Teaching for Doctrines the Commandments of Men: Tradition in Modern Mormonism

This book does a marvelous job of examining the restoration by Joseph Smith to see if the LDS church embodies those same principles. Is it possible that a church led by a prophet and apostles could have drifted from the foundation principles. Here are a few quotes from the book:Apostasy does not require the wholesale abandonment of truth. Instead, it merely requires slow, small corruptions to the truths delivered through a dispensation head. “Apostasy never came by renouncing the gospel, but always by corrupting it.” (Hugh Nibley, Temples and Cosmos, pg. 395.) [p. 55][Apostasy] Interestingly, the church has a very different private definition. The church’s private handbook distributed only to leaders states:As used here apostasy refers to members who: Repeatedly act in clear, open and deliberate public opposition to the Church or its leaders. Persist in teaching as Church doctrine information that is not Church doctrine after they have been corrected by their bishop or a higher authority. Continue to follow the teachings of apostate sects (such as those that advocate plural marriage) after being corrected by their bishop or a higher authority. Formally join another church and advocate its teachings. (Handbook 1: 2010.) [P. 172]One can never be righteously charged with apostasy for quoting God’s word, no matter who it implicates. [p. 174]We could likewise analyze Stephen, Paul, Jeremiah, Zacharias, Isaiah, and many others who were cast out by the religious leaders of their day for “apostasy.” In the case of each of these men, the charges of apostasy exactly match the church’s second (secret) definition of apostasy. There isn’t a single example in scripture of that definition being used righteously, only to condemn true messengers from God. [p. 175]. . . And I know that ye do walk in the pride of your hearts; and there are none save a few only who do not lift themselves up in the pride of their hearts, unto the wearing of very fine apparel, unto envying, and strifes, and malice, and persecutions, and all manner of iniquities; and your churches, yea, even every one, have become polluted because of the pride of your hearts. For behold, ye do love money, and your substance, and your fine apparel, and the adorning of your churches, more than ye love the poor and the needy, the sick and the afflicted. O ye pollutions, ye hypocrites, ye teachers, who sell yourselves for that which will canker, why have ye polluted the holy church of God? Why are ye ashamed to take upon you the name of Christ? Why do ye not think that greater is the value of an endless happiness than that misery which never dies—because of the praise of the world? Why do ye adorn yourselves with that which hath no life, and yet suffer the hungry, and the needy, and the naked, and the sick and the afflicted to pass by you, and notice them not? Yea, why do ye build up your secret abominations to get gain, and cause that widows should mourn before the Lord, and also orphans to mourn before the Lord, and also the blood of their fathers and their husbands to cry unto the Lord from the ground, for vengeance upon your heads? Behold, the sword of vengeance hangeth over you; and the time soon cometh that he avengeth the blood of the saints upon you, for he will not suffer their cries any longer. (Mormon 8:25-41.) [p. 219]Prophets have described our day with precise clarity, and yet we ignore their call to repentance. We are surrounded by plain and abundant evidence that we are repeating the sins of the Pharisees, but we ignore it. We do so at the peril of our physical and spiritual wellbeing. [p. 220]Joseph F. Smith gave the following testimony under oath to Congress during the Reed Smoot hearings: “In the first place [the Apostles] were chosen by revelation. The council of the apostles have had a voice ever since in the selection of their successors….[They are] Chosen by the body, the twelve themselves, by and with the consent and approval of the first presidency.” When asked if there was any revelation in regard to the subsequent ones he replied, “No, sir; it has been the choice of the body.” The Senator then asked “Then the apostles are perpetuated in succession by their own act and the approval of the first presidency?” President Smith replied, “That is right.” The inescapable conclusion is that either the apostles (and subsequently, the church president) are not chosen by revelation, or a churchpresident lied while under oath to Congress. [p. 221-222]If church leaders had the word of God, quoting it would carry far more weight than justifying their decisions based on keys. Instead, keys are considered sufficient to promote leaders’ opinions over scripture—the same mistake made by the church leaders that precipitated the great apostasy. [p. 237]We should feel humbled to know that the prophet of the restoration—a man who knew God better than any of his contemporaries or successors—would