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Category Archives: Mormonism
Four Contrasts between Joseph Smith’s Four First Vision Accounts and the Four Gospels
The first article in the recent Book of Mormon Central “Insight” series provides an overview of “Joseph Smith’s Firsthand Accounts of the First Vision.” These include the 1838/1839 canonical account in Joseph Smith–History (part of the collection known as the … Continue reading
Posted in Biblical Studies, Jesus and Christology, Mormonism
Tagged First Vision, Gospels, Joseph Smith
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The Last Word Has Not Been Spoken on the First Vision
According to the beliefs of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), in the early spring of 1820 the Father and the Son appeared to their founder Joseph Smith Jr. when he was a boy. At its General … Continue reading
Did the First Vision of Joseph Smith Happen 200 Years Ago?
Some Mormons believe that yesterday—March 26, 2020—marked the 200-year anniversary of the First Vision, in which Joseph Smith saw the Father and the Son in the woods near his home. If the First Vision had taken place in the spring … Continue reading
Did Moses Literally See the Face of God?
Exodus 33:11 says that the Lord spoke “face to face” with Moses, but Exodus 33:20 says that Moses could not see the Lord’s face. Is this a contradiction? Two preliminary observations may be helpful. First, we should notice that Exodus … Continue reading
Joseph Smith and the Many Wives of David and Solomon: Authorized or Abominable?
In all of the debate over Joseph Smith’s teachings and practices regarding polygamy, little attention seems to have been given to an explicit contradiction in his scriptural revelations. This contradiction concerns what the Lord thought of David and Solomon having … Continue reading
Posted in Mormonism
Tagged Book of Mormon, David, Joseph Smith, plural marriage, polygamy, Solomon
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Don’t Know Much about Book of Mormon Geography
On January 29, 2019 (yesterday as of the time of this writing), the LDS Church published an article online entitled “Book of Mormon Geography,” another installment in its series of innocuously titled “Gospel Topics” essays. Begun in 2013, this series … Continue reading
Leaving IRR but Not Leaving Mormonism Alone!
Last month, I announced that the Institute for Religious Research, where I have worked since 2008, was facing a deep financial crisis that made its future after the spring of next year very doubtful. Since that announcement, a few people … Continue reading
Posted in Christian apologists, Mormonism
Tagged Institute for Religious Research, Joel Groat
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Are You Smarter than a Trinitarian? Part Two: Responding to Mormon Misrepresentations of the Trinity
In Part One of this response to LDS apologist Ronald Kimmons’s flow chart on the Trinity, I summarized his argument and replied to red herrings or misdirections included in that chart that are not germane to the issue of whether … Continue reading
Posted in Mormonism, Trinity
Tagged analogies, heresy, incomprehensibility, Latter-day Saints, modalism, theological method
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Are You Smarter than a Trinitarian? Part One: Responding to Mormon Misdirection on the Trinity
Ronald Kimmons is a Latter-day Saint businessman with political ambitions, a self-described “digital marketing professional, linguist, and smartypants” who has also spent a lot of time answering questions on the popular Q&A website Quora. According to his Quora profile, Kimmons, … Continue reading
Posted in Jehovah's Witnesses, Jesus and Christology, Mormonism, Trinity, Unitarianism
Tagged heresy, Latter-day Saints
6 Comments
Answers to Mormon Answers on Moroni 8:18
August 18 is observed annually with the message “We Agree with Moroni 8:18” by evangelical Christians who seek to share the biblical faith with Latter-day Saints. Moroni 8:18, a verse near the end of the Book of Mormon, states: For … Continue reading