Thank you for posting this enlightening piece on Gnosticism.
It never ceases to amaze me that there have been so many false prophets making up their own versions of new-and-improved religion: Gnostics, Catholics, Muslims, Mormons, “Christian Scientists” Jehovah Witnesses, etc.
Craven jealous, hell bent to become independent messiahs.
I've made some Mormon friends on social media and have had interesting Bible studies with them. Some are unbelievably nice people.
That said, I can't fathom how anyone can believe Mormonism. Everything about it is either bonkers or obviously shady. Joseph Smith especially strikes me as a snake oil salesman of his day. Not entirely unlike an L. Ron Hubbard of the 19th century.
Craven jealous, hell bent to become independent messiahs.
If you're interested in seeing the dark side of Mormonism firsthand, I highly recommend Irene Spencer's books. She grew up in a Mormon polygamist cult and was the second wife of eight. It's very eye-opening how manipulative, deceitful, and oppressive that kind of fundamentalism is.
I especially recommend Cult Insanity, one of the disturbing books I've ever read. Irene was a survivor of the reign of terror of Ervil LeBaron, also known as the "Mormon Manson" (he was her brother-in-law).
Ervil went berserk and had at least 40 members of his own family brutally murdered. The scary part is that every gruesome act he committed was justified by scriptures in the book of Mormon or in the writings of the early Mormon church.