For years, M2C intellectuals, their employees and their followers have told me that the views of CES, BYU and COB employees are the views of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve because the Brethren review all of these materials.
If that’s the case, then how did the Come, Follow Me 2020 manual on the Book of Mormon leave Elder Gary Stevenson “deeply saddened and hurt” by a section in the manual that, according to the Church News, included an error “referencing outdated commentary about race” that should not be in the manual (the commentary on 2 Nephi 5:20-21, which is on page 24 in the print/pdf version but has been removed from the online version)?
print/pdf version (as of today):
https://media.ldscdn.org/pdf/manuals/come-follow-me-for-individuals-and-families-book-of-mormon-2020/individuals-and-families-book-of-mormon-2020-eng.pdf?lang=eng
Online version (which has been edited to remove the outdated commentary):
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/come-follow-me-for-individuals-and-families-book-of-mormon-2020/06?lang=eng
Was Elder Stevenson the only one of the Brethren who was “deeply saddened and hurt” by the error? That seems unlikely, given the context of his address.
And, as you can see from the links above, the error was promptly edited in the online version and will probably be edited eventually in the pdf and print versions.
How did an error such as this show up in the most important Church manual of 2020?
The answer seems obvious to me. The CES, BYU and COB materials are prepared by employees who convey their own ideas in drafts that they send up the chain. Certainly there are General Authorities who review the work of these employees, but many of them share the same biases and beliefs as the employees.
Anyone who has worked in a large organization know that decisions made at the lower levels constrain the options available to decision makers.
We’ve discussed that before.
http://www.bookofmormoncentralamerica.com/2018/06/when-employees-have-spoken-thinking-is.html
http://www.bookofmormoncentralamerica.com/2019/03/the-m2c-hoax-part-2-power-of-psychology.html
We see similar problems with the anonymous Gospel Topics Essays, the Saints book, and other curriculum.
For example, I doubt the Brethren specifically approved the errors in Volume 1 of the Saints book, such as the phony Mary Whitmer story that portrays Moroni as a shape-shifter. When he appeared to Joseph Smith, he was taller than average men, wore a robe, etc. If you believe the revisionist historians and M2C intellectuals, Moroni shifted his shape to appear as a short stocky old man with a very long beard.
According to Mary, the person who showed her the plates called himself Brother Nephi. According to David Whitmer, Joseph Smith said the person was one of the Nephites, meaning the 3 Nephites. This is all consistent, as we’ve discussed before.
https://saintsreview.blogspot.com/2018/09/the-mary-whitmer-problem.html
But our revisionist historians and M2C intellectuals insist Mary and David and Joseph were wrong because they can’t have one of the 3 Nephites taking the Harmony plates to Cumorah.
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By now, we’ve all seen how Church curriculum teaches M2C. Some examples we’ve discussed on this and other blogs:
We have the BYU/CES fantasy maps which teach that the Hill Cumorah of Mormon 6:6 is anywhere but in New York where Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery said it was.
We have the Mesoamerican artwork throughout Church curriculum, the Ensign, and lesson manuals.
We have the Arnold Friberg painting of Mormon and Moroni at the Hill Cumorah in New York being removed from the missionary edition of the Book of Mormon and replaced with the painting of Christ visiting the Nephites at a ruined Mayan temple with Chichen Itza in the background.
See, e.g., http://www.bookofmormoncentralamerica.com/2018/06/correlation-department-uses-two-m2c.html
http://www.bookofmormoncentralamerica.com/2018/03/m2c-technique-4-noah-flood-imprinting.html
http://www.bookofmormoncentralamerica.com/2017/05/expectations-and-art-missionary-work.html
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Everyone understands that in a large organization, leaders have to delegate. They have to trust subordinates. Naturally, errors creep into curriculum, as Elder Stevenson pointed out.
The problem is when the subordinates have their own agendas, such as revising Church history and promoting M2C. That problem is compounded by people believing everything that shows up in a manual, the Ensign, the Gospel Topics Essays, etc.
The best solution is for each individual to prayerfully study and consider the source material. When that’s impractical, you need to be very careful about delegating your own beliefs to intellectuals, even when they are employed by CES, BYU, or COB.
My advice: follow the prophets, not the employees.
Source: Book of Mormon Wars
8 thoughts on “Who reviews Church curriculum?”
This was an excellent post pointing out the problems that can plague any large and complex organization whose leaders are focused on broader aspects/goals and are required to trust operational oversight to delegates. I think the argument is well laid out and point to how errors/mistakes can be overlooked and propagated due to human nature. Thank you.
According to my estimate there are about 1,400 footnotes and 600 Sources Cited at the back of Saints Vol I. Is there anyone on the planet who has read all of those Footnotes and Sources Cited? No, it was written by a committee of scholars and intellectuals who were hired to document the truth, not promote their pet theories. I can see why Elder Stevenson was “deeply saddened and hurt.” Hopefully, this will be the beginning of many corrections. How can the Brethren trust some scheming employees?
