Wednesday, February 13, 2019

Did They Really Say That?!?

Alma 31:15Holy, holy God; we believe that thou art God, and we believe that thou art holy, and that thou wast a spirit, and that thou art a spirit, and that thou wilt be a spirit forever.” 
The Book of Mormon (God as spirit is also found in Alma 18:2-5, 26-28; 22:8-11; Mosiah 15:3-5)

Doctrine and Covenants 130:22The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man’s; the Son also; but the Holy Ghost has not a body of flesh and bones, but is a personage of Spirit. Were it not so, the Holy Ghost could not dwell in us.”  
Joseph Smith, April 1843

So The Book of Mormon plainly declares that God is a spirit and yet D&C 130 declares that God has a body of flesh and bones; so which is it, Mormons? Is God really a man or is he a spirit?  

I’ll give you a hint; read John 4:24


H/T to Michelle.

Friday, February 8, 2019

2 Nephi 29 Anachronism

2 Nephi 29 is all about a “Bible,” which “Gentiles” will claim they have and so they don’t need another “Bible” (referring to The Book of Mormon). And God says the Bible will come from the Jews.

Here’s the big question: The Book of Mormon was supposedly translated from “reformed Egyptian,” so why is the word “Bible” even in it?

The word “Bible” is a middle English word derived from Old French, via ecclesiastical Latin word biblia, which is from the Greek word (ta) biblia, which means "(the) books.” Now according to those who study languages, the Greek “(ta) biblia” is from their word biblion, which means “book.” And even that word is originally a diminutive of biblos, meaning “papyrus” or “scroll” and is of Semitic origin.

Now, the word “Bible” (capitalized as a proper noun, and shown that way in 2 Nephi 29), was not used for referring to the Christian scriptures until at least the 3rd century when all the various books were collected into one unit. So how does it show up in a BOM text which is supposedly from the 6th century B.C.?  The word wouldn’t have meant anything to the people at that time

This is just one of the many anachronisms in The Book of Mormon, proving it was just the concoction of Joseph Smith.

Thursday, February 7, 2019

Beyond Mormon judgment in the temple

The following article from Religion News Service was sent to me by the Utah Lighthouse Ministry.  I thought it was well worth reading to help readers understand how the cultic actions of the LDS harms its members, and yet the members still remain members of the cult!

Columns • Jana Riess: Flunking Sainthood • Opinion
Beyond Mormon judgment in the temple
January 25, 2019

I went to the temple earlier this week, and it was (mostly) lovely.

It was my first time attending since major changes were made to the endowment ceremony (see here), and I found myself awash with gratitude for the adjustments. I was thinking about them quite a bit as I sat there, remembering the women who had gone through various, less female-friendly, versions of the ceremony. I was also praying for a few people I know who are sick or battling serious issues.

In other words, I was having a spiritually refreshing experience, by and large.

Until a woman sitting behind me poked me on the shoulder to whisper that my veil was twisted and needed to be fixed. Right then.

I was able to mostly ignore this by whispering back that the veil was not bothering me, but if she wished to untangle it from where she was sitting, she was welcome to try. She didn’t pursue it.

But the veil must have been pretty darn convoluted because after I had exited the celestial room after the session, one of the temple matrons actually called me back to her in the hallway because she had something to say.

Smiling all the while, she asked, “Now, I wonder if I can tell you something and you won’t be offended by it?”

Uh-oh. Just for future reference, can we not begin conversations this way?

I didn’t give her the nice-Mormon-lady answer she was obviously expecting (which, for the candid and healthy among us who do not make women swallow legitimate annoyance, was supposed to be: “Why, of course! I could never be offended by anything you wanted to tell me!”).

Instead, I told her I couldn’t make any guarantees about offense or non-offense until I actually learned what she had to say.

Then she took my veil in her hands and told me it was “all wrong,” and she was going to show me how to put it on correctly for the next time. Which she proceeded to try to do, and even she wasn’t able to (that veil has always been a bit wonky; I’m a cheapskate). It got her a bit flustered.
“Well, I don’t think this meant that you invalidated the ordinance or anything,” she said, handing back the obstinate veil. “I mean, I don’t think so.”

At this point I just stared at her. Of course a veil being twisted would not invalidate a holy ordinance, particularly an ordinance that has nothing to do with veils. How could she even imagine it would?

And that’s when my irritation began melting into something else, something like sorrow for this woman and the culture that produced her. What would it be like to walk through life as this sister? What would it feel like to be so afraid of judgment all the time—from other people and from God—that you default to the notion that even tiny and insignificant mistakes might threaten your eternal value in the eyes of heaven?

I’d like to say I was able to express all this in a kind way to her in the moment, but I don’t think it came out that well. I replied—probably a bit sanctimoniously, to be honest—that my heart had been very full with important matters in the temple, and that my clothing was absolutely not one of them. I told her to have a good day, and then I walked away to change into my street clothes, thinking all the while about women and judgment.

I’ve written before how, in the Next Mormons Survey research, we discovered that the #1 reason women cite for leaving the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was feeling judged or misunderstood. It’s particularly high among younger women.

Overall, four in ten former Mormon women said judgment was one of their top reasons for exiting the fold, versus only about two in ten men. (For men it ranked sixth overall among thirty different possible reasons for leaving. So it’s not like men do not experience judgment or feel it has pushed them out the door, but not to nearly the same degree as women, apparently.)

Judgmental interactions, and the policing of women’s appearance, are all too common in patriarchal religious cultures. But when we hear the word “patriarchy” we tend to assume it’s all about how men control women, when the reality is far more complicated. Patriarchy rests on women themselves patrolling the boundaries of acceptable behavior for other women—and internalizing those boundaries in the deepest parts of themselves.

And it’s particularly tough for them when those boundaries suddenly shift.

It’s fascinating to me on a metaphorical level that it was my veil—a symbol of female submission—that was a stumbling block for not just one but two women I encountered in the temple. One of the changes that has just occurred in the endowment ceremony is that women no longer have to veil their faces even though they veil their heads; the overall message of many of the temple changes in aggregate is that women do not need male mediation when they approach God.

But maybe, this message is more unsettling than empowering for some. Adapting to sudden change can be hard. Sometimes our fear galvanizes the urge to police boundaries, judge others, and demarcate what is acceptable and unacceptable—especially for women.

I just wish it didn’t happen in the temple.

Tuesday, February 5, 2019

More Challenges to the Mormon Faith

The lies from the Mormon Church never cease.  They can’t exist without lies.

Of course the LDS also can’t exist without their continued focus on sex.  Notice that the only modesty comments are about females.

If the Temple ceremonies were given by God, as I understand Mormons to teach, then why do they keep being changed by Mormons to be more politically-correct?!? Here is a summary of the changes. Here is an excellent, short commentary on the problem of making such changes.

Joseph Smith is known to have plagiarized not only the Bible for writing the Book of Mormon, but other books as well.  Here’s an excellent examination of how he used The Late War Between the United States and Great Britain.  The “coincidences” are just too many to have just happened bye chance.

In my series on the false prophecies of Joseph Smith in October and November 2014, I examined about 50 prophecies. Michelle has 120+ false prophecies!!

Interesting examination of Orson Pratt and BOM lies about the birth and death of Jesus.

Joseph Smith’s polyandrous marriages.

I agree with MichelleIf the [Book of Mormon] plates were real, why would it take faith to see them?

Here’s an interesting anachronism in the Book of Mormon which I’ve never previous read about! Just another proof that the BOM is a fake.



Book of Mormon Geography doesn’t exist, because the BOM is a fake story.


Did you know that Jesus’ return depends on us, that he can’t return without our help?!?