CNN reported late this afternoon the Boy Scouts of America has voted to lift ban on gay members. The ban does not extend to gay leaders.

CNN also said people of the LDS faith make up 40% of the scouting organization. While they (BSA) said they’re expecting to see a sharp decline in donations and membership roles they’re confident these will pick back up after some time passes by.

It makes me wonder…is this a sign of what’s to come in the Mormon Church?  Hmmm…time will tell, but with their announcement earlier this year of reaching out to the gay community within the Church it makes it interesting.

The post Boy Scouts Lift Ban on Gay Members appeared first on Life After Ministries.

Married to ten women, he fathered 45 children and that’s not to say they’ll all be serving in the afterlife as a forever family. His first wife Sarah became a very outspoken critic of polygamy and publicly criticized his philandering ways of marrying young women younger than his own children.

Serving as a missionary for much of his life left his family in a chronic state of poverty while he left them to fend for themselves. Some of his children born to his first wife turned on his philosophy and totally rejected the Mormon lifestyle.

You can read more about his life and learn about his family in our series Polygamy and Mormon Church Leaders here.

The post Polygamy and Mormon Church Leaders Orson Pratt appeared first on Life After Ministries.

In the end Pratt met his match with a man by the name of Hector McLean. Hector didn’t take too kindly to the way Pratt induced his wife all in the name of God.

After she took off with Parley and tried to take the kids with her, McLean chased them down and Mr. Pratt died a martyr’s death in the eyes of Mormondom.

You can read a short bio of him and his 12 wives in our ongoing series of Polygamy and Mormon Church Leaders here.

The post Polygamy and Mormon Church Leaders; Parley Parker Pratt appeared first on Life After Ministries.

The last comment was made by an LDS member from Boston also thinks a heavenly mother is what sets Mormonism apart from other Christian religions.

I’ve got a news flash for those who’ve been misled by Joseph Smith and company. There is no heavenly mother in Christianity. Membership roles of the Trinity have all been spoken for and filled from everlasting to everlasting.

God is Spirit – John 4:24

Jesus is God and came here as man to redeem fallen mankind – John 1:1, 13-14

Holy Spirit is God who resides inside each believer upon confession of faith – John 14:23-26, 1 Cor 1:16, Acts 2:17-18

We also have Isaiah 9:6 which is God’s “ace in the hole” if you will and sums up the roles of each member in the Trinity.

On this Mother’s Day I’m praying the women of Mormonism will stop and think about the special role our Lord has given to them as females whether they’re moms or not. He loves you because He created you and He does indeed have a plan especially for you – Jeremiah 29:11.

No one knows you like He does and even if you think He can’t redeem you from what you may have done you might be surprised to find out He still hung there for you personally so you can be saved! Your salvation isn’t dependent upon whether or not you’ve given birth, but totally upon you becoming born again in Christ! The only new birth going on is your new life that’s hidden in the Lord – Colossians 3:3, 2 Corinthians 5:17.

The reason there’s little to no information on a Heavenly Mother in Mormonism is because the leaders of that group hold tight to a male dominant role that has nothing to do with equality and nothing to do with respecting females. Even the roles of the Mormon godhead take on a subordination theme according to Robert Millet in his book Mormon Faith: Understanding Restored Christianity, pgs 28-29.

The leaders of Mormonism have thrown carrots to member’s heartstrings in the attempt of forming a “Families are Forever” heavenly goose-bump moment. In reality this has no place in what God has ordained or planned and can’t be found anywhere in the Bible. Even Terryl and Fiona Givens who authored “The God Who Weeps” said this is where Mormonism takes a “radical break from Christianity”.

The radical break he’s speaking of is the Mormon polytheistic godhead and how they’ve defined the way earth was created. In Abraham 4:1-5:21 the gods set up the creation of the earth and placed man upon it and in this system of theology there aren’t any signs of a personal God who creates or takes care of His creation.

There’s barely room for Jesus in Mormon theology with all the talk of working to become gods yourself and the idea there’s a mother in heaven is beyond the realm of anything biblical.

With the hidden innuendos of this mysterious heavenly mother there’s been a lot of talk with no concrete LDS doctrine other than a mere shout out for her. And if you think the Bible is silent about her, you’d be wrong. As a matter of fact the Bible has a lot to say about the queens and priestess’ Israel and Judah was worshipping at the time of the Babylonian takeover circa 600 BC!

We’ve written about this a few times before – after I did a bible study on the book of Jeremiah it opened my eyes about the Book of Mormon and why the Lord punished Israel. One of those reasons was for their blatant worship of false goddesses and bowing to them in groves of trees.  Asherah was a fertility goddess known all throughout Mesopotamia in the Deuteronomistic era that you can read about in 1 Kings 14:23, 15:12, 2 Kings 17:10, 2 Kings 18:4, et al.

Ashera was nothing more than a wooden pole or post that would be placed in a grove of trees and it was there people could gather around it/her to worship. It’s not known whether they were carved with a specific image or not, but archaeological finds within the past twenty or so years have indicated she was still in use at the times of the Assyrian and Babylonian takeover.

The remarkable and most compelling evidences of Asherah and Mormonism’s Heavenly Mother being comparable are the striking ways in which each goddess was/is used.

