The question of whether the Book of Mormon is historical—and whether it has to be historical in order to be “true”—is one that has sparked significant debate both within and outside the LDS Church. Here’s an analysis of the issue from various angles: Is the Book of Mormon Historical? The Book of Mormon presents itself …
Continue reading “Is the Book of Mormon Historical? True? Does it Matter?”
Church leader Lawrence E. Corbridge, an LDS Seventy, gave a BYU Devotional that addresses how to properly deal with questions. Corbridge explains that he’s read all the anti-Mormon literature out there, but was successfully able to put all his questions on the shelf because he was able to convince himself that his questions don’t matter …
Continue reading “Mormons Expected to Stand Forever – Despite Questions”
The members of the Sydney Australia Mortdale Stake received an email informing them the area had been selected for a Pilot Program named Informed Consent. The program announced two objectives: 1) to ensure that converts are fully informed before they commit to baptism, and 2) for all members to have a “short” lesson to make …
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The Church is built on specific claims. The church claims that Joseph Smith met God and Jesus, received ancient plates from an angel, translated them, and had priesthood authority restored by heavenly messengers. Church leaders even state that if the events didn’t occur, the church would fall apart. This is the danger in the church …
Continue reading “Mormon Truth Claims Crumble With Changing Church History Narrative”
The Book of Abraham is a sacred text of the church. The church claims it is a translation by Joseph Smith from an ancient Egyptian papyrus he acquired. The book states that it contains “the writings of Abraham,” the biblical patriarch and that they are “written by his own hand, upon papyrus.” The contents are …
Hugh Nibley (1910–2005) was an American scholar and prominent figure in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He was known for his contributions to LDS scholarship, particularly in ancient history, languages, and religious studies. Nibley held a Ph.D. in ancient history and wrote about ancient civilizations, religious history, and Mormonism. Nibley’s influence extends …
Let’s examine the common Mormon apologist argument that leaders are simply “men of their times” through a story of racist thoughts and practices in the church. Priesthood Ban The church enjoys celebrating the lifting of the priesthood ban in 1978. But we can’t give them any credit for doing it either, since it was the …
Church leaders assert that they directly follow God’s guidance, exempting themselves from apologies and social pressure, like for example addressing racism within church doctrine and culture. Apologists claim that church leaders are merely “men of their times” and can’t be judged by today’s standards. These two ideas don’t work together. Either the leaders are led …
Long-serving Apostle Boyd K Packer famously said that “some things that are true are not very useful,” he also stated that “the truth is not uplifting, it destroys”. Seems to contradict the idea that “the truth will set you free,” no? And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. John 8:32https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/nt/john/8?lang=eng&id=32#p32 Apostle Boyd K. Packer was …
Continue reading “Mormon Apostle Knows The Truth Is Not Uplifting”
Simon was an active, believing member serving as a Bishop. While reading the Ensign he came across some interesting statements regarding the Flood which led him to research more about it. He came upon “volumes of scientific research” that contradicted things he believed at church. Then he applied his own scientific training in molecular genetics …
Continue reading “Simon Southerton Was a Mormon, an Ex-Mormon Profile Spotlight”
Micah was all in and fully believed in the church. He lived every bit of it. To be more prepared for the second coming, he studied church doctrine deeply. But as he studied church history, he learned that what he’s always been taught wasn’t exactly an honest representation of history. In fact, he found that …
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Church leaders proclaim that the Book of Mormon is sacred and untouchable. They will tell that it has not been disproven and lay a case that it is impossible for you or anyone to create such a book without divine guidance. They claim it is historically accurate and that it has never been altered. It …
Continue reading “Leave Over Under or Around The Book of Mormon”
Jacob 5 is a story about an orchard of Olive Trees and a servant who grafts branches from wild trees to tame trees and vice versa all according to the commands from the Lord of the Vineyard. The allegory represents the past, and future history of the House of Israel. It discusses the scattering of Israel before …
Continue reading “The Anachronistic Olive Tree Allegory from Zenos in Jacob 5”
