Does 2 Timothy teach Bible alone?
A Protestant friend believes Scripture is the final and sufficient rule for Christian faith. You both take the Bible seriously.
Practice a response
Choose a guided reply or write your own. Get feedback and check the source for each exchange.
Rehearse with an AI partnerDo the surviving papyri disprove the Book of Abraham?
A friend read that Egyptologists identified the surviving fragments as funerary texts. They want to know what that means for Joseph Smith’s claim.
Did Joseph Smith write the Happiness Letter?
A friend sent you the attributed letter, clips of Church leaders quoting its wording, and the current guidance against using its opening passage.
Does DNA rule out Book of Mormon ancestry?
A friend saw a video about the genetic history of Indigenous Americans and wants to know how it fits with the Book of Mormon.
How could Nephi quote a later Isaiah?
A friend noticed that 1 Nephi quotes Isaiah 48–49. They read that many Bible scholars date those chapters to after Lehi left Jerusalem.
How do I trust prophets who can be wrong?
A Latter-day Saint friend still wants to believe in prophets. They are wrestling with the history of race and priesthood and want to know what trust can mean.
Is Jesus’s visit in 3 Nephi just the Sermon on the Mount again?
A friend read the Book of Mormon and says the visit repeats Matthew without adding anything.
Who are the other sheep in John 10:16?
A friend says the other sheep in John 10:16 must mean Gentiles, so they cannot mean the people in the Book of Mormon.
Does the JST contradict 3 Nephi?
A friend shares the CES Letter’s three-column comparison of the sermon. They ask why Joseph revised the Bible without giving 3 Nephi the same wording.
Why does the Book of Mormon call Jesus the Father?
A friend reads Mosiah 15 and asks why the Book of Mormon calls Jesus both Father and Son if Latter-day Saints say they are distinct.
Christ’s high priesthood and delegated ministry
A friend says that Hebrews 7 gives Christ a permanent priesthood and rules out the Latter-day Saint claim that He restored priesthood authority. Start by agreeing on what Christ alone does.
Does baptism compete with Christ’s grace?
A friend says Paul rejected adding circumcision to faith and asks why Latter-day Saints add baptism. Compare what Paul says about the two practices before answering the analogy.
What did the early bishops inherit?
A friend says early bishops preserved apostolic authority, so the Great Apostasy could never have happened. They bring up 1 Clement and Irenaeus. Start with the historical evidence, then ask what authority the successors received.
What does Paul mean by oral and written tradition?
A Catholic friend cites Paul’s command to hold teachings delivered by word or letter as support for Sacred Tradition. A Protestant friend says the passage refers to the gospel and that Scripture alone is the enduring rule. A Latter-day Saint sees a possible case for living prophetic authority. Read the passage before deciding what it establishes.
Does Jude 3 close the canon?
A friend reads that the faith was delivered once for all and asks why Latter-day Saints accept later scripture.
Do the Bereans in Acts 17 teach sola scriptura?
A friend quotes Acts 17:11 and asks why you would listen to a prophet or pray about the Book of Mormon when the Bereans tested even Paul by Scripture.
Do the 17 Points prove the Restoration?
A friend sends the 17 Points list and asks whether it proves which church has Christ’s authority. Check the sources before defending the list.
Do references to lost writings prove scripture was suppressed?
A Christian points to Paul’s earlier letter to Corinth and early canon lists, arguing that no inspired biblical books were lost or excluded. A Latter-day Saint points to the open canon and 1 Nephi 13. Separate the claims before drawing a conclusion.
How should Christians test a religious tradition?
A Protestant cites Jesus’ rebuke of the Corban practice as proof that Scripture must overrule church tradition. A Latter-day Saint points to Paul’s command to hold oral and written teaching. Compare the texts, then apply the same standard to LDS claims of authority.
Does Isaiah rule out human exaltation?
A Christian cites Isaiah’s declaration that there is no God besides the Lord and argues that Latter-day Saint teaching about exaltation makes humans gods. Read the passage in context and distinguish the claims.
Do Jude 3 and Galatians 1 rule out the Restoration?
A friend combines Jude’s “faith once delivered” with Paul’s warning about another gospel and an angel. Separate what each passage establishes, then examine the Restoration’s message.
Does denominational disagreement disprove sola scriptura?
A Protestant friend takes Scripture as the final rule and acknowledges denominational disagreement. Work through what that disagreement shows about authority.
Does 1 Corinthians 4:6 establish sola scriptura?
A Christian cites Paul’s instruction to learn “not to go beyond what is written” as a biblical proof that Scripture alone is the final authority. Read the phrase in its argument before drawing that conclusion.
Does the BITE model prove the Church is a cult?
A friend applies the BITE model to LDS rules and describes pressure they experienced. Examine the argument and the experience with care.
