Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, pp. 89-90 “Not only are there apostates within our midst, but there are also apostate doctrines that are sometimes taught in our classes and from our pulpits and that appear in our publications. And these apostate precepts of men cause our people to stumble. As the Book of Mormon, speaking of our day, states: ‘They have all gone astray save it be a few, who are the humble followers of Christ; nevertheless, they are led, that in many instances they do err because they are taught by the precepts of men’ (2 Nephi 28:14).” — Ezra Taft Benson, 1988
Proverbs 26:23-26 “Burning lips and a wicked heart Are like a potsherd covered with silver dross. 24 He that hateth dissembleth with his lips, And layeth up deceit within him; 25 When he speaketh fair, believe him not: For there are seven abominations in his heart. 26 Whose hatred is covered by deceit, His wickedness shall be shewed before the whole congregation.”
It’s hard to believe anything in Mormonism would be considered apostate since they’re told what to say, how to say it, and when. Mr. Benson was obviously referring to those who ask questions like Michael Quinn, a BYU Professor pressured into resigning. No doubt Benson was also referring to others as well. Quinn and five other became known as the ‘September Six’ who were all tossed from the Church for questioning.
I know from personal experience those who question are led out of class, and spoken to outside earshot of other class members. Equally disturbing is how their leader manuals carry instructions for teachers not to introduce outside information, even if it’s historically correct.
Pray for those who are questioning to keep doing so, and for them to turn to Jesus!
With Love in Christ;
Michelle
The Bishopric will often have one of it’s members present in the classroom whenever a new Sunday School teacher conducts a class, especially if the Sunday School teacher is new to the ward or is a new member. The Bishopric have been instructed to do this in order to immediately stop anything being said by the teacher that is not in accordance with LDS doctrine. When I was a new member, my first calling was that of Sunday School teacher. I was teaching a Gospel Principles class. My first lesson was on the Creation. I was reciting scripture from Genesis, chapters 1 and 2. Anyway, I was stopped in the middle of my lesson by a man that was also a former Bishop. He stopped me because I mentioned that God had created all things. This is not in line with Mormon beliefs. They believe that God created things out of matter that already existed. In other words, God didn’t create space matter (rocks, elements, water etc), but rather used this already existing matter to create the earth.
The Old Sarge here for one more comment. A buddy of mine at the gym told me that his pastor told him that he had recently received a letter from the local Stake President regarding apostate members going to his church. There are apparently quite a few ex Mormons now in this church’s congregation. They even have meeting on Tuesday nights to discuss their transformations from the LDS church to this non-denominational Christian church. When he told me about this letter, I smiled. The church must be getting pretty esperate when a Stake president writes a pastor a letter expressing his concerns over apostate members leaving the fold