In George Orwell’s classic 1984, the protagonist Winston learns “Who controls the past controls the future: who controls the present controls the past.” The Party controls the media to manipulate the populace. They alter previously printed news stories to fit the narratives of the current attitudes or objectives. People are erased from history all together, or their story altered for current propaganda.

The country where Winston lives is called Oceania, and they’ve been at war a long time. At times the war is against Eastasia and Eurasia are their allies. Then they’re at war with Eurasia and Eastasia are their allies. Every time it changes the history is rewritten to fit the current narrative. Winston learns “The past was alterable. The past never had been altered. Oceania was at war with Eastasia. Oceania had always been at war with Eastasia.” The Mormon church seems to have their own Ministry of Truth that spins things to their advantage whenever possible. I’ll give you some examples.

Jeffrey R. Holland’s Missionary Prediction

Jeffery R. Holland is sustained as an apostle, prophet, seer, and revelator in the church. As such he’s entitled to revelations and knowledge that God wouldn’t dare give to lowly rank and file members. He prophetically predicted in 2015 that the Mormon church would have 100,000 missionaries by 2019. The future is now, we’ve arrived at 2019. The newsroom boasts of a 88,000 strong surge that receded to 65,000 missionaries as expected. But what of Jeffery Jowls’ prophetic prediction? This was not what the prophet, seer, and revelator expected. But you see what they’ve done? Downplayed it so that members don’t freak out and realize that their cherished leader was wrong.

Adam-God Doctrine

“Now hear it, O inhabitants of the earth, Jew and Gentile, Saint and sinner! When our father Adam came into the garden of Eden, he came into it with a celestial body, and brought Eve, one of his wives, with him. He helped to make and organize this world. He is MICHAEL, the Archangel, the ANCIENT OF DAYS! about whom holy men have written and spoken – He is our FATHER and our GOD, and the only God with whom WE have to do. Every man upon the earth, professing Christians or non-professing, must hear it, and will know it sooner or later!”

– Prophet Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, v. 1, p. 51 “I tell you, when you see your Father in the Heavens, you will see Adam; when you see your Mother that bear your spirit, you will see Mother Eve.”

– Prophet Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, v. 1, p. 50 “Some may think what I have said concerning Adam strange, but the period will come when the people will be willing to adopt Joseph Smith as their Prophet, Seer, and Revelator and God! but not the Father of their spirits, for that was our Father Adam.”

– Prophet Brigham Young, Journal History, p. 131, December 11, 1869

There are many, many, many more quotes from the prophet, seer, and revelator Brigham Young and other early church leaders teaching this doctrine. I’ve heard it said that this doctrine was even taught at the veil in the St. George temple. But what does the church do when they realize that is some seriously crazy shit?

“We warn you against the dissemination of doctrines which are not according to the Scriptures and which are alleged to have been taught by some of the General Authorities of past generations. Such, for instance, is the Adam-God theory. We denounce that theory and hope that everyone will be cautioned against this and other kinds of false doctrine.

—Spencer W. Kimball, “Our Own Liahona,” Ensign (November 1976), 77

Suddenly, the doctrine is called a “theory” and is a “false doctrine”. Interesting that Prophet Brigham Young isn’t mentioned at all, and is generalized into “some of the General Authorities of past generations”. He’s not even given his dignified title in the church? And why is Kimball, the sustained prophet, seer, and revelator suddenly having the real truth revealed to him that Brigham Young was wrong? Why didn’t God tell Brigham he was wrong? Here’s what prophet, seer, and revelator Wilford Woodruff had to say about it:

“The Lord will never permit me or any other man who stands as President of this Church to lead you astray. It is not in the programme. It is not in the mind of God. If I were to attempt that, the Lord would remove me out of my place, and so He will any other man who attempts to lead the children of men astray from the oracles of God and from their duty.”

– Wilford Woodruff, Sixty-first Semiannual General Conference of the Church, Monday, October 6, 1890, Salt Lake City, Utah. Reported in Deseret Evening News, October 11, 1890, p. 2.

So which prophet, seer, and revelator should God have removed from his place? Which one was wrong? Was Brigham wrong? Was Spencer wrong? Was Wilford wrong? Could they all just be making this up as they go along and saying whatever needs to be said to keep the proles happy?

Blacks and The Priesthood

“Why are so many of the inhabitants of the earth cursed with a sin of blackness? It comes in consequence of their fathers rejecting the power of the Holy Priesthood, and the law of God. They will go down to death. And when all the rest of the children have received their blessings in the Holy Priesthood, then that curse will be removed from the seed of Cain, and they will then come up and possess the priesthood, and receive all the blessings which we now are entitled to. The volition of the creature is free; this is a law of their existence, and the Lord cannot violate his own law; were he to do that, he would cease to be God. He has placed life and death before his children, and it is for them to choose. If they choose life, they receive the blessings of life; if they chose death, they must abide the penalty. This is a law which has always existed from all eternity, and will continue to exist throughout all the eternities to come.”

– Prophet Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, v. 11, p. 272 “The Negro is an unfortunate man. He has been given a black skin. But that is as nothing compared with that greater handicap that he is not permitted to receive the Priesthood and the ordinances of the temple, necessary to prepare men and women to enter into and enjoy a fullness of glory in the celestial kingdom [i.e., godhood].”

– Apostle George F. Richards, Conference Report, April 1939, p. 58 “It is true that the negro race is barred from holding the Priesthood, and this has always been the case. The Prophet Joseph Smith taught this doctrine, and it was made known to him, although we know of no such statement in any revelation in the Doctrine and Covenants, Book of Mormon, or the Bible.”

