Comments for Mormon Challenges

Comment on Why Differing Accounts of Joseph Smith's First Vision? Differing Audiences. by Hebergeur

Hebergeur — Sun, 05 Jun 2016 00:59:46 +0000

It is well-known that the truth or falsity of a story lies mainly in the details.There are some details connected with the vision given to Joseph Smith the Prophet, which may appear to many as insignificant, and by many members of the Church are overlooked, yet they are of vital and of overwhelming importance.

Comment on Would Honest Mormons Leave if they Knew? No. by Rehashed Conspiracy Theories – My Minds Eye

Rehashed Conspiracy Theories – My Minds Eye — Wed, 20 Jan 2016 18:46:52 +0000

[…] know, present them in a scandalous way and then claim the Church is hiding it from us.” http://mormonchallenges.org/conceptual-principles-2/ The leaders of the LDS Church have published numerous works on the history of the Church which […]

Comment on The Book of Mormon Claims Elephants in Ancient America? Latest Findings. by Because It’s True | The Life of Christ

Because It’s True | The Life of Christ — Sun, 08 Nov 2015 15:19:16 +0000

[…] The elephant is mentioned only once in the Book of Mormon (Ether 9:19) and need not have survived in the Americas past about 2,400 B.C. While the jury is still out, there are a number of North American Indian traditions which recount legends of giant stiff-legged beasts which would never lie down, had a big head and large leaf-like ears, round footprints, forward-bending knees, and had a fifth appendage coming out of its head. Scientists agree that mammoths and mastodons once inhabited the Americas, and an article in Scientific Monthly entitled “Men and Elephants in America” suggests that these proboscidean animals (elephants, mammoths, or mastodons) may have survived in the Americas until 1000 B.C. —well within the timeframe demanded by the Book of Mormon. According to Dr. Sorenson, Mastodon remains have been dated by radiocarbon to around 5000 BC in Florida, around the Great Lakes to 4000 BC, in the Mississippi Valley to near 3300 BC, perhaps to near 100 BC near St. Petersburg, Florida (“low terminal [C-14] dates for the mastodon indicate . . . lingering survival in isolated areas”), and at sites in Alaska and Utah dating around 5000 BC. As with the discovery of post-Pleistocene horse bones, mastodon bones which can be dated after the Pleistocene period (about 10,000 years ago) demonstrate that small pockets of these animals survived the mass extinction and may have survived to Jaredite times. (http://mormonchallenges.org/book-of-mormon-4-elephants/) […]

Comment on Alone by Tom Armstrong

Tom Armstrong — Wed, 23 Sep 2015 14:13:09 +0000

In the video, the young lady makes the comment to her husband, “that’s poison”. I have been a member a number of years and remember the first time I was faced with challenging question like the ones presented in this video. There is a sickening feeling one gets when faced with information that has the spirit of deceit, betrayal, or dishonesty. I have heard it all. I think. What I have found through the years that is where you start, and “ask Is this True?” Many times they cannot answer. I love the idea of your website. Great Blog posts. Joseph Smith, that boy prophet, he was truly amazing. Keep up the good work. Sometimes it takes time to understand our own questions. One took me 6 years before I found the answer but that concrete answer came after I exercised faith. God Bless you.

Comment on Have Egyptologists Found Abraham in the Papyri? Which Papyri? by e.g.g.

e.g.g. — Sat, 01 Aug 2015 03:06:08 +0000

In Egyptology one symbol can have many different meanings depending on the context, how it is used.

I live near an Apache Native American reservation. I found out that one word has many meanings and the word is pronounced differently to convey which meaning is being used.

For example ( I am using a made up word): Ya Tah Hey.
If pronounced ya TAH hey versus
ya tah HEY it means completely two different things.

The Native Americans did not have words for many things because they had never seen them or the objects disappeared and the word went out of use, as in all languages, even today. That is why the Navajo Code Talkers were so successful. When I hear Apaches talk in Apache an English word is always used because there is no Apache word for it.
The Book of Revelation is a good example. There were no words for some of the things that were seen in visions.

