Mormon Doctrine (1958–2010), RIP.

Religion Dispatches.org ^ | May 24, 2010 | Joanna Brooks

[Colofornian]

I’m holding in my hand my black hardcover copy of Mormon Doctrine by Bruce R. McConkie, one of Mormonism’s most influential books, an all-time Mormon bestseller, which went out of print this week.

A book written, I’m sure, with the best of intentions by a revered Mormon leader. And, still, a book that continued to circulate even after other high-ranking Mormon leaders recommended more than one thousand corrections to its content.

A book that called Roman Catholicism the “Church of the Devil.” And a book that elevated to doctrinal status non-doctrinal folklore about the origins of the LDS Church’s ban on conveying priesthood authority to members of African descent, claiming that blacks were the descendents of the accursed Cain.

A book that due to its authoritative presentation and doctrinal fundamentalism gave many Mormons reasons for grief.

Mormon Doctrine (1958 – 2010), RIP.

[Elsie]

If you did not have cut-and-paste capability, you wouldn’t know what to think or say.

And if MORMONism's Headquarters didn't put out what needs to be taught, then Sundays would be a LOT shorter in MORMONland.

[Elsie]

I am so thankful to the Lord to grant me wisdom to see wonderful qualities in the Catholic faith even if some members choose to trash my faith saying I am not Christian because I witness the Godhead (Father, Son and Holy Ghost) differently.

 

I imagine the folks of the FUNDAMENTAL Church of JESUS CHRIST of Latter-day Saints would just LOVE to have the SAME consideration from the HYPOCRITs of Salt lake City!

 

Afdter all; the Flds are the ones that actually FOLLOW what the LORD had written in D&C 132 - not the fearful SLC bunch - you know; the ones that won't ALLOW the Flds folks to be called MORMON?

 

 

[Elsie]

I am so thankful to the Lord to grant me wisdom to see wonderful qualities in the Catholic faith even if some members choose to trash my faith saying I am not Christian because I witness the Godhead (Father, Son and Holy Ghost) differently.

 

I think your attempt to SUCK UP to the Catholics may fall on deaf ears!

 

 

 

But your BISHOP will want to see THIS!!

 

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                    temple recommend questions

 

1 Do you have faith in and a testimony of God the Eternal Father, His Son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost?

2 Do you have a testimony of the Atonement of Christ and of His role as Savior and Redeemer?

3 Do you have a testimony of the restoration of the gospel in these the latter days?

4 Do you sustain the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as the Prophet, Seer, and Revelator and as the only person on the earth who possesses and is authorized to exercise all priesthood keys? Do you sustain members of the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles as prophets, seers, and revelators? Do you sustain the other General Authorities and local authorities of the Church?

5 Do you live the law of chastity?

6 Is there anything in your conduct relating to members of your family that is not in harmony with the teachings of the Church?

7 Do you support, affiliate with, or agree with any group or individual whose teachings or practices are contrary to or oppose those accepted by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints?

8 Do you strive to keep the covenants you have made, to attend your sacrament and other meetings, and to keep your life in harmony with the laws and commandments of the gospel?

9 Are you honest in your dealings with your fellowmen?

10 Are you a full-tithe payer?

11 Do your keep the Word of Wisdom?

12 Do you have financial or other oblgations to a former spouse or children? If yes, are you current in meeting those obligations?

13 If you have previously received your temple endowment:

Do you keep the covenants that you made in the temple?
Do you wear the garment both night and day as instructed in the endowment and in accordance with the covenant you made in the temple?

14 Have there been any sins or misdeeds in your life that should have been resolved with priesthood authorities but have not been?

15 Do you consider yourself worthy to enter the Lord's house and participate in temple ordinances?

[Elsie]

Alexander Hislop a Presbyterian Minister who wrote “The Two Babylons” an anti Catholic book should we condem the Presbyterian church or protestants because a church leader wrote about his bias opinions?

WHY do you know THIS and you do NOT know what JOSEPH SMITH alledgly learned was UNTRUE about PRESBYTERIANism?

[Elsie]

Are you a she all these years I thought you were a man now it makes sense all the wacko things said came from a women.

Sweetie; HONEY!!

The WACKO things were CUT & PASTED from official MORMON sources!

[Elsie]

 

All these harsh standards you set for others will be there on judgment day

 

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"He (Joseph Smith) is the man through whom God has spoken... yet I would not like to call him a savior, though in a certain capacity he was a god to us, and is to the nations of the earth, and will continue to be."

 - Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses 8:321

 

 

"You call us fools; but the day will be, gentlemen and ladies, whether you belong to this Church or not, when you will prize brother Joseph Smith as the Prophet of the Living God, and look upon him as a god..."

- Herber C. Kimball, Journal of Discourses 5:88

 

 

"If we get our salvation, we shall have to pass by him [Joseph Smith]; if we enter our glory, it will be through the authority he has received. We cannot get around him [Joseph Smith]"

- (as quoted in 1988 Melchizedek Priesthood Study Guide, p. 142)

 

 

There is "no salvation without accepting Joseph Smith. If Joseph Smith was verily a prophet, and if he told the truth...no man can reject that testimony without incurring the most dreadful consequences, for he cannot enter the kingdom of God"

- Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, vol. 1, p.190

 

 

"I tell you, Joseph holds the keys, and none of us can get into the celestial kingdom without passing by him. We have not got rid of him, but he stands there as the sentinel, holding the keys of the kingdom of God; and there are many of them beside him. I tell you, if we get past those who have mingled with us, and know us best, and have a right to know us best, probably we can pass all other sentinels as far as it is necessary, or as far as we may desire. But I tell you, the pinch will be with those that have mingled with us, stood next to us, weighed our spirits, tried us, and proven us: there will be a pinch, in my view, to get past them. The others, perhaps, will say, If brother Joseph is satisfied with you, you may pass. If it is all right with him, it is all right with me. Then if Joseph shall say to a man, or if brother Brigham say to a man, I forgive you your sins, "Whosoever sins ye remit they are remitted unto them;" if you who have suffered and felt the weight of transgression—if you have generosity enough to forgive the sinner, I will forgive him: you cannot have more generosity than I have. I have given you power to forgive sins, and when the Lord gives a gift, he does not take it back again."

 - Orson Hyde, Journal of Discourses, Vol. 6, p.154-155

 

 

 

"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,"

 - Bruce McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, p. 396, 670

 

 

[Belteshazzar]

I am sorry. You misunderstand ... and I didn’t speak clearly enough.

You said, aruanan, “Oh, here’s another: if you pulled out of either one everything that came from the Bible and attendant Christian doctrines, there would be almost nothing left.”

I made this observation regarding Islam, that if one did that nothing worthwhile would be left. I made no reference at that time to Mormonism. It wasn’t even on my mind. I was told by a fellow student in the department that even any inquiry into Islam’s origins and its connection to Christianity, that is to say, that it was ultimately derived from a Christian heresy gone wildly wrong, would cause me trouble.

So, no, this has nothing to do with Mormon agents. I am sorry I did not speak clearly enough.

[Elsie]

 

All these harsh standards you set for others will be there on judgment day

 

 

 

THE
DOCTRINE AND COVENANTS
OF THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS

SECTION 132

 

  51–57, Emma Smith is counseled (commanded) to be faithful and true; 58–66, Laws governing the plurality of wives are set forth.

 

 

  51 Verily, I say unto you: A commandment I give unto mine handmaid, Emma Smith, your wife, whom I have given unto you, that she stay herself and partake not of that which I commanded you to offer unto her; for I did it, saith the Lord, to ^aprove you all, as I did Abraham, and that I might require an offering at your hand, by covenant and sacrifice.

  52 And let mine handmaid, Emma Smith, ^areceive all those that have been given unto my servant Joseph, and who are virtuous and pure before me; and those who are not pure, and have said they were pure, shall be destroyed, saith the Lord God.

  53 For I am the Lord thy God, and ye shall obey my voice; and I give unto my servant Joseph that he shall be made ruler over many things; for he hath been ^afaithful over a few things, and from henceforth I will strengthen him.

  54 And I command mine handmaid, Emma Smith, to abide and ^acleave unto my servant Joseph, and to none else. But if she will not abide this commandment she shall be ^bdestroyed, saith the Lord; for I am the Lord thy God, and will destroy her if she abide not in my law.

  55 But if she will not abide this commandment, then shall my servant Joseph do all things for her, even as he hath said; and I will bless him and multiply him and give unto him an ^ahundredfold in this world, of fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters, houses and lands, wives and children, and crowns of ^beternal lives in the eternal worlds.

  56 And again, verily I say, let mine handmaid ^aforgive my servant Joseph his trespasses; and then shall she be forgiven her trespasses, wherein she has trespassed against me; and I, the Lord thy God, will bless her, and multiply her, and make her heart to ^brejoice. 

 

 

 

 

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Whatever HAPPENED to Emma???

