Author: Aaron Shafovaloff
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Like Stubborn Scotchmen, They Couldn’t Get Adam-God out of Their Heads
At the April 1916 General Conference Charles W. Penrose, a member of the First Presidency, stated: “There still remains, I can tell by the letters I have alluded to, an idea among some of the people that Adam was and is the Almighty and Eternal God. He is the father of his race, of course,…
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The "Impossible Gospel" Presentation and Its Continued Relevance for Modern Mormonism
By Aaron Shafovaloff “Who can say, ‘I have made my heart pure; I am clean from my sin’?” – Proverbs 20:9
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Sunday General Conference
We at Mormonism Research Ministry generally watch all that we can of General Conference to get a pulse for what the Salt Lake hierarchy continues to teach and emphasize. This, along with consulting church-published curriculum, is a far better way to discern what Mormonism teaches and what Mormons believe than to simply take the words…
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General Conference “Just Doesn’t Do It” For You? You’re Not Alone
To be sure, non-Mormons interested in Mormon history find the General Conferences of early Mormonism much more exciting that those of today. Of the good ol’ days Will Bagley said, “this was a time when they didn’t write up all these speeches, send them in to the correlation committee, get them back, read them from…
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A Call for Blake Ostler to Support A Specific Historical Claim about the Nicene Creed (Updated)
The modern myth and caricature that surround the First Council of Nicaea never cease to amaze me. We don’t usually do this, but sometimes something so shocking and so specific is said that the person who said it needs to stop what they’re doing and back it up. As a friend noted recently, when something…
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Are You “Scared” or “Weak-Minded” Over the Father Having a Father? Joseph Smith Has a Word For You
On June 16, 1844—just 11 days before his death—Joseph preached just east of the Nauvoo temple in a grove probably very near (or even the same place as?) where he gave his sermon at King Follett’s funeral. Many people think of the King Follett Discourse as Joseph Smith’s last great sermon, and indeed, some have…
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Life is Short and Evangelism Should be Urgent
I’ve been out of town for about ten days. When Stacie and I returned to the Salt Lake City airport on Monday I stood by some newspaper vending machines and rocked little John’s stroller as my wife went to the bathroom. I glanced over and was shocked. The body of BYU student Camille Cleverley had…
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Only Imperfect and Incomplete Repentance Brings Immediate Forgiveness
The repentance of conversion is definitive. It is the 180 degrees radical change of heart-attitude and heart-orientation away from lies and deceit toward Jesus Christ and his sure promises. The repentance of sanctification is an ongoing process. The Christian yearns for a deeper, more sincere, more authentic repentance. We want to be more aware of…
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Lifting the Veil of Polygamy Video Now Online
“This documentary examines the roots of Joseph Smith’s legacy, and its modern-day fruit. We follow the compelling testimonies of nine former fundamentalists, who shed light on this practice and lifestyle which has been shrouded in secrecy since the earliest days of Mormonism; but more importantly, they share the true freedom they have found in the…
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Come to Manti in 2008
Three videos made by different ministries to encourage Christians to come help evangelize to Mormons at the Manti Pageant in Manti, UT during June 2008.
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Mormonism’s Gigantic Insult to the Great Shepherd
Marvin Cowan in Mormon Claims Answered, chapter 7: The Apostle Paul wrote: “Unto Him (God) be glory in the Church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end Amen” (Eph. 3:21). Could that be true if there was a universal apostasy of the church for several centuries? Jesus also said, “Upon this Rock I…
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How Did Joseph Smith “Translate” the Book of Mormon?
In the recent PBS special, The Mormons, Daniel Peterson publicly and explicitly admitted that “most of the translation [of the Book of Mormon] was done using something called a seer stone.” Since many Mormons have labeled claims like these “anti-Mormon“, Peterson’s statement is significant because he is a professor at BYU and is considered the…
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Free Downloadable Tracts
The following are PDF files and can be opened using Adobe Acrobat. When printing make sure that “None” is selected under “Page Scaling”.
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Should Christians Stay in Manipulative Interfaith Relationships?
Suppose you are in a dialog with someone over the most important things in all of reality–eternal life and the heart and holiness and the heinousness of sin and the glory of God and the nature of deity and the worship of the Creator and the promise of everlasting joy for believers and the future…
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Comments from Readers
Skip to Section From Mormons (pleased) From Mormons (not so pleased) From Ex-Mormons From Other Readers (Christians, non-Christians) From Mormons (pleased) “I am a Mormon but wanted to salute you for the knowledge and research that you have done into the Mormon religion.
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Understanding Ex-Cultists
By Janis Hutchinson www.janishutchinson.com In an explosion of emotion a former cultist suddenly burst out: "If I had known what I was going to go through in adjusting to Christianity, I never would have left the Mormon Church!"
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Ten Lies I Told as a Mormon Missionary
by Loren Franck The Bible predicts a dreadful fate for liars. For instance, while banished on the island of Patmos, the Apostle John saw that "all liars shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death" (Revelation 21:8). Similarly, the beloved disciple writes, liars are doomed…
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Christian Historicity vs. Mormon Subjectivism
By Edward Mellott
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The Great Apostasy
Since the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was founded in 1830, it has maintained that Christ’s church fell into what has been described as a complete apostasy. Though LDS leaders cannot agree as to when this actually happened, they do agree that it must have happened. Many LDS leaders have made reference to…