An Orthodox Christian Perspective on Latter-Day Saints (Mormons)

Fr. Justin Havens is the pastor of St. Xenia Orthodox Church in Payson, Utah.

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[tomrkba]

Thanks for this.

I just had my first Easter as Orthodox and it was amazing. It is definitely not "just another day".

[HolkHugan]

I've been talking to LDS missionaries. They're very understanding, and surprised that Orthodoxy has already been talking about things they preach. The Sacraments needed to be saved, the search for divinity and spiritual virtuosity, the living faith through works done for the glory of God. I want to put Orthodoxy in the back of their minds so that they can ponder whether or not their church is true.
I explained apostolic succession to them and they had no answers. "Oh, we restored Christ's church with a prophet and 12 apostles". That's what Christ's church is? 13 men who dictate all? So God let His people be in apostasy for 1800 years until He decided to make His true church in America? So all those Christians that were persecuted are not true Christians?

[ManiaklArt]

My mom tried raising me mormon my father was methodist converted catholic i left the church at 14 fell into the secular psychedelic culture practiced buddhism philosophy nothing made sense to me and i never knew at the time how far from god i was last year i found the greek orthodox church and am now a catechuman. I want to invite my mom to church one of these days. i think it will help her to find and understand something she's missed out on her entire life her father was jewish, and her mom was Nazerene. Crazy mix for a family, huh? The saddest thing is my brother is a nialist.

[sosa]

Excellent.

Please consider doing a video specifically on “Jehovah’s Witness”

[carlitobrigante]

I’m a former Mormon who became Christian a little over 2 years ago when I finally encountered Jesus of Scripture and finally started to look through LDS church history and saw the mess that it is and the contradictions. I first became a evangelical Protestant but later studied church history and the church fathers and quickly realised the Eastern Orthodox Church is the one true church. I’m now a catechumen☦️Glory be to God. Anyone reading this who is a Latter Day Saint please study the claims of the LDS church and the Eastern Orthodox Church and I guarantee you that the Eastern Orthodox Church will come out on top because the truth will always win out, we Christians love you guys and Jesus loves you☦️God bless anyone reading this and have a blessed day

[Chromebreaks]

Im not making this up, 20 minutes ago I just had 2 young mormon guys knock at my door and we had a brief conversation. The timing is incredible. Unfortunately I was too busy at the moment, but I got their contact to hopefully have a conversation some other time. Christ is Risen! ☦

[kylekelson]

I’m ex LDS inquiring into Orthodoxy. Went to my first orthros and Divine litergy this past Sunday!

Served a mission, married in the temple, and started raising my kids in the religion. I was very devout and believing.

Losing my faith in the LDS church and God was the hardest thing in my life. That’s a huge understatement! I was an atheist for 2 + years.

Eventually my wife had the same faith crisis I and we left the LDs church. We have been trying a lot of different non denominational churches because we think it’s important for our kids.
I really struggle with most Protestant churches so far. I just don’t connect with it. Someone said it’s like a rock concert with a Tedx talk about Jesus. 😂

Honestly I was resigned to feeling that all I could do, feeling so burned and betrayed, that I would just try to live the best life I could, being grateful for the lessons Mormonism taught me, and when I die I’ll go or won’t go to wherever God wants me or doesn’t want me. The only thing I promised myself is I would face my maker, whatever that was, with an honest heart. I still believe that.

I could go on, but to make a long story short, I finally started to look into orthodoxy and it was the first time in a long long while I felt a small ember of peace. GENUINE peace to my heart. I almost couldn’t believe it. Such a tender mercy after nearly a decade dealing with everything that comes with a crisis of faith.

I’m still inquiring, and will be for some time. Not sure if I will fully embrace the orthodox faith, but I’m grateful to God for giving me peace at this time!

Sorry for the long post, but I felt compelled to share. God bless!

[theclownwhocametotown]

"The violent take it by force" and then straight up teaches me what that verse means. Been attending an Orthodox Church. About my 10th time going as of Easter.

