Defending Contending presents the top five teachings from Mormon “prophet” Brigham Young that Mormons desperately try to conceal from you and even their own members:
#5.) Polygamy: “The only men who become Gods, even the Sons of God, are those who enter into polygamy.” (Journal of Discourse, Volume 11, Page 269, 1866)
#4.) Adam is God: “Now hear it, O inhabitants of the earth, Jew and Gentile, Saint and sinner! When our father Adam came into the garden of Eden, he came into it with a celestial body, and brought Eve, one of his wives, with him. He helped to make and organize this world. He is MICHAEL, the archangel, the ANCIENT OF DAYS! About whom holy men have written and spoken—HE is our FATHER and our GOD, and the only God with whom WE have to do. Every man upon the earth, professing Christians or non-professing, must hear it, and will know it sooner or later.” (Journal of Discourse, Volume 1, Page 50, 1852, and The Millennial Star, Volume 15, Page 769)
#3.) Men on the moon and sun: “Who can tell us of the inhabitants of this little planet that shines of an evening, called the moon? When we view its face we may see what is termed “the man in the moon,” and what some philosophers declare are the shadows of mountains. But these sayings are very vague, and amount to nothing; and when you inquire about the inhabitants of that sphere you find that the most learned are as ignorant in regard to them as the most ignorant of their fellows. So it is with regard to the inhabitants of the sun. Do you think it is inhabited? I rather think it is. Do you think there is any life there? No question of it; it was not made in vain.” (Journal of Discourses,Volume 13, Page 271, 1870)
#2.) Blood Atonement: “Now take a person in this congregation who has knowledge with regard to being saved in the kingdom . . . and suppose that he is overtaken in a gross fault, that he has committed a sin that he knows will deprive him of that exaltation which he desires, and he cannot attain to it without the shedding of his blood, and also knows that by having his blood shed he will atone for that sin, and be saved and exalted with the Gods, is there a man or woman in this house but what would say, “shed my blood that I may be saved and exalted with the Gods?” All mankind love themselves, and let these principles be known by an individual, and he would be glad to have his blood shed. That would be loving themselves, even unto an eternal exaltation. Will you love your brothers or sisters likewise, when they have committed a sin that cannot be atoned for without the shedding of their blood? Will you love that man or woman well enough to shed their blood?” (Journal of Discourse, Volume 4, Page 219, 1857)
#1.) The Black Race is Cursed: “You see some classes of the human family that are black, uncouth, uncomely, disagreeable, and low in their habits, wild, and seemingly deprived of nearly all the blessings of the intelligence that is generally bestowed upon mankind. . . . Cain slew his brother. Cain might have been killed, and that would have put a termination to that line of human beings. This was not to be, and the Lord put a mark upon him, which is the flat nose and black skin.” (Journal of Discourses, Volume 7, Page 291, 1859)
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I will commence by saying to the Latter-day Saints and to all the inhabitants of the earth that I am responsible for the doctrine I teach; but I am not responsible for the obedience of the people to that doctrine. (Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, Volume 13, Page 1)
I have never yet preached a sermon and sent it out to the children of men, that they may not call Scripture. Let me have the privilege of correcting a sermon, and it is as good Scripture as they deserve. The people have the oracles of God continually. (Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, Volume 13, Page 95)
I am here to give this people, called Latter-day Saints, counsel to direct them in the path of life . . . . If there is an elder here, or any member of this Church, called the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, who can bring up the first idea, the first sentence that I have delivered to the people as counsel that is wrong, I really wish they would do it; but they cannot do it, for the simple reason that I have never given counsel that is wrong; that is the reason. (Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, Volume 16, Page 161)
You forgot to include how he loved his wives so much that he would put a javelin through the chest of any of them that cheated on him. If that don’t spell love, I don’t know what does
Of course, they’ll come back with their usual “It was never official doctrine, blah blah blah,” because it didn’t find it’s way into the D&C, or BOM. Even though these things were taught for nearly a hundred years by every Mormon apostle/prophet. It’s gotten to the point now that even Mormons don’t know what the Mormon church teaches.
