Spektical wrote:Tobin wrote:I just told you. The witness is God himself. That is the point of Mormonism, the Book of Mormon, and all the other stuff Joseph Smith was up to. If Joseph Smith said or did such and such and it was from God, then God must tell you it was from him; otherwise, it wasn't. The point of these books is not the books themselves. They never have been. It is to get you to actually speak with God and from there make your own determinations. God doesn't want you to rely on fallible, flawed men for an understanding of God. God wants you to speak with him yourself.
If God is so accessible, and if you can just get personal revelation from him on everything that is important, then why rely on Joseph Smith, the Book of Mormon, the Bible, the church, or anything else for that matter? Everyone gets their own personal conduit to God, and whatever they think they receive through that conduit is the final word, and cannot be challenged by anyone else. Your idea of personal revelation obviates the need for Joseph Smith altogether.
Hey, if it helps you stop paying tithing to LDS, Inc., then more power to you.
It's interesting that Tobin has had only one experience and he wasn't seeking God at the time. No one seems to be able to get God to show up when they actually seek him. I have also tried to ask him what he thinks God said on this one experience about the Book of Abraham, but he now doesn't give details.