He just helped seal my faith. I have learned more about Scripture and history from Orthodox teaching than from anywhere else this is crazy.

[big-daddy-o]

As a former LDS member of over half a century, your insights into Mormonism are amazingly spot on.

[KMK]

Christian-Mormon dialogues are difficult because Mormons don’t understand how different their theology is to Christianity because their religious vocabulary is very similar in many ways.

[danl]

As a member of the Restored Church of Jesus Christ I love talking with others about how they keep their faith sacred. But one of the things I personally dislike is the dishonesty others have towards my faith.

I would love for this channel to sit down with someone from my faith that actually represents what we believe and ask us what we truly believe.

[yntvpwu]

Sad that a lds missionary can’t define holiness. It’s everywhere in the church, from reading our scriptures, to hearing a hymn, to worship in the temple. There is presence

[gabelayton]

My wife, my son, and I just became catechumen a few weeks ago. We’ve both come from a LDS background. We’re very much looking forward to being baptized. Please pray for our family

[birdlynn]

A feeling in your heart about a church is true wherever one finds that feeling, and it is still very good. Being in the Orthodox Church gave me that feeling too.

[ezekiel-jn]

Hi LDS here thank you for the respectful comments. I have some comments and maybe pushbacks on the interview,

1.) Creation out of Nothing or 'Ex-Nihilo', am sorry not found in Gen 1 and 2 and yes we do not believe in a creation 'out of Nothing'
2.) We believe Christ is 'ontologically' divine but not as the same person as the Father. They are 2 separate personages, one in complete love in unity of purpose, and yes we are not 'strict monotheist'
3.)yes in Lds theology there is not a huge dicothomy on the 'ontological' nature between God and Man, however, the Gap is with the Father's 'intelligence' which is greater than all..see Abraham 3:19
4.) Faith based feelings..yes culturally we do hear this a lot in church..this is because spiritual experiences can trigger a lot of emotions..but this is not an arbitrary of truth in Lds canon or doctrine....in the Doctrine &Covenants, we have to learn truth through intellectual study and prayer by faith
5.) Theosis. Yes in latter-day saint context we believe if we are faithful in keeping God's laws and commandments we become joint-heirs with Christ 'adopted' through a 'covenant' we make with God and his Son...our nature's will be transformed and become partakers of the divine nature..
5.) "The mysteries" or 'esoteric' experiences can be much more experienced within the temple context vs our wards and chapels

[JackSonOfJohn]

This guy says LDS dont know the bible, PEW research actually did a study on this, look it up. The LDS know their bible better than any other religion.

[jamesbaldwin]

I'm a believing member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and not because of any "burning of the bosom, " but because so many beliefs of the Church appeal to common sense and a simple reading of the Bible and with far fewer "holy mysteries."

The very nature of God and His Son, for example (who is also a member of the godhead and with God from the begining) is exactly what it says in Genesis and something we firmly believe.

And when Jesus asked Peter "Whom say ye that I am?" Peter replied...

"Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God."

We believe this because that's what it says in the Bible. Peter never mentions a word about "holy Trinity" or any other incomprehensible concept.

The eternal nature of God and man is something we believe and also happens to agree with modern science. (Read about the conservation of energy and matter.)

There are holy mysteries of course and things we don't fully understand yet, but understanding the nature of God and His Son, is not one if them.

"And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent."

[lukenielsen]

I grew up staunch LDS. I even went on a mission. Around the time I went to war in Iraq, I lost faith in the LDS church and have been seeing it for what it is. I've never been able to put into words some of my thoughts, until you spoke it out loud for me! Thank you!!

[WilliamPotting]

Some of the Mormons need to calm down. This is an “Orthodox Perspective” on LDS.

[hayteren]

Another contradiction this man speaks (if you look through the comments, I'm announcing many of them). He criticizes members of the Church for using emotion to detect the Spirit. In, literally, the previous sentence he said how important the feeling is in the an orthodox building.