Airbrushing

One of the troubling things I found as I was beginning to find the inconsistencies in LDS church history is something that may seem very minor, indeed.

I have come to often refer to the version of church history taught by the LDS church as having been airbrushed… cleaned up and blemishes removed. I stumbled across a picture of Joseph Smith, the first one on the top left, and discovered that it is the only known photograph ever taken of him. There have been countless artist renderings and drawings of him, but this image is the most factual representation of what he looked like. The image on the top right is a firsthand drawing that is considered to be the second most accurate rendering of him.

Then I began to look at the renderings of Joseph Smith that the church uses today on their marketing material, pamphlets, lesson manuals, etc.

Some examples of that are to the left and right. Granted, this is small potatoes compared to the airbrushing of things as important as the differing versions of the First Vision, the use of a seer stone in a hat to ‘translate’ the Book of Mormon, and Joseph’s many plural marriages… some of those to other mens’ wives. But it was just another piece of the puzzle that showed me that the church is not above the literal airbrushing of the image of their prophet, and suggested to me that they are equally not above airbrushing his history.

Where’s Jesus?

I used to do the same thing nearly any Mormon would do when someone accused the LDS Church of not being Christian.  I’d point proudly to the logo of the church with the name Jesus Christ right inside of it… recently changed to big bold letters so nobody could miss it.  I’d think of all the pictures of Jesus that hang inside church buildings, church members’ homes, and about all the talks and ensign articles about Him.  It seemed very plain to me that Jesus Christ was, in fact, the central part of the religion. 

Then I got to thinking about the temple.  All of one’s church life is centered around the temple.  When you are kid you are focused on attaining your temple recommend and going to the temple as your main purpose in life.  Once you’ve been there, nothing is more encouraged than repeated temple attendance.   It is absolutely central to LDS religion.  It, more than any other doctrine or difference, is what Mormonism is about.

But I now ask myself, where is Jesus in the temple?  I don’t think I’m giving away anything considered sacred to members of the LDS Church in my explanation that follows…

Most of the temple endowment ceremony is presented in a video presentation (other than a select couple of temples that still actually have actors perform the presentation live).  For some reason, I got to thinking about how Jesus is portrayed in this  presentation.  The first thing that struck me was that I had a hard time remembering how He was portrayed because He has such a minor part in it.  In the temple ceremonies, He is reduced to… for all practical purposes… a messenger.  I can recall ABSOLUTELY NO MENTION of His sacrifice for us, His dying on the cross, His suffering in Gethsemane, or His resurrection.  I’m sure some would argue that it’s there in symbolism and by implication.  But how can the LDS church claim that their religion is Christ-centered when their most important ordinances… the ones required to attain salvation… are not centered around Christ?

I may have to go to one of the websites that have a transcript of the ceremony to see if I’m forgetting something or remembering something wrong.  But even my having to do that speaks to the fact that Jesus obviously isn’t the center of how salvation works in the LDS church. 

Wow… not sure why that never occurred to me before.

No Need to Reinvent the Wheel

I’ve long debated about writing about all the reasons I decided that the LDS Church was not all that it claims to be.  To a large degree, it feels much like reinventing the wheel.  So much has been written by so many people that it really seems pointless for me to rehash the same stuff again.  I came across a website the other day that I think does the absolute best job I’ve seen of putting all the information together in one place in an easily readable format.  He’s even gone so far as to include LDS apologists’ responses and cites sources for everything. 

http://trialsofascension.net/mormon.html

I, Nephi, having been born of hot parents…

Had a great laugh tonight. I’ve been reading through Genesis and listening to Chuck Smith’s teachings as I read. Something really lept out at me tonight. I was studying this scripture in Genesis…

Genesis 39:6 And he left all that he had in Joseph’s hand; and he knew not ought he had, save the bread which he did eat. And Joseph was [a] goodly [person], and well favoured.

That term "goodly" stood out to me pretty clearly as it is literally the seventh word to appear in the Book of Mormon.

