As most know, I truly believe in Sidney Rigdon's participation in the creation of the Book of Mormon. But, what I'd really like to touch on is the character of Rigdon. His own grandson said he was a religious "crank," and I'd agree. He went from one group to another (Baptist to Campbellite) seeking someone who would promote his personal beliefs, and when he found Joe Smith he thought he had an answer to his long quest.

Sidney Rigdon, however, was an occultist, someone who practices magical arts which are forbidden in the Scripture. We all know that "spiritism" or interacting with spirits is forbidden in the Bible, but Mormonism has had a long history of spirit manifestations. For instance, some departed "Nephite" spirit named Moroni (Nephi in some accounts) supposedly appeared often by Smith's bedside (his brothers never saw the spirit, although they all slept together). Smith and his underling, Cowdery, were supposedly ordained at the hand of a dead John the Baptist, and also Peter, James and John (John supposedly still alive). These accounts smack of necromancy, or contact with spirits claiming to be departed personages.

“Do not turn to mediums or necromancers; do not seek them out, and so make yourselves unclean by them: I am the Lord your God." Leviticus 19:31 (ESV) (http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?go=Go&q=Leviticus+19%3A31)

"And when they say to you, “Inquire of the mediums and the necromancers who chirp and mutter,” should not a people inquire of their God? Should they inquire of the dead on behalf of the living?" Isaiah 8:19 (ESV) (http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?go=Go&q=Isaiah+8%3A19)

Clearly, messing around with a spirit medium (and Smith and Rigdon particpated in spiritism) makes a person unclean to God. Mormonism is unclean and part of the occult.

A letter from the editor of "The New Northwest" is an interesting observation by someone who knew Rigdon:

"We are in receipt of a letter from Mr. O. P. Henry, an Astoria subscriber, who says, in reference to an article in the Oregonian of recent date concerning the origin of the Mormon Bible, that his mother, who is yet alive, lived in the family of Sidney Rigdon for several years prior to her marriage in 1827; that there was in the family what is now called a "writing medium," also several others in adjacent places, and the Mormon Bible was written by two or three different persons by an automatic power which they believed was inspiration direct from God, the same as produced the original Jewish Bible and Christian New Testament. Mr. H. believes that Sidney Rigdon furnished Joseph Smith with these manuscripts, and that the story of the "hieroglyphics" was a fabrication to make the credulous take hold of the mystery; that Rigdon, having learned, beyond a doubt, that the so-called dead could communicate to the living, considered himself duly authorized by Jehovah to found a new church, under a divine guidance similar to that of Confucius, Moses, Jesus, Mohammed, Swedenborg, Calvin, Luther or Wesley, all of whom believed in and taught the ministration of spirits. The New Northwest gives place to Mr. Henry's idea as a matter of general interest. The public will, of course, make its own comments and draw its own conclusions".

I'm inclined to believe that the "two or three different persons" putting together the Book of Mormon are none other than Rigdon, himself, in conjunction with Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery. It doesn't take a giant leap of logic to speculate that Rigdon was able to convince Smith and Cowdery that he was receiving messages from the (now dead) writers of the various portions of the Book of Mormon (and most likely written down and handed to Smith who dictated them to Cowdery). And while Rigdon obviously added some of his own handiwork to the book, the majority was a rip off of Solomon Spaulding's manuscript which he had "borrowed" from the printing office he frequented. And before the Mormons say that the extant manuscript bears no relationship to the BoM story, there are plenty of affidavits out there indicating that Spaulding authored at least two manuscripts: Manuscript Story and also Manuscript Found - the latter of which formed the basis of the BoM. And while Mormons tell us that Manuscript Story is actually Manuscript Found, that is simply untrue, a deception.

Getting back to Sidney, we can see that he was, prior to the BoM's publication, involved in spiritism up to his eyeballs.

This early connection of Mormonism's book with spiritism accounts for one of the more strange passages found in the BoM:

“For those who shall be destroyed shall speak unto them out of the ground, and their speech shall be low out of the dust, and their voice shall be as one that hath a familiar spirit � and their speech shall whisper out of the dust”

Christians would certainly immediately know that they are to stay away from familiar spirits, but apparently this is not the case in Mormonism. Familiar spirits are embraced and seen as the origin of their "holy" book.

