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As a TBM I often had nagging questions and thoughts about a few things. Usually when they came up I passed them off based on pat answers I had been taught or just ignored then because of my testimony. Did any of you have similar type thoughts? Here are a few:

1: Why would Jesus come to earth, establish his church, call apostles, etc just to have it all fall apart 50 years or so after his death? Why would he do that and then restore it 1800 years later. If the people were not righteous enough to accept it why not wait till they were?

2: Why did God allow evil people to take important parts our of his word, the Bible? Why would this be part of the plan?

3: If the Book of Mormon is really of God why was it so poorly worded in many of its passages?

4: Wasn't it rather convenient for Joseph Smith to write himself into a prophecy in the Book of Mormon as well as his revisions of the Bible? Also how about those early revelations which say this generations shall have God's word through Joseph Smith and that he was the only one to get it? Seems pretty convenient to write yourself into your own scripture.

5: If the LDS is God’s only true church with his power and authority why is it so small and really insignificant to the rest of the world? I understand that the Book of Mormon says God’s church would always be smaller but less than 1% of the population? That is really, really small.

6: Why does God only talk directly to one person to lead? Why not talk to more of us directly. Why do we have to trust one person with the truth. The scriptures say over and over not to put our trust in the arm of flesh but isn’t following a prophet just that?

7: I am told to pray about the truth of what the prophet says. What happens if I get a different answer than what he teaches.

Many of the above I even thought about as a teen seeking to find my way. Anyway, maybe that is why I ended up where I am now. I always seemed to have such questions.

Yes to all the items on your list. In particular, number 5 was very nagging for me.

Another question that often tickled me was, "Will I have to wear a scarlet letter in heaven for not telling my bishop EVERYTHING?"

I asked that question at least monthly for most of my young adult and adult life.

Jason Bourne wrote:As a TBM I often had nagging questions and thoughts about a few things. Usually when they came up I passed them off based on pat answers I had been taught or just ignored then because of my testimony. Did any of you have similar type thoughts? Here are a few:

1: Why would Jesus come to earth, establish his church, call apostles, etc just to have it all fall apart 50 years or so after his death? Why would he do that and then restore it 1800 years later. If the people were not righteous enough to accept it why not wait till they were?

2: Why did God allow evil people to take important parts our of his word, the Bible? Why would this be part of the plan?

3: If the Book of Mormon is really of God why was it so poorly worded in many of its passages?

4: Wasn't it rather convenient for Joseph Smith to write himself into a prophecy in the Book of Mormon as well as his revisions of the Bible? Also how about those early revelations which say this generations shall have God's word through Joseph Smith and that he was the only one to get it? Seems pretty convenient to write yourself into your own scripture.

5: If the LDS is God’s only true church with his power and authority why is it so small and really insignificant to the rest of the world? I understand that the Book of Mormon says God’s church would always be smaller but less than 1% of the population? That is really, really small.

6: Why does God only talk directly to one person to lead? Why not talk to more of us directly. Why do we have to trust one person with the truth. The scriptures say over and over not to put our trust in the arm of flesh but isn’t following a prophet just that?

7: I am told to pray about the truth of what the prophet says. What happens if I get a different answer than what he teaches.

Many of the above I even thought about as a teen seeking to find my way. Anyway, maybe that is why I ended up where I am now. I always seemed to have such questions.

Those questions and others of the same nature led me out of religion entirely. God always seems to be very similar to the cultural expectations of the people that worship him. Once you look at God as a construct of man those question have very simple answers.

Jason Bourne wrote:As a TBM I often had nagging questions and thoughts about a few things. Usually when they came up I passed them off based on pat answers I had been taught or just ignored then because of my testimony. Did any of you have similar type thoughts? Here are a few:

1: Why would Jesus come to earth, establish his church, call apostles, etc just to have it all fall apart 50 years or so after his death? Why would he do that and then restore it 1800 years later. If the people were not righteous enough to accept it why not wait till they were?

2: Why did God allow evil people to take important parts our of his word, the Bible? Why would this be part of the plan?

3: If the Book of Mormon is really of God why was it so poorly worded in many of its passages?