1 Nephi 1:1 I, Nephi, having been born of goodly parents, therefore I was taught somewhat in all the learning of my father…

This didn’t strike me as peculiar until I heard Chuck Smith talk about what it meant to be "goodly". After researching what he said to make sure he was giving me good information, it turns out that "goodly" is translated from an ancient term that actually means handsome and good-looking. It has no bearing on how good a person is, but on their physical appearance entirely. In fact, in EVERY other translation of the Bible, except the King James Version, it IS translated as handsome and good-looking.

So let’s back up here a little bit. We know Joseph Smith had the KJV Bible open during much of his process of ‘translating’ the Book of Mormon. He, in an effort to show that Nephi’s parents were good and knowledgable people, appears to have borrowed a term from the KJV bible that he didn’t understand the meaning of. If you were to ‘reverse translate’ that verse back into the ancient language it was supposedly written in, it would literally say something like…

1 Nephi 1:1 I, Nephi, having been born of good-looking parents, therefore I was taught somewhat in all the learning of my father…

I find it incredible that the first clue to unravel the mystery of whether Joseph was a translator or the actual writer of The Book of Mormon is right there in the VERY FIRST VERSE!

Either Joseph wrote the Book of Mormon borrowing liberally from the Bible or Nephi’s parents were really very good-looking people… and Nephi was really proud of that fact.

It seems unlikely to me that the opening verse of the "most correct book on earth", the keystone of the only "true church on the face of the earth", and the key to eternal salvation would be a supposed prophet of God telling us that his parents were hot.

————————

The facts:
Joseph Smith claims to have translated the Book of Mormon from
"reformed Egyptian", whatever that is. There has never been a shred of
evidence to show that such a language actually existed. But, if you
look at the Hebrew text that the KJV bible is translated from, the word
translated into ‘goodly’ is "to’ar". In every Biblical example that I
could find, it means good-looking. When applied to men it is translated
"handsome." When applied to women it was translated as "beautiful."
When applied to cattle is was translated as "favoured." If Nephi HAD
meant ‘favoured’ then it would literally have meant "I Nephi, having
been born of favored cattle…"
It’s also interesting to look at the cross references given in the Book
of Mormon. "Goodly" in verse one is cross referenced ONLY with Proverbs
22:1 which says "A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches…"
while ignoring 33 times in the Bible the exact term "goodly" is used.
That seems to me an obvious effort to cover up or to force a change in
the meaning of the word in Scripture by those who set up the
cross-referencing system of the Book of Mormon.
It appears that when the KJV was translated in 1611, ‘goodly’ still
meant attractive or beautiful. Several hundred years later in the
America’s it looks like Joseph Smith made the same mistake I’d always
made in assuming that goodly meant what it sounds like it means….
full of good.
Of course this will be of no proof to someone who still WANTS to
beleive in The Book of Mormon because they will say that the source
material for the Book of Mormon was different than the Bible. But, for
those who begin to look at whether or not Joseph Smith DID use the KJV
bible as a source for his fabrication of the book, it should stand as
yet another piece of evidence supporting that… at least it does for
me.
I can almost picture Joseph writing that first line and thinking,
"Nah… that doesn’t sound scriptural enough" and changing the word to
"goodly". He had no idea he was changing the entire meaning of what he
was trying to say.
A great resource for studying out this kind of thing can be found at www.blueletterbible.org

In God’s Hands

Last night was an amazing night for me and my wife. We expected to go to a regular Wednesday night service and be filled with the Word of God through our study of 2nd Kings. It turned out to be a very different evening than that.

I was asked by my pastor to share my testimony… my story. And I probably talked waaaay too long, but the Lord kept giving me things to say, so I kept saying them. I had no idea what the make-up of the audience was, but with Mormonism being so widespread in this area, I figured there were at least some there that might either be really interested in what my experience was, or really offended.

God is so good. His plan is so perfect. Here are just a few of the experiences of what followed that meeting.

I was met almost immediately by a young couple who I’d seen often sitting off by themselves in previous meetings. It turns out the wife had a Mormon background and still struggles with family and friends from that time in her life. They had never really felt fellowshipped at Calvary the way she was while in the Mormon church. She admitted to me that she had really been missing that in her life. Although she told me that they "weren’t really the social type of people", she ended our conversation with "we’ll have to get together sometime and do something." How awesome. The Lord knew she was there, and that maybe she was even considering re-investigating the Mormon church to find the fellowship she so desperately missed in her life.

