Oh, boy. Here we go. In trying to understand an obviously confused Kathleen, I offered some thoughts and posed some questions regarding her strange visit to some unnamed Deseret Book outlet (cue the mysterious music). You recall it was there that she claimed to have seen a first edition of the
Pearl of Great Price (POGP) bound in a green cover. According to Kathleen, it was “written” by Orson Pratt and contained anti-Catholic criticisms. Even a benighted Mormon troglodyte like myself (but aren’t we all?) knew that Orson Pratt didn’t write the POGP, nor was there an edition in the year Kathleen claimed as being that of her “green book.” In trying to figure out what the heck she was referring to, all I could come up with was that perhaps she saw a copy of Pratt’s
The Seer, which does contain elements of anti-Catholicism.
In response, Kathleen morphed her story into a conspiracy theory (no, not the one where the Danites assassinated Kennedy). She says she called “the LDS church in Salt Lake” to try and find information on The Green Book. Who she talked to, we don’t know. Which department she was directed to, we can only guess. But whoever it was, that person unfortunately had no knowledge of The Green Book (wonder why?). When Kathleen returns to the unnamed Deseret Book outlet, The Green Book has mysteriously vanished (loud organ chord in a minor key)! Nonetheless, Kathleen knows what she saw and knows that as a result Mormons don’t know their own history and doctrine and that we’re being lied to by our leaders. Gee, where have I heard this before? But hey, I checked it out and found where you can buy Green Books in bulk at Costco, so we’ve got that going for us.
Enter Rebecca.
Not really interested in trying to understand whatever it was that Kathleen was talking about, Rebecca chooses instead to wander down Tangent Road and take her shot at Brigham Young. Whiskey-Foxtrot-Tango … how did Rebecca get there??? It’s convoluted, but stick with me and I’ll explain.
As I wrote above, in honestly trying to understand what it was that Kathleen had perhaps seen at Deseret Book, I made the mistake of venturing that it might have been a copy of Pratt’s
The Seer (a long shot, I admit). I also said that the book is not considered by Mormons to be doctrinally binding and that, as a matter of record, elements of it were repudiated by Brigham Young and other Church leaders (meaning to show that Pratt’s anti-Catholic musings were his own and not representative of my Church’s attitude toward other faiths). But that, apparently, is the one thing that galled Rebecca and caused her to pounce. So she decided to enter the fray (what fray?) and inform us on her own authority that Brigham denounced Orson and his book because Orson had dared to challenge Brigham’s Adam-God theory. Relevant to what Kathleen and I were discussing? You be the judge.
You know, Rebecca, I used to play tambourine with the Beatles. Yeah, really, I did. Ringo gave me my name “Lefty” because unlike most, I shook it with my left hand and hit it with my right. True story – at least as true as yours.
If what you say is true, then I have to wonder … at the time under consideration, Brigham was the unquestioned leader of the Latter-day Saints. That being the case, it begs the question of why Adam-God was never official Church doctrine in his lifetime. And further, why does his theory stand today as having been totally repudiated by my Church? If he could brow-beat a non-cupcake like Orson Pratt into submission and get the other 11 members of the Church’s Quorum of the Twelve to go along, why stop there? Sorry, Rebecca, your charge just doesn’t pass the smell test.
And unfortunately, all this is a matter of record (you know, the ones our leaders hide from us). Minutes of the meeting were kept in which Pratt was censured. From them it appears that what caused Brigham and the other apostles concern were Pratt’s theories regarding his beliefs that all divine persons had equal power and knowledge as well as his theories on what constitutes spirit birth, spiritual evolution, and something that has been labelled spiritual atomism (yeah, beats me too).
Not that anybody will consider it, but here’s a couple of pertinent links (see, Paul, there’s even more stuff on the internet than bigoted anti-Mormon trash!).
splendidsun.com/wp/atomism/
newcoolthang.com/index.php/1865-fp-rebuke-of-op/
Those of you so inclined may now put on your stiletto heels and jump on me. But I’m done here and need to move on. I have not helped keep this thread on-topic and know it, so I need to quit rather than take it further afield. Sorry. Try to do better next time.
And just for perspective, a quote from Joseph Smith: "The old Catholic church traditions are worth more than all you have said. Here is a principle of logic that most men have no more sense than to adopt. I will illustrate it by an old apple tree. Here jumps off a branch and says, I am the true tree, and you are corrupt. If the whole tree is corrupt, are not its branches corrupt? If the Catholic religion is a false religion, how can any true religion come out of it? If the Catholic church is bad, how can any good thing come out of it? The character of the old churches have always been slandered by all apostates since the world began (
Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 375).
Maybe we don’t hate you as much as you think.
