Category: Series
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Leaving the Church, Part 7 — Priesthood Restoration
1. Overview: Like the First Vision story, Joseph Smith waited many years before claiming to have received the priesthood from John the Baptist and Peter, James, and John. Although the Church teaches that the priesthood was restored in 1829, Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery made no such claim until 1834.…
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Leaving the Church, Part 6 — First Vision
“Our whole strength rests on the validity of that [First] vision. It either occurred or it did not occur. If it did not, then this work is a fraud. If it did, then it is the most important and wonderful work under the heavens.” – Gordon B. Hinckley, The Marvelous…
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Leaving the Church, Part 5 — Book of Mormon
1. DNA Evidence Disproves BOM Claims: DNA analysis undermines the premise of the Book of Mormon. Specifically, DNA evidence establishes that Native American Indians originate from Asia and not from the Middle East or from Israel as claimed by the Book of Mormon and various prophets. The thousands of DNA…
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Leaving the Church, Part 4 — Book of Mormon Translation
1. Book of Mormon Translated with a Peep Stone: Contrary to general Church teachings, Joseph Smith did not use the gold plates in translating the Book of Mormon. Rather, he used a rock in a hat to translate the plates into the Book of Mormon. The Church acknowledged this fact…
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Leaving the Church, Part 3 — Kinderhook Plates
1. Background: On April 16, 1843, Robert Wiley began digging a deep shaft in the middle of an Indian mound located just outside of Kinderhook, Illinois. The Quincy Whig newspaper reported that Wiley began the excavation project after dreaming of buried treasure beneath the mound. He initially undertook the excavation…
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Leaving the Church, Part 2 — Book of Abraham
1. Background Perhaps the most problematic issue undermining the Church is the Book of Abraham. In July of 1835, a traveling showman named Michael Chandler brought an exhibit consisting of four Egyptian mummies and papyri to Kirtland, Ohio, then the home of the Latter-day Saints. The papyri contained Egyptian hieroglyphics,…
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Leaving the Church: A Compilation of the Evidence Against the LDS Church
I hope those of you who read this document do not get the wrong idea: I am not leaving the Church out of anger, sin, or laziness. I am not leaving due to anti-Mormon literature or to pursue different lifestyle choices. And I am not leaving in hopes of bringing…
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About The Author
On a personal level, my life has been an ongoing search for the Truth. It has been the primary motivational force in my life, along with my love for my family. That search led me into the Church many years ago, and ultimately it led me out. My heart is…
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Final Thoughts — Potential Harm
Several years back, I was discussing some of these matters with one of my daughters, and she posed this question to me: Let’s just say you’re right, and that the Church’s claims aren’t true. What is the harm in staying in it, and being involved with it? We’re happy, we’re…
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Examination Summary
My intent here was to approach the Church’s claims about itself, its history, and its mission, from several different perspectives, rather than relying on a single dimension. The conclusion seems inescapable: the Church is not what it claims to be, and the claims that it makes are demonstrably false. And…
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Examining the Fruits of the Church in Practice
I first need to make a crucial distinction here, between the Corporate and Institutional Church, and the Church that exists in the lives of the individuals and families that comprise the various Wards and Branches of the Church. Even though I was a convert to the Church, I raised my…
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Epistemological Considerations
(or how do we know what we think we know) I am by no means a Philosopher, but I think it is crucial to address this topic here. It can get quite complicated, and people have spent lifetimes, written dissertations and countless books on this subject. But basically, what is needed…