"The Controversy over Mormon Doctrine"

"The Controversy over Mormon Doctrine" is a short section in the 2005 McKay biography by Prince and Wright. [1]  There was an apparent reference to it last month on blog FPR when Adam Laughton said he'd read "in the new David O. McKay book" that President McKay "found thousands of doctrinal errors in Mormon Doctrine." [2]

But what if that's not true?  What if Prince and Wright simply gave Adam Laughton the wrong impression?  Remember, just leaving out part of the story can create a false picture.

The Prince and Wright Mormon Doctrine Time Line

But let's not start with what Prince and Wright didn't say.  Let's start with a brief summary of what they did say.

1958: "Bruce R. McConkie, then a member of the First Council of the Seventy ... published an encyclopedic book with the presumptuous title of Mormon Doctrine. [3]

1959: David O. McKay asked Mark E. Petersen and Marion G. Romney to critique Mormon Doctrine for him. [4]

1960: Marion G. Romney's letter to David O. McKay was reviewed (but see the 1959 Romney omission, below) and Mark E. Petersen "gave McKay an oral report in which he recommended 1,067 corrections." [5]  The First Presidency asked Elder McConkie to drop his plans for a Mormon Doctrine second edition. [6]

1966: McConkie "moved with the same boldness of eight years earlier, and published a second edition of Mormon Doctrine." [7]

Actually, it isn't surprising that some people are confused about Elder McConkie and his book after reading the Prince and Wright short and sketchy version of the Mormon Doctrine story.  A more complete version might include:

Petersen as Editor

Admittedly, the exact nature of each of Elder Petersen's 1,067 recommended corrections isn't known, but I think it helps to remember his professional career.

Prior to his call to the Quorum of the Twelve, he was employed for many years by the Deseret News as a "copy reader, news editor, managing editor, and editor." [8]  He was fully qualified to look at Mormon Doctrine from a professional editor's point of view.

It seems unlikely that someone experienced in looking for spelling and grammar errors would suddenly adopt a different approach on Mormon Doctrine and concentrate only on sections that should be dropped or rewritten.  We could ignore Elder Petersen's professional background and speculate that his list included only doctrinal errors.

Or, on the other hand, we could accept the likelihood that his list covered the whole spectrum of editorial corrections.  Personally, I think it is ludicrous to assume that he brought a list of 1,067 doctrinal errors to the meeting.

The Inspired Version of the Bible

It is also possible that not all of the doctrinal errors Elder Petersen did bring to the meeting were, in the end, actually doctrinal errors.

Elder McConkie and Elder Petersen are on record with differing viewpoints about the Inspired Version of the Bible.  Elder McConkie thought it could "be used with safety" [9]  while Elder Petersen thought it was "of questionable value." [10]

Again, we could speculate that Elder Petersen didn't mark for correction any of Mormon Doctrine's references to the Inspired Version.  Or we could accept the likelihood that as many as 170 such references were on his list of recommended changes. [11]

Then we could observe that in 1979, just twenty years later, more than 600 "doctrinally significant ... excerpts from the JST (then commonly known as the Inspired Version)" became part of the LDS edition of the Bible after "the First Presidency decided ... early in that decade" to include them. [12]

Clearly, these Inspired Version changes may now be used with safety.  In fact, they "are scripture and have the same truth and validity as if they were in the Pearl of Great Price itself." [13]

Other Prince and Wright Omissions

I think it is noteworthy that, prior to being called as General Authorities, both Marion G. Romney and Bruce R. McConkie practiced law in Salt Lake City, both having held the title of assistant city attorney. [14]  It makes sense to me that President McKay would invite an attorney to review another attorney's book for him.

1959: On January 5, 1959, President McKay asked Elder Romney to review Mormon Doctrine. Twenty three days later, on January 28, 1959, Elder Romney wrote David O. McKay a lengthy letter detailing his findings.  The 1959 dates of January 5th and 28th are not mentioned by Prince and Wright.

Having been asked to look for problems, Elder Romney responded accordingly [15]  and apparently, his letter was reviewed again the following year on January 7th as pointed out by Prince and Wright who were careful to quote some of his negative comments. [16]

But in addition to his criticisms of Mormon Doctrine, Elder Romney made positive comments about the book and I think we ought to consider them as well.  They have been summarized as follows:

"In general, Elder Romney had a high regard for Mormon Doctrine and felt it filled an evident need remarkably well." [17]

1966: During the summer of 1966, the First Presidency assigned Spencer W. Kimball to act as McConkie's advisor in the preparation of a Mormon Doctrine second edition. [18]

"There were about fifty items that Elder Kimball wanted Elder McConkie to revisit... They dealt with tone and with the wisdom of including particular things.... Elder Kimball was a wise mentor who taught [Elder McConkie] the difference between being right and being appropriate.... Elder Kimball's list of things that needed changing [was] much less extensive than the changes that were made in the second edition....

