At what point did TSCC back away from the idea that the Catholic Church was the Great and Abominable Church? I know that I heard this in Sunday School after correlation, but it may have been a class member and not from the manual.

Is there any correlation between dropping that view and the purchase of land in Rome for a potential temple?

They started backing away from saying that as they became more international, and particularly when South and Central America became booming mission fields. It's a bit harder to lure someone away from their cultural Catholicism if you insult it that way. They still hold it as truth and it is in the BoM somewhere, I think. At least strongly implied. They are always pragmatic about doctrine if it becomes an impediment to getting and retaining members.. Same as when they mellowed out the temple rituals to retain people who objected or felt uncomfortable about the blood oaths.

releve Wrote:
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> At what point did TSCC back away from the idea
> that the Catholic Church was the Great and
> Abominable Church? I know that I heard this in
> Sunday School after correlation, but it may have
> been a class member and not from the manual.
>
> Is there any correlation between dropping that
> view and the purchase of land in Rome for a
> potential temple?

Elder McConkie's first edition came down a little too
hard on "the Scarlet Woman Who Sits on Seven Hills" and
his apostolic brethren asked him to tone it down a bit
for the second printing.

McConkie was saying nothing new, or different from what
Parley P. Pratt and other leaders had said in the past.

But, in the mid-50's the Mormon leadership decided it
was time to sound less crazy. Bear-baiting the Catholics
was not helping them much and was actually interfering
with business dealings and political intrigues.

In Mormon eyes the Catholics have been less and less
associated with the G&AC ever since.

UD

The church may have backed away from printing such things in its manuals and books years ago, but I wouldn't be surprised if there's a Sunday school or seminary teacher still teaching this somewhere.

I was taught this in seminary in the late 80s. Every year during all four years of seminary, my teacher taught a week long unit on the Catholic church being the great and abominable church. He put together a special slide show and packet with multiple pages that cited various scriptures and quotes of prophets proving the point. Sure wish I still had that packet.

want2bx Wrote:
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...
>
> I was taught this in seminary in the late 80s.
...

I actually attended some LDS Institute classes in Ogden
during the same period. The G&AC was not part of any of
the instructional material, but reference to it was quite
obvious as we plodded through the first few books of the BoM.

I recall one question being raised about the PGP passage,
where Adam is represented as having a Christian immersion
baptism -- Trinitarian, in fact.

Somebody asked how that profound truth (?) got taken out
of the Bible. After all, it isn't to be found in the Dead
Sea Scrolls or any other very old Hebrew Bible text.

Without exactly mentioning the G&AC, the teacher let us
know that "many plain and precious truths" had been taken
out of the scriptures.

I asked why Jesus did not re-insert Adam's baptism back
into the Bible, if it was missing in the Dead Sea scrolls
version, and the Greek version available in his day.

My question was ignored, and it did not seem to me at the
time that I should badger the instructor with such stuff.

UD