Ah, the bottom line of Mormonism:
#1 Dont confuse me with the historical facts and historical realities about Joseph Smith, character-wise, or anything else. Why? Cause Ive already made up my testimony feeling-mind about that.
* Joseph Smith was a convicted glass-looker who was arrested again for attempting to shut down free speech in his community. (Repeat after me: Whatever happened...Joseph Smith was the Prophet of God
)
* By even Lds apologists own admission, Joseph Smith slept with his semi-adopted 17 yo housekeeper as early as 1831
and by a dozen years later was adding on a wife per month
a dozen of them who were already (and still) married to other men! (Repeat after me: Whatever happened...Joseph Smith was the Prophet of God
)
* Smith translated an Egyptian funeral document as if it was the Book of Abraham and Book of Moses. (Repeat after me: Whatever happened...Joseph Smith was the Prophet of God
)
* Uh, could you please explain how Smith said in the Book of Mormon (Moroni 8:18) that God
is unchangeable from all eternity to eternity -- yet right before he died, Smith claimed We have imagined and supposed that God was God from all eternity. I will refute that idea, and take away the veil, so that you may see?? (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 345) (Repeat after me: Whatever happened...Joseph Smith was the Prophet of God
)
#2 Tell us why again, Orson, that the bottom-line conclusion of Mormons or Mormon-wannabes is to focus on a mere imperfect man, Joseph Smith? Why is the burning-in-the-bosom testimony focusing on who the true Prophet of God is -- as if there's only one, anyway?
What? Do Jews focus on Isaiah to the steady frontline bottom line exclusion of the Messiah Isaiah proclaimed in Is. 53?
Is the original OT prophet of God consistently testified about to the exclusion of all other OT prophets?
Do Baptist Christians focus on John the Baptist to the frontline bottom line exclusion of Jesus Christ?
eeewww, Ouch.
Well, if the Mormon church is true, then that would mean Lds Doctrines & Covenants 1:30 is also true (it proclaims that the Lds church is the only true and living church on the face of the earth) Hmm what then does that make the Protestant, Catholic, and Orthodox churches per Mormonism?
If the Mormon church is true, then that would mean what it labels about all Christians that were apostate and corrupt and embrace 100% creeds deemed abominable to the Mormon god that also then becomes the true assessment of Mormonism about worldwide Christianity.
If you accept the foundational premises of the Mormon church, beginning with its opening vision, then you must likewise also accept their evaluations of Christianity, Christians, Christian denominations, etc.
Blah, Blah, Blah.
Rambling article that was probably written in the heat of emotion.
Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect. (Jesus, Matthew 5:48
note the Be not become)
Even the Book of Mormon says:
I would that ye SHOULD BE perfect even as I, or your Father who is in heaven is perfect. (3 Nephi 12:48)
So, what does that mean? It means...
...as the apostle Paul said, all have sinned and fallen short of Gods glory (Romans 3:23);
...that none of us can claim future perfection as enough that if you just give us enough time, well arrive at perfection
No, the apostle Paul made it quite clear that Jesus is our substitute righteousness (1 Cor. 1:30) and that only faith in Christs life and death on our behalf justifies us in Gods eyes. We are saved by grace (Gods free gift) through faith in Christ. Matthew 5:48 and 3 Nephi 12:48 show that Gods perfect standard hasnt been altered even by man's sin. God doesn't "lower" the grade curve as man spirals downward. The perfect standard holds. No matter what. And like James said, if you break one part of the law, you're guilty of breaking ALL of it. (James 2:10) Those who try to impress God with comparative righteousness are in for a shock. Yes, we'll be judged for our works and our words -- but if we try to "skate" by our original sin and our individual personal sins without faith that Christ's blood was shed for all of them -- and that He took our punishment we deserved -- then we will be as "naked" before God...clothed in filthy rags we try to deem as "presentable" to an all-holy God.
He who dons a robe with any other "cleanser" than Jesus' blood are not truly "washed": And he said, "These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." (Revelation 7:15)
Imagine if Joseph Smith pulled his stunts today? He’d be treated like the small-change criminal and full-on crackpot he was, with 24 hour media coverage for 3 days and then he’d disappear into the ether.
No amount of magic underwear would be able to protect him from the barrage.
I know these things to be true. In fact my humble testimony tells me these things are true. True can work in many interesting ways.
“Nothing to fear from the truth”? Yeah, right. The truth has been swept under the carpet. Ever hear of Solomon Spaulding? Most people have not. He wrote a fiction novel about American Indian tribes that later became the basis for the Book of Mormon. A manuscript [there were actually two - the stolen manuscript was a revised copy] was stolen from a publishing house by Sidney Rigdon (a Mormon founder) and was embellished to become the BOM, either by himself or Joseph Smith, or both of them working together. I visited the big LDS museum in Salt Lake City and scanned all the exhibits about the founders. Rigdon was notably absent. I inquired at the information desk. Only one person had even heard of him and downplayed his role.
I like Orson Scott Card. I like many of his political views and I have read and enjoyed many of his SF novels.
This is supposed to be a scholar? He has just said that his mind is made up and no evidence will change it. That is the statement of a propagandist, not a scholar.
The scandalous history of Joseph Smith prior to his supposed vision wouldn't bother me provided he wasn't a scoundrel afterwards. God can change any person's heart. Unfortunately, any objective study of Joseph Smith's life would result in an honest researcher concluding he was a con man his whole life. Unfortunately for Mormonism, Brigham Young was just as bad. As bad as their lives were, they leave a worse legacy of stealing souls.
the church is true. (Orson Scott Card, July 15, 2010)
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Well Orson, that is an unBiblical statement...
and a big fat lie...
“Let God be true and every man a liar...” (Paul, Romans 3:4)
So if your “cdhurch” is true, then God would be a liar...
But since that is impossible, for it is impossible for God to ever lie ...
because He is not nor ever has been a human...
“God is not a man that He should lie...” Numbers 23:19
Then, Orson, you, are a liar...
So he freely admits to presupposing his conclusion, which violates the cardinal rule of critical thinking, as well as science.