Or false rumors rather than do true research for their answers? Joseph Smith was not a fraud. He could not have written the Book of Mormon, but translated it into English from the ancient language written on gold plates. He was a prophet of God and did nothing for his own profit. He was instrumental in restoring the true church of Jesus Christ, the most virile church on the earth. His greatness is gradually being recognized by scholars world-wide.Why do many persons, at the mention of Joseph Smith or the Book of Mormon, respond with false opinions?
You may have heard the saying; It's not what you don't know that gets you into trouble. It's what you do know that's not so. The range of answers here displays a wide range of what people know. All seem to assume that they ';know'; things those disagreeing with them do not ';know';
Truth-Seeker, man with problems, and Robin Egg all ';know'; something they believe True Blue Mormons (TBM) do not.
They ';know'; about Native Americans and DNA, but do they know about the Cherokee and that DNA from the middle east is found there in sufficient number and widely enough dispersed that it could not come from admixture after Columbus' discovery of the new world.?
http://www.dnaconsultants.com/BlogRetrie鈥?/a>
This findinf is recent (August 2009) so it will take 12-18 months to get to a reputable peer-reviewed scientific Journal. But that doesn't change the findings.
They ';Know'; that Mormons teach another gospel, but they may not know that David W Bercot (Not a Mormon, just a Christian Scholar) in contrasting the beliefs and practices of the world wide community of early Christians with the belief of present day Christians concludes ';We label as heresy many of the doctrines they taught. They label as heresy many of the doctrines we teach. Who are the real heretics?'; (quoted from page 99 of Will The Real Heretics Please stand up--A new look at today's Evangelical Church in the Light of Early Christianity)
As a Mormon, I am completely comfortable with the teachings of the early church which he mentions.
In thinking we do not know about Fanny Alger or the Kinderhook plates. They must think we have not read the autobiography of Mosiah Hancock a contemporary of Joseph Smith who tells about the wedding of Joseph and Fanny Alger.
KinderHook plates? They may not know they were a trap laid for Joseph Smith which he did not step into.
http://en.fairmormon.org/Kinderhook_Plat鈥?/a>
http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hi鈥?/a>
http://www.boap.org/LDS/Early-Saints/MHa鈥?/a>
They ';Know'; that because there are different accounts of Joseph Smith's first vision that they somehow conflict. I have told different accounts of how I met my wife, All of them true, but all containing different details and emphasis. Most Mormons that are awake in Sunday School class are aware of 4 accounts written between 1832 and 1842 and also aware that the accounts though different do not conflict.
http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vg鈥?/a>
Some already ';Know'; and don't listen to the other person's evidence. Others read anything they can on both sides of the fence, have done so for decades, and though sometimes find a need to study intently have found nothing to challenge their foundation of faith in Jesus Christ and His restored church.Why do many persons, at the mention of Joseph Smith or the Book of Mormon, respond with false opinions?
The key to your answer is in the word ';opinion';. That is all they have, an uninformed, uneducated, ignorant opinion. They think it is correct because they have heard so many people express similar ideas. They are all equally invalid. If they conducted their own research, they might find out that there is much more to it than they had supposed. Joseph himself stated that if he had not actually lived his history, he wouldn't have believed it either. Therefore, it takes a bit of faith and a bit of personal revelation from the Holy Ghost to accept his history for what it really is, a modern day manifestation of God working directly with mankind.
Because as with most things, they do very little research into the facts, and only seem to believe what is told to them.
But the main thing that I find suspect about the whole ';Joseph Smith %26amp; golden tablets'; thing, is that if something was truly of God, then why would it need to be translated? The Bible itself was supposedly written in the language of the time, for the majority of people of the time. It only needed to be translated later for people of other languages.
Dale!!!! What the???
Do you even know how many wives Joseph Smith had?
Do you even know that the Book of Abraham has been proven 13% fraud. The other 87% still undetermined?
Do you even know that Joseph Smith says he was commanded by an angel to practice polygamy or death would be stricken on him?
Do you even know who Fanny Alger is and that Joseph ';practiced'; Polygamy with her w/o any sort of a marriage and w/o his original wife Emma knowing about it?
Do you know what the Kinderhook Plates are and how they showed Joseph Smith to be a liar and a con?
Do you know Joseph Smith had several different accounts of his first vision?
Or do you only know what the LDS church tells you?
Can you list these scholars that revere Joseph Smith they way you say? Your spewing lies.. Not your fault as you just don't know what the truth really is.
I promise if you keep posing questions like that your going to get pounded. It's very obvious the LDS church is based on the lies of a conman.
Please do real research!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Everybody wants to have the truth, but few want to seek it. Such is the pride of the world. When they are ready to let go of their fear, we will be here.
As evidenced by the responses from ';man with'; and ';autumn'; there are are variety of reasons why there is a barrage of opinions expressed. In the case of ';man with'; - I suspect that their are many who are so impressed with their own secular education that they are blinded to anything that doesn't fit into their mold of education.
2 Ne. 9: 28
O that cunning plan of the evil one! O the vainness, and the frailties, and the foolishness of men! When they are learned they think they are wise, and they hearken not unto the counsel of God, for they set it aside, supposing they know of themselves, wherefore, their wisdom is foolishness and it profiteth them not. And they shall perish.
In the case of ';autumn'; and her ilk, it is much like the parable of the sower. These people represent rocky soil where the seeds did not take hold and flourish, if in fact she had ever received the seeds in the first place. There are also those who are blinded by the craftiness of men and others who are just outright ignorant of the truth when it hits them in the face, so to speak.
