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by Weird Science on April 19th, 2008

Weird Science

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Where would Christians go if the Book of Mormon and its teachings were true? And where would Latter Day Saints go if the Book of Mormon and its teachings were false? Heaven or Hell?

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Answers. 10 helpful answers below.

  • by solistics on April 20th, 2008

    solistics

    Under Mormon theology, all non-LDS Christians would have a chance, after this life, to accept or reject the teachings of e.g. the Book of Mormon, and then be baptized into the Mormon church by proxy. Depending on their acceptance, they might go to the Celestial, Terrestrial, or Telestial kingdom.

    In mainstream Christian theology, it depends on whether or not Mormons' acceptance of Jesus Christ as their savior "counts". If so, then Mormons would probably be headed for heaven. If not, for whatever reason (e.g. the Christ they accept as their savior isn't the "real" Christ, or they accept him in the wrong manner), then they will be damned to hell.

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  • by proud2b4family on April 20th, 2008

    proud2b4family

    I was about to type out the whole of the answer to what I think you are asking, but The Book of Mormon itself conveys much more plainly the answer to the question you've asked. See Alma chapters 40-42 by going to http://scriptures.lds.org and clicking on the "Book of Mormon" link, then clicking the "Alma" link, then clicking "40" to begin reading. Come back to this question and post what you learned plus your further inquiries.

    Not trying to brush you off or evade. The answer will be plainer and more efficient if you read first.

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  • by asdfajyebmerg43762 on April 21st, 2008

    asdfajyebmerg43762

    The answer is easy actually. I really don't believe that God will send you to HELL just because you are a member of a specific denomination. For your information Latter day saints (and I am one) consider themselves christian. The actual name of the church is The Church of JESUS CHRIST of Latter-day Saints. We believe in JESUS CHRIST and try to follow his example just like every other christian in the world. Some people just choose to worship in a different way. God looks at each of us as a person, not as a whole. Just because you aren't a MORMON doesn't mean you will go to hell, and vice versa. God wouldn't even send a budhist to hell, unless he was worthy of it. There are a lot of good people in this world that aren't necessarily christian. We are all trying to live our best (as Christ did).

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  • by iwnit on April 20th, 2008

    iwnit

    Where would they all go if neither Heaven nor Hell existed?

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  • by the Otter on April 21st, 2008

    the Otter

    First of all, Satans, it’s great to see you posing a really good question. I’d be lying if I said that experience didn’t make me a bit wary, but perhaps you’ve had a Saul of Tarsus moment? Regardless, I happy to say I’ve finally been able to uprate you. :-)

    Unfortunately, I don’t think this question can be answered particularly easily. For one thing, if the Book of Mormon and its teachings are true, then “Christian” and “Latter-day Saint” will eventually be fairly synonymous. Sure, there will be people that accept Jesus as their Savior but don’t accept the fulness of His Gospel, but does someone that doesn’t accept Christ’s teachings qualify as a Christian? I would argue no. This is semantics, though, so let’s move on.

    The next issue in play here is that the veracity of the Book of Mormon and its teachings doesn’t necessarily imply that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is God’s true Church on Earth. There are plenty of other religions that use the Book of Mormon: not only are there several Latter Day Saint sects, but I’ve even heard of Baptists that believe in the Book of Mormon and its teachings! Thus, an appeal to the Book of Mormon in and of itself doesn’t really answer this question at all.

    As an aside, this last paragraph is why I take issue with a statement once included in the standard missionary discussions: something to the effect of “Once you know the Book of Mormon is true and that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God, you’ll know that this is His true Church.” I laughed at the missionaries when they told me that, told them that all that would tell me is that the Church was true 150 years ago. I asked them if there was a *living* prophet (which there was), asked him what *his* name was (Ezra Taft Benson), and told them that I would be happy to pray to know if *he* were a prophet of God. They were a bit taken aback by my logic, but were actually pretty cool with it. And the rest, as they say, is history: seventeen years later, I’m still an active member of the Church, and I think my testimony is in fact stronger for having asked the right questions in the first place. But moving on….

    The third issue here is that, even if we accept The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to be the true Church (and thus the Church that correctly understands the Book of Mormon and its teachings), there will be a great many people that go to both Hell *and* Heaven, in that order. The “Hell” of Latter-day Saint theology is not the antithesis of “Heaven”; rather, it is synonymous with “Spirit Prison” and thus the antithesis of “Paradise,” where Christ’s people (defined as those that have been baptized into His Church and remained faithful to Him and His Gospel) go to await the resurrection. Anyone that hasn’t been baptized into His Church—or has, but for whatever reason hasn’t really accepted Him—would go to Hell, but would then have the opportunity to be taught His Gospel and, eventually, to be baptized by proxy (if this ordinance is not still in effect from mortality). It is only after the resurrection and so-called “Final Judgment” that we will arrive at our “final” destination, be it the Celestial, Terrestrial, or Telestial Kingdom (all of which could be deemed “Heaven”) or, in the case of the Sons of Perdition, Outer Darkness (which would be what many non–Latter-day Saints think of as “Hell”).

    So now we (finally) move on to the second part of your question: if the Book of Mormon and its teachings were false, it would necessarily imply that the Bible is also false, since the two Books claim the same source and teach the same doctrines. Thus, it stands to reason that Jesus would not be the Christ and the entire Christian way of thinking would likewise be incorrect. If this were the case, I have no idea where either Latter-day Saints *or* other Christians would go, since we haven’t established what *would* be the correct identity of Heaven and Hell, nor the criteria for arriving at either destination (if either destination even exists).

