When talking to believers about various problems with church history or biblical incidences, sometimes the conversations turn to things that God is reported to have said or done that make him look rather vindictive or just plain cruel. In LDS theology, God is supposed to be a kind, loving, and charitable God. However, if you bring up things like the test of Abraham, God commanding his people to murder innocent women and children, or more recently forcing Joseph Smith to marry multiple women, one of the most common defenses that I’ve heard is “Well, God wouldn’t do that anymore.”

God is supposed to be the same yesterday, today, and forever. So how can a person say that God is perfect and unchanging in one breath and then turn around and say that God wouldn’t do something today? Just recently after the latest polygamy essay was released by the LDS church, I read about one woman who wanted the church to both apologize for Joseph’s actions and also alleviate member’s concerns by telling them that God would not command a woman to marry a man today. Well, why in the world wouldn’t he? There’s no reason why God would command someone to do something in the past but would never command them to do it today. Especially if you subscribe to 1 Nephi 3:7. The Lord always provides a way, right?

Members will talk about how God will give us each our “Abrahamic test” in this life, but I don’t know a single one who believes he would ever give any test quite so cruel. They believe God commanded the slaughter of women and children, but he would never do that now. They believe God forced Joseph Smith in to polygamous marriages, but believe that couldn’t happen in our day.

But, God is the same, yesterday, today, and forever. It is simply not possible for God to have the attributes assigned to him by mormon (and generally Christian) beliefs and also be the God of the Old Testament. He can’t be the same God who threw out a third of his children over free agency and yet took Joseph’s away wholesale when it came to polygamy. The angel with the flaming sword is Satan’s plan, and I think deep down that even believers understand this. I think they know that old God and new more touchy-feely God can’t be the same being, but they simply refuse to connect the dots.

I will admit, that this has been extremely frustrating for me personally. But even if I don’t agree with them and even though it is super frustrating, I get why mormons have to defend all of God’s actions, even at the cost of reason. Mormon morality is based entirely on God’s commandments. If God says to do it or does it himself, it is morally right. If God says not to do it, then it is morally wrong. End of story. But then there’s the rub, “God wouldn’t do that now” shows that inside, even some of the most devout LDS hold their morals separate from God. Why wouldn’t God command us to kill our children today? Because it’s morally reprehensible. Why wouldn’t God force us in to polygamous marriage today? Because it is morally reprehensible. Deep down they understand that true morality is not derived by God. But to consciously admit this, is to admit that God has done some terrible things and there might be no justification for it.

LDS are taught so strongly to anchor themselves to the foundation of Christ and to not fall prey to moral relativity. What they don’t realize is that we are all subject to moral relativity, we just choose whose morals we will subject ourselves to, whether it be God’s, mankind’s, or our own. I think this is really the heart of the matter. God is NOT the same yesterday, today, and forever. His attitudes are subject to the will and mind of the people of the day. This is documented clearly in the bible and in modern scripture and revelation. Birth control was of the devil, but now it’s not. Oral sex was of the devil, but now it’s not. Homosexuality was a choice, but now it’s not. It was doctrine revealed by God that blacks were to be denied exalting ordinances for over 100 years, but now it was just an unfortunate racist policy of the past. All through the history of the world, God’s morals and commandments have been more indicative of the attitudes of the day than of any firm and unchanging moral compass. But, when you cannot accept that this is true, the only recourse left is to say “Well…God wouldn’t do that today.”

Next time you are talking with a believer and you hear them bring up this point, please ask them “why”. Why would God not do those things again in our day? If you actually receive an answer that doesn’t boil down to the person finding it to be a morally reprehensible act, please come and comment and let me know. Or if you are a believer yourself and feel you have a good answer then let me know. I would honestly like to hear a good explanation for why God wouldn’t do these things today that doesn’t rely on God being changeable or subject to the moral whims of the day.