The era of cult worship objects for Israel had ended for the most part by the end of the second millennia BC, but for some reason they had a strong affinity for Asherah they couldn’t pull themselves away from. Evidence of this is seen when we study the times of Isaiah through Jeremiah.  While they’d still take her into the groves of trees and it’s believed they also incorporated her name into everyday objects and honored the power they thought she held.

As late as 1992 pottery shards were discovered 35 kilometers (22 miles) southwest of Jerusalem with the inscriptions “for (the goddess) Asherat” and another which said “sanctified to Asherat”.

The shards are from storage jars (probably olive oil) and written in either Phoenician or Hebrew – there is still some uncertainty about that. The pieces of wood found held the name of Asherah in various forms along with dates indicating the Israelites acknowledgement and use of her in the same era.

With Mormonism we see similarities of this same type of power in the LDS hymn #292, “O My Father” (see excerpts below) written by Eliza R. Snow who was married to both Joseph Smith and Brigham Young respectively.

In the heav’ns are parents single?

No, the thought makes reason stare!

Truth is reason; truth eternal

Tells me I’ve a mother there.

When I leave this frail existence,

When I lay this mortal by,

Father, Mother, may I meet you

In your royal courts on high?

Then, at length, when I’ve completed

All you sent me forth to do,

With your mutual approbation

Let me come and dwell with you.

There is no worshipping or praying to the Mormon Mother in Heaven, but not believing she exists is curiously tantamount to apostasy – D&C 132:19-21.  The ideology of families in heaven is mandated by LDS leaders every time they give speeches at General Conference and publish writings for their periodicals.

True salvation for Mormons is found nowhere else but the Celestial Kingdom. The phrase “Families are Forever” means long after the end of the earth you become a god along with your wife who becomes a goddess and you then procreate spirit babies who will one day inhabit an earth much like this one that you’ll create.

Mormons perform endowment ceremonies in the temple to “seal” family members to each other so they can spend eternity together; thus the phrase Families are Forever. As you can see there wouldn’t be any forever families if it weren’t for a heavenly mother begetting spirit babies…

We’re praying Mormons will see the futility in believing doctrines like this and come to have a saving knowledge and relationship with the real Jesus of the Bible. We’ve listed some of the core doctrinal beliefs of Mormonism below.

With Love in Christ;

Michelle Grim

1 Cor 1:18

Encyclopedia of Mormonism, pg 961; “For Latter-day Saints, the concept of eternal family is more than a firm belief; it governs their way of life. It is the eternal plan of life, stretching from life before through life beyond mortality.”

Mormon Doctrine, pg 516; “The begetting of children makes a man a father and a woman a mother whether we are dealing with man in his mortal or immortal state.”

Man, His Origin and Destiny, pg 351; “Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is “the express image” of his Father’s person. (Hebrews 1:3.) He walked the earth as a human being, as a perfect man, and said, in answer to a question put to him: “He that hath seen me hath seen the Father.” (John 14:9.) This alone ought to solve the problem to the satisfaction of every thoughtful, reverent mind.” – Joseph Fielding Smith

Women’s Conference, Sep 1991; “It has been said that the Prophet Joseph Smith made no correction to what Sister Snow had written. Therefore, we have a Mother in Heaven. Therefore, (some assume) that we may appropriately pray to her. Logic and reason would certainly suggest that if we have a Father in Heaven, we have a Mother in Heaven. That doctrine rests well with me.

However, in light of the instruction we have received from the Lord Himself, I regard it as inappropriate for anyone in the Church to pray to our Mother in Heaven….

I suppose those…who use this expression and who try to further its use are well-meaning, but they are misguided. The fact that we do not pray to our Mother in Heaven in no way belittles or denigrates here.” – Gordon B. Hinckley

The post Thought of the Day about Mormonism and Mother in Heaven appeared first on Life After Ministries.

Clayton became Joseph Smith’s personal secretary in 1842 and dutifully wrote down everything he either saw or heard. While many members of the Church don’t appreciate all the history being available, they do benefit from his industrious work ethic.

During the busy times of the Church in Nauvoo Clayton somehow found enough time to collect a fair amount of wives – ten to be exact. We’ve listed them here for you.

In addition to his busy family life he also filled the position of auditor for the Utah Territory, wrote a few LDS hymns, and served as the secretary for ZCMI.

The post Polygamy and Mormon Church Leaders William Clayton appeared first on Life After Ministries.

The over-riding theme in biographies written about him was how sad it was that he was forced into hiding when wanted by the feds for polygamy…it’s odd because no one forced him into anything!

The post Polygamy and Mormon Church Leaders George Q. Cannon appeared first on Life After Ministries.

“We can also intentionally deceive others by a gesture or a look, by silence, or by telling only part of the truth. Whenever we lead people in any way to believe something that is not true, we are not being honest. The Lord is not pleased with such dishonesty, and we will have to account for our lies.” – Gospel Principles, pg 204

In this part of our investigation we’re taking a look at the obscure. While most of the names we’re looking at receive a lot of attention on the forefront, there’s little to no information given in the text explaining their historical background or geographical location.

As a student of the Bible I approach my studies expecting to discover in-depth info about the people involved and where they lived. Everything in the Bible has a paper trail if you will, with that person, event or place linking it to previous events. It describes why people were given the names they had, why God had a relationship with them, what they could expect from Him and vice versa.  Unfortunately this isn’t the case when it comes to the Book of Mormon.

