http://www.towertotruth.net/Mormon/witnessing/50_questions.htm

I really like these questions!! I'm grilling my TBM roomie right now and she's stumped on a lot of them...I also like how most of the questions have sources.

Check it out!:)

This one puzzled me:

> 50. Why are Mormon Temple ceremonies secret to the
> public when the Old Testament temple ceremonies were
> open to public knowledge?

Any idea what this is supposed to mean?

Were Solomon's Temple and Herod's Temple open to the public?
Could Gentile tourists wander into the holy of holies and
write down the words to the high priest's prayer on the
Day of Atonement?

UD

Gentiles weren't allowed inside the temple, but the ceremonies were written down in the books of Moses, which was open for anyone to read. The Jews made no secret of what was going on in there, unlike Mormonism, which actively tries to prevent anyone from finding out what goes on in their temples. The Jews understood the difference between "sacred" and "secret."

nickname Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Gentiles weren't allowed inside the temple, but
> the ceremonies were written down in the books of
> Moses, which was open for anyone to read. The Jews
> made no secret of what was going on in there,
> unlike Mormonism, which actively tries to prevent
> anyone from finding out what goes on in their
> temples. The Jews understood the difference
> between "sacred" and "secret."

I understand that we can glean such information from the
Hebrew Bible (assuming it is reliable in its reporting),
but I am less clear on what the typical Roman soldier
standing guard at the gate to the courtyard of the
women could have known 2000 years ago.

Could he have known whether or not the ark of the covenant
was in the House of The Lord? If so, what authority would
have revealed such information to him?

Could he have known the wording to the daily prayers over
the shewbread, the details concerning sin offerings, the
procedure used in ordaining priests, etc.?

UD

#9 is well-worded - it puts the rightful impetus on the believer to justify the church. To me, this statement is all you need (though many others could easily take it's place) to walk away from any Mormon proselytizing effort.

"Can you show me archaeological and historical proof from non-Mormon sources that prove that the peoples and places named in the Book of Mormon are true?"

It's the information age - if there was proof (even minuscule) of the historicity of the BOM then it should be trivial to provide sources. Let them prove the words of their prophets and their scripture - then I'll listen. I'm waiting...

I like them too.
However, most can be weaseled out of, explained away or denied by most literate LDS.
My favorite is #46..."If having a physical body is necessary to become a god, how did Jesus become a god before he had a body?"

If you get an invite to attend the Council of the Gods
before all Creation, then you get honorary godship bestowed
upon you. Works just the same as eternal progression.

That is, unless you propose to save man in his sin -- then
your brevet command in the Heavenly Host is cut short and
you no longer hie off to Kolob for the season's social events.

UD

Elohim: Jehova, make you a member of this council we do, but confer upon you the rank of god, we do not.

Jehova: You must be joking. How can I be a member of the council and not be a god? Whoever heard of such a thing?!

(Elohim and the other gods look at each other uncomfortably)

Jehova: I apologize, master. Thank you master.

And so begins Jehova's plot to take over the council of the gods, using earthlings as his pawns. It's as good as any other explanation on why old testament Jehova is such a douche..

I'll just put this here: http://politicaljesus.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Darth-Jesus.jpg

Yeah my roommate found a bunch of silly loopholes/cop outs for a lot of them. But the ideas behind the q's are good!

Which ones puzzled him?

Using the Bible to disprove the BoM and Mormonism is like using Twilight to prove the existence of vampires. Both books are fictional and written or compiled by persons with an agenda.

#9 is all one needs to disprove the BoM.

There must be a better list of questions out there for Mormons that isn't from an evangelical group pushing their version of Christianity and Bible interpretation. Half of the questions aren't gonna phase a Mormon anyway because they don't take the Bible at face value.

I remember an evangelical friend in high school approached me with one or two of the things mentioned in this list. I didn't believe him, and our friendship was effectively over at that point. I would have to agree that approaching someone to "witness" isn't going to phase a Mormon. The best you can do for a believing Mormon is to be as objective as possible, using only sources from within the church and its publishing house.