Category: Mormon Theology
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Mormonism’s Exclusive Line of Divine Authority
Last month the LDS Church celebrated the anniversary of the 1978 lifting of the spiritual restrictions placed on black Mormons. Usually referred to as the Priesthood Ban, these restrictions not only disallowed black men from holding the Mormon priesthood, but also kept all black members from participating in LDS temples, denying them the church’s “saving…
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Book Review: The Infinite Atonement
By Tad R. CallisterDeseret Book, 2000 Reviewed by Eric Johnson In his book titled The Infinite Atonement, Tad R. Callister—a lawyer for 34 years who served in the LDS Presidency of the Seventy until he was honorably released from the position in 2014 and who currently serves as the Sunday School general president—wrote a best-selling…
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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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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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Book Review: Changed Through His Grace
Book written by Brad Wilcox Reviewed by Bill McKeever Check out the two-week Viewpoint on Mormonism series that originally aired June 19-30, 2017 Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 When Brigham Young University professor, Brad Wilcox, gave his “His Grace is Sufficient” talk at…
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Joseph Smith Is Needed if the Atonement To Be “Fully Efficacious”
Note: The following was originally printed in the May/June 2017 edition of Mormonism Researched. To request a free subscription, please visit here. In the first volume of Doctrines of Salvation, tenth Mormon President Joseph Fielding Smith made it very clear that there is “no salvation without accepting Joseph Smith” (1:188). While some might think that Mormonism has matured…
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Is the Mormon Doctrine of Preexistence True?
Note: This article has been taken from chapter 4 (“Preexistence and the Second Estate”) in the book Mormonism 101: Examining the Religion of the Latter-day Saints (Baker, 2015), co-written by the two authors. The teaching of preexistence (also called premortality) says that “prior to their birth into mortality, all people were begotten spirit children of God…
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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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Book Review: “This is My Doctrine”: The Development of Mormon Theology
Review of “This is My Doctrine”: The Development of Mormon Theology (Greg Kofford Books, 2011) By Charles R. Harrell Check out the 25-part Viewpoint on Mormonism podcast series of this book that plays through the month of March and early April of 2018 Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part…
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Why Are Mormons Not Allowed To Drink Coffee?
Mormons are not allowed to drink coffee because of the Word of Wisdom, which is a health law found in the unique LDS scripture Doctrine & Covenants 89 whereby God supposedly commanded His people to abstain from hot drinks (interpreted as coffee and tea) as well as tobacco, excessive amounts of meat, and alcoholic beverages.…
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The Supreme God of Mormonism
In its “Until We Meet Again” feature, the April 2017 issue of the LDS Church’s Ensign magazine includes an article titled, “The Power of God.” This is a 500-word excerpt from a longer (2300-word) General Conference address titled, “The Doctrine of the Priesthood.” Mormon apostle Bruce R. McConkie delivered this address in April 1982 during…
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Perfect Mormonism
At a blog site titled “Relationship Refinery,” Mormon blogger Kate wrote about her “Lifelong Wrestle with Mormonism.” In her article, Kate writes that there is one factor to which she attributes “any lasting peace or happiness” she has experienced. “that, unequivocally, has come from fully living my religion. And I mean, the real religion. “One issue is that…
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Only “After All We Can Do”
LDS author and blogger Mette Ivie Harrison recently addressed the question, “Can Christ Love Me In My Sins?” From a traditional Mormon perspective, the answer would be “No.” But Ms. Harrison is not a traditional Mormon. For her, unlike many other Latter-day Saints who actually hold to the teachings of the Mormon Church, the answer…
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Was Polygamy Necessary in the 19th Century Because There Were More Women Than Men?
If you speak to some Latter-day Saints regarding the issue of polygamy (the marriage on one man to multiple women), one of the most common arguments still used is pointing out how there were more women than men in the 19th century Utah. If that’s the case, single women needed to have a husband too. Right? Polygamy to…
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Grace unto Works
When speaking to individuals who place a strong emphasis on personal performance when it comes to being justified before God, one can unwittingly fail to emphasize that the New Testament has much to say about how we should live our lives as Christians. When we focus solely on what it takes to justify (make right)…
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Am I Good Enough? Will I Make It?
Note: The following was originally printed in the January/February 2017 edition of Mormonism Researched. To request a free subscription, please visit here. To listen to a 5-part Viewpoint on Mormonism series that originally aired January 2-6, 2017, click the following: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 By Eric Johnson The title for this article is the actual title for…
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What Is So Amazing About the Mormon Version of Grace?
Note: The following was originally printed in the September/October 2016 edition of Mormonism Researched. To request a free subscription, please visit here. John Newton (1725-1807), the slave trader turned Anglican pastor, wrote many hymns during his lifetime, but none have enjoyed as much fame as “Amazing Grace.” According to Newton biographer, Jonathan Aitken, “Amazing Grace” is the “most sung,…
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Unexplaining the Mormon Priesthood Ban on Blacks
February 2015 Synopsis For much of its history, leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints had a fairly standard explanation as to why those of African heritage were prohibited from holding any priesthood office in the church. The ban was officially lifted in June 1978 by the First Presidency, the top leaders…