“Suppose your youth receive their impressions of church history from “pictures and stories,” and build their faith upon these alleged miracles [and] shall someday come face to face with the fact that their belief rests on falsehoods, what then will be the result? Will they not say that since these things are myth and our Church has permitted them to be perpetuated …might not the other fundamentals to the actual story of the Church, the things in which it had its origin, might they not all be lies and nothing but lies? … [Some say that] because one repudiates the false he stands in danger of weakening, perhaps losing the truth. I have no fear of such results. I find my own heart strengthened in the truth by getting rid of the untruth, the spectacular, the bizarre, as soon as I learn that it is based upon worthless testimony” (Defender of the Faith: The B. H. Roberts Story, p. 363).
We can learn apostasy by studying history
“A self-suggesting interpretation of history indicates that there has been a great departure from the way of salvation as laid down by the Savior, a universal apostasy from the Church of Christ” (James Talmage, A Study of the Articles of Faith, p.182). What should we be looking for? Lost authority, corrupted doctrines, and a false order of religion.
Doctrines were corrupted, authority lost, and a false order of religion took the place of the gospel of Jesus Christ, just as it had been the case in former dispensations, and the people were left in spiritual darkness” (President Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, p.266).
TL;DR: This is a collection of 100% church sources that illustrate that the current church is in apostasy, corrupt and would be rejected by Joseph and the Christ Joseph believed in.
NOTE: To those who would say I ‘cherry picked” or pulled quotes out of context, there are many, many quotes by Ezra Taft Benson about the church being in apostasy. I did not use most of his quotes because of the context of history. Ezra felt that many of the more touchy-feely apostles were secretly communists. Ezra had a spy watching N. Elden Tanner, David O. McKay and others throughout his time at the church. The spy watched Leonard Arrington during his opening of the church history vaults, and Ezra, Mark E. Peterson and Boyd K. Packer were responsible for shutting up church history again.
So I thought it best not to use quotes where the apostles and prophets meant only a subsection of the apostles. I have tried to skew the quotes to only be about GENERAL apostasy, and illustrate how those principles are active today. This list, is in fact, cherry picked in FAVOR of the church. In addition, I think that Joseph’s “key that will never rust” was abandoned when a minority of the apostles (Boyd, Mark and Ezra) were able to shut off history. Following three apostles over the majority has, in fact, led to today’s modern apostasy.
Corrupted doctrines
Yes, President Young did teach that Adam was the father of our spirits and all the related things that the cultists ascribe to him. This, however, is not true. He expressed views that are out of harmony with the gospel (Letter to Eugene England, February 19, 1981).
Either Brigham Young was a prophet, or Bruce R. McConkie is right about him and he was wrong. Why trust McConkie when his book, “Mormon Doctrine,” was rejected for having errors? Additionally, why assume that “Brigham was speaking as a man” when he said it as a prophet from the pulpit at conference, and McConkie is not speaking as a man when he said these things in letters on the side?
“It is a very apparent fact that we have traveled far and wide in the past 20 years. What the future will bring I do not know. But if we drift as far afield from fundamental things in the next 20 years, what will be left of the foundation laid by the Prophet Joseph Smith? It is easy for one who observes to see how the apostasy came about in the primitive church of Christ. Are we not traveling the same road?” (Joseph Fielding Smith Journal, 28 December 1938).
“While the scriptures do assure us that the Church will continue to exist and be divinely led by prophets of the Lord right up until his Second Coming, they do not state that all, or even a majority of its members will follow those prophets. On the contrary, they foretell extensive, and in some cases, almost total defection from true principles” (The Great and Abominable Church of the Devil, pp. 169-170).
“Not only are there apostates within our midst, but there are also apostate doctrines that are sometimes taught in our classes and from our pulpits and that appear in our publications. And these apostate precepts of men cause our people to stumble. As the Book of Mormon, speaking of our day, states: ‘They have all gone astray save it be a few, who are the humble followers of Christ; nevertheless, they are led, that in many instances they do err because they are taught by the precepts of men'” (2 Nephi 28:14)” (Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, Pg.89 90).
