Airbrushing The Past

Today my wife and I went to view the feature film “Joseph Smith, Prophet of The Restoration” located in the LDS Legacy Theatre. The experience was exactly what I anticipated. As with all Mormon produced movies retelling the history of the church , one can be sure to experience a tale that is absent of facts and filled with emotions which was confirmed by the abundance a tissue paper that was offered by the sister missionaries who greeted us upon our entrance.
It is clear that the LDS church is unable to produce a film about the history of their church that would be anywhere in the realm of faith promoting. The film seems to deliberately leave out facts concerning the characteristics of Smith. It was also clear that the film is geared towards two groups of people.

The first being the faithful and devout LDS member. I call this FUBU (For Us By US). The way I see it is many LDS need a refueling of their testimonies, seeing that this religion thrives on emotions that are not connected to any kind of historical facts. Upon leaving the film Mormons can be filled with the familiar spirit that once again entices them to believe in the restored gospel.

The second group is the common person who has come to visit the LDS church’s many grandiose sites among Temple Square. These people are not familiar with what the Mormon church really teaches (Commonly known as the meat by LDS missionaries) and sees the church as yet just another denomination of Christianity.

Then you have me. The ravel rouser who is educated enough to be considered an anti-Mormon purely because of my extreme investigation and skepticism. Being an individual who has some what of a knowledge of the true Joseph Smith can see that this film was missing some key aspects in order to airbrush a more prettier and attractive Joseph Smith.

For instance, the film depicts Smith with only one wife (Emma) totally ignoring the fact that Joseph has a well documented list of over thirty wives. I also noticed that upon Smith’s retrieval of the golden plates that he was simply able to reach in and pick them up with great ease. Seeing that Smith recorded the actual size of the plates creates a problem being that the plates would have weighed over 180 lbs. Joseph Smith is also depicted reading the plates in plain view with no special magical spectacles which seems to be an important part concerning the account of Smith’s great translation. Then we have the African Americans who are told by Smith that the Lord’s blessings are equal to all of God’s children. This makes little sense considering that the LDS church granted the African Americans the priesthood only 29 years ago.

So my question to LDS is this……Why would you want to belong to a religion that must make great strides to cover up the actual events of their history. Why does Joseph Smith require so much airbrushing?

So to all my readers who are LDS, I would like you to know that this is one aspect of why I continue to minister to Mormons and non Mormons alike. The Church only tells half the story in order to keep current members and convert the uneducated into this church which is not Christian.

We here at One Living Truth Ministry will continue to pray that Mormons will come to a saving knowledge of the real Jesus Christ found in the Bible.

God Bless…..
Romans 10:9

Are Mormons Actually Postmodern?

Observe all the parallels to postmodernism.






Mormons think:

It's arrogant to trust anything objective (that is, outside of your subjective self).

It's humble to trust your heart.

The Bible is chiefly man speaking. It is not direct enough from God. If you want to hear God speak, seek the euphoria of an emotional epiphany.

The Spirit comes privately from an internal, private experience of prayer, after having emptied yourself of objective truth (Note: MUCH like Buddhism).

Neither Satan nor demons can feign/manufacture within you good feelings.

The internal burning has more authority than the word of God.

So many diverse interpretations show God did a REALLY BAD JOB of preserving his word.

Moroni's test or "challenge" is supreme, presuppositional, and unable to itself be challenged on any grounds.

Good feelings that please God come directly and mystically, and don't necessary come with a mental connection to objective truths about the glory and beauty of truth and Christ.

Testimonies are subjective and private, and therefore cannot be publicly shared.

All that can be done is to tell others to use the same method to gain the private epiphany.


Christians think:

It's humble to trust God's word over our fickle, self-justifying heart.

The heart is less reliable than God's word.
-"The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?" - Jeremiah 17:9

It's foolish, not humble, self-justifying, and arrogant to trust your heart over God's objective word.
-"He who trusts in his own heart is a fool, but whoever walks wisely will be delivered." - Proverbs 28:26

Satan and demons can give you good feelings, those that superficially seem like "fruits of the Spirit".

So many diverse interpretations show how sinful humans are.

Moroni's test or "challenge" can itself test against the word of God.

Good feelings that please God come mediated; they come with a mental connection to objective truths about the glory and beauty of truth and Christ.

The object of our testimony, our faith, our godly feelings, is for public consumption. You can tell people about it with words.

To be filled with the Spirit, one should think on the objective truth and beauty and glory of Jesus Christ, available in the public display of scripture.

...all their creeds were an abomination...

