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Reasons I can’t believe

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Running list of issues and contradictions. I don’t want a deep dive into each topic, but a list of reasons with a very brief thought

  • Elohim/Yahweh. Hebrew old testament.
    • Based on the Mormon view of the Godhead the Hebrew old testament makes no sense. I can’t reconcile much of it dealing with the Godhead. Reading the English translation I can see the case, but once you delve into the Hebrew it’s much harder. Especially considering the temple and it’s use of the terms Elohim and Jehovah/Yahweh.
    • I’ve talked with others that know about the Hebrew terms here and are able to see a lot of the LDS temple ceremonies in the old testament, particularly in the Psalms. I don’t see it though.
  • Inconsistencies with first vision
    • I think Joseph may have had some sort of spiritual experience in his youth, but the 1838 account is not truthful.
  • Changes to early revelations.
    • Many significant changes take place in-between early 1830’s revelations and their final form in the D&C.
    • Later revelations stay more or less consistent. Not the early ones while the theology is still developing.
  • Changes to the BOM.
    • Read the 1830 BOM and it’s quite a bit different than what we see today.
    • Most of it is fine and just type changes, spelling mistakes, and addition of paragraphs chapters footnotes and those sorts of things. There are a few places of significant doctrinal changes regarding the nature of God. This ties back to the changes to revelation and the ongoing nature of doctrinal changes in the 1830’s.
  • Use of the word Christ in the BOM.
    • Going back to the Hebrew and the context of when the BOM was supposedly written we shouldn’t see Christ in the BOM. If we do why do also see Messiah at the same time. They mean the same, but stem from Hebrew and Greek.
  • Evolving theology all around. Especially the Godhead.
  • Early Nephites know ‘Christ’ will come in 600 years from the time they left Jerusalem. Later authors know nothing of this prophesy.
  • Virgin birth narrative. Virgin birth
  • Is Jesus a Son of David? any answer here has problems.
  • Contradictions in the bible
    • See Mathew and Luke birth narratives. Compare what happens and doesn’t happen and the order they happen in. The idea that both of these authors are telling different version, but they are both true seems impossible to me.
    • Who killed Goliath
    • How did Judas die
  • God doesn’t speak in riddles, or does he?
    • 2 Nephi 31 2-3 ‘…For my soul delighteth in plainness; for after this manner doth the Lord God work among the children of men. For the Lord God giveth light unto the understanding; for he speaketh unto men according to their language, unto their understanding.’
    • Numbers 12:8 ‘With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches;’
    • Proverbs 8:8-9 ‘All the words of my mouth are righteous; there is nothing twisted or crooked in them. They are all straight to him who understands, and right to those who find knowledge.”
    • If God doesn’t speak in riddles and speaks plainly why all the contradictions? why the doctrinal changes from one prophet to the next?
  • Archeological evidence for much of the Old Testament and BOM. The history doesn’t seem to line up like how the Old testament says. You can find some little things here and there that might maybe if you look close and fill in a lot of blanks see a few things. If the Bible really happened and the BOM it shouldn’t be that hard to find more evidence for it.
    • I love a good conspiracy. I think much of mainstream thinking is probably wrong to some extent. It just seems that in order to see the ‘truth’ you have to jump through a lot of hoops and need to introduce a lot of conspiracy in order for the Bible and BOM to be 100% truthful and accurate in what they portray.
    • The Native American DNA for example is hard to get around. If the BOM was true, then the DNA for Native Americans would point to a semitic origin. Since it doesn’t then we need to come up with a more unlikely scenario that fits both criteria. If God actually deals in plainness and truth why is the truth so hard to find.
  • The construction and organization of the bible.
    • Documentary Hypothesis
    • Supplementary Hypothesis
    • Fragmentary Hypothesis
    • Two-Source Hypothesis (New Testament)
    • All of these Hypothesis make more sense than to say Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers were all written by Moses and all the subsequent books were written by their claimed authors at their claimed times
  • Deutero and Trito Isaiah. The long ending of Mark. Different versions of manuscripts for the gospels. All the other minor details of how these books came together.
    • As a believing member of the LDS church I would have understood these differences to be the fault of man and Joseph was able to reinterpret and fix the issues in the bible. That doesn’t really seem to be the case. Unless we assume the one prophet Isaiah was the only author of the book of Isaiah and it was truly authored when it was claimed. Same thing for the long ending of Mark. The earliest manuscripts don’t have the long ending, but it’s quoted verbatim in the BOM. You have Isaiah 7:14 virgin birth narrative that doesn’t line up with the oldest Hebrew we have.
  • The number of similarities that seem to take into account the Adam Clark Bible Commentary when Joseph was translating the bible.
  • Why is the temple covenants and ordinances changing. The temple garment as well.
  • The embellishment of faithful stories in General Conference and in talks. Or even just made up stories.
  • The faith not to be healed is greater than the faith to be healed.
    • I have given numerous blessings of healing. They just don’t seem to make any difference.
  • Changing of Doctrine from the early church and claiming it’s not changing.
    • Adam-God, Blood Atonement, Plural Marriage, ban on blacks having the priesthood.
  • If God speaks plainly than the prophets are not relaying the message correctly to us. In which case why have them?
  • The way the church handles tithing.
  • Kirtland Safety Society.
  • Affinity fraud by Church leaders.
  • Embellishment of faithful stories from top leaders of the church.
  • Ensign Peak investment funds and the SEC lawsuits. Mostly the attempt to hide the money from members and lying about it in the process.
  • If the church was really true why are we getting less of it. Why is the best thing about the church today the fact that there is less of it? I enjoy less church so I’ll take it. If it was really true though shouldn’t we enjoy going.
  • Book of Abraham.
    • Translation issues. Looking at the papyri's and what ended up being put down in the Book of Abraham. The papyri we have obviously couldn’t have been connected to the real Abraham.
  • Book of Enoch.
    • Is the book of Enoch true or not? I see faithful members who use the book of Enoch as reasons the church is true. If it’s true then it’s only true in part. The Joseph Smith book of Moses doesn’t tell the same story as what’s in the book of Enoch.