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Wednesday, May 14, 2008

What Kind of Mormon Are You?

This is a one question quiz that is directed at members, ex-members or even investigators of the LDS community, not limited to members of the mainstream LDS church. Of course this is in no way scientific and is just for fun.

Which one most closely matches your belief?

1. Believe that the gospel truths as restored by Joseph Smith are eternal and can never change and ought to be taught the same way regardless of the church leadership.

2.Believe that the gospel is true and eternal, does not change, but the emphasis can change depending on church leadership. However, this change is not based on outside influence and comes from top down (i.e. direct revelation from God to the prophet), not from bottom up.

3.Believe that the gospel is true, but can evolve and be refined over time as we gain a better understanding. The changes in the church doctrine or practice like polygamy and the priesthood ban on blacks came from bottom up, not top down. Principals like polygamy and the priesthood ban on blacks were mistakes made by the church and is now trying to correct those mistakes. You believe that the church has many aspects it can improve on like treatment of women, or women being given the priesthood, or treatment of homosexuals, etc. These changes will come from bottom up, not top down in the church.

4.Believe that if the church is true, then the historicity of the Book of Mormon can and should be explained by a very scientific, secular and non-religious explanation. You believe that one day DNA and archeology will eventually 'vindicate' the claims made by the church and you are certain that scientists will accept the Book of Mormon as a historical document, even if they don't believe in the story of angels. The "burning in the bosom" is a nice spiritual confirmation, but not sufficient in today's scientific age.

5.Believe that the Book of Mormon is inspired fiction and Joseph Smith simply used a median he understood well (he was well known for being a good storyteller) to best communicate the message and principals that were revealed to him from God. Much like how Jesus taught in parables so that people could understand his teachings.

6.Believe that the whole church is completely made up and fabricated by Joseph Smith, it was not inspired by God, but you still believe it is a good organization trying to make the world a better place and/or has a benefit to society. The LDS church is another man-made church, perhaps with a little more imagination.

7.Believe that the church is a fraud and has no benefit to society


Do you have your number? Scroll down to find out the answer






















Are you sure you have your number? If you don't, then you are #8, a cheating Mormon. Seriously, scroll back up and get your number first before seeing the answers.









































Answers

1. Fundamentalist Mormon-Your ideals are consistent with the teachings of Mormon Fundamentalists

2. Orthodox Mormon-This is the common understanding in the mainstream LDS church

3.Progressive Mormon/Liberal Mormon-While certainly not in the majority, there is a growing movement within the church towards a more liberal approach to the gospel.

4.Mormon Skeptic/Mormon Apologist- Skepticism is a method of obtaining knowledge through systematic doubt, continual testing and intellectual caution. Apologetics is simply a way to defend criticisms I believe the 2 go together. In order to be an apologist, you must practice intellectual caution. If you believe that the Book of Mormon can be proven through scientific explanations, that makes you a skeptic, because spiritual confirmation is not enough and falls short.

5.Unorthodox Mormon-Although your views are shared by many others, your view is in no way orthodox teachings or understanding.

6.Cultural Mormon/New Order Mormon-Perhaps you attend church so you don't hurt the feelings of family members. Or maybe you believe in the organization. I fall into this category.

7.Disaffected Mormon/Soon to be ex-Mormon/already ex-Mormon- Like you needed a quiz to tell you that.

Disillusioned Mormon

22 comments:

Anonymous said...

I would consider myself 3 a liberal Mormon, or at least I am liberal minded.

angryyoungwoman said...

Yep, I was #3. But how do you create changes without getting excommunicated?

Joe said...

You need to add one more; you think the church is a fraud, but does benefit society in the overall scheme of things like most structured religions.

Brother Zelph said...

Joe, that could still fit under the #6 description.

Brother Zelph said...

angryyoungwoman- Whatever you do, don't pray to Heavenly Mother in sacrament meeting. I know of someone that got ex-ed for doing that and not apologizing.

Anonymous said...

