Category: Ensign Magazine
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Is it Possible for Families to be Together Forever?
Editor’s Note: The following was originally printed in the September/October 2015 edition of Mormonism Researched. To request a free subscription, please visit here. Check out a two-part Viewpoint on Mormonism series airing August 24-25, 2020. Part 1 Part 2 The First Presidency message published in the June 2015 Ensign and written by Henry B. Eyring (“Families Can Be Together Forever”)…
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Praise to the Man: Joseph Smith
The September issue of the Ensign magazine includes an article celebrating the 30th “birthday” of the LDS hymnbook, Hymns (74-75). Even though the Ensign clearly states “there are no plans at this time for a new edition,” rumors are circulating to the contrary. Why the Mormon community would think a new edition is in the…
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Does Mormonism Really offer a "Gift of Grace"? A review of Dieter F. Uchtdorf’s talk on Easter Sunday 2015
For a 5-part Viewpoint on Mormonism podcast series reviewing this talk, go to “Utctdorf’s Gift of Grace (Is Mormonism coming Biblical Christianity’s Way?)” Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 In what may be the most quoted sermon at a General Conference in recent years, “The Gift of Grace” as delivered by Dieter F. Uchtdorf, the second…
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The Virtue of Joseph Smith
Speaking at the general conference last October, Mormon Apostle Neil L. Andersen gave a talk simply titled “Joseph Smith.” Toward the end of his message, Andersen said, “I give you my witness that Jesus is the Christ, our Savior and Redeemer. He chose a holy man, a righteous man, to lead the Restoration of the…
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Mormonism’s President and the Role of the Angry Mob
In April 2014, at the Mormon Church’s General Conference, President Thomas S. Monson spoke of love being the essence of the gospel. Explaining that Jesus Christ is our great example of love, President Monson said, “The sick He healed; the downtrodden He lifted; the sinner He saved. At the end the angry mob took His…
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The Definition of Doctrine
It’s only a short article located in the early pages of the July 2014 Ensign magazine, which is the official monthly organ of the LDS Church. But I believe this piece, titled “We Teach by the Power of the Holy Ghost” and found under the unattributed column “What We Believe,” is consistent with what is…
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Monson’s Wishful Thinking?
In his First Presidency message in the June 2014 issue of Ensign magazine titled, “Hastening the Work,” Mormon President Thomas S. Monson spoke of the “accelerated rate” at which the Church of Jesus Christ is growing. Monson writes: “Do you realize that the restored Church was 98 years old before it had 100 stakes? But…
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The Good News of Repentance?
In the December 2013 Ensign, Brian D. Garner of the Church Correlation Department wrote a five-page article titled “The Good News of Repentance” (pp. 40-44). As I was reading this piece—subtitled “There is great joy in heaven whenever we repent in sincerity of heart”—I was struck by what I believe is really the bad news…
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Jesus in the Ensign
Jesus in the Ensign By Eric Johnson The following was originally printed in the May-June 2005 edition of Mormonism Researched. To request a free subscription, please visit here.
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Mormonism, the Bible, and God the Father
The January 2014 Ensign magazine includes an edited version of a General Conference talk given in 1986 by (now deceased) Gordon B. Hinckley of Mormonism’s First Presidency. The 2014 “Gospel Classic” is titled, “The Divine Godhead.” In it Mr. Hinckley explains what he believes about God the Father and relates an experience he had while…
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Having it Our Way? (Jeffrey Holland’s 2011 talk at conference)
Having it Our Way? (Jeffrey Holland’s 2011 speech at conference)By Eric JohnsonIn a April 2011 general conference message, LDS Apostle Jeffrey R. Holland made it a point midway through his talk to explain how “the (LDS) Church is not a fast-food outlet; we can’t always have it ‘our way.’” (“An Ensign to the Nations,” Ensign, May…
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Covenants: The (Unkept) Promises
Covenants: The (Unkept) Promises By Eric Johnson An article (with no listed author) was the main attraction in the July 2012 Ensign magazine. Titled “Covenants: Our Most Important Promises,” it describes an ordinance as “a sacred, formal act performed by the authority of the priesthood. Some ordinances are essential to our salvation. As part of…
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Flying First-Class — Mormon Style
In reading the July 2013 Ensign, I came across a thoughtful story written by Bonnie Marshall in the Latter-day Saint Voices section of the magazine. Mrs. Marshall tells of a long flight she and her husband took when they returned to Utah from their mission at BYU-Hawaii. Because Mrs. Marshall’s husband was a large man,…
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Two parables about the Atonement
Understanding the Atonement of Christ is vital if we are to understand exactly what salvation is all about. In 1977, Apostle Boyd K. Packer told a parable that talked about a creditor, debtor, and a third party who paid the debt. Then this friend turns the tables and says that he is the debtor’s new…
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In Mormonism God is a Saved Soul
In the 1974 October General Conference of the Mormon Church Marion G. Romney (Second Counselor in the First Presidency) said, “I am going to talk about some of the very fundamentals of the gospel of Jesus Christ of great importance… “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints affirms as its Third Article of Faith:…
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Review: "The Restoration and Early Christian Teachings"
LDS Church apologist Michael Ash wrote an article in the April 2013 church magazine Ensign (“The Restoration and Early Christian Teachings,” pp. 60-65). His article explains that teachings such as premortality, work on behalf of the dead, and exaltation can be found in the writings of the Early Church Fathers. There are several problems with this view, including the…
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Changing and Correcting Mormon Scripture
The January 2013 Ensign magazine seems to reflect a new effort toward transparency in the Mormon Church. In an article by LDS historian Gerrit Dirkmaat, “Great and Marvelous are the Revelations of God,” the author discloses “Many Revelations Were Later Revised by Joseph Smith through Inspiration”: “Over the course of the first five years of…
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Can the Missionaries Really Help You?
In a lively General Conference talk, Apostle Russell M. Nelson enthusiastically touted the expertise of teenage Mormon missionaries—now eligible at younger ages.
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