I would rather you’d said something along the lines of what the Bible has given you. But, oh well.
You’re right, it’s not my place to judge, for that I’m sorry. But why do Mormons cling to the Book of Mormon, when the Bible should be sufficient?
Joseph Smith had some stones, they call them seer stones. Doesn’t the Bible warn us not to dabble in the occult? Now don’t get me wrong, I’m just asking. But what was his purpose in doing that? Actually the Bible is very explicitly against those practices. It draws us farther away from God, not closer.
I think if one were to view the Beatitudes aka Sermon on the Mount as a progression, because man is a work in progress, they might understand why the restoration was vital and is very much revealed in of all the Lord standard works!
The Sermon on the Mount: A Restoration Perspective Audio
http://www.byub.org/Bethlehem/Audio/105.ram
Why didn’t Tantiboh answer my question about the occult? I guess he got tired of trying to defend a religion that was founded by a plagarist. The Book of Mormon has all kinds of stories that sound a bit like the Bible. When someone quotes from that book (BoM) instead of the Bible I get a weird feeling in the pit of my stomach.
~”I would rather you’d said something along the lines of what the Bible has given you.”~
You didn’t criticize the Bible, or I would have. Since we agree on that score, what would be the point?
~”But why do Mormons cling to the Book of Mormon, when the Bible should be sufficient?”~
I suppose this is a matter of perspective. The way I see it, the fact that there are so many different denominations, all with their own little spin on things, and additionally people such as yourself, who eschew organized religion entirely, tells me that the Bible is not sufficient. We all claim to know the Truth, but we all disagree. One of these things doesn’t fit.
Don’t get me wrong. I love the Bible. It contains many great and precious things not contained elsewhere, such as the great covenants of the Patriarchs, the life and times of Jesus, and the accounts of His Apostles.
But, in the end, it is an anthology that was compiled rather arbitrarily. I do not accept the notion that God has stopped talking to man just because man decided to sit down and agree on what He said. The Book of Mormon is one way in which He continues to speak to us in modern times; it is a companion to the Bible, and adds its own testimony of Jesus Christ to that contained in the Bible.
How can this be anything but good?
~”Joseph Smith had some stones, they call them seer stones. Doesn’t the Bible warn us not to dabble in the occult?”~
You refer to the Urim and Thummim. These were tools prepared by God, and their possession constituted, in ancient times, what we call a “seer.” As Joseph Smith was a prophet, with need for such tools for the translation of the Book of Mormon, they were provided him.
Take a look in the Old Testament; the Urim and Thummim are mentioned on a number of occasions. If Joseph Smith was practicing the occult through their use, then so were several of the Patriarchs.