Brother Richards

@TatafuHemaloto It’s a relatively new thing. I don’t think it’s for the better. The gospel is meant to be simple. Follow Christ and his teachings. Do what God wants us to do. Not complicated.

I did not know all these theological nuances existed within the church. Am I just uninformed, or am I missing something?

@ThoughtfulSaint The term is “biblialatry”. Some more so than others. Probably the worst offender of this is Taco Talks. He uses it like a life manual.

Protestants have turned their presuppositions about the Bible into an idol.

The only other writings we could even possibly connect to the BoM would be just a few historical writings found on stelae at Tikal. Mainly those to do with Spearthrower Owl. Those line up for dates for the final battles at the end of the Book of Mormon. And that is a stretch and assuming the BoM took place in Mesoamerica.

"Zero Nephite ancient records" Original manuscripts no. Other than what the 8 and 3 witnesses claim to have handled. Writings found among the native americans that date to that timeframe. Only a few writings remain. Even the Popol Vuh doesn't go back that far. Nothing we have mentions Nephites, but they are pretty limited in their scope. Diego de Landa sure didn't help the cause. Not saying there would necessarily be any among the writings he destroyed, but what we did have, we can't even look at because they are gone to history.

Do you know how history works or are you really just this ignorant? 24,000+ NT manuscripts. Zero Nephite ancient records. LDS (Mormons) don't understand how history works.

The only other writings we could even possibly connect to the BoM would be just a few historical writings found on stelae at Tikal. Mainly those to do with Spearthrower Owl. Those line up for dates for the final battles at the end of the Book of Mormon. And that is a stretch and assuming the BoM took place in Mesoamerica.

@jonathanplumb "I can talk to Grok on my own." Maybe you should have. It would have saved some embarrassment.

@microbrandon Grok is wrong. The text doesn’t convey that it was public. Doesn’t even infer it. And again, if you can’t do your own thinking, I’ll just block you. I can talk to Grok on my own.

This is mostly true and has good points. I’ve said this for years when people try to say my approaches aren’t good, etc. I’ve consistently said I’m a special kind of hammer, and I have personally brought people to the Church through my approach. That said — there are WRONG ways to share the gospel, and ANY method that incorporates contention is not of God but is of the devil. And debate is one of those methods. DEBATE has explicitly been identified as a contentious activity by Restoration leaders, and we have consistently been told that the gospel is best spread by invitation. Destroying another’s religion is not what Christ does. It’s what Satan does. This person DM’ing Jacob and saying he helped him not join the Catholic Church is actually evil — why? Because God would rather have a man in Catholicism than agnostic or atheist. God uses these other religions as well to perform His mysterious works, and some people need these lesser religions because they’re not the kind that are obedient enough to aspire to anything higher (viz. law of Moses!). Jacob’s approach has always disgusted me. He’s a horrible debater and gets annihilated everywhere he goes. He has ONE good sound bite floating around and that’s the best I can give him credit for. I haven’t seen his method bring anyone to the Lord’s Church — and his own confession proves he’s driving people away from other religions. This is not the way. (Quotes and citations in the replies)

@jonathanplumb Alma and Korihor: (From Grok) That exchange is also very public, and in some ways even more explicitly “on display” than the others. I will not paste it all, but it was very much public.

@microbrandon This isn’t true. We don’t know the settings of those engagements. And it’s highly unlikely they were large publicized events. Rather, they were trials, likely in small settings with judges. We know they were trials with judges because the text explicitly states this.

In regard to Jesus: (From Grok) These weren’t quiet, private interrogations—they were more like public debates or challenges, often with a live audience. In many cases, the crowd’s reaction is explicitly mentioned, showing that people were actively watching and forming opinions. Many of the attempts by the Pharisees and Sadducees to trap Jesus occurred in highly visible settings: The Temple courts in Jerusalem (especially during festivals)Example: In Gospel of Matthew 21–23 and Gospel of Luke 20, religious leaders question Jesus while He is teaching openly in the temple. The temple courts were bustling public spaces filled with worshippers, teachers, and observers. Synagogues: Jesus often taught in synagogues where local communities gathered weekly. Disputes there would naturally be witnessed by attendees. Open outdoor settings (roadsides, hillsides, marketplaces): In passages like Gospel of Mark 12, leaders approach Him while He is surrounded by a crowd. Why it was public The religious leaders had strategic reasons for doing this openly: Public pressure – They hoped Jesus might say something controversial in front of witnesses. Reputation stakes – If He failed, it would damage His credibility with the people. Crowd influence – The leaders were very aware of the crowd’s reaction (see their fear of the people in multiple passages).

@jonathanplumb In a way, yes. But those situations were all set up in a public setting for gatherers to watch. Those watching would have considered them informal debates, even though those doing the talking may not have.