The September Six were a group of six members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) who were excommunicated or disfellowshipped in September 1993 for their intellectual and historical pursuits that were deemed contrary to the teachings and doctrines of the Church. The six members were: The excommunications and disfellowshippings of …
Continue reading “Mormon Excommunication For Change – The September Six and More”
The Mormon church is shifting the narrative surrounding the Book of Mormon translation lately by admitting that Joseph used a rock in his hat as a main translation method. This narrative shift has put some apologists in an awkward position. The Joseph Smith Foundation apologist group has published a book discussing Joseph Smith’s use of …
Continue reading “Defiant Apologists Challenge the New Seer Stone Narrative”
There are multiple accounts of Joseph Smith’s “first vision”. This is a fact and today the church admits it. The church wants to dismiss these different accounts though by claiming that they really aren’t different because they tell the same consistent story. The details are in fact very different though. The earliest version of this …
Continue reading “The Strange Hidden First Vision Account of 1832”
The late Dr. D. Michael Quinn was among the many scholars who were forced to choose between promoting church propaganda and maintaining their integrity as historians in response to Elder Packer’s controversial talk “The Mantle is Far Greater Than the Intellect,”. Quinn delivered a pointed response to Elder Packer’s remarks in his lecture entitled “On …
Continue reading “On Being a Mormon Historian from Michael Quinn”
When Latter-day Saints discover problems with church history and doctrine, they often turn to church leaders and scholars for answers. Sometimes these answers are more unsettling than the problems themselves. Here’s a video compilation followed by quotes with individual sources where available. Some struggle with unanswered questionsabout things that have been doneor said in the …
Continue reading “Changing The Narrative –Reconstructing Mormon History”
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints With all the hubbub about referring to the church by the proper name, as directed by church president Russell Nelson, let’s stop and look at what the church name is. Why does the official name of the church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) contain …
Continue reading “Retrofitting Revelation For The Mormon Church Official Name”
The CES Letter is a collection of questions, concerns, and doubts about the Mormon church’s truth claims addressed to a Church Education System Director from Jeremy Runnels. Learn about the background, the effects and rebuttals and some of the contents.
This faith crisis report next lists many anonymous faith crisis profiles each detailing the exit story of the member (along with precious statistics and demographics the church cares deeply about such as household income). Not to be confused with the actual faith crisis profiles shared on wasmormon.org.
Anyone who was raised Mormon, or even attended the church for any length of time knows the Urim and Thummim story. Joseph Smith is portrayed as having translated the Book of Mormon with some special seer stones which were found with the gold plates. The Book of Mormon translation was possible with this Urim and …
Continue reading “The Problems with Joseph Smith and Peep Stone Translations”
Garrett stumbled into the rabbit hole of doctrine inconsistencies while doing his best to teach the youth of the church. He studied deeply and what he was finding troubled him enough to stop. He felt the prompting to continue to “seek truth. [He] felt assured that if the church was true, if the restoration was …
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Bart was a long-time and deeply familiar member of the church. His family was in the church for 6 generations and he served in nearly all the callings in his 40 years of service. Finally, his shelf collapsed when he tried to make sense of the church’s truth claims. The truth claims don’t add up. …
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What is an anachronism? Anachronisms are impossibilities or inconsistencies that include things that do not belong together. Something like the Flintstones is anachronistic because it portrays humans and dinosaurs living together, but science tells us that dinosaurs were long extinct before humans evolved. Something like the image above, portraying Abraham Lincoln with a laptop computer …
Based upon the song, Book of Mormon Stories. Numbers in parentheses indicate gestures performed at that point in the song. Gestures are listed following the lyrics. Here’s the tune (so you can sing along): Book of Mormon (1) stories that my teacher told to me Were about the Lamanites (2), but lack historicity Long ago the …
Aaron faithfully dug in deep to explain away the anti-mormon lies he was exposed to. The more he studied, the more problems he found until he realized the anti-mormons were the ones being honest and sharing the true history with evidence, not the church to which he’d dedicated his whole life to. This sent him …
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