You may also want to consider the fact that some of those who revile against the Prophet are servants of the Devil, that great master of deciet and lies. It was prophecied that Joseph Smith's name would be had for both good and evil throughout the world. Certainly that prophecy has been fulfilled right here among the participants of Yahoo Q%26amp;A.
One of the problems is in their respective churches they actually have classes and are taught from people they know and respect these falsehoods. What are you to think if your own religion tells you that DNA evidence proves the Book of Mormon is false? You are not going to do any research on your own; most will blindly trust these people. Many are also former members and are instinctively justifying their actions by criticizing that which they have left.
We are taught in the LDS Church to do our own research, we are expected to read the Bible to know what it really says. We don鈥檛 rely upon a paid ministry to teach us clouded doctrine in order to pad their paychecks. We are encouraged to build our own testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
I speak of DNA specifically because of the absurdity of it. First DNA is science, and we all know that science must be taken with a grain of salt, religion and faith in Jesus Christ has NEVER been based on science. After all, are there ANY credible scientists that will affirm a belief in the resurrection, that a physical body after thousands of years of decay will somehow rise from the dust and become again what it once was. Not only is the concept absurd to science it is laughable. Most scientists believe we evolved from monkeys and even deny the existence of God. It鈥檚 humorous how people will dismiss all the theories of science鈥? and they will accept the theory of DNA and the Book of Mormon.
The Book of Mormon is a relatively small account of the people in America, as a matter of fact it is stated by several authors that only 100th part can be contained in these small plates of record. It is also clearly stated that the spiritual aspects of their lives were to be written. It only takes a little common sense to realize that there were probably thousands of migrations to this continent during that era. Even the Book of Mormon speaks of others who were inhabiting the continent. The intermingling of thousands of years of people can defiantly taint the findings of DNA, if DNA is to be trusted anyway.
Was Joseph Smith accused of fraud.. I must exclaim LOL. I mean really, is the system that perfect. Is there absolutely no one in our jail system accused falsely? It is bizarre to me that people will grasp so firmly to these ancient reports of fraud鈥?and then again, in another conversation ridicule the judicial system of today as being so full of injustice.
The truth will prevail!
1. Some people are scared of anything new and/or different.
2. Some people just don't like us and want to destroy us, by any means possible, fair or foul.
3. Some people find that we just might BE the truth and they don't like that.
4. Some people have left the church but aren't sure if they did the right thing. #'s 3 and 4 will then do whatever they can to justify their belief, or lack thereof.
5. Some people listen to #'s 2, 3, and 4, thinking that these people have no reason to lie, therefore, they must be telling the truth and the Mormons really are evil terrible horrible people who believe some funky weird stuff.They will then go about saying these things to others, as if they know.
Moroni told Joseph Smith that his name would be had for good AND evil all over the world. That is the truth.
Satan fights hardest against those he is losing the most. I think that's why so many seemingly good people have all the ';blessings'; and none of the problems in life, because they have been lulled into a false sense of security by Satan. Maybe he hasn't entirely won them, but then God hasn't entirely gotten them either.
Sure he had no slaves, but needed no servants the women were the servants, and the book of mormon is full of prejudism towards the indian people and his translation of the bible when he said that the mark of Cain was black skin, well you don't call that prejudist?
When I was a mormon the indians were jews, now the church says they are asian/jews so which is it?! Make up your minds mormons!!! oh and try to figure out who the Lumbee tribe of NC is, I doubt you can explain that enigma!!!
By the way as a mormon I suffered so much sexual harrassment and my ward was just a social club and I never saw any miracles or healings. Thats how I know the truth was never restored.
Excuse me? LOL. Not to brag here or anything, but I'm quite proud of the extensive research I have done on MANY religions, including the church of Jesus Christ. I teach comparative religion at a university in Canada and have been published numerous times in World Magazine. Okay, so I'm bragging. Oh well.
The constant grumbling of the church of Jesus Christ and their belief that they are being persecuted for preaching the TRUE GOSPEL is ridiculous. I have been told by Mormons that I was ';too educated'; and that satan has penetrated the education system - an EXCUSE for the ZERO evidences provided by Mormon apologists.
Now you tell me that my opinions are false because I'm not well read? Bullocks!
The description in your answer CLEARLY demonstrates the average Mormon's understanding of Joseph Smith's history. It is boggling to know that most members of this church have NO desire to LEARN and RESEARCH this man's life. Instead, they excuse all of his treasure hunting, fraudulent shenanigans as either ';God's will'; or a product of ';satan's deception';.
So, that said, what do you say to me, who has read your prophet's gospel, and has concluded that it is a sham? Oh, that's right - I didn't pray hard enough.
You rely on your personal emotions to 'know' it is all true. I rely on facts and science.
DNA science has long proved there were no Hebrews in the Americas. I challenge you to find me one article in a reputable peer-reviewed science journal that says otherwise.
It is a fact that Smith was hauled into court 3 times for fraud before he started the church. There are records of it. Do you deny it?
A few weeks before his death he claimed he had but one wife. Church records show he had 30+ at that time. He lied. Do you deny this fact? The speech where he denied polygamy is in church books.
It is your 'opinion' that it is true, and that has as much weight as the opinion of a suicide bomber that he is going to heaven to get 72 virgins.
People believe what they are told, what they self-hypnotize into. That hardly makes it true.
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