Did the gospel topic essays help your faith crisis?

The gospel topics essays are honestly what really forced me out. Specifically where they admit that Joseph smith never used the plates to translate and instead used a rock in a hat.

Spencer Oswald profile image for wasmormon.orgspendiggity144

100% yes. When the church itself pointed out glaring problems with some of its foundational teachings, it served as damning evidence against its other truth claims. Noticing lies and discrepancies between the essays and their citations was another key contributor to my faith crisis.

Landon profile image for wasmormon.orgelementalepistles

Nope. They simply proved that the church had issues.

river profile image for wasmormon.orgriver

I’m surprised that the gospel topic essays don’t pull more people I know away. They try to be honest but are deceptive at the same time. The 2 that bothered me most are on the priesthood and polygamy. I hurt for the blacks who lost their priesthood rights and succinctly  family rights. Why does the church refuse to apologize for taking the priesthood away from blacks when they know Brigham Young was not God lead in doing so? I also grieve for early European immigrant converts who were told by missionaries that church didn’t practice polygamy only to find out after a life threatening journey to the Salt Lake valley that they do. I can’t imagine the pain those wives bore when their husbands agreed to practice polygamy and bring in new wives. It makes me want to vomit! I don’t want to be a part of a church that recognizes their wrongs but makes no apologies. I don’t want to be a part of a church that actively marginalizes blacks and women by doing so. 

Erica Haner profile image for wasmormon.orgehaner