The new version, while not infallible, has far fewer typos, vastly improved graphics, and close to 50% new material. Weve experienced pain and distress, sometimes having to keep silent out of fearall because of a lack of understanding between active members and those who. Why are there so many people leaving the church of jesus. As an ardent student of lds history the letter caused palmer to consider the. Do not use ces letter or letter to a ces director or imply that its a sequel example. Runnells published a pdf booklet entitled, letter to a ces director. Fifty important mormon books by curt bench a list of the books which have had a significant influence on the development of mormon history, theology, and literature the idea of deciding which mormon books are important is perhaps presumptuous, certainly difficult, but i hope useful. Welcome to christian forums, a forum to discuss christianity in a friendly surrounding.
To my beautiful young childrenthat you may one day understand. I worked as a seminary principalteacher, institute teacherdirector, and stake ces coordinator from 19752002. The church historians press today announced the release of the latest volume of the joseph smith papers. My search for answers to my mormon doubts as of 2017 is an online document which is critical of latterday saint truth claims.
The letters are meant for a young mormon who is familiar with mormon life but green in their faith. Grant hart palmer august 17, 1940 september 25, 2017 was an american educator best known for his controversial work, an insiders view of mormon origins, which ostensibly led to his disfellowshipment in 2004 from the church of jesus christ of latterday saints lds church. The ces letter is a popular summary of arguments made by critics of the church of jesus christ of latterday saints. I just want people to be able to find the info when they. The ces letter in german pdf file ein brief an einen ces direktor. Palmer approached his ces supervisor about changing positions to teach adults at the salt lake county jail. In the last messenger and advocate i promised to commence a more particular or minute history of the rise and progress of the church of the latter day saints. So, i tried going to mormonthink and just downloading the ces letter in a different language from the site they already have options to change the language but it said the file was too big to translate. While saints is a step forward in that regard, it unfortunately fails.
The letter became viral with several thousand copies downloaded from mormonthink alone. If mormonism is all truth, then the brethren should be rushing to switch all quads out for copies of the ces letter any day now. In the churchs sunday school manual, teachings of the presidents of the. Ces letter is one latterday saints honest quest to get official answers from the lds church on its troubling origins, history, and practices. The biggest and most substantial change in ces letter 2. The letter admittedly had a tone of anger and frustration. The lds church has recently made efforts to introduce a new narrative of their history that better reflects the full picture. This web page is dedicated to the accomplishments of jeremy runnells and his dealings with the mormon church. An exmormon leaves the ces letter on a public library computer. Documents, volume 10, which includes papers from may through august 1842, covers a time during which joseph smith oversaw missionary work, encouraged the construction of the nauvoo temple, served as editor of the church. Postmormon journey home contact helpful links adamgod doctrine blacks and the priesthood blood atonement book of abraham book of mormon inconsistencies book of mormon translation seerstone conditional churchgod the curse of cain firstvision multiple accounts garments handbook of instructions book 1 kinderhook plates.
Instead, for each topic we present the strongest and most compelling arguments and explanations from both the critics and the defenders of the church. Grant hart palmer august 17, 1940 september 25, 2017 was an american educator best. Jeremy runnells updated the ces letter in 2017, and so, in 2018, i substantially updated my reply. As current and former mormons, many of us have been through emotional turmoil as weve struggled with our beliefs. A current lifelong latterday saint, jeremy runnells was asked by a ces director in april 20 to share with him jeremys questions and concerns regarding the lds church and its truth claims. Do not set up or offer ces letter for mass print on or any other printers. One latterday saints questions and concerns about the lds churchs origins, history, and current practices. Lying for the lord page 3 of 45 preface i began this list when i was a full time employee of the lds church education system ces. Criticism of mormonismonline documentsletter to a ces. The ces letter is available free of charge online as a pdf download. Where he has responded, ive included a link to the response by jeremy runnells author of the ces letter. Runnells reports that he met twice with his lds stake president, mark ivins, in the fall of 2014. Ces letter for all nations, kindred, tongues, and people.
Ces letter has been downloaded an estimated 600,000 times to date, and over 12,000 lds church members have reached out to runnells after reading the ces letter. Some of us even made the difficult decision to leave. On may 3, 20 mormonthink announced on its website that we learned from several sources that the lds church will be releasing a series of essays that will address troubling historical issues that are causing people to doubt and leave the church. This became very popular very fast and within a couple years he had over 100,000 downloads. After reading jeremys letter, the director promised him a response. It was written by jeremy renolds originally as an honest request to a ces director for answers to the issues it raises. A website with a lot of information dealing with lds issues is mormonthink. Tthough famous it may be among members of the church of jesus christ of latterday saints who have discovered that the. The letter to a ces director expresses multiple concerns about the the truthfulness of the church of jesus christ of latterday saints. We now know that the book of mormon, book of moses, book of abraham, jst, and kinder hook plates all 5 of joseph smith translation productions include plagiarism from contemporary sources from joseph smiths environment or sources long after when these productions were written ex.
