"Just an apologetic argument for the Mormon side:
"The belief is that you are giving the deceased a second chance to enter Heaven by performing a proxy baptism. They are then given an audience with God and allowed to pledge allegiance, even if they had not done so during life."
"Since the Mormons believe that this is the only way for the deceased to enter Heaven, according to their theology, it's hard to condemn them for caring about those in the afterlife. Because what we're really saying is, "Don't you worry about the fact that they're burning in Hell for eternity, with no chance of escape, simply because they had never converted during their lifetime. Leave them be!""
No Christian ultimately, even if initially he or she, wants for even the vilest of beings to die-- even if he or she struggles with wanting the vilest of beings to die for the rest of his or her life:
"Say to them: ‘As I live,’ says the Lord GOD, ‘I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?’"
"What then? Are we better than they? Not at all. For we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin."
"The belief is that you are giving the deceased a second chance to enter Heaven by performing a proxy baptism. They are then given an audience with God and allowed to pledge allegiance, even if they had not done so during life."
The sin known as blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is the following:
"The blasphemy of the Spirit today, which is the same as the unpardonable sin, is the state of continued unbelief. There is no pardon for a person who dies in unbelief. Continual rejection of the Holy Spirit’s promptings to trust in Jesus Christ is the unpardonable blasphemy against Him. Remember what is stated in John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” Further on in the same chapter is the verse “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him” (John 3:36). The only condition wherein someone would have no forgiveness is if he is not among the “whoever believes in Him,” for it is he who “rejects the Son.”"
Once a person dies in blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, he or she will not want an audience with G-d:
"Death freezes the moral compass. People will remain in the fashion they enter. Revelation 22:11 seems to emphasize hell's unrepentant evil: "Let the evildoer still do evil, and the filthy still be filthy" (RSV). The God-less remain ungodly."
"I don't think it's that big of a deal. If the Mormons are correct and, say, Anne Frank was not allowed into Heaven, she now is. If they are incorrect, then they've done absolutely no harm to her."
The Mormons have desecrated Anne Frank's memory, and Anne Frank was known to have died in peace despite her circumstances-- read the epilogue to her published diary. Also, the Mormons have done harm to themselves and others by preaching Joseph Smith's "gospel":
"I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, 7 which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. 9 As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed."
"Since the Mormons believe that this is the only way for the deceased to enter Heaven, according to their theology, it's hard to condemn them for caring about those in the afterlife. Because what we're really saying is, "Don't you worry about the fact that they're burning in Hell for eternity, with no chance of escape, simply because they had never converted during their lifetime. Leave them be!""
No Christian ultimately, even if initially he or she, wants for even the vilest of beings to die-- even if he or she struggles with wanting the vilest of beings to die for the rest of his or her life:
"Say to them: ‘As I live,’ says the Lord GOD, ‘I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?’"
"What then? Are we better than they? Not at all. For we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin."
1 comment:
If you can tell me what harm was done to Anne Frank, or anyone else, by post-mortem baptism, I might agree with you.
Otherwise, it seems like a case of, "no harm, no foul".
I don't think you're too concerned about your imagine on Earth once you are dead. I could be wrong... but I won't find out until I'm in that position!
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