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Chloroform in Print Does the Book of Mormon get a bad rap?
Slate.com ^ | May 17, 2010 | Alan Wolfe

Posted on 05/18/2010 7:40:38 AM PDT by Colofornian

To a nonbeliever, all religions perplex, but Mormonism perplexes absolutely. Let me immediately qualify that remark. To the non-Mormon faithful, and especially those conservative Protestants who consider it an anti-Christian sect, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is hardly a religion at all.

Hostility toward Mormonism has many sources. A religion established in the 19th century has not had the time to establish its teachings as timeless. A religion founded in the United States lacks the exoticism of those more directly connected to the mysterious Middle East. A religion that once allowed randy elders to possess child brides and consigned its young males to oblivion makes the Catholic Church's problems with wayward priests seem like a mere episode of, well, waywardness. A religion whose followers show a pronounced tendency to become CEOs of some of America's largest corporations is bound to arouse envy.

Not least, there is the Book of Mormon itself. This text, depending on where one stands on the Mormon question, was either discovered by the 17-year-old Joseph Smith in upstate New York after the Angel Moroni directed him to golden plates written in reformed Egyptian, or it was the product of a budding confidence man who copied and pasted other pieces of scripture into a totally improbable tale in which ancient Israelites found their way to the New World. Whatever one's views on the authenticity of the text, it has been widely regarded as a rather inferior work of literature, especially when compared to the King James Bible. "Chloroform in print," is Mark Twain's famous dismissal of it.

SNIP

...I simply cannot imagine anyone setting those words to music the way Handel did with the Bible in his oratorios. The Book of Mormon has a structure. It does not sing.

(Excerpt) Read more at slate.com ...


TOPICS: History; Other Christian; Religion & Culture
KEYWORDS: beck; bookofmormon; glennbeck; lds; mormon
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To: Jack Hydrazine
Do celestial Mothers-In-Laws get included with those celestial marriages? Do I have to put up with all that celestial whining, complaining, and kevetching for an eternity?

(Yes, per Mormonism. That's supposedly what "family sealings" in the Mormon temple is to be all about...to keep families together on the same planet)

What they don't manage to explain is that if many of your family members are temple Mormons (you gotta understand that only about up to 20% of Mormons on the rolls are temple Mormons), and they "earn" their way to the highest degree of glory (Celestialville) -- the one that qualifies you to be a "god"...

...Well, how does son Jack, who became a "Jack Mormon," get to stay with you in Celestialville if he was unworthy?

What takes precedence? The sealing or his unworthy life?

And if it was his unworthy life, then what good was the sealing? If the worthiness of the lives is what got them all to Celestialville, anyway, why bother with the sealings at all?

41 posted on 05/18/2010 9:13:41 AM PDT by Colofornian ("As the fLDS are, the LDS once were. As the fLDS are, the LDS will become.")
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To: teppe

not bad for being authored by an uneducated 22 year-old living on the frontier!
_____________________________________

AH Joey Smith wasnt living on the frontier...

Joey Smith was living in and near civilization when he and his cronies authored/plaguarized the ficticious “book of mormon”

New York and Eastern Pennsylvania were not exactly the frontier (In all his 38 years I doubt if Joey Smith ever saw a “hostile” Indian)

The book was a plaguarized mixture of the writings of Ethan Smith (a remote cousin of Joey Smith) and Samuel Spaulding and the Christian Bible and pagan myths....

It was written with a profit in mind...Joey Smith “prophecized” that if his buddies took the new book to Canada they would sell numerous copies and become rich and famous with lots of babes for groupies with their New York Times run away Best Seller (1830 style)

But Oh noez...(Home Alone hands-on-cheeks)

It did not sell...

The mormon god had lied to Joey Smith...


42 posted on 05/18/2010 9:13:57 AM PDT by Tennessee Nana
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To: Jack Hydrazine
Do I have to put up with all that celestial whining, complaining, and kevetching for an eternity?

If you have been doomed to hell and the MIL's have been sent to heaven, this works out very well, a nice efficient use of resources.

