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The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints now owns the printer’s manuscript of the Book of Mormon — for $35 million, the sellers say. The Community of Christ, formerly known as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, announced the sale, and the price tag, on Wednesday. The Independence, Missouri-based church has owned the manuscript since 1903. Steven E. Snow, LDS Church historian and recorder, confirmed the acquisition, calling the document both a spiritual and historic treasure. Church officials did not immediately confirm, but also did not challenge, the stated sales price when contacted Thursday.

The very serious problems of abiogenesis and technological intelligence and the mathematical odds against finding intelligent extraterrestrials explain why we’ve never been able to detect extraterrestrial intelligences—and probably never will. We can all sleep soundly at night without worrying that aliens are going to come down from the sky to destroy or invade us. This then brings us to what is usually ignored in science: God. Since I am a Christian, this article is limited to the Christian worldview, which is centered on Jesus Christ. (Note: This section does not imply the biblical text is necessarily “true,” only that this...

FULL TITLE: How a one-in-400million disability became common in a tiny polygamist Mormon town after generations of inbreeding A polygamist Mormon enclave on the Arizona-Utah border is seeing more and more children being born with an extremely rare disorder that causes severe mental and physical retardation. Dr. Theodore Tarby, who specialized in rare childhood diseases, first discovered the problem in 1990, when a woman in the community brought her 10-year-old son to him. The boy had unusual facial features, such as a prominent forehead, low-set ears, widely-spaced eyes and a small jaw. He was also severely physically and mentally disabled....

FULL TITLE: Paid parental leave, pantsuits for women, colored shirts for men — those changes are coming for Mormon church employees Like their peers, many contemporary Mormon women work side by side with men in boardrooms and courtrooms, surgical theaters and sports franchises, college labs and city halls. Such women are smart and sophisticated in their manner and their dress, overseeing multimillion-dollar projects and donning Hillary-esque power suits. And they certainly don't see having a baby as the end of their careers. Now the LDS Church is acknowledging that new reality among its Mormon employees by changing what some see...

FULL TITLE: 'God loves me this way... no part of me is a mistake': Moment a 12-year-old Mormon girl has her microphone CUT OFF at church as she comes out as gay A 12-year-old Mormon girl courageously stood up in front of members of her Utah church to tell them she was gay - only to have officials cut off her microphone and tell her to sit down. Savannah revealed to churchgoers in Utah County, south of Salt Lake City, last month that she was a lesbian and told them she was proud God had made her that way. Standing...

Lyle Jeffs, who was among 11 members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints indicted in what prosecutors have called a conspiracy to defraud a federal food stamp program, was captured late Wednesday in South Dakota. Few details of the capture were immediately provided. An online log at the Minnehaha County, S.D., jail lists Jeffs as an inmate. He is being held without bond. The FBI Field Office in Salt Lake City sent a tweet Thursday morning saying Jeffs was arrested in South Dakota about 8:30 p.m. Wednesday. The FLDS has a compound in South Dakota, though...

The seven women whose allegations ended Rob Miller's bid to lead Utah's Democrats say the party should continue an investigation of Miller because "a culture of pervasive sexual harassment has been revealed." The group, which includes a former Salt Lake County Democratic chairwoman and a former state Senate candidate among other well-known Democrats, sent a letter to party leadership Thursday after Miller announced his exit from the race to become chairman and his withdrawal from the party.

Fear, stereotypes, ignorance and hunger have this in common: They seldom survive sharing a meal, honest conversation, a desire to learn and making eye contact with the stranger across the table. On the evening of June 4, two Salt Lake City Mormon congregations — the Yale Ward, 1431 E. Gilmer, and the Gregson Ward, 3151 S. 900 East — will do just that, hosting iftar dinners for Muslim neighbors during Ramadan, which begins Friday evening. Sariah Toronto, of the Yale Ward, says the idea came up during a discussion a few months ago about "what else we can do as...

In my humble opinion Pontius Pilate was not only NOT evil but he will probably be saved at the judgment. He certainly had the potential to be a very good man. The Jews at the time of Christ were the only people in the history of mankind that were so wicked they would crucify their own God. This fact plays into God's plan for our salvation. Jesus would come to earth, gain a physical body, learn through mortal experiences pain, anquish, temptation, and joy. He would overcome all things, suffer to pay the price for sin, then His body would...

Older teenagers will be pulled from the Boy Scouts of America (BSA), the Mormon church announced Thursday. The announcement from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints means an estimated 130,000-180,000 teenagers ages 14-18 will no longer participate in Boy Scouts starting next year. The Mormon church is the largest sponsor of Boy Scouts troops in the United States. The Boy Scouts' "Varsity" and "Venturing" programs for older teens had become difficult to implement within the religion, Mormon officials said in a news release. "Instead, Young Men activities will focus on spiritual, social, physical and intellectual outlined by the...

