Free Republic

...A frequently cited passage in LDS scripture identifies The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as “the only true and living church upon the face of the whole earth”(...Doctrine and Covenants 1:30). “What does this mean?” asked Elder Tad R. Callister of the church’s Presidency of the Seventy during a devotional for college-age church members Sunday evening. “It does not mean that other churches do not have some truth, for certainly they do,” he said. “It does not mean that other churches do not render good, for they render much good. What it does mean is that this is...

What do LDS Church leaders have to say about the reliability and accuracy of their own scriptures? According to LDS leaders, Mormon scriptures are “utterly reliable” and “pure truth.” The current prophet, President Monson, declared on the official church website lds.org (underline added): “The words of truth and inspiration found in our four standard works are prized possessions to me…These holy words of truth and love give guidance to my life and point the way to eternal perfection.”In 2011, Apostle Richard G. Scott taughtBecause scriptures are generated from inspired communication through the Holy Ghost, they are pure truth. We need...

Reported cases of Christians killed for their faith around the world doubled in 2013 from the year before, with Syria accounting for more than the whole global total in 2012, according to an annual survey. Open Doors, a non-denominational group supporting persecuted Christians worldwide, said on Wednesday it had documented 2,123 "martyr" killings, compared with 1,201 in 2012. There were 1,213 such deaths in Syria alone last year, it said. "This is a very minimal count based on what has been reported in the media and we can confirm," said Frans Veerman, head of research for Open Doors. Estimates by...

Open Doors, a persecution watchdog group, is out with its 2014 World Watch List, which ranks 50 countries where the persecution of Christians for religious reasons is most severe, according to the report. The organization looks at “violence, government pressures, and other related indicators” to collectively assess countries, according to The Blaze, which spoke with the group’s CEO and President Dr. David Curry. Their ranking methodology is explained in more detail here. “Not every circumstance is the same. For example, in North Korea, you have a quasi-Stalinist government that is the most difficult place to call yourself a Christian on...

In response to a letter from a coalition of religious liberty advocates concerned about anti-Christian bias in Defense Department “equal opportunity” training materials, the Department of Defense says it is reviewing those materials and will decide this month whether to continue using “private organizations” as resources in developing them. The coalition specifically cited the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) as a group the military should stop relying upon as a source for equal opportunity training. […] The Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty, a member of the coalition, filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request with the DOD seeking training...

The anti-Christian sentiment of Muslims in Libya has now reached a new, official level; the Libyan government has declared its new constitution will be based on Shariah law. The Libyan General National Congress stated, "Islamic law is the source of legislation in Libya. All state institutions need to comply with this." This is a change from the policy under former Libyan dictator Muammar Qaddafi, who allowed Libya's 300,000 Coptic Christians, 5% of its population, to openly practice their faith. Reports assert that a special committee is examining current laws to make sure they comply with Shariah. Patrick Sookhdeo, international director...

In the recently released statement on lds.org on Race and the Priesthood, the modern Mormon Church disavows “that blacks or people of any other race or ethnicity are inferior in any way to anyone else…” This unequivocal truth, that no race or ethnicity is superior to another, is something that Spain (1542), Quakers (1600s), Pennsylvania (1790), England (1807), Abraham Lincoln (1865), and Christians of any era who believe the Bible, know. According to the Bible, God shows no favoritism—never by skin color—and commands his people to do the same. Lincoln, who often quoted the biblical God, was displeased with the...

...Many today use innuendo, outright lies and other forms of deception to confuse and divide in order to control followers... The end result?...About 80% of the Church succumbed to lies and deceit, and either followed Joe Tkach or went home in confusion...-most...became “lost to history,” spiritually dying where they sat. The remaining 20% fell into following various bickering, disagreeing splinter leaders teaching selected—preferred!—parts of the truth... Fast forward to 1993-1998, to sample one splinter. An evangelist (Roderick Meredith) arose and came to power in the Global Church of God. This second new leader also promised...he would uphold the truth as...

...Never before...have so many people become so deceived in such a comparatively short time of less than a decade. How could this unprecedented end-time deception have happened with such lightning rapidity? The success of this...apostasy was due, at least in part, to mass defections in the ministry, but...also partly due to the power of modern means of communicating and disseminating information. At the time of Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong’s death in January 1986, about 130,000 members of the Worldwide Church of God regularly observed God’s weekly and annual Sabbaths, as well as other important laws and commandments of God. During...

Sarah Silverman celebrated Christmas in her usual mode: mocking Christians, and religion in general. On Twitter, she wrote “Happy Birthday, Jesus! I'm sorry [you] were murdered by people afraid of new ideas!” Her last HBO special in 2002 was even mockingly titled “Jesus Is Magic.” Her new special was called “We Are Miracles.” Once again in the new show, she made fun of the death of Jesus, as a Jew: “You’re welcome. If we hadn’t killed him, he wouldn’t even be famous.”

