interesting. One thing Feldman talked about is how the church is
changing to become more mainstream. He cited as examples of doctrine
changes the dropping of polygamy and giving the Blacks the priesthood.
I guess as a naive member of the church, I thought our doctrine has
remained the same since its inception. Are there other example of
changes in doctrine?
Lorin
1/15/2008: What Is It About Mormonism?
Doug Fabrizio
SALT LAKE CITY, UT (2008-01-14) Tuesday on RadioWest, we're asking
whether the presidential campaign of Mitt Romney has revealed a form of
religious bigotry in this country. Harvard professor Noah Feldman has
been writing about the issue. He joins Doug to talk about how Mormon
culture and religion are perceived by mainstream America - and what it
means for the LDS Church's relationship with the Republican Party.
Read Noah Feldman's article What Is It About Mormonism?
<http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/06/magazine/06mormonism-t.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1>
in the January 6th New York Times Magazine
A very recent example was the change in the preface of the Book of Mormon, which no longer asserts that the Lamanites were the "principal ancestors" of the Native Americans. This is undoubtedly a reaction to DNA evidence that makes the "principal ancestor" assertion untenable. Not all doctrinal shifts have been canonized the way that polygamy, blacks in the priesthood, and the no-longer-principal-ancestors belief have been. But there have been significant doctrinal shifts nonetheless, as for example the shift away from the use of finite language to describe God, the shift during Ezra Taft Benson's tenure toward emphasizing the Book of Mormon, and the shift toward a greater appreciation for grace.
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