Let's Meet the Mormons

GREAT PR, MORMONISM

Meet the Mormons is a movie following the lives of six members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  The film highlights how much the church has made a difference in their lives, and showing the positives of living life as a Mormon.  Being a Mormon is totally normal…well that’s the idea they’re going for anyway.

 

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has spent a lot of time and money investing in its PR in the past few years.  They have endeavored relentlessly to change the public’s perception of them from strange and secluded to normal and inclusive.  The church has even highlighted celebrities like David Archuleta and Lindsey Stirling, all in an attempt to show that being Mormon is normal, and perhaps even advantageous.  You should be a Mormon because being Mormon is normal and good for you.

However, the number of celebrities who adhere to Mormon teachings is irrelevant when it comes to its validity.  We shouldn’t be asking, Is Mormonism acceptable?  But rather, Is Mormonism True?

IS MORMONISM TRUE?

The teachings of the Book of Mormon contradict history in very obvious ways (Native Americans are descendants of Israelites being one example), and there is virtually no evidence for the extraordinary historical events it accounts for.  It references technologies, events and even animals that were not around at the time and place the described events occurred.  Historians do not regard the Book of Mormon as historically accurate in any way.  For more information, check out this link: http://mormonthink.com/outline.htm#outline

Furthermore, Joseph Smith allegedly translated the Book of Mormon from ancient golden plates.  An angel helped him translate the plates to English, giving us the modern Book of Mormon.  After that, the plates have not been found.  Think about this: the entire Book of Mormon was found and translated by one man, and then just disappeared.  Contrast this with the Christian Bible, written over many centuries by dozens of different authors from different time periods, social backgrounds and belief systems.

The fact is that becoming a Mormon means accepting these arbitrary beliefs on faith alone with absolutely no grounds in reality.  While many people think they can pick and choose beliefs, these teachings are at the heart of the history the Book of Mormon teaches. 

IS CHRISTIANITY TRUE?

Likewise, we ask the same question for Christianity.  Is Christianity True?  Let’s examine:

-Jesus resurrected from the dead

-More info: http://thewaymattseesit.blogspot.com/2014/03/lets-argue-resurrection.html

-The New Testament contains the most historically reliable documents of antiquity

            -More info: http://carm.org/when-were-gospels-written-and-by-whom

-Philosophical arguments leading to the Christian God’s existence

-More info: http://www.reasonablefaith.org/the-new-atheism-and-five-arguments-for-god

-Historical existence of Biblical characters such as Moses, David, and Jesus are undisputed by historians.

Historians do not question the historicity of key Biblical figures such as Moses, David, Solomon, Jesus, Paul, and many others.  These people are regarded as true historical figures.  Many of the sites of the events described in the Bible are found in Israel today.  In fact, in the words of Dr. William Lane Craig, “the crucifixion and death of Jesus is something that simply is not in dispute by historians today.”

-For more info: http://www.reasonablefaith.org/establishing-the-crucifixion-of-jesus

Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus prayed before he was crucified

CONCLUSIONS

In short, regardless of the attempts the LDS Church tries to make to “normalize” the view of Mormonism, we have seen that the central core of Mormonism contradicts history.  The answer to the question, “Is Mormonism True?” is a simple, “No.”

Christianity, on the other hand, has a whole lot more going for it.

Hopefully this encourages you to think for yourself, and to make educated decisions when it comes to God, Christianity, and finding truth.  If more people were challenged to think critically about faith, movements such as Mormonism would not exist.



*For more information on Mormon beliefs, check out this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3BqLZ8UoZk