Documents, volume 10, released 4 may 2020 the joseph smith papers. Responses to the ces letter the ces letter is the most wellknown compilation of problems with lds truthclaims. The html and audio versions are in final production and will be released shortly in december 2017. In 20, a pdf called the ces letter about a mormons religious doubts went miniviral the piece can now be read in six languages and five different digital formats. Fairmormon has now updated their website with quotes from hales attack on jeremy runnells at rational faiths, but the screen shot of a previous version of the page taken in july 2014 shows that they indeed did not mention the discrepancy, and used the rlds version themselves, which is where jeremy got that testimony from. Do not sell, print or offer existing ces letter or your new work for profit or commercial purposes. On the ces letter october 7, 2015 by jacob a handful of people have asked me over the last few months about the infamous ces letter, which is purportedly responsible for assisting thousands of people to leave the lds church. However, from the lds side, lds apologists have engaged in discussions directly with jeremy runnels and published their responses openly and available for free. If the church is true, its history and teachings can withstand scrutiny. It might be the funniest thing in the world to me when someone tells me with absolute certainty that the book of mormon isnt true after having admitted never actually reading the book themselves. Ces letter my search for answers to my mormon doubts. You will need to register to be able to join in fellowship with christians all over the world we hope to see you as a part of our community soon and god bless. Deseret alphabet and adamic tongue unbeknownst to many readers of the lds tract, the testimony of the prophet joseph smith, there is an interesting historic artifact nestled in the middle of a number of copies of the book of mormon in different languages.
Lds church loses faith in jeremy runnells after reading. Recent findings suggest the vast majority of mormons have few doubts about their religion apparently half have none whatsoever, but there are some working hard to change that. Brigham youngs bloodstone the bloodstone amulet pictured above belonged to brigham young and was worn against the skin to protect him from harm. Criticism of mormonismonline documentsletter to a ces director. Debunking fair in the fall of 20, lds apologetic group fairmormon publicly released. Discusses 20 pivotal truths, including apologist responses to these truths. A bloodstone is a type of jasper stone with red flecks, traditionally believed to prevent or stop bleeding.
It is then up to the reader to decide where the preponderance of the evidence lies and. Tight rebuttals to the ces letters swiss cheese arguments matt a great resource in an often oversimplified conversation riley. Ces letter is one latterday saints honest quest to get official answers from the lds church on its troubling origins, history, and. Additional information and analysis can be found at maps. It is neither an antimormon website nor an lds apologist website. If the catalyst theory is correct, then god must be responsible for instructing smith to record verses in the book of abraham that incorrectly refer to. Helpful links on mormonism recovery from mormonism. Does the ces letter state or imply that the book of mormon is the word of. A millennials brief guide to the ces letter zelph on the shelf. Chapter 3 book of mormon translation concerns 15 joseph smith used a rock in a hat to translate the book of mormon. James white allows us to look over his shoulder as he writes a series of friendly and penetrating letters addressed to a mormon elder who might be any one of the many he has met. Just in time for christmas, jeremy runnells has released both printed and electronic copies of his ces letter 2. It occurs to me that mobile app versions of mormonthink and the ces letter. In 20, jeremy runnells at the request of a ces director wrote a letter documenting the issues he found with the lds church.
Its been hosted over at as part of the new latterday saint survey project. On the ces letter by common consent, a mormon blog. He later published this in a pdf on his website, which is now known as the ces letter. Our most cherished relationships have been strained or lost. To access the digital pdf copy containing the url links.
The document is comprised of a list of issues that the author states caused him to lose his testimony, and it is hosted on a number of websites. Bamboozled by the ces letter shaken faith syndrome. Today, we are releasing to the public ces letter 2. Mission call letter archives latterday saint mission prep. The original was in fact a letter to a ces director, filled with many questions about contradictory lds church history and doctrine. Forward nearly everyone likes to read someone elses mail.
The newest version, which i have not personally read, has been edited to be less. Jeremy runnells was offered an opportunity to discuss his own doubts with a director of the church educational system ces and was assured that his doubts could be resolved. An important step in the mission call process, and one that is the focus of much anticipation for the future missionary as well as family and friends, is receiving the mission call letter. A sincere exploration of lds church history, authority, and doctrine. Mormon file leaks contains leaked lds documents, ie handbooks, financial records, etc.
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