The religion of God embraces every fact that exists in all the wide arena of nature, while the religions of men consist of theory devoid of fact, or of any true principle of guidance; hence the professing Christian world are like a ship upon a boisterous ocean without rudder, compass, or pilot, and are tossed hither and thither by every wind of doctrine.
Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, v10 p166
If God embraces EVERY fact that exists, that would have to include areas such as the many forms of science that exist like Geology, Anthropology and Linguistics. Keeping that in mind, take a look at the following teachings from Joseph Smith and Brigham Young.
"As far back as 1837, I know that he said the moon was inhabited by men and women the same as this earth, and that they lived to a greater age than we do -- that they live generally to near the age of 1000 years.
"He described the men as averaging near six feet in height, and dressing quite uniformly in something near the Quaker style.
Oliver B. Huntington speaking of Joseph Smith in the 1892 LDS publication The Young Woman's Journal, p. 263
Who can tell us of the inhabitants of this little planet that shines of an evening, called the moon? When we view its face we may see what is termed "the man in the moon," and what some philosophers declare are the shadows of mountains. But these sayings are very vague, and amount to nothing; and when you inquire about the inhabitants of that sphere you find that the most learned are as ignorant in regard to them as the most ignorant of their fellows. So it is with regard to the inhabitants of the sun. Do you think it is inhabited? I rather think it is. Do you think there is any life there? No question of it; it was not made in vain.
Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, v10 p166
Typical Mormon response: “They were speaking as men, not as prophets when they said these things.”
Brigham Young: I know just as well what to teach this people and just what to say to them and what to do in order to bring them into the celestial kingdom, as I know the road to my office. It is just as plain and easy. The Lord is in our midst. He teaches the people continually. I have never yet preached a sermon and sent it out to the children of men, that they may not call Scripture. Let me have the privilege of correcting a sermon, and it is as good Scripture as they deserve.
Brigham Young - Journal of Discourses v13 p95
Obviously, there are not men living on the moon. Science has disproven that. Based on this obscure teaching and other things that have since been disproven like the translation of the Book of Abraham and the existence of items mentioned in the Book of Mormon, it is my opinion that Joseph Smith and Brigham Young would teach things that they never imagined could be disproven. Back in those days, they could not even imagine that a car would be invented, much less, a rocket that could take us to the moon. Since they never thought it could be proven wrong, they had no reservations about making things up that would grab the attention of their followers and make them look prophetic.
When Joseph “translated” the Book of Abraham, no one really knew what they said so he was free to make them say whatever he wanted and no one would know the difference. It was not till many years later that linguists began to decipher the hieroglyphics and understand what the papyri he used really said. By then, the church already had too much invested in the Pearl of Great Price and still has, for the most part, ignored the findings of those that have studied them and have clearly shown that Joseph was not even close to disclosing their true meaning.
The Book of Mormon is full of things like this. I am working on posting about that but it is still down on the list.
So the point of this post is this. If God’s church embraces every fact as stated above, then the LDS church, who claims to be God’s only church, should take these scientific facts and openly discount the validity of the Book of Abraham and other church scripture and beliefs that have been shown to go against modern findings. To my knowledge, it has never come close to doing so.
While this is not concerning the latest post I thot I would post it anyway it is about what the FLDS does to get all those extra women for plural wives.
ReplyDeleteAs is well-known, the FLDS teaches that plural marriage—whereby each man partners with at least three women—is essential to salvation. How does the church get enough ladies to go around?
By kicking out the boys. The FLDS doesn't practice sex-selective abortion, nor does it recruit from outside the ranks. To reduce competition for wives, the church systematically expels adolescent boys, thus trimming the eligible male population. It's estimated that the FLDS has thrown out between 400 and 1,400 male members in the last decade.
Church elders excommunicate boys as young as 14 ostensibly for bad behavior—like flirting with girls, watching a movie, listening to rock music, drinking, playing basketball, or wearing short-sleeve shirts. Sometimes called the "Lost Boys," they're considered apostates and cut off entirely from their relatives. Parents or siblings who protest are sometimes asked to pack their bags as well. Girls have also been cast out of the church, but this happens much less often. Usually this punishment is reserved for women who don't wish to be part of a polygamous marriage.