I don't think the world, or even North America for that matter, needed anything new, least of all a guy who looked for lost treasure by talking into his hat.
Joe Smith. A convicted charlatan. convicted for bilking people out of money by telling them he knew where to find buried treasure on their property, and then high tailing it out of town.
then he, guess what? he claims to find golden tablets and makes up some fantastical story. Where are the tablets?? Oh, they're lost.
So why was the "angel" who supposedly showed the dude the Book of Mormon named "Moroni"? Don't you get it - "moron - EEO"? You do know what a moron is, don't you? And now you see that the whole thing started out as an elaborate hoax and just got out of hand - WAY out of hand!
Actually "the Church" was put in place by Jesus Christ, the Son of God. It does not need to be restored, because since Jesus instituted it, it has not left. I admit, it has many flaws and is not unified as evidenced by the many different religions that claim to believe on Jesus and yet are not in harmony with one another.
In fact, Jesus will come back and get His Church (also known as his bride) as soon as The Father orders Him to.
Hmm, let's see.
Joseph spends a few years dowsing and promising people he can find buried treasure by using magic peep stones in his hat.
He gets busted for fraud by one of the people who hired him, when he delivers no treasure.
Then he comes up with golden plates ("treasure") supposedly found in a hill, which he "translates" by using magic peep stones in his hat.
There's no archaeological evidence of any kind that supports his wild story, the DNA evidence shows no native Americans have any Hebrew lineage, and the wild and magical stories about the plates have no evidence showing they're real.
Still, he manages to con some people into following him, keeps adding new stuff like plural marriage, secret temple rituals ripped off from the masons, and lots of other fun and wacky ideas. He makes "prophecies" that are pr oven wrong. He shuts down a newspaper critical of him, and is arrested for illegally doing so -- then is shot in a gunfight at the jail. His delusional followers carry on...and here we are today.
As one of Jehovahs Witnesses , Who knock on the doors of Mormons... We acquaint ourselves with Mormon history and beliefs...
?Thou fool,? reproaches The Book of Mormon at 2 Nephi 29:6, ?that shall say: A Bible, we have got a Bible, and we need no more Bible.? Many Mormons, however, have pondered the apostle Paul?s stern words in the Bible at Galatians 1:8 (KJ): ?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.?
LDS scholars explain that the new scripture is not beyond what is declared in the Bible but is only a clarification and complement thereof. ?There is no tension between the two,? writes Rex E.?Lee, president of Brigham Young University. ?Both the Bible and the Book of Mormon teach the same plan of salvation.? Is there agreement between these books? Consider the Mormon plan of salvation.
?As God Now Is, Man May Become?
?Though we do not remember it,? explains Lee, ?we existed as spirits before this life.? According to this LDS belief of eternal progression, by strict obedience a man may become a god?a creator like God. ?God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted Man, and sits enthroned in yonder heavens,? stated Joseph Smith. ?You have got to learn how to be Gods yourselves, .?.?. the same as all Gods have done before you.? Mormon prophet Lorenzo Snow said: ?As man now is, God once was; as God now is, man may become.?
Is such a future presented in the pages of the Bible? The only offer of godhood ever recorded there was the empty promise by Satan the Devil in the garden of Eden. (Genesis 3:5) The Bible shows that God created Adam and Eve to live on earth and instructed them to produce a perfect human family that would live here in happiness eternally. (Genesis 1:28; 3:22; Psalm 37:29; Isaiah 65:21-25) Adam?s willful disobedience brought sin and death into the world.?Romans 5:12.
The Book of Mormon says that had the former spirits Adam and Eve remained sinless, they would have been childless and joyless, alone in Paradise. So its version of the sin of the first married couple involved sexual intercourse and childbearing. ?Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy.? (2 Nephi 2:22, 23, 25) Spirits in heaven are thus said to await a chance to live on a sinful earth?a necessary step toward perfection and godhood. Says the LDS magazine Ensign: ?We look upon what Adam and Eve did with great appreciation rather than with disdain.?
?This doctrine [that man existed in the spirit creation],? says Joseph Fielding Smith, great-nephew of Joseph Smith, ?in the Bible is only discerned through a mist or fog .?.?. because many plain and precious things have been taken out of the Bible.? Further he states: ?This belief is based upon a revelation given to the Church, May?6, 1833.? Therefore, while accepting the Bible?s authority, in case of disagreement LDS doctrine necessarily assigns greater weight to the words of their prophets.
The Book of Mormon?Keystone of the Faith
Joseph Smith lauded The Book of Mormon as ?the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion.? One set of golden plates was said to have been the source for his writings. Eleven Mormons testified that they saw the plates. Upon completion of the document, though, Smith said the plates were taken to heaven. Thus, they are not available for textual analysis.
God loves the world enough that through Joseph Smith he RESTORED his church do you ag
