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What do mormons have to say about Joseph Smith's beginnings as a con man seeking treasure with his magical stones.
It is clear that he had a history of conning people so why would anyone believe that he was telling the truth?
I don't see why, even if its true that he was a con man, that it should be an issue. He was human. Humans make mistakes.
If your christian and your questioning whether Josephs moral character would qualify him to be a profit your being a little disengenuous. Most major characters in the bible commited some sort of sin, many very serious, before they were called upon by God.
Moses killed a person.
Jacob decieved and betrayed his father and brother.
King David sent a man to his death so he could be with his wife.
The list goes on and on.
The other thing they had in common though is they did great things in the eyes of God. He chose them for a reason. He new they could get the job done.
Momons don't rely on the teachings of one man they rely on God through prayer to know what is right. Part of the doctrine is to pray to God about wether the church is true and let God guide you in your answer.
So even if he was a fraud it shouldn't matter. God is the one answering your question about the true church, not Joseph Smith.
(disclaimer) The opinions given in this post are mine and do not necesarrily reflect the teachings and doctrine of the LDS church.
So yeah there are many reasons to believe that the book of mormon is not historically accurate, and your apologist answers aren't doing you any justice. Is the answer to my question that you just don't know about these things? Or are you in serious denial?
I have now removed milk, copper, bellows, and plows from the wikipedia article. This is my second time removing plows. I added explanations for all of them. Copper IS pre-Columbian; milk and bellows aren't mentioned in a pre-Columbian context; and plows aren't mentioned at all. Let's see how long my corrections will last this time.
BTW, you can buy pre-Columbian copper artifacts off the Internet. It was a common pre-Columbian metal. I mentioned this in my explanation for removing copper from the list. I'm curious to see if they even bother to check it out. But I'm an eternal optimist and think that most people are basically honest. We'll just have to wait...
So who was the last official prophet? Did anyone ever see these golden tablets or was it golden glasses? Does the church pres require any kind of prerequisite lineage to qualify for the job?
There are always a bunch of living prophets since we consider the apostles to also be prophets. But if you are talking about THE prophet today, his name is Thomas S. Monson.
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Did anyone ever see these golden tablets or was it golden glasses?
There are about 20 people with direct testimony of either seeing or touching the plates, many both. By "golden glasses" I suppose you mean the Urim and Thummim. Yes, there are a number of witnesses to that as well. That is one of the things that critics have to try to explain: how so many people could see and lift and feel these physical objects that Joseph had in his possession. Since many of them later left the Church and denounced Joseph and yet all continued to maintain that they had seen and felt the plates, it seems likely that these objects were real things that people actually handled.
Maybe Joseph had a forge somewhere where he could produce metal plates, swords, armor, and "golden glasses."
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Does the church pres require any kind of prerequisite lineage to qualify for the job?
So who was the last official prophet? Did anyone ever see these golden tablets or was it golden glasses? Does the church pres require any kind of prerequisite lineage to qualify for the job?
1. Thomas S. Monson is the President of the LDS Church. That makes him the "official prophet" the living spokesperson for the Lord.
2. The Book of Mormon, the one thousand year record of a group that was led by a prophet from Jerusalem to the Americas about 600 BC, was written on metal plates by prophets over the years. The location of the hidden plates was revealed to Joseph Smith by the last of the Nephite prophets, then a resurrected being. Eleven witnesses attest that they saw the plates.
3. The President of the LDS Church is almost always the apostle who was first ordained among the living apostles. We recently had a change of presidents when Gordon B. Hinckley died.
Actually the evidence does suggest that Joseph Smith was a con man. He was convicted in 1826 of FRAUD for his magic treasure seeking. It is on public record. You can look it up.
I believe public records would be considered "anti mormon"
Well I don't have any questions yet, I just want to say that although I don't believe in your religion, I do feel you have made an honest attempt at explaining it, I also appreciate the fact that you support traditional marriage.
I was more anti-mormon at one time, but now I have loosened up a bit.
Well I don't have any questions yet, I just want to say that although I don't believe in your religion, I do feel you have made an honest attempt at explaining it, I also appreciate the fact that you support traditional marriage.
I was more anti-mormon at one time, but now I have loosened up a bit.
I really appreciate your comments. What with a Catholic bishop defending the Saints who supported Proposition 8 in California and a Rabbi writing because of the same event "we are all Mormons" it has been quite pleasant in some ways lately.
Oh, today I even came across an article written by a Baptist pastor that concluded:
"My suggestions to those who claim to be God's true church is to stop playing church; stop criticizing the Mormons for what they do well. Once the criticism stops, then perhaps the Church will find the means to follow the Mormon example and win the world to Christ."
It surely has, and in some ways we have drawn closer than ever before.
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