Author: Wes T
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Four Alternatives to Church Policy in Handbook 1, Section 16.13 with “Clarifications”
Over the last two weeks, the LDS church has had their new policy on LGBT and LGBT children leaked, provided an explanation by Christofferson, then finally “clarified” through a statement from the first presidency and commentary from Church Public Affairs. The church stated that the “questions” regarding the policy change was…
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Top Ten Quotes from the “Boise Rescue” Fireside
On June 13th, Apostle Oaks and Historian Turley gave a fireside at my stake in Idaho “to answer some faithful questions and to minister to some disabling doubts.” In this fireside, the couple responded to several questions that are most relevant to those that agree with Denver Snuffer and Rock…
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Response to “How Does Gay Marriage Hurt Us? Here’s How”
I have seen several friends post the article “How Does Gay Marriage Hurt Us? Here’s How.” and found it terribly lacking. Here are the key points it makes and some of my thoughts on these. “How does our marriage hurt you?” they ask. Well, I can think of one significant way…
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Going Clear correlaries to LDS teachings
This last weekend I watched the documentary Going Clear. I have heard and read some about Scientology before the documentary, and so I knew to expect there to be some strong similarities between Scientology and Mormonism. I recommend everyone, faithful or not, see the documentary. It does a great job…
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Carson Calderwood’s Leave And Leave It Alone
I’ve been following Carson Calderwood’s story from a distance, and I find it to be such a sad example of the Church pushing out people who are trying hard to contribute in a positive way. I recommend all go and listen to the Mormon Stories episodes with Carson and Marissa,…
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Conclusion to Why I No Longer Believe
I’ve focused mostly on the Book of Mormon, since I accept that it is the keystone of the religion, just as Joseph Smith, Jr stated. The Book of Abraham and his other translations are close behind. Some of the other topics that have affected my testimony: Polygamous marriages of Joseph…
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Other translations by Joseph Smith, Jr
I had previously been able to convince myself that the reason we don’t have the gold plates is because Joseph Smith, Jr would have been hunted to an even earlier death if he had kept them. Still, I, and I think every member, has a secret wish that the Lord…
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Book of Abraham: Facsimile 3
Facsimile 3 is described by Joseph Smith as “Abraham sitting upon Pharaoh’s throne, by the politeness of the king, with a crown upon his head, representing the Priesthood, as emblematical of the grand Presidency in Heaven; with the scepter of justice and judgment in his hand.” Once again, this is not about…
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Book of Abraham: Facsimile 2
Facsimile 2 is actually a representation of a “hypocephalus”. Egyptians would put these under the head of mummies, like a pillow. Here are lots of real hypocephali as they are in abundance: You’ll notice that I’ve circled certain sections. Go back and study what’s inside the red circle first. Four…
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Book of Abraham: Facsimile 1
This is Facsimile 1, located at the front of the Book of Abraham in the Pearl of Great Price. Joseph Smith described this scene as “The idolatrous priest of Elkenah attempting to offer up Abraham as a sacrifice,” meaning, the man with the knife is a priest of Elkenah and…
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Book of Abraham
The majority of members don’t know where the Book of Abraham (found in the Pearl of Great Price) comes from. Here is a brief history from Wikipedia: Several papyri and eleven mummies were discovered in Thebes by Antonio Lebolo between 1818 and 1822. Sometime between 1822 and his death on…
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Book of Mormon Issue 6+: Everything else
Quoted Isaiah Scriptures Scholars divide the book of Isaiah into three parts. There is very little disagreement about this fact. Here are the three parts and when they were written: Chapters 1 to 39 (First Isaiah, Proto-Isaiah or Original Isaiah): the work of the original prophet Isaiah, who worked in…