Faith Promoting Myths

[2bizE]

I was listening to Radio Free Mormon on YouTube (yes, his podcasts are now in audio on YouTube). I listened to the episode on “Apostasy of Thomas B. Marsh”.
This reminded me of many of the partial or full untruths the church perpetuates in Faith Promoting Myths. I wish the church would spend a significant effort to rid itself of these untruthful stories. It would be nice to make a list of these types of stories and perhaps RFM, consigliere, could make that into a podcast. I know he has mentioned a few of these myths before, but I’m not sure if a big list has been created.
I’ll start:
1) The Voice of Joseph Smith transfigured into Brigham Young.
What myths can you add to this list?

[Hagoth]

The milk strippings story is one that always makes me grind my teeth, but that's probably what you're talking about with Thomas B. Marsh.

Next is the fantasy that Lorenzo Snow was actually visited in the temple by Jesus. (I have an excellent Mormon History Association article that completely debunks that one).

That Wilford Woodruff was visited by the spirits of the Founding Fathers and told to do their work. Rock Waterman's blog put the nails in that coffin.

That the high priesthood was handed down from prophet to prophet. I don't believe Brigham was ever ordained to the office of high priest. Also, that Brigham Young was a prophet. He expressly said that he was not.

That it's possible to trace your genealogy back to Adam.

That a recent prophet (name seems to change) said that LDS young men were generals in heaven and that when they die the spirits of past generations will kneel at their feet because they were valiant enough to keep their testimony in the last days.

[wtfluff]

Any story referring to "The Three Nephites."

Any statement that involves the words: "It's too sacred to talk about."


ETA: (I'll probably keep adding to this list until I die.)

"I learn something new every time I attend the temple."


.

[jfro18]

This is a fun Mormon Discussions podcast with Bill Reel about various faith promoting myths:

https://mormondiscussionpodcast.org/201 ... g-stories/

It does seem that almost every faith promoting miracle is not what it was claimed to be, which isn't surprising in hindsight but still jarring when you look at them in totality.

[moksha]

There has been a thread dedicated to Faith Enhancement on the Coffee Shop Forum. Get yourself a boost of faith!

viewtopic.php?f=7&t=633

[Hagoth]

One that I'm soooo glad go nipped in the bud before it became standard folklore is Russell and Wendy Nelson's fantasy retelling of the incident of the mission president and his wife who were robbed while the Nelsons were visiting. Fortunately the actual witnesses were brave enough to let Deseret Book know that the the Nelsons had fabricated their version of the story and it was removed from Nelson's biography.

I have an uncomfortable feeling that it might creep back in someday after the contemporary witnesses have shuffled off the mortal coil.

[Hagoth]

What about Matthew Cowley's adventure tales of raising the dead in Polynesia?

[wtfluff]

Maybe the question should be: What part of "the restoration" is NOT a Faith Promoting Myth?

[moksha]

There was a really big thread on the Mormon Discussions forum about President Nelson's plane crash story. The participants looked high and low for any evidence that this ever occurred. I suppose you would say that this was thoroughly debunked.

Another story that was dissected and debunked was the story of a young Mormon seaman saving the day on his ship. Consiglieri at RFM showed that it was the figment of a faith-producing imagination.

Then there was the old Paul H. Dunn story when he was playing the third baseman with Babe Ruth and Charles Barkley for the San Diego Chargers back in 1936. One day, he drove along the coast highway after practice and rescued an entire family whose car had plunged into the Atlantic Ocean. Later on the oldest son of those rescued lead the heroic Charge of the Light Brigade during the War of the Roses in Pasadena.

[no1saint]

The first vision onward inclusive.

[Just This Guy]

The first vision onward inclusive.

Not sure. You may not be going back far enough.

[Linked]

The Miracle of the gulls when the seagulls saved the crops from crickets after the mormon pioneers first came to Utah. I was floored when I learned that this was a commen event, nobody at the time thought much of the seagulls, and that the seagulls didn't actually do much to save the crops.

[blazerb]

The most notable thing about miracles is that they no longer occur. The fact that sight is not given to the blind, the lame are not made to walk, and the dead do not rise is pretty strong evidence that none of these ever happened. This church of miracles is now amazed at being able to find car keys or that the people in charge can decide to send 19 year old women on missions. Whatever happened when the Kirtland temple was dedicated, I feel pretty confident that no angels were present and any speaking in tongues was gibberish. If JS and OC spent any time beside the Susquehanna River, no angelic messengers visited them. Maybe it was all imagined. Maybe it was cynically made up. No1saint said it

The first vision onward inclusive.