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Eliza was a devout Mormon. At age 38, she became Joseph Smith's 14th plural wife (in addition to Smith's lawful wife, Emma). In 1842, after learning Eliza was pregnant, Emma Smith beat Eliza with a broomstick and knocked her down a flight of stairs, causing Eliza to miscarry Smith's baby.

 

 

Wow!!

 

 

I guess ol' Emma got VAPORIZED by GOD!!!

 

 

We know that multiply him thing sure didn't work out!

 

[Elsie]

Day after day time is spent fault finding to you there is nothng good about the Church or its leaders or the LDS as a whole.

The faults are SO easy to find in the great big mess that calls ITSELF mormonISM!

[Elsie]

Oh!

The ISLAMic ‘agents’ would get you?

[Elsie]

 

 

 

 

Joseph Smith was a famous Preacher in the Eastern USA. His teaching empire grew to include acquisition of valuable printing assets and intimate dealings with the Missouri courts.

 

 He devoted several years of his early life to exploratory service, finally taking leave to assume his dealings with various Spiritual Beings.

 

As an adjunct to his exploratory work, Mummies and papyrus are purchased from Michael Chandler.  On July 19, 1835 at age 29; Joseph began translating the papyrus. It will be known as the Book of Abraham, generating quite a lot of interest by leading archeological experts.

 

 In 1844, he was a key player in a vital investigation run by the authorities in Carthage, Hancock County, Illinois. That same month, Smith passed away during an important civic function held in his honor when the excitable group who had come to visit him pressed too many into the room he was in and his death resulted.

 

 

 

[Belteshazzar]

No! I never said anything about “agents.” That was aruanan’s choice of words. I was only told that the students in the Islamic studies division of the larger department in which I was a graduate student at the time would take great displeasure into any inquiry into the origins of Islam, especially one that hinted that it, Islam, could ultimately have derived from a Christian heresy. Such inquiry was thus discouraged. It could lead to trouble. I never pushed it beyond that. It was not my area of study or interest, merely an observation I made based on other materials.

So. No. No agents!

[aruanan]

I am sorry. You misunderstand ... and I didn’t speak clearly enough.

No, you spoke clearly enough. It's just that Islam has about 1300 years or so development on Mormonism.

The high tech civilizations of the Arabian Peninsula during the time between Christ and the birth of Islam were built by Christian and Jewish people fleeing the internecine conflict between Rome and Persia. The first permanent cities there were built by Christians and Jews. The Bedouins, of which Muhammad was a member, had as one of their chief trades serving as mercenaries for both Rome and Persia. It took a bout of Black Death to weaken both Rome and Persia to the point of not requiring mercenaries, thus resulting in a bunch of mercenaries available for other pursuits. Muhammad first designed his religion to attract Christians and Jews, including Friday prayers toward Jerusalem. The Jews told him to pound sand. He arranged for a peace conference and wiped out almost everyone who attended, destroyed the Christian and Jewish kingdoms of the Arabian Peninsula, wrote anti-Christian and anti-Jewish sentiments into his developing dogmas, and then turned his attention to surrounding areas, such as the major center of Christianity, Egypt. Vast tracts of productive land were laid waste as they plundered functioning societies and left them with just enough control to forward tribute money.

[Belteshazzar]

Now I am confused. If I spoke clearly enough, where did this come from?

“There were Mormon agents up there?”

Otherwise, what you say about Islam I have no particular problem with.

[Graybeard58]

Like any malicious-minded bully, she gets her strength from hiding behind a mask, and refuses to disclose what specific church she belongs to

All you had to do was ask me what church she belongs to. She belongs to one of the churches that Joseph Smith said was apostate.

[aruanan]

Now I am confused. If I spoke clearly enough, where did this come from?

“There were Mormon agents up there?”

I was joking around and alluding to the fact that the two share many similarities in their origins, that Islam has about 13 centuries of further "development" on Mormonism, and that, like early Muslims did in wiping out variants of the Koran, Mormons have gone into libraries to extirpate books critical of Mormonism and revelatory of its origins. Now that there's an internet, the problem for them has gotten way, way out of hand. Nothing as simple any longer as a surreptitious action leading only to a "lost book" call on an out of print not easily replaced book in the library stacks.

[Burkean]

Back in the late 70s Mormon Doctrine was given to me as the “go to” book to understand anything and everything about what Mormons believe.

By the late 80s it had lost its luster, but was still useful. Lately it seems to have sunk almost to the depths of a Paul H. Dunn book.

[Belteshazzar]

Gotcha.

[ejonesie22]

“Prophets” just ain’t what they used to be....

[ejonesie22]

The LDS bus has a lot of apostles and “prophets’ under it...