has anyone had of church of jesus christ of latter day saints?how far true is the book of mormon becoz i don't

Question

the missionaries from that church always come to our house preaching to us about the book of mormon and they tell us that it was founded by joseph smith i seem to be confused now

Answer 1

Though I am a firm believer in tolerance for everybody, the LDS church is one of the very few things that really challenges me in this regard.

My brother is a Mormon and since his conversion I have had the opportunity to learn quite a bit about the LDS faith. I too have spoken with missionaries as they have tried to proselytize me (something I am very much against in general). Because I try to be open about my faith and examine everything critically, I really took the time to think about the LDS faith and whether or not I felt it was a faith for me. What really decided me was their sexism against women. Men and women, it is taught, have different prescribed roles. For instance, women cannot baptize anyone in the church. A woman can never be a prophet of the church. Everywhere in the LDS faith there is a woman in charge of something, she is ALWAYS over-seen by a man. Well, my feminist soul just can't handle that. Additionally, I'm a lesbian and I refuse to belong to any faith that doesn't accept me exactly as God made me. I also can't accept the fact that members of the church rely on their (male) church elders to steer them in their personal life. It doesn't seem to encourage each individual having a personal relationship with God.

However, on the "up" side of things, the LDS faith is very strongly based in community and family (though I think they contribute to over-population, but that's a different issue). They do good things for their members. They're a very rich church (they bring in over 4 million dollars a day) because they value wealth as a sign of favor from God and you're not considered a "good" Mormon unless you tithe 10%, you rarely find any "poor" Mormons. This means that they have nice facilities and can afford to do things that other churches may not be able to.

Think about what the missionaries tell you. Compare that with what is in your heart and what your brain tells you is true. Try reading their website for more information. Also, make sure to check out the other half of the argument. Books like "What Mormons Really Believe" by John Ankerberg, which details the differences between Christianity and the LDS faith, or "From Housewife To Heretic" by Sonia Johnson, a personal memoir which tells of her excommunication from the Mormon church for supporting the Equal Rights Ammendment. In addition, there's a website by an ex-Mormon couple who detail many of the problems and disparities in church doctrine (see the sources at the bottom).

About the Book of Mormon specifically. There's more to it than this, but Joseph Smith stuck his head inside a hat and, using seer stones, was able to translate a message written in Ancient Egyptian. Additionally, part of the problem with the BoM is that it makes claims that simply cannot be verified. For instance, Eygptologists have never been able to confirm the existence of a language called "Ancient Egyptian." Also, the BoM teaches that great cities were built on the American continent by two different tribes of Israel, which has never come to fruition through archeology.

Anyhow, do your own research. Weigh the goods and the bads, fact and fiction, and then do what your heart tells you. I wish you the best of luck and I've given you quite a few sources at the bottom to aid you in your journey.

~ FR

Answer 2

It was founded by Joseph Smith, but didn't become a large church until Brigham Young. I think Mr. Smith was just upset with the religious dogma he encountered and decided to break away and form his own church, not unusual, happens all the time. Mr. Young was a cult leader, he was abusive, and often changed the Church doctrines to meet his own needs and wants. Not someone I would choose to follow. There are stories about murder, and torture ordered by Mr Young but i have never researched the matter enough to find out if they are true or not. I find the doctrines of the church of later day saints to be oppressive, and old fashioned at best, and abusive and dangerous at worst.

Answer 3

Mormonism is a well-run business but any similarity with biblical Christianity is purely coincidental. Looks good on the surface but the deeper in you get the more it diverges from any Biblical beliefs. The Book of Mormon is full of glaring errors; not the biggest of which is the apparent existence of horses in the New World during pre-Columbian times. The Spaniards took the first horses to the New World in the 16th and 17th centuries.

Answer 4

Well as the story goes, YAWN, yer man Smith was in the woods one day, when all of a sudden, another YAWN, he allegedly heard a voice or had a vision, that GOD give him instructions about a new way forward. YAWN, YAWN. Yer man Smith is the only witness to this event, not like in the bible, there are countless witness's to the miracles performed by Jesus of Nazareth, now what I'm trying to say is that, if you go down to the woods today, you're sure of a big surprise, if you go down to the woods today, you'll hardly believe your eyes...........No seriously, Mormons believe that in the next life, we will sit down with tigers, lions, etc and everybody will have their own 5 bedroom mansion complete with swimming pool and all mod cons, but they'll never con me, steer clear, it's a bampot sect, be warned, the devil comes in many disguises.

Answer 5

Fuertes Rafagas's is IMO by far the best answer so far. Many answerers seem to think the Bible is true but it's not reliable. Politics in the first centuries after Jesus's life determined the content of the Bible, not truth.

There are many faiths in our world and you can come to know and love God through most of them. You can go to churches, temples and mosques in your city and you can read books and websites, to discover for yourself which faith is the channel for YOU. It may be different from what your parents believe.

Religion is not objectively true or false like scientific hypotheses, it is developing a personal relationship with God, which is in part unique to you.

Answer 6

The mormons have very 'interesting views' on certain subjects - steer clear.

For a real view of Christianity go to a mainstream church eg Baptists.

Answer 7

Read the Book of Mormon, "A Marvelous Work and a Wonder",
Le Grand Richards, and various other LDS literature. Cannot
reconcile these works with the Bible. So I just stick with the
Bible. Its been around for thousands of years and hasn't changed. 8/30/6.
I Corinthians 13;8a, Love never fails!!!!!

EDIT: I have mormon friends though and they are mostly cool.

Answer 8

The mormons are an interesting bunch of people who until recently didn't believe that black people have a soul. They are weird and if you are concerned, ask them to kindly leave you alone. this generally works. As for the book of mormon, i take that one with a pinch of salt.

Answer 9

they seem to be nice people. ask them to leave and do'nt come back if they make you uncomfortable. As long as your polite they really won't mind, they're used to it.

the deal is that they believe that the book of mormon is an extension to the bible that was revealed to Joseph Smith by Angels.

Answer 10

There is something weird going on with them.I live opposite one of their churches and it's the poshest church Ive ever seen.All the cars in the car park are new top of the range.There is a lot of money floating around that place