Common Misunderstood Questions - and/or attacks against our faith:
#1. The Bible/Book of Mormon teaches that there is "One" God but the Book of Abraham teaches that there are many God's.
Mosiah 15:3-4 The father because he was conceived by the power of God - The son because of the flesh - they are "One" God
Alma 11:44 Christ the Son, and God the Father, and the Holy Spirit which is one Eternal God to be judged
Mormon 7:7 The Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost, which are "One" God
Let us start at the begining of it all.. in Genesis the actual Hebrew word used in that sacred text is Elohim.
Gensis 1:1
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth
Transliterated Bible: Genesis 1:1
bə·rê·šîṯ bā·rā ’ĕ·lō·hîm; ’êṯ haš·šā·ma·yim wə·’êṯ hā·’ā·reṣ.
bə·rê·šîṯ Plural form of the word head/top/first/chief/start - such as first fruits of a harvest
bā·rā choose, shape, create
ĕ·lō·hîm Gods, angels, very great intellects (plural of eloah - noun masculin - from el - root form noun - God)
’êṯ Untranslatable mark of the accusative
haš·šā·ma·yim heaven, sky
wə·’êṯ Untranslatable mark of the accusative; mark of .
hā·’ā·reṣ earth land
Absolute translation by word: Chief/Formost/First God(plural) created heavens earth
The word Elohim is a plural word of the masculine word eloah - with a root word of el as shown above. it behaves like a singular noun in Hebrew grammar, and is then generally understood to denote the single God of Israel. In other cases, Elohim acts as an ordinary plural of the word Eloah, and refers to the polytheistic notion of multiple gods (for example, Exodus 20:3, "You shall have no other gods before me.").
The word Elohim occurs more than 2500 times in the Hebrew Bible, with meanings ranging from "gods" in a general sense (as in Exodus 12:12, where it describes "the gods of Egypt"), to specific gods (e.g., 1 Kings 11:33, where it describes Chemosh "the god of Moab", or the frequent references to Yahweh (Jehovah) as the "elohim" of Israel), to demons, seraphim, and other supernatural beings, to the spirits of the dead brought up at the behest of King Saul in 1 Samuel 28:13, and even to kings and prophets (e.g., Exodus 4:16). The phrase bene elohim, translated "sons of the Gods", has an exact parallel in Ugaritic and Phoenician texts, referring to the council of the gods.
In general in Hebrew the im suffix means plural form of a given noun for example:
Charash - Craftsman
Charashiym - Craftsmen
Notice the Abraham translation:
Abraham 4:1
And then the Lord said: Let us go down. And they went down at the beginning, and they, that is the Gods,organized and formed the heavens and the earth.
The Lord - the cheif of the Gods said - let us go down and they went down and organized the heavens and the earth.
Matt. 27:46-49 Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? (Singular used here...)
#2. Polygamy is to be an "everlasting" doctrine of the church, however it is described as an abomination in the Book of Mormon.
Section 132:4-6 He that receiveth a fulness thereof must and shall abide the law - or he shall be damned.
Jacob 1:15, 2:24 David and Solomon had many wives, which is abominable before me saith the Lord
This is answered quite clearly in D&C 132 see the following.
1: Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you my servant Joseph, that inasmuch as you have inquired of my hand to know and understand wherein I, the Lord, justified my servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as also Moses, David and Solomon, my servants, as touching the principle and doctrine of their having many wives and concubines—
The rest of this section explains the covenant of marriage and how it affects an individual's eternal state. It also describes how the authority of God is required for all oaths/covenants to be in effect beyond the grave.
See also specifically vs 34-39
They were not condemned for they were obeying the voice of the Lord and he commanded it.
Abraham received concubines, and they bore him children; and it was accounted unto him for righteousness, because they were given unto him, and he abode in my law; as Isaac also and Jacob did none other things than that which they were commanded; and because they did none other things than that which they were commanded, they have entered into their exaltation, according to the promises, and sit upon thrones, and are not angels but are gods.
David’s wives and concubines were given unto him of me, by the hand of Nathan, my servant, and others of the prophets who had the keys of this power; and in none of these things did he sin against me save in the case of Uriah and his wife; and, therefore he hath fallen from his exaltation, and received his portion; and he shall not inherit them out of the world, for I gave them unto another, saith the Lord.
Furthermore: Polygamy is of course also commanded in some cases in the Old Testament and they were not under condemnation for this either. See the Law of the kinsman redeemer - google it :)
In summary it is the law according to the Pentateuch where the male relative had the privilege and in some cases the responsibility to act for a relative who was in trouble, danger, or in need of vindication or dead. In some cases this included the case of a "levirate marriage". In this case it can in fact force or cause a polygamous relationship upon an individual.
God, in His infinite love and wisdom, devised a law that inhibited greed, and economic chaos on the one hand, and promoted the welfare of the widow on the other. It is known as the “kinsman redeemer” or the “law of the levirate.” Levirate comes from the Latin word levir which means “husband’s brother”. The basic idea is that, when a man died childless, his brother or another “near” kinsman was to take the widow to be his wife. This ensured that someone would be there to take care of her essential needs, one of which, we have seen (Exodus 21), was a chance to have children who would take care of her even beyond the lifetime of this second husband. This arrangement also protected the family of the husband from losing control of family property, perhaps to a distant, tribe. By this law, the property would remain the possession of the husband’s tribe. Still further, the custom protected the widow from being denied inheritance support by her new provider (when he died). The deceased’s brother was prohibited from considering the property of his brother his. Legally it belonged to the firstborn male child of the couple, a child who was legally considered the offspring of the widow and her first husband. The child had the rights to the property, not his birth father. Thus, the husband’s relatives kept the property in the family as a whole but not for themselves specifically. Any attempt to “short-circuit” the system by failing to marry the widow or by failing to make an honest effort to impregnate her was considered a grave social injustice and a sin in God’s eyes.
Don't then condemn Joseph and others for doing what God had commanded them.
#3. The Book of Mormon teaches that all things were created, but according to the Doctrine and Covenants there are some things that are not created but are eternal.
2 Nephi 2:14 God hath created all things, both the heavens and the earth and all things in them
Section 93:29, 33 Intelligence or the light of truth was not created or made, neither indeed can it be. The elements are eternal...
God did create all things both in heavens and in the earth and all things in them. However, the word "create" and an understanding of it is the issue with this question. In Hebrew the word create that is used in the bible is the word bara who's meaning is to organize, shape, to fashion (see above). In this case we mean that it is to organize or form something or another. It does not mean nor has it ever meant to create from nothingness. That is sectarian myth and is not acurate. See Abraham 3:24. we will take of these materials and make an earth whereon these may dwell..
#4. The Bible teaches that God the father is invisible, however the Doctrine and Covenants teaches that God is visible and has a body of flesh and bones.
1 Timothy 1:17
1 Timothy 6:16
John 4:24
A Study of Exodus 34 may be of help here...
Exodus 34:11 - The Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend - lol that would be difficult if he was invisible :)
Exodus 34:27-28
Exodus 34:30-35 When Moses spake with God - he was changed so that he emitted light - he was face to face with God
A Study of Moses 1 makes it plain and clear that he spoke with God like we speak to each other
#5 The Book of Mormon states that Jesus would be born in Jerusalem, however we all know he was actually born in Bethlehem.
Alma 7:10
Luke 2:4
Mathew 2:1
This one always makes me laugh - lol. It is as if they don't know what it means to live in a suburb of a larger city. I mean really... it is ridiculous. It is 10km (6.2 miles) south of Jerusalem and is a suburb of that city.