    Breaking down this part of the question some more, I suppose you actually meant to imply something along the lines of “Where would Latter-day Saints go if the Bible were true but the Book of Mormon were not?”—a plausible scenario, since even if we assume 100% accuracy of doctrine, that still doesn’t *necessarily* make the Book of Mormon what it purports to be (e.g. an essentially historically accurate, ancient work). In this case, the correct response is still extremely questionable, since there are so many different interpretations of the Bible. Frankly, the only way I know of to determine which interpretation is correct is the method set forth by so-called “Mormonism”: that of asking God for the answer. Unfortunately, if we assume the Book of Mormon to be of questionable authenticity, even that method becomes highly unreliable, since we already know that its use has led some 15,000,000 people to believe the Book of Mormon to be true (in direct opposition to this theoretical scenario).

    So bottom line: it really is a great question, but it really is one with no easy answer.

    HTH!

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  • by Joseph Smith was a fraud and Eisegete on April 11th, 2009

    Joseph Smith was a fraud and Eisegete

    Seeings how the Book of Mormon is a fabrication and could not even be valid as a history book...
    Having said that,
    I would put Mormons in the same catagory as everyone else who has not had the chance to accept or deny the real Christ of the bible.
    I do not feel God would condem someone who did not have a chance to accept him as there savior. If a person is born into Mormonism and/or it is all they know, I can not see how they can be held accountable for that.

    On the other hand, if a Mormon has had the opertunity to accept God, the God of the bible and chose to remain in the blasphemy of Mormonism, they would indeed parish in hell for that.

    This answer is not me judging them, but the bible is vary clear and God is vary clear on his commandments and law.

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  • by whew4 on January 27th, 2009

    whew4

    I have to agree with HTH on this one. I doubt there is one correct answer. A person could concentrate on discussing the Book of Mormon, or perhaps heaven and hell. I shall focus my attention on Heaven and Hell.

    We LDS are a bit more kind to the Orthodox Christians,(Catholics and Protestants) then they are to the LDS. But let's put some things into perspective here. We believe God is God over all the earth, meaning that every man, woman, and child ever born on this earth or ever will be born on this earth are children of God. And therefore, if God does not provide an equal opportunity for every one of His children to abtain "Salvation" He will become an unjust God! And when God becomes unjust, He ceases to be perfect, and when God ceases to be perfect He ceases to be God!

    God has placed Himself in a very precarious position. In Jn.14;6 we read.."Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." If the only way a person can get to the Father,(Heaven) is through Jesus Christ, what about the Billions of people who lived in the Old Testament? Who never heard of Jesus Christ, according to the Bible? Are they doomed to Hell?

    We believe the Father has one plan for Salvation for all of His children. And we believe He revealed that plan to Adam as well as several of His Prophets. The bottom line is, through Geneology we are able to trace our ancesters back to Adam and make sure that they are all baptized, and receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost and receive all other Temple ordinances, here on earth by proxy. While missionaries in the spirit world are teaching them the same Gospel that is being taught here. If they accept the Gospel there, and accept the Ordinances performed here by proxy, they will be able to get to Heaven like everyone else here on earth.

    All people will not accept the Gospel, and all its Ordinances so the Lord has provided other places of Glory, or heavens if you will. But all of God's children will have had the same opportunity to hear the same Gospel and have a chance to accept it or reject it, if they will.

    Therefore if the Book of Mormon is not true, then neither is the LDS Church. And the Gospel we teach here is not being taught there in the spirit world. And God is still in danger of becoming an unjust God. Do you really think He is going to let that happen? Do the Catholics and Protestants have a plan for saving all of God's children? If you are teaching the truth, would it not come from God? Would not God provide you with a plan that would effect ALL of His children, regardless of when or where they were born?

    That is something you might want to think about. Was your gospel taught in the Old Teatament? If it's true and it wasn't taught then, how will they hear it now? We are almost about to enter into the Millenium, time is running out! whew4

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  • by Bridget_D8547 on March 21st, 2011

    Bridget_D8547

    Since the Book of Mormon agrees with the Bible, those who obey the Lord Jesus Christ go to heaven and those who disobey him go to hell. So it doesn't depend on which Christian church you attend. It depends on whether you've given your whole heart to the Lord and done all that he asks, to the best of your understanding.

    To answer your question then, faithful Christians will go heaven. Hypocrites go to hell.

    Therefore, if you have a Mormon who isn't being a faithful servant of the Lord, he's a hypocrite. He goes to hell.

    And yes, if you follow the teachings in the Book of Mormon, you'd be putting the Lord first instead of walking in the ways of the world. So faithful Mormons and their faithful brothers and sisters in Christ will be in heaven.

    It's the disobedient ones who have to worry.

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  • by Joseph Smith was a fraud and Eisegete on July 9th, 2009

    Joseph Smith was a fraud and Eisegete

    Lets reword this and see what responses we get.


    Where would Christians go if Hogwart was real? And where will Latter Day Saints go since the Book of Mormon and its teachings are false? Heaven or Hell?

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  • by Mister IT is trying to Liahona outta here on September 17th, 2010

    Mister IT is trying to Liahona outta here

    Oh you mean like . . . ?



    My stance is the same as John Larsen's (of "Mormon Expression" fame). I would simply say:

    "Well I'll be damned!"

    I wouldn't even be disappointed. I have cast my lot with the Jesus Christ of the Bible not the unbiblical and orthodox Jesus Christ of Joseph Smith. So if I'm wrong and Joseph Smith was right (which the empirical would indicate is HIGHLY unlikely I would add) have nothing to say except ...

    "Well I'll be damned!"

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