Moroni was similarly explicit in predicting false teachings among the saints. Reflect upon the unmistakable implications of this point-blank indictment of members of the “holy church of God:” “O ye pollutions, ye hypocrites, ye teachers, who sell yourselves for that which will canker, why have ye polluted the holy church of God?” (Mormon 8:38).
Since there is only one “holy church of God” on earth, and since it is being polluted, the blame therefore appears to rest upon the teachers and hypocrites within that church (The Great and Abominable Church of the Devil, pp. 170-171).
Gordon B. Hinckley disses Lorenzo Snow and Joseph Smith, Jr.
“I had a direct revelation of this. It was most perfect and complete. If there ever was a thing revealed to man perfectly, clearly, so that there could be no doubt or dubiety, this was revealed to me, and it came in these words: ‘As man now is, God once was; as God now is, man may be'” (Teachings of Lorenzo Snow, p.5).
“Q: There are some significant differences in your beliefs. For instance, don’t Mormons believe that God was once a man? A: I wouldn’t say that. There was a little couplet coined, ‘As man is, God once was. As God is, man may become.’ Now that’s more of a couplet than anything else. That gets into some pretty deep theology that we don’t know very much about. Q: So you’re saying the church is still struggling to understand this? A: Well, as God is, man may become. We believe in eternal progression. Very strongly. We believe that the glory of God is intelligence and whatever principle of intelligence we attain unto in this life, it will rise with us in the resurrection. Knowledge, learning, is an eternal thing. And for that reason, we stress education. We’re trying to do all we can to make of our people the ablest, best, brightest people that we can” (Gordon B. Hinkley Q&A San Francisco Chronicle on Sunday, April 13, 1997).
On whether his church still holds that God the Father was once a man, he (President Hinckley) sounded uncertain, “I don’t know that we teach it. I don’t know that we emphasize it… I understand the philosophical background behind it, but I don’t know a lot about it, and I don’t think others know a lot about it” (Time Magazine, August 4, 1997).
“These are incomprehensible ideas to some, but they are simple. It is the first principle of the Gospel to know for a certainty the character of God, and to know that we may converse with him as one man converses with another, and that he was once a man like us; yea, that God himself, the Father of us all, dwelt on an earth, the same as Jesus Christ himself did; and I will show it from the Bible” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith p.345).
Corrupted Authority
“I would be surprised if ten percent of those who claim to hold the Melchizedek priesthood will remain faithful to the gospel at the time of the seventh president and that there would be thousands that think they hold the priesthood at that time, but would not have it properly conferred upon them” (Minutes of a meeting, September 7, 1886).
“The day will come when man’s priesthood and authority will be called to question, and you will find that there will be hundreds who have no priesthood, but who believe they hold it, they are holding only an office in the church” (Truth, 3:153).
“Brethren, this church will be led onto the very brink of hell by the leaders of this people, then God will send the one mighty and strong spoken of in the 85th section of the Doctrine and Covenants, to save and redeem this church” (Brigham Young quoted about D&C 85:7, Truth, March 1, 1936, 1:10, p. 135).
True authority is not mainstream
“The world always mistook false prophets for true ones, and those that were sent of God, they considered to be false prophets and hence they killed, stoned, punished and imprisoned the true prophets, and these had to hide themselves ‘in deserts and dens, and caves of the earth,’ and though the most honorable men of the earth, they banished them from their society as vagabonds, whilst they cherished, honored and supported knaves, vagabonds, hypocrites, impostors, and the basest of men” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith Pg. 205).
Gordon B. Hinckley vs. Brigham Young
Gordon “Q: And this belief in contemporary revelation and prophecy? As the prophet, tell us how that works. How do you receive divine revelation? What does it feel like? A: Let me say first that we have a great body of revelation, the vast majority of which came from the prophet Joseph Smith. We don’t need much revelation. We need to pay more attention to the revelation we’ve already received. Now, if a problem should arise on which we don’t have an answer, we pray about it, we may fast about it, and it comes. Quietly. Usually no voice of any kind, but just a perception in the mind. I liken it to Elijah’s experience. When he sought the Lord, there was a great wind, and the Lord was not in the wind. And there was an earthquake, and the Lord was not in the earthquake. And a fire, and the Lord was not in the fire. But in a still, small voice. Now that’s the way it works” (San Francisco Chronicle, Sunday, April 13, 1997).
