History of Mormonism

Mormonism, which is also referred to as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter – day Saints, has been in existence since the second great awakening in the 19th century. It is a movement that has continuously claimed to be a Christian movement, but there exist some crucial differences with the modern Christianity. The movement was founded by Joseph Smith in New York and introduced various beliefs, doctrines, culture and practices that were controversial to the mainstream Christianity (Davies, 2003). Mormon faith has a great history where other great people such as Olivier Cowdery, Sidney Rigdon, and Brigham Young have also made a substantial contribution to this faith. The movement is anchored in the modern day revelation of God and started in the United States later to other parts of the world.

Defense of the Bible

Mormons acknowledge the Bible as a word of God so long as it is translated correctly. Nevertheless, they also believe that the Book of Mormon is also the word of God.  It is, however, imperative noting that Mormons strongly disagree with the translations of the Bible. They firmly believe that the Bible has been corrupted over the years and hence it would not be the true word of God. Mormons believe that it would be difficult to have the original message of the Bible which has been passed for over 2000 years. According to Mormons, the different translation of the Bible has over the years resulted in corruption and hence its original meaning has been substantially diluted.

Although the Mormons stand as far as the Bible translations are concerned look persuasive, it is essential noting that the Bible has been proved as pure text.  For instance, the New Testament was initially written in Greek, and it has been proved that most of these ancient manuscripts and ancient versions of the New Testament have been proved to have the original meaning.  Greek manuscripts, ancient versions, and early church fathers are a clear indication of how Bible quotations of the New Testament still hold the original meaning. Consistency of information in all these versions is a clear indication that the Bible especially the New Testament is a pure text.

On the other hand, the Old Testament was originally written in Hebrew. One issue that the Mormons and Christians agree without dispute is the fact that the Old Testament was written by authors inspired by God and hence uncorrupted word of God.  Just as is the case in the New Testament, there are various texts associated with the Old Testament such as the Masoretic Text, ancient versions, Dead Sea Scrolls and verses of old testament cited in the new testament. For instance, the Book of Isaiah is in its entirety contained in the Dead Sea Scrolls.  It is also worth understanding that there is a great correlation between various verses in the new and Old Testament verses (Webb, 2013). Though there may be some variations resulting from dialect, slip of the pen and inadequate knowledge, the margin of error is insignificant and thus the Bible can be classified as a pure text.

Books of Mormons and archeology

Though Mormonism has been in existence for quite some time, it is wise noting that there is no confirmation of the Books of Mormon from archeology. Despite the existence of professional archeologists in the Mormon Church, most of these professionals have confirmed that the book of Mormons is odds with archeology. They argue that the book has no place in the new world order whether in anthropology or in history. Though there are books written by Mormon scholars describing time and place of certain occurrences, it is prudent understanding that all these publications are just speculative (Stark & Neilson, 2005). Professional archeologists have confirmed that there is no archeological evidence that can be directly related to the events.

Besides the Mormons archeologists assertions that there is no archeological evidence to relate with major events, non-Mormon archeologists have also confirmed that the two concepts are actually at odds. In contrast to the Christians who have continuously used the Bible to describe the history and major events, the Book of Mormon has rarely been used to address such issues.  Smithsonian archeologists have confirmed that there is no direct connection between archeology and Book of Mormons. Additionally, lack of archeological connection between the Book of Mormons and archeology has also been confirmed by a letter from National Geographic Society that confirmed that no society or any institution has ever used the Book in any archeological sites. It is, therefore, prudent concluding that both Mormons and non -Mormons have agreed that there is no specific connection between the Book ad archeology.

Proof and not feelings

Most are the times when Christians and Mormons doubt their feelings. Nevertheless, it is critical understanding that feelings cannot change facts. Feelings change with moods, and thus it is always possible to be misguided just by following one’s feelings thus making feelings quite inaccurate. This is clearly expressed by the case of Paul in the book of Acts 22:1-8, where he believed that he was doing the will of God by persecuting and killing Christians. This was however not the case since he was persecuting the Son of God.  The case of Muslims and their feelings of the Quran have been misleading for some time now.   Christians, Mormons, and Muslims, have the years mixed up feelings and spiritual experiences to justify their actions.

It is for this reason that the new and old testament apostles claimed the use of roof rather than feelings. Or instance in the old testament, leaders of those times encouraged people to remember what God had done for them such as delivering them from plagues, delivering from Egypt and provision of manna from heaven. This is not the case for the Mormons who argue that they must believe regardless of the facts (Thomas, 2012). Nevertheless, both the New Testament and Old Testament clearly indicate that use of proof and not mere feelings are the way to go.  Providing evidence behind every claim is the teachings in the new and Old Testament, and Mormons should also realize that one can be sincere but wrong.

References

Davies, D. (2003). An introduction to Mormonism. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Stark, R., & Neilson, R. (2005). The rise of Mormonism. New York: Columbia University Press.

Thomas, D. (2012). Hebrew roots of Mormonism. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University

Webb, S. (2013). Mormon Christianity. New York: Oxford University Press.

 
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