– Prophet Joseph Fielding Smith, The Improvement Era, v. 27, n. 6, p. 565; “There were no neutrals in the war in heaven. All took sides either with Christ or with Satan. Every man had his agency there, and men receive rewards here based upon their actions there, just as they will receive rewards hereafter for deeds done in the body. The Negro, evidently, is receiving the reward he merits.”

– Prophet Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, pp. 65-66 “Shall I tell you the law of God in regard to the African race? If the white man who belongs to the chosen seed mixes his blood with the seed of Cain, the penalty, under the law of God, is death on the spot. This will always be so.”

– Prophet Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, v. 10, p. 110

It’s God’s law, black people can’t have the priesthood, they were bad in the pre-existence, don’t mix with them, and it will always be like that. Couched inside an apologetic Gospel Topic Essay, the church’s stance now is:

“Today, the Church disavows the theories advanced in the past that black skin is a sign of divine disfavor or curse, or that it reflects unrighteous actions in a premortal life; that mixed-race marriages are a sin; or that blacks or people of any other race or ethnicity are inferior in any way to anyone else. Church leaders today unequivocally condemn all racism, past and present, in any form.”

Again, the doctrines taught by the prophets, seers, and revelators of the past are suddenly no longer doctrines, but “theories”. You can’t tell me that those previous quotes that are so emphatically spoken were just “theories”. They believed it was doctrine, and for many long decades, the membership of the church believed it as doctrine.

Significant Doctrinal Changes To The Book Of Mormon

The original 1830 text read:

And he said unto me, Behold, the virgin whom thous seest is the mother of God, after the manner of the flesh.

1 Nephi 3, page 25 Original 1830 Text

Compared to:

And he said unto me, Behold, the virgin whom thou seest is the mother of the Son of God.

1 Nephi 11:18 Current text

That’s a big difference here in Mormon theology. The mother of God or the mother of the Son of God are two separate, distinct persons in Mormon theology after 1838. Before 1838, not so much. But the current church ascribes to the post 1838 theology, so the scriptures needed to be changed to be in line with it. See this site for many more significant changes. But here’s my favorite. The Book of Mormon apparently got it’s own timeline wrong and had to be corrected years after when someone realized it didn’t add up in the context of the narrative.

“…King Benjamin had a gift from God, whereby he could interpret such engravings…”

– Mosiah 9, page 200, Original 1830 Text

Compared to:

“…King Mosiah had a gift from God, whereby he could interpret such engravings…”

– Mosiah 21:28, current text

Here’s what Joseph Smith said about the book though:

“Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon into English through the gift and power of God. He said that it is “the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book.”

History of the Church, 4:461

If it was the most correct book, then why would it need any changes? Just like the Party altered the history books in 1984, the Mormon Church has altered their own scripture that was proclaimed to be the most correct book (if you discount the errors) by its founding prophet, seer, and revelator.

Ronald E. Poelman’s November 1984 Conference Talk

To top it all off, here’s the most Orwellian thing the Mormon Church has pulled off in my opinion. Ronald E. Poelman’s October Conference talk that was given serendipitously in the year 1984. I guess nobody proof read his talk before conference because they had to make some changes after he delivered it but before wide distribution.

This is from Sunstone Magazine:

On 16 November 1984, the Salt Lake Tribune broke a story about changes in first quorum of seventy member Ronald E. Poelman’s 7 October 1984 General Conference address, “The Gospel and the Church,” with the article, “Elder’s Address Rewritten from Conference Version,” by Rodd G. Wagner (B-1, B-4). Wagner wrote that not only was the address heavily edited and partially rewritten for the November Ensign, it was also re-videotaped, with “the new version [being] spliced into the conference tape” for church distribution. In response, Church spokesperson Don LeFevre stated that “the most obvious place to retape [Poelman’s] talk was from the pulpit,” but when Wagner asked if this could give a “false impression” about this being the original, LeFevre said, “It could.” The Deseret News ran a similar story on 17 November(B-5) and the Provo Daily Herald on 18 November. Some months later, in Sunstone 10:1 (1985), editor Peggy Fletcher wrote that “Poelman returned to the Tabernacle a few days after conference and retaped the speech with the changes. This tape was then spliced into the original conference tape replacing the previous address. In addition, a “coughtrack” was provided to make it sound more like an audience was present.” Stack also points out that “the cost of this video editing was between $10,000 and $15,000.” Church spokesperson Jerry Cahill was quoted as saying, “I don’t think that $10,000 is too much to pay to correct a possible misinterpretation. Besides, if the Brethren require it, we comply.” (The Daily Herald reported “Poelman redelivered his speech in the studios of the Mormon Church-owned Bonneville Media Communications,” but this is likely an error.)

The revised version of the talk is what is currently on the church’s website, but the original still exists. And you can watch them both here.

In conclusion, the Mormon church claims to be the only true and living church upon the face of the earth with the authority from God to act in his name and save His children in the eternities. If they do have the power of God, you’ve got to wonder if maybe God is ashamed of them for behaving so badly with His authority and acting this way in his name. Changing the “most correct book” of scripture, pretending to never have taught doctrine that is well documented as having been taught, and quietly changing talks so that no one knows the changes have even happened are dishonest no matter how you look at it. And if you try and say that modern revelation trumps previous revelation, you’re left with the paradox of a previous prophet, seer, and revelator being utterly and completely wrong. So how can you tell if something is actually revelation or just the products of individual bias? The history of the Mormon church clearly proves that you can’t.

I say these things in the name of transparency and truth.

Brother Ghost