These past few days, I have undergone a spiritual awakening. Last week (Sunday October 22, 2017) I received no less than 4 direct signs from God to renounce my life of hedonism and turn towards the Lord. Upon, receiving these signs, I embarked upon a study of the Gospels and Christian teaching. My life is immeasurably better than it ever has been, for I have come to recognize the sacrifice Jesus made for each and every one of us, and have come to love him for it.
Here, I am asking for your input on the subject of Mormonism, and specifically the Book of Mormon and other LDS church literature. Anyone can plainly see that it appears the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints seems to be the western world's last great hope.
>Reproduce at replacement rates >Hold to the word of God >Practice what they preach >Show genuine kindness towards their neighbor >Act as the true successors to Christ's original church, and seem to have the history to prove it
I must ask, why would God allow nearly every other church, as well as seemingly the entire western world fall into such disarray if he were not trying to tell us the Mormons have something important to give to humanity?
>"studies" Christianity for a week >MY LIFE IS BETTER THAN IT'S EVER BEEN Just wait until the honeymoon is over. What were the signs, OP?
Daniel Long
Wrong thread. Read the rules.
Jeremiah Nguyen
Somehow mormons managed to turn christianity into idolatry. What I'm trying to say is their theology is disgusting, and while protestantism is horrible, it's still preferrable.
Sebastian Hill
Mormon here. If you've got any other questions you'd like answered from a Mormon perspective, fire away.
The Book of Mormon is certainly worth your study. Its parallels with the Bible are everywhere- I hope you're familiar with the Bible, so you can catch them- but its leaves much less to interpretation than the Good Book does. Theologians agree that the Bible doesn't so much as tell us what happens when we die- there are many theories that have textual support, but the Bible is consistent with any of them, and they're all very different (annihilationism, universalism, eternal conscious hell, etc.). The Book of Mormon is clear with its doctrine- rather than leaving you interpret vague passages about the "lake of fire" looking for meaning, it tells you pretty plainly how afterlife works. Same with baptism- Christian denominations disagree (with Biblical support) on whether it is strictly necessary, or merely preferable, and, if necessary, what happens to people who don't receive it- are they all damned? Again, the Book of Mormon offers single, explicit answers to all these.
And yes, Mormonism (and the evangelicals, who are demographically similar) are the white man's best hope for salvation, with all its emphasis on family values and birthrates. On that topic, you will be interested to know that much of the Book of Mormon is prophecy about peoples and nations in our times. The main thrust of it is that the Gentiles (aka whites) are going to have their time in the sun, and then scattered Israel (aka brown people in the Americas and Pacific) are going to rise up. We're in the middle of that part now. America's just getting browner, and the Book of Mormon saw it coming.
Anyway that's all I'll dump for now, if anyone wants any additional perspectives just holler.
Nicholas Gonzalez
6 I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:
7 Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.
8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.
9 As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.
(Galatians 1)
Joseph Watson
I could go into great detail about these things but for a broad over view:
1. A cactus I had placed the significance of an idol upon was destroyed through a storm when I came to it to reclaim the spot in a sense with the Bible in hand. Prayed to know if this was a sign and indeed it was
2. As I walked on the asphalt path through a ditch to go back home, desert sun beating down on me, I began to question the validity of the Gospel of John I had just read by the cactus. I doubted the signs. Just then the biggest white hawk I have ever seen flew directly overhead across the ditch, interrupting my thought process.
3. I prayed there in the heat for guidance away from my sinfulness, particularly in regards to my sloth, lust, gluttony, idolatry and pride. I found when I got home I had the immediate vigor to fix my living space (It was profoundly unclean and desecrated, basically I lived like some of the people on /r9k/ with a jizz blanket, piss bottles, throwup stains, jizz splotches, messy shit everywhere) I finally fixed it that say, and for the first time in months actually opened my blinds to let God's light in
4. This one is the best. As I was praying late that night for guidance and forgiveness, I asked God if I must indeed devote my life to him and keep his word a bigger part of my life than most mortal men in modern society. I began to shake and my eyes rolled up. I saw a quick flash of white and felt the presence of God with me.
Julian Rodriguez
>I've converted to Christianity! >posts about the only sect which claims to be Christian which isn't actually Christian You haven't converted to Christianity, you've converted to a separate religion convinced that it's Christianity. Mormons do not uphold Nicaea, are anti-Calcedons, and are no more Christians than Muslims are.
