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Most so-called splinter groups arose at the time of the assassination of Joseph Smith. Those that have arisen since
are generally polygamous groups or "hobbyists" of some sort. Gays and Lesbians for example are still keeping up with parts
of Mormon culture and have groups operating either secretly or as excommunicated members (the same fate that polygamists suffer.
The tendancy to split is a fate suffered by many groups and we, whether we have extra scripture or not, ar not immune from
those splits. Back to my missionary days; I remember two small churches about a half mile apart in Grundy, Virgina. The
buildings were essentially identical except for the signs. One said "Church of God of Prophesy" and the other "Church of
God of Prophesy (Voice Music Only)".
The silly, power seeking or satanic can always find a good reason to split. -BP (LDS)
(Note: Soon to be Non-LDS)
The reason why there are so many splinter groups coming out of Mormonism is because the church has never taken a firm
stance on the past, present or future of its doctrines. This wishy-washy atmosphere of the church is a breeding ground of
individual thought in the such an extreme manner that people take a 'truth' of the Mormon church and carry it out to its
logical conclusion. They are then disfellowshiped or leave the church and form a religion based on this one variation of
the LDS faith. Luckily for me I found Christ, the one True God. -JS (LDS)
Just as the founder of the LDS organization was drawn into his life's work so are many others. In Smith's day, there was
a "revival" that America was experiencing (according to smith). Unfortunately, there were many deluded self-proclaimed prophets
for smith to learn from. The cultic personality is not a new phenomena. The bible clearly teaches us that there are countless
false teachers for every true techer. Even today we have charismatic monsters such as David Koresh who seduce innocent people.
Joseph Smith not only was Extremely cunning but, he was also given some powerful tools from the great liar. He just happened to
become one of the most successful false prophets ever. The splinter groups are started by a power hungry person who is under the
delusion that he alone knows the truth. This is nothing more than the devil's pride controlling the cultist's consciousness. Sorry
for giving such a lenghtly answer. I enjoy discussing the subject! -RK (non-LDS)
the best part about this question, i believe, is many mormons have said the christian church cannot be
the true church because there are so-called splinter groups like methodist, nazarene, pentecostal, etc.
with that in mind, why is it that the christian church cannot be true but the lds church can?
i believe the splinter groups are a result of teachings that come from the mormon church like
polygamy. in D and C 132 it says it is an everlasting covenant. so one group believes it, another
does not. Who is correct? if you redefine "everlasting" as only a couple of years, then you are saying
god is not very smart. titus 1:2 says god cannot lie. so why is it he said it was everlasting, but then
a few years later says it is no more everlasting? if god knew from the beginning it would last a set
amount of years, why didn't he just say that in the first place?
then we have things like the j smith translation of the bible. lds say they won't use it because
the rlds own the rights to it; yet the lds do use it because they are selling it in their book stores
and it is found in the footnotes of their KJV and the BOM.
this is only a few problems as to why i believe there are splinter groups. please write me at
[email protected] and we can talk further. -RB (non-LDS)
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