Mormon Church

Latter-day Saints (nicknamed Mormons, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints), like other Christians, accept both the Old and New Testaments as Holy Scripture. Additionally, they accept the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price as part of their standard works (canonized scripture).  The Doctrine and Covenants, first published in 1835, contains one hundred thirty-eight sections or individual documents generally arranged in chronological order beginning in 1823 through 1918 and two “Official Declarations” announcing new policies in 1890 and 1978. These documents are a selection from the revelations and other inspired writings given through Joseph Smith (1805-44) and his successors as president of the Church.

Mormon Beliefs: Mormon Books of Scripture

Like chapters in The Bible, sections in the Doctrine and Covenants are divided into verses. Much of the Doctrine and Covenants, like the Pauline letters in the New Testament, deals with time- and culture-specific directions. However, members of the Church believe that the Doctrine and Covenants contains general principles that can inspire those living today to strengthen their faith in God and encourage them to fulfill the Lord’s will in their lives.

The Doctrine and Covenants also contains doctrinal teachings that provide modern-day disciples insights to the purpose of life and God himself, such as “The glory of God is intelligence, or, in other words, light and truth” (Doctrine and Covenants 93:36) and “There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated—and when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated” (Doctrine and Covenants 130:20-21).

A soft-launch of the newly revised LDS.org is available for preview at NewLDS.org. Not all features are working, but you can easily see what will soon be available for you to use. It is a far more personalized and interactive site than the previous version.

To use the personalized features, you will need to register. You’ll only be asked for a username and password, and if you are LDS (Mormon) for your membership record number. The membership number allows you to access the few parts open only to members—membership lists for your own ward or stake (similar to congregations and dioceses) and to information specifically for people in certain callings or programs. Although you must register, you will not be contacted by missionaries or other church members. In the years I’ve been registered, I’ve never even received an email from them. It simply allows them to provide you with private access to any personalized materials you create and to ensure no one accesses portions of the site they are not entitled to access.

LDS.org is designed for members of the Mormon Church, although most sections are open to people who are not Mormon. A companion site, Mormon.org, is designed for people who are not Mormon, but who’d like to learn more about the Mormons from an official source.

At the top right is a brief list of choices. One says Menu. Clicking on that shows you the larger categories of information available. Click on Jesus Christ is the way, found under the first choice—Heavenly Father’s Plan. Here you’ll see some basic information about Jesus Christ. If you’re not Mormon, there is a link to Mormon.org, where you can learn more about this subject in an article written with the understanding you won’t have the background information Mormons have. Of course, you can stay on this page as well. In addition, you can click on links that take you to personal testimonies of real Mormons. There is also a video about the atonement of Jesus Christ you can view. This is an easy way to study a basic gospel principle, and since it was mostly written for church members, you’ll see what the Church wants its own members to know about the topic.

Have you heard something about the Mormons in the news? Clicking on the menu at the top of whatever page you’re on will give you an option called “The Church.” Click on Church News and Events and you’ll find what looks like a newspaper page with current stories about the Mormons. On the right  hand side is a link to Newsroom, which currently takes you to the old Mormon site. Here you can find not only news, but also a section of commentary and even a blog on current issues relating to Mormons, including some that are controversial.

If you go backwards to return to the new site, you can go back to the top menu and click on Tools. You’ll see a link to a study notebook. You’ll have to sign in for this one, because it will keep what you enter private. This section is not yet active. Once active, you’ll be able to keep notes on what you are studying. If you’re using the website to read the scriptures or to find talks by Mormon leaders or to read church magazines, you’ll be able to bring all of that together into one research notebook. You’ll set up folders to do this. Suppose, for instance, you are trying to learn what Jesus taught about serving the poor. You begin by accessing the free scriptures online and want to record what the Bible has to say on the subject. You’ll be able to put that into your journal by clicking something within the scripture and by assigning keywords for future research. Next, you wonder what Mormon prophets said about it. The gospel library will help you find those words and you can also choose to save some of those talks or articles to your notebook. What about videos? Add a link to those as well. Pretty soon you have a very complete study notebook on one topic, allowing you to study in-depth and to save your research for the future. If you’re preparing a lesson or a talk, you’ll have everything in one place when it’s time to put it all together.

LDS.org is a very comprehensive place to learn what Mormons teach their own people. It contains every lesson manual currently used in our classes—the same ones you’d find yourself using if you visited a Mormon Sunday School class. You’ll even find the teacher’s manuals online with nothing hidden. Every church magazine, every talk given in General Conference (a twice a year meeting broadcast world-wide) and every class is free on the Internet. Mormon.org lets you learn what the Mormons want outsiders to know, but LDS.org lets you see the Church the way Mormons are seeing it, using the same lesson materials they use. This is the actual site Mormons turn to for their own study and lesson preparations. Few churches are so open about what they teach or so ready to give away all their materials by putting them all online. It’s a no-pressure way to explore the Mormon faith. If you don’t sign in, no one will know you were there and you can access all the lessons, materials, and talks without signing in. It’s only the personalized aspects, like the study journal, that require a login.

Should you find yourself with questions based on what you learn, you can follow links to Mormon.org and visit a chat room staffed by missionaries who are prepared to help you. This is not a place to argue religion. It’s a place for sincere questions from respectful people who honestly want to understand what the Mormons believe. You won’t find anyone willing to debate, but you will find people happy to clarify what you’ve been studying.