When Sidney Rigdon was kicked out of the Utah Mormons for attempting to challenge Young, he went back east and began his own church based on the Book of Mormon which he had helped create. He became a "channeler" for his flock:

In 1868, Sidney Rigdon was Prophet, Seer and Revelator for a small group of Mormons in New York. In his capacity as prophet, Rigdon regularly received revelations, often directed at specific followers. His revelations include channeling of the dead. He recorded these revelations and sent them to his follower Stephen Post. The resulting compilation of revelations (in Rigdon’s handwriting) are available today in the Stephen Post Collection at the University of Utah, where they are stored as Copying Book A and Book of the Revelations of Jesus Christ to the Children of Zion Through Sidney Rigdon Prophet and Seer and Revelator. Essentially this scripture can be viewed as The Doctrine and Covenants Part II.

The following excerpt from the Book of the Revelations of Jesus Christ to the Children of Zion is one of Rigdon’s revelations. In it, Rigdon channels a spirit (angel) named Phineas, who he claims is the grandson of Aaron. In a preface to the revelation, Rigdon states:

“To my great surprise Phineas grandson of Aaron has spoken to me concerning Israel Huffaker. I will send it to you and you must copy and send to him.”

The revelation containing the words of Phineas as revealed through Sidney Rigdon is labeled Section 86. In it, we read the following:

“Phineas the angel high priest to his son and descendant. Behold I am Phineas the son of Eliezur who was the son of Aaron, and according to the law and power of the holy priesthood, which priesthood has power as ministering angels, when they maintain their priesthood in the flesh during all their fleshly existence in purity."

"I Phineas being of the high priesthood and having been adjudged by the courts above as one who had honoured the Holy priesthood during all my days I obtained the privilege and power of ministering to those in the flesh who had obtained and were consecrated to the priesthood."

"Therefore I Phineas speak to you my son in the priesthood as a father to his son knowing the character of your calling and the solemnity of its influence, and the manner in which you will be assailed by the devices of the adversary that he may bring you under condemnation and cast you down at his feet."

"To preserve the priesthood of his church from being overcome by the Devil, the Lord of Zion has given a law, the strict obedience to which will shield them against all the subtle artifices of Satan, and enable them to overcome the devil, the world, and the flesh."

(source: The Mormon Curtain http://www.mormoncurtain.com/topic_sidneyrigdon.html )

It's pretty obvious that Sidney Rigdon was thoroughly involved in spiritism, and was naturally drawn to Joseph Smith, the village magician, who also practiced spirit contacts. Smith had the charisma that Rigdon lacked - and together, along with Cowdery their scribe, wrote the Book of Mormon which serves as the foundation of Mormonism. The use of necromancy in the creation of the book cannot be discounted, and it would also account for Rigdon, Smith and Cowdery attesting to the "supernatural" origin of the book.

Do Mormon leaders still encourage occultic temple communications?

Judge for yourself:

