FAIR is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing well-documented answers to criticisms of the doctrine, practice, and history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Criticism of Mormonism/Books/The Changing World of Mormonism/Chapter 22
Response to claims made in "Chapter 22: Temple Work"
| Chapter 21 | A FAIR Analysis of: Criticism of Mormonism/Books A work by author: Jerald and Sandra Tanner
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512
Claim
- Early Mormon leaders were "very confused" about baptism for the dead since they performed a number of them without recording them and had to do them over.
Author's source(s) - Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses 18:241.
- Author(s) impose(s) own fundamentalism on the Saints: early leaders freely admitted their understanding grew with time; Joseph continued to instruct them (e.g., DC 128) and they learned more after his death.
- Temples/Baptism for the dead
514
Claim
- Baptism for the dead was not a doctrine in the early church.
Author's source(s) - Orson Pratt's Works, 1891, p.205
- The author's claim is false: The majority of modern scholars accept that vicarious baptism for the dead was practiced by at least some of the early Church.
- It is telling that the only reference is from the late 1800s.
- Temples/Baptism for the dead
515
Claim
- Wilford Woodruff "felt he had saved" all of the presidents of the United States, except for three.
Author's source(s) - Wilford Woodruff, Journal of Discourses 19:229.
- Misrepresentation of source: Woodruff says nothing about him saving people—he says only that he had a vision in which prominent men from American history requested that their temple work be performed.
- See Quote mining—Journal of Discourses 19:229 to see how this quote was mined.
515-516 - The Mormons spend millions of dollars on genealogical research that would be better spent feeding the starving people in the world
The author(s) of The Changing World of Mormonism make(s) the following claim:
The Mormons spend millions of dollars on genealogical research that would be better spent feeding the starving people in the world.
Author's sources:
- Mormon Doctrine, 1966, pp.308-9
- 2 Nephi 28:13"
FAIR's Response
- Double standard: would not the hundreds of hours which the Tanners spend in researching, writing, and selling anti-Mormon propaganda be better spent in feeding starving people, helping the homeless, or any of a thousand other worthy activities?
- This charge presupposes its conclusion—the authors assume that there is no value in temple work.
- The criticism also presumes that Latter-day Saints do not spend millions of dollars annually on charitable work for members and non-members.
- Absurd claim: The anti-Mormon bias and animus is on full display here. The scholarly veneer is gone.
517 - Mormons are very similar to ancient Egyptians regarding their attitude toward the dead
The author(s) of The Changing World of Mormonism make(s) the following claim:
Mormons are very similar to ancient Egyptians regarding their attitude toward the dead.
FAIR's Response
- Prejudicial or loaded language
- Absurd claim: the authors will need to provide some evidence beyond their mere statement. (One recalls Sandra Tanner's equally amusing claim that the Church of Jesus Christ's theology was closer to Hinduism than Christianity. [1])
517 - The Mormon "obsession with the dead" is close to "ancestral worship"
The author(s) of The Changing World of Mormonism make(s) the following claim:
The Mormon "obsession with the dead" is close to "ancestral worship."
Author's sources: Ensign, May 1976, p.102
FAIR's Response
- Absurd claim
- Misrepresentation of source: The authors quote mine the Ensign.
Mormonism and temples/Baptism for the dead/Ancestor worship
517-518 - Paul said to avoid "endless genealogies"
The author(s) of The Changing World of Mormonism make(s) the following claim:
Paul said to avoid "endless genealogies."
Author's sources:
- 1 Tim. 1:4
- Titus 3:9
FAIR's Response
- Misrepresentation of source
Question: Does the Bible condemn genealogical research?
The Bible rejects the use of genealogies to "prove" one's righteousness, or the truth of one's teachings
Critics charge that the Bible condemns genealogy, and therefore the Latter-day Saint practice of compiling family histories is anti-Biblical, often citing 1 Timothy 1:4 or Titus 3:9.
The Bible does not condemn all genealogy per se. Rather, it rejects the use of genealogy to "prove" one's righteousness, or the truth of one's teachings. It also rejects the apostate uses to which some Christians put genealogy in some varieties of gnosticism.
Latter-day Saints engage in genealogical work so that they can continue the Biblical practice of providing vicarious ordinances for the dead
Latter-day Saints engage in genealogy work so that they can continue the Biblical practice—also endorsed by Paul—of providing vicarious ordinances for the dead, such as baptism (See 1 Corinthians 15:29) so that the atonement of Christ may be available to all who would choose it, living or dead. See: Baptism for the dead
The Bible clearly does not reject all uses of genealogy
This can be seen through its many genealogical lists, including two such lists for Jesus Christ Himself. (See Matthew 1:1–24 and Luke 3:23–38.)
The condemnation of "genealogies" in Timothy and Titus likely came because:
- the Christians perceived a Jewish tendency to be pre-occupied by "pure descent" as a qualification for holding the priesthood. Since only pure descendents of Levi could hold the priesthood, there was endless wrangling about one's pedigree—since Paul considers the Aaronic Priesthood to have been superceded by Christ, the great High Priest like Melchizedek (see Hebrews 5), this probably strikes him as pointless.
- some Jewish scribes and other teachers claimed that their "traditions" were directly descended from Moses, Joshua, or some other prominent leader, and thus superior to the Christian gospel.[2]
- some gnostic sects had involved accounts of the descent of the Aeons (up to 365 "generations" in one scheme) and other mystic or pagan variations thereon.[3]
Since all these genealogies were either speculative or fabricated, they could cause endless, pointless debate.[4] Rather Paul wants the faith (in Christ) which builds up ("edifying") testimonies and lives.
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518
Claim
- The Book of Mormon is supposed to contain "the fulness of the Gospel," yet it doesn't teach baptism for the dead.
Author's source(s) - Pearl of Great Price, p.51, v.34
520
Claim
- Jesus "taught the opposite" of eternal marriage when he said that people "neither marry, nor are given in marriage" in the afterlife.
Author's source(s) - Luke 20:34-36
530-534
Claim
- The endowment has been changed over the years.
Author's source(s) - [ATTENTION!]
- Author(s) impose(s) own fundamentalism on the Saints
- Temples/Endowment/Changes
535-547
Claim
- The endowment was derived from Freemasonry.
Author's source(s) - [ATTENTION!]
Notes
- ↑ See citation in Daniel C. Peterson, "What Certain Baptists Think They Know about the Restored Gospel (Review of The Mormon Puzzle: Understanding and Witnessing to Latter-day Saints by North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention)," FARMS Review of Books 10/1 (1998): 12–96. off-site
- ↑ George H. Fudge, "I Have a Question: How do we interpret scriptures in the New Testament that seem to condemn genealogy?," Ensign (March 1986): 49.
- ↑ John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible, 1811-1817, New Testament, "1 Timothy 1:4" & "Titus 3:9"
- ↑ Raymond E. Brown, Joseph A. Fitzmyer, and Roland E. Murphy, eds., The Jerome Biblical Commentary (Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1968), 353.