Mormonism and Jainism Compared

24 November

Mormonism and Jainism Compared

I read with interest today of another media campaign launched by the LDS Church this holiday season. Their objective? To show people that they’re Christians, they participate in Christmastime activities and believe in Jesus.  http://www.lds.org/church/news/mormonorg-christmas-initiative-launches-online-and-in-nyc?lang=eng

The LDS Newsroom said in part;

“In New York, the media initiative includes interactive and static billboards, advertising on buses and on the Internet, and even taxicab toppers. The ads emphasize a Christmas season centered on the Savior, family, love, service, and worship, and refer people to mormon.org, where they can learn more about the Church and the gospel.”

So my question is why they can’t just advertise the name of Jesus without a personal agenda? This advertising campaign isn’t about Jesus, but them. Why isn’t the Christmas season about all the miracles that were fulfilled in the birth of Jesus? Why is this about the Church and the Mormon gospel?

Will the Church proclaim their true beliefs about Jesus? The answer to that is of course not. The general public won’t learn how they believe they can become gods or how they don’t believe God created the earth out of nothing. The advertising campaign won’t openly share how they believe Jesus is a created being and just another son of their god in a myriad of sons.

The basics of Mormonism remind me of Jainism in many ways. The similarities are striking and should give investigators pause to what the Church’s true agenda is really about.  Below is a side-by-side comparison of both.

  Jainism Mormonism
Creation of Earth Jains believe that the universe and everything in it is eternal. Nothing that exists now was ever created, nor will it be destroyed. The universe consists of three realms: the heavens, the earthly realm and the hells.” Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pg 350; “…we infer that God had materials to organize the world out of chaos—chaotic matter, which is element, and in which dwells all the glory. Element had an existence from the time he had. The pure principles of element are principles which can never be destroyed; they may be organized and re-organized, but not destroyed. They had no beginning, and can have no end.”

Abraham 4:25; “And the Gods organized the earth to bring forth the beasts after their kind, and cattle after their kind, and everything that creepeth upon the earth after its kind; and the Gods saw they would obey.”

Creation of Man “In Jainism, the soul is uncreated, eternal and has infinite power and knowledge. It therefore has the inherent potential of divinity (that is, perfectly omnipotent, omniscient and free; not a god). By ridding oneself of the karma that obstructs the soul, one can achieve this liberation (moksa).” TPJS, pg. 354; “All the fools

and learned and wise men

from the beginning of creation, who say that the spirit of man had a beginning, prove that it must have an end…God never had the power to create the spirit of man at all. God himself could not create himself.

Salvation “Depending on one’s karma and level of spiritual development, death may mean being reborn in another physical appearance in the earthly realm, suffering punishment in one of eight hells or joining other liberated souls in the highest level of heaven.” Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pg 346; “Here, then, is eternal life—to know the only wise and true God; and you have got to learn how to be Gods yourselves, and to be kings and priests to God, the same as all Gods have done before you”
Gods “The Jain understanding of an uncreated and eternal universe leaves little room for an Almighty Creator God. Jains do, however, believe in a “perfect universal

presence,” as well as multiple deities who

dwell in the heavens.”

TPJS, pg. 372;“Many men say there is one God; the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost are only one God. I say that is a strange God anyhow—three in one, and one in three! It is a curious organization.”
References http://www.religionfacts.com/jainism/beliefs.htm www.lds.org

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