14 October, 2008
Mick
Cults
Book of Mormon, Christianity, Cults, Latter Day Saints, Mormonism, Religion
Mormons believe in the Bible. Their preferred translation is the King James Version (KJV). Many other Christian churches use this translation today. I would say that this is probably one of the worse translations to get these days. If you want to know a little more about that, please refer to What Version of the Bible Do You Use?
We are not here to look at the Bible today, however. The Book of Mormon is what we are focusing on in this particular post. The Latter Day Saints look at this book as their primary historical book. This is the book that supposedly came from golden plates that Joseph Smith translated. Mormons refer to the Book of Mormon as their Bible. Know lets look at what it says…
I do not have the time to get into too extensive detail, but here are some issues historically with the Book of Mormon.
- 1 Nephi 18:12 – the use of a compass
Nephi tells the story of when some Jewish people first came over the to the Americas taking place right around 575 BC. The compass was not used as a navigation tool until 1000 AD (read about it here). The times here are just not matching up.
- 1 Nephi 4:9 – use of a steel sword
Steel was not used in Rome until the 4th century BC. Africa may have produced steel as far back as 1400 BC, but for Jews to have used this form of metal that early is HIGHLY unlikely.
- Jacob 7:27 – French speakers
The last word of this book is ‘adiue.’ It is French for farewell. For information regarding the date of this word, look here. This book took place as late as 421 BC, but this word did not even exist until the 1400′s AD.
- Almah 20:6 – Horses in the Americas
Horses have been around since creation, obviously. So when the book of Almah took place, around 90 BC, horses existed. Just not in the Americas. It was not until the 15th century when Spaniards brought horses on this land, so yet another issue (historically) with the Book of Mormon.
There are also talks of two great people in the Book of Mormon, the Lamanites and the Nephites. There have been ABSOLUTELY NO ARCHAEOLOGICAL FINDS to prove these two people groups even existed.
In short, there are just too many rough spots with this book. Besides, why do we not see either of these groups mentioned in the Bible if they are so important (are real)?
This is the last of the reasons I wanted to look at the Mormons as a cult. They look at the Book of Mormon as an authoritative writing more than the Bible. They believe in more than one God (polytheism). I do not wish to get into the practices that are not Christian (like baptism for the dead or the eternal progression). Bottom line, stay away from Mormon theology. They are clever and use much of the same language as Christianity, but they are not Christian. God bless.
11 October, 2008
Mick
Cults
Christianity, Cults, Jesus, Latter Day Saints, Mormonism, mormons, Religion, theology
Who is Jesus? According to the Christian Bible Jesus is the son of God, He is God, He created man, and He is Savior to all humankind. There is only one God who is immortal. Jesus was miraculously born from the virgin Mary and died on the cross, only to rise from the dead three days later, thus saving humanity. God is a trinitarian being, meaning he exists as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. These are fundamental beliefs for the Christian faith.
Their claim is that he is not God’s only son, but that we are all the children of God. He is considered to be the brother of Satan. We are all supposedly brothers and sisters in that we are all his created spirit-children. Put the two ideas together, we are the brothers and sisters of Satan and Jesus as well! He had to physically have many children (literally… as in having to concieve every single one of us with some female being).
God was once as we were (Teachings of the Prophect Joseph Smith, 345). He was flesh, was mortal, and even grew up somewhere before he became God of Earth. If we do what we are supposed to while we live, we could possibly be gods one day as well. Then, just like God, we can work on populating our own planet.
According to Mormon theology, Jesus is not God. Their religious foundation is based on the belief of many gods, this is called polytheism. Christianity is monotheistic, meaning a belief in one god.
He is also not considered to be the Savior for mankind in the same sense that Christianity believes. There is also not claim that Jesus was born from a virgin Mary, but rather that God came down and did the deed so that she was pregnant.
As we can see, the Mormon Jesus is not the same Jesus as the Christians. Two different people. Christians believe Jesus to be God, and since Mormons do not it would safe to assume they are seperate religions. Unfortunately, Mormonism is still trying to masquerade as a Christian Denomination.
10 October, 2008
Mick
Cults
Cults, Joseph Smith, Latter Day Saints, Maroni, mormons, Nemphites, Religion, Thummin, Urim
Born in 1805, Joseph Smith Jr. was never a part of any church while growing up. He and his father were well known for their treasure hunting interests. They would go on digs around New York looking for treasure, but could never find anything of substance.
Smith Jr. claimed that his first vision accured at the age of 14 (1820). Three years later, Smith claimed to have another vision from an angel named Maroni who tells him the locations of golden plates located in Palmyra, NY. These plates came from Jews who populated the Americas; the Nemphites.
Four years later he finds the plates but he cannot show anyone because Maroni said he couldn’t. They were written in “Reformed Egyptian,” which isn’t a real language. Smith can’t read the fake language, and so he uses two stones that Maroni gave to him to translate. The stones, Urim and Thummim, are held up to his eyes so that he can translate the writings.
Only three witnesses saw this crazy process happen, and all three of them ended up quitting. Smith would be on one side of a curtain (so no one could see), and he translated outloud to someone who would write what was being said. No one ever saw the plates.
The Church of Jesus of Later-Day Saints was officially founded in 1830, and polygamy was prevalent. Because of such, many people opposed Smith (especially since most of his wives were under 16). His followers went with him across the States, and since things never go well, they keep on moving.
Eventually, Smith is arrested in Navoo, IL and put in jail in Carthage, IL. Why was he arrested? After The Nauvoo Expositor has published some anti-Mormon material, Smith went and destroyed the Expositer’s printing press, crippling the newpaper from any further publications. The people were so mad at Smith that they dragged him with his brother to the middle of the street and executed him.
Unfortunately, this created a martyr out of Joseph Smith. Ever since, the Mormon’s have been actively growing.
9 October, 2008
Mick
Cults
Cults, Religion
Before I get into too much detail here, a cult should be defined. Before we can define a cult, however, we must first explain what a religion is.
Religion: a strong belief in a supernatural power or powers that control human destiny
Some well known world religions would be Judaism, Hinduism, Muslim, and Christianity. Notice that one group is not claiming to be a part of another group. Each religion is it’s own entity with a deity (or deities), sacred writing, and religious practices.
A cult (not to be confused the occult), would then be defined as follows:
Cult: a religion or sect that is generally considered to be unorthodox, extremist, or false
The best way in which a cult can be identified is to see what it claims to be. A cult claims association with a religion, but does not share the same views of sacred writings or deity. By looking at these two parts of a religious group, one can then decide as to whether they are a religion (or a denomination of that religion), or indeed a cult.
9 October, 2008
Mick
Miscellaneous
christian science, Cults, First Blog, jehovah's witnesses, mormons, scientology
Where has everything gone?
After some careful consideration, I have decided to start a second blog. Too often I have talked about extremely random topics, usually never keeping a consistant flow through the site. All of my previous posts have been moved to lifeofmick.wordpress.com.
This blog will be concentrating on some more serious topics. There are many things in which people should know more about, so this blog will hopefully be used as a teaching device. I’ll try to keep it interesting and worth the gander.
To start off, we’ll be looking at various cults that exist in the United States these days. I plan on discussing the Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Christian Science, Scientology, and possibly a few others. My hope is that by posting, you can interact with the material by commenting, and then we can have some discussion as to what the topic is.
So if you want the fun and goofy stuff, head over to the other blog.
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