Molly Mormon — Part 5

One member is examining the teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints from a biblical perspective viewpoint when Mormonism is sponsored by Mormonism research ministry since 1979 Mormonism research ministry has been dedicated to equipping the body of Christ answers regarding the Christian faith in a manner that expresses gentleness and respect. And now, your host for today's viewpoint on Mormonism welcome to this edition of viewpoint on Mormonism on your host, Bill McKeever, founder and director Mormonism research ministry with me today is Eric Johnson. My colleague at MRM we are wrapping up today.

Our review of a book that came out in 2013 title confessions of a Molly Mormon trading perfectionism for peace fear for faith judging for joy was written by a Mormon woman by the name of a Lotta case Shelley. She spells Lana EL oh in a and as I mentioned, we do have a review of this book on our website, MRM.org, where, exactly, can they find that article or MRM.org/Molly Mormon review with hyphens between the words and the reason why and a NEDs I need to state this again. The reason why I feel it's important to look at a book like this, even though she is not a general authority in the church and certainly what she says is her own opinion. There's no question of that.

But I think it's important sometimes as Christians that we understand were many Latter Day Saints are coming from so that we can. I guess you could say at least in my case with this book have a much more better understanding of where they're coming from and even at times sympathy for what a lot of Latter Day Saints go through and I would say because of their church. Now she has learned. According to the book, how to handle all this. But as I have said before, I think the way she's learned to handle it is by ignoring a lot of what her church leaders have said, and to ignore even what some of her own written scriptures have to say will today were going to look at the subject of the Sabbath in Mormonism. They refer to Sunday as the Sabbath. Technically the Sabbath is really Saturday. Sunday is understood by Christians more being the Lord's day, but that's not a big issue and not one that I would make a big argument over but in Mormonism. Sunday is very important in her chapter. Chapter 4, you can watch Johnny lingo only so many times you would probably only get that if you were Latter Day Saints or study the Mormon culture and I don't have time to go in it right now.

But anyway, she says on that same page as I got a little older, I continue to enjoy socializing on Sunday but from what I was being taught both at church and around the dinner table.

I began to realize that there were a whole lot of Sunday rules I needed to follow since I want to get into the celestial kingdom. Someday see these are keywords you cannot ignore. I was anxious to get all those rules in my head so God wouldn't be mad at me for accidentally breaking one besides knowing all of the rules help me impress my teachers and when their praise. Thus, the Sabbath nitpicking began.

She says on page 54. If you were a good Mormon you had to attend church, both morning and evening every Sunday.

The only possible exception was if you were really sick and she is really in italics and even then you had to be more dead than alive.

To stay home if you still wanted to be counted among the truly faithful another hard and fast rule was no shopping on Sunday and that is a big joke around here in Utah. If you want to go to the store when there usually are no crowds, it's probably going to be on a Sunday, it's a good day to go golfing to because there's nobody out there but those sinful Gentiles golfing on Sunday. On page 56. He continues and says, for my parents. Sunday usually met nice long afternoon naps while kids played at home or visited friends sometimes after their naps. They play backyard baseball with us.

It was so much fun that I was pretty sure we were breaking the Sabbath. The same is true of gameplaying after our evening sacrament meetings. I love playing rock pit in sorry with our family, but didn't mention it in class when we had lessons about keeping the Sabbath day holy, because I was afraid the teacher would think we weren't honoring the day properly. Why would she draw that conclusion or certainly because that's the kind of idea that was conveyed through the local leadership. I'm sure I would sing not only the local leadership, but from even the top down. So these ideas permeate on the local level and naturally she feels apprehensive to even mention the activities that she had as an individual on the Sabbath day as she calls it no later when she was an adult and had her own children.

Her guilt level still is there. Listen to what she says on page 57 when our church meetings were over for the day. The craziness didn't end it was still the Sabbath, so there was still many rules to be enforced, no friends, no TV, no video games, no recreational cookie, no movies, no secular music. No breathing.

Okay, maybe not that last one but close.

Didn't Larry H. Miller, who owned the jazz when he was alive, he wouldn't even go watch his own basketball team play. If the game was on Sunday and even when they played here in Utah against the Chicago Bulls in the championship on a Sunday.

He actually took a drive in the car. Listen to the radio, but he did not go to the stadium to see it with some Mormon say that could have been considered fudging. I would tend to think so cast anyway where is she getting all these ideas again.

They are coming down from the leadership and Mormon leaders have had something very specific to say as to how Mormon should behave on Sunday. For instance, we have Spencer W. Kimball.

Now this is a quote is from the miracle of forgiveness. On page 46. But it's also found in teachings of Presidents of the church. Spencer W. Kimball that came out in 2006.

That is a correlated manual that means it was approved by the first presidency, we would have to assume that what is written on page 169 of that manual is something that is binding on the life of the Latter Day Saints. What does it say we have become a world of Sabbath breakers on the Sabbath. The lakes are full of boats.

The beaches are crowded. The shows have their best attendance.

