Mormon Scripture – The Articles of Faith/Part 32

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Our last article began a discussion of the Thirteenth LDS Article of Faith which declares, “We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul—We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and we hope to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.”

It should be obvious that honesty and truth, which are the first two things mentioned in this Article of Faith, are almost synonymous. One is not telling the truth if he is not honest and if he is not honest, he isn’t telling the truth. Most people, including Mormons, try to live honest lives. But, Mormon leaders haven’t always set a good example when it comes to truth and honesty. For example, our last article mentioned that Joseph Smith changed his First Vision story and lied about his involvement in polygamy.

The current LDS Prophet, Gordon B. Hinckley, hasn’t done much better. When he was asked by Time Magazine if Mormons believed that men could become gods, he was evasive at first saying it was an “ideal” or “a hope for a wishful thing” before he finally admitted that LDS do believe that doctrine.

When Hinckley was asked if LDS believe that God the Father was once a man, he said, “I don’t know that we teach it. I don’t know that we emphasize it…I don’t know a lot about it and I don’t think others know a lot about it” (Time, Aug. 4, 1999, p. 56). Even LDS members ques­tioned why he gave such answers. Two months later Hinckley told Mormons at their semi­annual Conference in October that he really did understand the LDS doctrine of God.

He certainly should know the LDS doctrine of God quite well since he has written and spoken about it many times! Achieving a Celestial Marriage is an LDS Student Manual, copyrighted by the Corporation of the President of the LDS Church (Hinckley), and it teaches that God was once a man and that men can become Gods on pages 129 to 132. Gospel Principles, Teach­ings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, History of the Church and many other LDS books also clearly teach that doctrine. As President and Prophet of the Mormon Church, Hinckley should defend LDS doctrine or repudiate it. It was dishonest for him to say that he didn’t know that Mormonism teaches that doctrine and that he didn’t know a lot about it.

Mormon leaders often make unique claims for their Church. They claim to be the only true church, the only church with authority (priesthood) recognized by God, the only church with a living prophet and so on. Joseph Fielding Smith, the tenth LDS Prophet also wrote, “The most important history in the world is the history of our Church, and it is the most accurate history in all the world” (Doctrines of Salvation, vol. 2, p. 199).

The Mormon Church publishes seven volumes of its official history entitled History of the Church which is also called the DHC or the Documentary History of the Church. The seventh volume is Period II which covers events after Joseph Smith’s death in 1844 until October 1848 when the LDS were in the Salt Lake Valley. But the title page in each of the first six volumes says: “History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Period I, History of Joseph Smith, the Prophet, by Himself.” That says that Smith wrote the history and the content is written in the first person which also implies he wrote it.

But Jerald and Sandra Tanner, who are noted for their research on Mormonism, point out that about 60% of the content in the History of the Church was not completed during Smith’s lifetime (Falsification of Joseph Smith’s History, p. 22). Therefore, Smith couldn’t have written many of the things ascribed to him in the DHC.

Mormon historian, B. H. Roberts, and those who helped him compile the DHC actually copied information from other peoples’ journals and put into the DHC to sound like Joseph Smith wrote it. Davis Bitton, an LDS historian who worked for the LDS Church in the historian’s office was familiar with most of the original historical documents of the LDS Church. He wrote, “When we compare the DHC with the earlier published versions, in fact, we discover that hundreds of changes have been made. These include deletions, additions, and simple changes of wording” (Dialogue, A Journal of Mormon Thought; Vol. 3; No. 4; Winter 1968; p. 31). On the next page Bitton referred to B. H. Roberts and his work on the DHC and said, “And he would not, I think, be proud of the fact that for researchers in early Mormon history Rule Number One is ‘Do not rely on the DHC; never use a quotation from it without comparing the earlier versions.’” Does that sound like he believes it is “the most accurate history in all the world” as Joseph Fielding Smith claimed it was?

It is a well known fact that the LDS Church has purchased many old documents and quickly put them in their archives when the information in them reflected badly on Mormonism or their leaders. On the other hand when they receive old document that make the LDS Church look good, they want it published on the front pages of the newspapers. Researchers who have tried to get access to early historical documents in the LDS archives have usually found it difficult if not impossible.

It is understandable that the LDS Church doesn’t want old documents handled by too many people because it would damage them. But with the technology now available, there is no reason that such documents can’t be copied and made available to interested people. Instead, the LDS Church chooses to keep them locked up out of sight. It is no wonder many accuse them of secrecy and evasion. Since Mormonism claims to be “the one true church” and they believe in being “honest and true,” why are they hiding such documents? Real truth has nothing to fear from investigation.

Those who want more information on this subject can read Falsification of Joseph Smith’s History, by Jerald & Sandra Tanner, published by Utah Lighthouse Ministry, P. O. Box 1884, Salt Lake City, UT 84110. We will continue our discussion of this Article of Faith next time.