Hi everyone,
My friend Richard and I recently did another interview and this one was about the many versions of Joseph Smith's First Vision. As with the other interviews, we had way too much material for the hour, in spite of trying to squeeze in as much data as possible. It was a real education, even though I had looked at the different versions before. What leaped out at me this time was the fact that the first few versions of Smith's First Vision were essentially what one might call "evangelical" in nature. What do I mean? First of all, Smith claimed initially that it was through long and diligent study of the Bible that he became convinced that all churches were in error, much in the same way that other restoration-type churches came to similar conclusions and then as a result attempted to "restore" authentic Christianity through their teachings. Also, in the early versions of the First Vision, Jesus tells Smith that his sins are forgiven and he is very happy for it, though he soon has a lapse and falls back into his sin-filled life. But none of this is how the currently accepted and canonized version of the First Vision reads. Why? It's very simple - if Smith had indeed relied solely on the Bible to tell him that all churches were in error, then there wouldn't be any need at all for the Book of Mormon, no exclusivity of Mormonism over any other restoration-type church, in short, nothing to make Mormonism special enough for Smith to use it as his ultimate scam.
The latest interview is available at the KFUO AM archives of the show called Studio A, hosted by Roland Lettner.
Thoughts and/or comments?
Art
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Friday, March 5, 2010
Out of Mormonism
Hi everyone,
I've had the privilege of being on the radio twice in the past two weeks with a great ex-Mormon friend named Richard, and we have discussed a number of important facts and some of the big lies of Mormonism.. It takes courage to do what Richard has done and I admire him greatly for it. He has also been extremely helpful to me in educating me about the Mormon mindset and what it is like to be a Mormon. I am constantly amazed at just how different the Mormon world and world view are from reality and expecially from Christianity.
Something else that has been made abundantly clear to me since getting involved with the Ex-Mormon Foundation is how much ex-Mormons have suffered in their leaving "the church", whether at the hands of church leadership, family, friends, and even in many cases, business relationships. So many people hurt because of a misguided egomaniac and his phony "revelations", as well as the many other at times convenient revelations and pronouncements since the religion first came into being.
Oh, I suppose that to the random Mormon who might visit this blog I'm just another angry "anti" on a rant about his or her beloved church, but it has gotten far more personal than just venting my spleen about percieved wrong-doings by an organization that I call a false religion. This religion has wantonly destroyed possibly thousands of people just because those people couldn't find the answers to the questions they had and because of that, made the incredibly difficult decision to leave, or who perhaps were forced to leave because they could no longer abide the lies of the church they had come to trust with their earthly and spiritual lives. Because of this and other reasons, I have put effort over the last thirty-something years to try to expose the lies of Mormonism and I believe that God has blessed that effort with a measure of success. As it says in the Bible, heaven rejoices when even one individual is saved, so if I can help even one person leave Mormonism and find the truth, I am truly blessed.
To those who have left Mormonism and feel that God is just a myth, I am sorry that you feel that way, yet I think I am beginnig to understand why you feel the way you do. You see, the God I worship is not the same God of Mormonism, nor is the Jesus of Mormonism the same Jesus I have worshipped all of my life. Because of that, it has been difficult for me to understand why many who have left Mormonism - people who were devout Mormons, now have little or no room for the God I worship. I haven't had to deal with endless rituals, priesthood ceremonies, temple recommends, secret underwear, or any of the other trappings of Mormonism. I've just known about a God who loved me so much that He sent His Son to earth to lead a perfect life and die a miserable death and then rise again so that I could be made blameless before Him. Not only that, but because of what Jesus did, there was quite literally nothing that I could do to save myself, but that was a good thing because Jesus did everything for me, freeing me to live a life where I could tell others about what He did for me and for the rest of the world.
I am not trying to recruit people into Christianity nor lecture anyone as to how they should live, but am rather trying to tell in my own meager way what Christ has done for me and to say that He can do it for those who have left Mormonism too.