4: Wasn't it rather convenient for Joseph Smith to write himself into a prophecy in the Book of Mormon as well as his revisions of the Bible? Also how about those early revelations which say this generations shall have God's word through Joseph Smith and that he was the only one to get it? Seems pretty convenient to write yourself into your own scripture.

5: If the LDS is God’s only true church with his power and authority why is it so small and really insignificant to the rest of the world? I understand that the Book of Mormon says God’s church would always be smaller but less than 1% of the population? That is really, really small.

6: Why does God only talk directly to one person to lead? Why not talk to more of us directly. Why do we have to trust one person with the truth. The scriptures say over and over not to put our trust in the arm of flesh but isn’t following a prophet just that?

7: I am told to pray about the truth of what the prophet says. What happens if I get a different answer than what he teaches.

Many of the above I even thought about as a teen seeking to find my way. Anyway, maybe that is why I ended up where I am now. I always seemed to have such questions.

What I suggest is that you pray for a leading from God for another church. I do not know where you live, but an independent fundamentalist church might just help you. There are also independant baptist churches. Find a small loving congregation that loves the Word of God and you may find the answers you are seeking. I find that small churches are more one on one. May God bless your journey.

What I suggest is you become a candomblista. Exu loves you. But with candomble you have a veritable plethora of deities to choose from. Find the one that best matches your personality and views.

Jason Bourne wrote:As a TBM I often had nagging questions and thoughts about a few things. Usually when they came up I passed them off based on pat answers I had been taught or just ignored then because of my testimony. Did any of you have similar type thoughts? Here are a few:

1: Why would Jesus come to earth, establish his church, call apostles, etc just to have it all fall apart 50 years or so after his death? Why would he do that and then restore it 1800 years later. If the people were not righteous enough to accept it why not wait till they were?

2: Why did God allow evil people to take important parts our of his word, the Bible? Why would this be part of the plan?

3: If the Book of Mormon is really of God why was it so poorly worded in many of its passages?

4: Wasn't it rather convenient for Joseph Smith to write himself into a prophecy in the Book of Mormon as well as his revisions of the Bible? Also how about those early revelations which say this generations shall have God's word through Joseph Smith and that he was the only one to get it? Seems pretty convenient to write yourself into your own scripture.

5: If the LDS is God’s only true church with his power and authority why is it so small and really insignificant to the rest of the world? I understand that the Book of Mormon says God’s church would always be smaller but less than 1% of the population? That is really, really small.

6: Why does God only talk directly to one person to lead? Why not talk to more of us directly. Why do we have to trust one person with the truth. The scriptures say over and over not to put our trust in the arm of flesh but isn’t following a prophet just that?

7: I am told to pray about the truth of what the prophet says. What happens if I get a different answer than what he teaches.

Many of the above I even thought about as a teen seeking to find my way. Anyway, maybe that is why I ended up where I am now. I always seemed to have such questions.

Jason,

The more I learned about LDS history when I began digging into it, the more evident that not only was JSJr's claims convenient to his own role and claim to "god's" authority, but also his successors in the FP/12. It was very disheartening for me, having then recently given 2 years full-time to what I came to realize is not what it claims to be. At least with Franklin Covey, you get a nifty planner for your money.

Really great questions, especially #5. If you take 14 million members and divide that by the 6 billion people on earth, the LDS church is only .02% of the world’s population and that is total membership. You would think that God’s one and only true church would do a little better than that.

After leaving the church, the one question that finally got me to give up on Christianity altogether is “Why does there even have to be an Atonement in the first place?” Why would a God create mankind and then want to punish everybody for acting exactly the way he created them? If Jesus could live a perfect life, why couldn’t God have given all of us some of his God DNA and let us be perfect too?

Time to bust out the hard liquor, illicit drugs, and visit the whore houses.

Polygamy-Porter wrote:Time to bust out the hard liquor, illicit drugs, and visit the whore houses.

Ah yes, those old mutual activities were great...

Number 5 is especially good in light of the fact that whenever you bring up all the other, smaller versions of Mormonism, suddenly they switch stories. Once you know the Book of Mormon is true, then it's obvious that the correct version of Mormonism would be the biggest, most successful one.