The reason I do this is to try and spark interest in the minds of the Mormon people. If perhaps they’d be interested in learning more about this book they put a lot of trust in, we pray God will open their hearts and see the futility in the stories of Joseph Smith.

As always, we’re not doing this out of animosity or to bash the Mormon people. I remember well the determined mind set and voracity I held in my heart to defend my heritage and culture. I didn’t appreciate being made fun of then and therefore I won’t stoop down to do it now.

With Love in Christ;

Michelle Grim

1 Cor 1:18

Lemuel

In the Bible the name Lemuel (Lamuel or Lemoel) is a symbolic name for Solomon.  The English translation for this name means “devoted or belonging to God”.  We find this name used only twice in the Bible in Proverbs 31:1, 4.

Many scholars believe this was a warning to Solomon from his mother. (Can you imagine being a king and your mother’s warning to you makes it in the Bible? Yikes!)

In Hebrew the name Lemuel is l^emuòeòl.   

The section of Proverbs where this shows up obviously comes from a non-Israelite woman. Linguistic features from the text lend itself to a strong position of placing the kingdom in north Arabia near Edom.

Dictionary of the Book of Mormon; “The second son of Lehi and Sariah, born in Jerusalem, about B. C. 620 or 625. He appears in history as the shadow of his elder brother, Laman… Lemuel sided with and sustained Laman, and when, after the death of Lehi…Lemuel and his family joined their fortunes to that of his elder brother. Of Lemuel’s domestic life we only know that he married a daughter of Ishmael. Of the time and place of his death we are told nothing.”

Oh brother is an apt phrase in this scenario. So if these righteous Nephites left Jerusalem when God told everyone to stay put ends up marrying an Ishmaelite does it surprise anyone he’d rail against God?

The made up stories of Joseph Smith knows no bounds.  The other thing not known is who these people are or what happened to them. There’s no archaeological evidence proving they existed and what little info Joseph does give isn’t very forthcoming…

Why did this Lemuel character side with his evil brother? Why did he disobey God’s directives when he married a non-Israelite? God warned the Israelites not to be unequally yoked as He’s done for us on this side of the cross in the age of grace –  2 Cor. 6:14-15. See our article on being unequally yoked here where we provide more than two dozen scriptural examples of what God says about this from both the Old and New Testaments.

Exodus 34:12-16; “Take heed to thyself, lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land whither thou goest, lest it be for a snare in the midst of thee: 13 But ye shall destroy their altars, break their images, and cut down their groves: 14 For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God: 15 Lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they go a whoring after their gods, and do sacrifice unto their gods, and one call thee, and thou eat of his sacrifice; 16 And thou take of their daughters unto thy sons, and their daughters go a whoring after their gods, and make thy sons go a whoring after their gods. 17 Thou shalt make thee no molten gods.”

Liahona

The “Liahona” in the Book of Mormon is nothing more than a made up name of a tool used for witchcraft purposes. The tool these Nephite people used was dependent upon the mood of the people and how they behaved. It was supposedly a navigational device God dropped at the door of Lehi’s tent in the middle of the night. You can read more about this in the False Prophecies of Mormonism; Brass Compass on our blog.  And by the way, compasses wouldn’t be invented for another 400+ years and in China, some 4,400 miles away from where Lehi and company were camped.

Dictionary of the Book of Mormon; “While Lehi and his little colony were encamped near the river Laman, the voice of the Lord came unto him, and commanded him to resume his journey on the morrow. When Lehi stepped out of his tent door the next morning, he was much surprised to behold, lying upon the ground close by, a round ball of curious workmanship. It appeared as though it was made of fine brass, and within it were two spindles; one of which pointed the way which Lehi and his party should travel as they journeyed through the wilderness.”

Mormo

From Wikipedia it says; “In Greek mythology, Mormo (Greek: Μορμώ, Μορμών, Mormō) was a spirit who bit bad children, and was said to have been a companion of the goddess Hecate. The name was also used to signify a female vampire-like creature in stories told to Greek children by their nurses to keep them from misbehaving. This reference is primarily found in some of the plays of Aristophanes.”

Since Mormo was Hecate’s consort, I thought it might be of interest to find out more about her. Oh, what a gem of a Greek goddess she was…ugh.

 She was associated with a crossroads of sorts as well as fire, light, the moon, magic, witchcraft, necromancy and sorcery.  And we wonder why Smith used the name Mormo – good grief.

She was worshipped as one of the main deities who served as an all around universal savior in Athenian households.  Nice…  In more recent times she’s the patron goddess in many of the witches’ entourage of things to be worshipped and is acknowledged as the Triple Goddess aspect of Crone.  You’ll remember we talked about that god in our investigation of markings on the Nauvoo Temple. 

It’s just like Joseph Smith said; “It’s all one eternal round” (D&C 3:2).

Chron, Kron, Cronus, et al, is looked upon as one of the most evil, iniquitous, disturbing gods ever created and worshipped. Did I mention nefarious? I’m sure everyone’s seen him as the mascot for one of the large pharmaceutical companies here in the States. His depiction is that of a bull with a round solar type disc atop his head stationed between his horns.

Here in this lesson of demonic spirits we see Hecate as the female representation of Khron as the consort of Mormo.  Good job Joe.