Look at Footnotes 3 and 7 in the Gospel Topics Essay, “Book of Mormon Translation” to see the gross deception trying to promote the seer stone fantasy.
According to page ii of my copy of the Book of Mormon 2020 Come, Follow Me–For Individuals and Families, the version is 10/17. If they can change page 24 about the curse, why not fix page 3 which promotes the seer stone and eliminate all the artwork promoting the Mesoamerican model of geography. How can the church be neutral on geography and then use 1/3 of all the artwork in the manual promoting the Mesoamerican model?
We should all send an e-mail to comefollowme@ChurchofJesusChrist.org and report the corrections and errors.as stated on page ii of the manual.
The online correction is a start. However, many teachers and home users will not be aware of the change!
Who will fix the Jan 2020 Ensign? Randy D Funk is the editor. However, I don’t see an e-mail or phone number on page 4 of the Ensign.
Brother Neville,
It seems you are determined to offer your faith filled readers only false, faithless choices. It is disingenuous for you to suggest, as you do in this blogpost, that if someone discovers a mistake or inclusion or omission in the material sent by today’s Prophets and Apostles to members around the world – that it is a sign the barbarians (M2C) are at the gate or that Prophets and Apostles don’t know what is going on…or they didn’t read it before it was published…or they didn’t approve it’s publication…or the material doesn’t represent their views, etc.
“And now, if there are faults they are the mistakes of men; wherefore, condemn not the things of God, that ye may be found spotless at the judgment-seat of Christ.” The title page of the Book of Mormon makes it clear misstatements or mistakes, even in scripture, can be made by anyone who labors for Zion. So, I’m willing to give our current Prophets the benefit of the doubt and believe they are as concerned as anyone about the topic Elder Stevenson commented on.
You should take more care in what you write. Your post “condemns the things of God” in order to justify your campaign against M2C and gain leverage for your ideological position that an evil cartel is out to get you and undermine Oliver Cowdery. The fact you are willing to throw the First Presidency, Quorum of the Twelve and other General Authorities under the bus to advance the Heartland Movement is no credit to the Movement.
You ask: “How did such an error show up in the most important manual for 2020” – then answer your own question by laying the blame on the cartel that now includes “General Authorities” who are approving revisionist history because they are part of the cartel.
Are you even listening to yourself? Your’e saying the Saints can’t trust the Brethren all of the time but they can always trust you! WOW!
This blogpost confirms to me that you are a critic of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its leaders. It’s there in black and white. You are telling your readers they can’t even trust some General Authorities because they have motives that fit with your conspiracy theories. Can you tell us which of the General Authorities who speak in the upcoming General Conference we can trust and which ones we should tune out because they are part of the conspiracy?
It’s pretty clear you are willing to create a division among the Saints by undermining unnamed Brethren we can’t trust – sowing seeds of doubt that weaken our confidence in living prophets – just so you can score cheap points for your conspiracy theories and Oliver Cowdery. It appears at this point there is little difference between you and Abner Cole or Eber Howe, or (dare I say it) Oliver Cowdery…al critics of the Church.
The obvious answer given by every faithful member of the Church to the question of how the error you referred to shows up in the most recent Come, Follow Me manual is the simplest answer (not the convoluted and conspiratorial answer you proffer) and is simply stated by a former member of the First Presidency: “There have been times when members or leaders in the Church have simply made mistakes. There may have been things said or done that were not in harmony with our values, principles or doctrine.” (President Dieter F. Uchtdorf)
Why can’t your blog EVER take the most faith filled course toward harmony and unity, instead of continually criticizing the Church, its leaders, or even its faithful, hardworking and devoted employees for their failings? Why does it always have to be about M2C? Why can’t your writings fill our hearts with confidence in our dear Prophets today instead of promoting what those long-since dead supposedly said?
Jesus Christ stands at the head of the Church that bears His name, so your continual drumbeat about faithless employees, and conspiracies from within, and Prophets and Apostles and Seventies who are ignoring you and Oliver Cowdery is simply a demonstration of your lack of faith in Him and His interest in preserving His Church. Do you think He wasn’t paying attention when that manual was written either? Do you think those “messengers” He called to teach His people weren’t minding the store? Are they just another example of subordinates who have gone rogue? You seem to have conveniently forgotten that He is in charge of this Church and He is not easy to deceive. He is the one who said His Church will roll forth to fill the whole earth – whether or not the Prophets today “get it right” about a NY Cumorah.
As one who has spent almost four decades within the walls of the Church Office Building and Church Administration Building – not ever as an employee, but with callings and assignments from the First Presidency or Quorum of the Twelve – I can assure your readers that Satan himself is cheering wildly when he read what you have written today. Your closing comment at the end of your blogpost today suggesting that it would be a mistake for the Saints to believe everything they read in Church manuals, the Ensign or Gospel Topics Essays is sue to make the devil smile.
