Category: General Authorities
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LDS Apostle Explains the Purpose of Life
The official web site of the LDS Church has posted a transcript of the interview Apostle Dallin H. Oaks gave to Helen Whitney, maker of the PBS documentary “The Mormons” which aired earlier this year. Mr. Oaks told Ms. Whitney, “Before the close of his ministry, in Illinois, Joseph Smith put together the significance of…
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“Mormonism’s king was dead.”
On 27 June 1844 Mormonism’s founding prophet, Joseph Smith, was killed. Much has been written about the death of Joseph Smith, accounts written from every perspective imaginable. In 1994 historian D. Michael Quinn, a former BYU professor and former Mormon, published The Mormon Hierarchy: Origins of Power. In this book, Dr. Quinn carefully documented the…
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Joseph Smith on Humility, Innocence and Truth
One hundred and sixty-three years ago tomorrow (June 7, 1844) the one and only issue of The Nauvoo Expositor was published in Nauvoo, Illinois. The newspaper was intended to be the voice of the Reformed Mormon Church, a dissident religious group led by former counselor in the LDS First Presidency, William Law.The members of the…
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Joseph Smith for President
There’s another movie about Mormonism in the works. A French magazine reports, A Mormon President, the first documentary film to explore the Mormon Prophet, Joseph Smith’s campaign for the US Presidency and its implications for the candidacy of another Mormon, Mitt Romney, has begun production and is slated for a fall 2007 release. Filmmaker Adam…
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Brigham Young’s Lecture at the Veil
It was 130 years ago today that LDS recorder L. John Nuttall, by order of Brigham Young, transcribed the Lecture at the Veil in the St. George, Utah Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Lecture at the Veil was a lesson at the end of the LDS endowment ceremony which…
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The Faith of Brigham Young
Compiled by Bill McKeever
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Book Review: Early Mormonism and the Magic World View
Author: D. Michael Quinn Signature Books, 1998 Reviewer: Eric Johnson Introduction
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Movie Review: Joseph Smith: The Prophet of the Restoration
Reviewed by Bill McKeever Despite the fact that Article 13 in the LDS Articles of Faith states that Mormons are to be honest, the LDS Church refuses to be completely truthful when it comes to its history, especially when the subject is Joseph Smith. As part of its celebration of the 200th anniversary of the…
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Bruce McConkie’s Letter of Rebuke to Professor Eugene England
Introduction The following is a letter written by LDS Apostle Bruce R. McConkie and sent to a BYU Professor by the name of Eugene England. The purpose of McConkie’s letter was to let Dr. England know that he was very displeased with certain ideas he was espousing publicly. These included teachings taught in the past…
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The King Follett Discourse
Introduction The King Follett Discourse was a funeral sermon preached by Joseph Smith on behalf of Elder King Follett, an early convert to Mormonism, who, on March 9, 1844, was crushed to death when a bucket of rocks fell on him as he was walling up a well. According to the “Documentary History of the…
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Painesville Telegraph – Friday, December 21, 1832
Introduction Many members of the LDS Church have looked to Doctrine and Covenants 87 as one of many proofs for the divine calling of Joseph Smith as a latter-day prophet. This section, said to be given to Joseph Smith on Christmas Day in 1832, seemingly prophesies the coming War Between the States; a war that…
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Bruce McConkie’s Seven Deadly Heresies Speech (Unedited)
Introduction Bill McKeever
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Brigham Young’s Rise to Power
By Lane Thuet
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Is J.R.R. Tolkien Also Among the Prophets?
By Bill McKeever Among the many “proofs” Mormons like to use to authenticate the Book of Mormon is to point out that Joseph Smith was far too young to dream up the theme found in the Book of Mormon. They also point out that this book contains many unique words and that Joseph Smith could…
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Did Joseph Smith Have Sex With His Wives? (And Other Questions Answered)
Joseph Smith’s first wife was Emma Hale (1804-79) the daughter of Isaac and Elizabeth (Lewis) Hale. They were married on January 18, 1827 in South Bainbridge, Chenango County, New York. Smith’s marriage to Louis Beaman is considered by some to be his first official plural marriage since it is the first for which there is…
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Did Joseph Smith Correctly Predict the American Civil War?
By Bill McKeever According to 15th President Gordon B. Hinkley:
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Is It Fair to Compare Joseph Smith with the Prophet Jonah?
By Eric Johnson We at Mormonism Research Ministry and other like-minded groups have adamantly maintained that Joseph Smith was a false prophet based on his prophecies which did not take place as he said they would. One common LDS response which we have repeatedly hear is: “If Joseph Smith was a false prophet, then the…
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Joseph Smith’s First Vision: Fact or Fiction?
By Wesley Walters
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No Salvation Without Joseph Smith
By Bill McKeever In the fourteenth chapter of John, Jesus tells His disciples that He would be leaving them but that they should not be troubled. “If I go,” He said, “I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” Jesus’ statement puzzled Thomas, who asked…