Helam & Helaman

The name Helaman isn’t in the Bible, but the name Helam is. The reason I’ve included it is because of how similar the two names are and we’ve already determined in past articles from the series how Joseph liked to tweak names just a fraction to make it something it is not.

The Hebrew name Helam is cheòylaòm and is a place/region east of Palestine and the Jordan and west of the Euphrates. It’s where David defeated the Syrian army – 2 Samuel 10:16. Its name implies a place of abundance and great victory.

 The earliest Greek translation of Ezekiel 47:16 locates this region between Damascus and Hamath in Syria.

All info on Helaman and Helam in the Book of Mormon comes from the Book of Mormon and Dictionary of the Book of Mormon.

Book of Mormon Helaman –

Helaman – a son of the Nephite king Benjamin, mentioned only once

Helaman – son of Alma, no date or place of birth of this prophet and general of the Nephites

Helaman – son of Helaman, “The life of this patriarch is not given with the same details in the inspired record, as are those of his father…” (Dictionary of the Book of Mormon)

Book of Mormon Helam –

Nephite baptized by Alma – Mosiah 18:16

City of Helam – Mosiah 23:26

Land of Helam – Mosiah 23:35

As you can readily see there is little to no info on the persons named Helam or Helaman. You’d think that if a city or even a region was named after someone there would be more info or coordinates on a map detailing where took place. Furthermore glowing descriptions are used in Helaman’s honor yet they have no in-depth info on him…strange!

The post Demonic and Ungodly Names in the Book of Mormon 5 appeared first on Life After Ministries.

by Carla Mickelson 

I was born and raised in the Mormon Church and was a faithful member for over 39 years. In May 2012 I left the Mormon Church for Christianity. For me, leaving Mormonism was spurred by something a dying pastor said to me at work one night. I was his nurse and I thought I was doing him a favor by letting him hold my hand and talk about Bible stories, but the pastor really blessed me by opening my eyes to Christ’s grace.

He told me that when Jesus was dying on the cross, He had taken upon Himself the sins of the world. He explained that all sin was judged once and does not need to be judged again if we accept Christ’s sacrifice for us. All other men will be judged by their works, but those who accept Jesus do not need to stand at the judgment seat because their sins were already paid for. This really affected me because it clarified for me how our sins were “nailed to the cross.”

Also, Mormons frequently use the phrase “judged of their works” with the idea that our works will get us into heaven. When the pastor used that phrase I thought, I don’t want to be judged by my works because I am so imperfect! Suddenly my works seemed like filthy rags. It was something I had never thought about in that way before. I became concerned that if I was asking to be judged of my works, I would get exactly what I was asking for. The idea of not having to be judged – that it was even an option not to be, was revolutionary to me.

I started doing a Bible reading plan with my sister who left the Mormon Church many years ago and I felt like I could not get enough of God’s word. I began to see what a dangerous lie the LDS church perpetuated by discrediting the Bible and claiming that it was not correct unless it was the King James Version and Joseph Smith had translated it. For years this kept me from spending time in God’s word. I learned to place my trust in the Bible and not the Book of Mormon. I came to appreciate how the Bible can stand up to scrutiny and is historically verifiable, unlike the BOM. Most of all, I found that the Bible’s message of God’s love and grace was manna to my soul. As I read the Bible I felt like the scales fell off my eyes and I could see how God’s word clearly contradicts Mormon doctrine.

For a while I struggled with the concept of the Holy Trinity. I don’t think it was an accident that during this time in my life I was also struggling, unsuccessfully, to mend a broken relationship with my father. I desperately longed for unconditional fatherly love. In the past, I trusted that Jesus loved me but God Himself was always an abstract concept. To think of God as my father was a hollow feeling if I didn’t fully understand His love and who exactly He was. Jesus, to me, was real and tangible. I could understand Jesus by reading about His life, teachings, and His great love and sacrifice for us. Jesus was someone I felt like I had a real relationship with. I thought, If Jesus is God in human form, then God’s love for me truly blows my mind! If God (who is Jesus) wanted to be my Heavenly Father; that was a relationship that could really mean something to me – something truly wonderful and miraculous! It meant I had a perfect love that would never fail, give up, or run out on me. This made me feel whole in a way I never thought possible.

I tentatively began attending some services with a friend at a local evangelical church. I found them so uplifting, I was blown away. I LOVED the live band and music. One night the sermon was about forgiveness, which was a key concept I was re-learning and trying to get my head around since speaking to the pastor at the hospital. The pastor that night talked about how we as humans have trouble forgetting about and tend to live in the shadow of our past mistakes. He said that when we accept Christ’s atonement for us, our sin is placed on Christ, and His righteousness is placed on us. God views us as completely righteous, and He doesn’t have a plan for us to work for His forgiveness. Because Christ gave us this incomprehensible gift it creates in us a desire to love Him and never let Him down. This reminded me of Luke 7:38-45 when the sinful woman cries on Jesus’s feet and He explains that if a money lender forgave two debts, one big and one small, the person with the bigger debt would love him more. Then He says to Simon; “Her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.”

I got to the point where I really wanted to leave the LDS church but I didn’t know how. I told my sister one day that felt like a big part of the problem was that all my life I had learned to please people. I didn’t want to leave the LDS church because I knew it would cause discord and upset feelings among my family and friends. I described how I just wanted to keep the peace and to keep pleasing people, but I hated living a lie. That night in my Bible reading plan I read Galatians 1:10 “Do I seek to please men? For if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.” The very words that had just came out of my mouth were said back to me! That was the last straw, I wanted to be a servant of Christ, not men. The next day I notified church officials, family, and friends that I was leaving the church.

