False Doctrine

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Many details regarding the false doctrines that will exist in the last days. False doctrines will even lead the faithful to errr, because they are often taught by the precepts of men.
  • Joseph Smith, compiled by Joseph Fielding Smith, "Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith", p. 21
The teaching of a specific false doctrine was made a bar to communion by a Bishop, which decision was sanctioned by the first presidency.
  • Joseph Smith, compiled by Joseph Fielding Smith, "Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith", p. 79
Joseph explains how overenthusiastic supporters of the gathering to Zion may have lead some to misapprehend the true nature of the gathering and how likewise these misapprehensions had led some to declare that children, wives, and slaves were being encouraged to gather even contrary to the wishes of their respective parents, husbands, and masters.
Joseph makes clear both that the Elders should show proper respect to authority in their efforts to encourage gathering, and that such a principle of encouraging such hasty and negligent gathering was not a true principle of our doctrine.
  • Joseph Smith, compiled by Joseph Fielding Smith, "Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith", p. 128-129
False doctrine regarding communal wives discussed.
One Dr. Avard is going about teaching false doctrine which he false claims come from the First Presidency.

Notes

False doctrines are common and frequently hard to identify. I have a number that I strongly suspect documented in my Suspect Doctrine List. Well-known false doctrines are relatively easy to identify, and usually consist of old ideas that were once taught as doctrine that are now known to have been foolish. They often clearly contradict modern teachings and have been repudiated very publicly by church officials.

The suspect doctrine list does not concern itself with such matters. Instead, it focuses on ideas that are currently popular that I have judged to be potentially false. Identifying false doctrines is not easy. I refer to my "Suspect Doctrine List" rather than my "False Doctrine List", for many reasons. First, I do not define doctrine. I'm just a normal guy trying to organize my thoughts and discern as best I can. Anything that I have concluded is inherently suspect. I have doubts about the wisdom of making this wiki public, but the gospel is usually shared by imperfect people who misunderstand and miscommunicate, so I'm not inclined to think it must be wrong either. It is certainly a convenient forum for me.

That being said, there are some well-known keys to discerning false doctrines.

  1. The doctrine is taught by someone who sets himself up as a higher or alternative authority to the prophets of God.
  2. The doctrine does not harmonize well with true doctrines.

In my Suspect Doctrine List I also would note some other properties.

  1. The doctrine is not officially taught, but is found principally in talks, firesides, and unofficial books.
    • History has shown that the source can very easily be a church authority, even a prophet. In prophets and other church authorities, at times, we see that they have received a revelation and then, in persuading themselves and members to accept it, they propose reasonings that are later discredited, or otherwise never become official doctrine.
  2. The doctrine is one of a set of mutually exclusive competing doctrinal theories.
  3. The doctrine can easily be imagined to have been imported from philosophies present in the world.
    • These would be introduced by new members trying to integrate their old world-views into the new world-view they have come to embrace, or by members who have been influenced by the persuasions of the world.
  4. The doctrine proposes, as vital and broadly applicable, a commandment that cannot be found in scripture and is not officially taught to investigators or new members.
    • If people need to know to do X and should be judged for not doing so if they are members, it is against all reason and order that they not be taught to do X.
  5. The doctrine prescribes a practice that may be based on tradition.
    • ie. We've always done it this way, so we start to believe that we have to do it that way.

I will note that this second set of properties can only suggest potential false doctrines. It requires reason and revelation to discern truth from falsehood. Since these doctrines are not as easily discernable, they are often deeply ingrained in tradition. It can be hard to even consider that a doctrine can be false, because, having been taught openly, we don't realize that no solid foundation for it exists. We effectively take it for granted that it is official.

False Doctrines

Cross-References