It’s a debate that will surely end with a Big Bang. Bill Nye “The Science Guy” will square off with Ken Ham, the founder of the Kentucky Creation Museum, in a February discussion on the subject of teaching children evolution. The spiritual showdown, which is unlikely to with either man relinquishing their firmly-held beliefs, will take place on Ham’s home turf of Petersburg, Ky. “Having the opportunity to hold a cordial but spirited debate with such a well-known personality who is admired by so many young people will help bring the creation-evolution issue to the attention of many more people,...

On Tuesday, Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor issued an order preventing the government from enforcing the Obamacare contraceptive mandate on the Little Sisters of the Poor. Sotomayor’s decision to delay the contraceptive portion of the law was joined by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, which also issued an emergency stay for Catholic-affiliated groups challenging the contraceptive provision, including the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C., and Catholic University.Separately, Lawyer Noel J. Francisco had said in appeals to Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Elena Kagan that the mandate would “expose numerous Catholic organizations to draconian fines...

TWO Mormons on the Gold Coast for a church camp stand accused of a shocking attack that left a passing stranger in a coma.Amanaki Kaufusi, 21, and Onesi Taufui, 18, yesterday faced Southport Magistrates Court charged with grievous bodily harm over a violent attack on a tourist in Surfers Paradise. Hundreds of Mormons have gathered on the Gold Coast for a Latter-day Saints conference at Tallebudgera. But as their friends listened to the teachings of church leaders, Kaufusi and Taufui, both from western Sydney, headed to the bright lights of Sin City for a night on the town. The court...

The Mormon Church has officially renounced the belief that dark skin is a sign of disfavor, or curse. On the official website for The Mormon Church, www.lds.org, a statement has been posted titled "Race and the Priesthood," where blame for the belief that dark skinned people were inferior to whites is placed on the establishment of the church coming in 1830, a time of great racism in the United States. The Church points out how previous leaders, most notably President Brigham Young, restricted Blacks from priesthood in the Church, receiving the temple endowment, or allowing them to be married in...

The Ravenous Wolves of FreeRepublicHow do we deal with the insults and pain of those whom Christ called "ravenous wolves"? Many aren't aware of it but the phrase "A wolf in sheep’s clothing" has biblical origins. Mat 7:15 "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. The word translated "false prophet" here is not referring to a Godly person who has a prophecy that fails. Instead it's referring to a person who pretends to be a Christian but in reality is not. They are compared to "ravenous wolves" among the flock....

How can I know when I have the Spirit of the Lord with me? I’m a college student having a lot of new experiences, and sometimes I can’t tell if I’m just feeling “good” or if my feelings are genuinely righteous. Don Norton, English Department, Brigham Young University I’ve heard this question from dozens of young adults who are making all sorts of discoveries about themselves. Indeed it is a very important question. Since in this life “it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things” (2 Ne. 2:11; italics added), it must needs be that we...

The night before the 2008 Nevada Republican convention, the Ron Paul delegates all met at a Reno high school. Although I’d called myself a libertarian for almost my entire adult life, it was my first exposure to the wider movement.

POCATELLO — A Cedar City, Utah, man convicted of felony injury to a child stemming from inappropriate contact with a 16-year-old child in 2012, was placed on probation Monday and sentenced to spend the next 10 days in Bannock County Jail. Derrick Starley was serving a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Chubbuck when the incident occurred. He was originally charged with sexual battery of child 16 or 17 years old... Starley pleaded guilty to the reduced charge in early November as part of a plea agreement through which prosecutors agreed that they would not...

"Monday, December 30, 1844.—The following is extracted from the Times and Seasons, Vol. 6, p. 794:— ...December 26...1844... A hymn composed by Elder John Taylor for the dedication of the Seventies' Hall and dedicated to President Brigham Young... The Seer'The Seer;—the Seer;—Joseph the Seer— I'll sing of the Prophet ever dear, His equal now cannot be found,— By searching the wide world around. With Gods he soared in the realms of day; And men he taught the heavenly way. 'Mid the foaming billows of angry strife— He stood at the helm of the ship of life. The earthly Seer; the...

...For eight years, I had been a professor at Brigham Young University... I looked down on Christians...They had part of the gospel, but I had the fullness of it. I kept the laws and ordinances of Mormonism. Three weeks before the end of his two-year mission, Micah called to tell us he was being sent home early—a horrific disgrace in Mormon culture. He had been reading the New Testament. There he encountered a different Jesus than the one I was taught about in Mormonism—a God of grace, not of works, so that no one can boast... To a roomful of...