Help from LDS Members

[MotoEric]

Hi,

First off, I don't mean to insult anyone. I am just looking for answers. If this site is 'notorious' or offensive to members of the LDS faith, I apologize in advance. I certainly hope that this site isn't the LDS analog to Jack Chicks anti-Catholic rantings.

Now that we have the disclaimer taken care of...

Can a knowledgeable LDS member let me know what they think of the claims made on the site that attempts to provide an alternate view. If you google this -Investigating Mormonism- it will be the first hit.

Thanks!

Eric

 

[Bishka]

It might help if you ask the questions that you have. If there is something in specific that we'd be able to answer for you that would be wonderful. Most sites have their own little agenda, and I try to avoid all of them except non-bias and the LDS Church's website (www.lds.org).

Richard Packham is an interesting man, a couple of years ago I tried a dialogue and all he did was spit insults and swear at me and tell me how dumb I was. I would do well to avoid it, and if you want truthful, kind answers that members of the LDS Church at this site will be more then happy to answer your questions.

 

[jonny]

Hi MotoEric,

I'm not familiar with Richard Packham, but I am familiar with the website that is posted on. Obviously, from the title of the website, you can probably tell that it is filled with people who have a beef with the church.

Besides the site that Becky gave you (the official church site), you might be interested in LDS FAIR Apologetics Homepage or Mormons and Mormon Beliefs: An Introduction to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormons) - Mormon Truth. Both sites provide answers to common "anti-Mormon" questions and accusations.

Here are some links to some answers to stuff he brings up in the "What the Missionaries Will Not Tell You" section:

LDS FAQ: Joseph Smith's First Vision Accounts (Origins of Mormonism)
Conflation of 1824-25 revival? - FairWiki.org
Ask Gramps » Why did Joseph Smith Jr. attempt in June 1828 to join the Methodist Church [probationary class] in Harmony, Pennsylvania?
Joseph Smith Criticisms-- Seer Stones
Book of Mormon Translation By Joseph Smith

That should be enough to get you started and realize that the guy is using half-truths to make his points.

I'm not going to go through all of these, but you can find answers pretty easily by searching at Mormon Search Engine - LDS Search Engine - OnlyMormon.com. If you're interested in a great book on Mormon history that doesn't ignore the hard questions, I'd recommend Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling by Richard Bushman.

 

[Aqualung]

Hi,

First off, I don't mean to insult anyone. I am just looking for answers. If this site is 'notorious' or offensive to members of the LDS faith, I apologize in advance. I certainly hope that this site isn't the LDS analog to Jack Chicks anti-Catholic rantings.

Now that we have the disclaimer taken care of...

Can a knowledgeable LDS member let me know what they think of the claims made on the site that attempts to provide an alternate view. If you google this -Investigating Mormonism- it will be the first hit.

Thanks!

Eric

My opinion - general rubbish mixed with small bits and peices of truth to try to trick people into thinking it's all right.

 

[MotoEric]

Wow, that was quick!

Thanks for the replies and links. I'll check them out.

Eric

 

[MotoEric]

Is there archaeological evidence of a society in North America as described by the Book of Mormon?

Thanks,

Eric

 

[SoyLeche]

Most likely it was southern Mexico/Guatamala. I'm reading a book called "An Ancient American Setting for the Book of Mormon" right now - it's pretty interesting - and, while I haven't gotten there yet, I'm sure he'll go into archeology. I'm sure you'll find people who will tell you all about how the reasoning in the book is wrong, but I'm not an expert in the field, so what do I know?

 

[Bishka]

Is there archaeological evidence of a society in North America as described by the Book of Mormon?

Thanks,

Eric

FARMS or FAIR are two good sites to go for for information on that.

FARMS

FAIR

 

[MotoEric]

By the way, I've been going through the LDS Fair Apologetics page. Good stuff! Thanks for pointing it out.

Eric

 

[nutshell]

Just out of curiosity, what is your motivation for investigating LDS issues?

 

[Bishka]

By the way, I've been going through the LDS Fair Apologetics page. Good stuff! Thanks for pointing it out.

Eric

No problem. I for one really appreciate your kindness in these issues.

 

[MotoEric]

Just out of curiosity, what is your motivation for investigating LDS issues?