My transition out of the Mormon Church was not easy. I had to strip off my Mormon identity and find a new identity in Jesus Christ. I praise God that my 13 year old daughter Amber joined with me in turning our lives over to Jesus. I would have gone it alone, but I am so grateful I didn’t have to because we have so much joy in worshiping God together. It has been wonderful to witness the great increase in her happiness and self confidence. I feel indescribably grateful that God revealed His true love and grace to me. I feel like Psalm 18:16 says; “He reached down from heaven and rescued me; He drew me out of deep waters.” I was lost, and who was I that the God of the universe came looking for me? He pursued me relentlessly. He spoke to my heart in ways I that could not deny. HE loved me first, and I feel like the woman in Luke 7:38. I fall down at His feet forever and worship the one true God; Jesus, my King forever!

The post Exit Story of Carla Mickelson appeared first on Life After Ministries.

That’s what I thought as I was reading some of George Washington’s writings while leading this country to its independence in the Revolutionary War.

I confess, I’m obsessed with the history of wars.  My true love of war history is my obsession with all things that have to do with WW2 and Hitler, but the Civil and Revolutionary Wars hold a close second.

All that to say I came across a most unusual phrase while reading highlights from a book written in 1789 by Dave Ramsay called History of the American Revolution. He was an eloquent author who also happened to be friends with George Washington. In his book (pg 277) he included one of Washington’s letters to the citizens of Canada.  Here is what the General said;

To the Inhabitants of Canada

 The Writings of George Washington, vol. III (1775-1776);

“Come then, my brethren, unite with us in an indissoluble union, let us run together to the same goal. We have taken up arms in defence of our liberty, our property, our wives, and our children; we are determined to preserve them, or die. We look forward with pleasure to that day, not far remote, we hope, when the inhabitants of America shall have one sentiment, and the full enjoyment of the blessings of a free government.” – General George Washington, 1775

Now if you know enough about the Book of Mormon you’ll immediately hone in on the phrase I highlighted above. As I’ve said before, Joe Smith was not a discriminatory procurer of those he plagiarized. Any author seemed to do as long as it suited his needs at the time. He “borrowed” from the Bible, Solomon Spaulding (Manuscript Story), Ethan Smith (View of the Hebrews), Emmanuel Swedenborg of Swedenborgianism, Shakespeare, et al.

Anyone with just a little knowledge about the American Revolution will notice the Book of Mormon carries the unmistakable tone of fighting for religious liberties through the eyes and experiences of the Colonial era.  As you read about the non-descript wars mentioned throughout its text you’ll see phrases about defense of your country, fighting for liberty, religion, war, taking up arms, etc. The quote from Washington mentioned above can be found in Alma 48:10, 13;

“And thus he was preparing to support their liberty, their lands, their wives, and their children, and their peace, and that they might live unto the Lord their God, and that they might maintain that which was called by their enemies the cause of Christians. 13 Yea, and he was a man who was firm in the faith of Christ, and he had sworn with an oath to defend his people, his rights, and his country, and his religion, even to the loss of his blood.”

Here’s a small list of verses where you can find the same theme:

 You know I have to ask why.

Is it reasonable that Alma who supposedly wrote the above passage in 72 BC would say the same thing George Washington would say in 1775?

Were George Washington’s words inspired of God?  If not then why would Alma’s words be inspired?

If this story in the Book of Mormon was true couldn’t they come up with their own experiences of what was going on in America at that time?

What were the names of the wildernesses, rivers, swamps, hills or mountain passes, this Amalickiah (ruler of the kingdom) wanted to control?

While it says that Moroni went around building forts and banks of the earth around their cities and strengthened the minds of the people by telling them to be faithful to God, you’ll want to take notice that no descriptive information is provided with him either. What comforting words did He say or where were they?

In Alma 49:1, 12 it said they were approaching the lands of Ammonihah and Noah – where are these cities?

Our list of questions could go on and on, but you just have to remember one.

Is this inspired of God?

If not, then we know it’s not from the Lord.

With Love in Christ;

Michelle

1 Cor 1:18

The post Thought of the Day about Mormonism; Alma and George Washington appeared first on Life After Ministries.

In light of that it never occurred to me as a Mormon the names in the Book of Mormon were in such opposition to what the Lord has shown us in His word. My discovery came about after my exodus while studying a few points on Masonry for an article I was writing for Ed Decker at Saints Alive.

I recognized one of the names in Masonry was also in the Book of Mormon and it began an investigation that opened my eyes beyond what I’d ever thought or imagined when it came to the spiritual problems within Mormonism.

As I read over the names used in the Book of Mormon from its index I compared them with names in the Bible and discovered the trickery Joseph Smith had employed. I found no less than fifty-seven names in the Bible that referred to foreign gods, people, places or things that had been changed by Smith to represent something other than what God described to us.

On the heels of my discovery I wrote about three of those names and after it was published I received requests to share more of what I had found.  This is the fourth installment and this time around we’re looking at four items.  Links for the other three articles are provided at the end.

Above all else I pray that when a Mormon reads this they’ll look up the information for themselves and seek to know the truth.

