A Mormon doubts

[Bad Writer]

17th century English, not 16th

Late 16th early 17th century English then, either way what would motive Joesph Smith to do this unless it was merely to sound "Biblical". For hecks sake he was a convicted con-man and huckster. He searched for buried treasure with magical seer stones inside of his hat. Do we even need to argue about the validity of Mormonism here?

I'm not arguing for its validity, Swordy. I'm arguing that you're a punk that hears a bit of anti-Mormon hearsay and you take it as fact.

Joseph was convicted as a conman, but the treasure seeking practices were common in his area. He was guilty by association. Every one involved in the practice believed in magic and superstition, and seerstones peered at in a hat were common at the time.

It's true that he looked into his hat to get the words of the Book of Mormon, but he eventually realized that this type of sorcery was nothing compared to the supposed power of god, and he soon began to prophesy in the manner that the prophets of the OT did.

Whether or not his actions with the Book of Mormon were meant to dupe the masses is a moot point. He had always wanted to put his childhood fantasies and stories into the written word, and as the Bible was one of his only literary sources back then, he used its writing style as a template for this book.

The purpose was not to make a new religion (the whole thing about the Churches of the world being an abomination came much later in the History of Mormonism and was later interpolated into his accounts), but to make a form of Christianity that his entire family could enjoy, as his mother and father were split on the issue. In fact, the real driving force for the start of Mormonism was his mother. If Joseph's eldest brother Alvin had not died, then the Church's leadership would have fallen to him, as had the entire estate of the Smith household. However, Joseph was the source of the Book of Mormon, and, being a Charismatic fellow, was able to lead it.

The Church, surprisingly, gained popularity, and it grew beyond Joseph's family's wildest dreams. He actually believed he was a prophet, and so when he was killed by an angry mob in 1848, he died almost without a fight. In the eyes of the Mormons, this made him a true martyr.

My point? You don't even know a fraction of what was happening during the times of Smith and his family, so to say that he was a conman out to dupe the masses is entirely out of place in the grand scheme of things. I suggest you read "Rough Stone Rolling" if you want to get a lot of your facts a little straighter. The book may be authored by a Mormon, but he describes the times of this man with stunning accuracy.

I'm also a good source of factual information, but I think you've already made up your mind about what you perceive as factual. Truly, a little bit of extra research goes a long way. Like I mentioned earlier, Mormonism is false, but not exactly for all the reasons you present.

Come on now lets get a bit serious here. Only one book has the full authentic words of the living God made flesh.

Only one book? What about the Quran? The Vita? And which interpretation of the Bible are you referring to? They don't all say the same thing. Before you can tell people that the Bible is the word of God, you have your work cut out for you in trying to demonstrate this God's existence. Here's a hint: the Bible is not evidence for this.

What I said about Mormonism is true that's what they so believe, their version of God differs wildly from that of the real God, their version of Jesus differs wildly from the real Jesus...

There. The words in bold are your real problem.

The political agenda wasn't introduced into Christianity until the 4th century AD.

How exactly was the council at Nicea not a political move? I would even argue that the Apostles were very much political, but that would get us of track a bit.

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Also, that first video of yours is old and grossly out of date. You won't find a single Mormon, not even in the leadership positions, that believe in many of the things presented there. Elohim may have at some point been thought by some members to have physically impregnated Mary, but they all believe in conception by the Holy Ghost now (I actually think the Spirit rape scenario to be a little creepier). The makers of the video didn't know much about Kolob, and even though Mormons talk about it sometimes, it's not really a big deal to them. I mean...where do you think your god hangs his hat? I commend them for at least trying to explain it, but you can't even explain where your god comes from. So excuse me for trying to be helpful...perhaps you should go talk to someone who really is a Mormon? I'd recommend against it though, as he won't tell you half things that I will; he's even willing to lie for his faith if it means preserving some of the "harder to understand" doctrines of his church.