DATE	Occultic Communication Encouraged	SOURCE
Open House start date April 3, 1993 San Diego, CA Temple	Visitations by the dead: Prior to the dedication of the San Diego temple, local Mormon families were given a packet entitled Family Temple Preparation Material. Included in this written material were about seven pages devoted to "true stories" of temple patrons who were visited by the dead	They See Dead People?
Aug. 12, 1949 -- republished by Mormon church in its Deseret Book Co. publishing, 1972	"I haven't actually seen any of them, but sometimes when I have finished an endowment or a sealing session in the Salt Lake Temple my bosom has burned, and I have known keep within me that those persons for whom I have officiated have accepted that work."	Bountiful Second Ward Chapel, "Disembodied Spirit Life" section of Life Eternal: A Series of Four Lectures Lynn A. McKinlay, Deseret Book Co. 1972, p. 206
1980	Lds "apostle" Boyd K. Packer: "On many occasions I have been present -- when sealings were to be performed, when temple ordinance work was being done, when funeral sermons were being preached --in circumstances when the veil was very thin. The gratitude of those who have gone beyond found its way through the misty barrier and was communicated as spiritual things are communicated."	The Holy Temple, Bookcraft, 1980, p. 267
2009	Even Mormon Sunday School material highlights spirit paranormal manifestations	Lds.org Sunday School Chapter Detail: Doctrine and Covenants and Church History Gospel Doctrine Teacher's Manual: See p. 2
Fall 2006 (and assumed other years' courses as well)	BYU course offering	Religious Education class at BYU -- C261: Intro to Lds Family History (Genealogy): See 'Manifestations of the Spirits' section, pp. 57-58
1996	An official Mormon church publication -- even placed wholly as a digital publication for years -- highlighted such occultic communication allegedly occurring in 1884 and 1893 ... see chart below	Our Heritage: A Brief History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 1996 pp. 99, 102
1983	An official Mormon church priesthood manual was encouraging such paranormal communication in citing an 1884 manifestation	Sermons and Missionary Services of Melvin Joseph Ballard, Deseret Book Co. p. 249, as cited in Come Follow Me, Melchizedek Priesthood Personal Study Guide, p. 162, 1983

