James White has just put out his latest video titled, “The Changing World of Mormonism,” in which he attacks or criticizes the Church, accusing them of changing their beliefs and doctrines. At around 14:45 minutes into the video he continues as follows (skipping some digressions in the interest of brevity):
“This is a book called … Mormon Doctrine by Bruce R. McConkie and … it is organized alphabetically: so here is: ‘justice,’ ‘King James Version of the Bible,’ ‘Melchizedek Priesthood,’ ‘plural marriage,’ ‘plurality of gods,’ ‘righteousness,’ ‘70s,’ ‘solemnity,’ ‘slothfulness,’ ‘spirit world,’ … so anything you want to look up — Bruce R. McConkie was one of the 12 Apostles. And if you are really going to believe LDS teaching, then he has the same level of authority as a Paul, or a Peter (now you know, they might argue about First Presidencies, and stuff like that I suppose — there is certainly nothing about that in the New Testament). But anyway, here is an Apostle of Jesus Christ, he writes a book called Mormon Doctrine — now one of the things I remember when I first started dealing with Mormonism, and that was the first subject that — I mean that is why Alpha & Omega was started. When Alpha & Omega Ministries was started, we had one goal, and that was to reach out to the LDS people. And we … started going out to the Easter pageant early on, started going to Salt Lake City early on … anyway, and so here was McConkie, and here was clarity of expression, authority — at least when you are dealing with them — at least you are dealing with the Mormons … there was clarity in dealing with Mormonism at that time. And I remember shortly after he died — I forget what year that was, I should have looked it up; but shortly after he died, Bruce R. McConkie, I started running into missionaries who would disagree with what he had said; or said, ‘We don’t really know about that.’ ‘Well, Apostle McConkie said!’ ‘Well, but he is just an apostle!’ And I was like, ‘Wow, that was fast! How did that happen?’”
He has got all of that badly wrong! Bruce R. McConkie published his book, Mormon Doctrine, in 1958, long before he was called to be an Apostle in 1972; and his book was heavily criticized and objected to by the leadership of the Church soon after it was published, and long before he was called to be an Apostle. The following quote is from an article I found on Wikipedia about his book:
“Church leaders were surprised by its publication since he had not asked permission, and was not asked to develop such a work. They responded that while they applauded the attempt of the book to fill a need, it used a harsh tone. Apostle Mark E. Petersen said it was ‘full of errors and misstatements, and it is most unfortunate that it has received such wide circulation.’
“On January 5, 1959, apostle Marion G. Romney was assigned by church president David O. McKay to read and report on the book. His report was delivered on January 28, which mainly ‘dealt with Elder McConkie’s usage of forceful, blunt language; some strongly worded statements about ambiguous doctrine and matters of opinion; and the overall authoritative tone throughout the book, though in general Romney had a high regard for Mormon Doctrine and felt it filled an evident need remarkably well.’ The report concluded that ‘notwithstanding its many commendable and valuable features and the author’s assumption of ‘sole and full responsibility’ for it, its nature and scope and the authoritative tone of the style in which it is written pose the question as to the propriety of the author’s attempting such a project without assignment and supervision from him whose right and responsibility it is to speak for the church on ‘Mormon Doctrine’.’
“Petersen ‘gave McKay an oral report in which he recommended 1,067 corrections’ to the book.
“Nearly a year later, after meeting to discuss the book, the January 8, 1960 office notes of McKay reflect:
“‘We [the First Presidency of the church] decided that Bruce R. McConkie’s book, Mormon Doctrine recently published by Bookcraft Company, must not be re-published, as it is full of errors and misstatements, and it is most unfortunate that it has received such wide circulation. It is reported to us that Brother McConkie has made corrections to his book, and is now preparing another edition. We decided this morning that we do not want him to publish another edition.’
“McKay called Joseph Fielding Smith on January 27, 1960, to inform him of the decision to ban further publication of the book:
“[McKay] then said: ‘Now, Brother Smith, he is a General Authority, and we do not want to give him a public rebuke that would be embarrassing to him and lessen his influence with the members of the Church, so we shall speak to the Twelve at our meeting in the temple tomorrow, and tell them that Brother McConkie’s book is not approved as an authoritative book, and that it should not be republished, even if the errors ... are corrected.’ Brother Smith agreed with this suggestion to report to the Twelve, and said, ‘That is the best thing to do.’” Link
All of that happened long before Bruce R. McConkie was called to be an Apostle in the Church. James White then continues with his criticism as follows:
“And when I was grabbing these books today, I thought you know, when we used to go up Salt Lake City to the General Conference, we would go to the LDS bookstore in downtown Salt Lake City, because it was huge. I think it had two levels, if I recall correctly … but the section where they had the doctrinals, that was huge, it was massive and … I was up there a few years ago, and … I walk in, it is a third of the size it once was and … the book section was embarrassing, absolutely embarrassing. But one thing I noted: Nothing by Bruce R. McConkie — well there is no Mormon Doctrine by Bruce R. McConkie … so I looked up today before the program started, I looked up … and interestingly enough, I ran across a quote Sandra Tanner was interviewed, when the announcement was made that they were taking the book out of print, and Sandra said the following: ‘I believe the main reason McConkie’s Mormon Doctrine was taken out of print was due to its candid discussion of LDS doctrines that the church is now trying to hide …’ If the LDS Church felt Mormon Doctrine presented a faulty compilation of their doctrines, why haven’t they issued an authorized compendium of their beliefs?”
