The great and abominable church in the Book of Mormon

Criticism

Critics claim that Latter-day Saints believe that the scriptural terms "church of the devil," the "great and abominable church," and the "whore of all the earth" refer to a specific religion.

Source(s) of the criticism

• Fawn M. Brodie, No Man Knows My History: The Life of Joseph Smith (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1945), 59. ( Index of claims )
• Simon Southerton, Losing a Lost Tribe: Native Americans, DNA, and the Mormon Church (Salt Lake City, UT: Signature Books, 2004) 136. ( Index of claims )
• Jerald and Sandra Tanner, The Changing World of Mormonism (Moody Press, 1979), 27.( Index of claims )

Response

The criticism is based upon references in the Book of Mormon to the "church of the devil," which is referred to as the "whore of all the earth." For example:

And he said unto me: Behold there are save two churches only; the one is the church of the Lamb of God, and the other is the church of the devil; wherefore, whoso belongeth not to the church of the Lamb of God belongeth to that great church, which is the mother of abominations; and she is the whore of all the earth. (1 Nephi 14:10)

The scriptures do not associate this "church" with a specific organization or religion. Several early 19th century church leaders stated their opinions regarding who they considered the "whore of all the earth." For example, George Q. Cannon publicly associated the "whore of all the earth" with those that persecuted the Church:

And to-day, those who are inciting mobs against this people; those who go to Congress, and incite persecutions against us; those who fulminate threats and frame petitions; those who meet together in conventions; those who gather together in conferences, are those who belong to this "mother of abominations," this "whore of all the earth," and it is through the influence of that accursed whore, that they gather together and marshal their forces in every land against the Latter-day Saints, the Church of the living God. ^[1]

Heber C. Kimball associated the "whore of all the earth" with the national government that failed to help the Saints during their times of persecution:

It is very easy to be seen that the nation that has oppressed us is going down. The Lord revealed to Joseph Smith something about the judgments that await the inhabitants of the earth, and he said in the revelations that the judgments should commence at the house of God. I will read to you parts of the revelations which speak of these things....and that great and abominable church, which is the whore of all the earth, shall be cast down by devouring fire, according as it is spoken by the mouth of Ezekiel the Prophet... ^[2]

Orson Pratt, in his 1853-1854 periodical The Seer, claimed that the founder of the Roman Catholic Church was “the Devil, through the medium of Apostates, who subverted the whole order of God” and that they derived their “authority from the Devil....”^[3] The Seer, however, never achieved sufficient circulation to propagate this idea through the general Church membership. In fact, The Seer was disowned by the First Presidency in 1865 for containing "doctrines which we cannot sanction."^[4]

Bruce R. McConkie is credited with promoting the idea within the modern church that the "great and abominable church" was in fact the Roman Catholic Church. The first edition of McConkie's Mormon Doctrine, a book which contained sufficient errors that the First Presidency declared that the book was "not approved as an authoritative book"^[5] and that it should not be re-published, contained this rather direct statement:

It is also to the Book of Mormon to which we turn for the plainest description of the Catholic Church as the great and abominable church. Nephi saw this ‘church which is the most abominable above all other churches’ in vision. He ‘saw the devil that he was the foundation of it’ and also the murders, wealth, harlotry, persecutions, and evil desires that historically have been a part of this satanic organization.^[6]

When the first edition of Mormon Doctrine went into widespread circulation, the idea that the "great and abominable church" was the Catholic Church became embedded in popular belief, despite the fact that this idea was never sanctioned or preached over the pulpit. A second edition of Mormon Doctrine was eventually released with the offending language regarding the Roman Catholic Church removed. In the second edition, McConkie states:

The titles church of the devil and great and abominable church are used to identify all churches or organizations of whatever name or nature — whether political, philosophical, educational, economic social, fraternal, civic, or religious — which are designed to take men on a course that leads away from God and his laws and thus from salvation in the kingdom of God. ^[7]

This statement more closely aligns with what the scriptures themselves say, without any additional interpretation. Modern church leaders have stayed close to the definition in the Book of Mormon, by identifying the "great and abominable" church as any organization the leads people away from the Church of Jesus Christ.

Conclusion

According to the scriptures, the "great and abominable church" and "whore of all the earth" refers to any organization that opposes the true Church of Jesus Christ. The Church does not teach or endorse the idea that these terms refer to any specific religion or organization. It is clear that in cases where past church authorities have modified this definition through speculation, that the First Presidency has firmly declared those speculations to be in error.

Endnotes

1. [note] George Q. Cannon, "PREDICTIONS IN THE BOOK OF MORMON, etc.," Journal of Discourses, reported by Geo. F. Gibbs, John Irvine, and others, (April 6, 1884), Vol. 25 (London: Latter-day Saint's Book Depot, 1884), 128.off-site
2. [note] Heber C. Kimball, "OBSERVANCE OF THE COMMANDMENTS OF GOD," Journal of Discourses, reported by G.D. Watt and J.V. Long, (January 6, 1861), Vol. 9 (London: Latter-day Saint's Book Depot, 1862), 131.off-site wiki
3. [note] Orson Pratt, The Seer (Washington D.C., April 1854).
4. [note] Deseret News, Aug. 12, 1865, 373.
5. [note] Dennis B. Horne, Bruce R. McConkie: Highlights From His Life & Teachings (Eborn Books, 2000)
6. [note] Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine (Salt Lake City, UT: Bookcraft, 1958).
7. [note] Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, 2nd edition, (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1966), 760. GL direct link

Further reading

FAIR web site

• FairMormon Topical Guide: Great and Abominable Church FairMormon link
  

External links

• Michael R. Ash, Mormon Myths: Great and Abominable Church
• Stephen E. Robinson, "Nephi's 'Great and Abominable' Church," Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 7/1 (1998). [32–39] link
• Stephen E. Robinson, "Warring against the Saints of God," Ensign, January 1988, 34.off-site

Printed material

• 'Plain and Precious Things': The Writings of the New Testament," by Elder Alexander B. Morrison in How the New Testament Came to Be, ed. Kent P. Jackson and

Frank F. Judd Jr. (Salt Lake City: BYU Religious Studies Center and Deseret Book, 2006),1-24 ISBN 1590386272