In the official LDS history of Joseph Smith 1:19, Joseph Smith Jr. wrote (http://scriptures.lds.org/en/js_h/1/19)
I was answered that I must join none of them, for they were all wrong; and the Personage who addressed me said that all their creeds were an abomination in his sight; that those professors were all corrupt; that: “they draw near to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me, they teach for doctrines the commandments of men, having a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof.”

The primary “creeds” that Joseph Smith Jr. was referring to, were the early Christian creeds; the Apostle’s Creed, the Nicene Creed, the Athanasian Creed -- all listed below in their entirety.


Note: In these early church creeds, “Catholic” means the universal church of Jesus Christ (the body of believers), not “the Roman Catholic Church”


The Apostle’s Creed (dates to within 50 years of the death of John - the last of Christ’s original apostles)
I believe in God, the Father Almighty,
    the Creator of heaven and earth,
    and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord:
Who was conceived of the Holy Spirit,
    born of the Virgin Mary,
    suffered under Pontius Pilate,
    was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended into hell.
The third day He arose again from the dead.
He ascended into heaven
    and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty,
    whence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy *catholic church,
    the communion of saints,
    the forgiveness of sins,
    the resurrection of the body,
    and life everlasting.
Amen.


The Nicene Creed
I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds; God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God; begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made.
Who, for us men for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary, and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; He suffered and was buried; and the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures; and ascended into heaven, and sits on the right hand of the Father; and He shall come again, with glory, to judge the quick and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end.
And I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of Life; who proceeds from the Father and the Son; who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified; who spoke by the prophets.
And I believe one holy catholic and apostolic Church. I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins; and I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.


The Athanasian Creed
1. Whosoever will be saved, before all things it is necessary that he hold the catholic faith;Which faith except every one do keep whole and undefiled, without doubt he shall perish everlastingly.
2. And the catholic faith is this: That we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity;
3. Neither confounding the persons, nor dividing the substance
4. For there is one Person of the Father, another of the Son and another of the Holy Spirit.
5. But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit is all one, the glory equal, the majesty co-eternal.
6. Such as the Father is, such is the Son and such is the Holy Spirit.
7. The Father uncreate, the Son uncreate, and the Holy Spirit uncreate.
8. The Father incomprehensible, the Son incomprehensible, and the Holy Spirit incomprehensible.
9. The Father eternal, the Son eternal, and the Holy Spirit eternal.
10. And yet they are not three eternals, but one eternal.
11. As also there are not three uncreated nor three incomprehensibles, but one uncreated and one incomprehensible.
12. So likewise the Father is almighty, the Son almighty, and the Holy Spirit almighty;
13. And yet they are not three almighties, but one almighty.
14. So the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God;
15. And yet they are not three Gods, but one God.
16. So likewise the Father is Lord, the Son Lord, and the Holy Spirit Lord;
17. And yet they are not three Lords, but one Lord.
18. For like as we are compelled by the Christian verity to acknowledge every person by himself to be God and Lord;
19. so are we forbidden by the catholic religion to say: There are three Gods or three Lords.
20. The Father is made of none, neither created nor begotten.
21. The Son is of the Father alone; not made nor created, but begotten.
22. The Holy Spirit is of the Father and of the Son; neither made, nor created, nor begotten, but proceeding.
23. So there is one Father, not three Fathers; one Son, not three Sons; one Holy Spirit, not three Holy Spirits.
24. And in this Trinity none is afore, nor after another; none is greater, or less than another.
25. But the whole three persons are co-eternal, and co-equal.
26. So that in all things, as aforesaid, the Unity in Trinity and the Trinity in Unity is to be worshipped.
27. He therefore that will be saved must thus think of the Trinity.
28. Furthermore it is necessary to everlasting salvation that he also believe rightly the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ.
29. For the right faith is that we believe and confess that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and man.
30. God of the substance of the Father, begotten before the worlds; and made of the substance of His mother, born in the world.
31. Perfect God and perfect man, of a reasonable soul and human flesh subsisting.
32. Equal to the Father as touching His Godhead, and inferior to the Father as touching His manhood.
33. Who, although He is God and man, yet He is not two, but one Christ.
34. One, not by conversion of the Godhead into flesh, but by taking of the manhood into God.
35. One altogether, not by the confusion of substance, but by unity of person.
36. For as the reasonable soul and flesh is one man, so God and man is one Christ;
37. Who suffered for our salvation, descended into hell, rose again the third day from the dead;
38. He ascended into heaven, He sitteth on the right hand of the Father, God Almighty;
39. From thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.
40. At whose coming all men shall rise again with their bodies;
41. And shall give account of their own works.
42. And they that have done good shall go into life everlasting, and they that have done evil into everlasting fire.
43. This is the catholic faith, which except a man believe faithfully, he cannot be saved.


