Bart Pascoal at MormonInfographics.com has been producing and posting short videos of dramatic readings of Brigham Young. Watching an actor deliver these words from Brigham Young’s sermons adds a whole new dimension to such statements as:
“I say, rather than that apostates should flourish here, I will unsheath my bowie knife, and conquer or die. Now, you nasty apostates, clear out…” (Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses 1:83)
“…I shall have wives and children by the million, and glory, and riches, and power, and dominion, and kingdom after kingdom, and reign triumphantly.” (Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses 8:178-179)
“The time is coming when justice will be laid to the line and righteousness to the plummet; when we shall take the old broad sword and ask, ‘Are you for God?’ and if you are not heartily on the Lord’s side, you will be hewn down.” (Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses 3:226)
MormonInfographics has posted 14 of these dramatic readings so far. Here are two of them to whet your whistle.
OK, let me anticipate what the faithful Mormons will tell us. First of all this is all BY opinion, right? He wasn’t speaking as a prophet but just as a man. I guess my question would be, “Did BY think that he was just expressing his opinion?” This guy wasn’t talking like a modern day Mormon. The closest we could come to BY Mormonism is with the FLDS. AH the beauty of progressive revelation. Mormons could never be accused of stating a position and sticking with it.
I guess the really, really faithful Mormon will tell us that this video can’t be BY because they didn’t have video cameras back then!
Falcon,
Those Mormons who today when faced with the teachings of Brigham Young and then resort to
rationalizing away much of what he taught over the pulpit , will , 50-100 years from now have
posterity doing the same thing towards Thomas Monson . By that time there will be new
“gospel truths ” introduced : like the Mormon God finally allowing His wife to join Him and
their two sons in the Godhead , or perhaps new requirements to acquire a temple recommend
and earn eternal life . ( by then all coffee will be ok because the Mormon leadership will have
owned major stock in Starbucks ! ) . Given the teaching track record of Mormon leaders ever
since their appearance on the scene most anything can be taught by them and their flock will
still follow , few will make time to test any new teaching from their latter day apostles against
the teachings of Jesus’ apostles —-2 Tim 4:3-4 . Truly a sad scenario .
The Mormon people don’t need Brigham Young nor Thomas Monson .
Safety from latter days imitators is available through testing . 1 Jn 4:1 ; Rev 2:2
Direct link to the entire playlist:
BrighamYoungSpeaks.com
Brigham Young should have confined himself with something he was good at , like colonizing
Utah , because he unfortunately proved to be unfaithful to the truth about God by drifting
into teaching false doctrine about Him . Being a false prophet is something that can’t be
made up for by being successful at another endeavor .
In his reign as church leader the Mormon people were short changed .
Wow, that was disturbing. I picture Brigham Young as more of a fire and brimstone sort of guy from what I have read in the JoD.
WE can see the warnings of Paul to those who he mentored come alive when we listen to men
like Brigham Young as he teaches the Mormon people . Paul reminded Timothy to follow
the pattern of sound teaching which he had learned from Paul and to guard it from being
changed by men who had swerved from sound doctrine and drifted into doctrinal error —
2Tim 1:3-13. It comes as no surprise that some men would arise after Paul’s departure and
claim to be apostles —2Cor 11:13 — these men would alter the truth about God, Jesus , or how
to receive eternal life —-2Cor 11:4 . This would be especially prevalent in the latter days —
Matt 24:11 ; 2 Tim 4:3-4 , and we see it happen with the arrival of Brigham Young .
Sadly , the Mormon people were fooled by his claims and were led into false doctrine by his
teaching . They failed to test the teachings of a latter days apostle by those of the original
apostles , the ones who Jesus established His church through and sent out to preach the truth
about Him and salvation —Rom 1:16 ; 2 Jn 7 ; Rev 2:2 .
Today the Mormon people need to be true to Jesus and put Brigham Young where he belongs :
in the list of counterfeit apostles / prophets .
