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LDS Church Historical Problems Outline

Underlining theme of these items is that many of these issues, or the details of these issues, are unknown to most Latter-day Saints. Most members only know the sugar-coated, inaccurate, incomplete versions told by the Church. Certainly investigators are never told any of these things before they join. If all of the history was taught, as the evidence indicated it happened, and the members could decide the truthfulness of these issues on their own, then that would be a different story, but the secrecy involved adds to the distrust of the Church. Also, since modern apostles have stated that all truth shouldn't be revealed, things that are true should not be talked about if it damages member's testimonies, only approved Church history books should be read and how church historians have been excommunicated for printing truthful information that contradicts the Church's approved historical accounts, then this adds to the problems considerably.

Book of Abraham
1. Egyptologists translations of the facsimiles in the Book of Abraham and papyri found in 1966 don't match Joseph Smith translations.
2. No official answer of translation problem by the church - only varying opinions of apologists with no authority,
3. Some of the most problematic doctrine comes from BOA - polygamy, multiple gods & denying blacks the priesthood.
4. BOA wasn't even canonized by LDS church until 30+ years after JS died. RLDS Church has always denied BOA as scripture.
Translation Process of BOM
1. Stone in hat without having plates even in the room is not credible.
2. Urim and Thummim term not applied until many years afterward and really only applied to the stones used for the first 116 pages which were lost. Those seer stones were taken by Moroni after the first 116 pages were lost and JS used a seer stone that he found while digging a well many years before the BOM was even started. Seer stone is in possession of the church now but never talked about - embarrassing to the church to think about it.
3. Does it make sense that the angel would take away the urim and thummim because JS permitted the first 116 pages to be lost and not give it back to him when he was to recommence the work? Why would the angel have JS resort to using the stone that he found in a well many years before?
4. JS used same process and seer stone to look for treasure and never found any. 1826 Court records verify this.
5. JS said that every man should have a seer stone - indicating he used this as a real seer stone instead of just a random object to focus on.
6. Imagine what would happen if the current prophet said he received revelation by putting his face in a hat with a stone.
Book of Mormon Difficulties
1. Why weren't JS' brothers awakened by the the Angel Moroni as they slept in the same room/bed as he did?
2. No archeological evidence ever found supporting BOM.
3. No linguistic evidence ever found.
4. Lack of evidence from two large battles at Hill Cumorah where 2+ million people died.
5. Things mentioned that historians and scientists say didn't exist in Americas in BOM times - e.g. horses, elephants, steel, wheat, barley, etc.
6. No mention of things that Indians did use such as corn.
7. DNA evidence indicates modern-day Indians descended from Asia not Israel as church teaches.
8. Rare errors of translation in Bible are duplicated in BOM when those verses also appear in BOM - e.g. incorrect plural of words and incorrectly using the term Lucifer. This wouldn't happen if words came from different source as claimed by using the golden plates.
9. Original version was very different than current version - poor grammar, mistakes, and format. Most correct book on the earth?
10. Much of the Book of Mormon is plagiarized from The Bible.
11. Some quotes from the Bible were quoted before they were even written in the Bible before the Biblical prophets were even born.
12. BOM contains no real doctrine unique to Mormonism except not baptizing infants - no temple ceremony, no exaltation doctrine, polygamy, etc.
13. Nature of Godhood more confusing than the Bible - BOM passages contradict itself on whether JC is God the Father or his son.
14. Doubts expressed by leading Church historian B.H. Roberts.
15. Potential source material from View of The Hebrews, his father's Tree of Life dream, family parallels, etc.
16. JS' creative mind as talked about by his mother and others indicating that he could have written the BOM on his own.
17. Problem of numbers in the BOM. How could huge armies rise up in short time period from a handful of people to sustain the nonstop wars - both by Jaredites and later by Nephites/Lamanites.
18. Implausibility of events in BOM - Jarodite submarines carrying people and livestock for 300+ days, etc.
19. Other 'inspired' works written by people with limited education and ability that have defied critics - Quran by Mohammed & Numerous works by Patience Worth who also dictated her manuscripts to scribes.
20. Anthon incident is misleading. Anthon denied having endorsed Martin Harris's document as a true ancient record. If no one in the world could translate this unknown Reformed Egyptian language, how could Anthon say the translation shown to him was correct? The characters on the so-called 'Anthon Document' in possession of the RLDS Church (COC), which match the characters on the covers of earlier 1830s and 1980s editions of the BOM have been determined by modern linguists to be gibberish. If modern linguists can't translate it, how could professor Anthon verify the translation in the 1820s? This document may not be the original document taken to Prof Anthon, but the characters likely were as they are the same as on the published BOM titles in the 1830s. At best this should not be a faith-promoting event as told in church.
