Conscientious Alternative to Mormonism

[_Drifting]

As I pointed out, I have read the King James Version of the Bible from cover to cover at least three times. It is a very large book, requiring quite an investment of time to read it completely. Why should I think that there was something in a modern version of the Bible that would stand out to me that I didn't see one of the three times I'd previously read the KJV?

Did you manage to spot the stuff that had been translated incorrectly?

[_Yoda]

My sincerity is on trial here so I'll tell the complete truth. My wife and I are extremely good matches for each other in many ways; theology is not one of them. I'm very much interested in reasoning things out theologically; she is not interested in that kind of reasoning at all. This is not to say she doesn't have a theology; she very definitely has her beliefs; it's just that she thinks stating her beliefs should be enough, and everybody in the family should just align with her, pretty much because she's the mom, and thinks arguing about faith matters is unproductive.

If you want to "maintain the peace" in your household, and your wife is staunchly TBM, there is NO amount of theological reasoning that is going to suffice.

If keeping peace with the family is your primary concern, then I suggest you do what I have done and attempt to find peace within a NOM theological philosophy.

Now, let me say that not all NOMs are alike. Some NOMs dismiss Christiantiy entirely, and merely go to Church to keep the peace with the family, or to cotntinue their social network. That has not been my experience or approach. I do believe in Jesus Christ, and I believe in enough of the core functions of the gospel of Jesus Christ that I am comfortable worshipping Christ within the walls of faith I have grown up in, even if I don't believe in many of the tenets.

[_KevinSim]

Non-Mormon Congregations in Utah and Salt Lake County

UT..SL..Name

.....1..American Baptist Association
.....3..American Baptist Churches in the USA
.....1..Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
.....1..Apostolic Christian Churches (Nazarean)
.....1..Armenian Apostolic Church / Catholicossate Etchmiadzin
.3..12..Assemblies of God
.....3..Baha'i
.....2..Buddhism
.3..22..Catholic Church
.....1..Charismatic Churches Independent
.....2..Christian and Missionary Alliance
.....2..Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
.....2..Christian Churches and Churches of Christ
.....4..Christian Reformed Church in North America
.1...1..Church of God (Cleveland, Tennessee)
.....2..Church of God of Prophecy
.1...2..Church of the Nazarene
.1...2..Churches of Christ
.1...1..Community Church of Christ
.1...3..Conservative Baptist Association of America
.1...5..Episcopal Church
.1...3..Evangelical Free Church of America
.1...5..Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
.....1..Friends (Quakers)
.2...2..General Association of Regular Baptist Churches
.....2..Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America
.....1..Holy Orthodox Church in North America
.1...1..Hinduism
.2...4..International Church of the Foursquare Gospel
.....1..International Churches of Christ
.....1..International Pentecostal Holiness Church
.....5..Jehovah's Witnesses
.....5..Judaism
.1...4..Lutheran Church
.....3..Muslim Estimate
.....1..National Association of Congregational Christian Churches
.....1..Orthodox Church in America: Territorial Dioceses
.....1..Orthodox Presbyterian Church
.2...8..Presbyterian Church (USA)
.....2..Presbyterian Church in America
.....2..Salvation Army
.2...3..Seventh-Day Adventist Church
.....1..Sikhism
.3..17..Southern Baptist Convention
.....2..Unitarian Universalist Association
.2...3..United Church of Christ
.....9..United Methodist Church
.....1..Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches
.....2..Vineyard USA
.....2..Wicca
.....1..Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod

51 denominations represented in Salt Lake County, 18 in Utah County.
167 congregations in Salt Lake County, 29 in Utah County, 196 altogether.

[_KevinSim]

Did you manage to spot the stuff that had been translated incorrectly?

I spotted the incorrect translation of Isaiah 7:14, but that's all. I don't know any of the languages of the original Biblical documents (Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek, right?), so if I hadn't read what other scholars have said about Isaiah 7 I wouldn't have realized that that one was an error.

[_KevinSim]

If you want to "maintain the peace" in your household, and your wife is staunchly TBM, there is NO amount of theological reasoning that is going to suffice.

I do (want to maintain the peace) and she is (staunchly TBM), so I don't even try to reason things out theologically with her. It's hard enough to get her to engage with me on a political argument, so when I'm in the mood to debate with her I usually do debate with her over something political.

