BTW, I am glad to see you are starting to read the Book of Mormon, when will you start praying in faith and with earnestness of heart to know if it is true? BTW...I've read the BOM...and have known it to, from fasting, and praying in faith and with earnestness of heart to be a fraud from the beginning.
And with all my heart and soul, I find it absolutely preposterous for any thinking, intellectually honest, investigative, and inquisitive faith filled, Christian person to come to any other conclusion.
I would challenge you DU to fast and pray...and ignore your historical / familiar / family bias ...and really research mormon history....
Once done, with an open and truth seeking mind..you will no doubt see the errors of your ( Joseph Smith ) ways...
BTW...I've read the BOM...and have known it to, from fasting, and praying in faith and with earnestness of heart to be a fraud from the beginning.
This statement is self contradictory, for if you are going to ask about something, you cannot already have made up your mind.
You might want to read the section of my page "
Do people actually try to teach bad things about Mormons?"
And with all my heart and soul, I find it absolutely preposterous for any thinking, intellectually honest, investigative, and inquisitive faith filled, Christian person to come to any other conclusion
So if I come to a conclusion that differs from you, I Can't:
- Think,
- Be Intellectual
- Be honest
- Be Investigative
- Be Inquisitive
- Have Faith
- be Christian
Interesting, and your criteria for this Thoughtful, Logical, Honest, Investigated, Faithful, and Christian position is that... Oh, you did it once and it didn't work, you know, I once did a quadratic equation that did not work out... that's IT! I didn't do the problem wrong, even though others got the right answer, it was Math, now I know that no thinking, inquisitive, honest person does math! That's for the non christians! For good measure, I will try to discourage everyone from doing math because
I tried it once, and that should be good enough for them!
I would challenge you DU to fast and pray...and ignore your historical / familiar / family bias ...and really research mormon history....
- My parents were converts, from Methodism
- I grew up in the Midwest, also known as the Buckle of the bible belt.
- I have attended more churches than just about anyone I know (Christian, and non, I even Graduated from a Buddhist seminary in Taiwan) I've never been kept behind a wall or in an ivory tower about religion.
- I have an (in all probability, my mom forbids us to connect to him until after she has passed) ancestor, who was deeply involved in Mormon history, Governor Boggs.
- I have indeed done a lot of research, prayed and fasted, and have plenty of family that are non Mormons, thanks.
I have received a revelation from God. You would have me deny that. But I will not, for if I deny this, the same spirit that testified to me that Jesus died for my sins, I fear I will seal doom upon my soul that is eternal in nature for by so doing, I will offend God in a way that my sins to date have not, but thank you for your advice.
Once done, with an open and truth seeking mind..you will no doubt see the errors of your ( Joseph Smith ) ways...
I have, and will continue to seek the direction of Jesus Christ my Lord and Master and while I am a poor servant, I will earnestly strive to heed his voice as I have done in the past.
Tell me, if you received a witness from god that something improbable was true, what would you do?
Just for reference, Joseph smith also had these kinds of questions put to him,
he wrote:
24 However, it was nevertheless a fact that I had beheld a vision. I have thought since, that I felt much like Paul, when he made his defense before King Agrippa, and related the account of the vision he had when he saw a light, and heard a voice; but still there were but few who believed him; some said he was dishonest, others said he was mad; and he was ridiculed and reviled. But all this did not destroy the reality of his vision. He had seen a vision, he knew he had, and all the persecution under heaven could not make it otherwise; and though they should persecute him unto death, yet he knew, and would know to his latest breath, that he had both seen a light and heard a voice speaking unto him, and all the world could not make him think or believe otherwise.
25 So it was with me. I had actually seen a light, and in the midst of that light I saw two Personages, and they did in reality speak to me; and though I was hated and persecuted for saying that I had seen a vision, yet it was true; and while they were persecuting me, reviling me, and speaking all manner of evil against me falsely for so saying, I was led to say in my heart: Why persecute me for telling the truth? I have actually seen a vision; and who am I that I can withstand God, or why does the world think to make me deny what I have actually seen? For I had seen a vision; I knew it, and I knew that God knew it, and I could not deny it, neither dared I do it; at least I knew that by so doing I would offend God, and come under condemnation.
I will not deny my testimony of Christ either,
I have published it on my page and I stand by what I say for it is what I know to be true.
Go with God, learn of him, for what he has to say is infinitely more important than what I have to say.