Documentation of Occultic Mormon 19th-Century History

YEAR	JOSEPH SMITH or LDS Leader 'Revelation' or Mingling with the Dead Episode	SOURCE
1830s
1831	”The records of early Mormonism are replete with accounts of activity from the spirit world. According to John Whitmer, who was the official Church Historian in Joseph Smith's time, some converts to the new religion would 'act like an Indian in the act of scalping,' or would 'slide or scoot on the floor with the rapidity of a serpent....' During the ordination ceremony of Harvey Whitlock as a high priest in 1831, he was seen to have 'turned as black as Lyman was white,' his fingers 'were set like claws,' and, unable to speak, he went about the room with eyes 'as the shape of oval Os....' On another occasion, one man, who weighed over 200 pounds, was thrown through the air by an unseen force, and another 'began screaming like a panther....'	46. John Whitmer, John Whitmer's History (Salt Lake City, Utah: Modern Microfilm Company, n.d.), Chapter Six and 47. Max H. Parkin, Conflict at Kirtland: A Study of the Nature and Causes of External and Internal Conflict of the Mormons in Ohio Between 1830 and 1838 (Salt Lake City: Max Parkin, 1966), pages 79-80 – both as cited in GOD-MEN AND SPIRITUAL VEGETABLES:The Occult Worldview of Mormonism
1831 [Source is much later from Whitmer is describing 1831 manifestations]	”John Whitmer wrote: 'Some had visions and could not tell what they saw, some would fancy to themselves that they had the sword of Laban, and would wield it as expert as a light dragoon; some would act like an Indian in the act of scalping; some would slide or scoot on the floor with the rapidity of a serpent, which they termed sailing in the boat to the Lamanites, preaching the gospel. And many other vain and foolish maneuvers that are unseeming and unprofitable to mention. Thus the devil blinded the eyes of some good and honest disciples. I write these things to show how ignorant and undiscerning children are, and how easy mankind is led astray, notwithstanding the things of God that are written concerning his kingdom.'	“Church History,” Journal of History, Jan. 1908, p. 55 – as quoted by a href=”http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/3085089/posts”>D&C Student Manual
June 3, 1831	The Mormon priesthood being conferred corresponds EXACTLY with the manifest revelation of “the man of sin”: “...the Elders from the various parts of the country where they were laboring, came in; and the conference before appointed, convened in Kirtland; the Lord displayed His power to the most perfect satisfaction of the Saints. The man of sin was revealed, and the authority of the Melchizedek Priesthood was manifested and conferred for the first time upon several of the elders.”	History of the Church, vol. 1, p. 175-176
Aug. 12, 1831	Revelation given through Joseph Smith the Prophet, on the bank of the Missouri River, McIlwaine’s Bend, August 12, 1831. On their return trip to Kirtland, the Prophet and ten elders had traveled down the Missouri River in canoes. On the third day of the journey, many dangers were experienced. Elder William W. Phelps, in a daylight vision, saw the destroyer riding in power upon the face of the waters.	Lead-in intro to Lds 'scripture' D&C 61
March 27, 1836 and continuing into next year	Joseph Smith observed: “Soon after the Gospel was established in Kirtland, and during the absence of the authorities of the Church, many false spirits were introduced, many strange visions were seen, and wild, enthusiastic notions were entertained: men ran out of doors under the influence of this spirit, and some of them got upon the stumps of trees and shouted, and all kinds of extravagances were entered into by them; one man pursued a ball that he said he saw flying in the air, until he came to a precipice, when he jumped into the top of a tree, which saved his life; and many ridiculous things were entered into, calculated to bring disgrace upon the Church of God..."	Joseph Smith, Times and Seasons 1 April 1842, p. 747, cited at D&C Student Manual
July 30, 1837	Eventual first president Heber C. Kimball, who would become second counselor to Brigham Young, demon possessed and other Lds missionaries attacked by demons in Preston, UK	Discovering LDS Preston – Satanic attack
1840s
Aug. 10, 1840	Joseph Smith uses macabre setting – a funeral sermon – to first introduce the doctrine of necro-baptism	”I first mentioned the doctrine in public when preaching the funeral sermon of Brother Seymour...”	BYU Family History Lab
January 1841-->Summer 1843	Joseph Smith becomes obsessed with the dead: "The Prophet Joseph Smith...had received the revelations (sections 124, 127, 128, and 132) which pertain directly to this work.” [Re: the dead] “And during the last part of his life he said, 'This subject was upon my mind more than any other.'"	Lds “apostle” Boyd K. Packer, The Holy Temple, p. 191 1980 Bookcraft
April 1842	”...who can drag into daylight and develop the hidden mysteries of the false spirits that so frequently are made manifest among the Latter-day Saints?”	Joseph Smith, The Prophet's Editorial in the Times and Seaons, as found in History of the Church, Vol. 4, p. 573