I tried to attach the two interviews to this post but was unsuccessful. If you want to hear the interviews, go to the KFUO AM website, which I believe is kfuo.org, and check the archives of the Studio A radio show with Roland Lettner. Other interviews that I have done with Roland are also available in the archives, and some are also available at our website: http://www.solomonspalding.info/.
As a side note, has anyone been watching the "Big Love" series on HBO? I wonder what the background is of the screenwriters? The show seems to very accurately for the most part, portray both mainstream Mormonism as well as the fundamentalist polygamous groups. In fact, some of the polygamous people in the show seem to be eerily similar to known polygamous leaders from the past and present. So, if any of you have any comments about Big Love, feel free to share them with us, okay?
Art
I've had the privilege of being on the radio twice in the past two weeks with a great ex-Mormon friend named Richard, and we have discussed a number of important facts and some of the big lies of Mormonism.. It takes courage to do what Richard has done and I admire him greatly for it. He has also been extremely helpful to me in educating me about the Mormon mindset and what it is like to be a Mormon. I am constantly amazed at just how different the Mormon world and world view are from reality and expecially from Christianity.
Something else that has been made abundantly clear to me since getting involved with the Ex-Mormon Foundation is how much ex-Mormons have suffered in their leaving "the church", whether at the hands of church leadership, family, friends, and even in many cases, business relationships. So many people hurt because of a misguided egomaniac and his phony "revelations", as well as the many other at times convenient revelations and pronouncements since the religion first came into being.
Oh, I suppose that to the random Mormon who might visit this blog I'm just another angry "anti" on a rant about his or her beloved church, but it has gotten far more personal than just venting my spleen about percieved wrong-doings by an organization that I call a false religion. This religion has wantonly destroyed possibly thousands of people just because those people couldn't find the answers to the questions they had and because of that, made the incredibly difficult decision to leave, or who perhaps were forced to leave because they could no longer abide the lies of the church they had come to trust with their earthly and spiritual lives. Because of this and other reasons, I have put effort over the last thirty-something years to try to expose the lies of Mormonism and I believe that God has blessed that effort with a measure of success. As it says in the Bible, heaven rejoices when even one individual is saved, so if I can help even one person leave Mormonism and find the truth, I am truly blessed.
To those who have left Mormonism and feel that God is just a myth, I am sorry that you feel that way, yet I think I am beginnig to understand why you feel the way you do. You see, the God I worship is not the same God of Mormonism, nor is the Jesus of Mormonism the same Jesus I have worshipped all of my life. Because of that, it has been difficult for me to understand why many who have left Mormonism - people who were devout Mormons, now have little or no room for the God I worship. I haven't had to deal with endless rituals, priesthood ceremonies, temple recommends, secret underwear, or any of the other trappings of Mormonism. I've just known about a God who loved me so much that He sent His Son to earth to lead a perfect life and die a miserable death and then rise again so that I could be made blameless before Him. Not only that, but because of what Jesus did, there was quite literally nothing that I could do to save myself, but that was a good thing because Jesus did everything for me, freeing me to live a life where I could tell others about what He did for me and for the rest of the world.
I am not trying to recruit people into Christianity nor lecture anyone as to how they should live, but am rather trying to tell in my own meager way what Christ has done for me and to say that He can do it for those who have left Mormonism too.
I tried to attach the two interviews to this post but was unsuccessful. If you want to hear the interviews, go to the KFUO AM website, which I believe is kfuo.org, and check the archives of the Studio A radio show with Roland Lettner. Other interviews that I have done with Roland are also available in the archives, and some are also available at our website: http://www.solomonspalding.info/.
As a side note, has anyone been watching the "Big Love" series on HBO? I wonder what the background is of the screenwriters? The show seems to very accurately for the most part, portray both mainstream Mormonism as well as the fundamentalist polygamous groups. In fact, some of the polygamous people in the show seem to be eerily similar to known polygamous leaders from the past and present. So, if any of you have any comments about Big Love, feel free to share them with us, okay?
Art
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