Say that the BOM turned out to be a true historical record, would it matter? You can't get Mormonism from the BOM, the real doctrine of the church coincides with Joseph's reprehensible, disgusting behavior. For me even if it were proven correct (not even a little likely), it probably wouldn't change my mind about the religion.

No...Just pay up and shut up!

--but to the believers it is just as real as The History (Herodotus) or the Bible. It's no different than the Jedi here on Earth who claim that the Force used George Lucas as an instrument to bring knowledge of the Force to our planet or Vulcans who say that Gene Roddenberry was influenced by alien visitors who wanted Vulcan philosophy known here on Earth...

You're right. The logic behind it states "If the Book of Mormon is true, then the Church is true."

That's not a logical statement at all. The truth of the Book of Mormon says nothing about the truth of the LDS Church in 2011.

The idea of the Book of Mormon being true is nonsensical to most of us...but helping TBMs see the absurdity of this conditional statement can help them begin to see the absurdity of other things.

Or at least it used to be. I believe the COB hasn't pulled that claim yet.
In my mission we always tied everything back to the Book of Mormon. Having trouble accepting Joseph Smith? Pray about the BofM - you'll get an answer its true and if its true then JS was a prophet... yadda yadda yadda.
Prove the BofM a fraud, and well, what happens if you remove a keystone?

From what I understand, most of the really kooky stuff comes from the D & C and BoA. It's almost like the BoM could be done away with and the core of their current beliefs and rituals wouldn't be touched.

The absence of the BoM wouldn't make much difference.

And it would be as invalid one way as the other. As is the BoM, whether it is seen as part of the church or on its own.

No, it's too late for me. I know too much about the deceptions and the lies, the politics and the prejudices. It's not an organization which I would call myself proud to belong to anymore.

The truthfulness of the BoM makes JS legit as a prophet of god. And if JS was a legit prophet then the church he created was with great plausibility true. It raises plausibility from exactly zero to 50% (inspiration could come from Satan aswell). I wouldn't become a mormon anyway though because their god is clearly either impotent or a total jerk.

'God' is only as good as TSCC leaders' perfect self-image. Therefore, nothing new, nothing useful, nothing true, nothing of substantial knowledge or wisdom (not really!), from the 'Holy Ghost' experience/influence - when the level and standing of top leader is reached.
That is important, because
1) it is the use of the parameters of our egosyntonic/dystonic that keeps us inside of or outside of its narcissistic influence, not its truth.
2) Leaders are overt (and also more perfect), the 'sinful' are forced to be covert and therefore more within its influence and under its power - but today (because the image of what leadership is, is pretty much set in the minds and hearts of all) its much easier to break out when not in much power (when a statistically lesser degree of or level of the egosyntonic in total is felt, or when one has more time to think and feel more freely and individually).

Even if the BoM was verifiably true it still wouldn't matter (to me anyway). Doctrine aside, being a Mormon and living the Mormon lifestyle made me miserable.

They all know it's bunk. They have too. I expect that soon we'll start to hear statements of two kinds
1. those, like recent ones about the BoA, that argue it wouldn't matter if it weren't true. Not much LDS theology comes from it anyway
2. That there are statements from previous leaders that hinted that it might not be literally true. Joseph Smith initially was the "author", historian GA BH Roberts speculated about the possibility that Smith wrote it, etc...

That way, when the whole thing is exposed as obviously false, they can argue that claiming that it is only "inspired fiction" is entirely consistent with what we've "always" said.

From my experiences I'm certain that an overwhelming percentage of members regard the BOM as a literal history. Very few are aware of the countless problems, but the internet is changing that more and more.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/07/2011 06:38PM by wjexmo.

There are other Latterday Saint groups that follow the BoM much more than the LDS do.

If the BoM was to be proven true, it would certainly prove the LDS to be false. Now all ya gotta do is choose who to follow...

If the Book of Mormon is legit, then that means a group of people came to America from the Tower of Babel. In submarines. Lit by glowing rocks.

It means that the world is insane.

Just not in this particular way.

and that Brown skin is a sign that you are cursed by God

If there came some proof that the BOM was "true," i.e., an archelogical dig that found all kinds of proof of Zarahemla, horses, swords of steel, etc. etc., I'd be running back to TSCC begging for baptism.

AND not only that. If someone finds Santa Claus' workshop and the elves, I'll quit my job and move to the North Pole and volunteer my time to do nothing but scoop reindeer shit till the day I die.

If the Book of Mormon were true, then Joseph Smith would be a false prophet, because the Book of Mormon states that polygamy was an abomination in the eyes of God(Jacob chapter 2). The Book of Mormon also teaches that God and Jesus are one and the same being, so Joseph Smith would have been lying about the first vision(at least, his third version anyway).

It is kind of like saying "If the Bible is true, then Catholicism is true." Or, "If the Bible is true then the Methodist faith is true." It doesn't follow.

There are lots of wacky sects that believe in the Book of Mormon.

...if the BoM is correct then chances are one of those wacky sects did get it right.