LDS Freedom Forum

I have met Wallace B. Smith, former R.L.D.S. Church President and heard him speak in the Kirtland Temple. I have run into, also in Kirtland, some of the former followers of Ervil(evil) Labaron. I have had other experiences with some others as well. I will put up some experiences on my mission thread.

Today I would like to post on the largest group(Community of Christ) and some of their beliefs. Wallace B. Smith, gave a nice talk. It was much like attending any number of Protestant Meetings. He was speaking on getting along with other Christians. I will have more to say on that experience later. Now, let's jump in and see what happens when groups split off from the Lord's Church weather in ancient times or otherwise.

Some call themselves "fundamentalists" by the way, and will not accept "The Manifesto".

On September 25, 1890, President Woodruff wrote in his journal that he was “under the necessity of acting for the Temporal Salvation of the Church.” He stated, “After Praying to the Lord & feeling inspired by his spirit I have issued … [a] Proclamation.”16 This proclamation, now published in the Doctrine and Covenants as Official Declaration 1, was released to the public on September 25 and became known as the Manifesto.17

The Manifesto was carefully worded to address the immediate conflict with the U.S. government. “We are not teaching polygamy, or plural marriage, nor permitting any person to enter into its practice,” President Woodruff said. “Inasmuch as laws have been enacted by Congress forbidding plural marriages, which laws have been pronounced constitutional by the court of last resort, I hereby declare my intention to submit to those laws, and to use my influence with the members of the Church over which I preside to have them do likewise.”18

The members of the Quorum of the Twelve varied in their reactions to the Manifesto. Franklin D. Richards was sure it was “the work of the Lord.” Francis M. Lyman said that “he had endorsed the Manifesto fully when he first heard it.”19 Not all the Twelve accepted the document immediately. John W. Taylor said he did “not yet feel quite right about it” at first.20 John Henry Smith candidly admitted that “the Manifesto had disturbed his feelings very much” and that he was still “somewhat at sea” regarding it.21 Within a week, however, all members of the Twelve voted to sustain the Manifesto.

The Manifesto was formally presented to the Church at the semiannual general conference held in the Salt Lake Tabernacle in October 1890. On Monday, October 6, Orson F. Whitney, a Salt Lake City bishop, stood at the pulpit and read the Articles of Faith, which included the line that Latter-day Saints believe in “obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law.” These articles were sustained by uplifted hand. Whitney then read the Manifesto, and Lorenzo Snow, President of the Quorum of the Twelve, moved that the document be accepted as “authoritative and binding.” The assembly was then asked to vote on this motion. The Deseret News reported that the vote was “unanimous”; most voted in favor, though some abstained from voting.22

Rank-and-file Latter-day Saints accepted the Manifesto with various degrees of reservation. Many were not ready for plural marriage to come to an end. General Relief Society president Zina D. H. Young, writing in her journal on the day the Manifesto was presented to the Church, captured the anguish of the moment: “Today the hearts of all were tried but looked to God and submitted.”23 The Manifesto prompted uncertainty about the future of some relationships. Eugenia Washburn Larsen, fearing the worst, reported feeling “dense darkness” when she imagined herself and other wives and children being “turned adrift” by husbands.24 Other plural wives, however, reacted to the Manifesto with “great relief.”25https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/top ... e?lang=eng

These "fundamentalists", continue on to this day, paying no head to the information above. Some of these and other splinter groups, claim that Joseph went out behind the barn, or wherever, and gave so and so special authority to do this and that, and now have the authority to lead the true believers in the continuing latter days.

Now, back to the Community of Christ. After the "Brighamites" as they call us, went west, over time, they formed a church around Emma and Joseph Smith's oldest living son, Joseph Smith the third. This group began to formulate official doctrine that would leave behind much of the Nauvoo era, and even some of the Kirtland era revelation and doctrine.