Ethan Smith
Thank you for this perspective my friend. I am wondering if in your interpretation there are areas in which the Bible may potentially in some people's view contradict the Book of Mormon. Also, any other Mormon prophecies that have come true would be helpful.
Michael Reed
I have yet to make my mind up fully in regards to the teachings of the LDS church, so for the time being I am a Christian who does not know how to feel about the Book of Mormon. I am leaning towards accepting it though. I have to say, the claim Mormons aren't Christians is pretty far fetched when you consider they have faith in The Father, Son and The Holy Spirit and they seem to be the ONLY people actually following God's word
Alexander Walker
>more intellectually indefensible anti-protestant culture on Veeky Forums because "muh tradition!" "Muh robes!" "Muh pederasty!" and so on
Film at eleven! The other cult-strains of Christianity have no more truth on their side than that they are older traditions. There has never been any such thing as a religion, because as used in the English language today, in its positive sense, "religion" itself implies deep truth, reverence, tradition. And every religion begins as a cult. What older Christian cults and Islam hate about their smaller, similar offshoots is that /these offshoots remind them of the truth of how they themselves started: as untrue cults/. The Roman Catholic Church, Sunni and Shi'ite Islam, and Christian Orthodoxy in general, are all untrue cults which have no clothes, just a larger series of traditions and artifacts which masquerade as truth, by mixing the lies with truth in the particular iteration. jews LARPING in Israel are likewise pulled back into the cultural fold; even intelligent jews often cannot resist the pull of cultural performativity.
So, since all religion is false, what is left is the cultural residue. And here, the historical protestant culture is generally superior, although the present ethno-masochism is disgusting.
Dylan Evans
I don't see this as a flagrant contradiction as it could of course be argued the revelations of Joseph Smith are a part of God's word. He has done nothing to pervert the already established gospel of Jesus Christ, and in fact has given it to a wider range of people, strengthening it and creating a church that will actually endure.
You're praying. Good. Keep building your relationship with God and he won't lead you astray. This is absolutely the most important thing for your spiritual life.
The Bible leaves lots open for interpretation. The main discrepancies between the Bible and Mormonism would be Jesus' statements that "God is a spirit" and that "in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven." Mormons believe in an embodied God, not a disembodied spirit, and they believe in "eternal marriage" which will exist in heaven, not just till-death-do-you-part marriage. Both of these are LDS doctrines, and very important ones, but they're not mentioned in the Book of Mormon specifically (they come from other LDS scripture). The Book of Mormon itself and the Bible have no real doctrinal contradictions that come to mind.
Other prophecies that have happened? There are a bunch, but I don't think they're very relevant or useful at this moment. Press me on it later if you absolutely have to have some examples, I guess.
What said is right some respects. Mormons are non-trinitarian and don't hold the early Christian church councils in any authority. Believing in those councils and their confessions of faith is the most popular definition of Christianity, so Mormons are not Christians in that sense. In the "big-tent" definition of a Christian as "a believer that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God," Mormons definitely count as Christians.
Also, is a document meant to debunk Mormonism. Some of its historical objections to the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith hold some weight, but it makes a lot of literary arguments against them that completely fall flat. It also attacks the Bible in a very "but the God of the Bible doesn't follow my 21st century postmodern beliefs therefore God doesn't exist" kind of way. Honestly, Mormonism deserves a more well-written polemic than the CES Letter, but you can give it a skim.
Thomas Clark
>The only people following the Lord's word And the Catholic Church is not helping the poor and downtrodden how? And the High Church of England is not helping the destitute how? Sure, liberal protestant meaningless mush about peace and love is silly, but claiming that Mormons are the only ones going out and doing stuff is absurd.
Secondly, they do not believe in the Trinity. They believe in separate entities for each of the Persons of God. They do not believe in Consubstantiality. They fundamentally deny the agreements of the Councils of Nicea, Chalcedon, and Ephesus. This isn't hidden! They openly espouse this! They lack the same basic conception of God as the entire rest of Christianity. At best, they're a modern rebirth of an ancient heresy, and at worst they're categorically a separate religion.
Daniel Sanchez
Excellent, thank you! That passage in John (or maybe it was Matthew) about the lack of celestial marriage did throw me for a loop a little bit. I am kind of wondering how Mormons rationalize this. The family values are one of the most attractive aspects of this faith to me, and the idea of converting and raising my family in this tradition one day is wonderful, so I am not at all opposed to the idea of man and wife being eternally sealed.
Jacob Reed
Great but remember you are lying to yourself. So when you realize you are still unhappy remember it was you who lied to yourself.