Brigham “Q: [Do] you, like the old prophets, receive direct revelation from God? A: Yes, and not only me but my brethren also. Q: Does that extend to all the church without reserve or rank? A: Yes, and it is just as necessary for the mother to possess this spirit in training and rearing her children as for anyone else. Q: It is not absolutely necessary, then, that each person receive revelations through you? A: Oh, no; through the spirit of Christ, the Holy Ghost; but to dictate to the church is my part of it” (Deseret News, May 23, 1877).
Infallibility of leadership or the common claim that the prophet will never lead us astray was directly spoken against: Where does the idea come from?
“I will give you a key that will never rust, if you will stay with the majority of the Twelve Apostles, and the records of the Church, you will never be led astray” (William G. Nelson, Young Woman’s Journal 17 (1906), p.543).
“We have heard men who hold the priesthood remark that they would do anything they were told to do by those who preside over them [even] if they knew it was wrong; but such obedience as this is worse than folly to us; it is slavery in the extreme; and the man who would thus willingly degrade himself, should not claim a rank among intelligent beings, until he turns from his folly. A man of God would despise the idea. Others, in the extreme exercise of their almighty authority have taught that such obedience was necessary, and that no matter what the saints were told to do by their presidents, they should do it without any questions. When the Elders of Israel will so far indulge in these extreme notions of obedience as to teach them to the people, it is generally because they have it in their hearts to do wrong themselves” (Joseph Smith Jr., Millennial Star, Vol. 14, Num. 38, pp.593-595).
“What a pity it would be if we were led by one man to utter destruction! Are you afraid of this? I am more afraid that this people have so much confidence in their leaders that they will not inquire for themselves of God whether they are led by Him. I am fearful they settle down in a state of blind self-security, trusting their eternal destiny in the hands of their leaders with a reckless confidence that in itself would thwart the purposes of God in their salvation, and weaken that influence they could give to their leaders, did they know for themselves, by the revelations of Jesus, that they are led in the right way. Let every man and woman know, by the whispering of the Spirit of God to themselves, whether their leaders are walking in the path the Lord dictates, or not. This has been my exhortation continually” (Brigham Young, JD 9:151).
“The First Presidency have of right a great influence over this people; and if we should get out of the way and lead this people to destruction, what a pity it would be! How can you know whether we lead you correctly or not? Can you know by any other power than that of the Holy Ghost? I have uniformly exhorted the people to obtain this living witness, each for themselves; then no man on earth can lead them astray” (Brigham Young, JD 6:100).
“I do not want men to come to me or my brethren for testimony as to the truth of this work; but let them take the Scriptures of divine truth, and there the path is pointed out to them as plainly as ever a guideboard indicated the right path to the weary traveller. There they are directed to go, not to Brothers Brigham, Heber, or Daniel, to any apostle or elder in Israel, but to the Father in the name of Jesus, and ask for the information they need. Can they who take this course in honesty and sincerity receive information? Will the Lord turn away from the honest heart seeking for truth? No, He will not; He will prove to them, by the revelations of His Spirit, the facts in the case. And when the mind is open to the revelations of the Lord it comprehends them quicker and keener than anything that is seen by the natural eye. It is not what we see with our eyes they may be deceived but what is revealed by the Lord from Heaven is sure and steadfast, and abides for ever. We do not want the people to rely on human testimony, although that cannot be confuted and destroyed; still, there is a more sure word of prophecy that all may gain if they will seek it earnestly before the Lord” (Brigham Young, JD 12:96).
