My Final Answer to the Facebook Truth Debate

Here’s what I’ve put together and sent on 1.12.11:

Hey Luke,

I’ve thought a lot about our on-going conversation.

Here are a few clarifications:

#1. Can you point to some specific contradictions that you see in the Bible.

It seems there has been a misunderstanding. I didn’t say the Bible contradicts itself at all. This is what I said on October 30, 2011:

“We believe that the Book of Mormon is another testament of the same Jesus found in the Old and New Testament, only written in a different part of the world. Nowhere in the Book of Mormon are there contradictions about the Jesus of the New and Old Testament – only confirmation from a different audience who knew and worshiped the same Jesus.

The Book of Mormon confirms our belief in the Christ of the New and Old Testament. It was written by righteous people, starting in the time of Jeremiah of the Old Testament, who fled before Jerusalem was destroyed (see Jeremiah 26:17-19 and Jeremiah 52:3-5). ”

My point is that the Book of Mormon doesn’t contradict the Bible, it confirms the Bible. We look at the Book of Mormon and Bible as two testimonies (see Ezek. 37:15-20) only written by different people in different parts of the world.

#2 Can you show me a couple of translations that have missing words, verses, etc. because I have studied intensely and have never found that to be the case.

My only experience with this is when I was on my mission in Santiago, Chile, many times Jehovah Witnesses would challenge us on our beliefs. I remember looking through their Bible and finding places where specific scriptures were left out. Honestly I don’t even remember which scriptures or what their explanation was, simply that there were missing scriptures from their version of the Bible.

I have a Bible that has been translated into modern day English. Some of the ways it interprets verses of scripture are much different that what it seems to say in the King James version of the Bible.

Like you said on November 1, 2011 about why there are so many different religions that follow the same Bible, “The honest question to that is the pride and sin of mankind. God intended the Bible to be read and interpreted according to the author’s intended meaning who were all moved and inspired by the Holy Spirit to write the accounts recorded. But man in his sin and arrogance at times reads the Word and interprets according to what he wants to hear and what sounds best to him and this is a major issue of mankind and the church. But that does not change the truth of the Bible! It is inspired and true and stands up to the test of times!” We agree with your statement 100%.

You also asked about the Book of Mormon in relation to containing the fullness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I’m not going to even go into this because, based on the list you provided, it’s pretty clear that you haven’t truly studied the Book of Mormon from cover to cover or asked God if it is true. Sure, you and your colleagues may have gone through portions of the book, but it’s obvious to me that your arguments about the Book of Mormon are based upon anti-Mormon information that has been around since the early 1800?s. See Alma Chapter 13 to clarify one of your doubts about the priesthood. At the end of the day, I believe this article sums up our differences pretty well: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700201923/LDS-Christianity-Differences-that-matter.html)

Luke, I know the Book of Mormon is the word of God written by prophets who were inspired and guided by God. I know that it is “Another Testament of Jesus Christ” because I have put the promise found in Moroni 10:3-5 to the test and I’ve felt it’s truthfulness over and over again in my life. This feeling is something I can’t deny and it’s not something that someone can MAKE me feel – it was my decision and my experience.

On March 22, 2011, you asked me this question:

“Hey Nate,
I am going to be doing a comparative study between Christianity and Mormonism to our youth in about a month. Would you mind have a dialogue with me about your faith and answering any questions I may have. I know that you are zealous about your faith and I would appreciate your input.”

I guess my question is, “Did you really want to know what a member of the Mormon church believes or did you already have answers ready to share with your youth group and my answers were irrelevant to you?” It seems to me funny that this conversation has turned into YOU telling ME what I believe as opposed to a friendly conversation on beliefs.

Luke, if you really wanted to know about what Mormons believe in regards to Christianity and you plan to share the truth with the youth of your church, you should re-read the answers I gave you, diligently study the Book of Mormon, and read the words of our modern prophets found here: http://lds.org/general-conference?lang=eng.

Here’s what one of our modern-day prophets encourages all of us to do:

“As a means of coming to truth, people in the Church are encouraged by their leaders to think and find out for themselves. They are encouraged to ponder, to search, to evaluate, and thereby to come to such knowledge of the truth as their own consciences, assisted by the Spirit of God, lead them to discover.

Searching and inquiring are a means of coming to a knowledge of all truth, whether that truth be spiritual, scientific, or moral. The restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ and all that it means to us came about because of the inquiring after truth of the 14-year-old Joseph Smith, guided by the passage, “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him” (James 1:5).”  (http://bit.ly/the-truth-shall-make-you-free)

Take care and God bless you.

Nate

I finally decided to hit the nail on the head, be even more straight forward, all call my friend on his use of anti-Mormon jargon.

I feel like I didn’t act on aggression or anger, that I thought it through pretty well and answered his questions as much as I needed to.

I will now be done speaking with him about religion unless I simply send him scriptures that I find that help answer some of his other questions 🙂

The End 🙂

Nate