Editorial Reviews. Review. 'Davies goes beyond the standard Mormon texts, mining folk Joseph Smith, Jesus, and Satanic Opposition 1st Edition, Kindle Edition. by Douglas J. Davies (Author).
Table of contents
List of sects in the Latter Day Saint movement. Current denominations or sub-groups in the Latter Day Saint movement. See fundamentalist denominations in addition to the pair above. Frank Naylor and Ivan Neilsen — approx. Marion Hammon and Alma Timpson — approx. Winston Blackmore — approx. Elden Kingston — approx. See Restoration branches movement groupings in addition to one above. Glauner Church of Christ Organized by: Howard Leighton-Floyd and H. Nerren and Long instead formed a separate sect in , which was later joined by five other former Temple Lot congregations by A Journal of Mormon Thought.
The Papers of Joseph Smith: Michael Marquardt and Wesley P. Cook , "Are You a Saint? LDS Church , Inc. A Marvelous Work and a Wonder. Instead of analyzing the Bible, Smith claimed to write and interpret scripture as the biblical prophets did. Bushman , p. Bushman, Richard Lyman , Mormonism: Jorgensen , "Dissent and Schism in the Early Church: Explaining Mormon Fissiparousness" , Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought , vol. Shipps, Jan , Mormonism: Shipps, Jan , Sojourner in the promised land: Shields, Divergent Paths of the Restoration: This audio file was created from a revision of the article " Latter Day Saint movement " dated , and does not reflect subsequent edits to the article.
Latter Day Saint movement. Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Herbert W. In popular culture New religious movements Academic study. Retrieved from " https: Articles needing additional references from March All articles needing additional references All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from March Articles with unsourced statements from May All articles with specifically marked weasel-worded phrases Articles with specifically marked weasel-worded phrases from May Spoken articles Articles with hAudio microformats Commons category with local link different than on Wikidata.
Views Read Edit View history. In other projects Wikimedia Commons. This page was last edited on 12 September , at By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Part of a series on. Eastern Orthodox Oriental Orthodox Assyrian. John Taylor presided — Brigham Young presided — Joseph Smith III presided — William Bickerton presided — Sidney Rigdon presided — [b]. Roberts to reconcile the fossil record with the scriptures by introducing a doctrine of pre-Adamic creation, and backing up this speculative doctrine using geology, biology, anthropology, and archeology The Truth, The Way, The Life, pp.
More conservative members of the Twelve Apostles, including Joseph Fielding Smith, rejected his speculation because it contradicted the idea that there was no death until after the fall of Adam. Scriptural references in the Book of Mormon such as 2 Nephi 2: Some maintain that those scriptural references pertain to a spiritual death, although others disagree.
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It is clear, however, that the LDS church does not conform to the same young-Earth creationist creed as many other faiths. The church has made it quite clear that the six days of creation are not necessarily six hour periods. Brigham Young definitely addressed the issue Discourses of Brigham Young, sel. Widtsoe [], , and even the very anti-evolution Bruce R. And each day, of whatever length, has the duration needed for its purposes. Talmage published a book through the LDS Church that explicitly stated that organisms lived and died on this earth before the earth was fit for human habitation.
Grant as President, to conclude:. The debate over pre-Adamites has been interpreted by LDS proponents of evolution as a debate about organic evolution. This view, based on the belief that a dichotomy of thought on the subject of evolution existed between B. Roberts and Joseph Fielding Smith, has become common among pro-evolution members of the church. As a result, the ensuing statement has been interpreted by some as official permission for members to believe in organic evolution.
Roberts concerning evolution; they both rejected it, although to different degrees. Roberts wrote that the "hypothesis" of organic evolution was "destructive of the grand, central truth of all revelation," The Gospel and Man's Relationship to Deity, 7th edition, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, , pp. Later, Joseph Fielding Smith published his book Man: His Origin and Destiny , which denounced evolution without qualification.
