"It
is impossible for a man to be saved in ignorance."
(D&C 131:6)
How
many Mormons are ignorant about their own faith?
How
many Mormons know these critical truths about
Mormonism:
- The
official First Vision story was not written by Joseph
Smith and was produced decades after the event supposedly
occurred. Details
- Smith
did not use the "Urim and Thumim" to dictate
any part of the Book of Mormon text we have today. Details
-
Mormon leaders, including Smith, described the Moroni
visit as a "dream" until 1831, the year after
the church was organized. Details
-
Almost 20 years before Joseph Smith produced the Book
of Mormon, his father coincidentally had a dream nearly
identical to the narrative of "Lehi's Dream"
in the Book of Mormon. Details
-
Smith practiced polygamy while he was alive, secretly
marrying teenagers and women who were already married.
Details
-
Smith testified many times that he was coerced into secret
polygamous marriages by an "angel with a sword."
Details
-
Smith removed his garments before he went to Carthage
Jail and told all of the other polygamists to do the same.
Details
-
There have been major alterations in the temple endowment
and to the temple covenants. Death-oath covenants and
whole doctrinal sections were changed as recently as 1990.
Details
-
The scrolls Joseph Smith "translated" into the
Book of Abraham have been identified by Egyptologists
— including LDS scholars — as common, pagan
Egyptian burial documents, that do not mention Abraham
and have no connection to the contents of the Book of
Abraham in the Pearl of Great Price. Details
-
Early Mormon African-Americans were ordained to the Priesthood
until Brigham Young became prophet. Details
-
Soon after the first printing, Joseph Smith tried to sell
the copyright to the Book of Mormon. Details
-
Mormon teachings regarding a "Celestial Kingdom"
and "three degrees of glory" come from a 17th-century
Christian author. Details
-
The overwhelming DNA evidence shows that all pre-Columbian
native Americans are descendants from Asia and have no
connection to Jews or the middle east. Details
- The
Mormon Church has a legacy of bashing Christians and Christianity.
Details
- Joseph
Smith did not give his life as an innocent martyr. A recent
church film depicting Smith's death leaves out the fact
that he shot three men and used a Masonic distress call
moments before he died. Details
Granted,
none of these are "testimony killers" nor are
they meant to be. There are some people, especially
the Mormon apologists and historians, who know these
facts. But the point is, the vast majority of Mormons
do not learn these things from the church.
But
aren't these facts relevant to the truthfulness of the church's
other claims?
Is
the average Mormon informed enough to make an intelligent
decision about the church, or are they kept in ignorance?
Does
the church really think "it is impossible for a man
to be saved in ignorance?" |