43 posted on 05/18/2010 9:15:38 AM PDT by HerrBlucher (END THE WAR ON LIBERTY!)
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To: Colofornian; svcw

Polygamy came rather late in the history of the LDS (up to the time of Smith’s death). The Mormons’ problems with their host communities before that time were far more likely to be political (Smith openly sought to take over local governments) than theological or moral.


44 posted on 05/18/2010 9:18:50 AM PDT by Notary Sojac (I've been ionized, but I'm okay now.)
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To: Colofornian

The more you speak the worse it sounds!


45 posted on 05/18/2010 9:18:59 AM PDT by Jack Hydrazine (DOH!!!!)
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To: updoc1011; Tennessee Nana; svcw; Colofornian
The only reason any religion succeeds is through the acquisition and maintenance of great wealth and political power. God or no god, Remove the money and the politics and you don’t have a religion.

I wonder which one of the "atheist/agnostic" mormon defenders chose this as an additional FR handle in order to sign up and post their first reply to this thread. It is a slam at Christianity

46 posted on 05/18/2010 9:21:36 AM PDT by greyfoxx39 (I have discovered Campbell's Senior alphabet soup....it comes in large type.!)
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To: greyfoxx39

Brilliant catch.


47 posted on 05/18/2010 9:29:01 AM PDT by svcw (Habakkuk 2:3)
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To: Notary Sojac

Polygamy came rather late in the history of the LDS (up to the time of Smith’s death).
____________________________________________

Actually Joey Smith was cheating on his wife Emma back in 1831, 13 years before he got himself killed in a gunfight, and just a year or two after he had founded his own new religion..


48 posted on 05/18/2010 9:30:15 AM PDT by Tennessee Nana
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To: Notary Sojac; svcw
The Mormons’ problems with their host communities before that time were far more likely to be political (Smith openly sought to take over local governments) than theological or moral.

I agree

Polygamy came rather late in the history of the LDS (up to the time of Smith’s death).

Yes and no. Yes, in that open polygamy came at that time. But "no" in the sense that as for polygamy itself, despite prohibitions against polygamy in the Book of Mormon, Smith immediately "partook."

Lds apologists met last August. One led a "Anything you ever wanted to ask about Polygamy" type of workshop. In that, he conceded the evidence shows Smith was already sleeping with his adopted 17 yo housemaid as early as 1831. (That's only a year after the Book of Mormon came out)

So even the Lds apologists are conceding this.

49 posted on 05/18/2010 9:45:09 AM PDT by Colofornian ("As the fLDS are, the LDS once were. As the fLDS are, the LDS will become.")
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To: HerrBlucher; Jack Hydrazine; updoc1011
If you have been doomed to hell and the MIL's have been sent to heaven, this works out very well, a nice efficient use of resources.

Welll...the mormon version of "hell" is quite different from the Christian version...If the MIL was more "worthy" than you, she could come down and harass you but you couldn't go UP and respond.

Note, when mormons claim that "everyone is 'saved'", the non-mormons will be relegated to the lowest kingdom "The Telestial Kingdom"...read HOW unless you join up alive OR dead, with the mormon church you will be disposed of!

 

Messages from the Doctrine and Covenants:
The Three Degrees of Glory

B. Renato Maldonado, “Messages from the Doctrine and Covenants: The Three Degrees of Glory,” Ensign, Apr 2005, 62–65

More than any other book, the Doctrine and Covenants helps us understand the nature of life after death. The Savior taught, “In my Father’s house are many mansions” (John 14:2). The Prophet Joseph Smith explained that “mansions” may be understood to mean “kingdoms”—those kingdoms in which we will dwell in the life after this. He said: “It should be—‘In my Father’s kingdom are many kingdoms,’ in order that ye may be heirs of God and joint-heirs with me. … There are mansions for those who obey a celestial law, and there are other mansions for those who come short of the law, every man in his own order.” 1

As scientific knowledge increases, it will become more evident that there is order in the universe and that all things are governed by harmonious and immutable laws. Perfect order exists in everything in nature from the nucleus of the atom to the immensity of space. This is true in spiritual things as well as temporal; therefore, blessings that are spiritual are also governed by spiritual laws. “There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven … , upon which all blessings are predicated—and when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated” (D&C 130:20–21).