Similar statements of denunciation were made by Bruce R. McConkie , who as late as denounced evolution as one of "the seven deadly heresies" BYU Fireside , June 1, , and stated: This is both false and devilish. A dichotomy of opinion exists among some church members today. Largely influenced by Smith, McConkie, and Benson, evolution is rejected by a large number of conservative church members.
Roberts and Joseph Fielding Smith, in part by a large amount of scientific evidence, and in part by Joseph F. Smith's words that "the church itself has no philosophy about the modus operandi employed by the Lord in His creation of the world. The church opposes same-sex marriage, but does not object to rights regarding hospitalization and medical care, fair housing and employment rights, or probate rights, so long as these do not infringe on the integrity of the family or the constitutional rights of churches and their adherents to administer and practice their religion free from government interference.
Some Church members have formed a number of unofficial support organizations, including Evergreen International , Affirmation: In , a set of papyrus manuscripts were discovered in the Metropolitan Museum of Art that appear to be the manuscripts from which Joseph Smith claimed to have translated the Book of Abraham in These manuscripts were presumed lost in the Chicago fire of Analyzed by Egyptologists, the manuscripts were identified by some as The Book of the Dead , an ancient Egyptian funery text.
Moreover, the scholars' translations of certain portions of the scrolls disagreed with Smith's translation. This discovery forced many Mormon apologists to moderate the earlier prevailing view that Smith's translations were literal one-to-one translations. As a result of this discovery, some Mormon apologists consider The Book of the Dead to be a starting-point that Smith used to reconstruct the original writings of Abraham through inspiration.
In the early s, the apparent discovery of an early Mormon manuscript, which came to be known as the "Salamander Letter", received much publicity. This letter, reportedly discovered by a scholar named Mark Hofmann, alleged that the Book of Mormon was given to Joseph Smith by a being that changed itself into a salamander , not by an angel as the official Church history recounted. The document was purchased by private collector Steven Christensen, but was still significantly publicized and even printed in the Church's official magazine, the Ensign. Some Mormon apologists including Apostle Dallin H.
Oaks suggested that the letter used the idea of a salamander as a metaphor for an angel. The document, however, was revealed as a forgery in , and Hofmann was arrested for two murders related to his forgeries. Not all of Hofmann's findings have been deemed fraudulent. A document called the 'Anthon transcript' that allegedly contains reformed Egyptian characters from the Book of Mormon plates is still in dispute, although the characters have been highly circulated both by the Church and other individuals.
Due to Hofmann's methods, the authenticity of many of the documents he sold to the Church and the Smithsonian will likely never be sorted out. In , George P. Lee , a Navajo member of the First Quorum of the Seventy who had participated in the Indian Placement Program in his youth, was excommunicated. The church action occurred not long after he had submitted to the Church a page letter critical of the program and the effect it had on Native American culture.
In October , Lee confessed to, and was convicted of, sexually molesting a year-old girl in It is not known if church leaders had knowledge of this crime during the excommunication process. In the late s, the administration of Ezra Taft Benson formed what it called the Strengthening Church Members Committee , to keep files on potential church dissidents and collect their published material for possible later use in church disciplinary proceedings.
The existence of this committee was first publicized by an anti-Mormon ministry in , when it was referred to in a memo dated July 19, leaked from the office of the church's Presiding Bishopric. At the Sunstone Symposium , dissident Mormon scholar Lavina Fielding Anderson accused the Committee of being "an internal espionage system," which prompted Brigham Young University professor and moderate Mormon scholar Eugene England to "accuse that committee of undermining the Church," a charge for which he later publicly apologized. Official concern about the work of dissident scholars within the church led to the excommunication or disfellowshipping of six such scholars, dubbed the September Six , in September The church has always been against the creation, distribution and viewing of pornography.
Hinckley had been known to say that pornography is as addictive as the worst drugs. By the s and s, as a consequence of its massive, international growth in the post- World War II era, the church was no longer primarily a Utah-based church, but a worldwide organization. The church, mirroring the world around it, felt the disunifying strains of alien cultures and diverse points of view that had brought an end to the idealistic modern age. At the same time, the postmodern world was increasingly skeptical of traditional religion and authority, and driven by mass-media and public image.