Council of Chalcedon (451 A.D)
Therefore, following the holy fathers, we all with one accord teach men to acknowledge one and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, at once complete in Godhead and complete in manhood, truly God and truly man, consisting also of a reasonable soul and body; of one substance with the Father as regards his Godhead, and at the same time of one substance with us as regards his manhood; like us in all respects, apart from sin; as regards his Godhead, begotten of the Father before the ages, but yet as regards his manhood begotten, for us men and for our salvation, of Mary the Virgin, the God-bearer; one and the same Christ, Son, Lord, Only-begotten, recognized in two natures, without confusion, without change, without division, without separation; the distinction of natures being in no way annulled by the union, but rather the characteristics of each nature being preserved and coming together to form one person and subsistence, not as parted or separated into two persons, but one and the same Son and Only-begotten God the Word, Lord Jesus Christ; even as the prophets from earliest times spoke of him, and our Lord Jesus Christ himself taught us, and the creed of the fathers has handed down to us.

(More at http://www.reformed.org/documents)

...and the abominations were .... where? One must understand the origins of the early Christian creeds to understand their significance. Joseph Smith Jr. clearly understood their significance -- the Apostle's Creed, so-called because it was the belief system of Christ's apostles -- summed up the belief system of the early Christian church, the very belief system of the apostles who communed with Jesus himself.

And one last note, please take a look at the LDS articles of faith:
http://scriptures.lds.org/en/a_of_f/1

It’s what you call a “creed.”

Mormonism: Built On Top of Historic Holes

In a historic retrospective of the claims made by the founder of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, it is clear to the objective investigator that Joseph Smith Jr. used secrets and craftiness, exploiting many areas of history that were largely unknown in and around 1830.

This diagram outlines the major parts of Joseph Smith Jr's claims, which historic holes he exploited in the 1800's, and what we know about them now.

Click Here for the Diagram

God's Grace Should Be Given According To My Worthiness?

According to Elaine S. Dalton, who is second counselor to the Young Woman General Presidency, there comes a time when we need to count on the Lord's blessings, not because of His mercy but because of our worthiness.
At what point do you feel you are worthy of God's grace?
The word "grace" literally means a gift given to the undeserving. Do Mormons actually think they are worthy of anything that God has for us? The only person who was able to live up to any kind of worthiness is Christ Jesus. So it is to Christ's worthiness that we walk in and not our own.The LDS church continually puts emphasis on remaining worthy in order to receive God's love and blessings. Mormons are forever trying to earn merit from God rather than loving him for the debt that was already paid through Jesus Christ. We will never be worthy of God's gifts which is given by grace.

Scriptural References:
Romans 11:6
Romans 3:23
Ephesians 2:8

Interview With Brian Evenson, Author of "The Open Curtain"

This is an interview with Brian Evenson author of "The Open Curtain." To find out more about his book click here

Do you feel that it's inherent in Mormon culture to suppress or deny religious history or at least the facts that might blemish the church's reputation in any way?

I don't know if it's inherent, but it's certainly been established practice for a number of years. In the 1950s, the Mormon Church had almost no publicity department; now, that's one of the largest departments in the Church's bureaucracy. The Mormon Church has acted more and more like a corporation as time has gone on, and has become incredibly conscious of negative publicity. I do think that too often that leads to suppression of or minimizing of facts from Mormonism's very colorful and to my mind very interesting past. In the last few decades Mormonism has worked very hard to present itself as a Christ-centered Church that fits really snugly into Middle America. But to be able to see it that way, you have to forget a lot of Mormonism's history.

I think often times Mormons are shocked or surprised when violent things bubble up. It's really difficult for them to fathom how or why violent crimes like the Lafferty murders take place in a religious culture where things can be blatantly disregarded. Mormonism places a lot of pressure on its members to do and be a lot of things. It can be overwhelming.

Yes. I think this is true in any faith that puts a lot of pressure on people to conform. Most people adapt themselves to that pressure and conform or they leave the Church, but a small percentage of people find themselves caught in the middle in a way that either destroys them or transforms them into a kind of juggernaut of violence. I grew up in Provo, Utah, which people referred to proudly and unironically as "Happy Valley." People took great pride in looking on the bright side of life. In addition, we were counseled to only record positive things in our journals so that our memories of things would preserve the good and forget the bad. Well, to be able to do that, you need to repress a tremendous amount, and some of what's repressed is going to bubble up again. The return of the repressed is something that functions both for the individual and for the culture as a whole. After spending a few years looking at violence in Mormon culture carefully, I wasn't surprised that what's repressed causes upswellings of violence, but I was that these up swellings didn't happen more often.

