Mormon Doctrine enjoyed a long, controversial history

This article was originally published at StandardBlogs in 2010.

“Mormon Doctrine” is finally going out of print. The late apostle Bruce R. McConkie’s interpretation of LDS theology was a common sight in the homes of active Mormons for decades. Even today, it’s often seen in the homes of older Mormons. In fact, it will likely be decades before the book becomes difficult to find in used bookstores or ebay, etc.

Peggy Fletcher Stack of the Salt Lake Tribune wrote an excellent article about the “popular but polarizing” “Mormon Doctrine.” McConkie’s book was written as an authoritative index of beliefs, but in truth it caused much controversy; in fact as much from outside critics as within the hierarchy of the Mormon Church. The first edition of “Mormon Doctrine” — and a copy of that must be considered rare — prompted the LDS leadership to propose more than 1,000 changes. Eventually, in the early 1960s, McConkie revised “Mormon Doctrine” and it was re-published with the clear idea that it was just McConkie’s opinion.

Nevertheless, as an active Mormon who grew up in the 1960s, 70s and early 80s, I can attest that the many times I or others had a dispute on theology, “Mormon Doctrine” was the first place we went to check and see who was “right.”

According to Fletcher Stack’s article, a key problem with the first edition was severe attacks on the Roman Catholic Church. Later problems with the book were its content regarding blacks. In early editions, McConkie had stated a reversal of denying the priesthood to blacks would never occur. And “even in the most recent edition … McConkie wrote that God cursed Cain with ‘a mark of dark skin, and he became the ancestor of the black race,’” writes Fletcher Stack.

In recent years, the Mormon Church has become public relations conscious. Although McConkie is regarded as a beloved late apostle, — his last public address, as he was dying, has been sold for years and he wrote chapter headings in LDS scripture — once-popular books such as “Mormon Doctrine” are being phased out, particularly those that say politically incorrect things about blacks.

The recent battle over Proposition 8 in California has made the need for a more enlightened church more necessary. This is a simple reality, and it is not meant to imply that official church doctrines are changing today, only that a softer stick is preferred and more care has been taken between what the church believes and what one man’s specific opinions are.

“Mormon Doctrine” was to many 20th century Mormons what Parley P. Pratt’s “The Key to Science of Theology” was to late 19th century Mormons, a book on many coffee tables. No doubt another LDS book will one day rise in this century and enjoy decades of influence.

-- Doug Gibson