None of those are debates. If you read the accounts, they are all the prophets simply explaining what the truth is. There was no debate. A debate means both sides are willing to consider the other’s side and are prone to change. They argue their points. But prophets are not there to consider the other side, nor to argue their points. They answer questions and tell us how it is, with not even the slightest interest in accepting any truth delivered by their opponents.

CONCERNING FAITH And now as I said concerning faith—faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things; therefore if ye have faith ye hope for things which are not seen, which are true. -Alma teaching the Zoramites Alma then goes on to explain how we can cultivate our faith like we cultivate a tree. You can read all about it here: churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptur…

@MD_Nomadic @Reeseforsure “impossible for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is an entity. Not a man.

Biggest multinational religious corporation from Utah. If all members tithe 10% of their salary to this cult over the years, That’s how you become a multibillion church with the right investments etc Quite a contrast with Jesus who taught it would be impossible for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven…

Why is the Mormon church sitting on 350 billion in assets

I don’t care one way or the what that couple does. But free will is not the same as moral agency. Free will allows you to choose between Cheerios and Fruit Loops. Moral agency allows you to choose between Eternal Life and not Eternal Life. Free will only one of the three building blocks of Moral Agency.

LDS Scripture teaches that humans have free will & that there was even a war in Heaven to defend people's agency. So it's a bit hypocritical to see trad "Mormons" criticize this couple for using their agency and prioritizing the wife's career. They don't know their scriptures.

@Reeseforsure “Why is the Mormon church sitting on 350 billion in assets” Because the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints brings in more money than it spends.

@ColtonBruc3 Literally a double-edged sword. That same argument could be leveled back at them. They could be the ones being tempted by their interpretations. That's why I always find these types of allegations to be completely and utterly absurd.

It’s not to attack. Ya’ll just gotta stop with the prooftexting and eisegesis man it’s getting so old.

@LonghornJoker He used what he learned from being a mason as the scaffolding of the temple liturgy.

I think the claim is that certain elements from the ceremony, not the ceremony in its entirety, has elements borrowed from masonry. And Masons who are also Mormons will grant that. Greg Kearney has written a lot on this.

"If misrepresenting a persons view is a good point then why are you trying to correct me and claim Im misrepresenting you?" OK. Can you provide me some passage in the biblical texts where consubstantiality is taught? If it is of utmost importance for me to be considered Christian, I am assuming someone taught the concept? "Yes you did. Right here. “I would ask you to read the Book of Mormon in its entirety, with real intent, a sincere heart, and having faith in Christ. That will help you affirm its veracity”" 1) Read it in its entirety. 2) with real intent (seeking to understand) 3) a sincere heart (having an open mind), 4) and having faith in Christ. I'm not sure where the "feelings" are. But OK. "None of these verse mention works." The verses you quoted, which you still have not looked into, reference the works of the Law of Moses. The first verse is Nephi talking about how living the Law of Moses is not offering salvation. Nephi lived 600 years before Christ, so was living the Law of Moses. When he says after all he can do, he is referring to the living the Law of Moses. I'm not sure what you thought it was referring to. The second passage you cited is a debate between Zeezrom and Amulek regarding the atonement of Christ. Zeezrom is arguing that repentance is not needed. That God will save people in their sin. Amulek is arguing that repentance is necessary. I guess you can decide for yourself if repentance is a work or not. However, all throughout scripture, we are commanded to repent. "My brother just hopped online and im going to play some video games." I hope you had some quality time with your brother.

“You can believe all you want. But they have a point. The concept of consubstantiality is no where taught within the biblical texts. So you are polytheistic masquerading as monotheistic. And are too blind to see it.” If misrepresenting a persons view is a good point then why are you trying to correct me and claim Im misrepresenting you? “I never said anything about subjective feelings for finding truth. That must be you projecting.” Yes you did. Right here. “I would ask you to read the Book of Mormon in its entirety, with real intent, a sincere heart, and having faith in Christ. That will help you affirm its veracity” “You think hermeneutics only works with an original source text? lol.” For proper understanding of language and context yes. “I’m not going to watch that. Just explain it to me.” Your loss. Im not writing a book for you. ““This salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.” It is not. Maybe study hermeneutics a little better” Youre just wrong here. Ephesians 2:8–9: "For by grace you have been saved through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast". Galatians 2:16: "...a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law...". Acts 16:31: "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved...". John 3:16: "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life". Romans 5:1: "Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ". Acts 4:12: "And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved". Romans 3:28: "For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law". John 14:6: "Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me'" None of these verse mention works. My brother just hopped online and im going to play some video games.

As to most questions, the answer is “it depends”