Excerpt from ‘Book of Mormon Translation’, LDS Gospel Topic Essay: 1 “Nevertheless, the scribes and others who observed the translation left numerous accounts that give insight into the process. Some accounts indicate that Joseph studied the characters on the plates. Most of the accounts speak of Joseph’s use of the Urim and Thummim (either the … Read more
But if one or either of the ten virgins, after she is espoused, shall be with another man, she has committed adultery, and shall be destroyed; for they are given unto him to multiply and replenish the earth, according to my commandment, and to fulfil the promise which was given by my Father before the … Read more
Excerpt from the LDS Gospel Topic Essay, ‘Race and the Priesthood’: 1 “Today, the Church disavows the theories advanced in the past that black skin is a sign of divine disfavor or curse, or that it reflects unrighteous actions in a premortal life; that mixed-race marriages are a sin; or that blacks or people of any other … Read more
Excerpt from the LDS Gospel Topic Essay, ‘Race and the Priesthood’: 1 “Today, the Church disavows the theories advanced in the past that black skin is a sign of divine disfavor or curse, or that it reflects unrighteous actions in a premortal life; that mixed-race marriages are a sin; or that blacks or people of any other … Read more
Excerpts from the LDS Gospel Topic Essay, ‘Race and the Priesthood’:1 “Church leaders believed that a revelation from God was needed to alter the policy, and they made ongoing efforts to understand what should be done.” Excerpt from ‘Statement of the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’, August 17, 1949: … Read more
Excerpt from an address by Russell M. Nelson, September 17 2019: 1 It is precisely because we do care deeply about all of God’s children that we proclaim His truth. We may not always tell people what they want to hear. Prophets are rarely popular. But we will always teach the truth! Excerpt from ‘Address … Read more
Excerpt from the LDS Gospel Topic Essay, ‘Plural Marriage in Kirtland and Nauvoo’: 1 Following his marriage to Louisa Beaman and before he married other single women, Joseph Smith was sealed to a number of women who were already married. 29 Neither these women nor Joseph explained much about these sealings, though several women said … Read more
Excerpt from Joseph Fielding Smith’s, Doctrines of Salvation, 3:225: 1 SEER STONE NOT USED IN BOOK OF MORMON TRANSLATION. We have been taught since the days of the Prophet that the Urim and Thummim were returned with the plates to the angel. We have no record of the Prophet having the Urim and Thummim after … Read more
Excerpt from the LDS Gospel Topic Essay, ‘Plural Marriage in Kirtland and Nauvoo’: 1 “After receiving a revelation commanding him to practice plural marriage, Joseph Smith married multiple wives and introduced the practice to close associates.” “Polygamy had been permitted for millennia in many cultures and religions, but, with few exceptions, was rejected in Western … Read more
Excerpt from the LDS Gospel Topic Essay, ‘Book of Mormon and DNA Studies’: 1 “One reason it is difficult to use DNA evidence to draw definite conclusions about Book of Mormon peoples is that nothing is known about the DNA that Lehi, Sariah, Ishmael, and others brought to the Americas. “ 1 Nephi 5:14, the … Read more
Excerpt from the LDS Gospel Topic Essays, ‘Book of Mormon and DNA Studies’: 1 “The evidence assembled to date suggests that the majority of Native Americans carry largely Asian DNA. Scientists theorize that in an era that predated Book of Mormon accounts, a relatively small group of people migrated from northeast Asia to the Americas … Read more
Excerpt from the LDS Gospel Topic Essay, Book of Mormon and DNA Studies: 1 The Book of Mormon provides little direct information about cultural contact between the peoples it describes and others who may have lived nearby. Consequently, most early Latter-day Saints assumed that Near Easterners or West Asians like Jared, Lehi, Mulek, and their … Read more
Excerpt from ‘Children of Promise’, By Apostle Mark E. Petersen, Pg. 46: 1 “If there had been large numbers of other peoples here when the Jaredites came, or when Lehi arrived, certainly the Book of Mormon would have said so. The land was reserved for the Lord’s purposes and for His peoples, and the Book … Read more
Excerpt from the LDS Gospel Topic Essay, ‘Race and the Priesthood’: 1 “Today, the Church disavows the theories advanced in the past that black skin is a sign of divine disfavor or curse, or that it reflects unrighteous actions in a premortal life; that mixed-race marriages are a sin; or that blacks or people of … Read more
