Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/22/2020 10:51AM by anybody.

I don't think they ever will.

I think they have already started to slowly move away from claiming that it's an actual, historical document. Mormons will still testify that "I know the Book of Mormon is true," but the "spiritual" truth will be emphasized. Members will start to say things like "even if not all of the events recorded in the BoM are 100% accurate, I know that I feel closer to God when I read it."

As time goes on, The BoM may be less important, and teachings about it may be finessed, but I don't think TSSC will ever abandon it.

Not until us baby boomers are nothing but a memory

The Book of Mormon comprises a succession of errant, absurd, risible historical, geographical and theological claims but I don't see how the Morg can jettison the 'keystone'. I also don't think they are anywhere close to adopting something like the gradual downgrading of the BoM seen in the CoC tradition.

My guess is 70 years. They may not officially de-scripturize it, but it will be like the BoA now, still technically scripture but never mentioned over the pulpit or in lesson manuals.

I think their backing away from the BoM is a conscious decision they made 20, and maybe even 40 years ago. They are very good at playing the long game. They have known since the sixties that the book was unacceptably racist. They have tried to tone it down in various ways, but eventually gave up. To the BoM God, white is clearly the preferred skin color. How can you make that not be racist?

So, white and delightsome becomes pure and delightsome. The term Lamanite, once widely used, is now abandoned. Lamanites have been demoted twice in the preface to the BoM from ancestors of Native Americans, to principle ancestors, then among the ancestors. Of course a plain reading of the actual text says they are the ancestors, period.

A number of temples already don't have Moroni on top. Moroni used to be the LDS logo. No more. I'd bet that Moroni doesn't go back on top of the SL temple. It will be the Jesus logo. The other Moroni's will eventually be replaced or simply removed. The Hill Cumorah Pageant has already been given its termination papers. That's something I never expected to see. Ditto the Manti Pageant. Ditto the name Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

The name Mormon has been pretty well banned internally. Externally, people still use it, but given enough decades, that will fade.

I don't think for a minute this was Rusty's recent idea to change the name. They have wanted to do it for decades, and tried in the 1990s, but gave up when the internet became a big thing, and they couldn't figure out how to make web addresses that people could actually find, unless they used the word Mormon in at least some of the URLs.

The Rusty Administration was just the one who finally decided they have to bite the bullet and finally make the change, no matter how much it hurts their brand. The racist BoM will eventually hurt the brand even more.

I think the transition is already well underway, but I still think it will be decades before it is complete. They don't want to agitate the TBMs.

I agree with everything you said. It makes sense to slowly abandon the BOM. I suspect over time it will turn into something like the Jewish Midrash - wise writings that are not to be taken as total cannon. Somewhere in the middle of cannon and apocryphal writings. It will be there for many decades but it will have less and less meaning in the future. Probably the same with the Pearl of Great Price.

Just the thought of LDS Corp. diminishing or abandoning the BoM because we know (and they know) it is not true, says everything there is about TSCC. Dishonest. Untrue narrative. Power hungry. And its one true god is MONEY.

jiminycricket Wrote:
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> Just the thought of LDS Corp. diminishing or
> abandoning the BoM because we know (and they know)
> it is not true, says everything there is about
> TSCC. Dishonest. Untrue narrative. Power hungry.
> And its one true god is MONEY.

....or perhaps MORe MONey !!

the MOReMONey church has always been true .....to its profit motive.

The Mormon church is attempting to be more than the Book of Mormon. Past leaders have stated that their church stands or falls on whether the Book of Mormon is what they have always claimed it to be. This, always stated with smug surety.


These days, the smug surety regarding the BoM is being downgraded to D list status with less smug and less sure without acknowledging either. Currently the downgrade is now at A minus level so will take some time as they shift focus to being the most christiany Christian church on the planet--par excellence!

They are waiting for their friend time to make things all right.

In a way they already have........

Ballard's official video (attempted) defense of the BOM is also an epic de facto admission / concession that LDS Inc has NOTHING of any conventional substance to back up their (POS) book of MORmON.

.....MORmON Jesus really messed up when He had the plates taken up to heaven for storage where they could not be inspected as an artifact to back up Smith's claims as MORmON Jesus also left the Book of MORmON text as "translated" /derived by Smith intact for public consumption/ general inspection . .....It's almost like MORmON Jesus wanted to undermine Smith's BS gold plates story/ claims.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxJ7gKIymVo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AQTr9oB8lw

Absolutely, the BoM will gradually be somewhat abandoned, as the BOA has been abandoned.

Literal belief in the actual BoM events has been gradually fading for many decades - you could even say centuries.

When Mormon pioneers crossed the plains heading to Utah, they would sometimes remark about bones they observed:
"those bones could be from animals killed during the Great Flood when Noah saved humanity and the animals".

People had primitive nonscientific thinking "in the old days" of the 19th century.

Things are totally different in the 21st century. If you did a poll of active L-D-Saints, the vast majority would say the Great Flood was not a literal and actual thing (if they were totally honest . . . which may not be realistic).

The mere notion of God changing the skin color of humans due to wickedness is obviously sheer ridiculousness.

God was mad at Cain for committing the first murder on earth. God changed Cain from a normal white guy to a Negro.

Likewise, the racist God got mad at some white guys who were new to "America" having magically sailed from the Old World. God gave them dark skin and it was a "curse of dark skin" and God called them "Lamanites" and their future generations would be burdened with the curse of dark skin.

But God, in His Infinite Wisdom, decreed that there were 2 levels of "curse of dark skin".

LEVEL 1 - The curse of black skin of Negros means they are not allowed to hold God's Holy Priesthood. God changed His Mind in 1978 and let any person of any color hold the magical, mystical priesthood.

LEVEL 2 - the Lamanite "curse" means that many generations of people would have dark skin, but still be allowed to hold the priesthood. Therefore this was a "level 2 curse" and not as severe as the "level 1 curse" of the Negros which went away in 1978.