April 7, 1844	It's less than three months before Joseph Smith's death. And, like he did with a Baptism of the Dead doctrinal unveiling, Smith chooses yet another funeral sermon to unveil one of the most controversial Mormon doctrines: That men can become gods (and that God was once a man).	The King Follett [funeral] sermon
1850s
April 6, 1853	”How do the Saints expect the necessary information by which to complete the ministrations for the salvation and exaltation of their friends who have died? By one holding the keys of the oracles of God, AS A MEDIUM THROUGH WHICH THE LIVING CAN HEAR FROM THE DEAD. Shall we, then, deny the principle, the philosophy, the fact of communication between worlds? No! verily no! The spiritual philosophy of the present age was introduced to the modern world by Joseph Smith. The people of the United States abandoned him to martyrdom...simply because a medium of communication with the invisible world had been found, whereby the living could hear from the dead. ...an obscure boy and his few associates, in the western wilds of New York, commenced to hold CONVERSE WITH THE DEAD...ONE OF THE LEADING OR FUNDAMENTAL TRUTHS OF "MORMON" PHILOSOPHY, viz. - "That the living may hear from the dead."... ...we...call attention to the means of discriminating or judging between the lawful and the unlawful mediums or channels of communication...the holy Prophet...remind us that a people should seek unto their God for the living to hear from the dead! ...the Lord...has committed to this Priesthood the keys of holy and divine revelation, and of CORRESPONDENCE, OR COMMUICATION BETWEEN angels, SPIRITS, AND MEN... ...all the most holy CONVERSATIONS AND CORRESPONDENCE WITH God, angels, and SPIRITS, shall be had only in the sanctuary of His holy Temple... Ye are assembled...and have laid these Corner Stones, for the express purpose that the living might hear from the dead, and that we may prepare a holy sanctuary, where "the people may seek unto their God, for the living to hear from the dead"...	Journal of Discourses, Vol. 2, pp. 44-46
1860s
1868	Re: former early cohort of Joseph Smith, Sidney Rigdon (who left Smith's group): ”Sidney Rigdon was Prophet, Seer and Revelator for a small group of Mormons in New York. In his capacity as prophet, Rigdon regularly received revelations, often directed at specific followers. His revelations include channeling of the dead. He recorded these revelations and sent them to his follower Stephen Post. The resulting compilation of revelations (in Rigdon’s handwriting) are available today in the Stephen Post Collection at the University of Utah, where they are stored as Copying Book A & Book of the Revelations of Jesus Christ to the Children of Zion Through Sidney Rigdon Prophet & Seer & Revelator. Essentially this scripture can be viewed as The Doctrine and Covenants Part II.”	Sidney Rigdon: Channeling The Dead
1870s
Early 1877	In the last two weeks before he left the St. George, Utah temple, we have at least four accounts that claim that the spirits of the signers of the Declaration of Independence -- with George Washington -- having appeared to Woodruff. Is the temple haunted? Were these indeed ghosts of the signers? Could they have been demons in disguise as ghosts?	Lds Temple Haunted? Did Declaration of Independence signers appear as ghosts to leader? [Vanity]
1880s
Oct. 10, 1880	Fourth Lds "prophet" Wilford Woodruff reveals that during the late 1840s or sometime during the 1850s he: "I have had many interviews with Brother Joseph until the last 15 or 20 years of my life; I have not seen him for that length of time." One of the top three-ranked Mormon leaders, Lds "apostle"/First President Heber C. Kimball also claimed: "Joseph Smith continued visiting myself and others up to a certain time, and then it stopped."	Journal of Discourses 21, pp. 317-318; source for Kimball's quote: Deseret Weekly News, 53:112, Temples of the Most High, 1896, p. 345
May, 1884	The Haunting of Bishop Ballard's Neighborhood by Elderly Newspaper Delivery Boys Ghostly newspaper delivery "boys": "In May 1884, Bishop Henry Ballard of the Logan Second Ward was signing temple recommends at his home. Henry's nine-year-old daughter, who was talking with friends on the sidewalk near her home, saw two elderly men approaching. They called to her, handed her a newspaper, and told her to take it to her father. The girl did as she was asked. Bishop Ballard saw that the paper, the Newbury Weekly News, published in England, contained the names of more than 60 of his and his father's acquaintances, along with genealogical information. This newspaper, dated 15 May 1884, had been given to him only three days after it was printed. In a time long before air transportation, when mail took several weeks to get from England to western America, this was a miracle. The next day, Bishop Ballard took the newspaper to the temple and told the story of its arrival to Marriner W. Merrill, the temple president. President Merrill declared, 'Brother Ballard, someone on the other side is anxious for their work to be done and they knew that you would do it if this paper got into your hands.'" (Our Heritage: A Brief History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1996, p. 99) Ballard was then quoted by Bryant S. Hinckley in Sermons and Missionary Services of Melvin Joseph Ballard, Deseret Book Co, p. 249, as saying: "Elder Melvin J. Ballard testified that 'the spirit and influence of your dead will guide those* who are interested in finding those records."