… Because the Book of Mormon is “the keystone of our religion,” as described by Joseph Smith, the Church rises or falls on the truth of it. The Book of Mormon is the Keystone of our Religion (“Keystone”) Virtually all modern non-LDS scholars seem to view the oral composition model as most likely, but other models exist and will occasionally be referenced. To easily distinguish Callister’s voice from other block quotations and orient the reader, all Callister quotes are colored red and prefaced “" (so, corresponds to Callister's Argument #2, first paragraph). Callister’s headings are duplicated below to help orient the reader.
4 ResponseĬallister’s devotional is quoted in full except for the omission of a few relatively small chunks of text that are tangential to his primary thesis. Given that Callister carefully and emphatically lays out a case in defense of the orthodox LDS position, and given his status as a general officer of the Church and the forum where the address was delivered, it seems appropriate to offer up a detailed counter-response to Callister’s core arguments. 2 More recently, he published a book on the topic, A Case for the Book of Mormon.Īlthough some responses were made to his conference address, very partial responses have been made to his book, 3 and some responses have addressed portions of his devotional, none have yet responded to his arguments in full. Shortly after, he gave a highly condensed and slightly modified version of the talk in general conference. Callister argues against these theories and then offers counter-evidence and argumentation supporting the orthodox LDS narrative. Their own report stated growth of the Church plunged by nearly 50%.On November 1, 2016, Tad Callister, general president of the Sunday School and former General Authority, delivered a BYU Devotional entitled The Book of Mormon: Man-Made or God-Given? The talk is somewhat unique among recent addresses by general officers of the Church in that it addresses in scholarly fashion 1 various theories about the creation of the Book of Mormon. The sole purpose of this talk was to degrade the Lord’s work by stating the gospel was growing at an ‘accelerated rate’. There was no mention of where and how the original church grew and the many sacrifices they made for the sake of the gospel. Their gospel is bereft of anything to do with sweet Jesus and His sacrifice on the cross to provide salvation. Walker’s talk provided a classic example of those who do the Church’s bidding. Neither was there any mention of the Lord taking up residence inside the believer making them the temple of God. There was no mention of what Jesus’ spilt blood on the cross did for us, nor was there any mention of the miraculous way God has grown the body of Christ over the past 2,000 years. of age while making a stop at Disneyland along the way. His talk focused on the immense growth of the Church and his feel-good memories of going to the temple at 2 yrs. Walker’s talk was a mirror image of info the Church provides on their site for ‘ Church Growth’. He and many of the other speakers referenced all the works of their prophet and while that happens at most of their conferences, this seemed excessive.Ī good portion of Mr. Walker seemed to be a detached participant in the line of guest speakers at this last conference. The talk we’re looking at today ranks up there with one of the most dismal of General Conference talks we’ve seen in a long while.
Psalm 127:1 “Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.” The Church will have an unprecedented, unparalleled future.”Īs we gather on both sides of the veil, as we make sacrifices to serve and make the temple pivotal in our lives, the Lord is truly building us - He is building His covenant people.” - Alan R. Nelson recently said: “Today, the Lord’s work in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is moving forward at an accelerated pace. … Highlighting the rapid growth of the Church, President Russell M.
General Conference, ‘The Gospel Light of Truth and Love’, April 2021 “Thanks to the commencing of the ongoing Restoration just over 200 years ago, “the gospel light of truth and love” now shines brightly throughout the earth.