Questions For Mormons

My Top 3

Okay, the title is a cheap attention-getter. It is the most common title for a bunch of questions about horses in ancient North America, alleged "fortune seeking" by Joseph Smith, and an assortment of other detail questions meant to undermine the faith of LDS.

What I list before are not really so much questions FOR Mormons, but rather, the thoughts that go through the mind of evangelicals who take your faith and their own seriously. And, perhaps, that’s even too grand. They are my thoughts, my inquiries.

1. Why am I so sure about Jesus, about the Apostle Paul, and about the gospel writers, but so uncertain about Joseph Smith?

2. Could the church have really been apostate for 1800 years?

3. Could the church have gotten so many doctrines so wrong for so long?

4. Does a church that, imho, suffers some of the same personality flaws as my own, and many other churches, really stand out as the one that is restored?

5. Can the Bible really be reconciled with polytheism?

6. Are we really eternal essences?

7. I can understand the ban on drinking, smoking, gambling…but coffee?

8. Modern prophecy is not hard to accept. Christians often claim to have seen angels, dreams, and visions. But an open canon?

9. Is there room in the New Testament writings for an element of faith practice that is so sacred it is kept from outsiders (Temple rituals)?

10. Did Jesus really mean for a single, highly structured and hierarchical church organization to dispense spiritual authority (Catholics have no issues with this one)?

More and more, I tire of the "Questions for Mormons" threads that are full of pot shots, innuendo, and the type of questions that seem more appropriate for political negative advertising then respectful faith dialogue. I hope these off-the-cuff concerns prove more thoughtful and useful.