You would rather have the Saints be forced to pick and choose which Brethren to believe; or which General Conference talk to listen to and which one to tune out; or whether or not to study Come, Follow Me (because someone found a mistake there once); or whether or not to study the Ensign (because some of it might be M2C toxic or the artwork depicting palm trees is offensive); or whether or not to believe the Gospel Topics Essays are the words of Prophets and Apostles (or just the frenzied mind of conspiratorial M2C supporters).
The bottom line is that you are willing to sow seeds of doubt among the Saints – seeds that will cause them to question “who” really speaks for the Lord and “where” they can find His word – for the simple purpose of advancing your ideology. Coincidentally, that’s exactly what Satan is doing, but you will be pleased to know that he is doing just fine in that regard and doesn’t need your help any longer. You are now free to devote your writings to topics and words that don’t throw our living Prophets under the bus or condemn them (or their fellow laborers) for a word.
I am one of those countless souls you are condemning for a word. For more years than you have been alive countless, nameless disciples who were called of God by holy Prophets and Apostles have worked and labored, researched, created, drafted, edited, refined, discarded, started-over, and done everything in their power and under the power of Heaven to make an offering to the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve that would spark an affirmation from the Holy Ghost to THEM that it was a proper, sacred, and acceptable offering THEY could make to HIM and then publish to the world in HIS NAME.
How could you so thoughtlessly cast into doubt ALL the efforts of disciples and Prophets to make an acceptable offering to the Lord – just so you could score cheap points with your followers? Your words show utter contempt for the Lord and His laborers today.
I have been a steady reader of your blogs for over a year – but the heresy you are promoting in this post has crossed a line and classifies you as a “critic of the Church” and leads me to plead with you to stop this nonsense before you find yourself on the outside looking in.
Your stock is falling to a new low as your posts continue to disappoint those of us seeking to build our faith in Jesus Christ.
No “Huzzah for Zion” today.
I don’t follow your logic here. The prophets always tell us to study the scriptures and the teachings of the prophets and the pray for our own answers. That’s what I seek to do and what I encourage others to do.
Lesson manuals, curriculum, videos, etc., whether produced by the Church or third parties, are intended to help us study; they do not replace or change the teachings of the prophets and the scriptures. When they contradict the teachings of the prophets, I choose the prophets over the manuals.
I’m not interested in scoring “cheap points” with anyone. I’m not keeping any kind of score. I’m not trying to persuade anyone of anything, either. I just write what I think about various topics and I’m fine with everyone believing whatever they want.
I fully support the prophets. I don’t support the intellectuals at all. “Seeds of doubt” are being sown by intellectuals who teach Church members to reject the teachings of the prophets. Having been misled by M2C intellectuals for decades, and knowing many others who, after assuming (understandably yet incorrectly) that M2C is the official position of the Church, have left the Church once they concluded that M2C is a hoax that repudiates the teachings of the prophets, I offer an alternative faithful interpretation of Church history and the text of the Book of Mormon.
I think having multiple working hypotheses regarding Book of Mormon geography and Church history is more faith affirming and intellectually honest than the current practice by the M2C citation cartel and their employees and followers. M2C or bust, the current editorial policy of Book of Mormon Central, FairMormon, the Interpreter, etc., is a counterproductive approach, IMO.
My point in this post was to not put your trust in the manuals, the Saints book, the anonymous Gospel Topics essays, etc. Those are all subject to change, as I’ve shown many times, when they contain errors.
Instead, put your trust in the original sources: the scriptures, the teachings of the prophets, and original sources of Church history. Those will lead to Christ.
Brother Neville,
I just submitted a comment to your post today and noticed it awaits “moderation” by you. Knowing how you feel about those who censor the views of others (as you say M2C does about your own views) I am confident you will be tolerant of differing viewpoints and allow my comments to appear as written. Should that not be the case, and you decide not to publish my comment as submitted, I will reproduce the entirety of my comment on ALL your other blogs and point out your censorship of my views on this very sensitive subject.
By the way, as I’ve already made clear elsewhere I am not a believer in a Mesoamerican setting for the Book of Mormon or a critic of the Heartland Movement. I am simply a believer that God speaks to His Prophets and Apostles today and that we can have confidence in the processes He has instituted in the Restoration to succor His people.
I stand with the Prophets & Apostles…………today!
Thank you,
FDH
I stand with them too.
Looks like you are going to censor my comment!
Sad.
That says a lot more about you than it does me.
FDH
First, I don’t operate or manage this web page. It just reposts my other blogs.
Second, moderation is necessary because all kinds of spam hits blogs that don’t moderate comments.
Third, I’m very busy and look at comments at most once a week.
Forth, I’m happy to approve your comments. Your impatience and accusations are noted.
Comments are closed.