I'm not very knowledgeable about the LDS faith and I want to correct that. I prefer to hear from both critics and proponents and then make up my own mind about the validity of a statement or a belief.
It's been scarily easy to find people who have sites or forums dedicated to the negatives so I was pleased to see that there are a number of (seemingly) experts on LDS apologetics here.

Eric

 

[madhatter85]

you will probably find more anti-mormon literature out there than you will find anti-anything literature.

There is more opposition towards the LDS church than any other denomination of our time. heck, the Germans did the same thing to the Jews that the U.S Government did to Latter-day Saints.

there have been so many, many, many, claims about the LDS church doing horrible things inside thier temples, white salamanders, and all sorts of crazy-rediculous accusations of which are untrue.

the best way to learn about the LDS church, is to have the missionaries in your area come and give you the basic lessons. that is definitely the best way to do it.

I just re-took the lessons after gettign back-active in the church. and i leared a hell of a lot just from that.

 

[Aqualung]

Is there archaeological evidence of a society in North America as described by the Book of Mormon?

Thanks,

Eric

Farms is a good site for that. It's the archaeological division of BYU for Book of Mormon studies. They have a search bar where you could type in for information about that sort of thing. It's someplace that I enjoy going. The thing is, though, that not a lot of people have done a lot of research about it. For one, nobody non-mormon really cares about the issue enough to fund major archaeological research in this regard. When research IS being done, it's usually being done by mormons, and so others automatically claim that this information is "biased". But keep in mind that these archaeologists, while being mormon, are following the same rigorous standards that all archaeologists follow when doing scientific research.

 

[Katzpur]

Hi, MotoEric. Jeff Lindsay's LDS Pages is also an excellent site. He's an excellent LDS apologist. (Most of us here are just wannabees.) He will have an answer to pretty much anything you'll find in the way of criticism of the Church. And thank you VERY MUCH for not just believing everything you read about us. The majority of what you'll find out of the web is intentionally misleading at best.

 

[MotoEric]

you will probably find more anti-mormon literature out there than you will find anti-anything literature.

I don't want to get into a 'my religion is more persecuted than your religion' sorta debate, but you may want to check out the anti-Catholic stuff that is out there.

I think it is just as bad as the anti-LDS propaganda, just different. The anti-LDS material seems to try to trivialize, while the anti-Catholic stuff seems to try to demonize.

It would be hard to try to top calling the Pope the anti-Christ, the RC Church as the Mystery Religion, Whore of Babylon and the Jesuits as the ruling cabal behind the Illuminati, but I'm sure some anti-LDS folks will try. : )

Eric

 

[MotoEric]

Just a quick thanks to all the responders. It is a LOT to go through, so if I don't post for a while it's because I'm trying to read as much as possible.

Eric

 

[Kungfuzed]

You have some good questions MotoEric. I remember years ago meeting a man up southern Alberta who has dedicated his life to tearing down the LDS church. I don't remember alot of the specific arguments he made but he did show me a movie called the Godmakers. It was actually quite hilarious and somewhat offensive. Their idea of making the prophet look bad was to hide a camera in his bedroom and caught him dancing in his underwear. You really have to wonder about the mental stability of people who are willing to stoop to such things. It's always best when curious about a religion to go directly to the source and not just the angry detractors. Before you convert, you may want to find out what they really put in their jello salad. It's quite disturbing.

I have a question of my own:

Does the Book of Mormon have to be historically accurate to be true? Suppose it turns out the Nephites and Lamanites never existed. Would that make it any less the word of God in the eyes of the LDS church?

 

[Polaris]

Does the Book of Mormon have to be historically accurate to be true? Suppose it turns out the Nephites and Lamanites never existed. Would that make it any less the word of God in the eyes of the LDS church?

Yes, the Book of Mormon does have to be historically accurate to be true. The great event of the Book of Mormon that ultimately fulfills its purpose as another testament of Christ is the personal appearance of Christ to the Americas.

 

[jonny]

There is more opposition towards the LDS church than any other denomination of our time. heck, the Germans did the same thing to the Jews that the U.S Government did to Latter-day Saints.

This is a pretty outrageous claim. I've walked through a couple of the concentration camps in Germany and what the Mormons went through is NOTHING compared to what the Germans did to the Jews. I find it offensive that someone would even think to compare the two.