Another woman who came up to me couldn’t hardly talk because of the tears she was choking back. Although she hadn’t come out of Mormonism, she had come out of a similar-enough situation, and had enough loved friends in the Mormon church, that what the Lord had said through me had really impacted her. She said it had given her hope and renewed cause for prayer for her friends.

Many, many people told me that it had given them hope. Hope that God can reach into the lives of their Mormon friends and family and begin to lead them out. Something I hadn’t realized was even profound is turning out to be really impactful to other people. That is the fact that no human person was even ministering to us when we found Christ. I know now that we were often lifted up in prayer by Christian brothers and sisters, but it truly was God who intervened in our lives and led us out. So many people who minister to Mormons lose hope because their minds are so closed shut. Maybe the story He’s given me gives hope for continued effort, continued prayer, and continued perserverance.

The most profound experience began as someone came up and told me that there had been a Mormon girl there who’d been coming to Calvary on and off for as long as a couple of years. She had cried all through my testimony and left in tears at the close of the meeting. Knowing Mormonism, I knew it could only mean one of two things. Either she was going through the same terrifying process my wife and I had just come out of and was feeling like maybe God was trying to reach her through that meeting, or she was offended and hurt at what I’d said and may never enter through those doors again. As we were talking about her, she came back through the doors, tapped my wife on the shoulder, and ask if they could talk outside for a while. She’d obviously been crying and was visibly shaken. That conversation with my wife turned into probably an hour of intense interaction. I won’t speak for what occured in that conversation because that isn’t my story. I’m sure I know only a fraction of what was said. As my wife and I went to grab a bite to eat after the meeting and bask in God’s goodness together, she shared just a few of her thoughts. She was exhausted… said it felt much like warfare. But not with the girl she was talking to. Warfare with all the programming, false beleifs, and misconceptions she’d been programmed with. Even more amazing is that this girl was from our old Mormon ward, and she had sat in my wife’s Relief Society class where she was powerfully impacted by my wife’s testimony and teachings. What a shock for her to now find this same woman at Calvary Chapel!

I know the incredibly miserable and scary place she is in right now. I know that it feels like her world is literally coming down around her ears. I know she can’t quite figure out if we are well-meaning new Christians or Satan’s very own helpers. But I also know, from some of the questions she asked my wife, that she is exactly where she needs to be. She’s fighting the big battles, wondering the big questions, and opening up her heart and mind to the possibility that the Mormon church may not be all it says it is. God is working in her and lifting her up more than she’ll know, even though she almost certainly feels completely abandoned by Him now.

I’ve had the feeling more and more that God has given my wife and I this incredible miracle in our lives so we can be a source of help for those going through the same thing. My wife got to experience that first-hand last night. It was awesome. God is awesome.

It appears that He used miserable little me for His good. I hope it’s not the last time. I’m not sure I’ve ever in my life felt quite so fulfilled, purposeful, and at peace.

Could it be that the Book of Mormon is true?

It is now my belief that the Book of Mormon is a work of fiction written by Joseph Smith. I have seen, read, prayed, and studied this out in my mind. But how, then, did I have spiritual witnesses of it’s truth as I was reading it? Because I know I did. The spirit that testified to me as I read the Book of Mormon is that same spirit that testifies to me during worship songs and spiritual moments in this new church. What follows is only my pathetic understanding of how the spirit works… take it or leave it. For me it is everything. For you it may mean nothing.

I have to start by saying where I think the Book of Mormon did come from. I beleive that the primary source for the Book of Mormon is actually the Bible. There are far too many stories where it seems that just "the names were changed to protect the innocent". I believe Joseph Smith was somewhat of a prodigy when it came to the Bible and other religious sources available to him. His Book of Mormon is mainly a reworking of many Biblical stories and concepts, with some of his own philosophies and beliefs thrown in.

"I will teach the philosophies of men, mingled with scripture" is a saying attributed to Satan which is familiar to active Mormons.

