It just recently came to my attention that Rodney Quinn took the time to write a brief expose? last month (Aug. 23) regarding the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Unfortunately the piece contained many important factual errors and misconceptions regarding the history, doctrines, and character of the church.
I wrote to Mr. Quinn placing him in possession of the facts regarding what the church professes and what the Book of Mormon contains. He responded kindly to my emails. I thought it also prudent to mention for the benefit of those who are interested a few central tenets which he missed. I also refer readers to mormon.org on the web for more depth and detail.
Simply put, Joseph Smith, the founder and first president of the church, stated that, “The fundamental principles of our religion are … concerning Jesus Christ that He died was buried, and rose again the third day, and ascended into heaven; all other things which pertain to our religion are only appendages to it.” Latter-day Saints, as the members are called, also believe unequivocally that:
1. Jesus Christ is the savior of the world and the son of our loving Heavenly Father. 2. Christ’s atonement allows mankind to be saved from their sins and return to live with God and their families forever. 3. Christ’s original church as described in the New Testament has been restored in modern times.
Additionally the church teaches its members to love God and man, to be honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and to do good to all men. It encourages its adherents to abstain from addictive substances and behaviors. It expounds the virtue of open-mindedly embracing all truth from all sources. It preaches the doctrine that every person born into this world is a beloved child of God.
Whether as individuals we successfully incorporate these teachings into our public and family lives varies from member to member. We are as fallible as any other people. Yet we strive to live the standards of Christ which one of the prophets in the Book of Mormon described as “the manner of happiness.”
Marcus Hutchins
Southport
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