Lds Conference Focuses on Mormonism's Christianity
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72-79_update.qxp 6/18/2007 4:17 PM Page 72 SUNSTONE UPDATE LDS CONFERENCE FOCUSES ON MORMONISM’S CHRISTIANITY JOSEPH SMITH, THE BOOK OF MORMON, AND THE Restoration were frequent themes at the Church’s April 2006 General Conference. Yet time and again, leaders reaffirmed that Mormons are Christians—indeed, that the LDS message is Christianity in its divine purity— making that message perhaps the conference’s dominant theme. During his Sunday morning address, President Gordon B. Hinckley criticized developments in Christianity leading to the First Council of Nicaea in 325 AD. “When a definition could not be reached, a compro- mise was made,” said Hinckley. “It came to be known as the Nicene Creed, and its basic elements are recited by LDS.ORG most of the Christian faithful. Personally, I cannot un- April conference attendees mill around the historic Mormon Tabernacle that derstand it. To me, the creed is confusing.” was rededicated following a two-year closure for upgrades and retrofitting. “Our knowledge comes directly from the personal ex- perience of Joseph Smith, who, while yet a boy, spoke with ered to hundreds of thousands of homes across the Wasatch God the Eternal Father and His Beloved Son, the Risen Lord,” Front (see story on facing page). said Pres. Hinckley. He listed the Atonement of Jesus Christ, Notable among other conference addresses was Apostle the restoration of the priesthood, and the restoration of temple Dallin H. Oaks’s counsel about divorce. “When a marriage is ordinances as some of the key elements of his faith. dead and beyond hope of resuscitation, it is needful to have a Elder L. Tom Perry of the Quorum of the Twelve echoed means to end it,” said Oaks. “We know that many of you are Pres. Hinckley’s message, listing the First Vision, the coming innocent victims—members whose former spouses persis- forth of the Book of Mormon, the restoration of the priest- tently betrayed sacred covenants or abandoned or refused to hood, and the establishment of the Church of Jesus Christ as perform marriage responsibilities for an extended period. milestones of the Restoration. Members who have experienced such abuse have firsthand “We invite all to listen to the message of the restored gospel knowledge of circumstances worse than divorce.” of Jesus Christ from us,” Perry concluded. “Then you can com- However, Oaks counseled couples with serious marriage pare the glorious message with what you may hear from problems to “not act hastily” and first talk with their bishop. others, and you can determine which is from God and which “As the Lord’s judge, he will give counsel and perhaps even is from man.” discipline that will lead toward healing,” he said. In contrast with this emphasis on Mormon distinctives, “Bishops do not counsel members to divorce, but they can Elder M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve, in an help members with the consequences of their decisions,” Oaks address about the Bible, reaffirmed LDS commonalities with added. “Under the law of the Lord, a marriage, like a human life, traditional Christianity. “Those who think that members of the is a precious, living thing. If our bodies are sick, we seek to heal Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints do not believe in them. We do not give up. While there is any prospect of life, we Jesus Christ or in the Bible should take time to understand the seek healing again and again. The same should be true of our Church, the significance of its name, and the power of its mes- marriages, and if we seek Him, the Lord will help us and heal us.” sage,” Ballard said. The conference was also marked by the rededication of the “I am puzzled by any who would question this Church’s be- historic Mormon Tabernacle, which had been closed since lief in the Bible and our position as Christians. In our last January 2005 for renovations and a seismic retrofit. Among the general conference, here in this building, our Church leaders upgrades, the stairs leading to the mezzanine were widened quoted from the Bible nearly 200 times. This Church is organ- and the old baptismal font was removed to make space for of- ized and functions like the Church that Christ and his apostles fices. The historic pine benches were replaced by replicas with established in the New Testament. Seated on the stand today more sloping backs and greater leg room. are the prophet and the apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ.” “Some of the old benches have been saved and will con- In a Salt Lake Tribune article about the conference, reporter tinue to be used,” said Pres. Hinckley prior to rededicating the