A History Lesson on Mormonism

Last week I sent out an email to the list comparing the Mormon's founders to the founders of Christianity. I noted that virtually every signatory witness to the golden plates either repudiated their testimony, left the mormon faith or was excommunicated before they died. Comparably, we also noted that none of the authors of your Bible ran... even though most of then became martyrs. 

Today's email is somewhat of a follow-up from last week.

I was unprepared for the quantity and varied nature of the comments about Mormonism that followed. There seems to be a renewed interest in displacing what I would call a willful ignorance of Mormonism.  It is likely to be because of Mitt Romney's being a Mormon. We live in a funny world. Most churches are so afraid of sounding negative they just leave their members wallowing in ignorance.

I am reminded of another time...

Hosea 4: 6. My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being My priest. Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.

By the same token, the behavior of the original Mormons was so inappropriate that most Mormons just do not want to know either! I have always thought how sad it was that Mormon leaders really have had to hide much of their history from their members. The Bible deals directly with this mindset. 

“The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so: and what will ye do in the end thereof?”  Jeremiah 5:31

Now a Mormon wants to be president and people don’t know whether they should be afraid or not. 

To make a long story short, a couple years back,  our high school class was asking some pointed questions about the origins of the various churches. They also wanted to know how one church could be as good as another! Logically our young people were properly concluding that just couldn’t be so.  They knew they were correct and were asking for a basis to judge various churches as adults. Well, we don't leave our children ignorant. This is the material I used in that class. 

Providentially at  about the same time, I was studying with some young Mormon elders that had come to my door. These 20 year old “elders” complained that all they heard was negative things said about the Mormons.  They elaborated that people just read bad things about the LDS church. I thought about it awhile and decided that part of their complaint was fair.  It is important to know what Mormons really say, rather than what others say they say…  I determined that I  would concentrate on finding my material in the LDS documents rather than just from others.

What Happened to the People Who Wrote Your Bible?

The character of the Bible’s Witnesses

"You are My witnesses," declares the LORD, "And My servant whom I have chosen, So that you may know and believe Me And understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, And there will be none after Me. I, even I, am the LORD, And there is no savior besides Me.” Isaiah 43:10-11 

The strength of any testimony absolutely depends on the quality of it’s witnesses.  The Bible is not unique in that respect.   In a court of law, the witnesses are often tried as aggressively as the accused.  The reason is simple, there is a lot at stake and we need to be sure the story holds up to competent investigation. 

God went to a lot of trouble to be sure we would have the ability to test and know that His story was true.  The Bible really did come from God.  Let’s begin looking at the Bible’s testimony and evaluating it’s witnesses.

The first and obvious testimony inside our modern completed work is prophecy.  By 740 BC God’s batting average is so clearly established that it became the basis of other discussions as we can see in Is. 43 under our title.