The answer to that is that they have. It is called the Standard Works, the name we commonly give to the scriptural canon of the Church, consisting of The Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price. That constitutes the scriptural canon of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. That is where the theology and doctrine of the Church is enshrined. That has been the general consensus of the inspired leadership of the Church:
“It makes no difference what is written or what anyone has said; if what has been said is in conflict with what the Lord has revealed, we can set it aside. My words, and the teachings of any other member of the Church, high or low, if they do not square with the revelations, we need not accept them. Let us have this matter clear. We have accepted the four standard works as the measuring yardsticks, or balances, by which we measure every man’s doctrine.
“You cannot accept the books written by the authorities of the Church as standards in doctrine, only in so far as they accord with the revealed word in the standard works.” (Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, 3:203–4.)
“If anyone, regardless of his position in the Church, were to advance a doctrine that is not substantiated by the standard Church works, meaning the Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price, you may know that his statement is merely his private opinion. The only one authorized to bring forth any new doctrine is the President of the Church, who, when he does, will declare it as revelation from God, and it will be so accepted by the Council of the Twelve, and sustained by the body of the Church. And if any man speak a doctrine which contradicts what is in the standard Church works, you may know by that same token that it is false, and you are not bound to accept it as truth.” (Harold B. Lee, European Area Conference of the Church, Munich, Germany, 1973.)
“If it is not in the standard works, we may well assume that it is speculation, man’s own personal opinion; and if it contradicts what is in the scripture, it is not true. This is the standard by which we measure all truth.” (Harold B. Lee, 11th President, Improvement Era, January 1969, p. 13.)
“The Church has confined the sources of doctrine by which it is willing to be bound before the world to the things that God has revealed, and which the Church has officially accepted, and those alone. These would include the Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, the Pearl of Great Price. These have been repeatedly accepted and endorsed by the Church in general conference assembled, and are the only sources of absolute appeal for our doctrine.” (B. H. Roberts, Deseret News (July 24, 1921) sec. 4:7.)
“I do not wish any Latter-day Saint in this world … to be satisfied with anything I do [or say], unless the Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ, the spirit of revelation, makes them satisfied … Suppose that the people were heedless, that they manifested no concern with regard to the things of the kingdom of God, but threw the whole burden upon the leaders of the people, saying, ‘If the brethren who take charge of matters are satisfied, we are,’ this is not pleasing in the sight of the Lord.” (Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, 3:5.).
And from the prophet Joseph Smith himself we have the following interesting quotes:
“I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book.” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, comp. Joseph Fielding Smith, Deseret Book, 1976. p. 194)
“Take away the Book of Mormon and the revelations, and where is our religion? We have none.” (p. 71)
So the bottom line is that the scriptural canon of the Church, the Standard Works, is the ultimate, authoritative source of Church doctrine. Anything that deviates from that, regardless of its source, is not Church doctrine. The Church does indeed have the power and authority to receive revelation, and add to the scriptural canon; but until it does, the existing canon remains the ultimate, unique, and authoritative source of LDS theology and doctrine. James White then continues his criticism as follows:
“Mormons often say to me, ‘That is not official Doctrine,’ as though there was some place to look up the official teachings. Where is the official systematic theology of Mormonism? You would think with the constant claim on the part of the Church to Latter-day revelation, that you would have a clear and consistent statement, an inspired Systematic Theology.”
Where is the official, “inspired Systematic Theology” of Protestantism? I don’t know of any. In Protestantism, it is all about sola scriptura; but when it comes to Mormonism, it has to be an “inspired Systematic Theology!” Notice the double standards! Go figure! He then continues as follows:
“It is sort of like when Rome says, ‘Well, we get to interpret what the Bible teaches.’ Well, you have had two thousand years to do it now, according to your own perspectives, where is the inspired commentary? Well there is none, there can’t be. And so the same thing is true in regards to Mormonism. And yet here you had a man … and alleged Apostle of Jesus Christ, and within just a few years of his death, his book outlining what the LDS church teaches is taken out of print. And I would say the vast majority of Mormon missionaries going door to door this day have probably never even seen it, let alone read it, let alone would they necessarily agree with it. What does that tell you? Tells you a lot! It tells you that Mormonism is changing; and the speed with which it is changing is truly amazing …”
The answer was given above. The theology and doctrine of the restored Church of Jesus Christ is enshrined in its scriptural canon — the Standard Works. That is the ultimate source of LDS theology and doctrine. Anything that deviates from that, regardless of its origin, is not Church doctrine. It is true that in earlier days, some Church leaders were prone to engage in speculation about Church doctrine, which was not the right thing to do, and shouldn’t have been done. Man is prone to error. The early Apostles in the days of Jesus were not faultless either. But the lessons have been learnt, and those kinds of errors and speculations about doctrine are rare among the leadership of the Church nowadays. Bruce R. McConkie was one of those speculators; who wrote his book, Mormon Doctrine, long before he was ordained an Apostle; and which was disapproved of and rejected by the leadership of the Church at the time, long before he was called to be an Apostle. So James White has got it all badly wrong I am afraid, and demonstrated his bias and prejudice again as usual. And notice that in his criticisms, he never quotes directly from LDS scripture, which is the ultimate source of LDS theology and doctrine.
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