Difference between revisions of "Does Mormon Doctrine Change?"

Revision as of 03:42, 14 December 2011

Doctrines of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, (sometimes erroneously called the Mormon Church), do not change. Policies, however, do evolve as continuous revelation is received. This is consistent with Christ's primitive church, and the LDS Church is the restoration of that original church.

After the crucifixion of the Savior, the apostles continued to teach the gospel among the Jews. When Peter was in Joppa, however, he was approached by a group of gentile believers. The Lord prepared Peter for this event by revelation. Peter had a vision of unclean animals, lowered in a cloth gathered by its four corners. The Lord told him not to consider anything unclean that the Lord had declared clean. The Lord also told Peter that gentiles sought him, and not to refuse. Peter would not have entered a gentile household at all, had he not received this revelation. The gentiles were not only rapt listeners to the word of God, but received the Holy Ghost. (See Holy Bible, Acts 10.)

Peter related the experience to the other apostles, and together, they reasoned and prayed. Through additional revelation, they realized it was time to take the gospel to the gentiles. This was not a change in doctrine, but a change in policy.

In the same manner, the apostles counseled with the Lord regarding requiring gentile Christians to keep aspects of the Law of Moses. The Law of Moses had been fulfilled. This does not necessarily mean that it was done away — the Law of Moses contained the foundation of the gospel — faith, repentance, baptism, and sacrifice. Jesus Christ ended sacrifice by the shedding of blood, but many Israelite Christians wanted to keep circumcision and the dietary laws and to require gentile Christians to follow suit. Through prayer and revelation, it was decided by the apostles that Christians should not have to be circumcised, nor should they be required to keep all the Jewish dietary laws, but should avoid eating blood and things sacrificed to idols, and things strangled. Again, this was a change of policy, not doctrine. The doctrine remained belief on Jesus Christ, and Him crucified and resurrected, who died for our sins. The ordinances of baptism and conferring the Holy Ghost did not change. (See Acts 15.)

Is Everything an Apostle Says Considered Doctrine

In the Pauline Epistles we do have some verses of greeting to fellow missionaries, such as Timothy, and greetings to various congregations, Paul's considerations of his journeys and his trials, but the rest of the verses are generally considered doctrine. Since he was under house arrest for many years, Paul probably wrote hundreds of such epistles, and if we had more of these, we would have more doctrine, but also more extraneous or historical material. If we had all of this material, we would have to sort out doctrine and revelatory information from Paul's personal ideas and thoughts.

It is important to understand the nature of a prophet, and all of the apostles were prophets, receiving revelation for the church. Prophets don't know everything, and they are not shown all things by God. They are expected, just like the rest of us, to walk by faith in their own lives, and therefore, must have some mystery. Knowledge replaces faith. Prophets also have limited knowledge withing the confines of their own era and culture. Thus, Ezekiel's attempts to explain possible modern warfare seen in vision without any experience with modern machinery. Sometimes a prophet sees something in vision or receives information from God and then may speculate to fill in the blanks. A prophet might not speculate to his followers, but in privacy, he might. Here's an example from Joseph Smith:

I was once praying very earnestly to know the time of the coming of the Son of Man, when I heard a voice repeat the following: Joseph, my son, if thou livest until thou art eighty-five years old, thou shalt see the face of the Son of Man; therefore let this suffice, and trouble me no more on this matter. I was left thus, without being able to decide whether this coming referred to the beginning of the millennium or to some previous appearing, or whether I should die and thus see his face. [1] It is interesting that Joseph had already seen the Savior many times in vision. [2] [3]

Is Everything a Leader or Scholar Says Considered Doctrine

Leaders and scholars of all churches comment all the time about their beliefs and how they view their faith. There are protestant scholars who question the divinity of Christ, yet everyone knows this is not doctrine, but opinion. Yet, critics of Mormonism take these kinds of statements from past and current prophets, leaders and scholars in the LDS Church, quote them as doctrine, and then attempt to demonstrate how Mormon doctrine has changed. This is not the standard used to judge the doctrines of other religions, and it should not be employed to try to debunk Mormonism.

The following are some historical events that have been labeled as changes of doctrine by those outside the Church, but really have been changes in policy. Friends of other faiths also sometimes assume that such changes came as the result of pressure. By resting upon that assumption, they think they can change Mormon doctrine by applying pressure. But the Church does not bow to outside pressure to make doctrinal changes. Nor does it bow to pressure to make policy changes. Doctrine does not change; policy changes through revelation; as more is revealed, understanding grows.

Perceived Changes in Mormon Doctrine

Polygamy

New converts to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the early 1800's were nearly all of European descent, and it was the Victorian era, when the roles of men and women were very clearly defined, and marriages were monogamous. It was common, however, for men to take mistresses even during this era. Eighty-five percent of the world's population, however, practiced polygamy at the time. Joseph Smith had gone to the Lord with a question regarding prophets of old and the fact that they had more than one wife. The Lord answered that their behavior was righteous as long as the Lord approved, and He sometimes did. The people had to be righteous and chaste and faithful for the practice to be approved. The Lord approved the practice when He desired to raise up seed unto Himself. In one instance in the Book of Mormon the Lord commands the people to take only one wife, and this because of their unrighteousness. Joseph Smith was commanded to practice polygamy, and to teach his followers to begin the practice.

The institution of the practice of polygamy in the Church wrenched it to its foundation. It cleansed the Church of the weak in faith and the hypocritical among its congregations. It was too difficult to live, especially in a Victorian, western culture, for any but the most faithful. But these most faithful had huge posterity, and they became the backbone of the Church. The practice was made public when the Mormons were well-settled in Utah territory. The U.S. government launched such a barrage of persecuting measures, that it nearly killed the Church, which was the intent. Mormon women were forced to testify against their husbands, husbands and fathers were imprisoned, the right to vote was taken away, and church property was confiscated. Finally, the Latter-day Saints put an end to polygamy.

People outside the LDS Church see this as bowing to pressure so that Utah Territory could obtain statehood. But the Mormons would have continued the practice if the Lord hadn't ended it by revelation. Then prophet Wilford Woodruff received a vision showing him what would happen if the practice were not abandoned. The Mormon temples would be closed, and the male members of the Church would be unable to provide for their families or serve in the Church (the Church has a lay clergy). Prophet Woodruff told his vision to the Saints, and they sustained him in ending the practice. (Those who dissented broke off into tiny fundamentalists sects, the most notorious of which is the FLDS.)

Men of all Races Can Hold the Priesthood of God