"The report submitted to the First Presidency by Elder Spencer W. Kimball indicates that he checked changes made on fifty-six pages, all of which he approved.  He did not indicate a single instance of doctrinal disagreement with what was written." [19]

1972: When the First Presidency and the Twelve approved Bruce R. McConkie to be presented and sustained as the Church's newest Apostle, Marion G. Romney was a member of the First Presidency and Mark E. Petersen was a senior Apostle.

It would appear, according to Prince and Wright, that Elder McConkie had published his second Mormon Doctrine edition in 1966 against the wishes of the First Presidency and Apostles Romney and Petersen.

If that were true, one would have to wonder why Romney and Petersen approved McConkie's 1972 call to the Apostleship.  But Romney and Petersen obviously had a much more complete understanding of Mormon Doctrine's history than is found in Prince and Wright.

Conclusion

President David O. McKay clearly did NOT find "thousands of doctrinal errors" in Mormon Doctrine, even though one could get that impression from reading Prince and Wright.

Not only did Prince and Wright omit some things from their story, they didn't bring forth anything to suggest this information is false.  Rather, by simply leaving out certain parts of its history, they created a false picture of "The Controversy over Mormon Doctrine."

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Notes

1.  Gregory A. Prince and William Robert Wright, David O. McKay and the Rise of Modern Mormonism. SLC: University of Utah Press, 2005, pp. 49-53.

2.  See Adam Laughton's comment #30 on LXXLuthor's FPR thread "The Best Books?"

3.  Prince and Wright, p. 49.

4.  Prince and Wright, p. 50.

5.  Prince and Wright, p. 50.

6.  Prince and Wright, pp. 51-52.

7.  Prince and Wright, pp. 52-53.

8.  Thomas S. Monson, Ensign, Mar. 1984, p. 9.

9.  Elder McConkie stated in Mormon Doctrine:

"At the command of the Lord and while acting under the spirit of revelation, the Prophet corrected, revised, altered, added to, and deleted from the King James Version of the Bible to form what is now commonly referred to as the Inspired Version of the Bible....

"Such Biblical revisions as have been made may be used with safety, and parts of these are now published by the Church in its standard works [including] the Book of Moses [and] the revised 24th chapter of Matthew." (Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, 2nd edition, 1966, pp. 383-385; the same wording is in the 1958 first edition.)

10.  Elder Petersen stated in As Translated Correctly:

"It will be recalled that the Prophet Joseph Smith began what truly was an inspired translation of the Bible, but persecutions and his subsequent martyrdom made it impossible for him to finish the work.  Certain parts which he did finish are now printed in the Pearl of Great Price as the Book of Moses and the 24th Chapter of Matthew.

"Not satisfied with these, however, the Reorganized Church decided to publish the  ' inspired version '  including what changes the Prophet had made.  But, not happy with all of his changes, THEY ALTERED THE BIBLE TO SUIT THEIR OWN DESIRES, and actually changed some of the corrections made by the Prophet Joseph himself....

"Such changes of course make the work of questionable value, because the ordinary reader is at a loss to know what the Prophet corrected and what the Reorganized Church  ' corrected '  (?) to their own liking." (Mark E. Petersen, As Translated Correctly, SLC: Deseret Book, 1966, p. 30; capitalized emphasis and "(?)" in the original.)

11.  See Dennis B. Horne, Bruce R. McConkie: Highlights From His Life & Teachings, Roy, Utah: Eborn Books, 2000, pp. 63-64.

12.  Robert J. Matthews, "Why does the LDS edition of the Bible not contain all of the corrections and additions made by Joseph Smith?" Ensign, June 1992, p. 29; see also David Rolph Seely, "The Joseph Smith Translation:  ' Plain and Precious Things'  Restored," Ensign, Aug. 1997, p. 13

13.  On March 10, 1985, a Churchwide satellite fireside on "Using the Scriptures" was held.  Speakers included President Gordon B. Hinckley and the three Apostles (Thomas S. Monson, Boyd K. Packer, and Bruce R. McConkie) who served on the Scriptures Publication Committee during the preparation of the new LDS edition of the scriptures.  During this fireside, Elder McConkie said:

"Other Inspired Version changes are found in the footnotes of our new edition of the Bible.  Those too lengthy for inclusion in the footnotes are published in a seventeen-page section at the back of this Bible edition.  All of these changes and additions are scripture and have the same truth and validity as if they were in the Pearl of Great Price itself." (Ensign, Dec. 1985, p. 58.)

14.  See Ensign, July 1988, p. 74 (Romney) and New Era, June 1985, p. 9 (McConkie).

15.  Horne, p. 63.

16.  Prince and Wright, p. 50.  Prince and Wright date the letter Jan. 7, 1960, but I've seen multiple sources that date it Jan. 28, 1959 (i.e. Horne, p. 63).

17.  Horne, p. 63.

18.  See Joseph Fielding McConkie, The Bruce R. McConkie Story: Reflections of a Son, SLC: Deseret Book, 2003, p. 183; click here to read the entire chapter; see also Horne, pp. 65-66.

19.  Reflections, pp. 187 & 191.)