Category: Changing World of Mormonism
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The Changing World of Mormonism (online book)
Hyperlinked Table of Contents for The Changing World of Mormonism
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The Changing World of Mormonism: Chapter 13
Changes in Joseph Smith’s History In 1838 Joseph Smith started writing the account of his life which is now published by the church. Smith began publishing this history in the Times and Seasons in 1842. It was published in installments, and therefore only part of the history appeared in print before Joseph Smith’s death. The church continued…
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The Changing World of Mormonism: Chapter 11
Fall of the Book of Abraham The Book of Abraham was supposed to have been written on papyrus by Abraham about 4,000 years ago. According to Mormon writers, this same papyrus fell into Joseph Smith’s hands in 1835. He translated the papyrus and published it under the title “The Book of Abraham.” The Book of…
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The Changing World of Mormonism: Chapter 12
Mormon Scriptures and the Bible The Mormon church accepts the Bible as one of its four standard works. The Book of Mormon quotes large portions of the King James Version of the Bible, and Joseph Smith’s other revelations are filled with material from the Bible. Since the King James Version was printed about 200 years before Joseph…
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The Changing World of Mormonism: Chapter 10
Changing the Anti-Black Doctrine On June 9, 1978, Mormon church leaders announced a very important change in their doctrine concerning blacks. They stated that blacks would now be given “all of the privileges and blessings which the gospel affords” (Deseret News, June 9, 1978). Prior to that time blacks of African lineage were not allowed…
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The Changing World of Mormonism: Chapter 7
The Godhead In the book of Isaiah 44:8 we read: “. . . Is there a God beside me? yea, there is no God; I know not any.” Joseph Smith’s first published work, the Book of Mormon, seems to be in harmony with the teachings of the Bible on this point, for it states that there is only…
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The Changing World of Mormonism: Chapter 8
The Adam-God Doctrine The Adam-God doctrine was a natural outgrowth of the doctrine of a plurality of Gods. Although this doctrine was not publicly taught until 1852, Adam was held in high esteem at the very beginning of the Mormon church. Apostle John A. Widtsoe said that “In Joseph Smith’s philosophy of existence Adam and…
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The Changing World of Mormonism: Chapter 5
The Book of Mormon As we have already shown, Joseph Smith claimed that on the night of September 21, 1823, when he was seventeen years old, an angel appeared to him and stated that gold plates were buried in the Hill Cumorah. The angel explained that the plates contained “an account of the former inhabitants…
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The Changing World of Mormonism: Chapter 6
The First Vision Mormon Apostle LeGrand Richards proclaims: “On the morning of a beautiful spring day in 1820 there occurred one of the most important and momentous events in this world’s history. God, the Eternal Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, appeared to Joseph Smith and gave instructions concerning the establishment of the kingdom of…
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The Changing World of Mormonism: Chapter 4
Joseph Smith and Money-Digging In the Salt Lake City Messenger for August, 1971, we announced one of the most important discoveries since Joseph Smith founded the Mormon church in 1830. This is the discovery by Wesley P. Walters of an original document which is more than 140 years old. This document, found in Norwich, New York, proves…