In other words, there is a relationship between obedience and blessings. The Lord has said that we will be blessed and will live in a degree of glory in the next life according to the eternal laws we obey in mortality. “For he who is not able to abide the law of a celestial kingdom cannot abide a celestial glory” (D&C 88:22). The same holds true for the terrestrial and telestial kingdoms (see D&C 88:23–24).

As the Prophet Joseph Smith was laboring on what we now call the Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible, he received a vision later recorded as Doctrine and Covenants section 76. Included in this revelation is a comparison of the three degrees of glory: the celestial, terrestrial, and telestial kingdoms. Following is a brief description of each.

The Celestial Kingdom

The Lord compared celestial glory to that of the sun, “even the glory of God, the highest of all” (D&C 76:70; see also D&C 76:96). Those who will inherit this kingdom must do the following:

• Receive a testimony of Jesus and believe on His name (see D&C 76:51).

• Be baptized by immersion (see D&C 76:51).

• Receive the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands (see D&C 76:52).

• Obey the commandments and be washed and cleansed of all sins (see D&C 76:52).

• Overcome by faith (see D&C 76:53).

• Be sealed by the Holy Spirit of Promise (see D&C 76:53).

Those who qualify for the celestial kingdom will receive, among other blessings:

• Be of a company of angels, of the general assembly and church of Enoch and of the Firstborn (see D&C 76:54, 67).

• Receive the fulness, glory, and grace of the Father (see D&C 76:55, 56, 94).

• Be priests and kings of the Most High God (see D&C 76:56–59).

• Overcome all things (see D&C 76:60).

• Dwell forever in the presence of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ (see D&C 76:62).

• Be with Christ at the time of His Second Coming (see D&C 76:63).

• Come forth in the First Resurrection (see D&C 76:64–65).

• Go up unto Mount Zion and unto the heavenly city of God (see D&C 76:66).

• Minister to terrestrial and telestial beings (see D&C 76:87–88).

Be able to have offspring, or in other words, gain the right to become eternal parents (see D&C 131:4).

The Lord further revealed the important doctrines of salvation for the dead and salvation of little children in the celestial kingdom:

“All who have died without a knowledge of this gospel, who would have received it if they had been permitted to tarry, shall be heirs of the celestial kingdom of God;

“Also all that shall die henceforth without a knowledge of it, who would have received it with all their hearts, shall be heirs of that kingdom; …

“… All children who die before they arrive at the years of accountability are saved in the celestial kingdom of heaven” (D&C 137:7–8, 10). Except for those whose mental abilities prevent them from reaching the age of accountability (see D&C 29:50), the age of accountability is eight (see D&C 68:25).

We do not know much about who will inherit two of the three degrees within the celestial kingdom. However, much has been said about the highest level in the celestial kingdom, or exaltation, because that is where the Father wants all of His children to live (see Moses 1:39). The Doctrine and Covenants teaches that temple marriage is the key to obtaining exaltation:

“In the celestial glory there are three heavens or degrees;

“And in order to obtain the highest, a man must enter into this order of the priesthood [meaning the new and everlasting covenant of marriage];

“And if he does not, he cannot obtain it.

“He may enter into the other, but that is the end of his kingdom; he cannot have an increase” (D&C 131:1–4).

“If a man marry a wife by my word, which is my law, and by the new and everlasting covenant, and it is sealed unto them by the Holy Spirit of promise, by him who is anointed, unto whom I have appointed this power and the keys of this priesthood; … and if [they] abide in my covenant …

“Then shall they be gods, because they have no end; therefore shall they be from everlasting to everlasting … because they have all power, and the angels are subject unto them” (D&C 132:19–20).

The Terrestrial Kingdom

The Lord compared terrestrial glory to that of the moon (see D&C 76:97). It exceeds the telestial in all things (see D&C 76:91). Those who will inherit this kingdom are those who experienced one or more of the following circumstances:

• Died without law (see D&C 76:72).

• Were in spirit prison and received a testimony there but rejected the testimony of Jesus while on the earth (see D&C 76:73–74; see also D&C 138:32).

• Were honorable people who allowed themselves to be blinded by the craftiness of men (see D&C 76:75).

• Were not valiant in their testimonies of Jesus (see D&C 76:79).