“I know of but One in all the world who can be taken as the first and only perfect standard for us to follow, and he is the Only Begotten Son of God. I would feel sorry indeed, if I had a friend or an associate in this life who would turn away from the plan of life and salvation because I might stumble or make a failure of my life. I want no man to lean upon me nor to follow me, only so far as I am a consistent follower in the footsteps of the Master” (Joseph F. Smith, Gospel Doctrine, Pg.4. See also the Juvenile Instructor, 1915, Vol. 50, pp. 738, 739).
“Do not, brethren, put your trust in man though he be a Bishop, an apostle or a president; if you do, they will fail you at some time or place; they will do wrong or seem to, and your support will be gone; but if we lean on God, He will NEVER fail us. When men and women depend upon GOD ALONE and trust in HIM ALONE, their faith will not be shaken if the highest in the Church should step aside” (George Q. Cannon, DW 43:322 [Mar 7, 1891]).
Persecution
“Ours is the blessing to live in a better season [than the early saints]. The terrible persecutions of the past are behind us. Today we are looked upon with respect by people across the world” (Ensign, Conference Report, November, 1996).
Compare to:
“And when the spirit of persecution, the spirit of hatred, of wrath, and malice ceases in the world against this people, it will be the time that this people have apostatized and joined hands with the wicked, and never until then; which I pray may never come” (Brigham Young, JD 4:326 327).
False order of religion
“When the Temple was built, the Lord did not see proper to reveal all the ordinances of the Endowments, such as we now understand. He revealed little by little. No rooms were prepared for washings; no special place prepared for the anointings, such as you understand, and such as you comprehend at the period of the history of the Church! Neither did we know the necessity of the washings, such as we now receive” (JD 19:16).
Combined with:
“Ordinances instituted in the heavens before the foundation, in the priesthood, for the salvation of men, are not to be altered or changed. All must be saved on the same principles” (TPJS 308).
Ordinances can be added to, but not altered
“The Ordinances of the Kingdom of God on the Earth are the same to the children of Adam from the commencement to the end of his posterity pertaining to the carnal state on this Earth, and the winding up scene of this mortality. With regard to the Bible; we frequently say, we believe the Bible, but circumstances alters cases, for what is now required of the people may not be required of a people that may live a hundred years hence. But I wish you to understand, with regard to the ordinances of God’s House to save the people in the Celestial Kingdom of our God, there is no change from the days of Adam to the present time, neither will there be until the last of his posterity is gathered into the Kingdom of God. . . I can tell you that no man from the days of Adam, no woman from the days of Eve to this day, who have lived, and who are now living upon the Earth will go into the Kingdom of their Father and God, to be crowned with Jesus Christ, without passing through the same Ordinances of the House of God, you and I have obeyed. I wish you distinctly to understand that. There are many duties, and callings spoken of in the scriptures, and there are many not written, those for instance which are handed out to you by your President as circumstances require. Those imposed by the President of the Church of God, or by the president of any portion of it, are duties as necessary to be observed as though they were written in the Bible; but these requirements, duties, and callings change with the circumstances that surround the people of God.
But when you speak of the system of salvation to bring back the children of Adam and Eve into the presence of our Father and God, it is the same in all ages, among all people, and under all circumstances, worlds without end. Amen” (TPBY 3:347 348).
If we compare the original endowment ceremony with what we have today and ask, “Is today’s ceremony still the same, even with all the changes that have taken place?” I believe the honest answer would be something akin to, “Yes it is. People who receive their endowments today don’t receive nearly as much information as previous temple goers have received,” even by the most faithful members.
Faithful members need only inquire about the “five points of fellowship,” “penalties,” and “the preacher that was removed,” with a temple president or any member who went through the endowment before 1990 to know that ordinances, implications and content in the endowment changed significantly.
Not practicing polygamy in this life means apostasy
“If we were to do away with polygamy, it would only be one feather in the bird, one ordinance in the Church and kingdom. Do away with that, then we must do away with prophets and Apostles, with revelation and the gifts and graces of the Gospel, and finally give up our religion altogether and turn sectarians and do as the world does, then all would be right. We just can’t do that, for God has commanded us to build up His kingdom and to bear our testimony to the nations of the earth, and we are going to do it, come life or come death. He has told us to do thus, and we shall obey Him in days to come as we have in days past” ( Wilford Woodruff JOD 13:165 – p.166).
