Category: Mormonism
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Christianity Index
Apostasy Christianity
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So What About the $100 Billion? It’s Probably Legal for the Church To Stockpile, but How Much Is Too Much?
$100 billion. That’s how much is in the reserve coffers of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, according to a report by two former employees who had worked with Ensign Peak Advisors, which is the investment division of the church’s cash and short-term investments. The report was released on December 17th, 2019. (For…
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The Four Fundamental Cornerstones of Mormonism
The president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Russell M. Nelson, is currently on a four-nation tour of Southeast Asia. Reporting on President Nelson’s visit to Cambodia, the church’s newsroom website recounted, “The 95-year-old prophet also noted the coming bicentennial of Joseph Smith’s vision of the Father and the Son, known by…
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Book Review: The Next Mormons: How Millennials are Changing the LDS Church
Authored by Jana Riess Check out the 15 episodes Viewpoint on Mormonism podcast series that aired September 30-October 18, 2019: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15 Jana Riess, 49, is a popular LDS…
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Citations Concerning the Word of Wisdom
The following citations are documented in Bill McKeever’s book In Their Own Words concerning the Word of Wisdom. Prophets/Presidents Joseph Smith: “No official member in this Church is worthy to hold an office after having the Word of Wisdom properly taught him; and he, the official member, neglecting to comply with and obey it” (Teachings of the…
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Crash Course Mormonism: Joseph Smith
Joseph Smith (1805-1844) is the founder and first president/prophet of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. While he is not worshiped by followers of the church, he is certainly the most highly esteemed leader this religion has ever had. First Vision According to the official account told by the church, Joseph Smith saw…
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Of Martyrs and Lambs
In June 1844 Joseph Smith, the founder and first Prophet of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was shot dead by a mob of vigilantes. He was incarcerated in Carthage Jail at the time, awaiting action on a charge of treason sworn against him.1 This is what happened: Carthage, June 27th, 1844. A shower…
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Revisiting a Fundamental Disagreement between Mormonism and Christianity
7 June 2019 About a year ago here at Mormonism in the News, I addressed an article about the doctrine of the Trinity by LDS scholar Daniel Peterson. Dr. Peterson has recently reposted his 2018 article. Because links to that recent repost keep popping up in my news feed, I thought it might be helpful…
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Crash Course Mormonism: God the Father
God the Father has several different names in Mormonism, including Heavenly Father or Elohim. A good picture of this version of God can be seen in founder Joseph Smith’s statement from what is known as the King Follett Discourse: I will go back to the beginning before the world was, to show what kind of…
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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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Are Rome and Salt Lake City on the Same Page?
They say a photo is worth a thousand words, and certainly this photo from the Vatican is worth double that amount. With Pope Francis of the Roman Catholic Church looking on, the LDS First Presidency presented a Christus statue at the Vatican in Rome, Italy on Saturday, March 9, 2019. The occasion for the LDS…
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Mormonism and Catholicism: “Friendly in Every Respect”
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is currently hosting its public open house for those who would like to see the new Mormon temple in Rome, Italy (January 28-February 16, 2019). Leading up to the public open house event, the church provided special tours for specific groups of people like clergy and journalists.…
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Quotations from the Teachings of Thomas S. Monson
The following quotes come from the book Teachings of Thomas S. Monson, quotes from sixteenth president Thomas S. Monson, originally published in 2011 by Deseret Book. This was an employee gift by the First Presidency in 2014. To visit the site with all of the books and quotes from these, go here. Eternal life “It is…
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The Season for Safeguarding Joseph Smith’s Honor
19 December 2018 In approaching Christmas, Christians focus on Jesus Christ as we commemorate His birth. We celebrate God’s merciful Gift: “Today a Savior, who is Messiah the Lord, was born for you in the city of David” (Luke 2:11). As summarized at GotQuestions.org, “We celebrate Christmas because… Jesus is the Savior who delivers us from sin…