Among other blessings and limitations, those who qualify for the terrestrial kingdom will:

• Come forth in the First Resurrection after celestial beings are resurrected. 2

• Receive of God’s glory but not His fulness (see D&C 76:76).

• Enjoy the presence of the Son but not the fulness of the Father (see D&C 76:77).

• Not be able to obtain a crown in the kingdom of God (see D&C 76:79).

• Be ministered to by celestial beings (see D&C 76:87).

The Telestial Kingdom

The Lord compared telestial glory to that of the stars (see D&C 76:81). Those who shall inherit this kingdom are those who:

• Rejected the gospel, the testimony of Jesus, the prophets, and the everlasting covenant (see D&C 76:82, 101).

• Were liars, sorcerers, adulterers, and whoremongers (see D&C 76:103).

• Loved “and [made] a lie” (D&C 76:103).

Among other blessings and limitations, those who inherit the telestial kingdom will:

• Suffer the wrath of God on earth (see D&C 76:104) and not be redeemed from the devil until the last resurrection, which will take place after the Millennium (see D&C 76:85). 3

• Be denied the Savior’s fulness (see D&C 76:86).

• Be able to receive the Holy Ghost through the ministration of beings in higher glories (see D&C 76:86–88).

• Never be able to come where God and Christ dwell (see D&C 76:112).

I am grateful that the Lord revealed these eternal truths through the Prophet Joseph Smith. Such truths help us have a greater understanding of the plan of salvation and a stronger testimony of Jesus Christ. We are blessed to know what our eternal destiny will be if we will keep the commandments and endure to the end.

[Notes

1. History of the Church, 6:365.

2. See Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, comp. Bruce R. McConkie, 3 vols. (1954–56), 2:296.

3. Doctrines of Salvation, 2:297.

From LDS.org

50 posted on 05/18/2010 9:53:50 AM PDT by greyfoxx39 (I have discovered Campbell's Senior alphabet soup....it comes in large type.!)
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To: teppe

not bad for being authored by an uneducated 22 year-old living on the frontier!
_____________________________________

AH Joey Smith was at least 25 when he wrote the bom..

and even an uneducatred 22 or 25 yo has some intelligence...

My father had to drop out of school at age 13 to get a full time job to support his mother and all his younger siblings...

But that didnt stop him from having his own successful businesses and being his own accountant and reading and learning for himself...

and that didnt stop him from being asked to be the treasurer for the club he belonged to...

and that didnt stop him from doing his own building and renovations on our 100 year old house and any plumbing and wiring and electrical repairs and improvising/inventing anything he needed but didnt have...

and that didnt stop him from teaching himself how to can trout at home so he could eat the trout he caught all year round...(thats for the fishermen)

Our family was well off because my father was a self educated and motivated man...

And all his siblings were successful and wealthy adults too...

One went on to be the matron of a large hospital...

The lack of formal education in 1920 was not a hinderance to my father who rejected all mormonism types of cultish beliefs...

What was also lacking in Joey Smith in 1830 that he never could hold down a regular job but had to be a con artist ???

My mother never went to high school but she taught me how to read and write...when I started school at five, I only stayed in Kindergarten a few weeks...I skipped classes and did the first 4 grades in 2 years...my mother had prepared me for school so well..

My mother could write desciptive passages about people and places better than many published authors.....When she would write to me about weddings etc, I felt like I was there and saw it all for myself...

Both my parents spoke and wrote very good English...and insisted that we did too..

Near where I live now is a self made multi millionre who dropped out of school in the 6th Grade...His family were Baptists...(How coulod that be???)

President Abraham Lincoln never had much formal education...and yet he was a vety good orator, and clever attorney...and got himself elected to the IL legislature and then as POTUS...How did he do that without reading the book of mormon ???

Yes Joey Smith was uneducated...But for him it wasnt a virtue...

It was because he was lazy and thought the world owed him something for nothing...He and his family were con artists who were deep into the occult and Tarot card reading and money digging...

Many successful people have started out people have been uneducated but they werent child rapists, bank scam artists, and murderers and mutilaters like Joey Smith...

The only males my father ever castrated were the cats and the lambs...