Jason Long
Is it really possible to avoid this kind of ethno-masochism in a culture that is ruled by the hedonistic and morally relativistic outlook that atheism begets? One can look at God and the essence of objective truth as synonymous, and I am of the mind that the people keeping that truth alive are not only God's chosen church but the saviors of the west.
Carter Williams
Open your heart to the light of God, user. You may be angry with him, but he has shown his love for you.
Jonathan Martinez
Certainly. You could instead have dumber people (Islam) or a distinct culture which favors what I will crudely describe as the "master morality" which modern philosophers have discussed, in contraposition to the slave morality of Jesus. Or you could instead simply have a bunch of sociopaths, animals, etc, which amounts to the same thing.
Basically you seem to want to apologize for Christianity in any event. I would instead couch the ethno-masochism of Germanics in the historical Christian culture itself secondarily, and primarily in Nazi-shaming and atonement. Europe has also been understandably tired of war for the past several decades so there's that angle too.
Jack Richardson
Clearly your pipedream of "master morality" needs to either hurry up and get here, or atheists must recognize the necessity of Christianity in saving the West. One of the two. I used to put stock in the secular, objective, and rigidly materialist "master morality" myself (I assume these characteristics of moral standard are what you are referring to, but if not then please forgive me for my error.) But look around. How many people do you know that would be willing to take up arms to defend this secular society from the hoards of Islam? How might we even convince people of this Godless super morality?
It isn't going to work. The materialist perspective on reality has been debunked through quantum physics and we have seen that reality is dependent on each person's subjective perceptions of it. Existence and truth are only made objective by the final, grand Observer, God.
Even if you do not accept this claim or accept that the essence of objective truth is God himself, one must accept that from a PR standpoint, the western world isn't going to swallow the pill of your complex "master morality" if there's no cross sticker on the pill bottle.
You seem to be making your statements intentionally difficult to understand to avoid being refuted.
Connor Murphy
But.... but this is clearly about literature user
Josiah Flores
what were the 4 signs out of curiosity?
Mason White
>Falling for Islam-lite
Jokes aside, Mormonism isn't free of "degeneracy", just look at Mormon involvement in Vegas, they just have good PR (can't blame them for it though, after they tried to pull an ISIS in the U.S). If you are really a Christian you shouldn't give a singular shit about the western world or really any phyletism, what matters is God and his teachings not race nor culture nor any mundane thing. It honestly sounds like paganism is more your speed, the core of Christianity is apocalyptic eschatology not that God saves the world from falling into chaos.
It's also important to note that early Mormons went directly against gospel in regards to marriage, as well as basing their entire history on a series of unproven claims by a known fraudster. There's a reason why Mormons fund millions of Archaeological digs in Mexico to find Nephites and keep on coming up empty-handed.
Landon Cook
These were the signs I recieved, somewhat simplified as to keep it brief
Parker Perry
I thought this thread would slide through a while ago but it hasn't so here I am and fuck you. Have you read the Book of Mormon? Do you know of Plato's cosmology? Do you know of Smith's extremely positive relationship with Platonism? He completely ripped off the parts of Platonism he wanted to and he ran with it. Fuck dude. How the fuck people can still be ok with this shit is beyond me. You saw 'mormongate' right? The videos of the Mormon 'high council' or whatever you call it? How in the fuck is it still a thing after those leaks. Get the fuck out of here, keep to yourself or get what you deserve for peddling that pathetic bullshit
Colton King
In what ways did he rip off Platonism? If Joseph Smith's revelations are the updates God must give his sacred word for the modern age to restore the church, then so be it.
Logan Ross
The Book of Mormon has been revised and edited over 3,000 times since it's publication because of its numerous errors and inconsistencies. It's absurd that the denomination still exists.
Isaac Ward
Who else /saltlakecity/ here?
Samuel Scott
BYUfag reporting in.
All the changes are pretty minor, mostly updating some archaic expressions. Only one that could conceivably change the meaning is white—>pure, that I can think of.
Mormonism is pretty flatly against all the Neoplatonic elements in Christianity, though. If you said Joesph smith copied it all from Swedenborg, I’d at least believe you knew what you were talking about.
There are a few ways that passage can be reconciled with the LDS understanding (it was directed at Pharisees not living the higher law of marriage, whose marriages would therefore end at death) but overall it is one of the more challenging passages in the NT.
