Mormonism is as valid a Christian form as any other Christian sect.

Thank you for your post If I am correct (I may not be), than con's arguement is composed of 3 points: 1.Mormons believe the Bible to only be the word of God if it is translated correctly. The Bible is possibly incorrect, than how can it be considered to be the true word of God? 2. Mormons haven't canonized most the JST translation they confess 3. If Mormons and other Christians have different ideals concerning Christ's teachings then they can't both be Christain 1. The Bible has been proven over and over again to have mistranslations. Several Middle Aged historians, before Martain Luther had begun the reformaion, noticed that the Bible had many instances and and inserts that could not have been given in the day of Christ. For example, Christ, in one version, speaks of the feudal system and other aspects of Middle Aged culture. However, the feudal system (and many other aspects of Middle Aged Culture) had been created hundreds of years after Christ's mortal ministry. Furthermore, there are teachings of the Bible that contridict each other. For example, whether or not God tempts men: "And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham." (GEN 22:1) "Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God; for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man." (JAS 1:13) Furthermore, the Bible was translated from Hebrew to Greek to English, etc. Monks had to constantly handwrite translations day after day after day. Out of hundreds of years of translating and writing in such a manner it is extreamly likely the Bible was mistranslated multiple times. Finally, while Mormons may have 'changed' aspects of the Bible, Prodestants have taken out of the Bible. Books of the Bible not in Protestant Bibles but in Catholic Bibles include Tobit, Judith, 1 and 2 Maccabees, Wisdom, and Sirach, just to name a few. Furthermore, there are litterally hundreds of different interpritations of the Bible other than the JST. Translations include but are not limited to: The original King James, The American King James (http://www.angelfire.com...) , and the New Cambridge Version (http://www.cambridge.org...). Joseph Smith was not the only English Biblical Translator aside from King James. To say Mormonism is not a valid Christian sect due to a different translation of the Bible is to discredit the vast majority of Christianity due to different interpritations of the Bible. A few examples include: Matthew 6:13: The Lord's Prayer traditionally ends: "For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen." This seems to have been absent from the original writings. (http://www.bibletexts.com...) Matthew 17:21 is a duplicate of Mark 9:29. It was apparently added by a copyist in order to make Matthew agree with Mark. But Mark 9:29 also contains a forgery; this makes Matthew 17:21 a type of double-layered forgery. (http://www.bibletexts.com...) 2. The RLDS has copyright laws. If the LDS church takes most rights of the JST translation it will be sued and rights to translate the Bible in the correct format will be taken away anyways. Mormons understand this. Mormons take Joseph Smith and other prophet's words extreamly seriously (in doctrine, at least. Not all Mormons, like any religon, practice the doctrine they beleive in). A Mormon scripture mastery states that whether it 'comes from the mouth of God or out of his servents, the prophets, it is the same'. That is to say that if a prophet states a beleif on 'the stand' (that is to say, in a setting sugjesting he was directed by God, such as General Conference) it is the same as if God said it himself. Mormons, whether or not they are allowed to have it, only beleive in the Bible in so far as it is translated correctly according to Mormon doctrine. 3. Christianity is full of denominations that disagree with each other. A few examples include: -The Beleif of the source of doctrine. -Catholics: Bible, church fathers, popes, bishops; Seven Ecumenial Councils; Trent, Vatican, and other Catholic councils -Orthodox:The Scriptures, both the Old and New Testaments, along with Sacred Apostolic Tradition." Seven Ecumenical Councils. -Prodestant: Bible alone -The Trinity -Catholic, Orthodox, and most Prodestant: "The mystery of the Most Holy Trinity is the central mystery of the Christian faith and of Christian life." -Lutheran: "We teach that the one true God. is the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost, three distinct persons, but of one and the same divine essence, equal in power, equal in eternity, equal in majesty, because each person possesses the one divine essence." (http://www.religionfacts.com...) Those are only a couple of examples, I'd be happy to give more If you wish to continue to debate over Mormons and the Bible, I'd be happy to. If you also wish to bring up other doctrines, I'd be happy to debate those as well. If all possible, could you allow time to not expire on my debate time before the end of 6/27/10. I will, unfortunatly, be gone from Monday until then. I might have time to check and debate tomorrow, but I'm not sure.