51 posted on 05/18/2010 9:58:18 AM PDT by Tennessee Nana
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To: Jack Hydrazine; HerrBlucher; Elsie
Do celestial Mothers-In-Laws get included with those celestial marriages? Do I have to put up with all that celestial whining, complaining, and kevetching for an eternity? Maybe the Mormons need to re-think their doctrines.

Tell you what. Let's take you away from the celestial scenario, anyway, 'cause, you probably haven't earned a self-glorifying worthy Mormon life where do you do all these good works to accumulate boomerang brownie points to earn your way to become a grown-up god.

So, for you it's Plan B. What you can do, since obviously you relish all these potential Mothers-In-Laws, is just to pray for the Mormon jesus to return. Like tomorrow. Lds apostle Bruce R. McConkie, in his book, Mormon Doctrine, says the Mormon jesus will re-institute the practice (McConkie called it a "holy" practice) of polygamy when he returns.

So. Just think. Tomorrow you could take bride after bride after bride. (And mom-in-law after mom-in-law after mom-in-law). Of course, McConkie never explained the minor detail of how there were supposed to be enough brides to go around (without raiding the kindergarten class, that is).

Now, we make light of this, of course. But ya gotta understand: A number of Mormons are very serious about this. An early 60s survey said 40% of Mormons would become polygamists if the "prophet" told them to. So how many do you think would become polygamists if the Mormon jesus told them to?

And even for those contemporary Mormons who are right now squeamish about polygamy -- and believe me, there's plenty of them -- they are not squeamish enough to...
...call McConkie a "false prophet" on his future polygamy prophesy...
...nor condemn Lds bookstores for carrying his book...
...nor criticize Lds "prophet" Spencer Kimball for overseeing a revision of McConkie's book...
...nor criticize another Lds "prophet" (Harold B. Lee) for allowing McConkie to publish that revision in 1966...
...so their professed "heartburn" over polygamy can't even qualify for Tums...

The more you speak the worse it sounds!

That's Mormonism in-depth for you. The more you hear, the more you wanna upchuck. And that's exactly why Mormon missionaries are taught the principle of not sharing Mormon "meat" before Mormon "milk." Because they gotta get ya addicted on the milk first, before you even try to digest the meat (they just don't tell you the source of where the meat came from!!!)

52 posted on 05/18/2010 10:05:48 AM PDT by Colofornian ("As the fLDS are, the LDS once were. As the fLDS are, the LDS will become.")
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To: Colofornian

Boomerang Brownie Points? Is that an Obama Administration job advancement program stolen from the Mormons?????

Mormon Jesus? I thought he was Jewish! He must have been converted by some Mormons after he died. Do you think the Mormons have converted Mo’-ham-Ed! to Mormonism yet? Think the jihadis would get a little upset if they did?

If I could send all those MILs to another planet it would work for me! Then my celestial wives could take vacations to that planet during the holidays.

I think that was pre-digested meat the Mormons have been holding on to.


53 posted on 05/18/2010 11:03:15 AM PDT by Jack Hydrazine (DOH!!!!)
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To: greyfoxx39
"Welll...the mormon version of "hell" is quite different from the Christian version...If the MIL was more "worthy" than you, she could come down and harass you but you couldn't go UP and respond."

We are not worthy! We are not worthy!

54 posted on 05/18/2010 11:09:22 AM PDT by Jack Hydrazine (DOH!!!!)
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To: ketelone

“A thousand years on, mebbe we’ll ALL be mormons.”

Even the Muzzies????


55 posted on 05/18/2010 11:10:20 AM PDT by Jack Hydrazine (DOH!!!!)
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To: Colofornian
 
Hostility toward Mormonism has many sources.
 