Ian Rivera
I'll start listing them off as I go back through Book of Mormon. It is literally Point by point: 1. Premortal life of the soul, same, getting to choose the path you will take, see myth of err
Wyatt Wilson
2. 'Jehova' as premortal Jesus, created the earth under command of God, I smell the demiurge
Daniel Harris
Being assigned to one of three degrees of glory, see Plato's noble lie, the bronze, silver, and gold designations
Noah Thomas
That’s straight from John 1:1. Any orthodox Christian believes that. While that is LDS doctrine, it’s not in the Book of Mormon- it would be good of you to stop conflating the two.
Nathan Reed
4. Creation not being ex-nihilio but pr existing matter organized, not Christian but certainly platonic.
Camden Rogers
>the core of Christianity is apocalyptic eschatology not that God saves the world from falling into chaos.
Then why hasn't the end come already user? We've seen more trying times than this. I think it's fair to say God has more in store for the Earth than what we have seen and for now he wants it to survive yet another trial that, as was mentioned by this user Mormonism predicted.
Adrian Torres
Do some research on the origins of John 1 and the logos doctrine that existed at that time. Most scholars agree that it is platonic in origin, especially in Joh. I graduated from seminary.
Aiden Wright
5. Spirit intelligences have existed co-eternally with God, look at Plato's understanding of daemones, not just the singular daimon
Brody Davis
6. Spirit bodies being just more fine or pure versions of matter, Plato's ethereal matter, the fifth element
Brandon Clark
7. The justification for putting souls in a material body, so they have they opportunity to be perfected through free will, straight from plato
Ryan Scott
Another mistake of apologetics, which again reduces to "muh tradition". Although I appreciate your substantive rebuttal and civil tone. You are getting into the meat of the argument.
Here's the real problem, this time around. Now that I finish reading your post, especially the last paragraph, you even acknowledge your own error, deep down: "we have to have such-and-such because it's historically worked and that's how people are wired." This is a comfy, traditional cop-out when science gives
The "it just works" (to a point!) cultural argument in favor of religion is to be totally rejected, barring better evidence, like God popping out of the sky angry and so on. No. What is really going on, is something more like this: humans are wired for story-telling which is at times dissonant from the world, and this has led into an autistic dead-end where humans want to defend the comfy story-telling over the world. I appreciate that this sounds scientistic, and it's largely that, but it's also a bit bigger than that. Another point is that human beings /should be/ /strong enough, smart enough, good enough/, as I would describe it, to be able to do without religion. Currently they are not, and that's exactly the problem, because religion is false.
Unless god pops out of the sky all angry and arbitrary one day. But I would still have been justified to myself to reject him, which is the point.
Blake Evans
I'm guessing you have left by now, on account of the lack of refutation, but if you haven't, I've been close to a few people that have been seriously damaged by that hoax of a cult you are trying to promote (here of all places). Fuck your church. I can continue to go through every point that smith stole from Plato's greater mind. Smith did not foresee the rise of technology that would allow people to do research on their own and realize that he plagiarized his entire invention from a beautiful and effective philosophy.
Evan Gray
>incorporating pagan pederastic ideas as authority into your thing which is supposed to be totally different from all that
no wonder the Catholic church are a bunch of unreliable boyfuckers.
Brody Young
Tell me how Platonism is paganism and I'll give you a peanut
Aaron Jenkins
First off, I'm not a church member, and am relatively new to the subject. I waited to respond because I wasn't sure how long you would drone on adding more and more "Plato said this thing that resembles Mormonism so......!"
It's the blank part after the "so" that gets me. Why does any of that matter? So what if Mormonism resembles an old Platonist view? Does that make it untrue in and of itself? All I can infer is that you can allude to it being plagiarized by Smith and passed off as his own religious doctrine, but with that you've still failed to provide any motive he would have in doing so. He had absolutely no motive at all to just rip bits of a theory he may or may not have even heard of to add onto Christian teaching. In fact, if he were in it for purely personal gain and did not actually believe what he was claiming, why wouldn't he just make his claims less radically different than mainstream Christian thought as to more easily gain followers? Why look to Plato? (if he even did)
Jacob Perry
I know I have seen in a number of places that Joseph smith was heavily influenced by Plato's work before he decided to start that religion but I'm looking for a good source for you now. No motivation? Why does any cult leader start a cult? What reason does another cult leader have to start their cult that smith did not have? The reason I went on to provide so many parallels is to show that he clearly reformed Plato's thought for his own purposes as so many have done in the past. I can go on listing references, but if you refuse to concede any surety at this point, it is not worth it to me. Every abnormal peice of strangeness in that cult's framework came from Plato's mythological thinking (not to be taken literally). What other type of evidence would you prefer? What type of evidence seems to be most effective in your eyes, because showing parallels is the most effective in my eyes
Brayden Perry
On what grounds can we dismiss the "It just works!" argument, when we owe the scientific method and social conditions that have lead to us having this conversation at all to the culture and value system that churned them out to begin with? That is to say without the West's Christian values, these things would not have originated in the same way or anywhere near as early. It was the church that kept these concepts alive and which maintained social stability for hundreds of years. Why then, can we dismiss the "It just works!" argument, when we have seen through the persistence, success and comparative civility of western culture when put beside others?