* (As cited in Come Follow Me, Melchizedek Priesthood Personal study guide, 1983)	Our Heritage: A Brief History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 1996 p. 99; Sermons and Missionary Services of Melvin Joseph Ballard, Deseret Book Co. p. 249, as cited in Come Follow Me, Melchizedek Priesthood Personal Study Guide, p. 162, 1983
Sept. 16, 1887	Fourth Mormon Prophet Wilford Woodruff tells followers, ”I feel to say little else to the Latter-day Saints wherever and whenever I have the opportunity of speaking to them, than to call upon them to build these Temples now under way, to hurry them up to completion. The dead will be after you, they will seek after you as they have after us in St. George. They called upon us, knowing that we held the keys and power to redeem them. I will here say, before closing, that two weeks before I left St. George, the spirits of the dead gathered around me, wanting to know why we did not redeem them.”	Journal of Discourses 19:229
1888	Lds “apostle” Charles W. Penrose: "Knowledge that is needful concerning the spiritual sphere will come through an appointed channel and in the appointed place. The temple where the ordinances can be administered for the dead, is the place to hear from the dead. The priesthood in the flesh, when it is necessary, will receive communications from the Priesthood behind the vail." Later (1906) quote from Penrose: "...the Priesthood behind the veil will reveal to the Priesthood in the flesh in the holy Temples of God where these conversations will take place...work...not only going on here in the flesh, but it is going on in the world behind the veil among the spirits that have departed."	Quote 1: Lds "apostle" Charles W. Penrose, Mormon Doctrine, 1888, published through the Juvenile Instructor's office, SLC, pp. 40-41; Quote 2: Conference Reports, April 1906, pp. 86-87 See: We Believe: Doctrines and Principles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by Rulon T. Burton p D-129: 'Work for the Dead'; cf. The Facts on the Mormon Church by John Ankerberg, John Weldon, & Dillon Burroughs 1991/2009 Harvest House Publishers, p. 70
1890s
April 1, 1893	From a Mormon church LDS Sunday School Lesson: Suggestions for Lesson Development Attention Activity: As appropriate, share the following story or use an activity of your own to begin the lesson. Frederick William Hurst was working as a gold miner in Australia when he first heard Latter-day Saint missionaries preach the restored gospel. He and his brother Charles were baptized in January 1854. He LDS.org - Sunday School Chapter Detail - “The Hearts of the Children Shall Turn to Thei... Page 1 of 6 http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hideNav=1&locale=0&sourceId=ce109207f7c2011... 12/4/2009 tried to help his other family members become converted, but they rejected him and the truths he taught. Fred settled in Salt Lake City four years after joining the Church, and he served faithfully as a missionary in several different countries. He also worked as a painter in the Salt Lake Temple. In one of his final journal entries, he wrote: “Along about the 1st of March, 1893, I found myself alone in the dining room, all had gone to bed. I was sitting at the table when to my great surprize my elder brother Alfred walked in and sat down opposite me at the table and smiled. I said to him (he looked so natural): ‘When did you arrive in Utah?’ “He said: ‘I have just come from the Spirit World, this is not my body that you see, it is lying in the tomb… I look to you to do the work for me in the temple. … You are watched closely.”	Diary of Frederick William Hurst, comp. Samuel H. and Ida Hurst [1961], 204 as part of.Lds Sunday School lesson from "Doctrine and Covenants and Church History," "The Hearts of the Children Shall Turn to Their Fathers," pp. 1-2
April-->May, 1893	The Haunting of the Salt Lake City Temple opening: An official Mormon church publication claims that when the LDS opened their temple in the Spring of 1893, "Some Latter-day Saints saw...past Presidents of the Church and other deceased Church leaders."	Our Heritage: A Brief History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 1996 p. 102, referencing Richard Neitzel Holzapfel, Every Stone a Sermon, 1992, pp. 71, 75, 80.
Jan. 1, 15, 1895	”Think of the affinity between the dead and us. They are looking to us for deliverance. Shall we not help them?”	Zina D.H. Young, Woman's Exponent, Jan 1, 15, 1895, p. 226 Note: Young was a polygamous wife of BOTH Joseph Smith & by

