Mormon Doctrine

LDS Authority

Critical Thinking

Summary Points:

• Mormons are instructed to give greater weight to the writings of the current prophet and apostles than to scripture, as they consider current revelation more relevant to their modern lives
• As a result, rather than reading scriptures, Mormons can listen to and read the words of their current authorities
• It is very difficult to pin down Mormon doctrine
  • The idea of changing doctrine is built into the system by the emphasis on continuing revelation
  • There is no process of removing scripture or previous revelation that has been superseded by new revelation
  • Older, seemingly superseded doctrine will be restated in church publications that postdate new revelations on the same subject
  • The system of continuing revelation is not so much a system of refining doctrine and removing superseded doctrine as it is a system of continually adding different slants on old doctrine
  • The result is a constantly growing body of inherently inconsistent doctrine that can be used to substantiate various conflicting positions
  • The consequence of this circumstance is that most Mormons are conditioned not to do critical thinking about spiritual matters - even though they may be experts at critical thinking in other aspects of their lives; they will avoid critical analyses of their beliefs and their church
  • This conditioning makes Christian witnessing more urgent and at the same time more difficult and frustrating
• One may conclude that the priesthood, culminating at the living prophet, holds a tight rein on the members of the LDS church