Far from retiring after saying "It just works!" I am also positing that Christianity, on top of being a useful social and moral doctrine, is also true. God is a logical conclusion to come to when considering how the design of the universe mirrors that of a simulation, and there are countless other arguments that can lead you logically to God. Understanding that each person's subjective experience is made objective through the supervision and perspective of a great being.
The main contention of my philosophy is this: Truth begets goodness, goodness begets truth, and both are simply synonyms for God.
That being said, I feel I should appeal to you from a place of practicality rather than faith. So here it is: God is goodness, for he is the essence of objective morality and objective truth. Without him it becomes quite impossible to persuade the masses not to submit to a false version of objective morality (Islam.)
Noah White
What I'm saying is that he was out for personal gain as most cult leaders are, then why would he borrow from the works of Plato to appeal to people in 1830s America? Why not just update the Bible with more culturally accepted material?
My contention is that just because Mormonism may resemble or may have been influenced doctrinally by Platonism does not necessarily mean it is a fraud.
Wyatt Allen
Ah shit! Am BYUfag as well
Landon Sanders
He was probably a smart guy. Most smart people that actually take the time to study plato grow to understand that his work is brilliant. I don't think it is a stretch to say that if a general poll were taken, either Plato (Socrates) or Einstein would take the title for the most brilliant man in western history. Now why would Joseph smith choose to plagiarize from someone other than the most brilliant man in history, especially if he is focused on similar subject matter. I'm leaving, but dude: your proselytizing is super fucking creepy. Look at yourself, seriously, look in the mirror, look deep, and try to come out of this delusional mindset that should not still be a thing in 2017. I had a Roomate that was excommunicated from that thing you call a church, became homeless and hooked on heroine Which wouldn't have happened to him if he hadn't lost his family's support when he changed his views. You are hurting people. Don't do it under the guise of Christ.
Zachary Hernandez
That's all nice and dandy but their theology is ultragarbage
Brayden Edwards
Do not think that Cactus God is dead, thou of little faith. For Cactus God has merely shed His pulpy, prickly flesh only to arise again all across the desert, our true Lord in thought as well as in thorn. Also, pay no heed to that wussy white hawk god. Beware, ye who bow before fake idols flying across ditches, for it is written the sinful shall feel His wrathful sting!
Sebastian Murphy
So obviously false that it's actually really funny that this church exists.
Josiah Wright
That's pretty much the case with every religion. You can't all be right, and speaking in probability, every single one of you but 1 is wrong. Think about that. Out of every religion, ever conceived in someone's mind what makes Abrahamic religions any more right than any native, or pagan religion? Christcucks are a joke, because they ignore all of this and blindly shout "NOPE, YOURE ALL WRONG".
Carson Edwards
Mormonism is Scientology/Freemason tier pseudo-religion. Literally flee from it as fast as you can.
If you think the Bible is fundamentally corrupt and Christ's Church disappeared off the face of the earth for thousands of years then you think God is incompetent and Christianity the apostles were duped and the Holy Spirit failed to do his job. So pick a totally different religion, instead of trying to reconstruct it using a 17th century false prophet.
Jace Robinson
It's not that they are all totally wrong and total nonsense. Socrates, Plato, Plotinus and the pagans managed to figure out some truths, as far as human reason could go without divine revelation and without a clear noetic faculty. The Taoists managed to figure out some stuff as well. The Hindus did too, but all partial truths. Problem is none of them have the fullness of the Truth that ancient, authentic Christianity has. Christ is the eternal Tao, Christ is the Logos that the Platonists dreamed about. The Trinity is the real triumvirate the Hindus talk about. The Father's essence is the real "brahman". Christianity has the most sublime teaching and it has a historical dimension totally absent from any other religion (the literal incarnation of God on earth, interacting with man, suffering alongside us, dying for man, teaching man, setting up a Church that is still intact today,,, although in schism)...