openly invite rebuke. Given his willingness to be censured despite his accolades, what should we make of anyone who commands unquestioning servility?Joseph was not alone. Brigham Young taught that regular members had every right to correct errors in their leaders: [p. 335]We do not have to rely on Joseph, Brigham, or Paul for this principle. The Lord himself taught it plainly. He said that the inhabitants of Zion will judge the apostles and prophets to see who are liars and hypocrites:For it shall come to pass that the inhabitants of Zion shall judge all things pertaining to Zion. And liars and hypocrites shall be proved by them, and they who are not apostles and prophets shall be known. And even the bishop, who is a judge, and his counselors, if they are not faithful in their stewardships shall be condemned, and others shall be planted in their stead. (D&C 64:38-40.) [p. 336]That this responsibility is borne by normal members is underscored by the instructions the Lord provided for trying the president of the church for transgression: [D&C 107:82-84]The Lord put into the hands of normal members the ability to discipline the leadership of the church, a responsibility that necessarily requires the membership of the church to watch over the leaders and evaluate their conduct to ascertain whether it is in line with God’s will. Why would God give instructions on how normal members could remove a sitting church president for transgression if a) the president of the church cannot lead members astray and b) members are not meant to judge his execution of his office? [p. 335-6][Orson Pratt:]This failure to realize all the blessings and powers of the Priesthood does not apply to the elders and lesser Priesthood only; but it applies to the higher quorums, and comes home to ourselves, who are Apostles of Jesus Christ. We are presented before the Church, and sustained as prophets, seers and revelators, and we have received oftentimes the gift of prophecy and revelation, and have received many great and glorious gifts. But have we received the fullness of the blessings to which we are entitled? No, we have not. Who, among the Apostles have become seers, and enjoy all the gifts and powers pertaining to that calling? (Orson Pratt, JD 25:145.) [p. 366][Joseph Fielding Smith:]It is a very apparent fact that we have traveled far and wide in the past 20 years. What the future will bring I do not know. But if we drift as far afield from fundamental things in the next 20 years, what will be left of the foundation laid by the Prophet Joseph Smith? It is easy for one who observes to see how the apostasy came about in the primitive church of Christ. Are we not traveling the same road? (Joseph Fielding Smith Journal, 28 December 1938.) [p. 369]There are many additional witnesses that the church can be cut off. The Lord said in D&C 63: “let the church repent of their sins, and I, the Lord, will own them; otherwise they shall be cut off.” (D&C 63.) If it was the inalterable destiny of the LDS church to usher in the second coming of Christ, why would Christ himself tell them it was possible for them to be cut off? [p. 378]

I don't know what more I can say about this book than has already been said and written. Outside of the Book of Mormon and Doctrine and Covenants, it's probably the most important book I've ever read.For those of you who may be experiencing some anxiety about the ideas presented, let me tell you what happened to me. About 8 years ago I came across the idea that the events of the Book of Mormon actually took place in North America (commonly referred to as the Heartland Model). That idea immediately rang true for me as I could never reconcile why Moroni would need to walk 3,000 miles to bury the plates. That simple shift in thinking led me to search for Truth, no matter where it was found. The Capital-T truth, you see, has a narcotic effect. It fills your soul with light and peace and as the old adage states, it really will set you free. And you want more of it. So I spent the next 7 years searching for Truth (Remember: Satan's oldest and most poweful weapon is deception). I went through everything - nothing was off the table (mostly regarding secular events, human history, etc - rest assured we do live in the Matrix), but I hadn't even considered that my fundamental beliefs about my own religion needed to be examined.Sometime later I realized that if the BoM took place in North American, then there's no reference to Christopher Columbus in the BoM as Columbus never set foot in North America. I then I had to deal with the fact that Presidents Benson and Hinckley both identified Columbus as the man referenced in the BoM. If that's not true, then modern "prophets" can, in fact, be very, very, very wrong. This is OK.I then found Rock Waterman's Pure Mormonism blog and began to read. And read. And then read some more. The entire time I was thinking, "this man's speaking the truth. This is correct. It's all scripture-based." It