Do Latter-day Saints Really Believe That?

Hey guys, so if you dive into Latter-day Saint history, every so often you’re going to run into statements from or about past leaders that might seem a bit eyebrow-raising, and that don’t match up with the stuff you’ll be hearing at church on Sundays. For instance, an 1892 edition of the Young Women’s Journal reported that Joseph Smith believed the moon was inhabited by men and women who dressed like Quakers and had very long lifespans. Kinda weird.

Since some of these ideas are attributed to leaders of our faith, sometimes I’ll get messages from people wondering how to tell the difference between an authoritative teaching of the Church and an opinion or personal belief of a leader. In this episode, I’m going to show you how I personally go about navigating these scenarios — hopefully, you find it helpful.

Alright, so when you stumble upon a statement like this there are a few housekeeping questions you’ll want to take care of right off the bat. What was the setting for the statement? Who was the audience? Was it ever claimed to be a revelation from God or was this just speculative existential bro-talk? Check the reliability of the source, and the textual and cultural context for the statement. For example, while it seems like a no-brainer for us, in Joseph’s day, many people believed the moon was inhabited, thanks to astronomers like William Herschel and the Great Moon Hoax of 1835. Also, this isn’t a first-hand statement from Joseph, it’s actually a late third-hand statement from a guy named Oliver B. Huntington.

To read the entire article: Saints Unscriptured/Faith&Beliefs