On the contrary, I have felt the Power and comforting presence of God. I do believe he can communicate with you in a personal and moving way. I have experienced this in moments of fervent prayer before Mass. I experienced this when I prayed the Lord’s prayer for the first time.
I hope you’re enjoying RCIA as much as I did. Good luck in your journey home.
Thank for your response Michael.
My argument is that God would not confirm a falsehood. I believe in objective truth. I don’t see how anyone can argue the Book of Mormon is true. First, the credibility of Joseph Smith is in serious question. An honest look at his complete history will show he has serious character flaws, even after he claims to have seen God. I don’t know about you, but if I’d seen God face to face as Smith claimed, I’d be flying straight and true from then on out. That doesn’t appear to be the case here. Second, the story of how Joseph Smith found the Gold Plates, translated them, then had the gold plates mysteriously taken back up to heaven, defies all logic - it strains credulity. Lastly, there is a complete lack of evidence for anything in the BoM. No evidence of the Nephite civilization. No evidence of the Lamanites. No evidence of reformed Egyptian or any ancient Hebrew in the new world. No evidence of a huge, cataclysmic battle, nothing. DNA evidence showing the Native American’s are of Asian descent, not Hebrew. And it’s not for lack of trying. The LDS church has spent millions trying to prove the historicity of the BoM.
I beg to disagree. Our feelings can definitely misguide us. Just because you feel a comforting sensation by reading the BofM doesn’t mean that that is from God. Someone can read the Koran and have the same feeling do you think that that is from God also? The truth is not base on one’s feelings. As mj said there is such a thing that is objective truth. And anything that is objectively true definitely is from God whether it be a mathemathical or theological truth. I wouldn’t question the feelings you got from reading the BofM but what we certainly question is your claim that it is from God.
No problem. My suggestion that i might be trying your patience was not prompted by the delay in your reply. It was just a personal concern of my own.
I’ve heard the same from Christians reading the Old Testament–once they get past the book of Genesis, it gets tedious. I was able to get through it more than once only because i had a great commentary by F.B. Meyer, that was written 100 years ago, that helped me glean some spiritual truths from each passage.
That is great! Continue with the good read, and keep the questions coming. I notice that another LDS poster has just joined the thread. I am sure he has some good thoughts to share with you as well, and you will have good responses from both of us.No problem. My suggestion that i might be trying your patience was not prompted by the delay in your reply. It was just a personal concern of my own.
Please do not feel that you have to respond immediately to any question. A message board like this gives you and i the advantage of waiting to reply, so we may attend to more pressing obligations, or take the time to think and pray a matter over before making a thoughtful response.
The missionaries are teaching me about the Book of Mormon. I’ve read that God cursed some of the people with a dark skin and these people became the Native Americans because they didn’t keep God’s commandments. Why would God do something like that? God doesn’t seem to do that today.
I will tell you an interesting experience I have had with scripture reading. Before I gained my testimony of the Book of Mormon, I found scripture reading very difficult. I had tried picking up the Bible and attempting to read it, but never got very far. It seemed heavy, dull, and uninteresting. After I gained my spiritual witness of the Book of Mormon, there was a 180 degree change. Suddenly the Bible, and all scripture in fact, became unbelievably interesting. I couldn’t put them down, and have been reading them ever since. The Book of Mormon not only gave me a testimony of the Book of Mormon, but of all scripture, including the Bible. After that, I didn’t just know that the Book of Mormon is true; I knew that the Bible is true. And since then it has never lost its interest for me.
For two thousand years people have found the truth of Christ in the Bible. So to say you have to have the BoM to find this truth is complete BS. It says more about YOU than it does about truth.
Not at all. A thread is like a natural conversation. When people converse naturally, they talk about many different subjects, not just one subject. One thing leads naturally to another. It is awfully narrow-minded to suggest that once the thread has started, it must stick doggedly to the subject of the OP, and not talk about anything else.
Second that! The whole mormon system is BS. I am continually amazed that otherwise rational people could be so duped. They would avoid a con-man on the street like the plague, but they would invite two of them at a time into their homes. Go figure. Zerinus, you ought to be ashamed of yourself, trying to con people like that.
I’ve been keeping up with this thread, and I have observed that Zerinus has been acting much more charitable in his posts than many of the Catholics.
You are truly deceived if you believe that mormons participate on this board for “charitable” reasons. Zerinus posts are full of mormon missionary proseltyzing methods. Those of us who have been in the mormon church recognize them for what they are, as we were taught ourselves how to “fellowship” people into the “Gospel”.
Just telling it like it is, besides, zerinus is very thick-skinned.
Maj:
Thank you Wanner. I have learned to just ignore them. These folks are their own worst enemies. When their behavior embarrasses their own fellow Catholics, it is hardly doing their own cause any good. If they are not helping me, they are certainly not doing me any harm; so I don’t bother. Their behavior is in fact a sign of their desperation. They know they cannot prevail with sound argument; to they resort to these kinds of tactics.