Do Mormons really believe Joseph Smith, Jr. could read plates etc. How when the evidence is against it?

Question

saw south park episode and they totally bagged on mormons..so i thought it was a fake so i went and did research and they do belive this man had gold plates that nobody else could see or read etc..how does this religion stay stroang when it seems so odd and not accurate.

Answer 1

Heheh.,.. the South Park episode, it may be a classic but they show a messed up story about the church. Many people judge us based on what they saw in South Park but remember that South Park is fiction and everyone knows that they are insane and stuff so you should not believe what u see there... Jesus doesn't have a talk show and Satan doesn't have an affair with Saddam Husein in real life, so why would u believe all they said about Mormons?

The part about the gold plates was true, but there were 11 witnesses, in the beginning pages of the Book of Mormons you can read their testimonies.

Request missionary visits, they can give u better answer than people here, many people bashes us, go here -> http://www.mormon.org/mormonorg/offerfulfillment I assumed u live in the US but if you don't, just change the country. You can also email me or one of the Mormons in this site if you have questions, the other Mormons here are really nice and we're always happy to help but anyways, contacting the missionaries is a better option.

Answer 2

You do like to twist things to your own purpose. Essentially, your first statement was correct. Joseph was sealed to many women for eternity but not forming marital bonds with them here in mortality. That has no bearing on what we do today. The practice of sealing live women to deceased prophets was ended sometime during Brigham Young's administration. If a woman is married to a man and she is committed to none other, then there is no adultery there. You can read that in Section 132 of the D&C. The practice has changed, the doctrine has not and neither were wrong then or now. When I first read Section 132 about 45 years ago, I was sufficiently upset that I went to my Stake President for an answer to "how can I obey when obviously we cannot". The scripture states that all who have this law revealed unto them, must obey the same. I could not do that, so how to I live the scripture? He told me that as long as I understood the commandment and could say in my heart, Yes, then I was doing all that I could for now. In other words if the Church President were to call me and command me to obey that particular law, would I be able to answer in the affirmative that I was ready and willing to obey. If so, then that is all that I can do for now. So it is that the law has not changed, just the circumstances surrounding its compliance.

Answer 3

well, i haven't seen South Park..but anyway. Yes Joseph Smith did read the Golden Plates and translated them. But i don't understand what you mean by the evidence against it. Joseph Smith was not a highly educated man. However when he took some of the engravings and translated them and took them to a scholar in ancient language, the scholar said the translations were right.

And other people did see them. Get a Book of Mormon from a LDS/Mormon missionary and read the Witnesses pages at the beginning. They weren't invisible. And an uneducated man could hardly write an entire book without hardly any mistakes (none that i know of from reading it, but my eyes aren't perfect.).

Answer 4

I'm glad to know where you get your information from. South Park also did an episode where everyone from every religion went to hell, except the Mormons. Now what does that tell you.

gw

Answer 5

More than 8 people saw, handled and testified of the plates. You are probably getting your info from the wrong sources. Check out the websites I'm posting for more accurate info.

Answer 6

By "evidence", are you referring to the South Park episode?

The religion stays strong because it is true. Be honest about it - is it really so hard to believe that a man could be chosen as a prophet by a vision? (it's happened many times before in the Bible) Is it really so hard to believe that a man could receive revelations that would become scripture? (again...happened many times before)

What exactly is so hard to believe about this story? If one believes all the divine influence in the Bible, the only question one should have about the Book of Mormon is: "Is it true or not, and how do I find out?"

God has given us a way to find out, and that's to ask Him in sincere prayer, after we've studied it for ourselves. If it is true, God will make it known to us, and vice versa. I've prayed to know and I have received undeniable answers to my prayers. I know it's true.

Answer 7

Any religion has its own idiosyncrasies that the rest of us think are weird. Did you know that Xians believe that the some guy died and came back to life about 2000 years ago, and to this day they pretend to drink his blood and eat his flesh?

Answer 8

People basically believe what they want to believe whether it is true or not.No doubt all of us believe a lot of things which are not true.Of course I do not believe old Joe at all.

Answer 9

Because it makes sense in a lot of ways when you compare it to the "old church" when Christ was on earth.

Add that to many children born into the church and thats all they know and the fear and guilt ingrained into you if you question any of it and you have a religion that works.

No current member will agree with me on the fear and guilt because they dont see it that way but when you look at it as a former member who is working through things you see it very clearly. If you question then you are told your faith is waning and you will not get to spend eternity with God and your family,etc. Hence fear and guilt all rolled up into a great way to keep members under foot.

Answer 10

Follow this link to read the history on this subject:
http://scriptures.lds.org/en/js_h/1