Lookbeyond:
I wish to respond to the Bom and the Bible. As I said previously,I know relatives who are Mormon. My wife is an X. There are numerous reasons why she is not Mormon.
1.Logic. Things that are different are not the same. If the Bom, were another testament of Jesus Christ. It could not be the truth as things that are the same would agree. If the Bom is harmonious with the Bible, and it is not, we do not need it for we already have the Bible. If the Bom teaches more than the Bible, and it does, It says too much. Rev. 22:18,19, Deut. 4:2 I Cor. 4:6. If the Bom, does not teach as much as the Bible,it say too little. Rev.22:18,19, Deut 4:2, I Cor. 4:6. If it is the same as the Bible, and it is not,we do not need it as we already have the Bible.
2. Rationality. The Bible was written over a time span of 1600 years by 40 men, with different vocabularies and stations in life. Yet, they agree in their teachings. There are over 5,000 New Testament. This is more documentation than the works of the Shakesphere. Luke, the writer of the book of Acts, is accurate in every detail as to the geography of the land of the Bible. Secular academics consult the book of Acts for it's veracity concerning the land. The book of Acts has been challenged and still is the most accurate view of the Holy Land.
The historicity of the characters of the Bible have been validated by historians. Ther are some 14 historians that verify the Christ alone.
On the other hand, one may not find any golden plates.
One may not find valid historical evidence of Christ in America. One may not find evidence for the people in America purported by the Bom. Ex. Nephites, Alma.
In Fact the first mention of these names may be found in a NOVEL book entitiled Manuscript Found by Solomon Spaulding. This unpublished work was present some 30 years before the Bom.
The historicity of the characters of the Bom Nephites, Alma, Lehites are not validated by any creditable sources.
The Bom contains plagarisms of the Bible 38 pages.
Whole chapters are quoted Isiah 11,14,21,48,50,52, 54;Mal.3, Mat. 5,6,7: II Cor. 13. Braden Kelly debate page 153. The poet Shakesphere is used as are excerpts from Pope's Essays on Man, The Westminister Confession of Faith.
The historicity of America as proclaimed by the Bom is absent. Consider the following:
Bancroft, Prescott and others in Conquest of Mexico. Desolis,London England,1735. History of America,Robertson,London 1777.Origin of the Tribes and Nations of America, Barton, Philadelphia, 1797.
The witnesses bolster the case for the fraud of the Bom. Consider the following: John Spaulding, Solomon Spaulding's sister in-law, Henry Lake,business partner of Spaulding,James Jefferies, Rev. John Winter, M.D. all concur about the authorship of manuscript found being the work of Spaulding and the characters Nephites, Alma. and Lehites are found in this work prior to the BOM.
The Three Witnesses for the Bom Cowdery, Whitmer, Harris, ALL departed the Mormon church. They all denied the veracity to what they had previously testified. See True Origin of Polygamy by Shook, pp 49-54, 26-38, 44. See also Joseph Smith Times and Seasons, Vol. 1, pg. 80. Joseph Smith states and I quote, "About this time there were several persons living in the far west,who were cut off the church, these characters were studiously engaged in circulating false and slanderous reports against the saints to stir up our enemies to drive us form our homes, and enjoy the spoils together. Thye are as follows: Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer, and others."
I will post concerning the doctrine at a later time.