What do you feel or know about the doctrinal changes in the church over time?

Doctrinal changes were always a shelf item for me, but I trusted the leaders of the church implicitly and tried not to question. Whereas members covenant in the temple ceremony to not "speak evil of the Lord's anointed," I believed it wrong to voice my questions. If Mormon god is the "same yesterday, today and forever" (Mormon 9:9), shouldn't Mormon god's doctrine and rulebook remain the same too?

I am not a scholar on all things Mormon, but throughout my research, I have come across several doctrines that have since been modified or disavowed by the Mormon church. Some of these doctrines include:

- Adam God Doctrine
------> Taught: Delivered by Brigham Young in the Salt Lake Tabernacle to the members of the church on June 8th, 1873
------> Disavowed: Formally disavowed by Spencer W. Kimball (while acting as prophet) in the General Conference talk "Our Own Liahona" of October 1976

- Handicapped and Nationality caused from being less valiant in the pre-Earth life
------> Taught:
Discussed by Harold B. Lee (while acting as prophet) in the book, "Decisions for Successful Living," on pages 164-165. The direct quote is, "This privilege of obtaining a mortal body on this earth is seemingly so priceless that those in the spirit world, even though unfaighful or not valiant, were undoubtedly permitted to take mortal bodies although under the penalty of racial or physical or nationalistic limitations."
------> Disavowed: Although not formally disavowed, this doctrine is no longer propagated among the membership. Rather, the opposite is taught; people with physical or mental handicaps were more faithful in the pre-Earth life. In other words, gaining a body is essential to Mormon god's plan so this checks the box, but their handicaps protect their innocence from the evils of the world.

- Black skin being a curse
------> Taught: 2 Nephi 5:21 states, "And [God] had caused the cursing to come upon them, yea, even a sore cursing, because of their iniquity. For behold they had hardened their hearts against him, that they had become like unto a flint; wherefore, as they were white, and exceedingly fair and delightsome, that they might not be enticing unto my people the Lord God did cause a skin of blackness to come upon them." In addition to the Book of Mormon, this doctrine was reinforced in 1960 by apostle and future prophet, Spencer W. Kimball during General Conference. The direct quote is found on page 34 of the transcript. It states, "The day of the Lamanites is nigh. For years they have been growing delightsome, and they are now becoming white and delightsome, as they were promised. In this picture of the twenty Lamanite missionaries, fifteen of the twenty were as light as Anglos; five wer darker but equally delightsome. The children in the home placement program in Utah are often lighter than their brothers and sisters in the hogans on the reservation." The quote continues with just as much harmful rhetoric, but for the sake of brevity, I won't continue the quote, but encourage you to obtain your own copy of the original transcript as I have. Late Apostle Bruce R. McKonkie also famously taught that dark skin was given to those who were "less-valiant" in the pre-Earth life.
------> Disavowed: This doctrine was officially disavowed in the mid 2010's when the Church first started publishing the Gospel Topic Essays on their website. The most recent version of the essay discussing race (as of 2024) is titled Race and the Priesthood.

- Blood Atonment
------> Taught: Brigham Young taught this doctrine on September 21, 1856. This doctrine is documented in the Journal of Discourses, and states, "There are sins that men commit for whith they cannot receive forgiveness in this world, or in that which is to come, and if they had their eyes open to see their true condition, they would be perfectly willing to have their blood spilt upon the ground, that the smoke thereof might ascent to heaven as an offering for their sins; and the smoking incense would atone for their sins, whereas, if such is not the case, they will stick to them and remain upon them in the spirit world. I know, when you hear my bretheren telling about cutting people off from the earch that you consider it is strong doctrine; but it is to save them, not to destroy them." The Mormon church has since confirmed that Brigham Young taught this doctrine in the Gospel Topic Essay "Peace and Violence among 19th-Century Latter-day Saints. The essay states, "At times during the reformation, President Young, his counselor Jedediah M. Grant, and other leaders preached with fiery rhetoric, warning against the evils of those who dissented from or opposed the Church. Drawing on biblical passages, particularly from the Old Testament, leaders taught that some sins were so serious that the perpetrator's blood would have to be shed in order to receive forgiveness."
------> Disavowed: In a letter to Thomas B. McAffee on October 18, 1978, Bruce R. McKonkie states that the leaders of the church no longer believes the doctrine of Blood Atonement to be necessary; but clarifies the doctrine by stating "categorically and unequivocally that this doctrine can only operate in a day when there is no separation of Church and State and when the power to take life is vested in the ruling theocracy as was the case in the day of Moses ." This statement is troubling because it doesn't disavow the practice. This statement only claims that it is unnecessary NOW because there is a separation of church and state.

- The ability for exhalted members to get/create their own planet after this life
------> Taught: God's plan of salvation, according to Mormon doctrine is that through one's faithfulness, one can obtain all that God has. According to the Mormon scripture Moses 1:33, God created "worlds without number... and I also created them for mine own purpose; and by the Son I created them, which is mine Only Begotten." Mormon god continues in verse 35, and 37-39, "But only an account of this earth, and the inhabitants thereof, give I unto you. For behold, there are many worlds that have passed away by the word of my power. And there are many that now stand, and innumerable are they unto man; but all things are numbered unto me, for they are mine and I know them... And the Lord God spake unto Moses, saying: The heavens, they are many, and they cannot be numbered unto man; by they are numbered unto me, for they are mine. And as one earth shall pass away, and the heavens thereof even so shall another come; and there is no end to my words, neither to my words. For behold this is my work and my glory -- to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." From these passages we can conclude several key points; Mormon god created worlds without number; many of these worlds were created for Mormon god's own purpose; Mormon god's purpose, work and glory are to bring to pass immortality and eternal life of his children (bring about his plan of salvation); many worlds have already passed away to accomplish this purpose; and that many worlds can coexist at the same time to each assist in accomplishing Mormon god's purpose.
------> Disavowed: The Mormon church released an undated statement regarding several FAQs that are commonly asked about the church around 2018 which can be found here: newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/…. Question 12 directly addresses this doctrine and states, "Do Latter-day Saints believe that they will 'get their own planet'? - No. This idea is not taught in Latter-day Saint scripture, nor is it a doctrine of the Church." My question is, why does this statement directly contradict what is taught in Mormon scripture, and if Mormon god is the only one who can create planets, why are Mormons promised "all that God hath" as taught in D&C 84:38?

These doctrines are harmful. I want to be clear that I didn't lose my belief in Mormonism because these doctrines were abandoned or held meaning to me. On the contrary, the narratives of these doctrines were not taught this way to me as a young boy in the late 90s to early 2000s. Rather, I lost my belief in Mormonism because I was told that the doctrines NEVER change and that the beauty of Mormon god's plan is consistency.

Changing doctrines suggest that the church shifts priorities according to what is culturally acceptable, and does not remain consistent when a doctrine presents the church negatively.

curtishartley

They say that the church is a boat, and people who leave it do so because they aren't content with what they have. In my experience, us "jumpers" see that the leadership is steering the boat constantly, and we don't like the direction it's headed. Doctrinal changes are necessary to keep people in the church, to convince them that god is active in the decisions of their church.

Anonymous