cdowis

CRITIC No archaeological evidence for the Book of Mormon RESPONSE Here is a lecture by Dr. John E Clark regarding archaeology and the Book of Mormon. This is based on a lecture that he gave at the National Library of Congress. He has several published works, including articles in professional journals. https://youtu.be/7TgkBv7QQwE?t=1m22s Also John Edward Clark (born 1952)[1] is an American archaeologist and academic researcher of pre-Columbian Mesoamerican cultures. in 1976 and obtaining his Masters degree in 1979. His doctorate studies were completed at University of Michigan, from where he was awarded his PhD in 1994.Clark has written and lectured extensively theoretical topics and the archaeology of Mesoamerica, where he has particularly focused on the Olmecs and their culture. -- WIKI

The historic Christian church replaced the apostles and prophets with theologians and scholars , so the gospel taught by the prophets was lost and replaced by man made doctrines such as the Nicene Creed. The Lord restored that Gospel by calling a prophet in our day and giving us the Book of Mormon as an adjunct to the Bible. The Lord also restored His church, with all the powers, keys, and priesthood necessary to administer the ordinances of salvation and exaltation. (see Eph 4:11-14) The LDS church accepts all of the word of God, including the Bible and modern revelation.

Read this carefully and you will have a better understanding of the symbolic meaning of the events recounted in the temple ceremony -->> the creation, the Garden of Eden, the Fall, the great apostasy and the restoration of the Gospel.

The latest developments on Iran and the deal http://video.foxnews.com/v/4583948101001/inspection-of-iran-nuke-facility-finds-equipment-missing/?intcmp=hpbt2#sp=show-clips

CRITIC Regarding a testimony -- Have you ever read up on confirmation bias? RESPONSE Yep. Have a master's degree in the social sciences, and was an important factor in conducting research, especially surveys. It "s just part of being a human being,. It is a universal trait among ever person, including those who are atheists and believers, scientists and the uneducated, the sane and psychotic. The only real remedy remedy is to be aware of it, and to include that knopwledge it in your decision making. I have a certain knowledge that Joseph Smith was a prophet. This is not "just a feeling" but from a divine manifestation.

The problem was that Germany in the 1930's was under a mountain of debt. They were required to pay reparations for WWI. They had enormous unemployment, the currency was inflated, etc. The Germans saw Hitler as the saviour of their nation to get out of these problems. It is frightening that we have a similar situation today, and where that could lead -- to our own saviour leader.

The female anaesthetist said the German health service has been completely overwhelmed by the influx of Muslim asylum-seekers who are REFUSING to be treated by female medics. In a furious outburst the experienced doctor said hospitals simply cannot cope because so many of the migrants require treatments for diseases long since eradicated in Europe. She also shockingly claimed migrant parents are abandoning their children at pharmacies across the country after being told that they have to pay a prescription charge for lifesaving drugs. She also claimed huge numbers of the asylum-seekers have Victorian diseases including TB, which they risk passing on to locals. Meanwhile, German authorities have been forced to post police at hospitals around the country after others got involved in angry clashes with medics over cultural differences. ------ "Many Muslims are refusing treatment by female staff. Relations between the staff and migrants are going from bad to worse. "Since last weekend, migrants going to the hospitals must be accompanied by police with K-9 units. "Many migrants have AIDS, syphilis, open TB and many exotic diseases that we, in Europe, do not know how to treat them. "If they receive a prescription in the pharmacy, they learn they have to pay cash. "This leads to unbelievable outbursts, especially when it is about drugs for the children. "They abandon the children with pharmacy staff with the words: 'So, cure them here yourselves!' So the police are not just guarding the clinics and hospitals, but also large pharmacies." ------------- She said that the estimated 1.3million migrants who have entered the country are "completely unemployable" because they do not speak the language. And she added that the burden on the country's failing health service will only get worse because at least one in ten of the women arriving are pregnant. She said: "Even the professor who heads our department told us how sad it makes him to see the cleaning woman, who for 800 Euros cleans every day for years, and then meets young men in the hallways who just wait with their hand outstretched, want everything for free, and when they don’t get it they throw a fit. http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/614793/German-hospital-refugees-asylum-seekers-migrants-demand-breaking-point

We are witnessing here death of national borders, not only in Europe but also in the United States. You can defeat a country with superior weapons of war, but this represents a new form of conquest. You freely allow millions and millions of "refugees" with no attempt at controlling who is entering the country. Many of these refugees come from a culture alien to our cultural values of democracy, tolerance, the rule of law. The purpose of a border is to protect its citizens. The This is so important that the country will spend a significant part of its wealth to protect those borders with police and the military. Why would a leader of a country allow this to happen? Simple, you provide them almost the same benefits as you give your own citizens. And then, you find legal loopholes which give them the ability to vote. This is all done in the name of compassion and charity. You attack those who oppose these policies as "racist". AS Savage pointed out, "H" tried to conquer other nations through a superior military. But today we see a "reverse invasion", where the enemy is invited and welcomed, along with legitimate refugees, to cross our borders at will. It may be a decade before the damage is fully realized, but the enemy will be within our borders. This article addresses some of these issues in more detail. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/11955742/We-are-seeing-the-last-dying-days-of-open-frontiers-in-Europe.html

My post gave a link which included his broadcast.

