I quit the Church!!!

[_Mercury]

Obviously, in the most general terms, it's a hoax.

Is this a hoax?

Edit: Its not! Wow! Good for you Paul!

[_Jason Bourne]

WOW!

This brings me out of lurking retirement.

7. ???

Welcome to my world Paul. Good to see you here. Good to have you on our team.

-Porter

Hey PP! Nice to know you are alive and kicking. Hope you are well.

[_Yoda]

Obviously, in the most general terms, it's a hoax.

Is this a hoax?

I'm confused, Merc. Where are you quoting this comment from Paul?

His decision to leave the Church is not a hoax.

[_Jason Bourne]

Hey Paul

Decisions like this are tough and I know you do not make it lightly. I believe you have a good heart. Blessings and best wishes in your journey.

[_Trevor]

First you need to get me to criticize the brethren.

I'll only recommend it when they deserve it. Right now, I would say Elders Holland and Oaks are crying out for it.

[_Paul Osborne]

I'm confused, Merc. Where are you quoting this comment from Paul?

His decision to leave the Church is not a hoax

Liz,

It stems from a comment I made about the Book of Abraham being a hoax from the point of view that it's not a genuine translation from Egyptian papyrus but a production put on by Joseph Smith.

For example: The interpretations/translations contained in Facsimile No. 3 are a hoax from the standpoint of the Egyptian artist who made the original. If the original author of Facsimile No. 3 could step forward today he would tell us that Joseph Smith didn't know what he was talking about but has greatly misrepresented his work. The Egyptian would have every right to sue the prophet for Egyptian copyright infringement.

Paul O

[_Morrissey]

Oliver, David and other witnesses on their deathbed all reaffirmed their testimony of the Book of Mormon. And that means a great deal.

Yes, perhaps, but we cannot know what it means. We can speculate. One thing it cannot be taken to mean is that the Book of Mormon is true. From thousands of years of observing human behavior will millions upon millions upon millions of data points, one thing we've learned is that humans say and do any number of things for any number of reasons. It is simply foolish to take any one thing in isolation and draw definitive conclusions. It must be understood within the broader context. (Which is another reason why DCPs naïve faith in the meaning of the Witnesses and Hollands recent talks are so wrong headed, and so obviously wrong headed).

Deathbed affirmations of the Book of Mormon must be considered with all the other evidence, the mounds and mounds of it, pointing to the Book of Mormon as a 19th century man-made creation. Any suggestion that a deathbed affirmation Trump's all of this is, well, stupid.

[_why me]

Deathbed affirmations of the Book of Mormon must be considered with all the other evidence, the mounds and mounds of it, pointing to the Book of Mormon as a 19th century man-made creation. Any suggestion that a deathbed affirmation Trump's all of this is, well, stupid.

If we were dealing with one deathbed affirmation, I would agree. But in this case we are not. We have quite a few deathbed affirmations. I don't think that these men would risk damnation by lying on their deathbed. Too much at stake. And there would be no reason to give an affirmation to begin with. Why bother at all?

Their affirmations are a huge plus and make the Mormon case very strong.

[Guest]

Deathbed affirmations of the Book of Mormon must be considered with all the other evidence, the mounds and mounds of it, pointing to the Book of Mormon as a 19th century man-made creation. Any suggestion that a deathbed affirmation Trump's all of this is, well, stupid.

If we were dealing with one deathbed affirmation, I would agree. But in this case we are not. We have quite a few deathbed affirmations. I don't think that these men would risk damnation by lying on their deathbed. Too much at stake. And there would be no reason to give an affirmation to begin with. Why bother at all?

Their affirmations are a huge plus and make the Mormon case very strong.

How many were tape recorded or verified by hostile witnesses?

Also, how many witnesses are we talking about with deathbed affirmations? Didn't think it was many. Whitmer wrote of witnessing Cowdery's - do you believe everything he was writing at the time?

[_Polygamy-Porter]

Their affirmations are a huge plus and make the Mormon case very strong.

Apparently not strong enough, right Brother Hypocrite?

in my opinion you are worse than we exmormons. At least we stand for what we believe in.

You do not. Inactive for what 30 years? No tithing, no callings, nada, zilch, noth-THING!

And yet I would bet the local ward is the first place you would go begging for help if you found yourself destitute.

Pathetic.