Ten Questions - Interview with the Stake Presidency

[_Boaz & Lidia]

Share this with them and see if they get it.

[_moksha]

Until I get bored enough again to come visit ... farewell.

So does this mean no wrap up from the Stake Presidency questions?

[_karl61]

Share this with them and see if they get it.

I think Paul Dunn got a bad rap: he got caught but what he did has been done all through out judaism, christianity and Mormonism - historical fiction created to prove a certain point.

[_Yoda]

Kindly leave me out of this. Frankly, Will, your posts on MADB seemed rather threatening, and I took them that way until you told me repeatedly that you were just joking. I take you at your word, but then I am probably too trusting, as beastie said.

Actually, John, I never said I was "joking". "Joking" is not a truly accurate term when it comes to these things. In some ways, I was very serious. Just not in the ways you thought.

But I suspect this is a futile undertaking. It's like trying to explain the meaning of Act Without Words to someone for whom everything must be spelled out with cold, concrete clarity.

I am willing to have you all believe whatever most gratifies you.

Until I get bored enough again to come visit ... farewell.

Don't let the door hit your butt on the way out. You're welcome to post here. Anyone is. But, frankly, you certainly won't be missed by me. Anyone who treats Runtu the way you have is truly an ass.

[_Who Knows]

Are you going to let us know how it went Will?

[_Jason Bourne]

If the prophets are only told what God decides to tell them, then the prophets are on their own when it comes to everything else. These prophets/men then become speculators/prognosticators just like the rest of us. We are left to make our own choices and choose our own beliefs after hearkening to the voice of the prophets. The voice of the prophet has never or rarely had significant conflict with core practices/teachings which point one towards Christ...such as sacrament, obedience, service, sacrifice, making covenants, etc. Throughout the church's history the core practices/teachings which lead toward Christlike living and behavior have remained fairly constant. Application of those practices/teachings has varied. Apparent exceptions, such as some of the anomilies associated with polygamy/polyandry, blacks and the priesthood, location of the landing site of the Lehite colony, views towards God's progenitors, etc., may be chalked up to individual interpretation/practice extracurricular to or in opposition of, even if innocently, to the core principles and/or teachings. Where mistakes have been made they have been the mistakes of men. If opposition is to be experienced in all things then would we not expect there to be choices to be made even when it comes to following the prophet? For choices to be made, there would have to be alternatives to choose from wouldn't there?

Hi MG

here is the problem. The prophets and apostles do not teach that this is how they get God's word nor do they encourage the members to come to such a convoluted-sorry but that is what is is- conclusion about what they say.

"The Morning Breaks! The Shadows Flee! The Brightness Dawning of a new day, Lo Zion's banner is unfurled!!!"

That hymns says what the Church really belives.

President Benson said the Prophets have today's news today. It has been taught that the living orcales are more important to us then the writtne word of God. General Conference Ensings should be on the table next to and study like our scriptures.

Follow the brethren and you will not go wrong. The prophet will never lead the Church astray. Talks about earings and following the prophet in everything.

Yet you say " then the prophets are on their own when it comes to everything else. These prophets/men then become speculators/prognosticators just like the rest of us. We are left to make our own choices and choose our own beliefs after hearkening to the voice of the prophets"

How many faithful members really view it like this? certainly almost none.

[_Boaz & Lidia]

Hey Willy,

Where is our promised responses from your illustrious stake presidency?

If you do not follow through and deliver the results as promised in your OP, then you have branded yourself as a LIAR

Something very easy for you Mormons.

[_guy sajer]

I would rather sin than sit through sacrament meeting ..."

And who in their right mind wouldn't?

We've only so many brain cells. Why kill them needlessly?

[_evolving]

for those who can't see the MADB thread - Will posted this yesterday...

They're still "chewing" on the questions. I may know more after our Wednesday meetings. My initial impression is that they probably don't believe that the questions I listed have any basis in truth. But I didn't press them for any answers. I just asked them to consider how we should respond to members who present questions such as these.

These are the questions I posed (I reduced the number to 5 to keep it manageable):

• Why do we sometimes use illustrations, depicting the translation of the Book of Mormon, that show Joseph Smith wearing a breastplate and some kind of “spectacles” while looking at an open set of golden plates, when in reality the Book of Mormon was dictated while he looked at a stone in the bottom of his hat? And the plates weren’t even around!

• Is it true that Joseph Smith married, as plural wives, a 14-year-old (Helen Mar Kimball), a 15-year-old (Maria Lawrence), and at least two women (Zina Diantha Huntington Jacobs and Mary Elizabeth Rollins Lightner) who were already married to and living with their husbands?

• Is it true that the Egyptian papyri from which the Book of Abraham were “translated” were discovered in 1967, and that modern Egyptologists tell us they have nothing to do with Abraham?

• How do we explain the fact that the Book of Mormon mentions horses, steel, chariots, and many other things that (according to archaeologists) were not present in ancient America prior to the arrival of the Europeans?

• Is it true that Elder James E. Talmage smoked hashish, and that even during his time in the Quorum of the Twelve (and when he was writing Jesus the Christ) that he smoked tobacco? If so, how can we believe that he was an inspired apostle?

By the way, I also got the impression that they are pretty sure I'm teetering on the brink of apostasy. I mentioned my association with FAIR and I think they equate FAIR with either Sunstone or devil worship, or maybe a combination of both.

[_Jason Bourne]

• Is it true that Elder James E. Talmage smoked hashish, and that even during his time in the Quorum of the Twelve (and when he was writing Jesus the Christ) that he smoked tobacco? If so, how can we believe that he was an inspired apostle?

Now this is one I never heard! That's it! Will has PUCHED ME OVER THE EDGE AND I AM OUTTA HERE BABY!!!