read the Bible. Creating a bunch of "sinners" who are supposed to be grateful for a God-blood sacrifice is a bizarre and rather creepy example of both mercy and grace, IMO.

While Mormons and other emphasize the "blood sacrifice" of it, there other explanations that do not. If one accepts that Jesus changed the trajectory of human spirituality and our destiny, then the action of the atonement is taken on faith. How it was achieved is a mystery. Perhaps the atonement was achieved before Jesus was even put up on the cross. (And I think some Mormon authors claim this and say it happened in the Garden of Gethsemane the night before the crucifiction.)

That is one of the meanings behind the symbol of the cross. Not that Jesus died on one, but that it represents the intersection of the mortal and the divine through Christ.

Their mercy is in their colitis bowels and their grace is in your face.

I agree that this is one of the main differences between mormonism and mainstream christianity. We are saved "after all we can do", we are commanded to be "perfect". The city of Enoch was translated because everyone kept the commandments perfectly.

So mormons are given examples and commands to work out their own salvation. Jesus isn't covering your sins, he is opening a door for you and if you manage to do everything right you can pass through it. Mercy in that theology is the fact that Jesus gave you any chance at all.

Its not at all on the same level as you see written in the bible. Believers in the bible are washed clean by the blood of Jesus by faith, not after they've stopped sinning, because according to the bible thats impossible we are incapable of it. The law was meant to show how we are incapable of being perfect and therefore need Jesus.

I have different problems with Christianity... namely the whole Hell thing, but I'd say this is one of the more sad things about Mormonism and puts an unbelievable amount of stress on the average believing mormon.

I don't see that using blood of a god and his "bad weekend" of temporary death demonstrates mercy or grace. It is sick. If God wasn't happy with humans acting like humans, He could have the grace to leave off all the "I suffered for you" drama and BS or designed humans differently.

The message from Christianity seems to enforce that helpless humans need to be washed in blood by a god, to make up for being human. Then they try to make people think the guilt and manipulation demonstrate mercy and grace. If this is because He shows NO mercy and grace if you don't accept it, that is even more disturbing.

Exactly what is the mechanism in which suffering or God-blood somehow cleanses humans? It's gobbledygook.

Not to excuse Mormons, but at least they have the honesty to see that God cannot exactly be trusted to do only good things. I can see why they are trying to bootlick to get extra favor from a god. Dad likes me best! After all, God had a chosen son. He had chosen people. He's not all that fair of a guy.

God doesn't even need Jesus for Mormonism. Jesus is an accomplice who can accuse them of making him suffer for not going along with the big man.

Jesus strong arms Mormons with suffering to get them to kowtow to the god of The Old Testament.

Donate your time, talents, and everything you have including all inclinations to break covenants or break with, commandments, corporate policies and corporate masters. No space for grace.

The only thing saving in Mormon grace is their beyond death get out of jail cards which also is weird. It is like their strong man Jesus can't help beyond death without the corporate masters coordination.

There is no mercy in Mormonism.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/18/2018 09:51AM by anybody.

And never forget that you must pay 10% so that you will know some secret/sacred handshakes that entitle you to get into the top tier of heaven.

One thing (among many) that surprised me about the Mormon faith was how bishops hang onto memory of sins that are in the past and have already been resolved. You might even hear about such sins from a new bishop in another ward to which you've moved. It's like there is no true forgiveness in Mormonism. As a Catholic, I never exited from church after an anonymous confession without having everything wiped clean.

Never forget that the charter document of Mormonism starts with someone chopping off a man's head.

Their charter in being given the whole New World required a Bible. How strange that God couldn't just let the texts they needed come to them through a rock in a headdress.

As a non-churched teen, the only Christian hymn I knew was Amazing Grace. I would imagine if not the best loved, it certainly ranks among the best known hymns. Why is it not in the LDS hymnal? Because Mormons have no concept of unconditional, unearned love.

Mormon grace is something earned by obedience to the "laws and ordinances" of the (Mormon) gospel. The more you obey the more grace you receive. But as Paul put it that is wages earned.

kentish Wrote:
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> But
> as Paul put it that is wages earned.

Interestingly regardless of how long (ancestry, life-long obedient Mormon etc.) the laborer in The Bible is worthy of being paid the same as the earliest laborers "called" to "serve" in the vineyard.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parable_of_the_Workers_in_the_Vineyard

But Mormons can't serve alcohol.