baura wrote: "I know of no other Christian church besides the Mormons that regularly sings hymns praising any mortal."

I think that is a good point. Except for what bona dea was saying about Catholic veneration/worship of mortal saints, I can't think of any, and I'm not sure they exist. I think you are right, that might be one of the better distinctions we can make between mainstream Christianity and Mormonism.

Thanks for bringing that up. :)

However, I'm not sure I agree with you on the veneration part. The difference between veneration and worship couldn't possibly be whether or not a song is sung regularly or not.

Faith of Our Fathers. This hymn appears to refer to the faith shown by the Christian martyrs throughout the ages, but in reality it was written to honor the Roman Catholics who gave their lives during the reign of Henry VIII.

(I ripped this off a Lutheran song site.)

I don't know of any songs about their founders specifically. Mormons consider JS to be a martyr. I think most religions pay respect in some ways to the ones who led the way for them. For Mormons that would mean pioneers. For other Christians, the history is so vast it would be hard to acknowledge all the important figures in their history.

I don't want to defend Mormons with their lame songs, but I think we will see them leaning toward more mainstream hymns over time. In my lifetime I've already seen them clean up some of their more offensive songs.

"Faith of our fathers" is a hymn about FAITH, "Praise to the man" is about, well, praising THE MAN.

What "Faith of our Fathers" is about is clear in the refrain:

"Faith of our fathers, holy faith!
We will be true to thee till death."

"Praise to the Man" has NOTHING to do with either faith OR Christ.

+2. Besides it isn't just the song. It is all Joseph or the current prophet all the time.How many Christian churches downplay Christmas and Easter?

I'm not disagreeing. I'm just enjoying exploring this topic.

The second verse says:

Faith of our fathers, we will strive
To win all nations unto thee;
And through the truth that comes from God,
We all shall then be truly free.

I agree a main theme in many hymns is faith. Another theme is proselytizing. One theme common in a lot of religious music is battle. Soldiers, warriors, fighting for God, swords, etc. are reflective of their past and mission. Of course they will often insist the enemy is Satan. The war mentality bothers me.

By the blood of Christ the Victor
Overcome the enemy;
By its virtue and its power
You will win the victory.

Another theme that I don't like is that of being a sheep.

I like the Gregorian Chants. There are a variety of hymn messages obviously. I think the songs can worship Jesus, but can praise lots of other things.

Maybe I should stick with the Beach Boys. Now there's spiritual music. :-)

I think the militant hymns are metaphors. Maybe the older ones didn't start out that way, but I never took them literally or knew anyone who did. The Crusades are old news.

I've only been to a total of three Mormon Sacrament meetings. And so haven't heard many Mormon hymns. But there is one song My daughter and a couple of her Mormon friends sang once that I really love. It is called, 'His Hands". I had my daughter purchase the C.D. for me. When I taught high school religious education classes at my Parish I would teach them that song and we would sing it in class during the Lenten season.

Just FYI, MOST of the hymns we sing during Mass are based on the Psalms.

Also we consider the sacrifice of the Mass to be worship. The singing of hymns, while it may enhance worship is not considered worship. Nor is kneeling or bowing in prayer.That is, to us, a sign of respect and/or humility or contrition, but is not of itself worship. Only Mass(Eucharist) is worship. Eucharist means Thanksgiving. It is offered in Thanksgiving to God alone. Not Mary, not the Saints, Not the prophets.

Sorry, darn it, I posted that reply in the wrong place. I'm technologically challenged. Mea culpa.