Category: Mormonism in the News
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When a Myth About Mormonism Turns Out to Be True
On January 13th (2022) David Noyce, managing editor at The Salt Lake Tribune, highlighted an article that had appeared earlier in the month on the Beliefnet web platform. “Latter-day Saints know that outsiders get plenty wrong about their religion,” Mr. Noyce wrote. “The Beliefnet website tries to set some errors right with a recent post…
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Making the LDS Church Slightly Better: A Member’s Wish List
At the start of the new year, when many of us are thinking about self-improvement and ways we can make 2022 a better year than the one we’ve just lived through, Gordon Monson, columnist for The Salt Lake Tribune, was thinking about how to make his church better. A member of the LDS church, Mr.…
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Latter-day Saints Continue To Grapple With Mormon Polygamy
Richard Ostling is perhaps best known for his past career as a religion reporter for TIME Magazine and the Associated Press, and for the landmark book he coauthored in 1999 with his wife, Joan Ostling, Mormon America: The Power and the Promise. Mr. Ostling today maintains a blog titled Religion Q&A where he answers religiously-themed…
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Word of Wisdom-Compliant Coffee Shop Opens in Utah
I’m rather fond of coffee. And coffee shops. In fact, the idea for Mormonism Research Ministry’s former blog, Mormon Coffee (“It’s forbidden, but it’s good!”), was born in a coffee shop over a decaf latte. So I was pretty interested in an article that came out recently about a new coffee shop in Provo, Utah;…
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LDS Area Authority: Church Teachings on Repentance “Hurt the Rising Generation”
In August (2021) an Area Seventy for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Richard N. Holzapfel, spoke at a Stake Leadership meeting in Utah. Internet personality Thinker of Thoughts posted a 5-and-a-half-minute from a from Mr. Holzapfel’s talk during which Mr. Holzapfel said some rather controversial things. For example, in addressing the LDS…
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LDS Church Vacillates On a Matter of Eternal Significance
The first full article in the print issue of July’s Liahona magazine is headlined, “Our Heavenly Father Wants Us to Be Happy.” This “Gospel Basics” article presents an overview of the plan of happiness (aka the plan of salvation) according to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In the sub-section titled “Death Isn’t…
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The Testimonies of Two Apostles – New Testament vs. LDS
28 June 2021 The New Testament apostle Paul told the Corinthians, “And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.” (1 Corinthians 2:1-2) Paul’s faith and testimony…
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The 1830 Book of Mormon: Joseph Smith’s Rough Draft
6 June 2021 Last month (on 25 May 2021) LDS Living reprinted an essay from the book, “Know Brother Joseph,” by Angela Hallstrom. In this essay, the LDS author explains that the very existence of the Book of Mormon is a “vital” and “foundational” aspect of her testimony of the validity of The Church of…
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Heavenly Mother: “A Cherished and Distinctive Belief Among Latter-day Saints”
To coincide with Mother’s Day, on 8 May (2021) The Salt Lake Tribune published an article by journalist Peggy Fletcher Stack titled, “Latter-day Saints are talking more about Heavenly Mother, and that’s where the debates and divisions begin.” Because The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints doesn’t have a systematic theology that includes detailed…
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Trivializing the Unbiblical Core of Mormonism
26 April 2021 In mid-April (2021) Mormonism LIVE! hosts RFM (Radio Free Mormon) and Bill Reel broadcast a program on which LDS apologist, Kwaku El, was their guest. In taking calls from the audience, Mr. El was asked how he knows that Joseph Smith was really acting under God’s direction when he engaged in polygamy,…
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Mormonism’s Confusion Over Christ’s Atonement for Sin
In the April 2021 issue of Liahona magazine, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints explains in its “Gospel Basics” column that “Jesus Christ Saved Us from Sin and Death.” “We refer to Jesus Christ as our Savior. That is because He paid the price for our sins and overcame the power of death.…
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Joseph Smith’s Gift
In a virtual devotional earlier this week (on 7 March 2021), LDS apostle Jeffrey Holland spoke to young adult members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. As he encouraged these young adults to get involved in the church’s Institute, a religious education program for college-aged Latter-day Saints, Mr. Holland recounted a story…
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Consider David Whitmer’s Testimony
The February issue of Liahona magazine (published by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) includes a supplement to the church’s religious study curriculum, “Come, Follow Me.” The magazine article looks briefly at two Book of Mormon witnesses, David Whitmer and Martin Harris–both of whom, along with Oliver Cowdery (a third Book of Mormon…
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Is Joseph Smith Your Prophet?
January 2021 saw the launch of a new global youth-based magazine published by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. For the Strength of Youth is aimed at young members of the church, ages 11-18. One aspect of the publication is to “provide additional content that complements the church-supported, home-centered teachings of ‘Come, Follow…
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A Notion of Truth for Questioning Mormons
In the Bible, Pilate famously asked Jesus, “What is truth?” (John 18:38). If he had asked that same question of LDS historian Richard Bushman, Pilate would have been told that truth is whatever works to bring any given individual to what they themselves consider “a good life.” In an interview published in The Salt Lake…
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For Mormons, Christmastime Is for Honoring Jesus – and Joseph Smith
17 December 2020 ‘Tis the season. Christmastime is here, the holiday celebrated all around the world by Christians and non-Christians alike. The December issue of Ensign, the official magazine of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, celebrates the Christmas season with a few holiday-related items. One is a reproduction of the oil painting,…