I publish these things not out of animosity or to bash the Mormon people. On the contrary, my heart hurts for them and they deserve to have the truth presented to them in a manner that glorifies the Lord!!

With Love in Christ;

Michelle Grim

Aminadab

Book of Mormon Aminadab

Helaman 5:36, 38-41; “And it came to pass that he turned him about, and behold, he saw through the cloud of darkness the faces of Nephi and Lehi; and behold, they did shine exceedingly, even as the faces of angels. And he beheld that they did lift their eyes to heaven; and they were in the attitude as if talking or lifting their voices to some being whom they beheld. 38 And they said unto the man: Behold, what do all these things mean, and who is it with whom these men do converse? 39 Now the man’s name was Aminadab. And Aminadab said unto them: They do converse with the angels of God. 40 And it came to pass that the Lamanites said unto him: What shall we do, that this cloud of darkness may be removed from overshadowing us? 41 And Aminadab said unto them: You must repent, and cry unto the voice, even until ye shall have faith in Christ, who was taught unto you by Alma, and Amulek, and Zeezrom; and when ye shall do this, the cloud of darkness shall be removed from overshadowing you.”

Commentary on the Book of Mormon Vol 5: pg 217-218; “Now, among the crowd was a Nephite dissenter, an apostate from the true Church, named Aminadab. This man, happening to turn his face in the direction where the two prophets stood, beheld that their faces shone with a glorious light and that they were conversing with someone who appeared to be above them, for their eyes were turned Heavenward.”

Biblical Amminadab

Aaron’s father-in-law

Exodus 6:23; “And Aaron took him Elisheba, daughter of Amminadab, sister of Naashon, to wife; and she bare him Nadab, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.” 

Father of Nahshon, who led tribe of Judah in the wilderness

Num. 1:7; “Of Judah; Nahshon the son of Amminadab.” 

Ancestor of David

Ruth 4:19; “And Hezron begat Ram, and Ram begat Amminadab.” 

Ancestor of Jesus

Matt. 1:4; “And Aram begat Aminadab; and Aminadab begat Naasson; and Naasson begat Salmon.”

Luke 3:33; “Which was the son of Aminadab, which was the son of Aram, which was the son of Esrom, which was the son of Phares, which was the son of Juda.”

Head of a family of Levites

1 Chron. 15:10; “Of the sons of Uzziel; Amminadab the chief, and his brethren an hundred and twelve.”

Helped carry the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem

1 Chron. 15:11-15; “And David called for Zadok and Abiathar the priests, and for the Levites, for Uriel, Asaiah, and Joel, Shemaiah, and Eliel, and Amminadab, 12 And said unto them, Ye are the chief of the fathers of the Levites: sanctify yourselves, both ye and your brethren, that ye may bring up the ark of the LORD God of Israel unto the place that I have prepared for it. 13 For because ye did it not at the first, the LORD our God made a breach upon us, for that we sought him not after the due order. 14 So the priests and the Levites sanctified themselves to bring up the ark of the LORD God of Israel. 15 And the children of the Levites bare the ark of God upon their shoulders with the staves thereon, as Moses commanded according to the word of the LORD.”

The Aminadab in the Book of Mormon was a Nephite dissenter who had aligned himself with the Lamanites and became a guard at one of their prisons.

In our text example above we read how Lehi, who supposedly died between 588-570 BC and Nephi, who died circa 544 BC, shows up as spirits to talk to people. Aminadab supposedly said these things circa 30 BC, long after both Nephi and Lehi had died.

This means Aminadab was a participant in necromancy by telling the crowd they should talk to the “voice”, meaning the dead men Lehi and Nephi, so the dark cloud would go away.

The Bible strictly forbids talking to dead people – the story of the witch Endor and King Saul is one example in 1 Sam 28:10-14 and then we see how Jesus told the Pharisees in Luke 16:19-31 there is a schism in heaven preventing anyone from coming here to talk to people.

Also take note of what it says in the Torah which contains the Law. In Deuteronomy we find that God abhors the act of participating in this sort of behavior. In this text it also mentions that we’re to avoid having our sons or daughters to pass through fire which is something the Ammonites were known to do for their foreign god Mulek.

Why were these Nephite people surrounded by fire?

Deut. 18:9-12; “When thou art come into the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations. 10 There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, 11 Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. 12 For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee.”

Once again this shows how Joseph Smith took the name of a person, place or thing (this time a person), changed the identity and produced a story for the Book of Mormon.

You can see this in our examples from the Bible I’ve listed above that gives us clear and definitive descriptions of a few different people with the name “Aminadab”. Each of them were busy going about the business and work of God and not participating in the abominable things God warns us not to do.

When you look at the history of the Book of Mormon names for various subjects we’ve found that Smith has taken those names and twisted the stories around to confuse the Mormon people.

This example shows how Aminadab went against God and led people into necromancy which is forbidden by God, but in the Book of Mormon this is supposedly an approved behavior. The Bible doesn’t allow this in any shape or form whatsoever.

Instead of using stories in the Bible to point to God, Smith once again exchanged the truth for a lie. Romans 1:20-25.

Ethem

Book of Mormon Ethem

Ether 11:11; “And Ethem, being a descendant of Ahah, did obtain the kingdom; and he also did do that which was wicked in his days.”

Biblical Ethem

Exodus 13:20; “And they took their journey from Succoth, and encamped in Etham, in the edge of the wilderness.”