Just curious, can we assume that you did listen to his commentary -- just 5 minutes or so, until he begins talking about his forty solutions. For example, can you give us just four or five reasons for his claim that Obama is attacking the United States? I don't mind an honest disagreement, so long as one is educated on his views.. For example, do you know what has been happening to the military lately. What exactly was his point regarding the borders -- what was the comparison that he used. This would be far useful that simply saying "No he isn't." I really did have a reason for starting this thread.

OK, and I' sure that you understand that is based on the assumption that ancient "shorthand" placed no limitations on nuances of expression. In dealing with the critics, I have learned to look carefully at assumptions when dealing with conclusions. It has become an annoying habit. In my case, I have always assumed that reformed Egyptian was shorthand, but you have opened up another possibility.

"He's clueless and that says it all." OK, you do have a clue, so please help us. 1. Would a rational person start a world war? (Of course not) 2. Savage gives several points where Obama is making war on his own country. Do you agree with him. 3. Would a rational person who made an oath to protect this country wage war upon his country? Hoping you can educate us on what's going on in the world -- the Iran treaty, ISIS, Iraq, dismantling the military in both funding and manpower, open borders. Savage is clueless, so please give us a clue.

You have a good point, except for the previous verse: We have written this record according to our knowledge, in the characters which are called among us the reformed Egyptian, being handed down and altered by us, according to our manner of speech. It appears that he is saying that it is the characters which are called reformed Egyptian. But he goes on to say (the language) "being altered by us, according to our manner of speech". Obviously you don't use characters when speaking, so this phrase may mean "being altered, so to speak, as we would say." I am not convinced that this was a language, in the normal meaning of the word -- it was not a spoken language. But we could both agree that reformed Egyptian imposed a restrictive structure compared to writing in straight Hebrew. This makes sense since Hebrew was a language rich in the vocabulary of the scriptures.

I came across a very interesting commentary by Michael Savage. He gives us a perspective on what is happening in the world that would sound very familiar to members of the church. I suggest that you listen to the first five minutes of his broadcast. Very thought provoking.

Nibley said (more or less), "Woe to that generation which is able to understand why these chapters are in the Book of Mormon."

CRITIC the Church claims the plates written in "reformed Egyptian." Why would the Jews be writing sacred texts in the language of their captors? RESPONSE 1. Lehi left Jerusalem just prior to the Babylonian conquest. If you were aware of Jewish history at this time, Egypt and Israel had an alliance against the Babylonians. In fact, Jeremiah warned the king against this alliance. 2. "Reformed Egyptian" is not a language. It is a writing system -- a form of hebrew shorthand. Now, let me ask you a question. What if you found out that there were discovered documents written by Jewish scribes who were also using Egyptian characters. Let's call this palestinian hieratic. http://www.academia.edu/8029642/The_Hieratic_Scribal_Tradition_in_Preexilic_Judah http://www.mormoninterpreter.com/palestinian-hieratic/

CRITIC Confused over prophets and apostles -- "there are apostles and prophets all over the Christian world." RESPONSE The Watchman https://youtu.be/StVwi5Sp2Is?list=FLOGthnff2vitBgcB66Ngm1A Apostles and Prophets https://youtu.be/egj9Ndq0S_U?t=1m30s Witness of a Living Apostle https://youtu.be/2wnE2xqdePk?list=FLOGthnff2vitBgcB66Ngm1A

CRITIC General discussion on interpreting the scriptures. RESPONSE It is important to understand that reasonable people can look at the same verses in the Bible and come to different conclusions, Basic salvation doctrines, such as the "works vs faith only" debate, has gone on for centuries. The doctrines of salvation are too important to be left in the hands of the theologians and philosophers in their debates. Can you see why the Lord speaks to His prophets today?

http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/historic-freedmen-records-released See also http://www.discoverfreedmen.org/ Familysearch.org is looking for volunteers to index these records.

Hallelujah! My prayer was answered. My daughter moved into our home with her three small children. And, no, I don't want to talk about it.

CRITIC None of the Mormon websites mentions another church. I am disappointed in this religion for trying to bash other religions. RESPONSE FACT CHECK: http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/interfaith http://articles.latimes.com/2002/dec/21/local/me-religmormon21 http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/catholic-community-services-honors-mormon-apostle-humanitarian-work http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/church-participates-global-interfaith-gathering-salt-lake-city http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865615664/Vatican-brings-faiths-including-LDS-together-in-historic-conference-on-marriage-family.html?pg=all http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/elder-oaks-balance-accommodation-not-culture-wars http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/mormonism-news-getting-it-right-september-18-2015 http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/religious-freedom-is-fairness-for-all http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/faith-counts-video-contest-winners

"Heavenly Father, I have gotten thru this very difficult situation, so please help me to learn the lessons that I need to learn."

Vort, I would have simply sent the money with a short note -- "Sorry that we missed the wedding, and here's the money for the dinner. PS I may have forgotten to mention this, but that TV we got for you was purchased rent-to-own. We paid the first month, so they won't start billing you until next month -- only twelve easy payments."

I wish the husband all the best of luck with his newly acquired bride. Reminds me of a story. Back in the day when couples rode in horse drawn carriages, the newly married husband and wife drove their carriage about 15 miles home. On the way, the horse accidently stumbled. The man said, "One" A few miles later they were going up a steep hill, and the horse came to a very slow walk. "Two" he said. His wife gave him a strange look. Later in their journey, the horse made some noises as it was frightened by a snake. The man got out of the carriage, "Three", and then shot the horse. The wife was very upset. "How could you do such a thing." The man quietly replied, "One."