It is the greatest religion ever to grace mankind, it has a divine source, it offers authentic communion with God, it offers the highest moral code there is, its beauty is unmatched, only a fool would ignore it or brush it off as simply another "religion among many".
Matthew Carter
Actually, I lied. I don't want to get into this with a Christfag. Have a good day man.
Matthew Nguyen
Praise Cactus God, he collects our moisture unto him amid a desert of sin.
James Bennett
You morons are heretics
Dylan James
You're literally just reiterating what he said
Angel Baker
mormons break the commandment "Thou shalt have no other gods before me" they believe God has space God-dads
Charles Ross
No one but the father knows when Judgement day shall come. It could be tomorrow or it could be a near-eternity from now, but it looms over us every day. The point of Christianity is that we are to be in the world, not of it. Admittedly this shouldn't be taken as some doom-is-nigh hysteria, but rather that doom is always possible and will happen (as in things will eventually grind to chaos). The best we can do is emulate Jesus and live our lives in his image, and remember that the things of the Earth are temporary and irrelevant in the face of God.
Joshua Moore
This applies equally to any other cult that one cares to designate. Mormonism is not a "special-status" cult on this head, and if you believe that it is, then you're asleep.
Jordan Jones
Platonists didn't dream about the logos as the only begotten son of god. They invented it. They associated the concept with historical people that were as historically real as christ. The trinity was already in Plato's thought as early as the republic (father son, mother (receptacle)). The true self, the Christ within, the 'brahmin' was a major part of Plato's philosophy that is under appreciated in our day: the Daimone, the inner dwelling spirit that is the son of God that is an intercesor between God and man that is the means to perfection. Platonic schools had the historical aspect that Christianity has (Eleusinian mysteries) but theirs was more believable because it didn't involve for contradictory, completely different accounts that the believer has no possibility of reconciling with reason. The only thing that Christianity has that Platonism lacks is a 2000 year history of oppressing nations and abusing power. The only reason Platonism died out was because, from 300 the 1600 the church burned or torchered any man that got his hands on platonic teachings. Now why in the fuck would this have happened if it isn't, in fact, the case that Christianity repackaged Platonism for institutional gain? Tell me one thing Christianity has that didn't stem from Platonism.
Nolan Jones
>Espousing views other than moral relativistic nihilism is 'super fucking creepy' >IT'S 2017 GUYS! RELIGTARDISM IS DED!
...Fuck the West
Ryan Thomas
Idolatry is a lot more common than you may suspect, with many people worshiping sex, money, drink, ect. A natural object can have a certain context attached to it such as that. I had bizarre femdom fetishes where I would incorporate blasphemous, worship elements. Referring to my ex gf as "goddess" sometimes and doing this fucked up prayer thing too at times.
Parker Perry
>Implying the belief that something bad might have happened immediately indicates disrespect towards God.
It doesn't.
Asher Ross
But they do not worship these gods, user
Joseph Lewis
I'm LDS and I would suggest that you study the Book of Mormon for yourself and see how to feel about it. If there are any parts that you are unsure of then pray to our Heavenly Father and ask if those things are true. If you have doubts on the validity of the Book of Mormon due to the lack of archaeological proof then I would wait until the time that God desires to reveal something pertaining to it.
I would also look to the the Articles of Faith for the LDS church to give yourself a very basic knowledge of the core beliefs of the church.
I pray that you will find the answers you need and to continue to have faith. With faith anything is possible.
Ryder Carter
One thing that definitely swings in the favor of the LDS is Christ's teaching that the good tree will bear good fruit. If every other institutional tree/church in the United States is struggling currently, and the LDS is thriving, then perhaps it is God's appointed tree at this time.
Jace Brooks
My views are completely against nihilism. Have you read any part of this discussion? Platonism is Mormonism without the ridiculous concepts and culty feel. And it wasn't creepy just because he was doing it, the voice and rhetoric he was using was creepy because it was very similar to the way I'd imagine a date rapist speaks. No real arguments, just slimy pre-packaged phrases.
Aaron Nelson
Here is the Mormon starter pack. Imagine it in a nice infographics. After reading this you basically know 99% of Mormon ideas.
1. BOM 2. Bible 3. Hugh B. Brown Talks 4. History of the Church Volume 1 5. Jesus The Christ 6. 7 Habits of Highly Effective People 7. Believing Christ