I came across an essay about the Book of Ether in the Book of Mormon, which basically outlines the story of the Jaredite barges and the circumstances surrounding the journey of these people to America.
It's as if I have NEVER read this story before....But I dragged out my old quad, and re-read the account, and it's there, unaltered and just as the essay described it.
How can this be possible, logically? Is it really necessary to take it on 100% faith alone?
I understand that it is widely accepted within the church as 'not a literal history' and 'symbolic', but doesn't that contradict what the leaders say about the Book of Mormon, that there is no middle ground, either it is completely true or completely false?
I just can't get how this can be an accepted teaching, and taken as literal truth and fact when it is logically and physically implausible. Why must everything within the church be based on faith?
Why does the church depend on members testimonies so much in order to sustain itself? They can't explain 90% of the doctrine in a succinct and orderly manner, so they tell everyone that learning and teaching without a spiritual witness isn't possible.
I can't believe that you have to have a whispering of the spirit in order to logically conclude that red means stop, green means go, and 2+2 =4.
Can somebody take the challenge of reading Ether, and explaining this in a rational, orderly manner?
I did find one essay out there that goes through step by step, the process of building the barges, creating a light source and gathering all the animals necessary for such a journey.
I have yet to hear ONE member of the church make any sense of this story as presented in the Book of Mormon. The only conclusion I can come to is: in order to believe it, I have to have faith in the story teller, faith in the leaders of the church that promote it as fact, and a personal spiritual witness of its truth. I can't just read it through and make logical conclusions based on what I know about science and history, or what I read from outside sources, no, the truth must come from within the church, or it isn't truth.
That's completely ridiculous. The LDS church does not have a monopoly on truth, and cannot claim to be the only source of truth. They haven't demonstrated superior knowledge in technology, science, or history of world cultures in order to proclaim themselves the purveyors of truth. And insisting that truth can only be made manifest through divine inspiration is like saying that we have to discard knowledge gained any other way.
Goodbye schools! Goodbye universities! (unless your BYU) Goodbye life experiences! Your truth is useless because you don't have the "spirit" to confirm it to you!!!! Yep, you can do all the lab tests you want, you can perform all the case studies and research until your eyes fall out, but unless you have the "spirit of testimony" to give you that confirmation, you can bet it's all a lie, and the work of Satan.
So, get down on your knees and pray to ask if your checking account is accurate, ask God if the meatloaf is overcooked, get your holy confirmation before paying your electric bill, because you as a frail and imperfect being are incapable of determining truth all by yourself. You NEED the 'spirit' to guide you in every decision, or you can't be sure of any 'truth'. And lo and behold, the ONLY place you are going to find this 'spirit' is through the power of the Melchezidek priesthood which can ONLY be found in the LDS church. Aren't you lucky?
Can't you turn to the Book of Ether and read the account of the Jaredites with your LOGICAL mind? Get out the white board and jot down some hard facts, like the measurements of the barges, the placements of the airholes, the space contained inside, how many animals and people were inside, and how they would survive 344 days of an ocean voyage being turned upside--down in a shit infested, food contaminated, dark and stinky gigantic COFFIN, and then come back and tell me the 'spirit' tells you it's TRUE!!!!
Here's a link to the essay I found. But, you don't have to read the essay, just read the account in your Book of Mormon, and ASK GOD if this is really true!!! If you don't get that warm fuzzy feeling, it's not because you aren't praying hard enough, or not being sincere enough, or have some sort of sin you need to confess in order to get the right answer----it's that sinking feeling knowing that what you have just asked about could not POSSIBLY be true. That's how it works, isn't it? Warm fuzzy= true, Dark confusing feeling= false. And since that's how you conduct yourselves every waking minute, everyday, by constantly confirming every truth through the 'spirit' this should be a walk in the park....
Can somebody take the challenge of reading Ether, and explaining this in a rational, orderly manner?
I did find one essay out there that goes through step by step, the process of building the barges, creating a light source and gathering all the animals necessary for such a journey.
I have yet to hear ONE member of the church make any sense of this story as presented in the Book of Mormon. The only conclusion I can come to is: in order to believe it, I have to have faith in the story teller, faith in the leaders of the church that promote it as fact, and a personal spiritual witness of its truth. I can't just read it through and make logical conclusions based on what I know about science and history, or what I read from outside sources, no, the truth must come from within the church, or it isn't truth.
That's completely ridiculous. The LDS church does not have a monopoly on truth, and cannot claim to be the only source of truth. They haven't demonstrated superior knowledge in technology, science, or history of world cultures in order to proclaim themselves the purveyors of truth. And insisting that truth can only be made manifest through divine inspiration is like saying that we have to discard knowledge gained any other way.
Goodbye schools! Goodbye universities! (unless your BYU) Goodbye life experiences! Your truth is useless because you don't have the "spirit" to confirm it to you!!!! Yep, you can do all the lab tests you want, you can perform all the case studies and research until your eyes fall out, but unless you have the "spirit of testimony" to give you that confirmation, you can bet it's all a lie, and the work of Satan.
So, get down on your knees and pray to ask if your checking account is accurate, ask God if the meatloaf is overcooked, get your holy confirmation before paying your electric bill, because you as a frail and imperfect being are incapable of determining truth all by yourself. You NEED the 'spirit' to guide you in every decision, or you can't be sure of any 'truth'. And lo and behold, the ONLY place you are going to find this 'spirit' is through the power of the Melchezidek priesthood which can ONLY be found in the LDS church. Aren't you lucky?
Can't you turn to the Book of Ether and read the account of the Jaredites with your LOGICAL mind? Get out the white board and jot down some hard facts, like the measurements of the barges, the placements of the airholes, the space contained inside, how many animals and people were inside, and how they would survive 344 days of an ocean voyage being turned upside--down in a shit infested, food contaminated, dark and stinky gigantic COFFIN, and then come back and tell me the 'spirit' tells you it's TRUE!!!!
Here's a link to the essay I found. But, you don't have to read the essay, just read the account in your Book of Mormon, and ASK GOD if this is really true!!! If you don't get that warm fuzzy feeling, it's not because you aren't praying hard enough, or not being sincere enough, or have some sort of sin you need to confess in order to get the right answer----it's that sinking feeling knowing that what you have just asked about could not POSSIBLY be true. That's how it works, isn't it? Warm fuzzy= true, Dark confusing feeling= false. And since that's how you conduct yourselves every waking minute, everyday, by constantly confirming every truth through the 'spirit' this should be a walk in the park....
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