This is not one of the eight witnesses as I state above, rather this is the son of Jaocb Whitmer (one of the eight) who is talking about his grandmother Mary Whitmer.
"Any over-ritualized religion since the dawn of time can make its priests say yes, we know, it is rotten, and hard luck, but just do as we say, keep at the ritual, stick it out, give us your money and you'll end up with the angels in heaven for evermore."
“We look to not only the spiritual but also the temporal, and we believe that a person who is impoverished temporally cannot blossom spiritually.” Keith McMullin - Counsellor in Presiding Bishopric
"One, two, three...let's go shopping!" Thomas S Monson - Prophet, Seer, Revelator
You know what's the miracle? That Joseph Smith was able to keep all those many unique and original names consistant.
~Those who benefit from the status quo always attribute inequities to the choices of the underdog.~Ann Crittenden ~The Goddess is not separate from the world-She is the world and all things in it.~
If Joseph Smith's story is accepted as true, I don't know what difference it makes. It would be easy for me to believe (if I believed the story) the angel never revealed his name to Joseph Smith and Joseph just was guessing it was either Nephi or Moroni. Nobody's salvation would depend upon which angel actually showed up.
BartBurk wrote:If Joseph Smith's story is accepted as true, I don't know what difference it makes. It would be easy for me to believe (if I believed the story) the angel never revealed his name to Joseph Smith and Joseph just was guessing it was either Nephi or Moroni. Nobody's salvation would depend upon which angel actually showed up.
Joseph just was guessing if god was once a man. Nobody's salvation would depend upon who god is.
Joseph just was guessing if (anything in Mormonism). Nobody's salvation would depend upon (anything in Mormonism).
- Whenever a poet or preacher, chief or wizard spouts gibberish, the human race spends centuries deciphering the message. - Umberto Eco - To assert that the earth revolves around the sun is as erroneous as to claim that Jesus was not born of a virgin. - Cardinal Bellarmine at the trial of Galilei
BartBurk wrote:If Joseph Smith's story is accepted as true, I don't know what difference it makes. It would be easy for me to believe (if I believed the story) the angel never revealed his name to Joseph Smith and Joseph just was guessing it was either Nephi or Moroni. Nobody's salvation would depend upon which angel actually showed up.
Joseph just was guessing if god was once a man. Nobody's salvation would depend upon who god is.
Joseph just was guessing if (anything in Mormonism). Nobody's salvation would depend upon (anything in Mormonism).
There's a big difference between what Mormons believe about God and the name of an angel. In my opinion what they believe about God makes a difference. That's one of the reasons I left Mormonism.
BartBurk wrote:If Joseph Smith's story is accepted as true, I don't know what difference it makes. It would be easy for me to believe (if I believed the story) the angel never revealed his name to Joseph Smith and Joseph just was guessing it was either Nephi or Moroni. Nobody's salvation would depend upon which angel actually showed up.
On its own the story would have little bearing on the truthfulness of the Church. Seen in context with the many evolving versions of all the other visions, dreams, revelations, and visitations that we have, it can be viewed as more evidence of revisionist history.
"Any over-ritualized religion since the dawn of time can make its priests say yes, we know, it is rotten, and hard luck, but just do as we say, keep at the ritual, stick it out, give us your money and you'll end up with the angels in heaven for evermore."