Jesus Christ, Marriage, and Mormon Christianities : 2016 Smith-Pettit Lecture, Sunstone Symposium
Dialogue : A Journal of Mormon Thought
Fall 2016
49
3
Cambridge, MA
Dialogue Foundation
2016
1-19
John G. Turner discusses Joseph Smith's statement to his mother, "I have learned for myself that Presbyterianism is not true," and how this makes him feel as a Presbyterian. Turner says that he understands some of the problems that Presbyterians face in adopting the beliefs of John Calvin.
In his lecture, Turner discusses two episodes in Mormon history which he feels he can describe as "abominable," both of which have to deal with marriage. The first episode he relates involves Brigham Young's teachings on polygamy in the mid-1850s, pressuring some girls to get married at a young age. Some polygamists, including Heber C. Kimball and Samuel Rogers, participated in the "second anointing" to prepare one's body for resurrection. The next episode involves the recent policy change the LDS Church instated regarding same-sex couples and their children. Turner concludes his lecture by comparing the ecclesiology of LDS Church with that of the Catholic Church.