Dr Paul Allen

In the last few months, a number of Latter-day Saints have found out that thier church’s founder, Joseph Smith, was married to more than 30 women, meaning that Emma was not his one and only wife. Many who know about Smith’s philanderous ways may assume that these women must have been widows or “old maids” and their prophet was doing a favor to them by marrying them.  However, the idea that Joseph Smith somehow rescued his plural wives from being single is just not accurate. The fact of the matter is that Smith met the majority of his wives when they were just preteens or teenagers.  In fact, about a quarter of Smith’s eventual wives (nine of them) were 12 or younger when Smith met them, even as young as 5 (Sarah Ann Whitney) or 6 (Nancy Winchester). Over the years, Smith nurtured these relationships until he married them, with the vast majority of these marriages taking place between 1841 to 1843. At least a quarter of his wives were no older than teenagers when Smith (who...

The Mormon faith is a religion which is gathering quite a few adherents, especially outside the USA . But if you were to ask me why I do not ascribe to Mormonism , I would begin by giving these three reasons: Mormonism deviates from the sufficiency of the Bible . Mormonism teaches that the Book of Mormon is holy Scripture, on equal standing with the Bible, and is, therefore, the word of God. The assertion is that it was recorded on gold plates long ago in an ancient Egyptian-type language. In 1823, Joseph Smith claimed to have been directed by the angel, Moroni, to discover and translate the contents, which became the Book of Mormon. Mormonism teaches that Smith was a prophet in the ranks of biblical prophets like Moses and Isaiah, chosen by God to restore the true Church of Jesus Christ using the text from the plates. The content of the Book of Mormon also rebukes the idea that Scripture alone is sufficient: “Thou fool, that shall say: A Bible, w...

English: Painting by an unknown painter, circa 1842. The original is owned by the Community of Christ archives. It is on display at the Community of Christ headquarters in Independence Missouri, where its provenance is explained. The painting was originally in the possession of Joseph Smith III (died 1914), who is recorded as commenting on the painting. The c. 1842 date is given by the Community of Christ, the painting's owner. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Mormons are the only true Christians . At least, that’s the official position of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . Shortly after Jesus’ original disciples had passed from the earth, the Christian church lost the Gospel . According to the Mormon scriptures , God restored the true Gospel to the earth through the prophet Joseph Smith , and he established the LDS church ( Pearl of Great Price , Joseph Smith—History , 1:1-75), “the only true and living church upon the face of the whole earth” ( Doctrine & Coven...