Category: Authority
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3 Absolute Imperatives
NOTE: This article was published in the March/April 2025 Mormonism Researched newsletter, a free publication. To subscribe, please visit the registration site. Over the years, Latter-day Saint leaders have been very bold when it comes to some non-negotiable imperatives regarding the truthfulness of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The argument goes, and I…
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Priesthood Authority and the Restoration
Priesthood authority is a cornerstone doctrine of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, central to its claims of a restoration. According to LDS teaching, the loss of this authority triggered the Great Apostasy, rendering all Christian baptisms invalid until they are performed by someone with authority.
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Is the “Laying on of Hands” Essential?
Latter-day Saints insist that priesthood authority hinges on the precise act of laying hands on the head, a ritual they claim was lost in the Great Apostasy and restored through Joseph Smith.
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The “Completely False” Rationale for Mormonism’s Restoration
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints struggles to explain past teachings about a universal Christian apostasy.
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Considering LDS General Conference ‘Dream Headlines’
The Salt Lake Tribune’s “Mormon Land” newsletter is having a contest. On September 1st readers were asked to submit their General Conference “dream headlines”; that is, headlines readers “would like to see emerge from next month’s General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.” The 340 submitted headlines are now being published,…
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Heavenly Mother: Apostle Renlund Wishes He “Knew More” About This Basic LDS Tenet
In a general conference address given at the women’s session on Saturday evening April 2, 2022, Apostle Dale Renlund discussed the doctrine of Heavenly Mother, one that is rarely ever addressed by the all-male general authority members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Renlund pointed to the church’s short 627-word Gospel Topics…
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Examining 10 Claims of the Great Apostasy
Over the past few decades, Latter-day Saints have been quick to maintain that they should be considered “Christians” just like their Christian friends. This idea is typified in a general conference talk by Seventy Gary Coleman who described how he responded to 14-year-old Cortnee, the daughter of an LDS mission president, after her friend told…
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7 Ways Jeffrey R. Holland’s April 2020 Conference Talk Attacks Christianity and its Followers
For a 3-part Viewpoint on Mormonism series that aired August 26-28, 2020, click these links: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Most of the talks delivered at the April 2020 General Conference focused on the bicentennial of Joseph Smith’s “First Vision” of God the Father and Jesus, the Book of Mormon, and a series of…
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April General Conference Reaffirms Mormonism’s Love/Hate Relationship with Christianity
Throughout its history, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has had a sort of love/hate relationship with historic Christianity. That this attitude continues today was reaffirmed during the church’s General Conference earlier this month. Mormonism’s negative stance toward Christianity began, as did Mormonism itself (it is claimed), with Joseph Smith’s 1820 First Vision.…
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The Restoration of the Fulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ: A Short Rebuttal to President Nelson’s New Proclamation
On Sunday morning, April 5, 2020–the final day of the spring General Conference–President Russell M. Nelson announced a new “proclamation” called “The Restoration of the Fulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ: A Bicentennial Proclamation to the World.” This is the sixth proclamation issued by church leaders, with the others coming in 1841 (for church…
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Christianity Index
Apostasy Christianity
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Crash Course Mormonism: Priesthood
Mormonism teaches that the authorized priesthood was restored to Joseph Smith, Jr., the founder of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in 1829, the year before he founded his church. Today two kinds of priesthood are available to eligible males but not to females. The first priesthood is called the Aaronic Priesthood. Smith…
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Crash Course Mormonism: Great Apostasy
The Great Apostasy is the idea that true Christianity lost God’s authority soon after the death of Christ’s apostles, which made it necessary for God to restore the true church through Joseph Smith and the founding of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1830. If there had been no Great Apostasy, there…
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Does 2 Timothy 3:1–5 Support the Great Apostasy?
Some Mormons have used 2 Timothy 3:1-5, 14-15 and 4:3-4 as a support of the Great Apostasy and a prediction that all authority would be lost soon after the deaths of the apostles (including the author of this book, the apostle Paul). These verses have been taken out of context to support this teaching. These verses say:…
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Does Amos 8:11-12 Support the Great Apostasy?
Amos 8:11-12 is often cited by Mormons to support the concept of a Great Apostasy. However, BYU professor Charles Harrell argues that this passage reflects ancient Israel’s impending spiritual famine due to wickedness and apostasy, specifically in relation to the Assyrian conquest. It warns of the loss of divine guidance rather than a universal authority…
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Does Isaiah 24:5 Support the Great Apostasy?
Isaiah 24:5 says, “The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant.” According to some Latter-day Saints, this refers to an event called the Great Apostasy. The everlasting covenant described here is certainly a reference to the Mosaic law, which would have…
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Covenants and Repentance Emphasized by Nelson, Oaks at April 2019 General Conference
Check out a 5-part podcast series airing July 29-August 2, 2019, titled Where is My Family? Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Next week we’ll take a closer look at Oaks’ talk. President Russell M. Nelson and Dallin H. Oaks, the first counselor in the First Presidency, emphasized covenants, repentance, and…
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Citations on Priesthood
The following are sections out of Bill McKeever’s book In their Own Words: A Collection of Mormon Quotations. The full book of 400 pages is available at Mormonism Research Ministry or Amazon.com. Standard Works “No man has a legal right to this office, to hold the keys of this priesthood, except he be a literal descendant and the firstborn…