Mormon Scripture – The Articles of Faith/Part 34

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We have previously discussed honesty, truth, chastity and virtue which are mentioned in the 13th Article of Faith which says: “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.”

LDS Apostle James Talmage wrote the Articles of Faith, a book in which he discussed each Article of Faith. His chapter on the 13th Article is entitled “Practical Religion.” The first example Talmage gave of LDS “benevolence” was their missionary program. Since the primary work of LDS missionaries is to proselyte members of other churches into the LDS Church, most people would not call that benevolence. Some might even call it self-serving. The dictionary defines benevolence as “charitable acts of kindness or a generous gift.”

Talmage also said that “The charity that manifests itself in material giving is not neglected in the (LDS) Church; indeed this form of benevolence is impressed as a sacred duty upon every Latter-day Saint… it has ever been characteristic of the Church and people of God, that they take upon themselves the care of the poor, if any such exist among them” (pp. 433-434). In this quotation, Talmage sounds uncertain whether or not any poor exist among the LDS. That may be because Mormons often declare that they “take care of their own” members.

Indeed, they have at least three programs in addition to the tithe to take care of the poor: 1.Relief Society is the LDS women’s program to take care of the needs of the poor; 2. The Fast Tithe or Offering is taken the first Sunday of each month when Mormon families fast and give the LDS Church at least the amount they would have spent on food so it can be used to care for the poor; 3. The LDS Welfare Program, which has been widely publicized as the ultimate in religious relief programs. It has helped many needy Mormons as well as some non-Mormons who could be influenced to join the LDS Church because of the help they received. The LDS Welfare Program was begun to help the poor and to be prepared for disasters. It includes stor­age of food, clothing and other emergency needs in the Bishops Storehouse.

Mormons are also taught to have a two years supply of food and other necessities stored in their own homes. But, at the end of the Great Depression when Utah was over 75% Mormon and the LDS Church had the programs mentioned above to help the poor, it had twice the national average of people on government relief programs. Utah still has more people on gov­ernment relief than the national average Therefore, Utah must have more poor people than the rest of the United States or the LDS programs to help the poor aren’t doing all that is claimed for them.

In discussing the Fast Offering Talmage wrote, “These offerings may be made in money, food, or other usable commodity; they are received by the bishopric, and by the same authority are distributed to the worthy poor of the ward or branch” (p. 434). Notice the poor must be “worthy” and must also be “members” of the LDS ward (church) or branch. This writer has lived among the Mormons most of his life and seen many “Jack Mormons” who were inactive and in need but who were not helped by their Church because they were not active and therefore not worthy.

Many “unworthy Mormons” have been helped by Christian churches or organizations. Jesus did not say that we were to help only those who were worthy or who belong to our own church or group. Salt Lake City has had a large number of homeless people for many years but the LDS Church has shown very little interest in them. Evangelical churches started a rescue mission in Salt Lake City in 1970 and it along with other groups like the Salvation Army has helped many of the poor and homeless. The LDS Church still has no program for the homeless in Salt Lake City, but in recent years they have contributed to other local programs that help homeless people.

To their credit, Mormons have also sent food and supplies to help people in places where disaster has struck. But whenever they help with such needs, the LDS public relations depart­ment makes sure that the media knows about it so that they get a lot of publicity for their com­passion and benevolence. Christians often do more than Mormons when disaster strikes an area but they don’t get as much publicity because they are doing it to be helpful, not in order to get publicity for their church or organization.

Jesus said in Matthew 6:1-4 not to call attention to what you do when you give to the poor and needy and God will reward you. But He also said that those who “blow a trumpet” or call attention to what they do or what they give already have their reward when they are seen of men.

For those who want to read more on these subjects we suggest The Articles of Faith, by James Talmage, published by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City, UT in 1952. We will continue our discussion of this Article of Faith next time.