Funny that most people seem to be #3. That's where I am.

Anonymous said...

#3 for me.

Craig said...

I vacillate between 3 and 5,6 - despite the fact that I'm already 7 - a non-member.

questioninglds said...

I think I am a #5.
Thanks for your comment on my blog, Zelph! It meant alot!

Joe said...

Hmm, perhaps I was hung up on the "it's a good organization." I happen to think it's a rotten, corrupt organization, just that in the overall scheme of things the church as whole manages to come out on the positive side of the scale. (And for all their problems, nutty Mormons are more tolerable to me than nutty fundamentalists.)

Jeremy said...

I think regardless of the religion they all have their good and bad, it may feel that the LDS church is worse because of the negative experience.

It's just an observation I've made in my life, I feel angry toward the church but I know its because of my previous experiences and I have to stop myself from thinking that my small experiences reflect every single member on the whole.

Brother Zelph said...

Jeremy, you draw an excellent point. I have observed many ex-Catholics that seem to be the most bitter towards the Catholic church. I believe that it is because of our own personal experiences. It is easy to get caught up and fail to look at things objectively.

I am trying to keep a level head, but it is very difficult.

Anonymous said...

Is ther a 2-3 option because at first I see that I am mostly 3 but there is a lot of the 2 section that i agree with as well.

Brother Zelph said...

ditchu- so you are like 2.5 :)

Anonymous said...

Although I was baptized in the LDS church, as I started studying the journal of discourses and other teachings of early leaders, I realized that I had more of a testimony of polygamy and the Adam God doctrine. Monson has his own flock, but the mainstream church does not focus enough attention on the main fundamental teachings of the church in my opinion. We still recognize the priesthood authority in the LDS church, and I do not have to be re-baptized, but I would consider myself a Mormon Fundamentalist.

tatabug said...

I would probably fit into the #2 category. However, I don't necessarily believe that some changes can't be made based on an outside influence. It would depend on the circumstances, I believe. I also believe that there may also be some influence from bottom up. I don't think that every minutia of church policy and function has to be based on divine revelation. I believe it is possible to learn from experience and make decisions based on good judgement and concensus among the leaders. But once again, it would just depend on the issue and whether or not it pertained to a fundamental doctrine.

Jeremy said...

Hey Tata! haven't heard from you in a while. Welcome back!

Brother Zelph said...

Hi, Tata!! I was wondering if you would come back once I re-activated my blog. Welcome back, your comments are always appreciated even if we can agree to disagree :)

tatabug said...

I've been checking in. I just haven't had a chance to comment since I've been very busy lately. I was recently called as the YW president for the ward and baseball/softball are in full swing right now. I just haven't had time. Plus, it's all been pretty much rehash of old arguments we've had and I just don't really have anything new to add. Don't worry, I will be checking in fairly regularly even if you don't hear from me. But I am glad to see you posting once more, even if I disagree with you. It was nice to see you comment on Mormanity recently.

Hi Jeremy!

angryyoungwoman said...

I know I said I was a three, but I think I may be part four, too. What is it if I'm just not really sure about the church, but I'd like it a whole lot better if changes were made concerning women, homosexuality, etc?

The Faithful Dissident said...

I'm a combination of #3 and #4, but I had to choose one, so I chose #3. I guess I sort of feel you have to be an apologetic Mormon in order to be a liberal/progressive one.

James Brian Marshall said...

Whow! I wonder What kind of Mormon an RLDS Member would be? LOL!

Folk the only way to combat lies with with truth. You can't clean dirt up with crap.

Lies are dirt! Truth is light, light brings understanding and understanding your church history requries hearing both side of a story. A story as dirty as any blood fued, and juicy as any soap opera.

Better yet if you want to see how the RLDS church faired against the LDS church in U.S. and Canadian Courts go to my blogs!

I will only provide the emmediate aplicable link.

Link:

http://rldsincourt.blogspot.com/

Sincerely

James Brian Marshall