“We will not end the practice of plural marriage until the coming of the Son of Man” (Journal of John Henry Smith quoting Wilford Woodruff, 21 May 1888, LDS Church Archives).
“We are told that if we would give up polygamy–which we know to be a doctrine revealed from heaven and it is God and the world for it–but suppose this Church should give up this holy order of marriage, then would the devil, and all who are in league with him against the cause of God, rejoice that they had prevailed upon the Saints to refuse to obey one of the revelations and commandments of God to them.” Later in the sermon President Young asked, “Will the Latter-day Saints do this? No” (Brigham Young, JoD. 11:239).
“Where did this commandment come from in relation to polygamy? It also came from God…When this commandment was given, it was so far religious, and so far binding upon the Elders of this Church that it was told them if they were not prepared to enter into it, and to stem the torrent of opposition that would come in consequence of it, the keys of the kingdom would be taken from them. When I see any of our people, men or women, opposing a principle of this kind, I have years ago set them down as on the high road to apostacy, and I do to-day; I consider them apostates, and not interested in this Church and kingdom” (John Taylor, JoD. 11:221).
“…if plurality of marriage is not true or in other words, if a man has no divine right to marry two wives or more in this world, then marriage for eternity is not true, and your faith is all vain, and all the sealing ordinances, and powers, pertaining to marriages for eternity are vain, worthless, good for nothing; for as sure as one is true the other also must be true” (Orson Pratt, JoD. 21:296).
“If the doctrine of polygamy, as revealed to the Latter-day Saints, is not true, I would not give a fig for all your other revelations that came through Joseph Smith the Prophet” (Orson Pratt, JoD. 17:224)
“Polygamy is a principle revealed from heaven with a commandment to enter into it practically” (Orson Hyde, JoD. 20:99).
“The new and everlasting Covenant is marriage, plural marriage men may say that with their single marriage the same promises and blessings had been granted, why cannot I attain to as much as with three or four, many question me in this manner I suppose they are afraid of Edmunds, what is the Covenant? It is the eternity of the marriage covenant, and includes a plurality of wives and takes both to make the law…Joseph Smith declared that all who became heirs of God and joint heirs of Christ must obey his law or they cannot enter into the fullness and if they do not they may loose the one talent, when men are offered knowledge and they refuse it they will be damned and there is not a man that is sealed by this priesthood by covenants to enter into the fullness of the law and the same with the woman she says she will observe all that pertains to the new and everlasting Covenant both are under the Covenant and must obey if they wish to enter into a continuation of the lives or of the seeds” (Utah Stake Historical Record #64904/CH0/1877 1888. Quarterly Conference held March 3rd and 4th, 1883; Sunday, 2 PM, p.271).
“Some people have supposed that the doctrine of plural marriage was a sort of superfluity, or nonessential to the salvation of mankind. In other words, some of the Saints have said, and believe that a man with one wife, sealed to him by the authority of the Priesthood for time and eternity, will receive an exaltation as great and glorious, if he is faithful, as he possibly could with more than one. I want here to enter my protest against this idea, for I know it is false… Therefore, whoever has imagined that he could obtain the fullness of the blessings pertaining to this celestial law, by complying with only a portion of its conditions, has deceived himself. He cannot do it. When that principle was revealed to the Prophet Joseph Smith,… he did not falter, although it was not until an angel of God, with a drawn sword, stood before him and commanded that he should enter into the practice of that principle, or he should be utterly destroyed, or rejected….
“If then, this principle was of such great importance that the Prophet himself was threatened with destruction,… it is useless to tell me that there is no blessing attached to obedience to the law, or that a man with only one wife can obtain as great a reward, glory or kingdom as he can with more than one,…
“I understand the law of celestial marriage to mean that every man in this Church, who has the ability to obey and practice it in righteousness and will not, shall be damned, I say I understand it to mean this and nothing less, and I testify in the name of Jesus that it does mean that” (Joseph F. Smith, JoD. 20:28-31).