Numbers 33:6-8; “And they departed from Succoth, and pitched in Etham, which is in the edge of the wilderness. 7 And they removed from Etham, and turned again unto Pi-hahiroth, which is before Baal-zephon: and they pitched before Migdol. 8 And they departed from before Pi-hahiroth, and passed through the midst of the sea into the wilderness, and went three days’ journey in the wilderness of Etham, and pitched in Marah.”

In this example of how Joseph Smith changes names and meanings of people, places and things we’re taking a look at Ethem or Etham.

Now biblically speaking, Etham was the second or third stop for the Israelites after they fled Egypt. In a few bible dictionaries the name “Etham” is referred to as “fortress”. While the exact location isn’t known most scholars agree it was pretty close to the Red Sea and most probably the city of Pithom.

I looked at Easton’s Bible Dictionary, Smith’s Bible Dictionary, Holman’s Bible Dictionary, Fausset’s Bible Dictionary, Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Old Testament, Illustrated Dictionary and Concordance of the Bible, from the publisher of G.G., The Jerusalem Publishing House and Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible.

Of course this isn’t the story Joseph Smith would want you to know about so he created a new one for the Book of Mormon. In the story about the Jaredites, Ethem was an evil king.

The Dictionary of the Book of Mormon describes him this way;

“A wicked king of the later Jaredites, living, most probably, in the eighth century before Christ. He was the son and sucessor of Ahah. In Ethem’s days, many prophets came and prophesied that unless the Jaredites repented the Lord would utterly destroy them from the earth. But the people hardened their hearts and repented not; and the prophets mourned over their depravity and withdrew from among them. Ethem was as his people, and did wickedly all his days; and when he died he was succeeded by his son Moron, who was like unto his father.”

Smith’s use of the name is another example of how he chose to take the focus from God’s word and then utilized it to confuse members of the Church.  I say this because of the number of incidents we find in the Book of Mormon who “coincidentally” carries the same name, but with a different meaning.  If this had taken place a few times or even a dozen times it really wouldn’t be that big of a deal.

However, as I mentioned earlier I found 57 names of people, places and things in the Book of Mormon that have been changed to mean something other than what the Bible has said. Many of those times, the name of an evil person in the Bible has been used to define a righteous, God-fearing man or the name of a holy person in the Bible is used as an evil city in the Book of Mormon.  When used in this manner along with the repetitive words such as “and it came to pass” it’s easy to see Smith’s true intentions.

In the Bible we have maps of cities, writings and shards of clay with writings showing what was going on and sometimes we even have archaeological finds like the Gate of Ishtar. Nothing like this has ever been given to show any evidence the Book of Mormon is true.  Nothing.

Lehi

Book of Mormon Lehi

1 Nephi 1:4; “For it came to pass in the commencement of the first year of the reign of Zedekiah, king of Judah, (my father, Lehi, having dwelt at Jerusalem in all his days); and in that same year there came many prophets, prophesying unto the people that they must repent, or the great city Jerusalem must be destroyed.”

Biblical Lehi

Judges 15:14; “And when he came unto Lehi, the Philistines shouted against him: and the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and the cords that were upon his arms became as flax that was burnt with fire, and his bands loosed from off his hands.”

The story of an unknown Israelite by the name of Lehi makes his appearance right off the bat in the Book of Mormon.

Supposedly this unknown Israelite from the tribe of Manasseh is a prophet of God from Jerusalem in 600 BC just like Jeremiah. And while Jeremiah was warning the people to stay put because hard times were a-coming, Lehi on the other hand, told his sons and daughters and a few family friends to start packing their bags because they were going to a new “Promised Land” known as America.

And just as the stories of the prophets differed from each other, so do the stories of the name Lehi.

In the Bible Lehi is a place name meaning chin or jawbone. It’s the place/city where Samson slew more than 1,000 Philistines with the jawbone of a donkey. Judges 15:16-17;

“And Samson said, With the jawbone of an ass, heaps upon heaps, with the jaw of an ass have I slain a thousand men. 17 And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking, that he cast away the jawbone out of his hand, and called that place Ramath-lehi.”

Lehi, Israel is about 50 kilometers (31 miles) south of Jerusalem.

Interestingly enough (or not) when archaeologists began an excavation in 2005 of a collapsed area, the discovery of a cavern was made while looking for artifacts.

A mosaic from roughly 600 BC was found depicting a ship sailing on the waters. There are no descriptions of what the ship is named or where it’s going so it could be a story about a ship on the Sea of Galilee for all we know. As you can imagine the LDS Church has tried to draw parallels between this cavern and the Book of Mormon story of Lehi.

Arab folk stories in that area talk of a man by the name of Lehi before the year 500 BC who “just disappeared” from the area.

The parallels that the Church seems to want to draw are based on speculation. There’s no written history of a man by the name of Lehi in the area and if we’re going to draw parallels we need to look at all the evidences provided from antiquity.

The area has been called Lehi because of what Samson did. In Hebrew this word is

l^echŒòy,pronounced lekh-ee’. It’s known as the House of Lehi or Beit Lehi.  In this same area by the cavern is also a well. It’s believed this is the spring from which Samson drew water.

I’ve shared this story for a specific purpose. There’s nothing to fear when we trust in the Lord. That’s the first thing to remember. Secondly, whenever something in the world comes up like this my phone will start ringing from new ex-Mormons who begin to panic thinking this is proof the Church is true.