Where exactly is the hate-filled rant?

In between the LEFT and the RIGHT ear....

But HISTORY has recorded these FACTS:

Questions put to Joseph Smith: "'Do you believe the Bible?' [Smith:]'If we do, we are the only people under heaven that does, for there are none of the religious sects of the day that do'. When asked 'Will everybody be damned, but Mormons'? [Smith replied] 'Yes, and a great portion of them, unless they repent, and work righteousness." (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 119).

Joseph Smith: "for the teachers of religion of the different sects understood the same passages of scripture so differently as to destroy all confidence in settling the question by an appeal to the Bible" (from Pearl of Great Price 1:12). "What is it that inspires professors of Christianity generally with a hope of salvation? It is that smooth, sophisticated influence of the devil, by which he deceives the whole world" (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p.270).

Brigham Young stated this repeatedly: "When the light came to me I saw that all the so-called Christian world was grovelling in darkness" (Journal of Discourses 5:73); "The Christian world, so-called, are heathens as to the knowledge of the salvation of God" (Journal of Discourses 8:171); "With a regard to true theology, a more ignorant people never lived than the present so-called Christian world" (Journal of Discourses 8:199); "And who is there that acknowledges [God's] hand? ...You may wander east, west, north, and south, and you cannot find it in any church or government on the earth, except the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" (Journal of Discourses , vol. 6, p.24); "Should you ask why we differ from other Christians, as they are called, it is simply because they are not Christians as the New Testament defines Christianity" (Journal of Discourses 10:230).

Orson Pratt proclaimed: "Both Catholics and Protestants are nothing less than the 'whore of Babylon' whom the Lord denounces by the mouth of John the Revelator as having corrupted all the earth by their fornications and wickedness. Any person who shall be so corrupt as to receive a holy ordinance of the Gospel from the ministers of any of these apostate churches will be sent down to hell with them, unless they repent" (The Seer, p. 255).

Orson Pratt also said: "This great apostasy commenced about the close of the first century of the Christian era, and it has been waxing worse and worse from then until now" (Journal of Discourses
, vol.18, p.44) and: "But as there has been no Christian Church on the earth for a great many centuries past, until the present century, the people have lost sight of the pattern that God has given according to which the Christian Church should be established, and they have denominated a great variety of people Christian Churches, because they profess to be ...But there has been a long apostasy, during which the nations have been cursed with apostate churches in great abundance" (Journal of Discourses , 18:172).

President John Taylor stated: "Christianity...is a perfect pack of nonsense...the devil could not invent a better engine to spread his work than the Christianity of the nineteenth century." (Journal of Discourses , vol. 6, p.167); "Where shall we look for the true order or authority of God? It cannot be found in any nation of Christendom." (Journal of Discourses , 10:127).

James Talmage said: "A self-suggesting interpretation of history indicates that there has been a great departure from the way of salvation as laid down by the Savior, a universal apostasy from the Church of Christ". (A Study of the Articles of Faith, p.182).

President Joseph Fielding Smith said: "Doctrines were corrupted, authority lost, and a false order of religion took the place of the gospel of Jesus Christ, just as it had been the case in former dispensations, and the people were left in spiritual darkness." (Doctrines of Salvation, p.266). "For hundreds of years the world was wrapped in a veil of spiritual darkness, until there was not one fundamental truth belonging to the place of salvation ...Joseph Smith declared that in the year 1820 the Lord revealed to him that all the 'Christian' churches were in error, teaching for commandments the doctrines of men" (Doctrines of Salvation, vol. 3, p.282).

More recent statements by apostle Bruce McConkie are also very clear: "Apostasy was universal...And this darkness still prevails except among those who have come to a knowledge of the restored gospel" (Doctrines of Salvation, vol 3, p.265); "Thus the signs of the times include the prevailing apostate darkness in the sects of Christendom and in the religious world in general" (The Millennial Messiah, p.403); "a perverted Christianity holds sway among the so-called Christians of apostate Christendom" (Mormon Doctrine, p.132); "virtually all the millions of apostate Christendom have abased themselves before the mythical throne of a mythical Christ whom they vainly suppose to be a spirit essence who is incorporeal uncreated, immaterial and three-in-one with the Father and Holy Spirit" (Mormon Doctrine, p.269); "Gnosticism is one of the great pagan philosophies which antedated Christ and the Christian Era and which was later commingled with pure Christianity to form the apostate religion that has prevailed in the world since the early days of that era." (Mormon Doctrine, p.316).

President George Q. Cannon said: "After the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was organized, there were only two churches upon the earth. They were known respectively as the Church of the Lamb of God and Babylon. The various organizations which are called churches throughout Christendom, though differing in their creeds and organizations, have one common origin. They all belong to Babylon" (Gospel Truth, p.324).

President Wilford Woodruff stated: "the Gospel of modern Christendom shuts up the Lord, and stops all communication with Him. I want nothing to do with such a Gospel, I would rather prefer the Gospel of the dark ages, so called" (Journal of Discourses , vol. 2, p.196).

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