Coronado Islander Seminary

Our seminary class took Elder Bednar’s challenge seriously to flood the earth through social media. So far: • TikTok – not bad • Instagram – eh • X – apparently a tougher mission field! LDS community… help the youth out. Follow and repost if you see something worth sharing

@dawnmariefree @LadyDemosthenes @Awright874 Don’t let the comment section Christian discourage you… it’s easy to be snarky and mean online!

@CHS_Seminary @LadyDemosthenes @Awright874 My mom (LDS) loves to use that phrase too, we have more in common than what separates us. I think if the last 4 days on X has taught anything is that we have nothing in common. We are not even able to speak the same language, define terms, & live in different paradigms.

Something I’ve noticed in the last few days is a lot of weight tactics. I quoted a passage from a Mormon text. I’m told that passage is not doctrine so I ask is a taught? And what in that passage would you say is wrong? However, I’m never given a direct answer to either of those questions. I understand if something is not doctrine but if it’s not doctrine, are you telling you that you don’t agree with it? Because if you’re telling me you DO agree with it, well, it’s not biblical. If you’re telling me you don’t agree with it, why is a church teaching it and if the church is wrong about that passage, couldn’t the church be wrong about other things?

I have waited my whole life to see this finished. How i hope to see this with my own eyes someday. What a work of art, passion and devotion.

Fair enough. I think we’ve identified the real disagreement. You see our differences as so fundamental that any common ground is irrelevant. I see our differences as real and important, but not so great that they erase everything we share. I don’t question your sincerity, and I have no interest in questioning mine. I wish you the best. God bless!

It’s not commentary to insert whole passages into the text. This is the sort of bs that leads me to the deception accusation. You know how he handled the text better than I do, I a cursory reading of his text compared to the original Greek and the KJV reveals major additions and deletions. And yet you want us to say we’re similar. We aren’t. Your fast and lose approach to the text is a major problem. Your view of the Godhead. This isn’t about how we see Holy Communion (which would be a large enough issue). But these are the very heart and core of truth and salvation. There’s no middle ground. Your fight for it is utterly deceptive on its face.

I’m genuinely sorry you see it that way. From my perspective, there is no deception involved. We openly teach our beliefs, including the ones that differ from Protestant and Catholic traditions. People are free to accept them or reject them. (As for Joseph Smith’s engagement with the Bible, prophets and commentators have been offering commentary, interpretation, harmonization, and translation work for centuries. You obviously disagree with his conclusions, and that’s your right.) In any event, I don’t think we’re going to persuade each other on theology. I just want you to know that I will continue to treat you with respect and consider you an ally on the many causes where we do agree. If the day comes when you want a friend rather than an opponent, that offer remains open.

“Never hidden the fact”. You just try to pretend you are built on the Bible when your foundation is anything but. So much so that Joseph Smith had to edit the King James Version of the Bible. This is the BS that is so distasteful to Bible believing Christians. Literally everything is deceptive.

I actually appreciate the candor. I don’t think Latter-day Saints are trying to be “Diet Coke Protestantism” or “Diet Coke Catholicism.” We respect those faith traditions tremendously, but we make our own bold theological claims and have never hidden that fact. If we watered down those claims, we’d lose the entire purpose of our message. Where I differ is the idea that we therefore have “literally nothing in common.” We both worship Jesus Christ, read the Bible, believe in His atoning sacrifice, resurrection, divine mission, and seek to follow Him. You may believe our understanding of those things is incorrect, but that’s different from saying they don’t exist at all. We can acknowledge real theological differences without pretending we’re strangers to one another. I truly believe Christ would want it that way…

@CHS_Seminary @LadyDemosthenes @Awright874 I didn’t say enemies. But from a theological standpoint and salvific standpoint, we have literally nothing in common. You guys need to make it seems we do so as to be attractive from an evangelism standpoint.

I’m not trying to minimize our theological differences. I understand that to you they may seem enormous. I just see the common ground differently. My point is simply that to a secular observer who rejects most of what both of us believe, the differences between us often seem much smaller than the common ground. I see two groups worshipping the God of Abraham, revering Jesus Christ, reading the Bible, praying, serving others, defending the family, and trying to follow God Yes, we disagree about the nature of God. But I don’t experience that disagreement as making us enemies. I sincerely believe the God I pray to is the same God you seek to worship, and I believe He loves both of us. That’s why I’d rather build bridges than fences.

@CHS_Seminary @LadyDemosthenes @Awright874 We don’t even have who God is in common. After that, nothing else makes any sense.

Interesting. That door swings both ways….Ive been told multiple times this week that I am demonic and worship demons or (more commonly) am damned to hell. But, I do get upset from fellow members who post that drivel. Definitely not our doctrine or what we are taught. You’ll never hear us bad mouth another church from our pulpit. Our leaders constantly admonish us to build bridges instead of burning them. It’s what He would want.

Mormons say things like this, and then want Christians to claim Mormons are ALSO Christians?! Funny, I wonder why we won’t a accept that 🤔

I don’t think either of us is trying to create God in our own image. We’re both trying to understand a Being who is ultimately beyond our complete understanding. We simply emphasize different attributes of the same God—you’re drawn to His transcendence; I’m deeply grateful for His nearness. 🙂

“Because I can’t understand an all powerful God, He can’t possible exist. Therefore I must create a God who is more like me.”

