Publisher Stops Printing Popular LDS Book

A popular book for members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is now out of print.

The book is "Mormon Doctrine" written by church apostle Bruce R. McConkie. No more copies will be coming off the printing press.

The publisher, Deseret Book, says it's because of low sales, but local book seller Tony Weller says the book is still very popular.

“Well, we sell them as fast as we acquire them. Since it is out of print, they come in one or two at a time, but we nearly always have someone waiting for a copy and promptly notify those people when they arrive,” he said.

From the article: The publisher, Deseret Book, says it's because of low sales, but local book seller Tony Weller says the book is still very popular. “Well, we sell them as fast as we acquire them.

Hmmm...Something's not adding up.

A popular book among Mormons, being snapped up. But the church-owned book publisher says, "No, it's not popular (any more)."

I mean, no other Lds title tries to come across as the comprehensive representation of "Mormon Doctrine."

It was re-published in 1966 under the 11th Lds president, Harold B. Lee.
And Lee ensured that the revision was overseen by the future 12th Lds president, Spencer W. Kimball, who approved another republishing of the book in 1979.
Then Bookcraft republished it in 1991 under the regime of the 13th Lds president, Ezra Taft Benson, who was also still around when Deseret Book Publishing republished it in 1993 unders its banner.

The 14th and 15th Lds presidents saw no reason to jettison the book.

Well, perhaps we could have "votes" for "fave" McConkie excerpts from "Mormon Doctrine." I've submitted five such excerpts below. (If you have a "fave" entry not included, please submit it):

“It is because the Lord called Joseph Smith that salvation is again available to mortal men....If it had not been for Joseph Smith and the restoration, there would be no salvation,” (Mormon Doctrine, p. 396, 670)

"That exaltation which the saints of all ages have so devoutly sought is godhood itself" (Mormon Doctrine, p. 321).

“This doctrine that there is a Mother in Heaven was affirmed in plainness by the First Presidency of the Church (Joseph F. Smith, John R. Winder, and Anthon H. Lund) when, in speaking of pre-existence and the origin of man, they said that ‘man, as a spirit, was begotten and born of heavenly parents, and reared to maturity in the eternal mansions of the Father,’ that man is the ‘offspring of celestial parentage,’ and that ‘all men and women are in the similitude of the universal Father and Mother and are literally the sons and daughters of Deity.’ (Man: His Origin and Destiny, pp.348-355.)” (Mormon Doctrine, 1966, p. 516)

"These name-titles all signify that our Lord is the only Son of the Father in the flesh. Each of the words is to be understood literally. Only means only; Begotten means begotten; and Son means son. Christ was begotten by an Immortal Father in the same way that mortal men are begotten by mortal fathers." (Mormon Doctrine, p. 546).

”Obviously the holy practice (of polygamy) will commence again after the Second Coming of the Son of Man and the ushering in of the millennium." (Mormon Doctrine, 1966 edition, see pp. 577-579 for context)

I think some items should be repeated:

“It is because the Lord called Joseph Smith that salvation is again available to mortal men....If it had not been for Joseph Smith and the restoration, there would be no salvation,” (Mormon Doctrine, p. 396, 670)

"That exaltation which the saints of all ages have so devoutly sought is godhood itself" (Mormon Doctrine, p. 321).

“This doctrine that there is a Mother in Heaven was affirmed in plainness by the First Presidency of the Church (Joseph F. Smith, John R. Winder, and Anthon H. Lund) when, in speaking of pre-existence and the origin of man, they said that ‘man, as a spirit, was begotten and born of heavenly parents, and reared to maturity in the eternal mansions of the Father,’ that man is the ‘offspring of celestial parentage,’ and that ‘all men and women are in the similitude of the universal Father and Mother and are literally the sons and daughters of Deity.’ (Man: His Origin and Destiny, pp.348-355.)” (Mormon Doctrine, 1966, p. 516)

"These name-titles all signify that our Lord is the only Son of the Father in the flesh. Each of the words is to be understood literally. Only means only; Begotten means begotten; and Son means son. Christ was begotten by an Immortal Father in the same way that mortal men are begotten by mortal fathers." (Mormon Doctrine, p. 546).

According to Brucie, Joey Smith was correct when he said that the Garden of Eden was in Missouri...