I think she knows I don't believe there's a need for God to have created practically anything, while at the same time she looks at the miracle of a human baby and can't escape the opinion that someone must have intelligently designed said baby; I think in this matter she realizes we just agree to disagree. (I don't have a belief that God did not create said baby; I just don't see a compelling argument that God did create the baby from the evidence at hand.)

If keeping peace with the family is your primary concern, then I suggest you do what I have done and attempt to find peace within a NOM theological philosophy.

The problem with that is that I'm not a NOM. My wife won't debate theology with me, but a couple of my home teaching families will, and I've found my local elder's quorum welcoming my sometimes not orthodox viewpoints.

I do believe in Jesus Christ, and I believe in enough of the core functions of the gospel of Jesus Christ that I am comfortable worshipping Christ within the walls of faith I have grown up in, even if I don't believe in many of the tenets.

I believe in Jesus Christ too. I don't believe in all the tenets of the LDS Church. For example I don't believe in the global flood described in Genesis. If there was a flood at all I think it was probably regional. But I think it's pretty safe to say I believe in the vast majority of LDS tenets.

[_Yoda]

I believe in Jesus Christ too. I don't believe in all the tenets of the LDS Church. For example I don't believe in the global flood described in Genesis. If there was a flood at all I think it was probably regional. But I think it's pretty safe to say I believe in the vast majority of LDS tenets.

I don't really understand, then, why you are seeking an alternative. It sounds like you fit into the NOM category pretty well, whether or not you realize it.

[_KevinSim]

I don't really understand, then, why you are seeking an alternative. It sounds like you fit into the NOM category pretty well, whether or not you realize it.

I can go my whole life with faith that my way of knowing that the LDS Church is true makes more sense than any other way of knowing any other faith is true, or I can ask what other ways there are for knowing other faiths are true, and compare those ways with my way, and actually see whether my way of knowing God's truth makes more sense than any other way. Is it really so hard to see why I chose the latter? Combine a healthy dose of curiosity with a longing I've always had to be as sure as possible that I'm doing the will of God, and I think that produces someone who asks the questions I've been asking.

[_SteelHead]

Knowing that a faith is true is an oxymoron.

Having conviction that you are living you life according to god's will is great, but the LDS methodology for verification of faith is no more sound than any other. In fact the LDS methodology is an exercise in circular reasoning.

[_Tobin]

I don't really understand, then, why you are seeking an alternative. It sounds like you fit into the NOM category pretty well, whether or not you realize it.

I can go my whole life with faith that my way of knowing that the LDS Church is true makes more sense than any other way of knowing any other faith is true, or I can ask what other ways there are for knowing other faiths are true, and compare those ways with my way, and actually see whether my way of knowing God's truth makes more sense than any other way. Is it really so hard to see why I chose the latter? Combine a healthy dose of curiosity with a longing I've always had to be as sure as possible that I'm doing the will of God, and I think that produces someone who asks the questions I've been asking.

Kevin - I'm Mormon and I don't believe the LDS Church is "true". It is a man-made organization lead by men. Now, the gospel is "true". The statement that God exists is "true". But, I really don't understand the statement that the LDS Church is "true". What is so true about it and which version of the LDS Church is true? I'll give you a multiple choice to make this easy:
A) The restored Joseph Smith version of the 1830's-1840's?
B) The BY version that endorsed polygamy and barred blacks and women from their rightful role in the priesthood (oh and openly disfellowships and attack gays)?
C) The post polygamy version that barred blacks and women from their rightful role in the priesthood (oh and openly disfellowships and attack gays)?
D) The Church of today that finally gave blacks their rightful role in the priesthood but still denies women from their rightful role in the priesthood (oh and openly disfellowships and attack gays)?
or my favorite E) None of the above.

[Guest]

Kevin - I'm Mormon and I don't believe the LDS Church is "true". It is a man-made organization lead by men. Now, the gospel is "true". The statement that God exists is "true". But, I really don't understand the statement that the LDS Church is "true".

You would have enjoyed Elder Poelman's talk at Conference in 1984 had it not been edited and re-filmed to try and hide what he said originally.
Which was the Church and the Gospel are two separate things. He also said that you can live the Gospel without the Church (I'm paraphrasing) which is probably why it was canned in the post Conference editing process.