The Biblical prophets were Mormons

[Rivendale]

McConkie: Thus all of the ancient saints—all those from Adam to Noah, and from Noah to Abraham, and from Abraham to Moses, and from Moses to the coming of Jesus in the flesh—all of the truly faithful ones of old had the gospel. They were baptized and received the gift of the Holy Ghost; they were endowed with power from on high; they received the blessings of celestial marriage. The gospel is everlasting, and all men in all ages are saved by obedience to the same laws and the same ordinances.

Layers of unproven kookiness upon layers of unproven kookiness. McConkie is a now long-dead apostle who spouted a lot of undemonstrable opinions. Some of which got him into some fairly hot water. He has virtually no impact on today's Utah Mormonism.

The kookiness manifests in dangerous ways. Chad Daybell's Ward in Idaho apparently were all in on his ideas including closet portals. The church leaders appear to be paralyzed as to what to do with these people. Meanwhile people lose money, children get killed, and general conference focuses on proper garment etiquette.

[Alphus and Omegus]

I haven't discussed what's going on in church in a long time with active members. I'd be very surprised if this is on anybody's radar. Bruce R. is a good baseline for what Mormons believe(d), and I've never, ever heard about this. The parts about the patriarchs and multiple restorations and getting the temple covenants I think is standard enough. Hugh Nibley also taught that a lot.

But the way I remember it, that hit the wall with Moses. The children of Israel got the Aaronic priesthood and the lesser law, and that was the case until Jesus's mortal ministry. It's possible I never understood it correctly, if so, very interesting.

The statement from McConkie does square with the multiple restorations idea since he seems to be saying that there was a sort of esoteric Mormonism that was anciently practiced:

"all of the truly faithful ones of old had the gospel"

So the regular Hebrews had to live the law of Moses, but the "truly faithful" ones were secretly Mormons, which is also why there is no proof that they were Mormons.

[bill4long]

I haven't discussed what's going on in church in a long time with active members. I'd be very surprised if this is on anybody's radar. Bruce R. is a good baseline for what Mormons believe(d), and I've never, ever heard about this. The parts about the patriarchs and multiple restorations and getting the temple covenants I think is standard enough. Hugh Nibley also taught that a lot.

But the way I remember it, that hit the wall with Moses. The children of Israel got the Aaronic priesthood and the lesser law, and that was the case until Jesus's mortal ministry. It's possible I never understood it correctly, if so, very interesting.

The statement from McConkie does square with the multiple restorations idea since he seems to be saying that there was a sort of esoteric Mormonism that was anciently practiced:

"all of the truly faithful ones of old had the gospel"

So the regular Hebrews had to live the law of Moses, but the "truly faithful" ones were secretly Mormons, which is also why there is no proof that they were Mormons.

So the old Absence of Evidence is Proof of Evidence trick (or something like that.) Ah.

[Alphus and Omegus]

The statement from McConkie does square with the multiple restorations idea since he seems to be saying that there was a sort of esoteric Mormonism that was anciently practiced:

"all of the truly faithful ones of old had the gospel"

So the regular Hebrews had to live the law of Moses, but the "truly faithful" ones were secretly Mormons, which is also why there is no proof that they were Mormons.

So the old Absence of Evidence is Proof of Evidence trick (or something like that.) Ah.

Well there was no Israelite internet for people to post the temple ceremony videos on so you never know!! Maybe Solomon really was his local high priest group leader!

[Alphus and Omegus]

McConkie: Thus all of the ancient saints—all those from Adam to Noah, and from Noah to Abraham, and from Abraham to Moses, and from Moses to the coming of Jesus in the flesh—all of the truly faithful ones of old had the gospel. They were baptized and received the gift of the Holy Ghost; they were endowed with power from on high; they received the blessings of celestial marriage. The gospel is everlasting, and all men in all ages are saved by obedience to the same laws and the same ordinances.

Layers of unproven kookiness upon layers of unproven kookiness. McConkie is a now long-dead apostle who spouted a lot of undemonstrable opinions. Some of which got him into some fairly hot water. He has virtually no impact on today's Utah Mormonism.

McConkie's book is still revered by many TBM members, particularly those who are more intellectually inclined. I don't have contact with the current teachings but I would suspect that you are correct that the present-day church no longer is emphasizing these beliefs, even though it would not stop them from being taught in seminary or gospel doctrine.

[Philo Sofee]

Hello everyone, I've been busy on other projects, but I thought I would stop by to ask about a doctrine I've been thinking about recently.

In a 1985 speech to BYU students, Bruce R. McConkie related a doctrine which is one of the most distinct of classic Mormonism, but I wonder how common it is nowadays. According to McConkie, all of the ancient Biblical prophets were actually Mormons who were baptized and practiced celestial marriage:

Christ is the God of our Fathers. He is the God of Adam, and Enoch, and all of the saints who were before the flood. He is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, and of all the holy prophets. As Jacob the Nephite said,



Thus all of the ancient saints—all those from Adam to Noah, and from Noah to Abraham, and from Abraham to Moses, and from Moses to the coming of Jesus in the flesh—all of the truly faithful ones of old had the gospel. They were baptized and received the gift of the Holy Ghost; they were endowed with power from on high; they received the blessings of celestial marriage. The gospel is everlasting, and all men in all ages are saved by obedience to the same laws and the same ordinances.

Besides the historical claims about the Lehites and other Book of Mormon peoples, this belief is probably one of the most unique to Mormonism. It's also essential to its claim to be the "restored truth" from the ancient times.

I don't have much contact with Mormonism nowadays, so I'm wondering if this doctrine has faded into the background given that one can easily see what ancient Jews believed and that while there is plenty of evidence for Hebrew paganism, there is not any evidence for Christian beliefs, let alone Mormon ones.

Thanks for sharing this. It came in handy on my Live session in my responding to Dan McClellan.

[Moksha]

Historical Mormonism



As you can see the map shows the Appalachian Mountains (a place where many Mormons hail from), as well as all the related mountains that were formed when the continents of Laurasia and Gondwana crashed into each other creating the Central Pangean Mountains. While this happened in 335 M BCE and thus was before the organization of the LDS Church, nonetheless, the priesthood given to the Trilobites had preceded this mountain range. Adam was the head of this first dispensation.

[Moksha]

From the microscopic emergence of film-like deposits and oxygen release in the pre-Cambrian era to the Cambrian explosion where Mormonism was unleashed upon the world.



Trilobites holding a ward meeting
This was held with only the Trilobitic Priesthood present