Which mormonism

[Christian]

Which break-off from joseph smith's original group should we consider to be the REAL mormon church? I have posted the names, times, etc of 150+ groups ALL OF WHICH consider ONLY THEIR GROUP to be 'authentic' and ALL of the other groups to be apostates.

So WHY BELIEVE the salt lake group any more than any of the others?

And of course, they each have their own groups of 'apostles' and their own 'prophets.'

So why believe ANY of them?

[Erundur]

Originally Posted by Christian

Which break-off from joseph smith's original group should we consider to be the REAL mormon church?

Whichever one you think is right.

I go with the original.

[Berean]

Originally Posted by Erundur

Whichever one you think is right.

I go with the original.

Nonsense.

The original died with Joseph Smith, who left no ordained successor.

The LDS abandoned the doctrine of lineal succession, which resulted in a Succession Crisis Consequently once again Mormon doctrine is tossed under the bus, and Brigham Young became the President when Hyrum and his successors (after he died) should have become the President.

Evidently to make this choice to follow BY, you had to employ that "stop-think" mechanism you accuse everyone else of having, when in fact it is obvious that you are the one who has stopped thinking and you allow people to tell you things you must believe, when they are clearly lies.

TBM's naturally consider that the succeeding presidents of their church (from Brigham Young to the current President, Thomas S. Monson) are the legitimate successor prophets to Joseph Smith. But they overlook the fact that Brigham Young became president only after an intense power struggle with other Mormon leaders who ***erted their right to succeed Smith (James Strang, Sidney Rigdon, David Whitmer, and, later, Smith's son Joseph Smith III). In fact, Joseph believed his son would be his successor.

As Christian pointed out, there are a number of Mormon men who have claimed that God or angels have visited them, that they have received specific revelations which they have recorded, that they have translated additional ancient sacred records with divine help, and produced many volumes of additional scripture, allegedly dictated by God himself. And they have loyal followers who fervently testify to the truths that their prophet has revealed, claiming they have been confirmed by the Holy Ghost. Their stories are practically identical to the story of Joseph Smith. So why not believe them too?

Since Mormons accept and believe Smith's story, why would they reject the similar claims of these subsequent Mormon prophets who produced similar evidences of divine calling? There is nothing special about Smith's wild and outlandish claims when compared to these others. Why do you prefer Smith's? Could it be because you don't really know the history of your church, what it teaches and why?

From Brigham Young on, Mormon leaders have rarely claimed to have had angelic visitations or produced the "word of God" in the form of new scripture, even though they pride themselves on being in a church which has "continuing revelation." And, the revelations they allegedly get from God are filtered through the words of the leaders, and not the exact words that God supposedly said to their leaders. For example, the wording of the supposed revelation ending polygamy in the mainstream Mormon church is unknown - it appears only as a report that a revelation had been received. (D&C O-D 1) The same is true of the supposed revelation allowing blacks to hold the priesthood and be endowed. (D&C O-D 2)

So tell us please, why you believe the "original" is the right one when any of these others have just as much evidence, and their claims are just as believable as Smith's? What specifically about Smith's claims do you find compelling, and what specifically about these other "prophets" do you reject, and why?

I would bet that you can't give us any reason other than you have been told to believe this and it makes you feeeeeeeel good to think you are being a faithful servant of Christ by blindly following. Can you say baaaa?

The problem here is that nothing could be further from the truth. Mormons never stop to think about what they are told to believe. Endrunner, for example, likes to toss around words like "stop-think," but never realizes that their own thinking has been stopped by their leaders, who don't want them thinking for themselves. And for good reason. Mormon leaders hate rational and critical thinkers because they expose the Mormon religion for the bogus fraud that it is. Mormon leaders prefer dummed-down peasants who ***he liberally and don't ask questions.

I am looking forward to your answers...

[Erundur]

Originally Posted by Berean

Nonsense.

Nice stop-think mechanism.

[Berean]

Originally Posted by Erundur

Nice stop-think mechanism.

Nonsense.

I'm clearly right, and you don't have a clue how to answer. LoL

And you're still struggling with an original thought, I see.

Poor child. You should come out of your mother's basement every once in awhile. Maybe the fresh air will clear your head.

[Christian]

Originally Posted by Erundur

Whichever one you think is right.

I go with the original.

Oh? You are part of WHICH 'original' one? Temple lot? Emma Smith's group the rlds?

[Erundur]

Originally Posted by Christian

Oh? You are part of WHICH 'original' one? Temple lot? Emma Smith's group the rlds?

There's only one original.

[Christian]

Originally Posted by Erundur

There's only one original.

That's what they all claim. And EACH of the 150+ groups says THEY ARE IT. Why should we believe YOURS is? And WHICH ONE IS YOURS? The Temple lot group. Emma Smith's rlds? AFTER ALL Joseph Smith III became president of that one, just like YOUR so-called 'prophet' said. . .

So either your 'prophet' was a liar. . .OR. . .you are in the wrong group!

[Erundur]

Originally Posted by Christian

That's what they all claim.

Probably because it's true.

And EACH of the 150+ groups says THEY ARE IT.

No they don't; you just made that up.

Why should we believe YOURS is?

Historic reality.

And WHICH ONE IS YOURS?

The original.

So either your 'prophet' was a liar. . .OR. . .you are in the wrong group!

. . .OR. . .you haven't the foggiest idea what you're talking about.

[Christian]

It appears that erundur STILL CANNOT GIVE ONE REASON for ANYONE to believe the utah cult is the right cult. They all must 'simply believe' it, just as the muslims believe THEIR religion is from God. Not a very good excuse imho.

[Christian]

The utah mormons believe that their mormon religion (out of the 150+ 'lds' religions) is the 'right one' because. . .

they BELIEVE IT 'MUST BE' THE RIGHT ONE. After all their reason is as good as the good muslim's reason for believing ISLAM is the 'right' religion. . .THEY BELIEVE THAT TOO!

and

They believe the bom is true for the same reason the muslims believe the qur'an is true. . .their 'prophet' told them so.