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Books of Mormon, Abraham, Moses as Inspired Fiction

Posted: Mon Jun 21, 2021 11:47 pm
by Sledge
Let us suppose that, hypothetically, the church publishes a new proclamation that states the Books of Mormon, Abraham and Moses are all inspired, prophetic, and true--but they're fiction. Included in this proclamation is also a statement that the Old Testament is inspired fiction.

Does that solve all y'all's problems? See you in church on Sunday?

Re: Books of Mormon, Abraham, Moses as Inspired Fiction

Posted: Mon Jun 21, 2021 11:53 pm
by Philo Sofee
Sledge wrote:
Mon Jun 21, 2021 11:47 pm
Let us suppose that, hypothetically, the church publishes a new proclamation that states the Books of Mormon, Abraham and Moses are all inspired, prophetic, and true--but they're fiction. Included in this proclamation is also a statement that the Old Testament is inspired fiction.

Does that solve all y'all's problems? See you in church on Sunday?
Why on earth would that even follow?! Attending church would be irrelevant. How come you connect the two?

Re: Books of Mormon, Abraham, Moses as Inspired Fiction

Posted: Mon Jun 21, 2021 11:54 pm
by drumdude
I think this shows some naiveté, as some events and places in the Old Testament (particularly the later ones) are actually corroborated with secular historical evidence.

The Book of Mormon and the Old Testament are not both of the same category. One was made up entirely and has no historical evidence, the other was a collaboration over centuries and integrated both myths and history.

Re: Books of Mormon, Abraham, Moses as Inspired Fiction

Posted: Mon Jun 21, 2021 11:58 pm
by Sledge
So forget about the Old Testament part.

You good?

Re: Books of Mormon, Abraham, Moses as Inspired Fiction

Posted: Tue Jun 22, 2021 12:03 am
by drumdude
This would require that the church leadership is actually knowledgeable and accepting of modern biblical criticism, along with everything that implies. It would completely transform the doctrine of the church.

We have a great example of what that looks like already. It looks like the Community of Christ. Take a glance at how that worked out for them, it decimated their congregations. It turns out that Mormonism and progressivism are like oil and water, they just don't mix.

Re: Books of Mormon, Abraham, Moses as Inspired Fiction

Posted: Tue Jun 22, 2021 12:04 am
by Sledge
It’s hypothetical.

So you good?

Re: Books of Mormon, Abraham, Moses as Inspired Fiction

Posted: Tue Jun 22, 2021 12:06 am
by drumdude
It's not hypothetical, it happened in the Community of Christ already.

I'm not a member of the Community of Christ, either. This would turn into a thread about why many (likely most) ex-Mormons leave religion altogether, with notable exceptions like Grant Palmer and the Tanners.

Re: Books of Mormon, Abraham, Moses as Inspired Fiction

Posted: Tue Jun 22, 2021 12:08 am
by Sledge
The OP is hypothetical.

So would you be good with that

Re: Books of Mormon, Abraham, Moses as Inspired Fiction

Posted: Tue Jun 22, 2021 12:11 am
by drumdude
Sledge wrote:
Tue Jun 22, 2021 12:08 am
The OP is hypothetical.

So would you be good with that
I would not come back to church, no. There are a laundry list of other problems which are bigger than that one, in my opinion. Church leadership is at the very top of that list. I would go as far as to say that the Book of Mormon is not even the defining feature of the religion - it's leadership and corporate organization is.

Re: Books of Mormon, Abraham, Moses as Inspired Fiction

Posted: Tue Jun 22, 2021 12:16 am
by Shulem
Sledge wrote:
Mon Jun 21, 2021 11:47 pm
Let us suppose that, hypothetically, the church publishes a new proclamation that states the Books of Mormon, Abraham and Moses are all inspired, prophetic, and true--but they're fiction. Included in this proclamation is also a statement that the Old Testament is inspired fiction.

Does that solve all y'all's problems? See you in church on Sunday?

I could give a rat's ass what today's Mormon church has to say about anything. Today's Mormon church is nothing more than a song and a dance.

All I care about is *WHAT* Joseph Smith said. *THAT* is Mormonism. The church today is a nothing more than a joke and a skeleton of the old church.