Tag: Mormon Church
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Liberty University and the Glenn Beck Saga (Part 2)
Liberty University’s controversial decision to invite Glenn Beck, a Mormon, as a convocation speaker raised concerns regarding the institution’s reputation and potential confusion among students about religious beliefs, prompting calls for a reassessment of speaker policies.
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Liberty University and the Glenn Beck Saga (Part 1)
Eric, a parent of a Liberty University graduate, discusses Glenn Beck’s controversial appearance at a recent convocation, arguing it may confuse students and compromise the university’s message on faith and openness amidst public criticism.
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“What Many People Called Sin Is Not Sin” Part II
During a Church Court in 1850, Joseph E. Johnson claimed that he was aware of what he called “the first frigging” of Joseph Smith and Johnson’s mother-in-law, Mary Heron Snider. For details about this incident, see Part I. The reason that the Church Hierarchy in 1850 may not have been overly surprised by this account…
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“What Many People Called Sin Was Not Sin” Part I
A Church Court is convened. A man is accused of committing adultery and fathering a child with another man’s wife. One of the presiding elders speaks to those assembled about the offender and says that, “This matter was bro[ugh]t before Council … [and] his Priesthood was required to be laid down until he came here—……
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The Good News of Repentance?
In the December 2013 Ensign, Brian D. Garner of the Church Correlation Department wrote a five-page article titled “The Good News of Repentance” (pp. 40-44). As I was reading this piece—subtitled “There is great joy in heaven whenever we repent in sincerity of heart”—I was struck by what I believe is really the bad news…
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Joseph Smith and Romans 4:5
Joseph Smith revised the Bible. Some say he “corrected” it. The resulting volume is known as the Joseph Smith Translation (JST) or the Inspired Version. My Mormon edition of the King James Version of the Bible (1989) includes seventeen pages of JST “excerpts too lengthy for inclusion in footnotes” at the back of the book.…
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Who Is Your Proxy?
Mormons believe in doing baptisms for the dead for a number of reasons. Primary to these is the belief that people must be baptized in order to be saved. According to Mormonism, baptism was not an option to many of history’s populations; they were utterly unable to fulfill this requirement. In life they did not…
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New LDS.org Gospel Topic Articles Were Submitted to the “Presiding Quorums of the Church and the First Presidency for Approval”
I am already hearing of BYU professors mocking the new LDS.org gospel topic articles as non-official. Elder Steven E. Snow, LDS Church Historian and Executive Director of the Church History Department, explains that each of the articles was submitted to the “presiding Quorums of the Church and the First Presidency for approval”: “How does the…
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Should the cross just be an afterthought?
How one viewed the historical events remembered over the past week makes all the difference in the world. Yesterday some families woke up and had the kids hunt for Easter eggs before putting the ham in the oven and driving to a local church for the semiannual visit. At the end of the day, everything…
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Mormons and Muslims Similar in Many Ways
Back in 2005 Robert Velarde and Eric Johnson co-wrote an article for the CRI Journal comparing Mormons and Muslims. The authors looked at four areas of differences (i.e., views of Creation, God, Jesus, and humankind’s final state) and four areas of similarities (i.e., origins, scripture, restoration, and the human condition). In 2008 the Los Angeles…
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“What Do Mormons Believe About the Bible?”
The Mormon Church appears to be updating its FAQ section at Mormon.org. I’ve received several Google Alerts highlighting specific Frequently Asked Questions and their official answers. One recent Alert pointed me to the FAQ section on the Bible, to the question, “Do Mormons regard the Bible as Holy Scripture and the word of God?” Another…
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Could the Mormon Church End Up Like the Worldwide Church of God?
Could the Mormon Church end up like the Worldwide Church of God? By Bill McKeever The following was originally printed in the May-June 2011 edition of Mormonism Researched. To request a free subscription, please visit here.
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Critics of Mormonism Are All the Same
The feminist Mormon group Ordain Women explains on its website: “Ordain Women aspires to create a space for Mormons to articulate issues of gender inequality they may be hesitant to raise alone. As a group we intend to put ourselves in the public eye and call attention to the need for the ordination of Mormon…
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We Thank Thee, O God, for…
Once-official LDS history and doctrine is undergoing some hefty rewrites via the new Gospel Topics essays at LDS.org. As previously little-known information about Mormon history and doctrine has become available online, many Latter-day Saints are experiencing crises of faith when they learn of major discrepancies between what they have always been taught in the Church…
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“The Fulness of His Kingdom” – Mormons Becoming Like God
On February 25th (2014) the Mormon Church posted a new article in its Gospel Topics section: “Becoming Like God.” Deseret News says this essay accomplishes “explaining the faith’s doctrine” on the topic, and the Salt Lake Tribune likewise says it “explains Mormon teaching” on humans becoming like God. The essay is 3,500 words long, includes…
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Passing the Torch of Mormonism’s Historical Racisim
[In honor of Black History Month 2014, each Monday in February Mormon Coffee’s blog post has addressed a topic related to racism in Mormon history. Today is the final post in the series.] Institutionalized racism in the Mormon Church spanned nearly 150 years. It began with the religion’s founding prophet Joseph Smith, Jr. Smith’s prophet-successor…
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Mormonism’s Scarlet Letter of Apostasy
Last month (30 January 2014) Newsweek published an article about Mormons leaving the LDS Church. Though Journalist Hannah Miet writes about some of the difficulties people have had in leaving Mormonism, she really misses the depth of emotional struggles attendant with becoming ex-Mormon. Unfortunately, Ms. Miet devotes 25% of her article to something she treats…
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Mormon Prophet Summoned to British Court
Yesterday (5 February 2014) The Arizona Republic reported: “The leader of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has been ordered to appear before a magistrate in England on fraud charges filed by a disaffected ex-Mormon who disputes fundamental teachings of the religion, according to documentation obtained by The Arizona Republic.” Thomas Monson has…
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Glenn Beck Perpetuates Mormon Myths
In a 2012 Blaze TV segment, Glenn Beck aimed to dispel Mormon myths but instead reinforced inaccuracies about polygamy, persecution, and historical events. His narrative omitted crucial facts about the LDS Church’s past and practices.
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