Modern readers carry modern assumptions. That’s usually fine—until we bring modern racial categories into ancient scripture. Nothing illustrates this more than the Book of Mormon’s
It’s one of history’s more intriguing coincidences: long before he ever received gold plates or angelic visitations, young Joseph Smith was already familiar with the
Critics of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints love to grab stray lines from old sermons, inflate them to the level of scripture,
When Joseph Smith entered a quiet grove in the spring of 1820, he expected a simple answer to a simple question: Which church was right?
In today’s world, doubt is often praised as a virtue—a sign of intellectual honesty or emotional depth. But in the restored gospel of Jesus Christ,
The history of God’s dealings with His children is rarely simple. From Adam to the Restoration, the Lord has worked patiently through imperfect people, often
A Biblical Pattern of Growth Before Accountability Throughout scripture, God distinguishes between innocence and accountability. Moses described a time when children “had no knowledge between
When Joseph Smith wrote in the Eighth Article of Faith that “We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it
Few works of American religion have generated as much debate as the Book of Mormon. Published in 1830 by Joseph Smith, a young man from
The first-century Church, born in the fire of Pentecost and led by apostles who had walked with Jesus, was marked by unity, miracles, and missionary
For Latter-day Saints, the history of Christianity between the death of the New Testament apostles and the rise of imperial Christianity under Constantine is more
Learning Trust Early My grandparents drank coffee. I was raised in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and from a young age I
Among Latter-day Saints, a common phrase is that the Book of Mormon is “the most correct book” (Joseph Smith, History of the Church, 4:461). Unfortunately,
What Critics Say—and Why It Matters When people hear about “blood oaths” or dramatic gestures in early LDS temple ceremonies, critics often seize on them
The Book of Mormon begins in a very specific moment of Old Testament history: “in the commencement of the first year of the reign of
One of the most persistent critiques of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the claim that Joseph Smith borrowed from Freemasonry when
Among the most persistent debates in Christian history is the question of God’s nature. Is He one essence in three “persons,” as the creeds declare?
Among the many one-liners critics throw at Latter-day Saints, one of the most enduring is the idea that faithful members expect to “own their own
When Isaiah declares, “Before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me” (Isaiah 43:10) and “I am the LORD, and there
By now we’ve seen how Lucifer wasn’t required for God’s plan to work, and yet, by his own rebellion, he positioned himself as the opposition.
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