Responding to Common Criticisms
Defending the Faith
Careful responses to cult labels, race and priesthood, prophetic fallibility, and other recurring criticisms.
Completed responses
19 claims
Open the claim as it is normally framed, use the short answer when time is tight, and move into the full case when the conversation deserves it.
Why have temple ordinances changed, and what is the second anointing?
Temple ceremonies and garment styles have changed, and the Church openly acknowledges those adjustments. Change in presentation does not automatically mean that every covenant or doctrine changed. The second anointing has a historical record but little current public explanation, so the honest response should distinguish documented history from rumor.
What did the SEC find about Ensign Peak?
The Church holds very large reserves, and the SEC found that Ensign Peak used shell companies to obscure the Church's investment portfolio in required filings. The Church paid a settlement and said it regretted mistakes. A defense should not deny those facts. The remaining debate concerns transparency, stewardship, charitable priorities, and what obligations a church with substantial reserves should accept.
How should I evaluate the CES Letter’s arguments?
The CES Letter raises many separate questions, so its cumulative force can feel stronger than any one argument. The responsible way to assess it is to separate the claims, check the cited source in context, identify what conclusion actually follows, and avoid counting the same underlying objection several times.
Who was responsible for the Mountain Meadows Massacre?
Latter-day Saint militiamen and local leaders committed the Mountain Meadows Massacre and then helped conceal it. The act was evil. Evidence does not show that Brigham Young ordered it, and his message to let the emigrants pass arrived too late, but inflammatory rhetoric and wartime fear helped create the setting in which local leaders made catastrophic choices.
What did Brigham Young teach about blood atonement?
Brigham Young and other early leaders did preach a theory called blood atonement, often in severe language. The Church now rejects it and teaches that redemption comes through Jesus Christ. Historical evidence does not establish a Church program of executing apostates, but the rhetoric itself should not be denied or excused as harmless.
Why were Black members restricted from priesthood and temple ordinances?
The racial restriction and the theories used to defend it caused real harm, and the Church now disavows those theories. The issue is whether prophetic fallibility can include grave institutional error, a difficult question that should be faced directly rather than answered with either denial or caricature.
Does the BITE model show the Church is a cult?
The BITE model describes behavior, information, thought, and emotional control. A checklist alone cannot establish coercion or harm. Some Church requirements genuinely restrict choices, especially on missions; examine their scope, enforcement, access to outside information, and consequences of refusal. Church policy permits resignation, but that does not establish costless exit. I defend freely chosen covenant commitment and the scriptural prohibition of unrighteous dominion.
How do women exercise priesthood authority?
Only men are ordained to priesthood offices in current Church practice, while women exercise delegated authority in callings and officiate in priesthood ordinances in temples. Latter-day Saints also believe in Heavenly Parents, including a Mother in Heaven. Those teachings answer some caricatures, but they do not erase sincere questions about representation, authority, and gender.
What does clergy privilege mean for reporting abuse?
Abuse must be reported and victims protected wherever the law permits or requires it. The Church's help line is meant to guide leaders through safety and reporting duties, but the Bisbee case raises grave questions about advice not to report a confessed abuser. The litigation remains active, so the facts, current policy, and legal claims must be kept separate.
Should a Catholic pray about the Book of Mormon?
A Catholic who accepts the Church’s teaching on public revelation has a reason to decline an invitation to seek another public scripture. A Latter-day Saint can ask which doctrine conflicts with the apostolic gospel and invite study and prayer without treating a private experience as proof for everyone.
Did Joseph Smith predict the Second Coming in 1890?
Joseph discussed 1890. D&C 130 records a promise that he would see Christ if he lived to 85. He died at 38. On April 6, 1843, he spoke prophetically about Christ coming no earlier than that age. The separate 1835 statement about 56 years is stronger evidence for an expected deadline in 1891, and its meaning deserves to be tested against Joseph’s later uncertainty.
Did Joseph Smith’s Canadian copyright revelation fail?
Joseph Smith authorized an attempt to sell Book of Mormon publishing rights in British North America. The group went to Kingston and returned without a deal. The surviving text gives conditional permission to sell. David Whitmer later reported a reply about three possible sources of revelation, then gave his own judgment about this instance.
Did Mark Hofmann fool Church leaders with the Salamander Letter?
Yes. Mark Hofmann deceived Church leaders and document examiners. Steven Christensen bought the forged Salamander Letter and donated it, and the Church published it in April 1985. Oaks tried to explain its wording while treating the letter as purported. The episode establishes a real error. The separate question is what prophetic discernment promises.
Does the Church teach blind obedience?
A 1945 Church magazine really did say that when leaders speak, the thinking has been done. Church President George Albert Smith rejected that implication in a private reply that year. Latter-day Saint scripture asks members to receive prophetic counsel with patience and faith. It also asks them to exercise judgment and limits how leaders may use authority.
Does Paul support baptism for the dead?
Paul mentions people being baptized for the dead while arguing for resurrection. His wording fits the Latter-day Saint practice and leaves its details unstated. The Church bases the modern ordinance on Restoration revelation, and teaches that the deceased are free to accept or reject it.
Do Jude 3 and Galatians 1:8 rule out the Restoration?
Jude 3 calls Christians to defend the faith they received. Galatians 1:8 condemns anyone who distorts Christ’s gospel, even an angel. Neither passage says a later witness is automatically a different gospel. The Book of Mormon proclaims Christ’s saving death and Resurrection. Test any claimed contradiction about grace or ordinances by comparing what the texts teach.
Is the Book of Mormon an early American biblical imitation?
Early American writers really did imitate King James English. The Bible, John Leacock’s American Chronicles, and the Book of Mormon all use “it came to pass.” That establishes a shared register. Identifying a book Joseph used or a method he followed takes evidence that distinguishes those explanations from other ways the English text could have taken shape.
How should we read the Book of Mormon’s skin-color passages?
Several passages link skin color with a curse in the narrative. The Church disavows racial curse theories and says the mark does not apply to anyone today. Read the verses, the edition history, and what changed in Church teaching.
Can parents attend youth interviews, and what questions are appropriate?
A youth can have a parent or another adult inside; the adult may also wait outside by the youth’s choice. Temple questions include chastity, while counseling has limits on inquiry. Current policy does not establish what happened in an individual interview. A sound response distinguishes the meeting’s purpose, the questions asked, and whether the safeguards worked.