LDS Apostle Bruce R. McConkie gives this information about the location of the Garden of Eden:

ADAM-ONDI-AHMAN

Adam was the first man of all men; Ahman is one of the names by which God was known to Adam. Adam-ondi-Ahman, a name carried over from the pure Adamic language into English, is one for which we have not been given a revealed, literal translation. As near as we can judge — and this view comes down from the early brethren who associated with the Prophet Joseph Smith, who was the first one to use the name in this dispensation — Adam-ondi-Ahman means the place or land of God where Adam dwelt.

Apparently the area included was a large one; at least, the revelations speak of the land, the valley, and the mountains of Adam-ondi-Ahman. They tell us that Christ himself “established the foundations of Adam-ondi-Ahman” (D. & C. 78:15-16), and that it included the place now known as Spring Hill, Daviess County, Missouri. (D. & C. 116.)

Far West, Missouri, also appears to be included in the land of Adam-ondi-Ahman. On April 17, 1838, the Lord commanded his saints to assemble at Far West, which place, he said, was holy ground; and there they were to build a city. (D. & C. 115.) By July 8 of that year, William Marks and Newel K. Whitney had not left their temporal concerns in Kirtland, Ohio, and were not assembling with the saints coming to Zion. In rebuking them the Lord said this: “Is there not room enough on the mountains of Adam-ondi-Ahman, and on the plains of Olaha Shinehah, or the land where Adam dwelt, that you should covet that which is but the drop, and neglect the more weighty matters? Therefore, come up hither unto the land of my people, even Zion.”

William Marks was told that he was to “preside in the midst of my people in the city of Far West,” and Newel K. Whitney was told to “come up to the land of Adam-ondi-Ahman, and be a bishop unto my people.” (D. & C. 117.)

The early brethren of this dispensation taught that the Garden of Eden was located in what is known to us as the land of Zion, an area for which Jackson County, Missouri, is the center place. In our popular Latter-day Saint hymn which begins, “Glorious things are sung of Zion, Enoch’s city seen of old,” we find William W. Phelps preserving the doctrine that “In Adam-ondi-Ahman, Zion rose where Eden was.”...

One of the greatest spiritual gatherings of all the ages took place in the Valley of Adam-ondi-Ahman some 5,000 years ago, and another gathering — of even greater importance relative to this earth’s destiny — is soon to take place in that same location. Our revelations recite:

“Three years previous to the death of Adam, he called Seth, Enos, Cainan, Mahalaleel, Jared, Enoch, and Methuselah who were all high priests, with the residue of his posterity who were righteous, into the valley of Adam-ondi-Ahman and there bestowed upon them his last blessing.

“And the Lord appeared unto them, and they rose up and blessed Adam, and called him Michael, the prince, the archangel. And the Lord administered comfort unto Adam, and said unto him: I have set thee to be at the head; a multitude of nations shall come of thee, and thou art a prince over them forever. And Adam stood up in the midst of the congregation; and, notwithstanding he was bowed down with age, being fill of the Holy Ghost, predicted whatsoever should befall his posterity unto the latest generation.” (D. & C. 107:53-56.) (Mormon Doctrine, by Bruce McConkie, p. 19-20)

Apostle McConkie went on to explain that Joseph Smith had even identified an altar in Missouri as one built by Adam:

At that great gathering Adam offered sacrifices on an altar built for the purpose. A remnant of that very altar remained on the spot down through the ages. On May 19, 1838, Joseph Smith and a number of his associates stood on the remainder of the pile of stones at a place called Spring Hill, Daviess County, Missouri. There the Prophet taught them that Adam again would visit in the Valley of Adam-ondi-Ahman, holding a great council as a prelude to the great and dreadful day of the Lord. (Mediation and Atonement pp. 69-70.) At this council, all who have held keys of authority will give an accounting of their stewardship to Adam. Christ will then come, receive back the keys, and thus take one of the final steps preparatory to reigning personally upon the earth. (Dan. 7:9-14; Teachings, p. 157.) (Mormon Doctrine, by Bruce McConkie, p. 21)

(Sandra Tanner, Was The Garden of Eden in Missouri?)

http://www.utlm.org/onlineresources/gardenofeden.htm

Back in 2002, Mormon Times columnist Michael Ash, an Lds apologist, was writing an article (now at Mormonfortress.com), and he cited the 1958 version of McConkie's book, Mormon Doctrine, in what McConkie wrote about Catholics:

It is also to the Book of Mormon to which we turn for the plainest description of the Catholic Church as the great and abominable church. Nephi saw this ‘church which is the most abominable above all other churches’ in vision. He ‘saw the devil that he was the foundation of it’ and also the murders, wealth, harlotry, persecutions, and evil desires that historically have been a part of this satanic organization.(McConkie [1958], 130.)