Based on a 1933 First Presidency official statement issued to stem the tide of the Fundamentalists, is that the practice of polygamy is not required for exaltation in the highest degree of the Celestial Kingdom. Notably absent, however, is any mention of whether those men who make the highest degree of the CK will then be required to have plural wives.
Vision of Lorenzo Snow (September 2, 1898 as recorded by his daughter who was present):
“My father <Lorenzo Snow> went to his room in the Salt Lake Temple, where he was residing at the time. He dressed in his robes of the Priesthood, went into the Holy of Holies, there in the House of the Lord and knelt at the sacred altar. He pled with the Lord to spare President Woodruff’s life, that President Woodruff might outlive him and that the great responsibility of Church leadership would never fall upon his shoulders. Yet he promised the Lord that he would devotedly perform any duty required at his hands. At this time he was in his 86th year.
Soon after this, President Woodruff was taken to California, where he died Friday morning at 6:40 o’clock, September 2, 1898. President George Q. Cannon at once wired the sad information to the [144] President’s office in Salt Lake City. Word was forwarded to President Snow who was in Brigham City. The telegram was delivered to him on the street in Brigham. He read it to President Rudger Clawson, then president of Box Elder Stake, who was with him, went to the telegraph office and replied that he would leave on the train about 5:30 that evening. He reached Salt Lake City about 7:15, proceeded to the President’s office, gave some instructions and then went to this private room in the Salt Lake Temple.
President Snow put on his holy temple robes, repaired again to the same sacred altar, offered up the signs of the Priesthood, and poured out his heart to the Lord. He reminded the Lord how he had pled for President Woodruff’s life and that his days might be lengthened beyond his own; that he might never be called upon to bear the heavy burdens and responsibilities of Church leadership. ‘Nevertheless,’ he said, ‘Thy will be done. I have not sought this responsibility but if it be Thy will, I now present myself before Thee for Thy guidance and instruction. I ask that Thou show me what Thou wouldst have me do.’
After finishing his prayer he expected a reply, some special manifestation from the Lord. So he waited–and waited–and waited. There was no reply, no voice, no visitation, no manifestation. He left the altar and the room in great disappointment. He passed through the Celestial room and out into the large corridor leading to his own room where a most glorious manifestation was given President Snow. One of the most beautiful accounts of this experience is told by his granddaughter, Allie Young Pond.
‘One evening when I was visiting Grandpa Snow in his room in the Salt Lake Temple, I remained until the doorkeepers had gone and the nightwatchman had not yet come in, so Grandpa said he would take me to the main front entrance and let me out that way. He got his bunch of keys from his dresser.
‘After we left his room and while we were still in the large corridor, leading into the Celestial room, I was walking several steps ahead of Grandpa when he stopped me, saying: “Wait a moment, Allie. I want to tell you something. It was right here that the Lord Jesus Christ appeared to me at the time of the death of President Woodruff. He instructed me to go right ahead and reorganize the First Presidency of the Church at once and not wait as He had done after the death of the previous presidents, and that I was to succeed President Woodruff.”
‘Then Grandpa came a step nearer and held out his left hand and said: “He stood right here, about three feet above the floor. It looked as though He stood on a plate of solid gold.”
‘Grandpa told me what a glorious personage the Savior is and described His hands, feet, countenance and beautiful white robes, all of which were of such a glory of whiteness and brightness that he could hardly gaze upon Him.
‘Then Grandpa came another step nearer me and put his right hand on my head and said: “Now, granddaughter, I want you to remember that this is the testimony of your grandfather, that he told you with his own lips that he actually saw the Savior here in the Temple and talked with Him face to face”‘” (Temples of the Most High, N. B. Lundwall (comp.), 15th ed., pp. 140-141).
The unofficial story is that Christ met Lorenzo in the hallway because the church was in a state of apostasy and could not meet him in the Holy of Holies.