Do Latter-day Saints worship a different Jesus?
An evangelical friend believes that differences about Christ’s divine nature mean Latter-day Saints worship a false Christ. Work through the specific disagreements.
Why are women not ordained to priesthood offices?
A friend understands that women serve with priesthood authority. Their concern is why ordination and the governing keys remain reserved to men.
Why did King Benjamin become King Mosiah?
A friend found two passages where the 1830 Book of Mormon names Benjamin and the current edition names Mosiah. They think the first edition put Benjamin in the story after his death.
What traces should Book of Mormon writing leave?
A friend says the Book of Mormon describes too much writing for its peoples to have left no identifiable Hebrew inscriptions.
Did Joseph Smith run for president to set up a theocracy?
A friend reads that the Council of Fifty made Joseph a king and helped him run for president. They ask whether his campaign was a plan to replace the U.S. government with a theocracy.
Did David Whitmer walk back his testimony to John Murphy?
A friend says David Whitmer admitted to John Murphy that his experience was only a feeling. Compare what each man put on record.
Does a biblical style show Joseph wrote the Book of Mormon?
A friend says the Book of Mormon sounds like early American histories that imitated the King James Bible. If Leacock could write one, why couldn’t Joseph?
Did Joseph Smith practice plural marriage in Nauvoo?
A friend argues that Joseph Smith’s plural marriages were attributed to him after his death, perhaps to justify Brigham Young’s later practice. Compare contemporary Nauvoo records with Joseph’s public denials and later testimony.
Does the Anthon episode date 2 Nephi 27?
Ryan Thomas argues that 2 Nephi 27 adapts KJV Isaiah 29 to Martin Harris’s 1828 visit to Charles Anthon, then treats the match as evidence the passage was composed after that visit. Compare the passages and the accounts before deciding what the evidence can date.
Do remarriage sealings settle who is together eternally?
A widow asks why she needs to cancel her first sealing to be sealed to her current husband. A friend who married a widower wonders what his two sealings mean for her in eternity.
Does Mormon 9 echo the long ending of Mark?
Mormon 9:22–24 and Mark 16:15–18 share unusually close King James wording about preaching the gospel and signs following believers. A critic argues this points to dependence on Mark’s long ending, which many scholars regard as secondary.
Does 2 Nephi 25 echo Paul?
A Christian reader argues that 2 Nephi 25:23–25 presents Nephi as anticipating Paul’s theology of the law and grace, which points to a nineteenth-century author. Read the passages before assessing that conclusion.
Did Joseph Smith borrow the Moroni story from The Golden Pot?
A friend says Hoffmann’s The Golden Pot inspired Joseph Smith’s account of Moroni and the plates. Separate the story parallels from the claim that ideas reached Joseph.
Were the First Vision accounts taught in Church lessons?
A friend says Church lessons hid the other First Vision accounts. Compare actual manuals and distinguish published discussion from what a class was asked to study.
Did Joseph Smith predict the Civil War?
A friend says D&C 87 came from the newspapers. Compare what was public in 1832, what Joseph repeated, and which predictions match the war.
What do the labels in Facsimile 3 say?
A friend opens Facsimile 3 and points to the captions for Pharaoh and Shulem. Compare the printed explanations with the Egyptian readings.
What did Helen Mar Kimball say about her sealing?
A friend asks why Joseph Smith was sealed to Helen Mar Kimball at fourteen. Compare the two accounts of what Helen expected and what followed.
Did the JST use Adam Clarke?
A friend points to two overlaps between Adam Clarke’s commentary and the Joseph Smith Translation. Read the sources and decide what each overlap can show.
Did Joseph Smith publicly deny plural marriage?
A friend shares the “I can only find one” line and asks how you can square it with Joseph Smith’s private plural sealings.
Was the Nauvoo Expositor telling the truth?
A friend says the Nauvoo Expositor was mostly right, so they want to know why Latter-day Saints have called it slander. Start by checking the paper’s specific allegations.
What does archaeology say about the Book of Mormon?
Someone cites Michael Coe’s 1973 assessment and later comments as proof that archaeology has disproved the Book of Mormon. Another points to LiDAR discoveries as proof that it is historical. Evaluate what each source can establish.
Do proposed literary sources explain the Book of Mormon?
A friend points to View of the Hebrews and The Late War as possible sources for the Book of Mormon. They cite similar themes, phrases, and story patterns.
What does the record show about Joseph Smith’s plural marriages?
A friend asks how Latter-day Saints understand Joseph Smith’s plural marriages, especially Helen Mar Kimball, women who already had husbands, and Emma’s position.
What can a spiritual impression tell you about a story?
A friend remembers being moved by a story Paul H. Dunn told about a soldier who died in his arms. They later read that the soldier survived.
What does the Canadian copyright revelation show?