Witnesses
1. Testimony of the witnesses not as convincing as taught - conflicting statements, observations may have only been visionary in nature per statements made by the witnesses.
2. Most witnesses left the church, were very gullible and believed in magic, followed false prophet James Strang with little evidence.
3. Many instances of many more credible witnesses to improbable events - e.g. UFOs, Bigfoot, Virgin Mary apparitions, entire congregations testifying they witnessed angels in nonLDS churches, etc.
4. Similar affidavits signed by witnesses of ancient records produced by Jesse Strang and from witnesses attesting that Solomon Spaulding's novel was the basis for the BOM - why not believe them?
5. Witnesses were biased - many related to JS, no skeptics were witnesses such as Isaac Hale.
6. All witnesses just signed a vague document. No independent accounts by witnesses to collaborate stories of others - angel description, clothes he wore, how he spoke, height of messenger, etc. You would think that witnesses seeing such an earth-shattering event would be proclaiming it everywhere - instead very few accounts of interviews were done by just some of the witnesses.
Temple
1. Ceremony taken from Masons.
2. If Masonry had original temple ceremony but became distorted over time, why doesn't LDS ceremony more closely resemble an earlier form of Masonry, which should be more correct rather than the exact version that JS was exposed to in the 1830s?
3. Silliness factor - pagan nature of ceremony. Does God really require a secret handshake and password to get into heaven? If so, all the Masons, former LDS and unworthy LDS know it as well. Why the big deal with the death oaths of revealing the secrets of the ceremony when anyone can get the entire ceremony online or from books very easily?
4. Numerous changes to the ceremony. Disturbing death oaths and ministers of other churches as agents of Satan in ceremony until 1990.
5. Garments. Does God really care what kind of underwear you wear and how you wear them?
Blacks & the Priesthood
1. God's true church should be leading the civil rights movement, not be the last major church to adopt it in 1978.
2. Does the church still teach blacks are cursed from Cain and were less valiant in the pre-existence? See how current black members react to this?
3. Abhorrent racist comments made by Brigham Young.
4. Lamanites not turning white when converted as mention in BOM.
5. Two black men were given the priesthood by JS?
First Vision
1. May never have happened. Most important event in Church history never taught to members until 22 years after it happened.
2. Multiple accounts contradict each other of who was there and reason for vision.
3. Circumstances surrounding First Vision as relayed by JS were not true - e.g. protestant revivals.
4. BOM appears to have occurred before First Vision. BOM passages rewritten to show that God the Father and Jesus Christ were different people.
5. Nature of Godhead and Jehovah not defined until many years after Joseph's death. Early members thought JC was God the Father. Contradicts Church's teaching of simple, plain truth known immediately when JS was 14.
Polygamy
1. Fundamentally polygamy is just wrong - a bad, self-serving practice with no real justification in the 19th century. Can hardly compare to Abraham in 2000 BC taking 2nd wife to have a son when his wife was beyond normal child-bearing years.
2. Reasons told to members for polygamy are incorrect - it was illegal and not done just for widows. JS lied in public about practicing it, kept it from his wife (did not get her permission as stated as a requirement).
3. Illegal and contradicts Article of Faith sustaining the laws of the land.
4. Marrying women already married - no justification possible for this.
5. Threatening, intimidating young girls to marry JS.
6. BOM specifically condemns the practice.
7. Still practiced in heaven - explain that to your wife.
8. Manifesto did not stop polygamy - needed 2nd manifesto -- and polygamous marriages still performed after that with approval of high church officials.
9. Sealing of people to the prophets to ensure their exaltation - goes against leading good life to get there.
10. Why do perhaps half of all LDS members think polygamy started with Brigham Young?
11. Polygamy fails to follow practice of open, one man, one woman marraige as detailed in D&C section 101 as appeared in all D&C editions from 1835 to 1876. From this it is clear that LDS elders followed a double conflicting standard for at least 40 years. The "eternal" marriage doctrine evolved to what we have today, closed "secret" temple service that is scripted and insipid. Would we even have temples today, if it were not for masonry and polygamy and the practice of keeping them secret?
Kinderhook Plates
1. In the book 'History of the Church', which is almost scripture, detailed account of how JS translated a portion of the Kinderhook Plates. KP always believed to be true record of an ancient Jarodite until plate was found and proved to be a hoax in 20th century.
2. KP published in Times & Seasons, which is a church-owned newspaper edited by Joseph Smith. He would have certainly refuted the comments attributed to him if he didn't make them. Besides, who else would claim that the person was a descendant of Ham through the loins of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and that he received his kingdom from the ruler of heaven & earth?
Lost 116 Pages of BOM
1. Official story makes no sense:
2. Satan's minions could not have altered document w/o being obvious - done in ink on foolscap.
3. Martin Harris, the scribe for the first 116 pages, would still be alive to dispute that the document was altered or if entire 116 pages were rewritten. If he simply said he didn't write those pages as presented by evil-doers, this would be one of the weakest arguments against the church - hardly Satan's master plan.