Some who had not came west(Lucy Mack Smith, Oliver Cowdrey, Martin Harris, and others) either came west later, or due to age and declining health wished to, and publicly said so, but never made the trip. Now, about the C. of C. who wanted no part of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and what they accepted as official doctrine.

Even though there were many witnesses including Joseph himself(I have posted quite a few times on this lately), first and foremost, they accept the Trinity Doctrine as followed by other non restoration Christian Churches. If you doubt me on this, visit their official website.https://www.cofchrist.org/

If you will read through a list of official beliefs, you may come away with the feeling as I did, that they are somewhat murky. Here is more information. This is listed on Wikipedia.
The Community of Christ, known from 1872 to 2001 as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (RLDS), is an American-based international church,[2] and is the second-largest denomination in the Latter Day Saint movement. The church reports 250,000 members in 1,100 congregations in 59 countries.[1] The church traces its origins to Joseph Smith's establishment of the Church of Christ on April 6, 1830.[3] A group of members including his eldest son Joseph Smith III formally established the current church on April 6, 1860[4] in the aftermath of the 1844 death of Joseph Smith.

The Community of Christ was founded as a Restorationist church, although today attitudes are largely congruent with mainline Protestant Christianity. While it generally rejects the term Mormon to describe its members, the church abides by a number of theological distinctions unique to Mormonism, including but not limited to: prophetic revelation, a priesthood polity, the use of the Book of Mormon in some contexts, and belief in an interpretation of the Word of Wisdom.[5][6][7][8][9] In many respects, the church differs from the larger Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) and most other Latter Day Saint denominations in its religious liberalism, belief in the traditional conception of the trinity (as opposed to a godhead of three separate and distinct beings), and rejection of exaltation and the plan of salvation. Salvation is considered a personal matter and not subject to dogma, but salvation by grace alone is emphasized. The church considers itself to be non-creedal and accepts people with a wide-range of beliefs. Church teachings emphasize that "all are called" as "persons of worth" to "share the peace of Christ".[2]

Community of Christ worship follows a free-form worship placing more of the foundation on scripture based on the Revised Common Lectionary.[10] From its headquarters in Independence, Missouri, the church offers a special focus on evangelism, peace and justice ministries, spirituality and wholeness, youth ministries and outreach ministries.[11]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_of_Christ

The meeting I attended in the Kirtland Temple was very much like attending a Protestant Church. I will have more on the Ohio Cleveland thread. Hope you find this interesting. I hope nobody gets the feeling from anything on this post that I don't like anyone who has differing beliefs than me. I am not trying to poke fun at anyone, or belittle anyone. to me, this is all interesting, to know, and learn the Church works very hard to maintain a cordial relationship with them.

This is very interesting. With regards to differences of doctrine, we must celebrate convergence and respect divergence.

On the matter of the trinity, it is a bit more subtle than either you or even the website would suggest.

The RLDS have always permitted a fair degree of personal beliefs in such matters and while some do use a more traditional view of the trinity others, even most use a corporal view af the trinity (three separate beings united perfectly)

My impression is that the website was written to cast a rather wide net and to be as inclusive as possible on such matters. In any event the trinity is in my experience not a topic of much discussion with in the RLDS faith.

I just posted this o.p. information at reddit. Take a look at this interesting response someone else posted.
from zionhearted via /r/latterdaysaints sent 11 hours ago

I grew up in the Community of Christ, and it was a lovely congregation. Some of my fondest memories were spent in the little white church in my hometown. But as I grew older I had noticed that my mom would talk about The Book of Mormon and teach us about it, but we never talked about it in church. When I asked why, I was told by my uncle, our pastor, that the Book of Mormon was not “necessary doctrine” according to the CoC. But he followed that up with saying that he believed that was a mistake, as most members of the CoC had a firm testimony of The Book of Mormon, him included. It felt like the church was disregarding it to appeal to more Protestant and secular minded people. I feel like that’s the motivation for most of the big changes, like getting rid of baptisms for the dead, eternal marriage, the trinity, etc.