 
Yeah; it DOES make ya kinda wonder; don't it!


http://scriptures.lds.org/en/js_h/1/17#17

  17 It no sooner appeared than I found myself delivered from the enemy which held me bound. When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other—This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!
  18 My object in going to inquire of the Lord was to know which of all the sects was right, that I might know which to join. No sooner, therefore, did I get possession of myself, so as to be able to speak, than I asked the Personages who stood above me in the light, which of all the sects was right (for at this time it had never entered into my heart that all were wrong)—and which I should join.
  19 I was answered that I must join none of them, for they were all wrong; and the Personage who addressed me said that all their creeds were an abomination in his sight; that those professors were all corrupt; that: “they draw near to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me, they teach for doctrines the commandments of men, having a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof.”
  20 He again forbade me to join with any of them; and many other things did he say unto me, which I cannot write at this time. When I came to myself again, I found myself lying on my back, looking up into heaven. When the light had departed, I had no strength; but soon recovering in some degree, I went home. And as I leaned up to the fireplace, mother inquired what the matter was. I replied, “Never mind, all is well—I am well enough off.” I then said to my mother,
“I have learned for myself that Presbyterianism is not true.”
 
 
And, continuing thru the years, the high ranking leaders of that Organization have done the same!
 
Joseph Smith continues: "for the teachers of religion of the different sects understood the same passages of scripture so differently as to destroy all confidence in settling the question by an appeal to the Bible" (from Pearl of Great Price, Joseph Smith-History 1:12). "What is it that inspires professors of Christianity generally with a hope of salvation? It is that smooth, sophisticated influence of the devil, by which he deceives the whole world" (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p.270).
 
Questions put to Joseph Smith: "'Do you believe the Bible?' [Smith:]'If we do, we are the only people under heaven that does, for there are none of the religious sects of the day that do'. When asked 'Will everybody be damned, but Mormons'? [Smith replied] 'Yes, and a great portion of them, unless they repent, and work righteousness." (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 119).
 
Brigham Young stated this repeatedly: "When the light came to me I saw that all the so-called Christian world was grovelling in darkness" (Journal of Discourses 5:73); "The Christian world, so-called, are heathens as to the knowledge of the salvation of God" (Journal of Discourses 8:171); "With a regard to true theology, a more ignorant people never lived than the present so-called Christian world" (Journal of Discourses 8:199); "And who is there that acknowledges [God's] hand? ...You may wander east, west, north, and south, and you cannot find it in any church or government on the earth, except the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" (Journal of Discourses, vol. 6, p.24); "Should you ask why we differ from other Christians, as they are called, it is simply because they are not Christians as the New Testament defines Christianity" (Journal of Discourses 10:230).
 
Orson Pratt proclaimed: "Both Catholics and Protestants are nothing less than the 'whore of Babylon' whom the Lord denounces by the mouth of John the Revelator as having corrupted all the earth by their fornications and wickedness. Any person who shall be so corrupt as to receive a holy ordinance of the Gospel from the ministers of any of these apostate churches will be sent down to hell with them, unless they repent" (The Seer, p. 255).
 
Pratt also said: "This great apostasy commenced about the close of the first century of the Christian era, and it has been waxing worse and worse from then until now" (Journal of Discourses, vol.18, p.44) and: "But as there has been no Christian Church on the earth for a great many centuries past, until the present century, the people have lost sight of the pattern that God has given according to which the Christian Church should be established, and they have denominated a great variety of people Christian Churches, because they profess to be ...But there has been a long apostasy, during which the nations have been cursed with apostate churches in great abundance" (Journal of Discourses, 18:172).
 
President John Taylor stated: "Christianity...is a perfect pack of nonsense...the devil could not invent a better engine to spread his work than the Christianity of the nineteenth century." (Journal of Discourses, vol. 6, p.167); "Where shall we look for the true order or authority of God? It cannot be found in any nation of Christendom." (Journal of Discourses, 10:127).
James Talmage said: "A self-suggesting interpretation of history indicates that there has been a great departure from the way of salvation as laid down by the Savior, a universal apostasy from the Church of Christ". (A Study of the Articles of Faith, p.182).
 
President Joseph Fielding Smith said: "Doctrines were corrupted, authority lost, and a false order of religion took the place of the gospel of Jesus Christ, just as it had been the case in former dispensations, and the people were left in spiritual darkness." (Doctrines of Salvation, p.266). "For hundreds of years the world was wrapped in a veil of spiritual darkness, until there was not one fundamental truth belonging to the place of salvation ...Joseph Smith declared that in the year 1820 the Lord revealed to him that all the 'Christian' churches were in error, teaching for commandments the doctrines of men" (Doctrines of Salvation, vol. 3, p.282).
 
