Category: Mormon Coffee Blog (2007-2019)
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LDS Seventy Encourages a Genuine Relationship with Jesus Christ
In the June issue of the Mormon Church’s Ensign magazine, LDS Seventy Fred A. “Tony” Parker wrote about overcoming the pain of racism experienced within the LDS Church. His advice is to “find healing through the Savior” while Church members simultaneously seek to be “one in Christ.” He writes, “To be His people, we must be…
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The Disbelief of Mormon Prophets, Seers, and Revelators
Last weekend the LDS Church celebrated the 40th anniversary of its discontinuance of a long-standing ban that denied black Mormons the full benefits of Church membership (i.e., priesthood, endowment, sealing/temple marriage). The celebration, “Be One,” focused on a continuing effort to unite all members of the Church without regard to race. As part of this celebration,…
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The Exclusiveness of Mormonism’s Truth Claims
Mormon politician Mitt Romney sent out a tweet a week ago that the media deemed to be highly newsworthy. On May 13th Mr. Romney disparaged well-known evangelical minister Robert Jeffress, tweeting: “Robert Jeffress says ‘you can’t be saved by being a Jew,’ and ‘Mormonism is a heresy from the pit of hell.’ He’s said the same…
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A Fundamental Disagreement between Mormonism and Christianity
On April 19th (2018) Deseret News published an article by Daniel Peterson in his “Defending the Faith” column that discusses the Trinity. Dr. Peterson begins, “A fundamental disagreement between Latter-day Saint Christianity and mainstream Christianity concerns the doctrine of the Trinity. Both outsiders and members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints themselves commonly say…
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Joseph Smith’s Remarks on Happiness
The Mormon Church talks a lot about happiness. For example, the Church calls its restored gospel “The Plan of Happiness.” LDS leaders have taught that “the very purpose of our lives can be defined in terms of happiness,” and “the things of the earth were created for our happiness.” In the October 2008 General Conference,…
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Is Mormonism’s Promise of Eternal Life for Sale?
Last week Salt Lake Tribune journalist Peggy Fletcher Stack asked, “Does tithing requirement for entry into LDS temples amount to Mormons buying their way into heaven?” She explained, It is no surprise that faithful Mormons push back against the suggestion that the LDS Church promotes a pay-to-play salvation. The Salt Lake Tribune article notes that,…
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Technology is Changing Mormon Missionary Work
On March 8, 2018, Deseret News ran a story with a lengthy title that began, “How technology is changing Mormon missionary work.” This article discusses the LDS missionary force’s increased use of technology to find and teach investigators, often via online chats. Relating one such chat, the Deseret News article quotes sister missionary Kimeme Ackley…
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A Mormon’s Disdain for Evidential Faith
Latter-day Saint Taylor Christensen recently posted a heartfelt video that begins, “This is not an anti-Mormon video.” Taylor talks about his own journey through so-called anti-Mormon information as he sought to understand why so many people were leaving the Mormon Church. In the process, Taylor discovered difficult truths about Mormon history including (but not limited…
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Ever Wondered What Mormons Believe?
The LDS Church recently released seven new one-minute videos via its web presence geared toward non-Mormons, Mormon.org. The videos discuss parenting, prayer, and basic beliefs held by Mormons. The three videos that fall into this last category are “60 Mormon Beliefs in 60 Seconds,” “Do Mormons Really Believe in Jesus?” and “Do Mormons Believe in…
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Will Mormons Worship Heavenly Father Forever?
An interesting article appeared in the Salt Lake Tribune recently with the intriguing title, “Humans can become like God? Mormons say Orthodox Christians have similar belief — but that’s news to Orthodox Christians.” In this article, Bob Mims presents an overview of both the LDS concept of “deification,” and that of the Eastern Orthodox Church,…
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Mormons Urged to Keep on the Covenant Path
22 January 2018 On Friday, January 12 (2018) the 16th LDS President, Thomas Monson, was laid to rest. On Sunday, January 14, Russell M. Nelson was set apart as the new President, Prophet, Seer, and Revelator of the LDS Church. On Tuesday, January 16, the Church’s newly formed First Presidency (Russell M. Nelson, Dallin H.…
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On the Death of the Mormon Prophet
Thomas Monson, the 16th prophet of Mormonism, died at 90. While he was revered for his leadership and personal stories, his passing raises concerns about false prophecies within the LDS Church.
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Finding Grace in Mormonism
According to a recent Deseret News article, back in 1980 it became apparent that Mormons didn’t understand that “grace” had a place in their religion. Latter-day Saints who had been interviewed for a Newsweek article titled, “What Mormons Believe,” so described their Mormon faith that the journalist concluded, “Mormons believe that men are born free…
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LDS Apostle Warns About Revelation “From the Wrong Source.”
On November 19, 2017, LDS apostles Dallin H. Oaks and M. Russell Ballard answered the questions of young single adult Mormons from around the world. Over 4,000 questions were submitted for this “Face-to-Face” event, but the approximately hour-and-a-half long broadcast didn’t allow for more than a dozen or so to be addressed by the Mormon…
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Recreating Mormonism According to Their Desires
Note: The following was originally printed in the July/August 2017 edition of Mormonism Researched. To request a free subscription, please visit here. It’s all the rage these days for some Mormons to champion their religion while denying its dogma. They sense the absence of Christ’s love and grace in the LDS Church. They understand the impossibility of gaining…
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Life without the Book of Mormon?
20 November 2017 LDS apostle Russell M. Nelson spoke at the Mormon Church’s October 2017 General Conference and asked, “The Book of Mormon: What Would Your Life Be Like without It?” After his conference address, Mr. Nelson asked the same question of Mormons on Twitter, Facebook, and in a blog post at lds.org. On Facebook…
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Are Mormons Afraid of Ghosts? Should They Be?
The Independent, a newspaper out of St. George, Utah, recently published an online article about Marlene Murray, an LDS woman who “dabbles in paranormal investigation.” The title of the article asks an interesting question: “Mormonism and the paranormal: Are LDS folk afraid of ghosts?” The journalist posits that perhaps any fear among Mormons is because,…
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LDS Apostle Tries to Comfort Discouraged Mormons
LDS apostle Jeffrey Holland seems to be engaged in an ongoing effort to soften the harsh reality of Mormonism’s impossible gospel. A year and a half ago, at the April 2016 General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Mr. Holland assured Mormons, contrary to orthodox and historical LDS doctrine, that even…
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A Mormon Apostle’s Evasive Answer
On 18 September 2017, the LDS Church’s Deseret News reported on LDS Apostle Russell M. Nelson’s recent devotional address directed at young Mormon adults. In that address, Mr. Nelson spoke of his appreciation for the Bible and invited his audience to join him in studying that volume of scripture insofar as it speaks to ideas…
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Finding Mormonism in All the Wrong Places
21 September 2017 Eric D. Richards is a popular LDS speaker and educator. Last week (12 September 2017), LDS Living magazine published an article Eric wrote that tells the story of how he and his mother came to be converted to Mormonism. It’s written as a sweet, Mormon-faith-promoting story, telling of the experiences that led…