@Karsmdt @LadyDemosthenes And yet, here we are.

@LadyDemosthenes @CHS_Seminary The devil is Jesus’s brother thing should be enough to say nope to it.

The Mormon church (because maybe not all Mormons believe this, but this is what the church teaches) brings God low. The God of the Mormon church didn’t create the world out of nothing. He only reorganized what was already there. This makes God less than God. The Mormon church demoted God, and promotes humans with the potential to be gods.

@LadyDemosthenes Sincere question: if I offered to say a prayer for you or say a prayer with you, would you accept the offer? If not, why not?

Mormons do not believe in the same God.

The 18th-century maps are a fair observation. But you asked for archaeological evidence, and the NHM/Nihm inscriptions found by non-LDS German archaeologists in Yemen are at least relevant to that discussion. You’re welcome to disagree with the connection. I don’t use it as “proof” of the Book of Mormon. You asked for evidence; I provided some. My testimony doesn’t rise or fall on archaeology anyway. It comes from study, prayer, and seeking God—not from inscriptions in the desert. 🙏

@CHS_Seminary @LadyDemosthenes @grok Grok is an AI and these maps date from the 18th century and are attributed to a misspelling. Sorry, that isn’t really anything and you’re reaching.

Cope however you would like to. As you can see from my prompt to GROK, it’s correlative evidence. And it was discovered by German archaeologists with no ties to our church. Critics rightly note it’s not “proof,” and mainstream scholars don’t engage the BoM angle much. But the primary finds (German reports) stand on their own. One of several strong Arabia convergences. But my spiritual testimony of the book does not rest on such things

@CHS_Seminary @LadyDemosthenes @grok Of which, is attributed as being misspellings. Strange how I can’t find any references to a city by this name, outside of Mormon references. 🤔

@Awright874 @LadyDemosthenes @grok

@CHS_Seminary @LadyDemosthenes @grok Neat, was Nahom known at the time Joseph Smith wrote the Book of Mormon? How about cities exclusively mentioned only in the Book of Mormon? Specifically here in North America? Any luck with those?

Don’t move the goal post! You said one I gave one See Groks response to that one. But let me make sure it’s clear, faith does not mean seeing archaeological evidence is believing. My witness of the book of Mormon comes from the Holy Ghost I know it to be the word of God. Come and see

@grok @Awright874 @LadyDemosthenes @grok what is the likelihood that a farmboy in upper state New York in the 1820s with no formal education would know any of that?

Correlative evidence for Nahom (1 Nephi 16): NHM inscriptions on ~7th-6th c. BC altars from Bar'an temple (Yemen) mention the Nihmite tribe/region, matching the name. Nihm fits the south-then-east route to Oman. Nearby ancient burial grounds align with Ishmael's burial. Timing matches ~600 BC. Caveats: Name/location correlation supports plausibility of Arabian setting but no direct Lehite evidence or proof of events. Tribal vs. specific 'place' debated; not seen as definitive historicity confirmation by mainstream scholars.

@grok Is there correlative archaeological evidence for the place “Nahom” mentioned in the Book of Mormon (1 Nephi 16)? Summarize the NHM/Nihm inscriptions, location/route fit, burial context, timing with Lehi’s journey (~600 BC), and any key caveats. Keep it balanced and informative.

@CHS_Seminary @LadyDemosthenes Joseph Smith is a false prophet. How do I know? Can you find a single city mentioned in the Book of Mormon?

Absolutely. I follow many accounts from other faith traditions. I genuinely believe we are stronger as partners on many common causes than as rivals looking for reasons to dismiss one another. I understand there are theological differences that both of us consider important, and I don’t expect us to resolve those on X. But I do believe Christ would rather see us engage from a place of fellowship, understanding, and mutual respect than suspicion and contention. So yes—the follow was in good faith. 🙂

I just noticed you followed me. Is this a follow of good faith? Yes I did quote you in an example of how my conversations have been going and how I’m not really getting the direct answers I want. But it was nothing against you personally. You were just the best example of a civil conversation where that was happening. I have other examples, but they were not nice.

Lol. That’s not quite what I said. 😄 We are not “just another” Christian denomination. In fact, we think we’re THE Christian denomination. (Tongue firmly planted in cheek.) More seriously, we love our Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant brothers and sisters. We may disagree on some important theology, but we are all trying to follow Jesus Christ as we understand Him. That’s a much different claim than “Mormons aren’t Christian.”

Okay, we have found common ground! We both agree Mormons are not a Christian denomination.

@Awright874 @LadyDemosthenes

@CHS_Seminary @LadyDemosthenes You’re not.

@LadyDemosthenes @Awright874 And the whole conversation started on Twitter because the federal government was trying to stick its nose into First Amendment territory, which I hope we all agree is no bueno.

@CHS_Seminary @Awright874 This whole conversation on Twitter started BECAUSE other members were trying to say they ARE a Christian denomination. I do appreciate that you don’t feel that way. In this, you and I can agree.