When I was 20 years old…my religion was more
about surfing and baseball than it was about anything else. For some odd
reason…I still wasn’t happy. A couple important people in my life suggested
that I ought to research Mormonism and determine whether it was true or not.
One of the most important decisions a person makes in
their life is their choosing of a religion or church to join. It’ll shape the
way they think, determine the things they do, and impact their overall
happiness.
At 20, I began to seriously consider the doctrines
of the Mormon Church. Those doctrines started making me a better person.
That was the first real and tangible evidence for me. But lots of people
challenged me to stop being delusional and look at the facts about the
Book of Mormon, Joseph Smith, and the LDS Church. The Bible says “He that
answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame
unto him.” (Proverbs 18:13) so I try to be open and consider the things
that people have sent me. As I consider each of the various arguments against
Mormonism, my mind always comes back to the many questions that Mormon doctrine
seems to answer with ease. These questions….and their answers form what I
consider to be a doctrinal “Mormon Superstructure”.
I haven’t found any other religion that can logically
answer these basic questions. This fact alone keeps my interest in the Mormon
faith piqued.
So here are 51 questions that have helped me form that
superstructure. You don’t have to read them all. Pick one or two or ten…and it
might just make you want to stop and talk with those missionaries just a little
longer next time.
1. There are 50,000+
Christian denominations. Why are they not one church? (Ephesians 4:5)
2. If the Bible has obvious
contradictions, then how can it be viewed as the final and infallible word
of God by Christians? (Acts 9:7, Acts 22:9)
3. Does the Bible say
anywhere in it that there will not be any more prophets or any
additional scriptures?
4. There are various
letters from Paul and others that were not included in the Bible. Who gets to
decide what goes into the Bible and what gets left out?
5. Did we live as premortal
spirits before we came to earth? (Jeremiah 1:5, Job 38:7)
6. Who was “God” talking to
when He said “Let us” make man
in “our” image and after “our” likeness? (Genesis 1:26-27)
7. Why do people believe
God the Father and Jesus Christ are one being when Christ refers to himself and
His Father as two men? (John 8:17-18)
8. The first Hebrew word
for “God” renders the word “God” in the plural. Is there more than one god?
9. Why does Paul say that there are lots of gods? (1 Corinthians
8:5)
10. Why do so many of the “Early Christian Fathers”
(those that were closest to the New Testament church) and respected Christian
scholars such as C.S. Lewis speak of there being multiple gods?
11. The word “God” is a title. It’s not the actual
name of Christ and it’s not the name of Heavenly Father. So could others like
you and I be called using that same title someday if we are faithful
children of a being with the title of “God”? (John 10:30-36) (Romans 8:16-17)
12. Christ tells us to become perfect. God is perfect.
Does that mean we can become like God? (Matthew 5:48)
13. Why would Christ be resurrected with his actual body
if he was only just a manifestation of the Father?
14. You must accept Christ in order to be saved. But what
if you never even heard of the name of Christ while in your lifetime?
15. Would a just God condemn someone merely because of
the space of time in which they lived on the earth?
16. If baptism is required for salvation as taught by
Jesus Christ (John 3:3-5), what happens to those that never had the chance to
be baptized such as infants that died near child birth?
17. Why would Paul speak to the Corinthians about baptism
for the dead, and why is this concept overlooked in mainstream Christianity? (1
Corinthians 15:29)
18. Why would Christ preach to the dead if the people
that had died without confessing Christ had no chance in the after-life? (1
Peter 3:18-19) (1 Peter 4:6)
19. Many pastors get paid big bucks to be pastors
when Paul says we should minister for free. Should a church have a paid or
unpaid ministry? (1 Corinthians 9:18)
20. What does Paul mean when he says we can become an
heir of God and a joint-heir with Jesus Christ? (Romans 8:16-17)
21. Why do many Christians say that our works don’t
matter, but Jesus says that we are required to repent and keep the
commandments?
22. The Bible specifically says that we’ll be judged
according to our works. Where is the cutoff line for heaven and hell? If you
said 20 lies and I said 19, will you go to hell while I go to heaven?
23. Why do people believe in one heaven and one hell when
the Bible teaches that there are various “degrees of glory” after the
resurrection? (1 Corinthians 15:40-42)
24. What was Paul talking about when he said he saw in
vision a “third heaven”? (2 Corinthians 12:2-4)
25. Why does Christ say that there are many “mansions,”
or if you prefer the Greek, “residences, stopping places, degrees” in
heaven? (John 14:2)
26. What does the scripture in Acts 3:19-21 mean when
Peter talks about the need for a future restoration?
