The Church of Milquetoast

Anyone with even a passing familiarity with Mormonism knows that the LDS Church claims to be led by direct revelation by the good Lord Himself. Considering the ostensible fact that the LDS Church is led by a prophet, one might be forgiven for finding it odd that it is rather difficult to point to the last “positive” (quantitatively, not qualitatively—I’ll explain in a moment) revelation, or theological or doctrinal change?

By positive, negative, and neutral, I mean it in a quantitative sense

(i)                  Positive: something is added, there is new information, there is a new belief, there is a new ritual

-          It does not matter whether it is qualitatively positive (judged happy, good)

(ii)                Negative: something is deleted or removed. We now believe less than we knew before, we reject a former dogma, policy, ritual.

-          without regards to whether we judge it unpleasant, undesirable, etc

(iii)               Neutral: Nothing is added or taken away regarding theology, doctrine, ritual, practice

I bring it up because it seems to me that I can think of plenty of cases of (ii) and (iii), but I can’t think of a single instance of (i) in my lifetime. How far back do we have to go to find a case of (i) and what are the implications for the meaning of “continuing revelation” and “prophet, seer, and revelator” in the LDS faith.

Consider:

Quantitatively negative changes:

-          LDS leaders, speaking in the capacity of prophets and apostles, and from the pulpit, said the polygamy is essential for salvation, and that monogamy literally ruins civilizations. These beliefs have been retracted

-          Brigham Young taught the Adam God doctrine, and even went so far as to add it to the Temple ritual in the “Lecture at the veil.” The Adam God doctrine is disavowed by the LDS church.

-          LDS leaders, speaking in the capacity of prophets and apostles, and from the pulpit, claimed that dark skin is a curse from God, that even a drop of negro blood precludes one from the priesthood, the temple, and from (the highest degree of) heaven (except as a servant), and that this skin of blackness means that one was a fence sitter in the war in Heaven, that blackness is the Mark of Cain, and that God ensured that Ham was on Noah’s Ark so that Satan would have representation on the Earth. These beliefs have been retracted.

-          LDS leaders, speaking in the capacity of prophets and apostles, and from the pulpit, said that faithful members of the LDS church will become Gods, and that our God was once mortal like us. This central and essential tenet of the LDS faith was flippantly dismissed by THE PROPHET, Gordon B. Hinkley in front of a national audience.

-          As recently as the 80’s, lesson manuals taught that we have to get Joseph Smith’s permission to get into heaven. Good luck finding anybody to admit that now.

-          The Book of Abraham was taught to been translated from documents written by Abraham himself, by his own hand, upon papyrus. Retracted.

-          Temple Changes. Although ordinances cannot be changed, there have been a myriad of changes in the temple ordinances. Patrons no longer pantomime their own self-mutilation deaths, and no longer agree to that mutilation death penalty for breaking the oath of secrecy regarding the temple ritual.

-          After the last Presiding Patriarch was quietly retired, he was never replaced. The Church went from 16 Prophets Seers and Revelators to 15.

-          We could quite easily add many more, albeit less dramatic, negative changes.

Quantitatively neutral changes

-          Combining Elders and High Priests Quorums

-          The change in the mission ages from 19 to 18 for boys and from 21 to 19 for girls. This really added or removed nothing re doctrine or practice.

-          Slight modification of Home & Visiting Teaching to Ministering

-          The change from Quorums of 70’s in each stake to centralized 2^nd, 3^rd, etc Quorums of 70’s as GA’s.

-          Additions of more temples. A change in the church certainly, but adding nothing to theology, doctrine, ritual, or practice.

-          Hastening the work.

-          Don’t call the Church by nicknames.

-          It is hard to think of anything really substantive said by prophets and apostles in recent years. Anything that is substantive turns out to be an urban legend spread on social media and discussion boards.

-          Don’t wear two sets of earrings.

-          I see legitimate quotes from prophets and apostles everyday on my Facebook account. These are virtually always milquetoast. Don’t swear. Don’t be bullies. Follow the Prophet. Be a good family member. You know what? I don’t need a prophet to tell me not to swear. If God has a direct communication to the Earth via Russell M. Nelson, then God had better not waste His/Her time telling me not to bully. How about settling the climate change question? Or the best way to deal with ISIS. How about some economic insights—how to eliminate poverty. If the most important message God can give the world is “Don’t swear,” then I’m not effing interested!

Positive Changes?

-          Seriously? How far back do we have to look to find a quantitatively positive change? Brigham Young?

Implications:

My point, and I do have one, is to question the meaning of progress in the Church. What is the role of the 15 prophets, seers, and revelators?

If, as members and leaders are wont to claim, “the Church is true,” that claim certainly refers to the current version of the Utah LDS Church. If it is currently “true,” then those contrary doctrines, policies, practices, rituals, etc were wrong. The current “true” church was derived from a less true Church through elimination…?

“Continuing Revelation” amounts to selective collective amnesia, throwing previous versions of the Church down the memory hole and hoping that everybody simply accepts that we have always been at war with Eastasia.

In order to accept the LDS claim to be “true” one has to accept the following propositions

(i)                  The current leadership of the LDS church has divine authority conferred upon them by an unbroken chain of authority back to Joseph Smith

(ii)                Joseph Smith was a true prophet of God

(iii)               The current LDS church has rejected a large fraction of the teachings, beliefs, and practices of Joseph Smith (and his successors) as uninspired.

Somehow, it just doesn’t ring true; a person has to do some serious mental contortionism to be able to assent to those propositions simultaneously.