Fourpointer:
It was very difficult for me to just select one Blood Atonement quote. However, just for you, (because I take requests) I’ll include the javelin quote here:
“Suppose you found your brother in bed with your wife, and put a javelin through both of them, you would be justified, and they would atone for their sins and be received into the kingdom of God. I would at once do so in such a case; and under such circumstances, I have no wife whom I love so well that I would not put a javelin through her heart, and I would do it with clean hands. . . . If the Lord so ordered it that they are not caught in the act of their iniquity, it is pretty good proof that He is willing for them to live; and I say let them live and suffer in the flesh for their sins, for they will have it to do. There is not a man or woman who violates the covenants made with their God, that will not be required to pay the debt. The blood of Christ will never wipe that out, your own blood must atone for it . . . ”
(Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, 3:247)
Brigham was giving a hypothetical (non-existent) situation to illustrate the need to have mercy upon sinners. When he says, “suppose,” you can put the word suppose in front of each clause. In other words, “suppose you found your brother…suppose you put a javelin…suppose you would be justified,” etc. He’s saying that if such a non-existent situation existed, he could do it because he keeps his covenants, and is clean, but those who don’t keep their covenants had better beware how they judge people.
As far as the transgressor atoning for their own sins, he is referring to the unrepentant, which have no claim on the mercies of Christ, which are only available to those who repent of their sins. This is the meaning of this passage. Here is the full text of the quote:
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A few of the men and women who go into the house of the Lord, and receive their endowments, and in the most sacred manner make covenants before the Almighty, go and violate those covenants. Do I have compassion on them? Yes, I do have mercy on them, for there is something in their, organization which they do not understand; and there are but few in this congregation who do understand it.
You say, “That man ought to die for transgressing the law of God.” Let me suppose a case. Suppose you found your brother in bed with your wife, and put a javelin through both of them, you would be justified, and they would atone for their sins, and be received into the kingdom of God. I would at once do so in such a case; and under such circumstances, I have no wife whom I love so well that I would not put a javelin through her heart, and I would do it with clean hands. But you who trifle with your covenants, be careful lest in judging you will be judged.
Every man and women has got to have clean hands and a pure heart, to execute judgment, else they had better let the matter alone.
Again, suppose the parties are not caught in their iniquity, and it passes along unnoticed, shall I have compassion on them? Yes, I will have compassion on them, for transgressions of the nature already named, or for those of any other description. If the Lord so order it that they are not caught in the act of their iniquity, it is pretty good proof that He is willing for them to live; and I say let them live and suffer in the flesh for their sins, for they will have it to do.
There is not a man or woman, who violates the covenants made with their God, that will not be required to pay the debt. The blood of Christ will never wipe that out, your own blood must atone for it; and the judgments of the Almighty will come, sooner or later, and every man and woman will have to atone for breaking their covenants. To what degree? Will they have to go to hell? They are in hell enough now. I do not wish them in a greater hell, when their consciences condemn them all the time. Let compassion reign in our bosoms. Try to comprehend how weak we are, how we are organized, how the spirit and the flesh are continually at war.
I believe the doctrine of atonement is found in many places, by both Young and Joseph Smith: Journal of Discourses Vol. 3, p. 243-249, Vol. 4, p. 51-57, Vol. 4, p. 215-221, and Doctrines of Salvation by Joseph Smith, Vol. I p. 135.
I have another quote that could have made the top 5:
Brigham Young compared his sermons with scripture.
“I know just as well what to teach this people and just what to say to them and what to do in order to bring them into the celestial kingdom…I have never yet preached a sermon and sent it out to the children of men, that they may not call Scripture. Let me have the privilege of correcting a sermon, and it is as good Scripture as they deserve. The people have the oracles of God continually.” (Journal of Discourses, Vol. 13, p. 95.)
Good post,
Bill
Thanks Bill.
I have that quote too. I’ve been researching and compiling LDS teachings for a few years now. There’s not too many quotes out there that I am not familiar with.
