Past Church leaders were adamant in their condemnation of the liquor and tobacco industries. The Word of Wisdom, according to its own admission, was given “in consequence of evils and designs which do and will exist in the minds of conspiring men” (89:4). Dr. Sperry,...
I won't argue with the Word of Wisdom’s condemnation of the addictive substance, alcohol. But in the Word of Wisdom its use is encouraged as an agent in washing the body. I am as much puzzled by this as by the Word of Wisdom’s advocating the use of tobacco on bruises,...
Reason #85 The famous Civil War prophecy of Section 87 of the Doctrine and Covenants has for years been touted by Mormons as proof positive of Joseph’s powers as a prophet. However, the force of this assertion is lessened considerably when one considers that “the...
The mainstream Latter-day Saint Church did not in the past officially recognize its own “Inspired Version” as doctrine, claiming that it was never completed by Joseph Smith, and that what was finished was later corrupted by uninspired persons. In recent years, the...
When I was a Mormon, Section 78 of the Doctrine and Covenants contained some strange foreign-sounding names which were assigned to the persons mentioned in this section (such names were also used as aliases for church leaders in Sections 82, 92, 96, 103,...
I've always used my four-part definition of a cult (deifies man, humanizes God, ostracizes Scripture, and requires an extra-Biblical view of salvation.) But today I learned of another one that rings true: “You can always tell a cult from a religion. . .because a...