Letter to BYU Professor Eugene England, January 1981 “It is my province to teach to the Church what the doctrine is. It is your province to echo what I say or to remain silent.” — Bruce McConkie
Proverbs 12:17 “He that speaketh truth sheweth forth righteousness: But a false witness deceit.”
Oh, the province of power Bruce McConkie felt he had…
Here we are 38 yrs later and not much has changed in the Church from the time of Mr. McConkie’s scathing remarks. The reason this little blip on the radar got attention is because of who the players were in the drama.
At the time, Mr. England was an associate director of BYU’s honors program. The trouble came when he gave a talk to students comparing a lifelong education with the Mormon god who is progressing eternally. McConkie wasted no time shooting down the fiery darts of truth.
You can find today’s reference in a number of places online. We originally saw this in a clipart image on some random Pinterest post. After checking around I saw you can find detailed info in the book ‘The Mormon Delusion, Volume 3’ by Jim Whitefield. The link for the reference in the title comes from the Eugene England’s family website. And finally, another resource can be found in a Mormon Stories YouTube interview with Sandra Tanner.
Although quite lengthy (1 hr. 17 min), it provides info on the England letter, and other examples of how church authorities have made a habit of scurrying about in their zeal to squash opinions of anyone but themselves.
The only time we see this type of behavior is in autocratic societies. You won’t see this in Christianity because it’s not how the Bible tells us to live.
Jesus tells us there’s nothing hidden, and He also said men don’t light candles to put them under a bushel Mt. 5:15. Furthermore, everyone in the body of Christ is allowed to speak freely whenever they want because of the freedom we have in Him.
Ask the Mormon you know if they’re allowed to publicly voice their opinions on Church matters, and lovingly provide examples of the freedom you have in Him.
With Love in Christ;
Michelle
You gotta love this guy (McConkie), just for his chutzpah. I’m not gonna lie, I get a little excited to see what else this man has said.
BTW Michelle, you’re on fire tonight 😀 from your last post.
Oh my. Yeah that McConkie was a real winner. His comments are quite the contrast to what I’ve always been taught by pastors. Never have I heard a pastor say for us to take his word for things. I’ve always been told to compare what they say with God’s word and to never take what they say over what God has already said.
Moral men can make mistakes. He had a lot of nerve to expect people to be his echo chamber and never think for themselves, but that’s Mormonism for you. – Melissa Grimes
Yeah, no shame in his game, for sure.