was the first time I had to consider that all was very not well in Zion, even though I think on some subconscious level I already knew. Of course it created a fair bit of cognitive dissonance, but I had been prepared during the previous seven years. God had already begun clearing the cobwebs, opening my mind and heart, preparing me to receive higher and higher Truths - this has always been His way. Line upon line, precept upon precept.One night I sat at my desk reading and contemplating all this new information. I admit I was in a bit of emotional distress. I didn't know what to do with the information I had before me. Suddenly I was filled with the most uncomfortable burning sensation in my chest. I had never experienced anything like it. I imagine it was something like a panic or anxiety attach. It was so intense that I had to stand up and walk around and shake my hands. It last two or three hours. I was miserable. Then, as quickly as it came, it passed. I was perfectly fine. I can only conclude that my willingness to follow the Truth, no matter where it led me, caused God to literally, physically, burn out of me the incorrect traditions of my fathers. I felt a literal burden, a weight, fall of my shoulders. I had never felt more liberated. It's indescribable joy. And to this I will testify: I'm in a better place now than I've been in twenty+ years. I still have much to repent of, but I feel as though my relationships with God and Christ are, for the first time, existent (and I'm a 42 year old RM). I see the world in a new way. Light is more readily and easily perceived and received, regardless of the source, I view my fellow men and women with even more compassion and with a stronger desire to serve, as we are commanded. My scripture study is usually filled small revelations as I notice and understand things I hadn't noticed the previous twenty or thirty times I read it. It's really a remarkable thing. I take an hour long walk everyday and contemplate the Word of God and try to bring myself closer to Him.When Rock recommended "Teaching for Doctrines the Commandments of Men," I gladly downloaded it from Rob's website. I devoured it. Again, the entire time I thought, "Yes, this is correct. This teaching is correct. I believe this to be true. That makes sense." What I found is that my religion, as an institution, was in deep apostasy. And you know what? That was OK. It didn't bother me one bit because the Gospel, the Good News, is still very much alive and perfect. It's the Master who saves, who reveals, who comforts, who redeems. It's you and Him. And He is waiting.What I love about this book, which probably should be considered scripture since Rob proclaims God instructed him to write it, is that is 100% based on scripture and the original revelations, teachings and prophecies of Joseph Smith (which, sadly, have largely been discarded in modern Mormonism). There's no conjecture or "interpretation." Whether Rob writes about the Temple, the Restoration, Zion, "Living Prophets," or any other subject, the references are the scriptures - the revealed word of God in the Bible, the Book of Mormon, D&C, and though Joseph. I can guarantee you that if you read this book with open, curious mind, your understanding of Joseph's true mission (I can't believe how much I didn't know) and the true purposes of the Book of Mormon will be plainly revealed. And that's terribly exciting. The marvelous work and a wonder is still to come and I can only hope we'll be ready.In short, don't be afraid. The Truth will liberate you. There's a reason Jesus called himself "the way, the truth and the life." He is Truth. Don't rely on the arm of flesh. Flesh decays while God lives. His Son lives. The Book of Mormon is true. New Jerusalem will be built by a remnant of the Lamanites and the Savior will return. This I believe. Dedicate yourself to the Book of Mormon. Read with intent and humility and God will reveal new things to you. I know this because it's happened to me, despite my sins and multitude of imperfections.Thank you, Rob, for following God's instructions and writing this book.

I read this book years ago, but for reasons unknown never wrote a review. This is a fantastic book that goes to the heart of much of what is and has been going on in the LDS church. A must-read for any honest LDS person.

I was thoroughly disappointed with this poorly written and poorly researched book. The writing style (and poor grammer) is not easy on the eye, and became quite exasperating at times. The sources the author uses are often obscure and very selective. He will often ignore sources which contradict, or at least balance his position, and he appears to make a number of unsupported assumptions.This is a book written in order to support a predetermined position. There does need to be a book written on the subject of tradition in the Mormon faith. However, this isn't it. It is blatantly subjective, poorly researched, and very poorly written.