So let’s look at the evidences we have. If by some coincidence there was a man by the name of Lehi who got on a ship and sailed away with his family what does it mean when you look at the Bible?

The Bible tells us that God told Jeremiah to proclaim to the Israelites no one was to leave the area. The Israelites thought that by escaping to Egypt it would secure their safety from the marauding Babylonians. To their horror, they were killed once they got there because the invasion included not only Israel, but Egypt as well.

So that’s the second thing. The Lehi in the Book of Mormon was preaching something other than what God told the people to do in the Bible through His prophet Jeremiah.

The third thing to remember is who the supposed Nephites were worshipping. Their god is not the same god of the Bible the Israelites had been worshipping for more than 4,000 years. Their behavior didn’t reflect that of true Israelites in their worship, their language, nor in their basic living conditions.  (Eating raw meat was strictly forbidden yet they did that as well.)

And the last thing to remember is the lack of evidence. This is one item – a mosaic – in a town called Beit Lehi that was named after the jawbone of a donkey.

Lehi in the Book of Mormon as we just learned, is a story of a man not recorded anywhere in history but the books published by Joseph Smith and the Mormon Church. From the Dictionary of the Book of Mormon it says;

“A Hebrew prophet, of the tribe of Manasseh, whom the Lord called to warn the Jews of their coming captivity in Babylon. Lehi was a man of considerable means, and of good repute among the Jews. He had dwelt in Jerusalem all his life, though, from the influence that the language of the Egyptians appears to have had on him, it is not improbable that he was brought, in some way, in intimate contact with that people. In the first year of the reign of Zedekiah, king of Judah (B. C. 600), the Lord gave Lehi a number of prophetic dreams and visions, and, in compliance with the admonitions of those manifestations, he went forth among the Jews proclaiming the sorrows that would inevitably be theirs if they did not repent and return to the Lord…

When he reproved them for their wickedness and abominations, they grew angry with him; and when he talked of the coming of the Messiah and the redemption of the world, they mocked him…

When Lehi received the command to depart, he immediately set about fulfilling it, and taking with him his family and such goods and food as he could carry he left the doomed city…”

Here again is another example of how Joseph Smith changed the meaning of a name into something it isn’t. There’s no hard evidence Lehi existed or that he was a prophet in Jerusalem in 600 BC.

What we do know is the way the story of this word “Lehi” has the same history with Joseph Smith that many others do. There’s no proof of its existence and the story opposes what God commanded the Israelites to do.

Ether

Book of Mormon Ether

Ether 1:1-2; “And now I, Moroni, proceed to give an account of those ancient inhabitants who were destroyed by the hand of the Lord upon the face of this north country. 2 And I take mine account from the twenty and four plates which were found by the people of Limhi, which is called the Book of Ether.”

Biblical Ether

Judges 15:20-21, 42; “This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Judah according to their families. 21 And the uttermost cities of the tribe of the children of Judah toward the coast of Edom. 42 Libnah, and Ether, and Ashan.”

The overall impressions we get from this example are two diametrically opposed descriptions of whom or what Ether is.

In the Bible ‘Ether is a village in Judah.

eh’ther

There’s no extensive information about the city of ‘Ether in the Bible other than it was allotted to Simeon in the Tribal Territory of Judah. Its name has been translated as both “abundant” and “smoke of incense”. See Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance and Easton’s Bible dictionary respectively.

Most scholars agree it was located in the low country or the lowlands of Judah below Hebron and east of Beersheba which is now Tel Athar. See Brown, Driver, Briggs and Gesenius as well as Nave’s Topical Bible, Faussett’s Bible Dictionary, and Easton’s Bible Dictionary.

For the Mormon, Ether was a prophet who witnessed the final destruction of his people the Jaredites. He supposedly came from a royal bloodline they refer to as “Jared”.

Joseph Smith took the name of Ether and used it as a name for a prophet of the Jaredites who helped build the Tower of Babel, then sailed to America and lived until 590 BC when they were all killed off in a war.

According to Smith, Ether wrote the story of his people on golden plates while living in a cave. At the end of all the battles they (Jaredites) fought, only Ether and one other guy by the name of Coriantumr survived. Ether subsequently buried the plates in the ground in or near Cumorah where they were discovered in 123 BC by the Nephites.

Fast forward to circa 400-421 AD and the last Nephite prophet Moroni decided to take the 24 golden plates written by Ether and make an “abridgement” to them. After doing so, he buried those plates with plates the Nephites had been writing for a thousand years. Ironically, Moroni was the last surviving person of his tribe as well. All other Nephites died off in the wars they fought with the Lamanites.

Dictionary of the Book of Mormon:

Ether

“The last great prophet of the Jaredites, to whom we are indebted for the history of that race, for it is an abridgement of Ether’s writings, made by Moroni…

He lived to record the utter destruction of his people at Ramah, (Cumorah) with the sole exception of Coriantumr, who survived as a witness to the unfailing word of God. We are not told whether Ether died or was translated. We incline, from his own words (Ether 15:33), to the latter opinion. When he had finished his record, he hid the twenty-four golden plates on which it was engraven, in the place in which they were afterwards found by the people of King Limhi (B. C. 123).”

Link for other articles in this series is here.

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