You’ll find many sections of this beta site are not yet developed. If you’re looking for something that isn’t there, visit LDS.org for a more complete selection of resources. (The study journal is not on that site.)

Joining with other religious voices in recent weeks, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, whose members are informally called Mormons, issued a statement on civility. Titled “The Mormon Ethic of Civility,” it called for an increase in moderation, respect, and reason in our lives, particularly in the political arena.

The political world is astir. Economies are faltering. Public trust is waning. Individuals feel vulnerable. And social cohesion wears thin. Meanwhile, stories of rage and agitation fill our airwaves, streets and town halls. Where are the voices of balance and moderation in these extreme times? (more…)

There is an important difference between Mormon doctrine and Mormon practice. Doctrine doesn’t change, but practices do. For instance, baptism has been a commandment and a doctrine from the very beginnings of the church. Everyone must be baptized to become a member of the church, and that baptism must follow the example set by the Savior, so it has to be done by a person with the authority to baptize, and it must be done by immersion. Those are doctrines critical to our eternal salvation, and they will never change. However, there is no specific doctrine stating how many times a person can be baptized by a person in authority. Because of this, in the early church, people sometimes got re-baptized many times. Unfortunately, some people took this as a license to sin. Since baptism washed away their sins, they thought it meant they could do whatever they wanted as long as they were re-baptized after-wards. For others, it was similar to renewing wedding vows-a sign of commitment, which was a more appropriate use of the practice. Because the practice of re-baptism was being abused by some, however, by 1897, church leaders decided to discontinue the practice. Today, only those who are excommunicated for serious sin are re-baptized. Re-baptism was not a doctrine; it was a practice and therefore, could be changed. Baptism itself is a doctrine and cannot be changed.

God has always taught certain things that were only to be done at a certain time-every generation needn’t build an ark or travel in the wilderness, but some did. The law of Moses was upgraded to a higher law, creating different practices for people living in different times. This is why we need prophets. There are situations arising regularly which require new programs or information.

The ninth Article of Faith (a statement of thirteen core beliefs of the Mormons) states: “We believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God.” This teaching makes the Mormons stand out among most other religion, and is essential to understanding the question asked.

Amos taught that God would do nothing without revealing it through His prophets. (Amos 3:7) God sent prophets to prepare us for the first coming of the Savior, and He’s now sent them for an equally important event-the Second Coming of the Savior. The Mormon church is headed by a prophet of God. God didn’t go into hiding and refuse to speak to us for the rest of mortality. He is once again speaking to us, guiding us toward the Second Coming and our own eternal salvation. As circumstances change, Mormon prophets make some changes, not to doctrine, but to practice.

One point of confusion is that often, people misunderstand the difference between doctrine and personal belief. There are many things leaders have said that they believed personally, but that were never canonized or made doctrine. There are also things members believe that were never taught by leaders, and there are also cultural things that are culture and not doctrine. Sometimes what people looking at the church see as changes in doctrine are really a matter of a return to true doctrine.

Mormons teach their members to follow a living prophet. When seemingly contradictory information is found in a search of teachings of church leaders, they are counseled to select the teaching of the current prophet. Harold B. Lee explained this to members:

“It is sometimes very interesting to get the reaction of people,” he observed. “I recall when President McKay announced to the Church that the First Council of Seventy were being ordained high priests in order to extend their usefulness and to give them authority to act when no other General Authority could be present. I went down to Phoenix, Arizona, and I found a Seventy who was very much disturbed. He said to me, ‘Didn’t the Prophet Joseph Smith say that this was contrary to the order of heaven to name high priests as presidents of the First Council of Seventy when they were named in the beginning?’

“And I said, ‘Well, I had understood that he did, but had you ever thought that what was contrary to the order of heaven in 1840 might not be contrary to the order of heaven in 1960?’ You see, he had not thought of that. He … was following a dead prophet, and he was forgetting that there is a living prophet today. Hence the importance of our stressing the word ‘living.’ ” (Harold B. Lee, “The Place of the Living Prophet, Seer and Revelator,” address to seminary and institute of religion faculty, Brigham Young University, 8 July 1964. )

This is exactly the pattern we see in the Bible. Each prophet received additional information that expanded our knowledge of God’s teachings-everything that would be needed from the day of creation to the end of the earth was not given to Adam in a single, neatly tied up package. We received our knowledge of God’s teachings line upon line, and we’ve gradually learned more about what God wants of us.

In New Testament times, people frequently did not understand this concept, and Jesus Christ was often criticized for “changing” the law. He responded, “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.

18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. He then went on to give examples of laws they had been taught, and his own additions to them-not changes, but greater light. He reminded them they had been taught not to kill. He added additional light by telling them they must not even be angry with others without cause. While they had already been taught not to commit adultery, He now taught them that even having impure thoughts toward another was adultery. He didn’t change the law-murder and adultery were still wrong. He simply enlarged it to meet the new capabilities of the people and helped the Church to progress toward perfection.

Throughout the Bible, we see that God gradually added new levels of responsibility to His people’s lives, and that He frequently gave commandments to one group that didn’t apply to another. In a church with a living God, we must expect things to change periodically to meet the needs of God’s kingdom. We must allow God to continue leading His people. Core doctrine will never change, but teachings may be enlarged upon and practices may be changed as God works to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of His children.