More recent statements by apostle Bruce McConkie are also very clear: "Apostasy was universal...And this darkness still prevails except among those who have come to a knowledge of the restored gospel" (Doctrines of Salvation, vol 3, p.265); "Thus the signs of the times include the prevailing apostate darkness in the sects of Christendom and in the religious world in general" (The Millennial Messiah, p.403); "a perverted Christianity holds sway among the so-called Christians of apostate Christendom" (Mormon Doctrine, p.132); "virtually all the millions of apostate Christendom have abased themselves before the mythical throne of a mythical Christ whom they vainly suppose to be a spirit essence who is incorporeal uncreated, immaterial and three-in-one with the Father and Holy Spirit" (Mormon Doctrine, p.269); "Gnosticism is one of the great pagan philosophies which antedated Christ and the Christian Era and which was later commingled with pure Christianity to form the apostate religion that has prevailed in the world since the early days of that era." (Mormon Doctrine, p.316).
 
President George Q. Cannon said: "After the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was organized, there were only two churches upon the earth. They were known respectively as the Church of the Lamb of God and Babylon. The various organizations which are called churches throughout Christendom, though differing in their creeds and organizations, have one common origin. They all belong to Babylon" (Gospel Truth, p.324).
 
President Wilford Woodruff stated: "the Gospel of modern Christendom shuts up the Lord, and stops all communication with Him. I want nothing to do with such a Gospel, I would rather prefer the Gospel of the dark ages, so called" (Journal of Discourses, vol. 2, p.196).
 

 
 

56 posted on 05/18/2010 11:16:23 AM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: Tennessee Nana
The book of mormon is chloroform in print (Mark Twain, Roughing It)

This, too, shall pass...



57 posted on 05/18/2010 11:18:04 AM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: RobRoy
 
When one compare the history of the bible to the BOM and the Koran, One finds that the BOM and Koran have the most in common.



 

 

“I Will Be a Second Mohammed”

In the heat of the Missouri “Mormon War” of 1838, Joseph Smith made the following claim, “I will be to this generation a second Mohammed, whose motto in treating for peace was ‘the Alcoran [Koran] or the Sword.’ So shall it eventually be with us—‘Joseph Smith or the Sword!’ ”[1] 

It is most interesting that a self-proclaimed Christian prophet would liken himself to Mohammed, the founder of Islam. His own comparison invites us to take a closer look as well. And when we do, we find some striking—and troubling—parallels. Consider the following.

  • Mohammed and Joseph Smith both had humble beginnings. Neither had formal religious connections or upbringing, and both were relatively uneducated. Both founded new religions by creating their own scriptures. In fact, followers of both prophets claim these scriptures are miracles since their authors were the most simple and uneducated of men.[2]

  • Both prophets claim of having angel visitations, and of receiving divine revelation to restore pure religion to the earth again. Mohammed was told that both Jews and Christians had long since corrupted their scriptures and religion. In like manner, Joseph Smith was told that all of Christianity had become corrupt, and that consequently the Bible itself was no longer reliable. In both cases, this corruption required a complete restoration of both scripture and religion. Nothing which preceded either prophet could be relied upon any longer. Both prophets claim they were used of God to restore eternal truths which once existed on earth, but had been lost due to human corruption.

  • Both prophets created new scripture which borrowed heavily from the Bible, but with a substantially new “spin.” In his Koran, Mohammed appropriates a number of Biblical themes and characters—but he changes the complete sense of many passages, claiming to “correct” the Bible. In so doing he changes many doctrines, introducing his own in their place. In like manner, Joseph Smith created the Book of Mormon, much of which is plagiarized directly from the King James Bible. Interestingly, the Book of Mormon claims that this same Bible has been substantially corrupted and is therefore unreliable. In addition, Joseph Smith went so far as to actually create his own version of the Bible itself, the “Inspired Version,” in which he both adds and deletes significant portions of text, claiming he is “correcting” it. In so doing he also changes many doctrines, introducing his own in their place.