Peggy Fletcher Stack wondered if the “‘we are Christian, too’ edifice on Saturday afternoon. “But as you’ve already discov- mantra” was a response to public commentary on Mitt ered,” he quipped, “the new benches are just as hard as the old Romney’s religion or to the anti-Mormon DVD recently deliv- ones were!” PAGE 72 JUNE 2007 72-79_update.qxp 6/18/2007 4:17 PM Page 73 SUNSTONE NEW ANTI-MORMON DVD delivered to some 300,000 homes in Utah, with 200,000 addi- SPARKS CONTROVERSY tional copies distributed across the U.S. and Canada. The video is a team effort by a broad coalition of evangelical CALL IT THE GODMAKERS FOR A NEW GENERATION. Christians including Utah Lighthouse Ministry co-founder Illustrated with PowerPoint-like graphics and hosted by actors Sandra Tanner, Baptist preacher Floyd C. McElveen, and cre- who seem to have stepped out of a television news show, an ationist crusader John C. Whitcomb. “The making of this DVD anti-Mormon DVD entitled Jesus Christ/Joseph Smith has been is an act of love and has been placed into your hands so that LDS CHURCH CALLS PBS DOCUMENTARY “A WELCOME CHANGE” THE TWO-PART, FOUR-HOUR DOCUMENTARY THE dents, and devout Mormons. The forty hours of film produced Mormons was aired on PBS stations across the country to were then cut down to four. “I heard so many extraordinary mostly favorable reviews. On 30 April, more Utahns tuned stories, it could have been six,” Whitney told the Tribune. to KUED and KBYU for the first On 27 March, the First Presidency sent a letter to all gen- episode of The Mormons than eral and local church leaders announcing the upcoming watched the Utah Jazz in a playoff broadcast. “Because it will address some issues that could be game. KUED drew nearly 115,000 considered controversial, the program will likely prompt Utah households, and KBYU drew questions from local leaders, members, and missionaries,” several thousand more. the First Presidency advised. The letter listed three points The LDS Church issued a state- bishops and other leaders could use in responding to ques- ment calling the documentary “a se- tions by local members: (1) The LDS Church did not pro- rious treatment of a serious subject” duce the film, (2) the Church cooperated with the pro- and “a welcome change.” Vince ducers, and (3) members who are interested can seek Horiuchi of the Salt Lake Tribune further information at WWW.LDS.ORG/NEWSROOM. called the documentary riveting and balanced, pointing out that DID YOU WATCH THE MORMONS ON PBS? “filmmaker Helen Whitney has combed through rapture and rants about the [LDS] CONSERVATIVE LIBERAL MORMON Church to get to the simple truths.” LDS MORMON scholar Terryl Givens called Whitney “an ex- ceptionally gifted filmmaker” who, for the most part, maintained “a good balance.” Scholar Jan Shipps was favorably im- pressed, although, along with Givens and others, she felt that Whitney lingered too long on polygamy and the Mountain Meadows Massacre. “The Church should be pleased with this documentary because it’s a lot better than Krakauer’s [book],” Shipps “We didn’t watch it—we had our “We watched it as our Family told The Deseret Morning News. “In many Family Home Evening.” Home Evening.” ways, it’s a lot better than many things written before the [2002 Utah] Olympics.” In an online interview published by the JACK MORMON FUNDAMENTALIST MORMON Washington Post, Whitney defended the inclu- sion of polygamy and the Mountain Meadows Massacre: “I spent considerable time in these two areas . because they are important in Mormon history and theology. Most people know very little about polygamy. They . are unaware that it was a spiritual principle of ut- most importance to Mormons.” According to a Salt Lake Tribune story, Whitney spoke with at least one thousand JEANETTE ATWOOD people, including scholars, historians, dissi- “We watched the Utah Jazz playoffs.” “What is PBS?” JUNE 2007 PAGE 73 72-79_update.qxp 6/18/2007 4:17 PM Page 74 SUNSTONE 60 MINUTES, TIME PUT ROMNEY’S This DVD, produced by BELIEFS IN THE SPOTLIGHT evangelical Christians as an “act of love,” has confused some Mormons who received it thinking it was from the LDS Church. you too can carefully examine the truth claims of the LDS Church,” the producers wrote at WWW.GOODNEWSFORLDS. ORG. “Just as we respect the right of Mormon missionaries to come to our doors and share what they believe to be true with us, we hope that members of the LDS Church will respect our right to come to your door through this medium and share with you what we have found to be true.” According to a Deseret Morning News story, the disk’s cover depicting Christ on the cross, Joseph Smith, and the Salt Lake Temple led some recipients to believe the DVD was produced by the LDS Church.