Ash then went on to say: Later editions of Mormon Doctrine (the second edition didn’t appear until 1966) removed such references, but not before the LDS bestseller popularized the belief among many Latter-day Saints. (See Quinn 2002, and Mauss, 162-3.1) http://www.mormonfortress.com/ga.html

This was all done on the 10th president's watch, David O. McKay.

McConkie later told Ezra Taft Benson's grandson, in a meeting at McConkie's home when the grandson was a BYU student (age 26): During my conversations that day with McConkie at his home, I asked him about the status of his book, "Mormon Doctrine," in terms of what it represented with regard to official LDS teachings. McConkie told me that his emphatic claim (published in the first edition of "Mormon Doctrine" but edited out of its second edition) that the Roman Catholic Church was the Church of the Devil was true. When I asked him to explain its deletion from the books later edition, McConkie insisted that it was removed not because it was not true but because it was too difficult for people to accept. http://www.exmormon.org/mormon/mormon196.htm

Now Protestants didn't escape McConkie's scathing pen, either. Here's a brief excerpt from his 1979 version:

Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are not Protestants, and the Church itself is not a Protestant Church. The true Church is not a dead branch broken from a dead tree... (p. 610)

Yes, "Brother" Bruce...the cross is indeed a "dead tree."

We Protestants are humble members of the Church of the Dead Tree. And like the apostle Paul, we glory in it! This dead tree -- the cross -- is paradoxically our source of life!

So, please tell us how many children WERE NOT returned to their families after the investigation.

Answer: A lot. They couldn't return them. Their bodies were left to rot in the Utah sun.

Specifically, though...
Not 7 yo Mary Lavina Baker...shot dead by Mormons.
Not, 9 yo James William Miller...shot dead by Mormons.
Not, 7 yo twins Magaret and Sara Fancher...shot dead by Mormons.
Neither, the twins' 10-yo brother, Martin...shot dead by Mormons.
Nor his 14 yo brother, Thomas...shot dead by Mormons.
Nor his 15 yo sister, Mary...shot dead by Mormons.
Nor his 17 yo brother, William...shot dead by Mormons.
Nor his 19 yo brother, Hampton...shot dead by Mormons.
Only the two youngest of the Nancy Dunlap children were returned (not to be confused with the three Mary Dunlap children)...because the others were shot dead by Mormons.
And two "wards" who were a brother and sister of a 25 yo (probably teens) weren't "returned"...'cause, they, too, were shot dead by Mormons.
Not 16 yo Henry Cameron...shot dead by Mormons. [BTW: Of the Cameron/Miller Group, only three children of Josiah Miller and Matilda Cameron Miller, survived. Malinda Cameron Scott Thurston charged in 1877 that Mormons, under the authority of Brigham Young; killed eleven of her relatives, kidnapped the surviving children, and stole the property of her family. see http://www.legendsofamerica.com/ut-mountainmeadowsvictims2.html]

I'm sure this isn't a full list of child victims. How many of the women murdered were pregnant? Even pregnant women not at the scene suffered life loss, as Nancy Jane Wood miscarried upon hearing the news that her husband had been murdered.

Oh, my earlier post said Mormons kidnapped some of the children for over a year; 'twas actually two years. Were they ever going to have given the children back on their own initiative?

Judging by some of the posts on this thread and other mormon threads, there is plenty of hand wringing and angst over the exposure of such things. They need to hide as much as they can due to the internet.

The truth is being exposed daily. With each and every thread, more information populates the internet to be discovered by those searching certain topics or keywords relating to mormonism.

We’re just “haters” doncha you know? All we do is “attack”, “lie” and “deceive”. Yet, when challenged, silence, or better yet, mormon crickets. No rebuttals, no proof to back up their assertions. Always trying to keep others on the defensive.

It doesn’t matter a wit that there are some who have escaped mormonism because of the information posted on these threads. To them it’s immaterial or of such a minor consequence as to be benign or almost worthless.

It also doesn’t matter that many who rail against these threads exhibit the same traits and behaviors that liberals live by. Those of Saul Alinsky. Attack the messenger, not the message.

For them it’s all justified because of their own personal disagreements with the content and the persons posting the material. In other words, bigots. Guilty of the very thing they accuse others of.

I am thankful for the efforts of the many who were dutiful and diligent in exposing the heresies of mormonism.

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