Comment by boogies | Hacker News Reader

Comment by boogies | Hacker News Reader

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Don’t most other Christians (Trinitarians) believe Jesus is the God of the Old Testament, just also the (only) God, period?

(Also HN seems to have a fairly high tolerance for pedantry, so I hope nobody gets angry if I interject for a moment. What you’re referring to as Mormon, is in fact, Member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, or as I’ve recently taken to calling it, the Restored Church. Mormon is not a religion unto himself, but rather another prophet of a fully restored Christian church made complete with the other apostles and prophets of the past and divinely inspired direction as continuously revealed by prophet Russel M. Nelson.

Many people have heard of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints today, without realizing it. Through a peculiar turn of events, the nickname for members of Church which is widely used today is “Mormons,” and many of its users are unaware that they prefer to called members of the Church, of Jesus Christ.

There really is a Mormon, and members of the restored church believe his teachings, but they are just a part of the gospel doctrine they believe. Mormon compiled the Book of Mormon; another testament of Christ that complements, confirms, and clarifies the Old and New Testament. The Book of Mormon is the cornerstone of the religion, but arguably useless by itself; it can only function in the context of a complete religion. The Book of Mormon is normally studied in combination with the rest of the restored gospel, the whole system is basically Christ’s church with the fullness of the gospel revealed. All the so-called “Mormons” are really members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.)

I think that's the most well-executed and on-topic mapping of the GNU+Linux diatribe onto a new subject that I've ever seen. I didn't realize what was happening until I got suspicious around "there really is a Mormon" and started reading from the beginning again, more carefully. Bravo.

What you’re referring to as Mormon, is in fact, Member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

Everyone knows this. They're just not going to use an awkwardly-long term to refer to them. We don't refer to "members of the Roman catholic church", we just say catholics.

https://wiki.installgentoo.com/index.php/Interjection

Nicely done.

Mormons do have a distinct take here in attempting to distinguish Yahweh (Jehovah), who they call Jesus, from Elohim, who they call the father. To say they're two distinct beings, and that all the Old Testament prophets were talking to Jesus and NOT the father, is uniquely Mormon.

(And for anyone else wondering what all the pedantic fuss is about the name "Mormon", there's some good background here: https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2021/10/13/jana-riess-battle... .)

Sort of. The trinity is a confusing concept as taught by mainstream Christians: three in one in three. But the God of the Old Testament is the Father, not the Son, IIRC.

I’m an exmo, so I’m well aware of what Mormon means. Including that it was widely accepted as an informal demonym for many years by LDS church leaders, and only recently became officially anathema. The reasoning presented for the change has not been terribly sound, I’m afraid, and I wouldn’t be surprised if a future prophet reversed it, as other decisions have been reversed.

> Don’t most other Christians (Trinitarians) believe Jesus is the God of the Old Testament, just also the (only) God, period?

It was divisive in the early church. Marcion of Sinope who compiled what might be the first known canon was a proponent that the god from the Old Testament and the one from the New Testament are different in the second century. He had quite a following but all his writings are lost. He was excommunicated for this view but Marcionism had a lasting influence on the church.

There really is a Mormon

Just did a deep dive into the Bible, several versions (King James, etc.). No "Mormon" shows up anywhere in the text of the Old or New Testaments.

"Mormon" only shows up in the Book of Mormon, which most Christians do not accept as doctrine.

Through a peculiar turn of events, the nickname for members of Church which is widely used today is “Mormons,”

Because this was the term that Mormons themselves used to refer to themselves for over a century, see for example the (fka) Mormon Choir, the Mormon College, etc. It is only very recently that they began shifting their own self-identification away from the use of Mormon.

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