Mormons, more specifically Latter day saints what do you think of the JofD 13:271?

Question

Please do not read this as an insult. It was asked of me, because from time to time I visit a ward. I wanted to see your answer.

In a discourse Brigham Young says:

"Who can tell us of the inhabitants of this little planet that shines of an evening, called the moon? When we view its face we may see what is termed "the man in the moon," and what some philosophers declare are the shadows of mountains. But these sayings are very vague, and amount to nothing; and when you inquire about the inhabitants of that sphere you find that the most learned are as ignorant in regard to them as the most ignorant of their fellows. So it is with regard to the inhabitants of the sun. Do you think it is inhabited? I rather think it is. Do you think there is any life there? No question of it; it was not made in vain. It was made to give light to those who dwell upon it, and to other planets; and so will this earth when it is celestialized. (cont)

Every planet in its first rude, organic state receives not the glory of God upon it, but is opaque; but when celestialized, every planet that God brings into existence is a body of light, but not till then. Christ is the light of this planet

Thanks Jacob D, I try to tell them that but they don't accept it.

Answer 1

Hi friend. The Journal of Discourses is not considered "doctrinal" in the Mormon Church. It contains much truth, but obvious errors as well. Anti-Mormons often "quote-mine" the Journal of Discourses, despite the fact that Mormons do not consider it doctrinally binding.

http://www.allaboutmormons.com

Answer 2

I read this once, when someone asked my son about it while he was on his mission. I had never heard of it before then. It is interesting, I will admit. But, I have no thoughts on the subject. Brigham was probably speculating, but not quoting prophecy. I would guess that he was as knowledgeable as the people of his day. I would not doubt that people thought the moon and sun were inhabited. I have no doubts that there are other planets that are inhabited with people much like us. Maybe someday we will know for sure.

Not many of us own a copy of the Journal of Discourses, or have access to it. We see quotes from it in many of our magazines and manuals, but we don't know every single page in the book. The Journal of Discourses is not doctrine.

Just because Brigham was speculating, thinking out loud, does not mean he was prophesying. I am sure he made many mistakes, like the rest of us. The Prophets of the Church are human beings, with their own thoughts. They are not perfect, and neither are we. I am sure that all of our prophets have made some statement that years later is proven to be inaccurate. That does not mean that all of their prophecies are wrong. It only means that the particular statement is wrong. When they speak in the name of God, they are prophesying, no other time.

Answer 3

Of course I don't believe that the moon or sun are inhabited. But in theee mid-19th century (and well into the 20th century) many people (maybe most?) believed that the moon--ands mars--were.

This is all speculation on Brigham Young's part--AND THIS IS ONE OF THE THINGS I LOVE THE MOST ABOUT EARLY MORMONISM!

The early Mormons didn't care if others thought they were Christian or not. They took their basic beliefs (that there was intelligent life throughout the universe and that things in nature (such as planets( "did not exist in vain" and they ran with it!

I'm no longer an LDS Mormon. I'm a Reform Mormon, and so I embrace all those speculations. They're food for thought, for one's imagination.

So I believe that Brigham Young orJoseph Smith or anyone else who's ever walked the earth is infallible. Not a chance! Nor do I think that any one book )such as the Bible), or set of books (such as the LDS Standard works) are the infallible "Word of God."

As a Reform Mormon, I know that I am an independent being, completely autonomous, with Free Agency, who must progress and grow by my own volition. My rational mind is my tool for doing this.

www.reformmormonism.org

Answer 4

You LDS can't have it both ways. At least not without being publicly busted. You can't say that anything The Brethren say from the pulpit during conference is considered as good as scripture and then turn around and dismiss something said by a Prophet of God from the pulpit of the Salt Lake Tabernacle simply because the ever-changing LDS church has once again changed its doctrine or is embarassed by something dumb BY or HCK or some other GA said during conference.

"I have never yet preached a sermon and sent it out to the children of men, that they may not call scripture." Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses 13:95.

Answer 5

Seems like brigham took one scripture out of the Bible that applies to the earth...and applied it to EVERY planet and star.

Probably thinking this will give God more glory

But it isn't accurate.

(Isaiah 45:18) For this is what Jehovah has said, the Creator of the heavens, He the [true] God, the Former of the earth and the Maker of it, He the One who firmly established it, who did not create it simply for nothing, who formed it even to be inhabited: “I am Jehovah, and there is no one else.

The scripture applies ONLY to the earth.

"Light" is not literal, but is symbolic of the knowledge God wants us to have. He sent Jesus to us to give us that knowledge.

(2 Corinthians 11:14) And no wonder, for Satan himself keeps transforming himself into an angel of light.

This means Satan can do things that benefit us, but also benefits himself.

(Romans 2:19) and you are persuaded that you are a guide of the blind, a light for those in darkness,

Symbolically showing people they are trapped by false religion.

(John 3:19) Now this is the basis for judgment, that the light has come into the world but men have loved the darkness rather than the light, for their works were wicked.

Again, symbolic of the knowledge of Jesus.

Answer 6

He wasn't giving doctrine, he was giving an opinion. He said "I think....". He was simply speculating. He is correct that the sun was made for a purpose. If we didn't have the light, energy, etc from the sun we could not survive.

Answer 7

Brigham certainly had his thinking cap on. Reminds me of Edgar Cayce a bit, another mystic who started a religion of sorts.

Answer 8

The surface temperature of the Sun is about 5880 Kelvin, or 5605 Celsius.

Hydrogen makes up about 94% of the solar material, helium makes up about 6% of the Sun, and all the other elements make up just 0.13%.

Mormonism began in 1820 when a teen-aged boy in western New York named Joseph Smith was spurred by a Christian revival where he lived to pray to God for guidance as to which church was true.

In answer to his prayers he was visited by God the Father and God the Son, two separate beings, who told him to join no church because all the churches at that time were false, and that he, Joseph, would bring forth the true church.

In 1828, eight years after he supposedly had been told by God himself to join no church, Smith applied for membership in a local Methodist church.

Other members of his family had joined the Presbyterians.

Contemporaries of Smith consistently described him as something of a confidence man, whose chief source of income was hiring out to local farmers to help them find buried treasure by the use of folk magic and "seer stones."

Smith was actually tried in 1826 on a charge of moneydigging. It is interesting that none of his critics seemed to be aware of his claim to have been visited by God in 1820, even though in his 1838 account he claimed that he had suffered "great persecution" for telling people of his vision.

The Book of Mormon describes a civilization lasting for a thousand years, covering both North and South America, which was familiar with horses, elephants, cattle, sheep, wheat, barley, steel, wheeled vehicles, shipbuilding, sails, coins, and other elements of Old World culture.

But no trace of any of these supposedly very common things has ever been found in the Americas of that period.

Nor does the Book of Mormon mention many of the features of the civilizations which really did exist at that time in the Americas.

The people of the Book of Mormon were supposedly devout Jews observing the Law of Moses, but in the Book of Mormon there is almost no trace of their observance of Mosaic law or even an accurate knowledge of it!

Enough of this nonsense.