4. If the evil-doers thought they could discredit Smith by altering the 116 pages, they would not have been completely foiled by Joseph now translating the same basic info from different plates. They could have still altered the 116 pages to show contradictions between major events common to both sets of plates - e.g. names of places and people. Even if it didn't work, they surely would have tried if the account by Joseph was true about Satan trying to foil him by stealing the 116 pages.
5. Since the lost pages never surfaced in any form then it is likely that those pages were destroyed immediately by Martin Harris's wife so the entire story about someone altering pages is impossible and just made up by JS.
6. Story happened exactly as you would expect if JS was making up the BOM - pages were lost and needed to be redone - it would be similar story told a little differently.
Prophets, Seers and Revelators since Joseph Smith
1. No prophet since Joseph Smith, has prophesied, seered or revealed really anything other than undoing what JS did such as ending polygamy and ban on blacks having the priesthood.
2. Numerous items are available to be seered or translated - e.g. finish JS translation of the Bible, translate or verify translation of BOA papyri, Book of Joseph, Dead Sea Scrolls, etc. Why should the real value of having prophets be almost completely gone after the first prophet died? Why not comment on troubling issues like cloning organs, stem-cell research, etc.?
3. The prophet and leaders of the Church were duped by the Mark Hoffman forgeries.
4. Modern prophets can't answer with surety the many troubling questions by members such as BOA translation problems.
5. Modern prophets and apostles (special witnesses of Christ) have testimonies no different than anyone else.
6. GBH has stated he does not receive audible revelation - seems to be just impressions and done by discussion and voting of apostles.
7. Modern prophets (GBH) not answering questions 100% truthfully on TV - becoming Gods not doctrine, ducking polygamy questions, etc.
8. Bizarre doctrine taught by early prophets and denounced by newer ones - e.g. Brigham Young's Adam was God teachings.
Joseph Smith's Life and Family
1. History of treasure seeking.
2. Magical view that existed in early 1800s - people believed in magic. Family was subject to visions like his dad and the Tree of Life dream.
3. Strange claims - Zelph the white Lamanite, Garden of Eden in Missouri, 3 Nephites and apostle John still alive, etc.
4. Failed Prophecies - BOM copyright not sold, Christ return in 1800s if Joseph lived to be 80, Civil War prophecy not that impressive when analyzed, etc.
5. Kirtland bank scandal.
6. Zion's Camp.
7. Emma did not remain in LDS church. Imagine if modern prophet's wife left the Church after he died.
8. Why did JS run for the U.S. presidency? Wouldn't God tell him he had no chance?
9. Book of Commandments rewritten as the D&C after apostles apostatized. Failed prophecies removed, etc.
10. Joseph's translation of some of Bible verses are problematic. Also not one verse has been verified by the Dead Sea Scrolls or from the original Greek manuscripts that have since been found.
11. His failure in calling a Greek Psalter an Egyptian document.
12. Receiving priesthood account by Peter, James and John appears to have been made up. Not a literal event - not communicated until years after it happened.
Testimony
1. Unreliable method to discern the truth.
2. People in other churches say the same basic thing about their church.
3. Take the BOM promise - what really happened to you - anything really?
4. Testimony is just emotion - good feeling that is replicated by reading good fiction books or seeing good movies, hearing good stories about Jesus. Placebo effect.
5. Advice given to bear your testimony (lie) even if you don't have one and then you'll eventually gain one.
6. Think about people that you know that have left the church - didn't they have a testimony?
7. Feelings override facts?
Conflicts with Science
1. Church's acceptance of Bible stories that scientists and many people now think are fables - Noah's Ark, Age of Earth, Adam & Eve, Tower of Babel, people living to be 900+ years old, Jonah and the whale, Sodom & Gomorrah (turning woman into salt), Sampson, the sun getting its light from Kolob, etc.
2. Evolution - Joseph Fielding Smith's explicit denial of evolution vs. modern-day scientific evidence. No death before Adam - Dinosaurs?
Early Church History
1. The name of the church changed several times. Why would this not be correct the first time and why take 8 years for the name to be in its final form?

END NOTE:

Many other issues exist that are problematic to many people such as The Mountain Meadows Massacre, strange beliefs, etc.

SUMMARY

None of the individual items listed above, perhaps with the exception of the Book of Abraham translation issue is in itself a deal-breaker. But the sheer volume of significant issues really makes it inconceivable that the church is really what it claims to be. If there are really fantastic explanations to explain all these things like God changed the American Indians' DNA from Jewish to Asian and brought the dinosaur bones from other planets to the Earth, then that would be even more amazing and unbelievable than the story of the restoration as taught by the church.

We think that anyone that knows the complete, true, historic details of these events, and many others not listed here, to still believe in them as taught by the church, is asking for more sheer faith than anyone should have to be required to have.

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