What evidences are those ?
How about the fact that the church survives to this day? Facing the opposition it did, this church is a living testament to the divinity of Joseph Smith’s Calling, Scriptures, prophecies, healings, testimony, all this is denied by you.
Truly, there are none so blind as those who will not see.
>>Not one of these witnesses knows that what Joseph Smith said was true.
Funny, they say they do, Talked about hearing a command straight from God, well I guess they must all be liars then.
(Hint; Go read the testimonies before telling me what’s not in them)
>>And it is quite possible that even Joseph Smith doesn't know ...
And it is quite possible that you don’t know what you are talking about, it’s possible there is no such thing as free Republic and that computers are a figment of my imagination; it’s possible you don’t exist.
How far down this rabbit hole do you want to go? Let’s have some fun!
>>How fortunate we are that the Biblical documents (which are available for all the
>>world to see) ... sprang from the writings of over 40 authors, writing over the course of
>>thousands of year, ... and yet, all telling the same story.
Have you read the Gospel of Judas yet? It talks of Christ’s Marriage to Mary Magdalene, dissention between Apostles. It’s causing quite a stir. How about the other books of the Apocrypha, and who decided they shouldn’t be in the Bible, Oh yeah, Constantine, emperor of Rome, oops I mean Pope. How about the Writings of Hippolytus, Great Grandson of St. John (you know The Apostle) his works were mostly destroyed by Constantine including the book written to refute all heresies? (We know from books written about it the he taught that God the Father and Jesus Christ were separate beings one of the things you vilified us for teaching, and hey Just how did Joseph Smith know this…).
>>How fortunate we are ... that the Bible rests upon much more solid ground.
You need to research how it was compiled.
Is it possible the “Ground” is not so solid? Is it possible I am a software program written just to annoy you with Internet links to sites that I write just so I can post them for you. Is it possible this is a fantastic waste of time as you try to “Prove” a negative?
These and many more possibilities brought to you today by the letter X and people who try to debate someone else’s faith. Is it possible that “Proving” someone’s faith is wrong is a pointless exercise? I think it is.
BTW “Is it possible” is a really bad debating tactic as it throws the doors open a little too widely hence my mostly humorous response.
Have you read the Gospel of Judas yet? It talks of Christ’s Marriage to Mary Magdalene, dissention between Apostles. It’s causing quite a stir. How about the other books of the Apocrypha, and who decided they shouldn’t be in the Bible,
So ... do you think that the so-called Gospel of Judas ... should have a place among the scriptures ?
Never mind that it was written 200 years after the time of Christ ... which kind of blows any possibility that it could have been written by Judas.
The early church had dismissed the Gospel of Judas (and other similarly spurious writings) ... before Constantine ever came on the scene.
How about the Writings of Hippolytus, Great Grandson of St. John (you know The Apostle) his works were mostly destroyed by Constantine including the book written to refute all heresies? (We know from books written about it the he taught that God the Father and Jesus Christ were separate beings one of the things you vilified us for teaching, and hey Just how did Joseph Smith know this…).
I don't think that I've vilified anyone ... I believe I simply pointed out that the orthodox teaching of the Church is that The Father and the Son are distinct Persons, but are both the One Eternal God, along with the Holy Spirit.
Is it possible that “Proving” someone’s faith is wrong is a pointless exercise? I think it is.
Don't you desire to have true faith ?
Don't you wish to believe those things which God desires that you believe ?
BTW “It is possible” is a really bad debating tactic as it throws the doors open a little too widely hence my mostly humorous response.
This type of argument is quite effective ... when there is a lack of tangible evidence.
Ask any lawyer.
Lack of evidence ... should lead one to consider these types of questions.
If there was any corroboration by anyone ... for what Joseph Smith said that he read from the golden plates ... these questions wouldn't exist.
Unfortunately ... all we have is his single testimony.
David Witmer one of the three witnesses further describes the translation of the Book of Mormon process:
“I will now give you a description of the manner in which the Book of Mormon was translated. Joseph Smith would put the seer stone into a hat, and put his face in the hat, drawing it closely around his face to exclude the light; and in the darkness the spiritual light would shine. A piece of something resembling parchment would appear, and on that appeared the writing. One character at a time would appear, and under it was the interpretation in English. Brother Joseph would read off the English to Oliver Cowdery, who was his principal scribe, and when it was written down and repeated to Brother Joseph to see if it was correct, then it would disappear, and another character with the interpretation would appear. Thus the Book of Mormon was translated by the gift and power of God, and not by any power of man.”
So according to the witness, the gold plates were covered during the translation. The Book of Mormon came about because Joseph Smith stuck a rock in his hat (Urim & Thummin), put in his face, and told a story for Oliver Cowdery to write down. Does the physical existence of plates fit into this scenario? No, it doesn't. What does the phrase "power of God, and not by any power of man" mean exactly? Could they have been envisioning the plates since these witness never testified they touched or hefted the plates? And even if they did were they metal assayers did they say they could read the characters they "saw by the power of God, and not of man."
Is this evidence?