Sunday, July 6, 2008

The Articles of Our Faith

I thought I had posted these before, but in looking over my past posts, couldn't find them. These are the articles of our faith. This was written by Joseph Smith when asked by a newspaper to detail what we believe.

1 We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost.

2 We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam’s transgression.

3 We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel.

4 We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are: first, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second, Repentance; third, Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; fourth, Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost.

5 We believe that a man must be called of God, by prophecy, and by the laying on of hands by those who are in authority, to preach the Gospel and administer in the ordinances thereof.

6 We believe in the same organization that existed in the Primitive Church, namely, apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists, and so forth.

7 We believe in the gift of tongues, prophecy, revelation, visions, healing, interpretation of tongues, and so forth.

8 We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly; we also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God.

9 We believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God.

10 We believe in the literal gathering of Israel and in the restoration of the Ten Tribes; that Zion (the New Jerusalem) will be built upon the American continent; that Christ will reign personally upon the earth; and, that the earth will be renewed and receive its paradisiacal glory.

11 We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may.

12 We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law.

13 We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul—We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.

Joseph Smith

4 comments:

Nate said...

Very interesting. Looks very much like the Baptist articles of faith, with very slight alterations.

Ten tribes of Israel? Not twelve?

Ruth said...

This is very interesting and informative. Thanks for taking the time to post this. I was surprised that LDS beleive in "the gift of tongues, prophecy, revelation, visions, healing, interpretation of tongues, and so forth." Do many people have and use these gifts such as tongues and prophecy or is it just for the higher ups?

Delirious said...

Nate,
This article of faith refers to the "lost ten tribes" of Israel.
If you are interested in learning more, here is some information from the bible dictionary:

"The division of the house of Israel into two kingdoms at approximately 925 B.C. had been prophesied by Ahijah (1 Kgs. 11: 31-35). The immediate cause was a revolt of the people against the heavy taxes levied by Solomon and his son Rehoboam. Ten tribes formed the northern kingdom, with headquarters at Shechem in Samaria. They were known as Israel, or the northern kingdom, or Ephraim, since Ephraim was the dominant group among them. Their first king was Jeroboam, an Ephraimite; he was followed later by such kings as Omri and Ahab (who ruled with his Phoenician wife Jezebel). The southern kingdom, consisting of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, was headquartered at Jerusalem.
The northern kingdom soon went into apostasy and adopted many practices of Baalism, notwithstanding the ministries of such great prophets as Elijah and Amos. After a history of over 200 years and a series of 19 kings, the kingdom was captured by the Assyrians and the people carried away captive into Assyria. They have therefore become known as the “lost ten tribes.”
Since their captivity they have never yet returned to their homeland, but extensive promises and prophecies speak of the time when they of the “north countries” shall return when they are ready to obey the gospel. The gathering of the lost tribes is to be a more spectacular event than the children of Israel coming out of Egypt in Moses’ day." I did not include the scripture references here, but if you are interested in reading them, here is the link:

http://scriptures.lds.org/en/bd/i/13

Delirious said...

Ruth,

Yes, we do believe in the gifts of the spirit. We believe that all of those who have received the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands by one who holds the priesthood authority, can have these spiritual gifts. However, their gifts are limited to their own sphere of responsibility and authority. For example, a person can receive the gift of prophecy for his or her own family, but not for the church as a whole. We believe that the Prophet also has these spiritual gifts, and that he is the one ordained to receive revelation and prophecy for the church as a whole.
Our view of the gift of tongues is somewhat different than that of the charismatic churches. We believe that part of this gift is manifest when a person teaches by the spirit. Another way it is manifest is when missionaries are able to quickly learn a new language and teach the peoples of the world. The kind of speaking in tongues that most people think of, should be accompanied by someone who has the gift to translate..otherwise, the gift cannot benefit others.

There are many gifts of the spirit, but as the scriptures tell us, some are given some gifts, and others are given different gifts, but they are given for the benefit of those we can serve.