The LDS’ 84,000 Endorsements of the Journal of Discourses

16 December

James 1:8 ‘A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.’

Journals1 People are funny. Some will say one thing when professing just the opposite. Such is the case we have here today with the Mormon Church and their 26 volumes of discourses and lectures; the Journal of Discourses. While retrieving info for an update on some info on our Journal of Discourses page, I came across an interesting article on MormonThink.com who provided the following information on the Journal of Discourses –

“If the Journal of Discourses are currently relegated to the status of not-very-important as the entry from the source above notes, why has it been used so many times of the years by the Church in its official publications? Not only publications, but over the pulpit in General Conferences. A search just of General Conferences from 1971-2013 returned 84,000 hits.”

Why has the Church quoted from the journals 84,000 times at their General Conferences, and at the same time told members they shouldn’t put a lot of stock into what the journals say?!? It sounds as if the staff at Mormon Think have had the same thoughts go through their heads as we have here.

In our original publication, Mormons Love Hate Relationship with the Journal of Discourses, we listed a handful of quotes that were clear endorsements of  the journals. Today’s post is an introduction to what we discovered, and tomorrow we’re digging deeper into their love affair with themselves.

We want to know why they’d denounce their own ordained leaders, but still use their material at the same time. What purpose does this serve? Who benefits? Does it bring members closer to our Lord, or draw them away? If you’re LDS should you trust this type of leadership?

The next time you come across a member of the Church denouncing the Journal of Discourses, you might ask what they think of the Church’s endorsement, and for their opinion on why the Church has made reference to them 236,000 times! (This is the total number of hits Google came back with when MormonThink.com ran a query for LDS.org and JoD.)

The Church hasn’t dropped their love of using the journals, as there were two distinct quotes used at the 2010 General Conference; “Obedience to the Prophets” by Claudio R. M. Costa and “Our Very Survival” by Kevin R. Duncan.

Above all else, please pray for the Mormon people today. They’re hurting, confused, and the results of what they’ve bought into are devastating!

Remember also, we can all be like Anna the prophetess. She prayed for 60+ years to see the Lord, and when she did her first reaction was praise!

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