“Plural marriage is not essential to salvation or exaltation. Nephi and his people were denied the power to have more than one wife and yet they could gain every blessing in eternity that the Lord ever offered to any people. In our day, the Lord summarized by revelation the whole doctrine of exaltation and predicated it upon the marriage of one man to one woman (D. & C. 132:1 28)” (Mormon Doctrine, p.578).
“Plural marriage ended through revelation. We warn you against the so called polygamy cults which would lead you astray. Remember the Lord brought an end to this program many decades ago through a prophet who proclaimed the revelation to the world. People are abroad who will deceive you and bring you much sorrow and remorse. Have nothing to do with those who would lead you astray” (The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, p.447).
“I condemn it [polygamy], yes, as a practice, because I think it is not doctrinal. It is not legal. And this church takes the position that we will abide by the law. We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, magistrates in honoring, obeying and sustaining the law” (Larry King Live, Aired September 8, 1998).
“For behold, I reveal unto you a new and an everlasting covenant; and if ye abide not that covenant, then are ye damned; for no one can reject this covenant and be permitted to enter into my glory” (D&C 132:4).
“From [Joseph Smith] I learned that the doctrine of plural and celestial marriage is the most holy and important doctrine ever revealed to man on the earth, and that without obedience to that principle, no man can ever attain to the fullness of exaltation in celestial glory” (William Clayton, Historical Record 6:225 7, as quoted in MHP 4:214).
The current format of the church as a corporation with a non-profit arm is modeled after the Vatican
“Both Catholics and Protestants are nothing less than the ‘whore of Babylon’ whom the Lord denounces by the mouth of John the Revelator as having corrupted all the earth by their fornications and wickedness. Any person who shall be so corrupt as to receive a holy ordinance of the Gospel from the ministers of any of these apostate churches will be sent down to hell with them, unless they repent” (Orson Pratt, The Seer, p. 255).
The Mall
“After a while the gentiles will gather to this place by the thousands and Salt Lake will be classified among the wicked cities of the world. A spirit of speculation and extravagance will take possession of the saints, and the result will be financial bondage” (Amanda Wilcox records, BYU. See also Prophecies of the Latter Days, p.86 compiled by Ogden Kraut).
“He [Brigham Young] conversed freely on the situation of the saints in the mountains, and said that he dreaded the time when the saints would become popular with the world; for he had seen in sorrow, in a dream, or in dreams, this people clothed in the fashions of Babylon and drinking in the spirit of Babylon until one could hardly tell a saint from a black leg…Many of this people for the sake of riches and popularity will sell themselves for that which will canker their souls and lead them down to misery and despair” (Mosiah Hancock Journal, p.73).
“[Y]ou will travel west until you come to the valley of the Great Salt Lake… you will live to see men rise in power in the church who will seek to put down your friends and the friends of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Many will be hoisted because of their money and the worldly learning which they seem to be in possession of; and many who are the true followers of our Lord and Savior will be cast down because of their poverty” (Mosiah Hancock Journal, p.19).
Salt Lake City is the vainest city according to Forbes.
Church Leaders Living Off The Church = Church Apostasy
“I say unto you that as I have been suffered to spend my days in your service, even up to this time, and have not sought gold nor silver nor any manner of riches of you… And even I, myself, have labored with mine own hands that I might serve you, and that ye should not be laden with taxes [tithing], and that there should nothing come upon you which was grievous to be borne and of all these things which I have spoken, ye yourselves are witnesses this day” (Mosiah 2:12, 14. emphasis added).
These verses have often been quoted by latter-day prophets (especially Joseph Smith) to express that true prophets and servants of God do NOT live off the people, but labor with their own hands for their own living.
Here are more scriptures that condemn Monson and the other wealthy boys at the top who live off of tithing (emphasis added):
Mosiah 18: 24 –And he also commanded them that the priests whom he had ordained should labor with their own hands for their support.
Alma 30: 32 –Now Alma said unto him: Thou knowest that we do not glut ourselves upon the labors of this people; for behold I have labored even from the commencement of the reign of the judges until now, with mine own hands for my support, notwithstanding my many travels round about the land to declare the word of God unto my people.
