And Kent, just so you know, I love you too.

“Also, if he did translate at least part of the Book of Mormon with some seers stone, without the gold plates, the same kind of stone he used earlier in his life to try to find treasures, how can we trust that it actually came from God and not from satan himself? After all, one of the witnesses of Smith translating it reportedly said he used a stone and that he didn’t see the plates.”

This one’s easy. One knows whether the Book of Mormon is true or not based on God telling him. How it was translated doesn’t matter.

Regarding the video, it’s by John Dehlin who I can’t characterize as a fully-active Mormon. I’ve watched that entire presentation before, and while it’s all “true”, there’s something about it that doesn’t come across quite right to me. Comments from John himself seem to indicate that he struggles with his faith in the LDS Church, and therefore I wouldn’t consider him to be a completely trustworthy representative of it even if his intentions are sincere.

“There are just too many things that have be explained to reconcile that what the Mormon Church teaches is true and it does…”

A lot of explanation is needed because there are so many misconceptions in the world about God and Christ. The more misinformation there is in the world, the more explanation is needed to get people to believe in the truth.

I am posting a link to a presentation by a Mormon who explains why some people leave the Mormon Church and he documents some of the contradictions that people who leave use as reasons for leaving the church.

The video is not a so called ‘anti Mormon’ video but one that shows how Mormons can reach out to people who have left.

I find it interesting that the day before he was killed that Joseph Smith drank wine and don’t Mormons have to be temple worthy to worship in the temple and one of the things that make them temple worthy is that they can’t drink alcohollic beverages?

So wouldn’t that make Smith not be able to enter the Celestial Kingdom when he passed from this earth if he wasn’t temple worthy at the time of his death?

So if not, how can we have to have his permission to enter the mansions where God is if he might not be there himself?

Also, if he did translate at least part of the Book of Mormon with some seers stone, without the gold plates, the same kind of stone he used earlier in his life to try to find treasures, how can we trust that it actually came from God and not from satan himself? After all, one of the witnesses of Smith translating it reportedly said he used a stone and that he didn’t see the plates.

Again, this video is not by a non Mormon but by a Mormon who is trying to explain why some people leave the Mormom Church.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=uZQJc5SxnVs

There are just too many things that have be explained to reconcile that what the Mormon Church teaches is true and it does, even though the video does attempt to try to show that people shouldn’t leave the church, give compelling reasons for people to leave as when people dug deeper into them is what caused people to decide to leave.

No, this post is here to merely explain what Mormons believe, not pronounce logic or prove anything.

“But now that foundational problems have been pointed to…”

Huge hole? Foundational problem? Gaping hole? I’m not sure we’re having a rational discussion here. That’s a pretty wild claim to throw out. I’ve already told you, using logic, why there’s no reason for the Church to spend time focusing on “grandfather gods”. I didn’t give you a cop out, I responded directly to your point, which you appear to be ignoring. If you disagree with me, then the rational thing to do is to refute my points. Show me why having a relationship with a grandfather god would make a difference in this life. Show me why this knowledge is essential in this life and should be a primary focus of the Church.

“Oh it’s of great importance. God said, I am the Lord your God. Worship no other God before me.”

And this is not a response. It’s important? Explain why. Don’t just repeat “I am the Lord your God. Worship no other God before me” because that doesn’t explain anything. I agree with that. You say I need to explain why, if there are other gods, we can’t worship them. I don’t know. I’ve got some ideas, but they’re speculation. What I do know is that it doesn’t matter in this life, and I’ve given my explanation for why it doesn’t matter. It’s up to you to prove that if there are other gods, that it matters to know why we shouldn’t worship them just as well as we worship God rather than it being enough just to know that we shouldn’t.

“It seems vital we steer clear of these other created beings that behaved quite well for some time.”

Maybe you’ve got a good answer here, but I can’t even understand what you’re saying. Is English your first language? I’m not making fun of you, I’m honestly asking. I don’t want to be critical of how you say things if you’re doing the best you can and English just isn’t how you normally communicate.

Anyway to address why your points first off don’t address my previous comments adequately.

I find it hard to believe that the Mormon church, who is so HUGE on family ancestry, and have such revered treatment for the decendants of family lines like Smith and Young don’t consider grandparents of value (remember drawing parallels to family this was your own analogy). You don’t think that the god who created you has played any part on the worlds you create and deserves no credit or recognition? That is liken to saying your Grandfather have absolutely had no part to play in your eventual birth. Not only should this grandfather receive no honor from you or your decendants, he should not be loved and furthermore may it never be known that he existed. It’s Ok because grandpa didn’t directly “father your spirit”. He just fathered the spirit of your “father”. No big deal, your dad would have magically appeared anyway, your grandpa should be thankful he was even allowed to father your father, quickly now, put him away in the galactic senior home and keep real quiet about it.

Because God is not just a being that gets worshipped, he is the literal father of our spirits. There can only be one father of our spirits, just as there can only be one father of our physical bodies. What would be the purpose in worshipping a god that wasn’t the father of our spirits?

“Secondly, since gods are created things that got their start from another god an taught to make universes and a result, anything you do has it’s roots in your original god. Therefore, just as a grandchild owes the grandfather for making the father, so it should be right that your god is worshipped by them as well. Not completely obscured from knowledge and commanded to pretend he/she god isnt to be worshipped or known.”

There’s a lot that won’t be known in this life, but this life is a tiny blip in the eternal scheme of things. I suspect the smartest one of any of us doesn’t know .0001% of what there is to be known. From an eternal perspective, we’re all kind of stupid. Or a kinder way to say it is that we’re all children and know about as much about God and his plans as an infant knows about this world while sitting on his mother’s lap.

But to your statement, what would be the point in worshipping a “grandfather” god? All gods are the same, in the sense that they are all omnipotent and omniscient. If there is no differentiation between gods other than that one is the father of your spirit and another isn’t, then what sense would it make to worship the god that isn’t the father of your spirit? Or from the other side of things, each god has their domain, which includes their children. They are responsible for and have power over their children. Other gods don’t. To worship a god other than the god that is your father would be like someone on this earth demanding an inheritance from someone they’re not related to and don’t even know.