These influences awoke within the church a new self-consciousness. The church could no longer rest quietly upon its fundamentals and history. It felt a need to sell its image to an increasingly jaded public, to jettison some of its Utah-based parochialism, to control and manage Mormon scholarship that might present an unfavorable image of the church, and to alter its organization to cope with its size and cultural diversity, while preserving centralized control of Latter-day Saint doctrine, practice, and culture.
Thus, the church underwent a number of important changes in organization, practices, and meeting schedule. In addition, the church became more media-savvy, and more self-conscious and protective of its public image.
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The church also became more involved in public discourse, using its new-found political and cultural influence and the media to affect its image, public morality, and Mormon scholarship, and to promote its missionary efforts. At the same time, the church struggled with how to deal with increasingly pluralistic voices within the church and within Mormonism. In general, this period has seen both an increase in cultural and racial diversity and extra-faith ecumenism , and a decrease in intra-faith pluralism.
Until the church's rapid growth after World War II, it had been seen in the eyes of the general public as a backward, non- or vaguely Christian polygamist cult in Utah — an image that interfered with proselyting efforts. As the church's size began to merit new visibility in the world, the church seized upon the opportunity to re-define its public image, and to establish itself in the public mind as a mainstream Christian faith. At the same time, the church became publicly involved in numerous ecumenical and welfare projects that continue to serve as the foundation of its ecumenism today.
In the s the Church formed the Church Information Service with the goal of being ready to respond to media inquiries and generate positive media coverage. The organization kept a photo file to provide photos to the media for such events as Temple dedications. It also would work to get stories covering Family Home Evening , the Church welfare plan and the Church's youth activities in various publications. As part of the church's efforts to re-position its image as that of a mainstream religion, the church began to moderate its earlier anti- Catholic rhetoric.
In Elder Bruce R. McConkie 's edition of Mormon Doctrine , he had stated his unofficial opinion that the Catholic Church was part of "the church of the devil" and "the great and abominable church" because it was among organizations that misled people away from following God's laws. In his edition of the same book, the specific reference to the Catholic Church was removed.
The first routinized system for teaching church principles to potential proselytes had been created in and named "A Systematic Program for Teaching the Gospel". In , this system was enhanced, expanded, and renamed "A Uniform System for Teaching Investigators". This new system, in the form of a hypothetical dialogue with a fictional character named "Mr. Brown", included intricate details for what to say in almost every situation. These routinized missionary discussions would be further refined in and , and then de-emphasized in In , the church recast its missionary discussions, making them more family-friendly and focused on building on common Christian ideals.
The new discussions, named "A Uniform System for Teaching Families", de-emphasized the Great Apostasy , which previously held a prominent position just after the story of the First Vision. When the discussions were revised in the early s, the new discussions dealt with the apostasy less conspicuously, and in later discussions, rather than in the first discussion.
The discussions also became more family-friendly, including a flip chart with pictures, in part to encourage the participation of children.
Prophet of God
According to Riess and Tickle, early Mormons rarely quoted from the Book of Mormon in their speeches and writings. It was not until the s that it was cited regularly in speeches given by LDS Church leaders at the semiannual General Conferences. Packer stated that the scripture now took its place "beside the Old Testament and the New Testament.
They assert that the LDS "rediscovery of the Book of Mormon in the late twentieth century is strongly connected to their renewed emphasis on the person and nature of Jesus Christ. According to Bruce L. Olsen, director of public affairs for the church, "The logo re-emphasizes the official name of the church and the central position of the Savior in its theology. It stresses our allegiance to the Lord, Jesus Christ. The Testimony of the Apostles ". This document commemorated the birth of Jesus and set forth the church's official view regarding Christ.
In , the church sent out a press release encouraging reporters to use the full name of the church at the beginning of news articles, with following references to the "Church of Jesus Christ". The release discouraged the use of the term "Mormon Church". The church and the Information Age: This would include topics like how the church seeks to battle pornography, its use of the internet, its battle to control its public image, broadcasting the Nauvoo temple dedication, appearances on Larry King Live, and so on. In , the Church endorsed an amendment to the United States Constitution banning marriage except between a man and a woman.
