Criticism of Mormonism/Books/One Nation Under Gods/Use of sources/The Anti-Mormon Articles of Faith

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Boyd K. Packer on the truth

A FAIR Analysis of: One Nation Under Gods A work by author: Richard Abanes

Historical Suppression in the Church

The Anti-Mormon Articles of Faith?

The Quote

One Nation under Gods, page 475 (hardback)

AOF: The Articles of Faith are thirteen statements that outline the more socially acceptable Mormon beliefs, usually discussed openly by Latter-day Saints when explaining Mormonism to potential converts. None of the articles deal with any doctrines that might be viewed as offensive or controversial to non-Mormons. The Articles of Faith are contained in modern LDS editions of the Pearl of Great Price, one of the Standard Works of the Mormon church. The AOF are on-line at http://www.exmormon.org/fourteen.htm.. A searchable text version of the Articles of Faith is online at http://www.concordance.com/mormon.htm, under the Pearl of Great Price.

One Nation under Gods, page 473 (paperback)

AOF: The Articles of Faith are thirteen statements that outline the more socially acceptable Mormon beliefs, usually discussed openly by Latter-day Saints when explaining Mormonism to potential converts. None of the articles deal with any doctrines that might be viewed as offensive or controversial to non-Mormons. The Articles of Faith are contained in modern LDS editions of the Pearl of Great Price, one of the Standard Works of the Mormon church. The AOF are on-line at http://scriptures.lds.org/a_of_f/1. A searchable text version of the Articles of Faith is online at http://www.concordance.com/mormon.htm, under the Pearl of Great Price.

The Reference

None

The Problems

The Link

In the hardback version of ONUG the author provides a link for the LDS Articles of Faith, but one doesn't find the Articles of Faith at that link. Readers who go to that ex-Mormon website expecting to see the Articles of Faith of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will instead find a list of fourteen slanted and derogatory statements by a critic of the LDS faith. The author of ONUG has changed this link -- in the paperback edition of ONUG -- to point to the official LDS website.

Here are a few examples of the "Articles of Faith" that one would find at the link provided in the hardback edition of ONUG:

"We believe by manipulating statistics we can show we have a superior belief system. We disregard statistics which are embarrassing to our position such as the high divorce rate in Utah." (Article 13 from the exmormon.org Web site.)

"God was once a man who lived on another planet. This is the most important teaching of Mormonism. Nothing else comes close to it." (Article 1 from the exmormon.org Web site.)

"We will only read church approved materials." (Article 8 from the exmormon.org Web site.)

According to the author of ONUG, he provided a link "to an anti-Mo[rmon] website that posted a paraphrased, expansion, editorialized version of what they viewed the articles to actually mean." ^[1]

The Articles of Faith

Most religious organizations -- Christian and otherwise -- publish a list of "Articles of Faith," or a "Statement of Faith," or a list of "What We Believe." They are typically a very basic, brief list of rudimentary doctrinal statements. It is usually no more than a half-page in length. The LDS Articles of Faith are not intended to explain deep doctrines. Anyone looking for a more detailed description of LDS beliefs needs to examine the LDS set of scriptures and official declarations published by the LDS Church.

Endnotes

1. [note] Richard Abanes, "Fourteen Articles of Faith", post to MADB, Dec. 12, 2008.

Further reading

FAIR Wiki

• Differing versions of the Articles of Faith

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FairMormon web site

• Matthew B. Brown, "Accusations Against the Articles of Faith," FAIR Brochure, 2004. PDF link

External links

• John W. Welch and David J. Whittaker, "'We Believe....': Development of the Articles of Faith," Ensign (September 1979): 51.off-site
• David J. Whittaker, "Articles of Faith," in Encyclopedia of Mormonism, 4 vols., edited by Daniel H. Ludlow, (New York, Macmillan Publishing, 1992), 1:68–69.