The golf links are dotted with players the Sabbath is the preferred day for rodeos, conventions, family picnics and ball games are played on the sacred day are we to assume that when Spencer Kimball uses the phrase Sabbath breakers that he means that in a positive light.

Now I would say absolutely not, but he also said that the Sabbath is a holy day in which to do worthy and holy things absence from work and recreation is important, but insufficient.

The Sabbath calls for constructive thoughts and acts and if one merely lounges about doing nothing on the Sabbath. He is breaking it to observe it.

One will be on his knees in prayer, preparing lesson studying the gospel, meditating, visiting the ill and distressed writing letters to missionaries taking a nap reading wholesome material and attending all the meetings of that day, at which he is expected okay now again that was Spencer Kimball that's found in the teachings of the presence of the church. Spencer W.

Kimball and I want to say again it came out in 2006. You can find the quotation on page 170. There's also a reference from true to the faith. The gospel reference which came out in 2004 and that's found on page 146.

In that book, Eric. It sounds pretty clear that there are certain things that Mormons must not do on the Sabbath, lest they become a Sabbath breaker right I don't get the impression from what I read in Ms. Shelley's book that she would agree with that conclusion. So the question is, is as a latter-day St., would you be safer following the admonitions of the Spencer Kimball in a church manual that was published in 2006.

Or would you be safer as a Latter Day Saints to perhaps follow the advice of the Alana surely how much do you have to follow ME what percentage of for instance when the leaders say you have to give a 10% tithe, and you decide what 10% just a little bit too much. What if I gave a 7% diet or what if I only attend to Sunday services. A month or so on and so forth, are you allowed to make your own rules and basically chip away at what the leaders have said this is what needs to be done.

It seems to be pretty clear that this is what is required. If you're going to hold on your temple recommend necessary to be able to have eternal life, and Bill, this is what bothers me the most about this because these leaders have imposed such harsh requirements on their people that they have taken it to an extreme and, yes, in Utah you very rarely see anybody wearing white shirts and dresses at the local Costco or going out to the local restaurants. Matthew 2313 through 15. This is what Jesus said woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites for you shut the kingdom of heaven in people's faces for you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in. Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites for you travel across the sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves and Bill. I think that the Mormon leadership has turned something that can be very constructive, honoring the Sabbath day turned it into something legalistic. And it's because this woman terrible angst.

She admits later on in the chapter that even though she's had a change of heart regarding the Sabbath. A lot of her Sundays remained pretty much the same, although she does say this. On page 61.

Occasionally we talk about what it really means to keep the Sabbath day holy and why certain activities might not be appropriate on Sunday when given the opportunity to manage themselves or children generally chose to honor the Sabbath, they sometimes play computer games or watch TV, but they also chose to which an church watch church videos go to firesides with their friends, play board games together and involve themselves in other good things. It was wonderful to enjoy the Sabbath with my family instead of battling constant frustration, and guilt. Again, though, we have to point back to what Mormons have been instructed in their manuals.

For instance, you have again teachings of Presidents of the church. Spencer W. Kimball. It seems odd that Spencer Kimball seem to be the most outspoken on subjects such as these, and perhaps that's why a lot of Mormons really like some of the things that Spencer Kimball had to say. But again, this is also found in gospel principles. The 2009 additional page 141 it says our prophets have told us that we should not shop hunt, fish, attend sports events or participate in similar activities. On that day, Pres. Spencer W. Kimball cautioned, however, that if we merely lounge about doing nothing on the Sabbath. We are not keeping the day holy the Sabbath calls for constructive thoughts and acts and I would assume that a lot of the acts that probably Micheli would condone this being certainly okay on that day would not be condoned by the leadership as we wrapped a series up. I want to read you the last paragraph of her book, page 123 he says that Molly Mormon urge to rush around trying to do more than is humanly possible to qualify for the celestial kingdom no longer haunts my life. Christ has redeemed my soul from the hell I lived in when fear control my life.

It has been replaced with the glorious sense of peace and joy that is a puzzling statement for me because understanding Mormonism as I do when she talks about the hell she lived in and the fear that controlled her life. I would have to assume that a lot of that hell and that fear came from the very teachings that maybe today she just would rather not let bother her and is that what I would Mormon is supposed to do when it comes to the teachings of their leaders. Does she have a right according to the Mormon religion to be able to replace that with the glorious sense of peace and joy. Is that a true peace and joy that she's experiencing or is it something that she just conjured up and were on mine. Thank you for listening. If you would like new information is research ministry. We encourage you to visit our website www.mrm.org you can request a free newsletter Mormonism research. We hope you'll join us again as we look at another viewpoint is how would you like to have Mormonism research ministry Dresher church on the subject of Mormonism and Lorenz Bill McKeever and Johnson have spoken in many Christian churches all over the country. You see, they can tailor their presentation to meet your churches means many things about one day basic introduction to what we can symposium you will find these PowerPoint presentations clear articulate and presented in a Christ honoring fashion.

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