Notice issued by Joseph and Hyrum Smith in the Times and Season paper, February 1, 1844 (at the time Joseph had more than 30 plural wives): 1 “NOTICE As we have lately been credibly informed, that an Elder of the Church of Jesus Christ, of Latter-day Saints, by the name of Hiram Brown, has been … Read more
Footnote 31, ‘Translation and Historicity of the Book of Abraham’, LDS Gospel Topic Essay: 1 “31. John Whitmer, History, 1831–ca. 1837, 76, in Karen Lynn Davidson, Richard L. Jensen, and David J. Whittaker, eds., Histories, Volume 2: Assigned Historical Writings, 1831–1847, vol. 2 of the Histories series of The Joseph Smith Papers, edited by Dean … Read more
Excerpt from the LDS Gospel Topic Essay, Plural Marriage in Kirtland and Nauvoo: 1 ‘Most of those sealed to Joseph Smith were between 20 and 40 years of age at the time of their sealing to him. The oldest, Fanny Young, was 56 years old. The youngest was Helen Mar Kimball, daughter of Joseph’s close … Read more
Excerpt from the ‘Book of Mormon and DNA Studies’, LDS Gospel Topic Essay: 1 The evidence assembled to date suggests that the majority of Native Americans carry largely Asian DNA. Scientists theorize that in an era that predated Book of Mormon accounts, a relatively small group of people migrated from northeast Asia to the Americas … Read more
Excerpt from ‘Address of the Prophet—His Testimony Against the Dissenters at Nauvoo’ (Sunday, May 26, 1844), shortly before his death:1 Be meek and lowly, upright and pure; render good for evil. If you bring on yourselves your own destruction, I will complain. It is not right for a man to bare down his neck to … Read more
Excerpt from the ‘Plural Marriage in Kirtland and Nauvoo’, LDS Gospel Topic Essay:1 “When God commands a difficult task, He sometimes sends additional messengers to encourage His people to obey. Consistent with this pattern, Joseph told associates that an angel appeared to him three times between 1834 and 1842 and commanded him to proceed with … Read more
Joseph Smith Jr. From the LDS Gospel Topic Essay, Plural Marriage in Kirtland and Nauvoo found on LDS.org. ‘The youngest [of Joseph’s brides] was Helen Mar Kimball, daughter of Joseph’s close friends Heber C. and Vilate Murray Kimball, who was sealed to Joseph several months before her 15th birthday.’ Teen Brides of Joseph Smith Jr. … Read more
Image: Screen capture from a production note of The Days of Harmony LDS church videoScreen Caps of the editing of The Days of Harmony In a 2015 LDS church production, titled The Days of Harmony, the editors were instructed to ‘paint out the hat’ from the scenes depicting the translation. The video, currently showing in … Read more
Image: Richard Lyman Bushman (born June 20, 1931) is an American historian and Gouverneur Morris Professor of History emeritus at Columbia University. He was the Howard W. Hunter Visiting Professor in Mormon Studies at Claremont Graduate University from 2008 to 2011. He also serves as one of three general editors of the Joseph Smith Papers. … Read more
Image: Artists portrayal of Joseph Smith Jr. addressing the Relief Society The LDS Relief Society is lauded as one of the oldest and largest women’s organizations in the world. Yet it is an organization that is presided over, budgeted and organized by men.1 Crash Course: The Relief Society – WikiPedia Nauvoo Women: An Overlooked History of the … Read more
Image: 2017 April General Conference, view from inside the LDS Conference Center A 2015 Time article (citing a ARIS Study) shows for every 100 male members there are 150 female members (in the state of Utah) of the LDS church:1 One of my web searches turned up a study from Trinity College’s American Religious Identification … Read more
From Elder Ezra Taft Benson Of the Council of the Twelve Apostles, 1967:1 False solicitude for the unfortunate “Such timely counsel could help save our country from Communism, as the same masters of deceit are showing the same false solicitude for the unfortunate in the name of civil rights. Now there is nothing wrong with … Read more
Image: Asianic migration routes of the Native Americans. The introduction to the Book of Mormon:1 The book was written by many ancient prophets by the spirit of prophecy and revelation. Their words, written on gold plates, were quoted and abridged by a prophet-historian named Mormon. The record gives an account of two great civilizations. One … Read more