I just wish more Mormons would take the time to study their own organization’s teachings.
Anarchist,
Sorry, the “hypothetical” argument doesn’t wash. Because BY is telling us how he WOULD respond given the situation. He’s saying that if he caught his wife in bed with another man, he would love her enough to kill her, and have clean hands.
fourpointer, the key to understanding Young’s words in the quote in question are the following: “Let me SUPPOSE a case. SUPPOSE you found your brother in bed with your wife, and put a javelin through both of them, YOU WOULD BE JUSTIFIED, and THEY WOULD ATONE FOR THEIR SINS, and BE RECEIVED INTO THE KINGDOM OF GOD. I would at once do so IN SUCH A CASE; and UNDER SUCH CIRCUMSTANCES,” The hypothetical situation is non-existent. You cannot die in your sins (adultery, even) and expect that your death would atone for your sins and that you’ll be received into the kingdom of God. So the entire sentence is the same as if Brigham Young said, “Suppose you found your brother in bed with your wife, and suppose you put a javelin through both of them, and suppose you would be justified, and suppose they would atone for their sins, and suppose they would be received into the kingdom of God.” The whole thing is a supposition that doesn’t exist in the real world. But Young is using it as an example to teach that if such a thing did occur and these sinners were, as the supposition goes, received into the kingdom of God, he would be able to do it, because he is clean. He is not saying that if he found his wife in bed with another man, that he would put a javelin in his heart, he’s saying that if the law were such as this situation and circumstances (with all the suppositions) and that these people would be saved, he would be able to comply with the law because he keeps his covenants and is clean. Even though undoubtedly the quote isn’t verbatim, unless the speech was written before and then read and archived, it is sufficiently clear to understand what he was attempting to say. To say other than this is to take the quote out of its context and to deny the rules of plain English. So, Pilgrim should strike this one from his list, as it doesn’t hold up to scrutiny. (I haven’t looked at the others.)
Well, Anarchist, your argument (besides being very creative) will necessitate me to include a post of all of BY’s teachings (doctrines) on Blood Atonement. Your slick manuevering around the issue will not help you to escape the fact that he taught Blood Atonement.
Keep checking back as I will post this in the near future and we can then let the undecided and uninfluenced (and unindoctrinated) read his quotes and come to their own conclusions.
Anarchist,
The “hypothetical” argument still doesn’t hold up. Because, in the fifth paragraph you posted in your first reply, Young says that “There is not a man or woman, who violates the covenants made with their God, that will not be required to pay the debt. The blood of Christ will never wipe that out, your own blood must atone for it.” Therefore, Young is saying that there are certain sins that Jesus’ blood doesn’t atone for, (This, of course, is a heresy. The only unpardonable sin is blaspheming the Holy Spirit.) and that you must love a person enough to shed their blood.
This is especially evident when coupled with this quote from Young (included in the quote Pilgrim used in his post): “Will you love your brothers or sisters likewise, when they have committed a sin that cannot be atoned for without the sheding of their blood? Will you love that man or woman well enough to shed their blood?” So, it is obvious when you take these quotes together that Brigham Young was saying that in order to truly “love thy neighbor,” that if they have committed a sin which Jesus’ blood won’t atone for (again, heresy) you must be willing to kill them, and spill their blood, so they may atone for their own sins.
Pilgrim, yes, please post all the references to blood atonement. No need to post the actual text, just the volume and page number of each speech that talked about it. You’ve peaked my curiosity and I wish to look over what he says about it. Just a casual perusal done today makes me think that Brigham was attempting to justify the use of the death penalty in the scriptures with the gospel of Jesus Christ. It almost sounds like a pet theory.
Hey Anarchist, here’s the post: http://reformationnation.wordpress.com/2007/11/08/the-mormon-doctrine-of-blood-atonement-from-the-mouth-of-brigham-young/
Hey Anarchist, I haven’t seen you around in a while. The info you requested has been posted.
The Mormon teachings of Blood Atonement:
Part One
Part Two
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