What I find interesting, having grown up around a lot of Mormons, is most times questions that revolve around controversial issues (i.e.: polygamy, temple rituals, etc.) are always answered with a certain vagueness or in a way that blatantly disregards history or fact. Do you feel there is a closed door with some issues in the church?

Yes. Even now that I've been out of the Church for several years if you ask me certain questions about Mormonism it's hard for me not to slip into vague, safe responses. It's much more difficult for me to talk about the sacred and secret elements of Mormonism than you'd think, very hard to turn off the Mormon self-censor, and I think a good part of the intensity of certain scenes in The Open Curtain come from that: I've had to go through an internal struggle to get where I get to on the page, the stakes of which are very high. That self-censor something that you're taught as a Mormon, the presumption being that there are certain things that someone who's been Mormon for a long time will understand but that someone without that commitment won't. But obviously there's something a little cultish about that attitude.

At the same time, I think the vagueness about something like polygamy is indicative of a kind of uneasy truce within most Mormons, a willingness to accept the past that's still partly a denial. At the same time, I don't think Mormons are bad people. Indeed, in my experience exactly the opposite has been the case; they're for the most part good, generous people who really do care about other people and really do want to help. For instance, I'm still Mormon enough that I feel an incredible satisfaction in helping someone move; it makes me happy to help someone in that way, which my girlfriend thinks is somewhat perverse. They're good people but they can be unnaturally gullible (which is what my novel Father of Lies was about) and when you cut through their goodness and gullibility, they're also a very complicated people, simple on the surface but as gnarled as the rest of us when you start to work through that.

In your novel, you touch upon the dismissal and blatant denial some Mormons revert to when confronted with issues or scenarios that are less than positive. In The Open Curtain, Rudd discovers his deceased father seems to have fathered a child with a woman across town. When Rudd comes across letters to his father from the would-be mistress, he confronts his mother about it, who essentially denies any affair or illegitimate child. She tells him, "She was mistaken in the man. We know the truth. There's no reason to speak of this again." There's seems to be a blindness that some members develop in regard to negative situations that would reflect poorly on them as Mormons. Is that common?

I think the extreme quality of her response isn't common, but I do think that some level of denial is very common indeed. I saw it, both as a child and then later when I was in a Bishopric in Seattle (where I was the second of three religious leaders running a large congregation), in the way that Mormons responded to child abuse or infidelity or corruption among local leaders or other things that were difficult to face. I don't think this is particular to Mormonism, by the way, but rather is something quite common to all religions. I just happen to know best how it functions in Mormonism.

...

Because Rudd has been living in a religious culture where he's been told how to think and feel about things for so long, he's lost the ability to make decisions for himself. He turns to this alter-ego or other "self" to tell him what to do or who to be. Why do you think Rudd has these issues?

I think it's an extreme response to a subculture that has a kind of internalized split. Mormonism in its day-to-day services seems very Protestant; in its temple ceremonies, it's very ritual and almost pagan at times. You talk about the Church in one way among Church members and in another way to outsiders. And then you try to reconcile that to the ideas and attitudes and mores of American society as a whole, weaving yourself carefully into that fabric as well. And then if you've have a religious structure telling you what to do and what to be, what happens if you lose your faith? Who tells you who to be and what to do then? Maybe nobody, or maybe you start hearing from all that that religious structure has repressed. I actually think that this is the basic American dilemma, at least for our age: the kind of tension between religion and capitalism that dominates American culture as a whole right now creates a way of responding to situations that often seems schizophrenic.

When you live in a religious culture where your beliefs are defined for you and where there constant pressure to live up to the image that the church has, it can be easy to crack under that pressure, much like Rudd does.

The more pressure there is, the more likely there is for there to be an explosion. I think religion both can strengthen a person's motivation, reasons for living, reasons for being, that strengthen their sense of themselves and generally make them feel more part of their community and of the world as a whole. But for someone without a core self it can also do the reverse: It can either leave them adrift or can substitute in place of a self and of an ability to choose a rule-bound doctrinaire attitude that ends up feeling very much like fascism.

Living Hope Ministry About To Release Another Powerful Video

Here is a sneak peak at the new video coming out from Living Hope Ministries, producers of DNA Vs. Book of Mormon and Bible Vs. Book of Mormon.

This will surely be another awesome video showing Mormons and non Mormons the many unbiblical aspects of Mormonism.

Please feel free to leave your comments on what you think this video will have to offer that maybe prior videos did not touch up on.