It is for this reason that I absolutely believe that the Spirit will testify to the truthfulness of much of what it is the Book of Mormon. The vast majority of it is in keeping with God’s Word and promotes a good, clean, God-centered life. This seems no different to me than recieving a spiritual experience while watching or participating in a completely fictional event. Let me give you an example. When I was in my mid-teens, I was flirting with inactivity. I remember watching the movie "Saturday’s Warrior" and being so moved by the Spirit that I came running back into full activity. But was this witness of the Spirit telling me that "Saturday’s Warrior" was true? That would be insane. Even the church itself will tell you the representations of pre-earth life, pre-determined marriages, etc, contained in it are not doctrinal. Another good example is Paul H. Dunn… an amazing speaker. Some of the best stories around… and it turned out some of them were either extremely embellished or just plain fiction. And yet the Spirit touched people’s lives with them.

It’s pretty clear to see, at least for me, that a witness of the Spirit speaks to the subject matter rather than the source. When the Spirit bore witness to me while reading about the conversion and ministry of Alma the Younger, He was teaching me about repentance, forgiveness, and one’s ability to change one’s life for the better. The Spirit bears that same witness to me of Paul in the Bible. Nearly identical stories, teaching the same true principles.

The Mormon church taught me to believe that the witness of the Spirit was testifying of the truthfulness of a source, in addition to the concept. A teaching that clearly isn’t correct.

I think the Spirit also serves another purpose that has nothing to do with truth. To understand this purpose, you have to put yourself in God’s shoes for a minute. I don’t mean any sacrilege here, but if you’re a parent, you can at least have some tiny glimpse of the love He must have for us. Let’s say you found some wilderness camp that you felt could really help one of your children. You know that child would likely be miserable, scared, lost, confused, and upset at times during this camp. But you also knew that it would make him a much better person and much more capable of becoming the person he was meant to become. You also knew that you couldn’t go with him and help him at every turn or he wouldn’t really learn the lessons he needed to learn. The camp rules were pretty strict. You couldn’t help them as much as you wanted to, but you could encourage all you wanted. Maybe you had a cell phone where you could call him and say, "Son, you’re doing great. I know you have what it takes to get through this, and that it’ll make you a better person. I love you, and I want what’s best for you. Know that I am always right here for you if things get out of control, but you can DO this!"

That’s what the Spirit is to me. My Father in Heaven has my spiritual cell phone number and He calls me often. Not to say "this is true" or "that is true" or "take a left at the big oak tree", but to tell me that He loves me, He’s always there for me, and, if things get out of control, He’ll step in and save me. He can also say, "I know it’s scary. I’ve gone through it, too."

The Spirit truly feels like my Father wrapping His arms around me and reminding me that He’s there… and to keep seeking Him.

Decieve the very elect?

Came across this scripture the other night while reading…

For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect—if that were possible. Matthew 24:24 (New International Version)

This helps me with a struggle I had while making the decision to leave the Mormon church. The church has some of the most amazing people I’ve ever known within their walls. In fact, as I look to examples in my life, other than Christ, to how I’d like to live my life, they are nearly all LDS… even after leaving the church. They are some of the most loving, committed, respectful, faithful, and good-hearted people I know. I have often been told to ponder that "by their fruits ye shall know them", and some of the members are the greatest fruits (that was supposed to sound complimentary, but somehow calling someone a great fruit doesn’t sound that way once I read it back to myself).

"How could a church that creates these kinds of great people not be true?" I would ask myself.

This Bible verse tells me that the deception is so good, so complete, and so convincing, that even the "very elect" will be taken in by it. And many of them have been. In fact, I consider myself far from "elect" because I was able to break away from it. These elect people are so full of faith and a love of God that, once they are committed, it seems nothing at all can shake them or cause them to ever question. I have to believe that a loving God will reward such great faith and such great intentions, and bring the punishment upon those who have instigated such a deception rather than those who are truly trying to serve Him in the best way they know how.

The phrase "if that were possible" hung me up for a little while. It was strange to see something that sounded like "maybe, maybe not" in there. After some thought and prayer, I take it to mean "where possible." In other words, ALL of the elect will not be decieved. But some, maybe even many, will be.

I often wonder now at the incredible things these "very elect" could be doing for their God if their energies weren’t so drained through the endless complications that the Mormon church has given their lives. The number of hours spent in meetings, committees, rituals, callings, and required service is astounding. Just a fraction of this time freed up and made available for Jesus to work through them could have a massive impact on the world.