Egyptologists do not know everything, no field of study knows everything.

We even do not have a complete, accurate understanding of history. Pieces are still missing and most likely will never be found. Two people witnessing the same event will tell it differently. Historians fill in the missing pieces with conjecture, their ideas, what others have said or imagined, and so forth. Pieces together as best as possible. People today think we know everything about everything. The thing is…..we don’t know what we don’t know.

Comment on Would Honest Mormons Leave if they Knew? No. by e.g.g.

e.g.g. — Sat, 01 Aug 2015 02:45:13 +0000

Not every Egyptologist has denounced the Book of Abraham. The ones who looked at what little is left of the original don’t even agree amongst themselves. Same with Egyptology in general…..there are always disagreements about translations, dating, who a mummy really was, what the culture really was like, dates, falsifying of finds and information, forgeries, and on and on. This goes on in ALL fields of research …..science, biology, medicine, etc. The study of dinosaurs is a good example where there is always one side bashing the other side. There is always one camp against another camp, always infighting, jealousy, with holding of new discoveries and new information, and even falsifying data and other things. So to say all Egyptologists debunk the Book of Abraham is not impressive and not proof of anything. There is the fact that the ones who have looked at what little exists have a bias against the LDS, and if just one agreed with what JS said it was would be ruinous to the career, so that is reason enough to say JS was wrong.
Hugh Nibley, LDS, was the first to discover it was a book of Breathings and the church published this information.

Margaret Barker, an English scholar, is the rare scholar who has studied LDS doctrine and riruals. She has taken a beating for it, and some people won’t read her work just because she studied LDS claims and rituals. I read on a Catholic blog a reader who asked if he should read a certain book of Barker’s and was told NO because she has studied Mormonism and Mormons like her and she has spoken at BYU and with Mormon scholars. How idiotic, ignorant, bigoted, hateful, and just plain stupid, to ignore good scholarship just because the scholar objectively and without bias studied Mormon rituals and doctrine…….so that automatically disqualifies Barker from being a respectable, qualified, knowledgeable, reputable scholar. These idiots amongst others who are LDS critics, do the very thing they claim the LDS do.

As far as the mental gymnastics Mormons are accused of doing……the same could be said of any religion. The critics have a double standard they conveniently ignore. They can dish it out but can’t take it.

Comment on Have Egyptologists Found Abraham in the Papyri? Which Papyri? by The Army Of Helaman – Do Rediscovered Papyrus Disprove The Book Of Abraham? No

Mon, 13 Jul 2015 23:29:16 +0000

[…] witnesses also claimed a different kind of scroll. Lucy Smith “opened a long roll of manuscript, saying it was […]

Comment on The Book of Mormon Claims Elephants in Ancient America? Latest Findings. by Oliver J. DeLaughter

Oliver J. DeLaughter — Thu, 23 Apr 2015 16:44:58 +0000

After all of the pro’s and con’s of the authenticity of the Book of Mormon have been stated and argued, if you truely want to know the truth of the matter, it can be found in Moroni 10:3-5, the last chapter of the Book of Mormon.
3. Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts.
4. And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.
5. And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.

Comment on Have Egyptologists Found Abraham in the Papyri? Which Papyri? by CABE

CABE — Sun, 08 Mar 2015 05:05:10 +0000

When Joseph refers to the inscriptions above the characters in Facsimile 3, he appears to be translating Egyptian. He seemingly misidentifies Ma’at, Isis, Anubis, etc. Do you know if there are any depictions of this in any Egyptian writings/art, specifically where the inscription doesn’t match the corresponding character? It would be of much interest to me.

Comment on Would Honest Mormons Leave if they Knew? No. by MC

MC — Sat, 07 Mar 2015 23:27:33 +0000

In reply to Adam Smith. It turns out that those of us who trust Kerry Muhlestein are not nearly as gullible as you. I happen to know first hand that the Egyptian Antiquities Ministry investigated the false claims of some newspapers and found it to be misinformation. The dig Kerry is involved with has their blessing and continues. It shows to what length you will go to to justify your non-testimony.