A friend says Joseph promised the Book of Mormon copyright would sell in Toronto. When the deal failed, he allegedly said revelations could come from God, people, or the devil.
Did Joseph Smith set a date for Christ’s return?
A friend has a list of failed prophecies. It says Joseph promised the Second Coming in 1890 or 1891.
How do you answer the steel objection?
A friend says the Book of Mormon gets ancient steel wrong. They bring up Laban’s sword, Nephi’s bow, and Shule arming his followers.
What does the White Salamander letter establish?
A friend asks why Church leaders accepted Hofmann’s documents and whether the Salamander Letter discredits Joseph’s account of the plates.
Why did the Church replace sacramental wine with water?
A friend notices that scripture says wine, while Latter-day Saints now use water. They ask whether the change contradicts the original ordinance or the Word of Wisdom.
Can anyone see God the Father?
A friend cites John’s statements that no one has seen God and asks whether biblical visions, including Joseph Smith’s, contradict them.
How could Joseph see God before priesthood was restored?
A friend points out that the First Vision is dated to 1820, while the Aaronic Priesthood restoration is dated to 1829, and asks how that fits Doctrine and Covenants 84:21–22.
Does divine ancestry require an infinite regress?
A friend heard that Joseph Smith taught God had a Father. They ask how a series of gods could explain anything without a first cause.
What can the ice cores tell us about Noah’s Flood?
A friend says Greenland and Antarctic ice layers rule out a worldwide flood around 2400 BCE. They ask how you read Genesis and LDS teaching in light of the evidence.
What happened to the temple promised in this generation?
A friend reads the Missouri temple promise in section 84 and asks why the specified temple was never completed within the original generation.
What does Adam–God show about prophetic reliability?
A friend reads Brigham Young’s public teaching about Adam and asks how a believer can reconcile it with Spencer W. Kimball’s denunciation.
Can you sustain leaders and still think for yourself?
A friend shares the 1945 “thinking has been done” quote. They wonder whether following Church leaders leaves any room for their own judgment.
Did wordprints find Sidney Rigdon in the Book of Mormon?
A friend watched a discussion that connects a change in the Book of Mormon’s style to Sidney Rigdon. They also heard that a statistical study identified Rigdon and Spalding.
Did the Church keep its promise to end plural marriage?
A friend has read that LDS leaders approved new plural marriages after the Church publicly moved to end the practice. They want to know what the two Manifestos actually changed.
What did Ferguson’s archaeological search establish?
A friend says a founder of the New World Archaeological Foundation lost confidence in Book of Mormon geography. They want to know how much weight to give his search.
Why didn’t Joseph retranslate the lost pages?
A friend thinks a second translation of the lost Book of Mormon manuscript would have tested Joseph Smith’s account. They also wonder whether he tried to recover the pages.
Did the priesthood restoration story change over time?
A friend compares the early records with later accounts and asks whether the priesthood-restoration story was added after the Church began.
How should we assess proposed locations for Zarahemla?
A friend says D&C 125 proves the Book of Mormon city of Zarahemla was in Iowa. They ask why some Latter-day Saints place it in Chiapas instead.
What does the Zelph story establish about Book of Mormon geography?
A friend reads that Joseph Smith identified a Lamanite named Zelph in Illinois. They ask why some Latter-day Saints place the Book of Mormon’s main events in Central America.
What did Joseph Smith claim about the Kirtland Safety Society?
A friend says Joseph promised the Kirtland Safety Society would prosper, then it failed and he was fined. They ask whether this disproves his prophetic claims.
Does D&C 132 contradict Jacob 2 on plural marriage?
A reader asks why Jacob condemns David and Solomon for having many wives and concubines while D&C 132 says the Lord justified them. Work through the scope of both claims.
Should a Catholic pray about the Book of Mormon?
A Catholic friend says Moroni’s invitation to read, ponder, and pray about the Book of Mormon is inappropriate because Christ gave the fullness of public revelation through the Apostles. Patrick Madrid applies that Catholic position to the Book of Mormon, while Jimmy Akin’s Catholic Answers dialogue distinguishes a seeker who has not identified God’s revelation from a Catholic who has already accepted Scripture and Apostolic Tradition. The friend also invokes Galatians 1:6–9 as a warning against a different gospel.
How should we read the Book of Mormon’s skin-color passages?
A reader points to 2 Nephi 5:20–23 and 3 Nephi 2:14–16, which connect a curse with skin becoming black and later white. They ask whether Joseph Smith’s 1840 change from “white” to “pure” in 2 Nephi 30:6, and the Church’s current disavowal of racial theories, resolve what the other passages say.
Can I know the temple covenants before my endowment?
A friend preparing for a first endowment asks what they will promise and whether they can take more time.
No guided conversation matched.