  • As a part of their new scriptural “spin,” both prophets saw themselves as prophesied in scripture, and both saw themselves as a continuation of a long line of Biblical prophets. Mohammed saw himself as a continuation of the ministry of Moses and Jesus. Joseph Smith saw himself as a successor to Enoch, Melchizedek, Joseph and Moses. Joseph Smith actually wrote himself into his own version of the Bible—by name.

  • Both prophets held up their own scripture as superior to the Bible. Mohammed claimed that the Koran was a perfect copy of the original which was in heaven. The Koran is therefore held to be absolutely perfect, far superior to the Bible and superceding it. In like manner, Joseph Smith also made the following claim. “I told the Brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding its precepts, than by any other book.”[3]

  • Despite their claim that the Bible was corrupt, both prophets admonished their followers to adhere to its teachings. An obvious contradiction, this led to selective acceptance of some portions and wholesale rejection of others. As a result, the Bible is accepted by both groups of followers only to the extent that it agrees with their prophet’s own superior revelation.

  • Both Mohammed and Joseph Smith taught that true salvation was to be found only in their respective religions. Those who would not accept their message were considered “infidels,” pagans or Gentiles. In so doing, both prophets became the enemy of genuine Christianity, and have led many people away from the Christ of the Bible.

  • Both prophets encountered fierce opposition to their new religions and had to flee from town to town because of threats on their lives. Both retaliated to this opposition by forming their own militias. Both ultimately set up their own towns as model societies.

  • Both Mohammed and Joseph Smith left unclear instructions about their successors. The majority of Mohammed’s followers, Sunni Muslims, believe they were to elect their new leader, whereas the minority, Shiite Muslims, believe Mohammed’s son was to be their next leader. Similarly, the majority of Joseph Smith’s followers, Mormons, believed their next prophet should have been the existing leader of their quorum of twelve apostles, whereas the minority, RLDS, believed Joseph Smith’s own son should have been their next prophet. Differences on this issue, and many others, have created substantial tension between these rival groups of each prophet.

  • Mohammed taught that Jesus was just another of a long line of human prophets, of which he was the last. He taught that he was superior to Christ and superceded Him. In comparison, Joseph Smith also made the following claim.

“I have more to boast of than ever any man had. I am the only man that has ever been able to keep a whole church together since the days of Adam. A large majority of the whole have stood by me. Neither Paul, John, Peter, nor Jesus ever did it. I boast that no man ever did such a work as I. The followers of Jesus ran away from Him, but the Latter-day Saints never ran away from me yet.”[4] In light of these parallels, perhaps Joseph Smith’s claim to be a second Mohammed unwittingly became his most genuine prophecy of all.


[1] Joseph Smith made this statement at the conclusion of a speech in the public square at Far West, Missouri on October 14, 1838. This particular quote is documented in Fawn M. Brodie, No Man Knows My History, second edition, (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1971), p. 230–231. Fawn Brodie’s footnote regarding this speech contains valuable information, and follows. “Except where noted, all the details of this chapter [16] are taken from the History of the [Mormon] Church. This speech, however, was not recorded there, and the report given here is based upon the accounts of seven men. See the affidavits of T.B. Marsh, Orson Hyde, George M. Hinkle, John Corrill, W.W. Phelps, Samson Avard, and Reed Peck in Correspondence, Orders, etc., pp. 57–9, 97–129. The Marsh and Hyde account, which was made on October 24, is particularly important. Part of it was reproduced in History of the [Mormon] Church, Vol. III, p. 167. See also the Peck manuscript, p. 80. Joseph himself barely mentioned the speech in his history; see Vol. III, p. 162.”

[2] John Ankerberg & John Weldon, The Facts on Islam, (Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers, 1998), pp.8–9. Eric Johnson, Joseph Smith  & Muhammed, (El Cajon, CA: Mormonism Research Ministry, 1998), pp. 6–7.

[3] Documentary History of the [Mormon] Church, vol.4, pp.461.

[4] Documentary History of the [Mormon] Church, vol.6, pp.408–409.


58 posted on 05/18/2010 11:19:21 AM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: teppe
So were Abraham, Isaac and Jacob also hugley false prophets?

LOOK!!

OVER there!!

59 posted on 05/18/2010 11:21:05 AM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: teppe
NO!!!

Over HERE!!!


60 posted on 05/18/2010 11:24:09 AM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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