Reddit reviews The Miracle of Forgiveness

Has "The Miracle of Forgiveness" done anything but made people feel bad about themselves? Love the first review about it on amazon: http://www.amazon.com/The-Miracle-Forgiveness-Spencer-Kimball/dp/0884944441

Mormon youth who have "sinned," usually in a sexual nature, used to be somewhat frequently encouraged to read it. It is available to purchase through Amazon.com (and at really low prices).

Get a quote taken from Miracle of Forgiveness and frame it for him. If you need help, the first review of the book from Amazon might help you :)

All you need to know about that book can be found in this review.

First off, reddit is probably the wrong place to ask if your wondering whether or not you need to repent. Your salvation is between you and the Lord, so if you are unsure, just James 1:5 it and pray.

I doubt that the fact you did it on the BYU-I campus makes a difference. I imagine much worse things happen on a regular basis.

As far as demons / evil spirits go, there's very little in official cannon about them other than that they do exist. D&C 129 and Alma 30:52-53 come to mind of the top of my head. There may also be something about this in the Handbook of Instructions - but you'd have to ask your bishop about that. Beyond that though, there's just folklore and speculation.

From your other comments it seems as though you're a convert. One thing I've experience growing up in the church is that mormons love to tell each other scary stories about evil spirits possessing their cousin's young women president's friend's niece and leaving when rebuked by proper priesthood authority. Because of this I suspect your roommate may have been faking it just to mess with you.

It would actually be really interesting to collect these stories, because I image almost every mormon has heard some story via their seminary teacher or scoutmaster that they could relate. I've heard of home teachers visiting less active members and finding them possessed, and I've heard of boy scout troops accidentally summoning Cain/Bigfoot (who incidentally shows up in [Spencer W. Kimball's The Miracle of Forgiveness.] (http://www.amazon.com/The-Miracle-Forgiveness-Spencer-Kimball/dp/0884944441))

Personally, I've never met an evil spirit. But I had a Brazilian companion on my mission who related to me the following experience. His family was heavily involved in Caribbean Voodoo and after he joined the church an evil spirit apparently attempted to murder him several times before he was ordained to the priesthood and rebuked it. Normally I'd be skeptical of a story like this, but he was a simple and honest missionary, and I can't come up with any reason why he would lie to me. Ultimately, I've had to follow the Professors chain of logic from The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe - I know he wasn't crazy, and I know he wasn't lying, so the only other option is that he was telling me the truth.

It looks like you can get a used paperback for $2.
https://smile.amazon.com/Miracle-Forgiveness-Spencer-W-Kimball/dp/0884944441/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1555966798&sr=8-1

The Miracle of Forgiveness by Spencer W. Kimball.

• What is the deal with the Apostle John?
  
  You'll need to be more specific.
  
  
• Why do you claim there are hundreds of millions of members world wide, but the official reports claim there are only 15 million or so?
  
  I am unaware of any claim by the LDS church of "hundreds of millions of members." Their claim of membership is 15 Million. In this forum, we observe that only about 1/3 of that number even identify themselves as Mormon, but that doesn't stop the LDS church, or any other church, from counting those who were once affiliated as members.
  
  
• Why does Paul claim it is better for a man not to be married, but marriage is required for entrance into the Celestial Kingdom?
  
  I assume you are talking about 1 Cor. Ch.7. ( 7 For I would that all men were even as I myself. But every man hath his proper gift of God, one after this manner, and another after that. 8 I say therefore to the unmarried and widows, It is good for them if they abide even as I. 9 But if they cannot contain, let them marry: for it is better to marry than to burn.)
  
  The typical LDS response to that biblical contradiction with LDS doctrine is 1) ignore this passage, 2) claim Paul was a widower, and 3) point to Ephesians 5:21–6:4 and Colossians 3:8–21. read p.289 of this manual for more detail and p.64 of The Miracle of Forgiveness
  
  
• How do you explain the the lack of Apostolic succession? Did the Apostles just suck at their jobs Christ empowered them to do?
  
  Yup. The LDS faith relies up the doctrine of Apostasy and while the church teachings are usually quite general, there is quite a bit of work done to try and legitimize this theory. Mormons wouldn't say that the Apostles failed, but that Satan won that battle, but it was God's plan to restore His church later. Mormon scholars point to the existence of bad popes to illustrate that godly authority was gone.
  
  
• "Joseph Smith was either telling the truth or an evil man and no evil man could have written the book of Mormon."
  Please explain to me this thinking...
  
  This one makes sense to me. Much like one who believes that the four gospels are God's word must logically believe that Jesus is the Son of God and Christianity (in one form or another) is the gathering of God's people and Christ is the way to salvation. Similarly, if someone believes that the Book of Mormon also contains God's word, then the translator, Joseph Smith, must have been divinely called. Personally, I think the inconsistencies and falibilities in both texts make the conclusions improbable. But that's just my opinion.