BLOOD ATONEMENT
WHAT IS BLOOD ATONEMENT?
Brigham Young,
the second LDS president and prophet, taught there were some sins a person
could commit, for which they must shed their own blood and life to be forgiven.
Even though such a person may accept Jesus Christ as their Savior, His
blood and death is not sufficient to cover some sins. This is called blood
atonement.
WAS IT PRACTICED?
Several
recent LDS leaders have said it was not practiced. One LDS leader said
anti-Mormons used parts of talks by Mr. Young to wrongly accuse him of
something he did teach but did not practice. Apostle Bruce R. McConkie
says:
From the days of Joseph Smith to the present, wicked and evilly-disposed
persons have fabricated false and slanderous stories to the effect that
the Church, in the early days of this dispensation, engaged in a practice
of blood atonement whereunder the blood of apostates and others was shed
by the Church as an atonement for their sins. These claims are false
and were known by their originators to be false. There is not one historical
instance of so-called blood atonement in this dispensation, nor has
there been one event or occurrence whatever, of any nature, from which
the slightest inference arises that any such practice either existed or
was taught...dishonest persons have attempted to make it appear that Brigham
Young and others taught things just the opposite of what they really believed
and taught. (Mormon Doctrine, "Blood Atonement," Apostle Bruce R.
McConkie, page 92)
But then Mr. McConkie goes on to admit that some sins cannot be forgiven:
But under certain circumstances there are some serious sins for
which the cleansing of Christ does not operate, and the law of God
is that men must then have their own blood shed to atone for their sins.
Murder, for instance, is one of these sins; hence we find the Lord commanding
capital punishment. (Ibid, page 92)
The Doctrine and Covenants also supports the above:
And now, behold, I speak unto the church. Thou shalt not kill;
and he that kills shall not have forgiveness in this world, nor in the
world to come. (Doctrine and Covenants 42:18)
IT WAS PRACTICED
However,
Brigham Young did teach and allow the practice of blood atonement, as can
be seen from the following:
There are sins that men commit for which they cannot receive
forgiveness in this world, or in that which is to come, and if they
had their eyes open to see their true condition, they would be perfectly
willing to have their blood spilt upon the ground, that the smoke thereof
might ascend to heaven as an offering for their sins; and the smoking incense
would atone for their sins, whereas, if such is not the case, they
will stick to them and remain upon them in the spirit world. ....I know
that there are transgressors, who, if they knew themselves, and the only
condition upon which they can obtain forgiveness would beg of their brethren
to shed their blood, that the smoke thereof might ascend to God....It
is true that the blood of the Son of God was shed for sins through the
fall and those committed by men, yet men can commit sins which it can never
remit... (President Brigham Young, Sept. 21, 1856, Deseret News,
page 235; very similar to Journal of Discourses 4:53-54).
Suppose you found your brother in bed with your wife, and put
a javelin through both of them, you would be justified, and they would
atone for their sins, and be received into the kingdom of God. I would
at once do so in such a case; and under such circumstances, I have no wife
whom I love so well that I would not put a javelin through her heart, and
I would do it with clean hands. (President Brigham Young, March 16, 1856,
Journal of Discourses, 3:247).
I could refer you to plenty of instances where men have been
righteously slain, in order to atone for their sins. I have seen scores
and hundreds of people for whom there would have been a chance (in the
last resurrection there will be) if their lives had been taken and their
blood spilled on the ground as a smoking incense to the Almighty, but who
are now angels to the devil, until our elder brother Jesus Christ raises
them up--conquers death, hell, and the grave. I have known a great many
men who have left this Church for whom there is no chance whatever for
exaltation, but if their blood had been spilled, it would have been
better for them. (President Brigham Young, February 8, 1857, Journal
of Discourses, 4:220)
Was blood
atonement actually practiced? Yes, the above quote from Brigham Young shows
that. And there is other evidence, but details are too complicated to include
here. The Tanner's cover this on pages 403, 404, 404-A of Mormonism - Shadow
or Reality? On page 403 is described how Rosmos Anderson, a Danish man,
was blood atoned for adultery. Several other examples are documented also.
The Mountain Meadows Massacre in 1857, where about 120 non-Mormon men,
women and children were slaughtered by Mormons and Indians, clearly shows
that Mormonism, in Brigham Young's time, led men to do terrible things
in the name of God.
WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY?
The Bible teaches us that the sincere repentant sinner, who has Jesus Christ
as Lord and Savior, is forgiven of all sin (1 John 1:7). That LDS leaders
would teach otherwise is an indictment of their prophetic skills and evidence
they are not called by the one true God of the Bible.
SUGGESTED READINGS
Suggested resources for more on Mormonism's blood atonement: Mormonism
- Shadow or Reality, pages 398-404; The Mountain Meadows Massacre,
by Juanita Brooks, Un. of Oklahoma Press, Norman, eighth printing 1985;
Massacre at Mountain Meadows - An American Legend and a Monumental Crime,
by William Wise, Thomas, Crowell Co, New York, 1976.
John Farkas
Berean Christian Ministries; P.O. Box 1091; Webster, NY 14580
E-mail: bcmmin@frontiernet.net
Web page: http://www.frontiernet.net/~bcmmin
art/blodaton
2-3-98