honorentheos wrote:"Snip" With all of this as context, I wonder why you think that Joseph Smith lying to Emma Smith about what he was doing sexually with other women was sanctioned by God?
Great point and post honorentheos.
I have traveled a similar route as you, though with no where near the depth of study you have. As I now look at Mormonsim, suffice it to say that there is no area of theological belief or historical claim that is not problematic.
Thanks Fence Sitter. I can't count the times you've pointed out a reading or thought that I've never encountered before, and gained from your observation, so i suspect the reality is we've explored different forks along the path more than I've gone deeper. I really appreciated the discussion when we read Bokovy's book on the Documentary Hypothesis and would love to see more of that here on MDB to be honest. Not like there is anything on my readling list that's Mormon-related at the moment, though. The board is scratching the small perpetual itch for now. My reading interests these days are fluctuating between literature and politics. When you mentioned the Juanita Brooks book on the terrestrial forum it sounded interesting to me, but the competition for my limited reading time kept it off the list. For now.
The world is always full of the sound of waves..but who knows the heart of the sea, a hundred feet down? Who knows it's depth? ~ Eiji Yoshikawa
My testimony is based on the Book of Mormon not church history whatever mistakes that Joseph Smith made in implementing polygamy as directed by god. He will have to answer to God not me.
Many critics have come up with theories about the origins of the Book of Mormon from he individually wrote it to he had a team of writers help him write it. That he copied from different books of his time to the point that he copied from Shakespeare. None of these theories have stuck and people need to come up with more ideas.
The Book of Mormon is the bedrock of the church nobody in its almost 200 years have been able to crack its foundation the it is a written record of Christ visiting the indigenous people of America.
honorentheos one thing I would say is that we successfully concluded that grace is an agreement between God and the people who choose to accepts Gods free gift of grace.
Please ignore Maksutov railroaded post about Nazi's its his favorite topic
bomgeography wrote:My testimony is based on the Book of Mormon not church history whatever mistakes that Joseph Smith made in implementing polygamy as directed by god. He will have to answer to God not me.
Many critics have come up with theories about the origins of the Book of Mormon from he individually wrote it to he had a team of writers help him write it. That he copied from different books of his time to the point that he copied from Shakespeare. None of these theories have stuck and people need to come up with more ideas.
The Book of Mormon is the bedrock of the church nobody in its almost 200 years have been able to crack its foundation the it is a written record of Christ visiting the indigenous people of America.
No, they don't. People claiming the Book of Mormon is "a written record of Christ visiting the indigenous people of America" need to prove that claim. You haven't, you can't.
“When we are confronted with evidence that challenges our deeply held beliefs we are more likely to reframe the evidence than we are to alter our beliefs. We simply invent new reasons, new justifications, new explanations. Sometimes we ignore the evidence altogether.” (Mathew Syed 'Black Box Thinking')
My point was all the crazy theories about the origins has not stopped millions of people from joining the Church and helping millions of people.
The spirit testifies of the truthfulness of the church. Millions of people all over the world of every race testify that the Book of Mormon is a second witness of Christ.
If you want proof just pray with faith and a sincere desire.
bomgeography wrote:honorentheos one thing I would say is that we successfully concluded that grace is an agreement between God and the people who choose to accepts Gods free gift of grace.
Hmm. I had concluded that conversation was boring.
The world is always full of the sound of waves..but who knows the heart of the sea, a hundred feet down? Who knows it's depth? ~ Eiji Yoshikawa
bomgeography wrote:The Book of Mormon is the bedrock of the church nobody in its almost 200 years have been able to crack its foundation the it is a written record of Christ visiting the indigenous people of America.
I could say that about the Koran, and it has over a billion followers. At least it was written over a thousand years ago.
bomgeography wrote:Many critics have come up with theories about the origins of the Book of Mormon from he individually wrote it to he had a team of writers help him write it. That he copied from different books of his time to the point that he copied from Shakespeare. None of these theories have stuck and people need to come up with more ideas.
You need better ideas. The science is very clear Haplo type x arrived well before Book of Mormon times, and that it's relation to the middle east is tens of thousands of year ago. It's also obvious you have little understanding of DNA science.