Zone1 Mormons are fine, but I have to call BS on the golden plates story.

[surada]

Christs detractors in the New Testament tell you many ways people perverted the gospel.

Mostly Christians did that taking Jewish scripture out of context. That makes such a muddle of things. It's probably too late to make it right.

 

[HikerGuy83]

Mostly Christians did that taking Jewish scripture out of context. That makes such a muddle of things. It's probably too late to make it right.

I was thinking of the Pharisees and Sadducees. There were other groups at the time of Christ, each with their own special brand of "gospel'.

Are you Jewish ?

 

[Robert W]

I was thinking of the Pharisees and Sadducees. There were other groups at the time of Christ, each with their own special brand of "gospel'.

Are you Jewish ?

Great question.

 

[RetiredGySgt]

I was thinking of the Pharisees and Sadducees. There were other groups at the time of Christ, each with their own special brand of "gospel'.

Are you Jewish ?

No she claims she is Christian but she doesn't believe the bible is true.

 

[surada]

I was thinking of the Pharisees and Sadducees. There were other groups at the time of Christ, each with their own special brand of "gospel'.

Are you Jewish ?

Nope. Episcopalian.

 

[surada]

No she claims she is Christian but she doesn't believe the bible is true.

I have been interested in comparative religions since I was a student.

You don't have to be ignorant to be a Christian.

BTW, the latest Mormon hoax is about the Lehi Trail in Saudi Arabia.

 

[RetiredGySgt]

I have been interested in comparative religions since I was a student.

You don't have to be ignorant to be a Christian.

BTW, the latest Mormon hoax is about the Lehi Trail in Saudi Arabia.

Again, if you don't believe the bible is true you are no Christian.

 

[surada]

Again, if you don't believe the bible is true you are no Christian.

I don't take it literally. It wasn't written as history or science.. Jews are not stupid, you know.

 

[HikerGuy83]

Nope. Episcopalian.

BTW, the latest Mormon hoax is about the Lehi Trail in Saudi Arabia.

Please share what you mean.

 

[surada]

Please share what you mean.

Have you missed the latest golden book claim?

 

[HikerGuy83]

Have you missed the latest golden book claim?

Zone1 - Ancient Golden Books found in Saudi Arabia

Non-LDS Christians find evidence that records have been kept on books of metal and even gold. This evidence lends support for Joseph Smith's golden plates Book of Mormon. In the Book of Mormon, a prophet named Lehi left Jerusalem and traveled through Saudi Arabia before sailing to the Americas...

www.usmessageboard.com

I just posted this on another thread.

 

[surada]

Zone1 - Ancient Golden Books found in Saudi Arabia

Non-LDS Christians find evidence that records have been kept on books of metal and even gold. This evidence lends support for Joseph Smith's golden plates Book of Mormon. In the Book of Mormon, a prophet named Lehi left Jerusalem and traveled through Saudi Arabia before sailing to the Americas...

www.usmessageboard.com

I just posted this on another thread.

I know. It's garbage. There's no Nephites or Lamanites.

 

[HikerGuy83]

I know. It's garbage. There's no Nephites or Lamanites.

If you want to make a point, then make the point and stick to it.

If you want to keep wondering about, I won't be responding.

 

[Zebra]

I've read a fair amount on the various major religions and I have to say, the story of Angel Moroni and the Golden Plates is the most suspect of all the stories I've read. Is there a Mormon out there who can better explain or defend why he or she believes these plates exist and were given to the Prophet Joseph to transcribe the Book of Mormon? This is not a knock on Mormons I have friends who are Mormons and they are very nice people and do lots of good things in the community and have good families. It's the Golden Plates story that just sounds like pure fantasy to me.

I do agree with you!

 

[RetiredGySgt]

I do agree with you!

there were 12 witnesses, and some left the church but never recanted their witnessing the plates.

 

[Zebra]

The story is bunkum. There is no such language as "reformed Egyptian," and Smith's translation ability was proven to be total nonsense through his faux translation of the "Book of Abraham." This document was later proven to be a funerary tract, having nothing to do with Abraham, and written more than a thousand years after Abraham lived. The silly group of toadies who claimed to have seen the golden plates have mostly been neutered through later admissions and disavowing.

People who actually think about reality have determined that given the specific gravity of gold and the length of the BoM, the plates would have had to weigh at least a hundred pounds, which is totally inconsistent with Smith's tales of him carrying them around as though it were no heavier than a conventional, paper bible.

When you TRANSLATE a work from another language, you take the original meaning, and re-state it into the target language - in this case 19th century American English. Smith didn't do that. He created a document that employs 16th century British English, just like the King James Version. But Smith didn't understand the niceties of that language, misusing Thee, Thou, and adding "est" to verbs in a helter-skelter fashion.

The "history" set forth in the BoM is totally preposterous. It mentions horses, camels, cows, sheep, none of which existed in the pre-Columbian Americas. He talks of iron swords and breastplates; again, there was no iron in these continents. Same for chariots; the wheel had not yet been discovered in pre-Columbus days. In fact, Brigham Young University has spent more than a hundred years and untold resources trying to find a single archaeological proof of the BoM. Total failure. Nothing. Not a single artifact.

Those who are impressed by little things like genetics have noted that, although Smith believed that Amerindians were the descendants of the BoM Semitic people, but there is no genetic indication that this is the case.

Those who have done even a little bit of investigation know that an early partial draft of the Book was destroyed by the wife of Smith's co-conspirator, Oliver Cowdery. Smith, fearful that Ms. Cowdery was lying, agreed to re-translate the text, but cautioned Cowdery that the text might not be the same as the original text. Why would be do this if he was actually translating, and not making it up?

Nothing against Mormons, but their religion is based on quicksand.

good arguments

 

[RetiredGySgt]

good arguments

the post you quoted is not in this thread and is full of lies. NO ONE that saw the plates recanted.

 

[Zebra]

that post is on page 1

 

[RetiredGySgt]

that post is on page 1

only cause the threads were merged

 

[Hector12]

I've read a fair amount on the various major religions and I have to say, the story of Angel Moroni and the Golden Plates is the most suspect of all the stories I've read. Is there a Mormon out there who can better explain or defend why he or she believes these plates exist and were given to the Prophet Joseph to transcribe the Book of Mormon? This is not a knock on Mormons I have friends who are Mormons and they are very nice people and do lots of good things in the community and have good families. It's the Golden Plates story that just sounds like pure fantasy to me.

When I was 19 years old, I was proselytized by two Mormon missionaries for six months. They were very nice people I liked them. I also wanted to become a Mormon. I thought that Mormonism leant itself to a rational evaluation in ways the other religions did not. No one can prove that Jesus rose from the dead after dying on the cross. No one prove he did not. No one can prove that the Angel Gabriel dictated the Koran to Mohammed. No one can he did not.

The Book of Mormon, which I have on my desk as I type these words, claims to be a detailed history of pre Columbian America from about 600 B.C. to 421 A.D.

Since the Book of Mormon was written archaeologists have learned a great deal about what was really happening in the New World at that time. There is no independent evidence that any of the events written about in The Book of Mormon happened, and much evidence that it did not.

By contrast, the Bible mentions empires and people that we know existed because of evidence independent of the Bible.

Also, the manuscript from which Joseph Smith claimed to translate The Book of Abraham has been found and translated. Contrary to what Joseph Smith said, the manuscript makes no mention of Abraham's travels in Egypt. Instead, it mentions ancient Egyptian deities.

I was sorry to make these discoveries, because I wanted to become a Mormon.