27. What was Christ teaching his apostles during the “40
day ministry”? Why did He need an entire 40 days for after he was resurrected
when he was with them every day for the last 3 years? (Acts 1)
28. Why don’t Christian denominations build temples?
29. Revelation 7:15 say that in the last days, disciples
wearing white clothes would be working “day and night” in the
temple. What church does that?
30. The last chapter of the Old Testament seems kind of
important. Does anyone have any idea what it means to “turn the hearts of the fathers
to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers?” (Malachi
4:5-6)
31. The Jews prepare for Elijah’s return every year
during Passover. On April 3, 1836 Elijah returned to the earth and
appeared in the Kirtland temple on the exact day that Jews around the world had
prepared an empty chair for Elijah at their Passover meal? Is that a
coincidence? [More]
32. Why was there a sudden global interest in
genealogical research and why were these genealogical societies formed
immediately following Elijah’s appearance in the temple in 1836?
33. The New Testament apostles had the ability to bind
and seal on earth and in heaven. Who today claims the ability to bind and
seal things on earth and in heaven?
34. Will we know our family and friends in the after-life
or do we lose our identities?
35. Joseph Smith “could neither write nor dictate a
coherent and well worded letter” according to his wife and many others. Could
he have written the Book of Mormon?
36. If he did write the Book of Mormon, where or how did
he accumulate so much wisdom in under 22 years of life?
37. Could Joseph Smith have been capable of plagiarizing
from other books to write the Book of Mormon?
38. If you say he
plagiarized from a book that was popular and well known in his area, then
how come no one called him out on it when he released the Book of Mormon?
39. Every scribe for Joseph
Smith said he used no other manuscript or third party source material. Do you
think Joseph Smith could have curated, memorized, and dictated Jacob 5 “The
Allegory of the Olive Tree”, let alone the entire Book of Mormon?
40. Eleven plus people
testified that they saw or handled the Book of Mormon plates. Many of
these people became mad at Joseph Smith. Is it feasible that none of them would
have “spilled the beans” if it was a calculated fraud in order to destroy
Joseph Smith?
41. Who are the “other
sheep that are not of this fold” referred to by Christ in (John 10:16) Hint:
It’s not the Gentiles.
42. Why do so many ancient
North, Central, and South American Indian traditions cite the appearance and
ministration of a “Great God” that visited their ancestors many years ago and
promised to return again?
43. Why do the explorers
and conquistadors credit their ability to conquer the Indians of the America’s
to their belief that the conquistadors were that “Great God”
returning?
44. If the polygamous
history of Mormonism is a deal breaker, then why do you still believe in the
Bible? Remember Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, Solomon, and others who are
esteemed from the Bible?
45. Joseph Smith was free
and clear from the mob and on the other side of the Mississippi River when he
was summoned to go to Carthage to die. If you were an evil villain
imposter…would you go back to Carthage, or would you save your own skin?
46. They found the Book of
Mormon that Joseph and Hyrum had in Carthage jail with the page turned
down that they read from before they died. Hyrum, other than Joseph, would have
known best if it was a fraud. If you were Hyrum, would you read from a
fraudulent book in your last days?
47. Would there be that
many people that would lie about Joseph Smith’s prophetic qualities and the
many miracles that surrounded the restoration? If so…why?
48. Is God capable of
sending a prophet to the earth today? If yes, how do you think that
prophet would be received?
49. What Christian
denomination most closely resembles the New Testament church of the Bible?
50. According to Christian
beliefs, Mormons would be saved based on their confession of Christ. So…what is
wrong with being Mormon?
Many of these questions have been asked by truth seekers
over hundreds of years. It’s amazing to me that we live in a day that these
questions can be answered. I personally go back to this “superstructure”
whenever my faith is challenged intellectually. I can’t
logically discredit the restoration of the gospel while the answers to
these timeless questions have been given to me and are in plain view.
But then there’s question 51:
The Bible tells us that we should “ask God” and that the
Holy Ghost will show us whether something is true or not. So after realizing
that there is no other institution (that I know of) that answers these questions…I
can do only one other thing to solidify my faith. I’ve got to ask the ultimate
question.
51. “God…has Your church
been restored?”
All of the previous 50 questions pale in
importance to question 51. The Church of Jesus Christ in these latter days arose
out of just one simple prayer to God from a small town farm boy in Palmyra New
York.
So…I followed the Bible. I studied, I asked, I learned
for myself that it’s true. I can only speak for myself.
A sermon could be given on each of these questions, but
simply asking these questions is cause enough to at least give Mormonism a
long stare down.
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