I just watched an episode on YouTube of “The Dove” network interview with Lynn Wilder done this past August. It’s good to hear from these folks who have left the LDS/Mormon church to get a grasp of what their mind-set was while in the (church). Lynn and her husband joined in their mid-twenties and were members for thirty years. One thing that stuck with me was the comment Lynn made that she wished her family or some concerned person had told her about Mormonism. Lynn has a Ph.D and taught at BYU.
You’d think that someone like Lynn, with her smarts and obvious research ability would have figured it out. But that’s the psychological hook of cults (sorry LDS lurkers) like Mormonism. It also points out the responsibility of those of us who are in Christ Jesus have to these folks. They may reject what we have to say, even when said in love and an attitude of concern, but we do have an obligation to sow the seed that will grow within their hearts.
I’ve listen to several presentations by Lynn and it always comes back to the fact that what brought her out of Mormonism was the testimony of her son and her reading of the NT. She began to compare the LDS “restored” gospel with what the Bible was saying and there was a major disconnect. Once she was willing to consider that perhaps the Bible isn’t corrupted, Mormonism went down the drain.
There is that point that many of our LDS lurkers come to where they have to make a decision to believe the Bible or the false prophets that founded and developed Mormonism.
Look, I’m going to be direct. You’ve been coming here lurking and reading for a long time. God has brought you, yes YOU, to a decision point. It’s either Jesus or Joseph. You can’t have both. Jesus offers you the pathway to the Father. Joseph leads you to eternal destruction.
Who’s it going to be?
Falcon,
Lynn says she wishes someone would have told her, but when you are in the Mormon bubble, you don’t listen. It took her son’s crisis of faith to get her looking. I had to stumble across something in an Ensign to prod me into looking. I would never have believed a Christian telling me anything. I had more light and knowledge than them. I let the Jehovah’s Witnesses in one day and was very offended when they said I wasn’t a Christian. I know that was the pot calling the kettle black but I didn’t understand. It’s hard to crack the bubble. My Mom still doesn’t believe that you have to know secret handshakes to get into the celestial kingdom. I highly doubt her temple going siblings will confirm that for her. It’s frustrating sometimes.
Kate,
I’m sure it’s so very frustrating trying to reason with your mother , but you are gently planting
seeds of truth that will one day grow , so keep loving her for Jesus . My wife and I pray for you
and your family . Don’t give up the fight .
Falcon,
you mentioned how Lynn did the right thing and made time to compare what Jesus’ apostles
taught in the N.T. with what her latter days apostles have taught . In doing so she was wise
because this is the main safety criteria to follow in identifying latter days imitation apostles
or prophets and any ” restored ” gospels —-Gal 1:8 ; 1 Jn 4:1 .
Mormon leaders have failed this test . The Mormon people simply don’t need them as guides
and should dismiss them as authority figures in their lives , loyalty to God should compel
them to do this soon .
We can encourage them to trust God to give them strength to make that decision .
Kate,
There are times when I think John Calvin had it right. I have a modified view somewhat but the point for me is that I know God drew me to Himself through the Holy Spirit. That’s basically my testimony. When I look back on the night I finally gave-up and received Jesus as my Savior and Lord, I just couldn’t resist God any more.
I know Mormons are into feelings big time so they’d appreciate, maybe, that I was under such heavy conviction that I was a sinner and I needed a Savior that only taking that step would alleviate the heaviness I was feeling. It was even more than heaviness. I felt like I was being crushed. And quite frankly it was less about me and my sin and more about me acknowledging Jesus. It wasn’t even thinking about sin, as I reflect back, that brought me to Him. It was more about understanding who He was. How can anyone reject God? Dumb question, huh, since people do it everyday. But why did God go out of His way to choose me and drive me to Himself.
I don’t know how it works but I am ever thankful for what He did. It baffles me. How could He love me this much.
@kate
you are dead on about the bubble. Almost nothing can break through. It has to happen in its own time and when the person is ready to listen.
It’s the “many are called, but few are chosen” in reverse. People have to be willing to listen to that still small voice that nags at them to find the truth about mormonism.