SALT LAKE CITY — The LDS Church, the oldest and largest charter organization of the Boy Scouts of America, will drop Scouting from its Young Men's program for boys ages 14 through 17. Effective Jan. 1, the move will carve about 180,000 Mormon boys from the Varsity and Venturing Scout programs in the United States and Canada, replacing them with activities created for boys in those age groups by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The church will continue to sponsor Cub Scouts for boys 8 to 10 and Boy Scout programs for those 11 through 13 in...

Complaints are mounting against a Utah County judge who earlier this week praised a former Mormon bishop before sending him to prison for sexually abusing two women. Fourth District Judge Thomas Low on Wednesday became emotional as he handed down a prison sentence to Keith Robert Vallejo. Julia Kirby — who was 19 when Vallejo, her brother-in-law, abused her — told The Tribune after the sentencing that she was shocked by the judge's words to her abuser. Now, she plans to file a judicial complaint against him. And she's not the only one. "He completely disregarded her," Lawrence said. "He...

Former independent presidential candidate Evan McMullin took a swipe at President Trump's looks on Saturday, saying that refugees who come to America are better looking than the president. In a tweet Saturday, McMullin spoke out in support of the "well-vetted" refugees who come to the U.S. from various parts of the world, saying that they present less risk to the country than the Trump administration. "Trump's presidency presents more risk to the Republic than do the well-vetted refugees we resettle to America," McMullin said, adding "And, they're better looking!"

From book to boom: how the Mormons plan a city for 500,000 in Florida The Mormon church owns vast tracts of US land, and now envisages a huge new city on its Deseret Ranch – but at what cost?

Former presidential candidate Evan McMullin and his running mate Mindy Finn will launch a new conservative group on Wednesday that's opposed to President Trump, and will kick off the effort with a television advertisement questioning his connections to Russia. "Stand Up Republic" is a new 501(c)4 political nonprofit organization. They envision their new group as a home for conservative grassroots opposition to Trump, but plan to partner with activists on the left who share their concerns about the threat they believe Trump poses to the Constitution, equality and liberty.

It was a bold statement, revolutionary even, surpassed only by the response of those in attendance, who, rather than pausing to reflect upon such an audacious assertion, wildly applauded. To be sure, these Obama enthusiasts would have ecstatically cheered anything he said at that moment. There was a full-fledged personality cult in motion at that time. The new president could have promised anything and received a giddy reaction. Obama himself admitted to serving as a kind of “blank screen” upon which Americans desiring some warm-and-fuzzy “hope and change” could project whatever they wanted. But even then, the words “fundamentally transform”...

A female singer from the famed Mormon Tabernacle Choir has resigned from the group to avoid performing at Donald Trump's inauguration, saying she "could never look myself in the mirror again with self-respect." "It is with a sad and heavy heart that I submit my resignation to you and to Choir. I'm am praying that Jesus will help me get through this email before I totally break down," singer Jan Chamberlin wrote in a resignation letter that was obtained by The Salt Lake Tribune and eventually posted on Facebook. ... She continued: "Looking from the outside in, it will appear...

The Mormon Tabernacle Choir's acceptance of the invitation to sing at Donald Trump's inauguration has spawned widespread debate among the faithful and thousands of signatures on a petition demanding the decision's reversal. Now the choir's participation has even more fallout: the resignation of a female singer. "Since 'the announcement,' I have spent several sleepless nights and days in turmoil and agony. I have reflected carefully on both sides of the issue, prayed a lot, talked with family and friends, and searched my soul," Jan Chamberlin wrote in a resignation letter to the choir president and choir members. "I've tried to...

Pressure is mounting on the famed Mormon Tabernacle Choir to not perform at president-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration ceremony in January, but the choir is not backing down. In a Friday statement to The Daily Caller, the choir responded to an online petition that wants to the choir not to sing at Trump’s inauguration. The statement said while the group has received “mixed reactions,” it will still perform for the 58th Inauguration in Washington, D.C. just as it has done in the past. (RELATED: Mormon Tabernacle Choir Agrees To Perform At Trump Inauguration) The Mormon Tabernacle Choir and church leaders sing...

SALT LAKE CITY — As presidential candidate Evan McMullin (I) and his team watched the election results come in Tuesday night, they were furiously rewriting his speech. They, like most of the nation, were shocked that Donald Trump was poised as of early Wednesday morning to potentially win the presidency of the United States. But McMullin’s core campaign message, that the Republican party had forsaken its principles and allowed itself to be hijacked by a parasite named Trump, was validated by the incoming results, he told the crowd of supporters here in Utah. As of late Tuesday night, Trump led...