The Church also announced its opposition to political measures that "confer legal status on any other sexual relationship" than a "man and a woman lawfully wedded as husband and wife. The policy banned a "child of a parent living in a same-gender relationship" from baby blessings , baptism , confirmation , priesthood ordination , and missionary service until the child was not living with their homosexual parent s , was "of legal age", and "disavow[ed] the practice of same-gender cohabitation and marriage", in addition to receiving approval from the Office of the First Presidency.
The policy update also added that entering a same-sex marriage as a type of "apostasy", mandating a disciplinary council. Todd Christofferson clarified that the policy was "about love" and "protect[ing] children" from "difficulties, challenges, conflicts" where "parents feel one way and the expectations of the Church are very different". Nelson stated that the policy change was "revealed to President Monson" in a "sacred moment" when "the Lord inspired [him] Not only are those so involved in direct violation of the civil law, they are in violation of the law of this Church.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Further information on Mormon history as an academic field: History of the Latter Day Saint movement. Mormon pioneers and History of Utah. Council of Fifty and Theodemocracy. Nevertheless, one of Smith's histories and an reminiscence by David Whitmer say the church was organized at the Whitmer house in Fayette.
Whitmer, however, had already told a reporter in that the church was organized in Manchester. Michael , The Mormon Hierarchy: Origins of , Salt Lake City: The paper also contained editorials and letters to the editor that were highly critical of Joseph Smith's political actions and his candidacy for President of the United States. It was Hyrum, but Hyrum fell a martyr before Joseph did. Accounts of Divine Manifestations, , Provo, Utah: BYU Press , pp. Johnson, My Life's Review [Independence, ], p.
Cannon , Juvenile Instructor , 22 [29 October ]: The Rhetoric and the Reality. United States, U. A Journal of Mormon Thought , 18 1: See Quinn at Mormons and Prohibition, —" , Journal of Mormon History , American Moses , p. McKay and the Rise of Modern Mormonism , pp. Jay , "The Windows of Heaven Revisited: Retrieved 13 November Laying on of hands for the gift of the HG, sacrament attendance and every conference talk we hear pleads for us to be worthy of unity with the HG. I can think of few religions which so fully structure their worship and every day lives around the HG….
This only becomes more fraught when we teach that deity is embodied. What does that mean if a member of a godhead is, in LDS terms, less than perfect because it does not have a body?
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Will it ever receive one? We have very few zero? It is striking that the HG should be so important in our lived spiritual experience but we are very fuzzy on the details. Do we really teach less about who the HG is compared to other religions? It would seem since we accept the NT, everything they have, we have and we have a few more puzzle pieces added in via modern revelation to boot. Thank you so much for your review and perspective on this. While I am awaiting my review copy for Sacred Tribes Journal, I find three aspects of your review of Davies significant.
Aaron, thanks for the review. The term binitarian to describe early Mormon views of the Godhead is quite common in the literature on the development of Mormon theology some argue Mormonism developed from modalism to binitarianism to henotheism, etc. As with other terms, it is a term borrowed from the literature on the development of Christian theology from its roots in Judaism.
In some cases it refers to a denial of the Holy Ghost as divine, in other cases it refers a lack of distinction between the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Anti-Mormonism
Hurtado seems to use the term in a unique way within the context of Christian liturgy to refer to the worship of the Father and the Son. As a result, the term may not mean the same thing in the Mormon context. In An Introduction to Mormonism , Davies writes: Certainly they differ from the Book of Abraham with its plural notion of deity and it would be theologically impossible to construct the plan of salvation from the Lectures on Faith.
Ergo, he must be an intellectual powerhouse. Could we use triad or triplet or triumvirate or some other word instead of trinity? It makes it seem like Mormons actually believe that Satan is part of the trinity when in truth we believe in the Trinity, just not in the terms invented by creedal Christian philosophy, i. Comments Ben Park says: December 4, at 5: December 4, at 6: December 4, at 7: