Do Mormons believe all teachings of Brigham Young, or do they flatly reject some and accept others?
by 
JohnDough
ANSWERS: 4
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The main rule for Mormon Doctrine is, if you can't find it in the scriptures, and the head of our church does not present it as a revelation, then it is not officially part of our doctrine. All Mormons have their own theories outside of church doctrine. That is merely speculation. If you have any specific doctrines about our church, please let me know.
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Prophets are not Mormon Popes. There is no Mormon doctrine of infallibility. So, in reality, nothing a prophet says must be tacitly accepted except that which is of an administrative nature. (and such, of course, is not of doctrinal import) That said, we do believe the men to be prophets, and so we do give their words more weight than, say, yours. (Much more weight.) There are also some fundamental beliefs that are prerequisite to becoming Mormon and prerequisite to temple worship. These are pretty basic though. On top of that, there are also doctrines which are considered "official", doctrines which are "canonical", and doctrines which are well defined in official teaching materials, etc... and these would be doctrines that make up a kind of official to semi-official definition of what we believe. In the end, if you want to follow a leader blindly, don't become a Mormon. If you want to put someone other than yourself in charge of your life, don't become a Mormon. However, if you want the aid of an inspired man of God to help inform your decision-making, then you might consider joining.
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Mormons of Brigham's day believed him. However, Mormons also believe to follow the current prophets even if their beliefs or teachings are contrary to past prophet's beliefs. In other words if Thomas Monson says B, and Brigham said A, todays Mormons follow Monson as opposed to Brigham.
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However, there have been some changes in our church policy, such as with polygamy. The LDS doctrine on plural marriage has and will continue to stay the same. In the Book of Mormon, it reads “Wherefore, my brethren, hear me, and hearken to the word of the Lord: For there shall not any man among you have save it be one wife; and concubines he shall have none… For if I will, saith the Lord of Hosts, raise up seed unto me, I will command my people; otherwise they shall hearken unto these things.” (Jacob 2: 27, 30). However, we believe that this is only acceptable when the Lord commands it. Back in those times, women did not have the right’s they have now. Many men in the church were killed through events such as the Extermination Order. The Lord wanted to raise up seed in the church, so he permitted a few to practice polygamy (around 10% of LDS men at the time). Shortly after, the government banned the practice, and President Woodrift disbanded the practice.
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