Mosiah 27: 5 –Yea, and all their priests and teachers should labor with their own hands for their support, in all cases save it were in sickness, or in much want; and doing these things, they did abound in the grace of God.
Alma 1 tells the story of Nehor, an evil man who was “an instrument of the Devil” and was condemned to death by Alma for doing what President Monson does today…
Alma 1:3, 5 –And he [Nehor] had gone about among the people, preaching to them that which he termed to be the word of God, bearing down against the church; declaring unto the people that every priest and teacher ought to become popular; and they ought not to labor with their hands, but that they ought to be supported by the people.
And it came to pass that he [Nehor] did teach these things so much that many did believe on his words, even so many that they began to support him and give him money.
And he began to be lifted up in the pride of his heart, and to wear very costly apparel, yea, and even began to establish a church after the manner of his preaching.
For the sin of living off of the church members, Alma, God’s Prophet, condemned Nehor to death.
1 Cor. 9:18 What is my reward then? Verily that, when I preach the gospel, I may make the gospel of Christ without charge, that I abuse not my power in the gospel.
Why does the church want to look Christian? A “Christian church” is an apostate church
“It has become somewhat of a commonplace to observe that modern Mormonism tends to reduce itself to another Protestant sect, another Christian heresy, while the religion of Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, Parley and Orson Pratt and other leading early Mormons was a far more radical swerve away from Protestant tradition” (The Annual David P. Gardner Lecture, Kingsbury Hall, University of Utah, November 15, 1990).
“Christianity… is a perfect pack of nonsense… the devil could not invent a better engine to spread his work than the Christianity of the nineteenth century” (John Taylor, JoD. 6:167).
“But as there has been no Christian Church on the earth for a great many centuries past, until the present century, the people have lost sight of the pattern that God has given according to which the Christian Church should be established, and they have denominated a great variety of people Christian Churches, because they profess to be …But there has been a long apostasy, during which the nations have been cursed with apostate churches in great abundance” (Orson Pratt, JoD. 18:172).
“Both Catholics and Protestants are nothing less than the ‘whore of Babylon’ whom the Lord denounces by the mouth of John the Revelator as having corrupted all the earth by their fornications and wickedness. Any person who shall be so corrupt as to receive a holy ordinance of the Gospel from the ministers of any of these apostate churches will be sent down to hell with them, unless they repent” (Orson Pratt, The Seer, p. 255).
“Should you ask why we differ from other Christians, as they are called, it is simply because they are not Christians as the New Testament defines Christianity” ( Brigham Young, JoD. 10:230).
“And who is there that acknowledges [God’s] hand? …You may wander east, west, north, and south, and you cannot find it in any church or government on the earth, except the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints” (Brigham Young, JoD. 6:24).
“The Christian world, so-called, are heathens as to the knowledge of the salvation of God” (Brigham Young, JoD. 8:171).
“With a regard to true theology, a more ignorant people never lived than the present so-called Christian world” (Brigham Young, JoD. 8:199).
“After the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was organized, there were only two churches upon the earth. They were known respectively as the Church of the Lamb of God and Babylon. The various organizations which are called churches throughout Christendom, though differing in their creeds and organizations, have one common origin. They all belong to Babylon” (George Q. Cannon, Gospel Truth, p.324).
“The Gospel of modern Christendom shuts up the Lord, and stops all communication with Him. I want nothing to do with such a Gospel, I would rather prefer the Gospel of the dark ages, so called” (President Wilford Woodruff, JoD. 2:196).
Apostate churches have no common consent
“In the middle of the sixth century, Justinian I assumed control of the Church as part of his empire, and took from the people their right of ‘common consent’ in local matters within the Church; declared that only the clergy should have a voice in the affairs of the Church, and said further that the only voice the clergy could have was to accept and ratify the acts of the emperor in the direction of religious matters. If they refused to comply, they would be banished” (Mark E. Petersen, Which Church is Right? [missionary tract]).